DECEMBER 16 & 17
•Care Help Christmas Project Application and Distribution Days
Care Help of Sulphur will be holding their Christmas Project application and distribution days on December 16 and 17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Care Help located at 112 E. Thomas Street. All Sulphur residents who qualify will receive a food box and a care packet (soap, toothpaste, laundry detergent, etc.) Folks aged 58 and older will also receive a $50 gift card. Pick up an application at the Wise Penny Thrift Store, 200 N. Huntington Street. Questions? Please call 528-2273.
DECEMBER 17
•Tis the Season
Don’t miss your last chance to take advantage of special sales at the Cottage Shops from 5–8 p.m. Free gift wrapping! Call (337) 433-9722.
DECEMBER 21 - 28
•Holiday Art Space
The Children’s Museum will be hosting several fun holiday activities. Check out the Gingerbread House Workshop, Dec. 21 at 11 a.m.; Headband Workshop, Dec. 22 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Cookie Decorating Workshop, Dec. 23 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; and Kwanzaa Celebration, Dec. 28. Admission is $6.50 for children/adults, $5.50 for military/seniors and free for kids 23 months and younger. Call (337) 433-9420.
DECEMBER 28
•Mardi Gras Shoebox Float Contest Deadline
Glitter, feathers, glue and shoeboxes. Who knew that Mardi Gras could be so crafty? The Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau is inviting the community to bedazzle their shoeboxes and help usher in the 2010 Mardi Gras season. Anyone can participate! There are school group divisions as well as divisions for amateurs ranging from child to adult, and new to the contest is an additional category for adult civic groups and organizations. The deadline for registering is Monday, Dec. 28. Floats will be received at the bureau’s welcome center, 1205 N. Lakeshore Drive, on Friday, Jan. 8, and judging will take place on Saturday, Jan. 9. Visitors to the bureau will vote on their favorite floats until Wednesday, Feb. 17, and the People’s Choice Award will be announced Thursday, Feb. 18. For a registration form, visit www.swlamardigras.com and click on “Get Involved” or contact the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau at 800-456-7952.
JANUARY 10, 2010
•Fast Pitch Softball Umpire Registration Deadline
High School Fast Pitch Softball umpires are needed. Will train, no experience is necessary. Contact Ken Moreland at 527-9073 or Ronnie Young at 478-1387 for more information. Training starts on January 3, 2010; registration will end on January 10, 2010.
JANUARY 30, 2010
•Mardi Gras in Vinton
“Throw Me Something Mister” Pageant at the American Legion Post 208. For more information contact: Penny at 337-842-2193 or pborel73@yahoo.com.
FEBRUARY 1, 2010
•VFW Outstanding Young Volunteer Contest
The Outstanding Young Volunteer Contest is for outstanding youth who submit, by February 1, 2010, three letters of recommendation from the organizations for which you volunteer. Contact VFW Post 8107 for more details.
MARCH 31, 2010
•VFW Young American Creative Art Contest
Young American Creative Art Contest for Grades 9 through 12. Please submit a sketch, painting or drawing of a patriotic theme. The deadline is March 31, 2010. Contact VFW Post 8107 for more details. Contact VFW Post 8107 for more details.
ONGOING
•Exhibit at Brimstone Museum
Energizing the Environment: The Beauty of Our Community (Dec. 14–Jan. 27, 2010) Brimstone Museum Complex, Sulphur. Mon.–Fri. 10 a.m.–noon & 1–5 p.m.; Sat. 11 a.m.–3 p.m. www.brimstonemuseum.org
•CTC Holiday Gift Certificates
Holiday Gift Certificates are now on sale at The Childen’s Theatre Company (CTC). CTC is offering a limited number of Applause Season Memberships to give as gift certificates. According to Artistic Director Kerry Arthur Onxley, “This unique gift is something everyone in a family can enjoy for the entire year!” Families can experience professional productions developed especially for young people. Applause Season Memberships are available in Individual Packages (two tickets per production) for $50 and Family Package (four tickets per production) for $60. Each Applause Season Membership has a decorative card with an envelope. For more information, contact the theatre at 337-433-7323 or visit the website at www.childrenstheatre.cc
•Toys for Tots Drop Off Sites
Toys for Tots has been in existence for six decades. It began in 1947 and was adopted by the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation in 1948. Each year they have been able to put smiles on the faces of many children during the Christmas season. Tax deductible monetary donations, as well as new, unwrapped safe toys for boys and girls ages one to 12 are needed to make this year’s Toys for Tots campaign a success. The headquarters and main drop off site for Toys for Tots this year is located at 1750 West Prien Lake Road, in the same parking lot as Target and O’Charley’s. Toys can also be dropped off at any sponsor sites, all Wal-Mart stores, all Walgreens, KVHP Fox 29, GAP Broadcasting, Curve, Budget Truck Rental, both Dairy Barns in Sulphur and Lake Charles, all local Neighborhood Mini Storage sites, R. Alan Kite LLC RV’s and More in Moss Bluff, Stage in Moss Bluff, Southwest Daily News, and all Jeff Davis Bank locations. Any monetary donations should be made by check payable to ‘Toys for Tots’ and can be dropped off at the headquarters on West Prien Lake Road or mailed to P.O. Box 3113, Sulphur, LA, 70664-3113.
•Performing Arts during the Holidays
Christmas is not just about parades, candy, and gifts. Here in the Lake Area, many other forms of celebration are happening, too! From the theatrical stage to the chorus line, our additional Christmas festivities will have you feeling the spirit of the holidays! Concerts include The Messiah at Bulber Auditorium, Sunday, Dec. 6 at 3 p.m.; the Bulber Youth Orchestra’s Musical Christmas Card on the evening of Saturday, Dec. 12, at the Shearman Fine Arts Center at 6 p.m.; and performances of “A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols” by Masterworks Chorale, Bayou Bell Choir and Les Petites Voix on Friday, Dec. 11, at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in downtown Lake Charles and Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Immaculate Conception Church in Sulphur. Lighting up the stage is Rudolph, the ballet, presented by the Lake Charles Civic Ballet Dec. 12 at the Lake Charles Civic Center’s Rosa Hart Theatre. For a 2009 Christmas in Southwest Louisiana brochure of all the festivities and locations, contact the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau at (337) 436-9588 or visit www.visitlakecharles.org.
•Sponsors Wanted for new Community Garden
The Maplewood/Hollywood Lions Club is looking for sponsors for the new Sulphur Community Garden that is located next to the Lions Club building at 3310 Maplewood Drive. Any business or non-profit organization interested in sponsoring a garden bed should call Lion Nancy Tower at (337) 842-7849 or leave a message at the Club by calling (337) 625-2516.
•Mayor’s Commission for the Needs of the Disabled
On the second Wednesday of each month, 10:30 a.m., the Mayor’s Commission for the Needs of the Disabled meet in the Sulphur City Council Chambers, 500 N. Huntington Street.
•CFO Offers Saturday Morning Sports Injury Clinic
Center for Orthopaedics (CFO) will be offering a Sports Injury Clinic for high school athletes every Saturday morning beginning August 29. The Sports Injury Clinic will be open from 8 to 10 a.m. at CFO’s new Lake Charles office, located at 1747 Imperial Blvd. (just off Nelson, 1/2 mile South of Country Club). CFO’s staff of orthopaedic and sports medicine physicians and support staff have extensive experience in working with local and national high school, college and professional athletes. Walk-in patients with sports injuries are accepted and no appointment is needed. The Sports Injury Clinic is offered as a convenient service for area athletes and will continue throughout the high school football season. Call 721-7CFO for more information or visit www.centerforortho.com.
•Shots for Tots Program
West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital is a provider of the Shots for Tots program. The schedule is as follows: First Saturday of each month, 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital, 701 Cypress Street, Sulphur; First Saturday of odd months, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Vinton Medical Clinic, 1611 Hampton Street, Vinton; Second Thursday of each month, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Dynamic Dimensions East, 602 Sam Houston Jones Parkway, Moss Bluff. There is a $10 fee for shots. Program is open to children, teens and adults. For more information, or for schedule changes, call (337) 527-4361 or visit www.wcch.com.
•WCCH Diabetes Support Group Held Monthly
The next Diabetes Support Group meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 11:30 a.m. in the hospital’s large east conference room. All meetings after this one will be held on the second Tuesday of each month in the hospital’s cafeteria conference room at 11:30 a.m.
