IT’S SUMMERTIME!!! What are you doing?ENJOY THE WATER with a cruise in Montgomery, the arts at the Birmingham Museum of Art and the happenings around the southeast!HAVE A GOOD TIME! Get outdoors, laugh and enjoy the time with family and friends! Check out our ‘What’s Happening Travel and Tourism Guide’… whenever you can.
Today, join all of Birmingham at the..
- EAT UP: A TASTE OF UPTOWN. The Uptown District, next to the BJCC complex right at the Westin Hotel and the Sheraton hotel, will have seven restaurants offering tastings of their food, plus music by BELLE ADAIR, THE BEAR AND DONNIE FRITTS. You don’t want to miss this. Tell my good friend Garfield Campbell that Gwen sent you and that you read it in my column in the Birmingham Times.
- CRUISING IN MONTGOMERY – If you love the water then the PARTY GRAS on the Cruise Part II Aboard the Harriott II Riverboat, Saturday, 9:45 p.m. in Montgomery, is for you. Call (256) 946-9655 ext. 813 for more. (Tell them Gwen sent you.)
- JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL AT BIRMNGHAM FILM FESTIVAL – In conjunction with the summertime exhibition Lethal Beauty Samurai Weapons and Armor, Birmingham Museum of Art is hosting a Japanese Film Festival featuring samurai movies of the time. The films are HARAKIRI August 7 at First Thursday, 7 p.m.; 47 RONIN, August 8, 6:30 p.m.; FROM UP ON POPPY HILL, August 9, 10:30 a.m.; TALES OF THE TAIRA CLAN, August 9 at 1:45 p.m. and SEVEN SAMURAI, on Sunday at 1 p.m. Check them out.
- MILES COLLEGE MEDIA WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS – Miles Media in the Summer teaches how to improve your organization. Miles College is conducting media workshops for adults on Saturday, Aug. 9. The one-day workshop will be held from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuition is $100 for the seven-hour session. The workshop will help adults learn to promote their organizations, church communications, and small businesses. There are (4) workshops. Individuals would choose to study one of the following: (1) designing flyers, newsletters, and brochures; (2) producing digital video and still photography; (3) promoting using public relations and advertising; or (4) utilizing social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The workshop is designed to help attendees attract new members, reach out to the public, and better communicate within their organization. Small business owners will also learn how improve sales. Proceeds fund book scholarships for students majoring in Communications at Miles College. To register contact Ms. Lashonda Alexander at the Division of Communications at Miles College, at 929-1609 or lalexander@miles.edu.
- SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE NATIONAL CONVENTION – Top brass at the National Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) will unveil new initiatives focused on education, fiscal responsibility and entrepreneurship, at the 56th Annual National Convention. The conference is August 10-13 in Birmingham, Ala. at the Sheraton Hotel. The event will feature perspectives on modern-day Civil Rights challenges and the SCLC’s role in tackling those issues in the U.S. and abroad. It debuts with an inaugural mandate, 11 interactive sessions, global empowerment luncheon, film premiers, book signing and discussion, celebrity fashion show and a closing commemorative breakfast. Key sessions include Civil Rights Veterans Roundtable featuring Foot Soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement, Race and Racism in America, Global Achievement of Women Empowerment Luncheon honoring successful national women; discussion on State of Green Energy; discussion on the Stand Your Ground Law; The State of Black Males in America; dynamic Fashion Show with the Atlanta based Wilbourn Sisters Design, On the RISE Professional Mixer, and ending with a closing Memorial Prayer Breakfast. Special guests include actress Robin Givens, actor Dick Gregory, Alabama State University President Gwendolyn Boyd and national invited, regional and statewide dignitaries. To register, please visit www.nationalsclc.org.
- MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD FESTIVAL – Saint George Celebrates its 33rd Annual Middle Eastern Food Festival, September 18-20. There will be kibbee, Mediterranean style chicken, (vegetarian foods such as spinach pies, falafel and hummos), rolled grape leaves, meat pies, vegetables, desserts and pastries, and plenty more that the ladies of the Saint George Melkite Catholic Church (425 16th Avenue South) will prepare and sell for ‘this’ fundraiser that everyone loves. It started out as an international festival because the descendents of immigrants are from Lebanon, Eastern Europe, Italy and Greece. After an influx of Middle Easterners from Lebanon and Palestine, it made a change to a Middle Eastern Festival. Food will be served all day, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Downtown delivery will be available for lunch on Thursday and Friday with a $75 minimum order. For takeout and delivery call 492-9621. (Oh… one more things…the desserts include Kaak, Mamoul, Zalabich and buttery Baklawa, my favorite.)
- SHOAL CREEK HOSTS 2015 PGA TOUR – The 2015 Regions Tradition, a major championship on the Champions Tour, will be played at Shoal Creek from May 13-17 next year. The tournament, which began in 1989 in Scottsdale, Ariz., and first came to Birmingham, Ala., in 2011, will relocate just a few miles away to Greystone Golf & Country Club for 2016, ’17 and ’18.
- NATURAL TREASURES CHALLENGE – Experiencing nature is closer and easier than you think! If you’re a resident of Alabama, Ohio or Indiana you’re invited to compete in our Natural Treasures Challenge for a chance to win a Honda Civic Hybrid. Participating is easy. Simply take a photo of yourself at a designated Natural Treasures location, and share it on our website for a chance to win. Accepting entries August 1, but you can start exploring now just log on to http://www.Nature.org/NaturalTreasure
(People, Places and Things by Gwen DeRu is a weekly column. Send comments to my emails: thelewisgroup@birminghamtimes.com or gwenderu@yahoo.com)
