Veganomics
Ya gotta eat your spinach, baby! And collards, beets, beans, potatoes, carrots and other good things that grow in the ground. Come out and celebrate ’em all at Triad VegFest (November 5–6). The two-day event is the brainchild of Maria Dormandy-Taylor, owner of Aracadia Lodge (a vegan event center) and Dharma Farm Animal Refuge in Archdale. Dormandy-Taylor is also the proprietor of the food company Lovin’ Spoonfuls (maker of Nuchi Sauce). VegFest celebrates the benefits of a plant-based diet with a symposium at UNCG, a reading and book signing by marathoner and author Charlie Engle (Running Man) at Scuppernong Books and a Holiday Market Fair of local, sustainable, plant-based foods and crafts at the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market. But don’t stop there: Keep grazing on greens all month, the perfect accompaniments to Thanksgiving Tofurky. Info:
triadvegfest.org.
Claystation
What is it that’s so satisfying about pottery? Perhaps because it’s both beautiful and utilitarian — and started out as a piece of Earth. At 10 a.m. on November 12th you’ll have the opportunity to admire such works at Potters of the Piedmont Pottery Festival at Leonard Recreation Center (6324 Ballinger Road, Greensboro). Started by Earthworks Gallery in 2002, the festival has expanded to include the works of fifty-some potters from across the Piedmont, Virginia and South Carolina. So come out and support them so they can make a kiln-in. Info: pottersofthepiedmont.com.
Fir Sure
Go fell it on the mountain! Fresh-cut, locally owned and grown Christmas trees brought down from higher altitudes in N.C. are coming to the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market (501 Yanceyville Street) from 7 a.m. to Noon on November 26th. Want a little more bough wow in your life? Grab some garlands and table decorations, get your Clark Griswold on with several strings of lights, and start decking those halls. Info: (336) 373-2402 or
gsofarmersmarket.org.
It Was Twenty Years
Ago Today . . .
Or, twenty years and change, that Jim Dodson’s Final Rounds landed in bookstores. It hardly needs an introduction in these parts, but for anyone who’s been asleep for two decades: The esteemed editor of this publication (who’s a Greensboro native) chronicled his trip to the links of England and Scotland with his dad, who learned how to play the royal and ancient game while serving as an airman during World War II. Golf provides the context for a work that is part memoir, part love letter to the Gate City and a paean to the bonds of paternal and filial love. Scaling The New York Times bestseller list, among others, the book has been translated into seven languages. All told, it has sold more than 600,000 copies, a testament to the power of its universal themes. But “final” hardly describes the journey of Final Rounds’ author. After reading the book, a fellow by the name of Arnold Palmer asked our man JD to pen his biography, A Golfer’s Life, just one of eleven of tomes in the Dodson canon. Look for yet one more from our editor, muse and fearless leader, The Range Bucket List, due out June 1, 2017.
Feathered Feast
Want to know how to eat like a bird? Then stock your backyard with nutritious fare, plenty of water and shelter, and watch your fine-feathered friends flock to the feeder. On November 17th at 2 p.m. Barbara Haralson of Wild Birds Unlimited will offer helpful hints on how to attract various species at a talk hosted by Westridge Gardners Club (Greensboro Council of Garden Clubs, 4301-A Lawndale Drive). Woodpeckers, for instance, are partial to suet, while bluejays go for peanuts, and nuthatches, in spite of their name, are nuts for sunflower seeds. Now for some advice on how not to attract squirrels . . . Info: thegreensborocouncilofgardenclubs.com.
Texation
Everything’s bigger in Texas, the saying goes, and that includes the ten-gallon sound of the Texas Tenors, who achieved fame and fortune just six years after appearing on the TV show, America’s Got Talent. And talent abounds among the trio of Marcus Collins, John Hagen and JC Fisher, whose diverse stage experience allows for a broad repertoire that includes opera, pop and country tunes. Hear them sing holiday favorites, from “White Christmas” to “O, Holy Night,” as they did to sellout crowds in the Gate City two years ago at the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra’s Tanger Pop series — Back for the Holidays on November 19th at 8 p.m. (Westover Church, 505 Muirs Chapel Road). Tickets: (336) 335-5456, ext. 239.
Dibs!
Get your sharp elbows out — and credit cards, too — and head to First Choice on November 30th at 5:30 p.m. at Greenhill (200 North Davie Street). The prelude to Winter Show (December 4–January 13, 2017), First Choice allows you to buy an art credit in a $500, $1,000 or $2,500 increments, and apply it to the piece of art of your choice. What’ll it be? A sculpture? A painting? An abstract something or other? With more than 500 works available for purchase, you’ll be overwhelmed with — well — choice. Info: greenhillnc.org.
Sister Soldiers
Love, war, adventure, discrimination, the daily routine . . . As a salute to Veteran’s Day (November 11th), Touring Theatre of North Carolina presents Star-Spangled Girls, (Triad Stage, 232 South Elm Street) a review commissioned in 2005 by the UNCG Veteran Historical Collection. Based on diaries, letters and oral histories of women who served in the Armed Forces during World War II — WACs, WAVES, Army nurses and Red Cross volunteers — the show punctuates its vignettes with rousing music from the period. Tickets: (336) 272-0160 or triadstage.org.
OGI SEZ
Ah, November, the month we’ve all been waiting for. Not just for the usual reasons of pumpkin pies, cooler weather and Thanksgiving, but for that thing that happens November 8. Personally, I just want it to be over so that the savage beast within can return to being soothed by music.
• November 11, High Point Theatre: Speaking of being soothed, there is no better mode of decompression than the melodic piano stylings of the legendary George Winston. Whether it’s New Age, ragtime, New Orleans R&B or his take on Vince Guaraldi’s jazzy Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, he will cure what ails you.
• November 11, The Crown above the Carolina: After dropping out of UNC twelve years ago, Joe Pug hit the road, guitar and songbook in hand. He soon landed an opening slot for Steve Earle, got signed to a Nashville label, moved to Austin and recorded two more CDs. This will be his first stop after a tour of New Zealand and Australia.
• November 12, Blind Tiger: If you know the blues, you know famed guitarist Tab Benoit. But you may not know that the Baton Rouge native is also the Voice of the Wetlands, an active conservationist preserving Louisiana’s endangered coastal areas. Even more reason to love him.
• November 19, Cone Denim Entertainment Center: From child prodigy to Grammy-award winner, Jonny Lang has seen it all. He is a recovering alcoholic and converted Christian but can still burn up that Telecaster like hellhounds on his trail.
• November 26, Greensboro Coliseum: When it’s billed as the “King and Queen of Hearts Tour,” who else could it be but Maxwell and Mary J. Blige? Oh, yes, they are superb on their own, but put them together and a spellbinding night is guaranteed.
