Catholic Schools Week kicks off today – The Steubenville Herald

The Catholic school system embodies three characteristics – faith, academics and service.

That is the message being passed to students from countries across the world as they prepare for Catholic Schools Week, which will run today through Feb. 5. The theme for 2012 is “Catholic Schools – Faith. Academics. Service,” and will focus on the “three priorities that Catholic schools establish that make them stand out,” according to officials with the National Catholic Education Association.

Catholic schools are teaching students “not just the basics of Christianity, but how to have a relationship with God,” officials said.

Local principals are sharing this sentiment.

“Many events and activities for the students have been planned to promote the Catholic identity of Madonna,” Principal John Mihalyo said.

Today, students are being encouraged to attend Mass at their home parish, with St. Joseph the Worker Parish holding a 10:30 a.m. service, St. Paul at 11 a.m., Sacred Heart of Mary at 9 a.m. and St. Anthony at 10:30 a.m.

Monday will provide a presentation by Dr. Paul Wright, who will speak about his time with Mother Teresa. Members of the Rotary Club of Weirton Heights will meet at the high school on Tuesday, with a chance for Interact members to participate.

On Wednesday, the school will participate in an Ambassador Exchange Program where students and teachers from Bishop Donahue and Wheeling Central will visit Madonna for the day.

Thursday is Staff Appreciation Day, and students are encouraged to thank their teachers and other school staff for their work. Student Appreciation Day will be Friday, and will include a dress down day with Madonna gear for students to showcase their school spirit.

St. Paul School also has a variety of activities planned for the week, beginning with Music Monday. Students can wear their favorite team sports gear and everyone is encouraged to get up and dance whenever they hear music played throughout the day.

Tuesday will feature Pajama Day for students in kindergarten through fourth grade and Mix and Match Day for students in fifth through eighth grades.

Wednesday there is a $1 fee Dress Day, with proceeds donated to a local charity. Second through fifth grade classes will have the finals of the school spelling bee at 1 p.m. and students in grades 6 through 8 will play a game of Jeopardy, with the winning team going against the teachers.

A free dress and movie day will take place Thursday, with classrooms in kindergarten through fourth grade showing a different movie on the Smart Boards. Fifth through eighth grade students will spend the afternoon at the Millsop Community Center.

Friday will be Green and White Spirit Day, with an afternoon pep rally introducing all the sports teams and a performancy by the cheerleaders. The loudest class will win a treat.

Dolores Michnowicz, vice principal of Catholic Central High School in Steubenville, said Catholic Schools Week is vital because “Catholic education leads to endless possibilities.”

“It’s a time celebrate the existence of Catholic schools and the values and beliefs that hold the foundation,” said Michnowicz.

Activities planned for students at Catholic Central include a Catholic Schools Week kickoff with many parishes planning pancake breakfasts after Mass today.

A pep rally for winter sports will be held Monday, as well as School Spirit Day where students can dress in school colors. Other events are Student Appreciation Day with an ice cream social on Tuesday, as well as options to dress down in professional or college sports clothing and a Minute to Win It competition; Wednesday, an academic team meet versus faculty; a 10 a.m. Mass at Triumph of the Cross Church on Thursday and special presentations in religion classes; and Friday, Teacher and Staff Appreciation Day.

“Catholic Central High School, as well as all Catholic schools are rooted in the Catholic faith, with a proven history of academic excellence and commitment to service in our schools, churches and community. A dedicated staff assumes the responsibilities of educating the whole student spiritually, intellectually, physically and socially. There is a history of developing strong leaders,” said Michnowicz.

Bishop John King Mussio Central Elementary School Vice Principal Vicki Nurczyk stated that the “whole idea (of Catholic Schools Week) is to make them (the pupils) understand that the Catholic education is different, unique and creates endless possibilities.”

BJKM will kickoff the week with a pancake breakfast being held today after Mass at Triumph of the Cross in Steubenville.

Pupils on Monday will be “saluting their nation” by dressing in red, white and blue and attending a patriotic prayer service in the morning, said Nurczyk. They also will be creating a prayer chain for military men and women that will stretch around the school’s gymnasium.

Also, Tuesday is Career Day and pupils are encouraged to dress in attire that represents their future career.

An assembly will be held in the afternoon with parents and grandparents speaking about how Catholic education influenced their lives and careers. Pupils will provide the A.I.M. Women’s Center with a baby product, as well.

Vocations celebrated with Mass and an afternoon magic show are planned Wednesday. Other events include Student Appreciation with Mix and Match Clothing Day of Thursday as well as missionary Katie Guesto speaking about her experiences; and Friday, a celebration of teachers and staff as well as a parents’ talent show are set.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and celebrated (Catholic Schools Week) quite a lot. In the past, it’s always made such an impression on the kids,” said Nurczyk.

Wrong for ND to deny health services to non-Catholics

“In a pluralistic society, committed to religious freedom and diversity,” Richard Garnett wrote to justify the Rev. John Jenkins’ request to relieve the University of Notre Dame from obeying a mandate of the Health and Human Services Department, “it is often both wise and just to accommodate religious believers and institutions by exempting them from requirements that would require them to compromise their integrity” (Voice, Dec. 31).

This mandate ordered religious institutions (Catholic churches, grade and high schools which require most students and workers to be Catholic are excluded) to offer family planning services, such as contraceptives and sterilization services, to all their employees covered by their health insurance plan.

Jenkins argues that, since Catholic members of his administration, faculty and students in their private conscience regard artificial birth control, contraceptives and sterilization surgery as gravely sinful, the university should be exempted from following their mandate. Jenkins said that the government could not force the university to violate its private consciences and its Catholic identity because of the separation of church and state clause in the U.S. Constitution.

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The crucial question is this: Do the private consciences of Jenkins and the Catholics at Notre Dame take precedence over the private consciences of Protestant and non-believers who are members of the faculty, student body or staff (notice, most of these people affected are women) who believe that the use of contraceptives and a tubal or vas deferens ligation surgery are morally good actions? How is this dilemma to be resolved?

In an introduction to the 1965 Constitution on Religious Freedom from Vatican II, Father John Courtney Murray, its chief architect, writes on how this dilemma was handled in previous centuries in the Catholic Church by using a double standard: “… freedom for the Church when Catholics are a minority, privilege for Church and intolerance for others when Catholics are a majority. This declaration has opened the way … toward a new straightforwardness between the Church and the world.”

It appears that Notre Dame is invoking “privilege for the Church” when they are in the majority and intolerance for others (Protestants and non-believers). In other words, non-Catholic staff members who need contraceptives or a sterilization surgery and believe in their private consciences that these are morally good actions are treated with intolerance and denied access to these important health services. This action is reminiscent of the Concordats the Vatican made with Italy and Spain in the 1920s to 1940s which stated that Protestants were heretics and had no right to worship in these nations. This Constitution on Religious Freedom corrected this injustice.

Will Notre Dame continue to treat their non-Catholic members with intolerance by claiming privilege and denying them important health services?

In addition, the Catholic teachings on contraceptives and sterilizations are problematical. Many respected surveys over the past 50 years have shown that more than 80 percent of Catholic women of child-bearing years have used or use contraceptives. In the late 1800s, Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote that there are four elements in the acceptance of church doctrines and important teachings: Scripture, Tradition, Theologians and Sensus Fidelium. Certainly, the 80 percent of Catholic women of child bearing age who do not accept this church teaching are the “Sense of the Faithful.” Does this mean that the Catholic teaching on contraceptives is problematical and not authentic teaching? I believe it does.

The Catholic Church says that it is a grave sin to “mutilate” a healthy organ in a human body. In the early 1990s while a chaplain at a local hospital, I called a priest official at the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. I asked if it allowed tubal ligitation if a woman’s life might be threatened by another pregnancy or for other serious reasons. He said that it did if the woman, with a doctor’s diagnosis, had a serious reason for having her tubes tied.

Again, a double standard. The history of the Catholic Church shows that in 1587 Sixtus V’s bull, Un pro nostri temporali munere, reorganized the choir of St. Peter’s so that “castrati” could be members. Castrati are boys who were castrated to preserve their high tonal voice. Church choirs and opera companies utilized these castrati until 1903 when Pius X stopped the practice. At times, more than 4,000 boys in Italy annually went through these dangerous operations. Was not this surgery the “mutilation” of a healthy organ? Certainly!

I believe that the University of Notre Dame has a responsibility to see that the private consciences of non-Catholic staff members, especially women, are respected so that they can receive these very important health services.

The Rev. Edward J. Ruetz lives in South Bend.

Faith-based lessons vital to TCC students

The theme for this year’s national Catholic Schools Week is “Faith-Academics-Service.” These also are words the Catholic schools of Tuscarawas County embrace as they educate students in a faith-filled environment.  

At TCC Elementary, students are taught daily how to live their lives as Christians and how to spread the good news of God’s word.  Students participate in religion classes daily, Mass weekly, and engage in many learning opportunities that allow them to learn and live the Catholic faith.

Principal Theresa Layton explains that these activities are woven into many facets of student life. “Whether it’s a classroom prayer service to celebrate all Saint’s Day, sixth-graders performing a Bible story for younger students, or second-graders sharing Las Posadas with the entire student body, students are learning, living, and sharing their faith each and every day,” she said.

Academics continue to be a strong element of success for TCCES students.  Each year, students in grades 3-6 take “Terra Nova” standardized tests. The scores provide the faculty with information about how students’ academic performance compares with others across the nation.

Proudly, they find that more than 80 percnt of TCCES students score above the national average in all assessed areas. The scores each year indicate that students continue to exceed national standards.  

A new science curriculum was implemented at TCCES this year. Students are more highly engaged in science activities, providing them with increased hands-on, inquiry-based lessons. They are conducting experiments, testing hypotheses, applying new vocabulary and concepts, and learning science in manner that allows them to excel with activities they enjoy.

Students are also participating in a new, weekly Spanish curriculum. Students access Spanish lessons in the computer lab through the web-based Rosetta stone program. This gives younger students a jump-start on learning a foreign language instead of waiting to learn one in later years.  Students are enjoying the self-paced lessons, allowing them to progress at their own levels according to their abilities.

TCCES students recognize that there are many people locally, nationally and globally who need help and prayers. This year, they collected more than 100 jars of peanut butter and jelly for the St. Joseph Parish Food Pantry. During December’s Advent Prayer Service, students collected money to donate to the local Homeless Shelter.

Students also participated in the Reach for the Stars Read-A-Thon during the Christmas holiday through Usborne Books. The reading project enabled them to collect new books to be given as gifts to children in the community. During Catholic Schools Week, students will have a Crazy Sock Day to collect money for the Souper Bowl of Caring in a joint effort with TCC Jr/Sr High to fight hunger.

This year’s kindergarten, first- and second-grade students collected enough change to buy flocks of chicks through the Heifer International Project that works to solve the problem of world hunger. The funds are used to buy starter flocks of chicks so families can have eggs needed for their meals. Since a good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year, some families are then able to sell some of their eggs so to generate an income for the family.

Like all of the Catholic schools in Tuscarawas County, TCCES is a blessing for the community. The parishes, students, families, faculty, and staff are at the core of their success as they continue to thrive in “Faith-Academics-Service.”

Closing of Sacred Heart would be ‘tragic’

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Of course, on Saturday afternoons, I would confess that and other sins, too, in the somewhat daunting confessional. I can still hear the echoes in that nearly empty cathedral, with the afternoon sun lighting up those beautiful stained glass windows.

Seemed like that old-style church had more of a presence of God feel to it than today’s houses of worship.

The high school as we know it was being built during that time, and what a beauty it was. Very modern and state of the art, as I recall. I remember once, after a movie at the Landis Theatre, my friends and I took an unauthorized tour of the partially built school, giving it the highest approval rating.

Later on I would play freshman basketball in the lovely gymnasium. Fell on that vinyl-covered cement floor in that game and thought I was going to die. I didn’t and the floor was eventually replaced with a wooden, more forgiving surface down the road.

In my teen years, that gym would host some of the most popular dances in South Jersey, drawing the top DJs from Philadelphia WIBG fame.

Those Friday night “record hops” gave me some of the most beloved memories of my teen years. The local priests would chaperone, along with a local policeman or two, and the occasional fist fight never really amounted to much. I’m sure that many young romances started in that gym, especially during the ladies-choice, slow dance songs. The boys in my crowd would drink a little pre-dance beer just to get into the “mood” a little quicker. They were mostly the three quarts for a dollar quality of brew.

That hard vinyl floor enhanced the twist and the mash potatoes and great times were what the Sacred Heart dances were all about.

Through the years I attended many great Lions basketball games in the “Den” that would almost have the roof blown off by the ravenous fan base. The Hearts fans were always the most devout in the area and basketball was their other religion.

I coached my son’s CYO boy’s basketball championship game on that gym floor. Beat St. Isidore for the county title that night. One year and done. Retired, Coach Charlie, undefeated, Sacred Heart Gym 1993.

My God, the demise of Sacred Heart High School to me is more than heartbreaking — it would be tragic, simply tragic.

Woman Pastor to Lead Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church

[Editor's note: The following press release was sent by the Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church.]

When Mary Stegink is ordained to the ministry at Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church on Saturday, February 11, she will become the first woman pastor in the 134-year history of the denomination’s regional body, Classis Hudson.  Area clergy and lay delegates unanimously approved her for ordination after a January 26 examination in Wyckoff. The 2 p.m. service and following reception are open to the public. The church is located on Lincoln Avenue at the corner of West End Avenue. The next day at 10:30 a.m., Stegink will lead her first Communion service.          

The preacher at the ordination will be the Rev. Stanley Vander Klay, pastor of Northside Community Chapel in Paterson from 1960 to 1996. Jacqueline Kort, a member of the Ridgewood church since its founding in 1942 and former mayor of Glen Rock, will present the Scripture reading. The soloist will be Camille DeBoer, who sang with Stegink in the Opera Grand Rapids Chorus.The Christian Reformed Church opened the pastorate to women in 1995 following many years of discussion. During those years, theRidgewood congregation pioneered in electing women to the lay offices of deacon and elder. The CRC’s Classis Hudson covers an area fromLong Island to Sussex County NJ.           

Stegink, 49, is a mid-career graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary, located in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  She began studies there in 2005 after raising three children and nearly two decades working variously at a bookstore as co-manager, clerk, community speaker, and evaluator of intermediate and young adult fiction.               

Though this is Stegink’s first pastorate, she led a downtown Grand Rapids church as a seminary intern and has delivered dozens of sermons the past three years as a licensed substitute preacher.  

Husband Jim worked in supply acquisition and maintenance with a Michigan auto parts manufacturer. Joining them in New Jersey is daughter Robyn, a sophomore at Eastern Christian High School in North Haledon. Two adult children, Ryan and Andrea, both live inWhitinsville, Massachusetts.

How much do we believe in abstract art?

There was a time when abstract painting functioned in the homes of the wealthy as a provocation, when certain types of people used to set themselves apart in matters of taste and intelligence by their ability to appreciate marks on canvas that referred to nothing in reality.

Many paid vast sums for such works, mounted them unframed on the walls of their lofts, and drew all kinds of complex satisfactions from seeing their guests not know what to make of them.

Serge, a character in Yasmina Reza’s oft-revived play “Art,’’ is just such a person. He has bought an abstract painting. It is all white. But in it he sees – in the right light, and from the right distance – all kinds of nuances. He wants to show it off to his friends. And in doing so, we’re given to understand, he wants to test them, to dispel niggling doubts of his own – in short, to boost himself.

His friend Marc senses this. Marc finds the painting – and the idea that Serge could have spent a small fortune on it – preposterous. Marc is “one of those new-style intellectuals, who are not only enemies of modernism, but seem to take some sort of incomprehensible pride in running it down,’’ says Serge. The characterization may or may not be fair. But we are left in no doubt that Marc is deeply offended by Serge’s purchase – his little act of faith.

A third character, Yvan – described by Marc as “disastrously open-minded’’ – has no strong feelings either way: He just wants everyone to get along.

Such is the play’s simple yet volatile premise. In the New Repertory Theatre production of “Art’’ at the Arsenal Center for the Arts (through Feb. 5), the play begins with Serge alone onstage scrutinizing his new painting. Facing away from the audience, the painting establishes a kind of barrier between him and us: What is visible to Serge is invisible to us. And there’s the nub of it.

Curiously, “Art’’ is not the only play in town with a three-letter title that begins, when the lights go up, with an actor gazing intently at an abstract canvas that we, the audience, can’t see.

“Red,’’ John Logan’s play about Mark Rothko, presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Wimberly Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts (through Feb. 4), opens in exactly the same way.

The conceit in both cases establishes art itself as a question of belief, something that is visible to some but not so much to others.

“Art’’ is by far the superior play. It traffics in cliches, yes, but it has both compression and candor in its favor, and it is not, finally, about abstract art: It is about friendship.

“Red,’’ which tries much harder to serve as a meditation on abstract painting, is actually a lightly and rather crudely dramatized lecture. Ostensibly, it’s about the tendency of believers to turn into bullies (a tendency that applies in every sphere of life, from economic theory to infant sleep training). But its two lead characters – Rothko and his young assistant – are hard to believe: They feel like ciphers and caricatures.

Still, both plays dare to ask a question that, in any discussion of abstract painting (or, for that matter, theater) should not be shirked: How much are we going to buy into it? How prepared are we to fall under its spell? What sort of believers will we be? How susceptible, how skeptical?

Such questions arise, as I said, right from the outside, when we see, in “Art,’’ the passionate collector Serge, and in “Red,’’ Rothko himself, staring intently at paintings we cannot see. The questions take on added piquancy when we subsequently see the paintings and are forced to acknowledge that there’s really not much to them.

In the case of Rothko’s murals for the Seagram building (a commission around which the action in “Red,’’ such as it is, revolves), we’re dealing with just a few fuzzy shapes in two or three closely related colors. The painting at the heart of “Art,’’ meanwhile, is just a lot of textured white paint on a moderately sized canvas.

Is it empty – as William Hazlitt once reported someone saying of Turner’s seascapes, “pictures of nothing, and very like’’?

Or might it perhaps show a “First Communion of Anemic Young Girls in Snowy Weather,’’ as a 19th-century group of satirists, “The Incohérents,’’ once titled a pure white sheet of Bristol paper they mischievously exhibited?

Similarly, is Rothko’s painting just red paint? Or is it, perhaps, “Apoplectic Cardinals Harvesting Tomatoes on the Shore of the Red Sea (Study of the Aurora Borealis).’’ (The Incohérents again, titling a piece of red fabric.)

The Incohérents were having their fun in the 1880s, before abstract art had even emerged in the West. Today, almost exactly a century after the first abstract paintings appeared in France, Russia, and the United States, nothing could be less controversial than an abstract painting.

More or less everyone loves Rothko. Pollock is an American hero. Ditto de Kooning, Kelly, Stella, and Serra. What was once the most contentious question in 20th-century art is now an old dog with its legs in the air, awaiting an absent-minded scratch.

So there is something belated about the premise of both these plays, which try to generate intellectual heat from controversies that long ago sputtered out.

I’m inclined to like them for this. The truth is, for abstraction and for modernism generally, it’s this very sputtering out that is most disheartening.

When the harmlessness of abstract painting is taken as a given, when the legitimacy of “paintings of nothing’’ is not even questioned, it may be that the art’s potential to transport us is weakened. Our relationship to it becomes, like Yvan in “Art,’’ “disastrously open-minded.’’

“Every work of art,’’ wrote Janet Malcolm, “is vulnerable to the little voice in one’s head that says, ‘But this is ridiculous!’ ’’ The little voice in Marc’s head, in “Art,’’ is particularly loud. And no wonder: His friend has bought an all-white canvas and is being insufferable about it.

But Malcolm really did mean every work of art, not just radically reduced monochromes. Her point applies to literature, to music, and to theater, too. After all, isn’t music – the careful arrangement of particular frequencies and rhythms – a rather ridiculous game, when all is said and done? Why can’t we be content with birdsong, with the whistling wind?

And writing – this strange business of organizing words on a page to create stories, with all their falsely tied up loose ends and tired conventions – isn’t it a bit daffy? As for theater – theater! – why would you pay money to sit in a dark room and watch people who have memorized a script pretending to be “characters’’ interacting spontaneously under lights? Why?

We all have to find our own answers to such questions (and keep on looking for new ones after we’ve found them). In doing so, we may on some days come over a little like Serge: over-zealous, self-righteous, a little too convinced that, by falling for the latest aesthetic fad, we are complying with that great Romantic injunction to “be of one’s time.’’

On other days, we may be more like Marc – who, at one ominous point in “Art,’’ announces, “Culture is something I piss on,’’ thereby echoing not only a famous quote of Nazi origin (“When I hear the word culture, I reach for my revolver’’) but also Andy Warhol, who had his assistants literally urinate on canvas to produce his “Oxidation Paintings.’’

And then, too, there will be many days when we will be like Yvan, not caring too much one way or the other, too preoccupied with the messy realities of life to commit much energy to the distraction of art.

The point is, all art is to some degree a question of belief – belief tempered, yes, by the freedom to doubt, to turn away, to switch off. But belief all the same. And belief, like a pearl, needs the grit of skepticism to activate it.

The irony behind the central argument in “Art’’ is that abstract art originally arose precisely because of a crisis in faith – because artists could no longer believe in the game of illusionism indulged in by traditional art.

In an age of photography and mass reproduction, it no longer made sense, they felt, to be toying with brushes and paint, trying to trick people’s eyes into seeing three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface.

Abstract artists endeavored to be more honest. They rejected the old game of make-believe, and those with a minimalist bent in particular undertook never to pretend painting was anything other than pigment mixed with oil applied to stretched canvases.

In taking this path, abstraction really only established new iterations of the old game. And these new iterations provoked their own new forms of fervor, as well as new manifestations of doubt.

Since the heyday of abstract art in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, when every second painter of ambition seemed to be painting abstractly, the doubters were there, stirring things up. Randall Jarrell, the poet and literary critic, wrote one of the most acute early attacks in the ’60s.

Everything in representational painting, he pointed out, relates to two things at once: the other elements in the painting and the larger world the painting seeks to represent. This duality makes representational painting a many-leveled, extraordinarily complicated process.

A principal source of our pleasure when looking at this kind of traditional painting is that the relationship between what is depicted and how it is depicted is rarely straightforward, wrote Jarrell: “Solemn things are painted gaily; overwhelmingly expressive things . . . painted inexpressively; [the dealer Ambroise] Vollard is painted like an apple, and an apple like the Fall.’’

In abstract art, on the other hand, Jarrell saw “the terrible aesthetic disadvantages of directness and consistency.’’ He called abstract painting “neurotically restricted,’’ a “specialized, puritanical reduction of earlier painting.’’

Listening to Rothko pompously preaching in “Red,’’ it’s easy to sympathize with this view. Ernst Gombrich, the great art scholar, certainly did. In his opinion, abstract art was no more than an extension of the decorative tradition we see in, for instance, Islamic tile work. Claiming more for it required resorting to mystification and dubious metaphysics.

Gombrich’s argument received an eloquent retort from Kirk Varnedoe, the scholar and curator who, just before he died, delivered a series of lectures on abstract art that were subsequently published in a wonderful book called “Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock.’’

Varnedoe reminded us of the incredible complexity of the abstract tradition, its many connections to the outside world and to its own legacy, and its amplitude – an amplitude that made room for wit, subversion, and resonances of every kind.

Nonetheless, one comes away from reading Varnedoe conscious, still, of abstract art’s limits. And those limits are defined precisely by belief.

Belief in art, as the critic James Wood has said of literature, does not have to be absolute, as in religion, where the stakes are much higher (eternal life and all that). One can believe, in deadly earnest, and still be laughing, still be aware of the game. Rembrandt, don’t forget, painted those coruscating late self-portraits with his dress-up box just out of frame.

So it comes down to this: To what extent do we want to play the game and let ourselves be shaken up by art? How willing are we to expose our vulnerable selves, so full of yearning and confusion, to the possibility that we might find peace and order, yes, but also sharpened yearning, italicized confusion, or shattering intimations of our own mortality?

For those of us who love art, whose lives in some ways seem to depend on it, skepticism tempers and rounds out our native susceptibility. Art and life are indivisible, but life is life, and always has the upper hand.

That said, skepticism, just like belief, must have its limits. For the fact remains, as Gaston Bachelard once wrote, that “We can admire more or less, but a sincere impulse, a little impulse toward admiration is always necessary if we are to receive the . . . benefit of an image.’’

ART
At: New Repertory Theatre, Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, through Feb. 5. 617-923-8487, www.newrep.org

RED
Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company

At: Wimberly Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, through Feb. 4. 617-933-8600, www.speakeasystage.com

Try BostonGlobe.com today and get two weeks FREE. Sebastian Smee can be reached at ssmee@globe.com.

Gehlen Catholic celebrates Catholic Schools Week

Gehlen Catholic will join the National Catholic Education Association and schools throughout the Diocese of Sioux City to celebrate Catholic Schools Week (CSW) Jan. 29-Feb. 4, under the theme, “Faith. Academics. Service.”

The week at Gehlen Catholic begins Sunday with the annual CSW Kick-Off Dinner Supper in the cafeteria.

On Monday, the community is invited to celebrate Mass with Bishop R. Walker Nickless.

This year, four generations of the Marcella (Erdmann, ’48) Nemmers family will be gift bearers and be recognized for their leadership and support.

Tuesday is Staff Appreciation Day.

Wednesday is Community Appreciation Day with the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Coffee at 9:30 a.m. and the Peter Gehlen (Legacy) Society Luncheon at noon.

On Thursday, the Family Picnic will be held from 12-12:45 p.m. A special announcement will be held in the Bob Kneip Family Gym at 12:40 p.m.

Friday is Student Appreciation Day featuring Gehlen Catholic dads serving homemade pancakes to students from preschool — 12th grade.

Throughout the week, there are a variety of athletic and fine arts events.

Gehlen Catholic President, the Rev. Kevin Richter, a graduate of Spalding Catholic School, stated, “I have always held, and continue to hold, the conviction that Catholic schools are a tremendous gift and opportunity in passing on our Catholic faith and traditions to our children. Catholic schools provide a values-based education that emphasizes intellectual, spiritual, moral, physical and social values in our students. Catholic schools have a far-reaching impact on shaping the world, whether it is through our student’s support of our parishes, community, local and international missions to our alumni’s chosen ministries years after their graduation.”

“The theme focuses on three priorities that Catholic schools establish that make them stand out from other educational institutions,” according to the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) in a press release.

“Children are taught faith — not just the basics of Christianity, but how to have a relationship with God. Academics, which in Catholic schools are held to very high standards, help each child reach his/her potential,” the NCEA concludes.

2012 marks the 39th celebration of Catholic Schools Week, a joint project of the National Catholic Education Association and the United States Catholic Conference on Bishops.

Gehlen Catholic School is one of 28 schools in the Diocese of Sioux City and 7,378 Catholic Schools in the United States dedicated to educating and preparing students for a Christian life.

The complete Catholic Schools Week schedule at Gehlen Catholic is:

Sunday, Jan. 29

4:30-7:30 p.m. CSW Kick-Off Supper in the Cafeteria. Menu features spaghetti w/meat sauce, garlic bread, lettuce salad, beverage and ice cream. Adults $6; children 5-10, $3; age 4 and under, free. Proceeds used to purchase educational items for faculty staff.

Monday, Jan. 30

8:45 a.m. CSW Liturgy in the Bob Kneip Family Gym

Presider: Bishop R. Walker Nickless

6 p.m. freshmen boys/junior varsity boys basketball at South O’Brien

6 p.m. freshmen girls/junior varsity girls basketball vs. South O’Brien at home

Tuesday, Jan. 31

Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day

3:30 p.m. Deadline for essays for Betty Sitzmann Scholarship

4:30 p.m. junior varsity girls/varsity girls/varsity boys basketball at Spalding Catholic

Wednesday, Feb. 1

9:30-10:30 a.m. Chamber of Commerce Coffee

Noon-1 p.m. Peter Gehlen Luncheon

NWIBA Jazz Band Contest at SIoux City Convention Center, Gehlen Catholic perfgorms at 8 a.m.

3:30-5 p.m. Clover Kids

Thursday, Feb. 2

Cooks Day Off

Noon-12:45 p.m. CSW Family Picnic with a special announcement in the Bob Kneip Family Gym at 12:40 p.m.

4 p.m. junior high girls basketball at West Sioux in Hawarden

6 p.m. junior varsity girls/junior varsity boys basketball at Unity Christian

Friday, Feb. 3

Student Appreciation Day with free jeans day

Student Blessing in the Bob Kneip Family Gym

Dads and Pancakes in the cafeteria

4 p.m. junior high girls basketball at Hinton

4:30 p.m. junior varsity boys, varsity girls, varsity boys basketball at Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn

JVB/VG/VB BB @ MMC

Saturday, Feb. 4

8 a.m. — TBD AAU Volleyball in both gyms and cafeteria.

State Large Group Speech Contest at Spencer

Fox Breathlessly Attempts To Smear Obama As Anti-Catholic

Obama
Admin. Reaffirms Health Care Insurers Must Cover Contraception

NYT: “Obama
Reaffirms Insurers Must Cover Contraception.” From a January 20 article in The
New York Times:

The Obama administration said Friday that most health insurance plans must cover contraceptives for women free of charge, and it rejected a broad exemption sought by the Roman Catholic Church for insurance provided to employees of Catholic hospitals, colleges and charities.

Federal officials said they would give such church-affiliated organizations one additional year — until Aug. 1, 2013 — to comply with the requirement. Most other employers and insurers must comply by this Aug. 1.

Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church had personally appealed to President Obama to grant the broad exemption. He made the final decision on the issue after hearing from them, as well as from family planning advocates, scientific experts and members of Congress, administration officials said.

The rule takes a big step to remove cost as a barrier to birth control, a longtime goal of advocates for women’s rights and experts on women’s health.

[...]

Catholic bishops issued a statement saying they would fight the “edict” from the government.

“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

[...]

The rule includes an exemption for certain “religious employers,” including houses of worship. But church groups said the exemption was so narrow that it was almost meaningless. A religious employer cannot qualify for the exemption if it employs or serves large numbers of people of a different faith, as many Catholic hospitals, universities and social service agencies do.

[...]

The 2010 health care law says insurers must cover “preventive health services” and cannot charge for them.

The new rule interprets this mandate. It requires coverage of the full range of contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Among the drugs and devices that must be covered are emergency contraceptives including pills known as ella and Plan B. The rule also requires coverage of sterilization procedures for women without co-payments or deductibles. [The New York Times, 1/20/12]

Fox
Reacts To Ruling By Painting Obama As Anti-Catholic

Fox Panelists
Use Contraception Regulation To Advance Obama Anti-Catholic Smear. On the
January 25 edition of Fox Business’ Follow the Money, host Eric Bolling
and a panel of guests attacked Obama over the regulation. Radio host Doug Giles
said, “Well, here’s where goofy Christians who voted for Obama … [now] get fish
slapped with the reality of what it means when his policies are implemented.”
Radio host Lars Larson said the regulation is “stealing people’s individual
liberties.” [Fox Business, Follow the Money, 1/25/12, via Media
Matters]

Doocy: With
Birth Control Rules, “Is [Obama] Provoking An Unnecessary War With
America’s Religious Leaders?” On the January 25 broadcast of Fox News’
Fox Friends, co-host Steve Doocy teased an upcoming segment about
the birth control regulation by saying: “The president orders religious
institutions to cover birth control in their health plans. Is he provoking an
unnecessary war with America’s religious leaders? Up next, the bishop leading
the plan to fight back against President Obama.” On-screen text beneath footage
of Obama read, “Religious war.” [Fox News, Fox Friends, 1/25/12, via Media
Matters]

Fox’s
Guilfoyle: Contraception Regulation Part Of Obama’s Alleged “War Against
Religion” And “War Against The Catholic Church.” During the January
24 edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News host Kimberly
Guilfoyle claimed that the contraception regulation was part of Obama’s “war
against religion” and “war against the Catholic Church.” From the
broadcast:  

BILL O’REILLY (host): Catholic Church –

GUILFOYLE: Yes.

O’REILLY: Obama administration –

GUILFOYLE: Yes.

O’REILLY: What’s the beef?

GUILFOYLE: Well,
this part of the whole allegation of the war against religion, the war against
the Catholic Church. This has the U.S. Bishops, the Cardinals, the Vatican very upset
about this. They have been battling with the Obama administration over this
specific rule. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 1/24/11, via Media Matters]

Johnson:
“Why is President Obama Picking On [Catholics] This Way?” Discussing the ruling
on the January 23 edition of Fox News’ Fox Friends, Fox News legal
analyst Peter Johnson Jr. claimed that Catholics might ask, “Why is President
Obama picking on us in this way?” From the broadcast:

DOOCY: OK, so the Catholic Church is being
told you got to provide contraceptives, sterilization, and Plan B.

JOHNSON: Yeah, President Obama, after meeting
with the bishops and after speaking allegedly with Cardinal Designate [Timothy]
Dolan, the new cardinal from New York, has said that the federal government is
going to demand that Catholic universities, Catholic social service agencies,
Catholic institutions other than churches provide drugs that induce abortions,
provide sterilizations, provide contraceptions free, really in violation of
Catholic faith and, really, other organizations and other religious
organizations, it violates their faiths. Some orthodox Jewish organizations,
some evangelical groups have also objected. … So on one hand, you’re saying,
well, can we keep faith but can we keep adherence of the law, and you’re asking
us to choose.

DOOCY: You can’t do both.

JOHNSON: Well, it’s a violation of the United
States Constitution, and there will be a whole raft of lawsuits based on this
incursion. And in an election year, a lot of Catholic voters are going to say
why is the federal government doing this to us? Why is President Obama picking
on us in this way? [Fox News, Fox Friends,
1/23/12]

Fox’s
Tantaros:
The Obama Administration Has Been “Beating Up On Catholics For A Long
Time.” During the January 9 edition of Fox News’ Happening Now, Fox
News contributor Andrea Tantaros claimed that the Obama administration has been
“beating up on Catholics for a long time.” After a clip of presidential
candidate Newt Gingrich speaking at a debate was aired, co-host Jon Scott said: 

SCOTT: Newt Gingrich winning a lot of
applause there. The question that we didn’t hear was George Stephanopoulos,
Andrea, asking whether the state should be allowed to ban contraceptives. What
do you think about that whole issue?

TANTAROS:  Well,
first of all, the fact that the head of the Clinton attack machine, George
Stephanopoulos, is moderating a GOP debate, to me seems ridiculous. And this
question about contraception, this is the new media “gotcha” question, right? They’re bombarding Rick
Santorum with this question, and I would encourage the GOP not to take the
debate on this one. The Supreme Court already ruled on this in Griswold v.
Connecticut. They said that states can’t do this. And that’s what the
candidates should say.

Really, George Stephanopoulos asking about
contraception when we still have high unemployment — it’s absolutely
ridiculous. And the point about the Obama administration — they have been
cutting services to the Catholic Church and have been beating up on Catholics
for a long time. The Catholic Church does a lot of good behind the scenes. They
do a lot of good out there on the streets, and they have cut funding, just
because they don’t agree with their beliefs, some of those beliefs, which I
would point out, the administration espouses itself, like gay marriage. [Fox
News, Happening Now, 1/9/12, via Media Matters]

But
Contrary To Suggestion That Ruling Is Anti-Catholic, Poll Shows Catholics
Support Insurance Coverage For Contraception

Catholics For
Choice Poll Found “63 Percent Of American Catholics” Said Insurance Policies
Should Cover “Contraception, Such As Birth Control Pills.” According to a
2009 poll conducted for Catholics for Choice, 63 percent of American Catholics
said that “health insurance policies — whether they are private or
government — should cover … contraception, such as birth control
pills.”

 

[Belden
Russonello Stewart, September 2009]

And Several Catholic Groups Found “Silver Lining” In
HHS Ruling

Catholic
United’s Executive Director: “There Is A Silver Lining In Today’s Ruling.
Increased Access To Contraceptive Services Will Dramatically Reduce The
Abortion Rate In America.” James Salt, executive director of the group
Catholics United, issued this statement in response to the contraception
ruling:

Although we recognize the authority of
Catholic teaching on the issue of contraception, we also acknowledge that there
is a silver lining in today’s ruling. Increased access to contraceptive
services will dramatically reduce the abortion rate in America. Reducing
abortion should be a goal recognized by both sides of this highly polarized
debate. Furthermore, we look forward to working with the administration in
finding a win-win solution that will both meet the medical needs of women while
protecting the religious liberty of Catholic institutions. [Catholics United, 1/20/12]

Catholic
Democrats President Whelan: “These New Regulations … Will Certainly Help Reduce
The Number Of Unintended Pregnancies” And “Decrease The Incidence Of Abortion.”
Dr. Patrick Whelan, president of Catholic Democrats, issued a statement on the
HHS ruling that noted, “These new regulations, providing for greater access to
contraception, will certainly help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies
across the country, and correspondingly are likely to further decrease the
incidence of abortion.” From Whelan’s statement:

As a physician and pediatric
specialist, I know that news of the HHS regulations today means that more women
will have access to the kind of health care that has been denied to millions
over the years because of the high cost. Over 50% of girls and women who use
contraceptives take them for reasons other than the prevention of pregnancy.
Since the beginning of his first presidential campaign in 2007, President Obama
has emphasized the importance of preventing unintended pregnancy as the most
moral approach to solving the abortion problem. These new regulations,
providing for greater access to contraception, will certainly help reduce the
number of unintended pregnancies across the country, and correspondingly are
likely to further decrease the incidence of abortion.

It’s well-established that over 50% of
pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. Along with other measures incorporated
into the Affordable Care Act, these new regulations are part of a concerted
effort to support women and to help them avoid unintended pregnancy. Our study
of expanded healthcare access in Massachusetts after 2006, published in the New
England Journal of Medicine in March 2010, showed that access to healthcare
(and contraception) is associated with a significant further reduction in the
rate of abortions.

President Obama has grappled with the
deep moral dimensions of these important questions, and I think his
determination to help decrease unintended pregnancies is among the chief
reasons that he supported these new HHS regulations. Having interviewed
Catholic priests who worked with President Obama as a community organizer,
funded by the US Bishops’ Campaign for Human Development, I know the President
cares deeply about Catholic sensibilities. This Administration has expanded
faith-based initiatives through its White House Office of Faith Based and
Community Partnerships, and has provided record funding for Catholic efforts
such as Catholic Charities — over $500 million in 2010.

As a Catholic, I am aware that some
Catholics will hear this news with mixed or negative emotions, including many
bishops. At the same time, we know Catholic women, and by extension their
families, use oral contraception at the same rate as the overall population.
For over half a century, since the issuance of Humanae Vitae, Catholics and
Catholic theologians have taken issue with the Church’s teaching on birth
control.

It is our hope that both the
Administration and the U.S. Bishops’ Conference can come together over the next
18 months to develop policies-perhaps following the “Hawaii model”–
that better address the conscience rights of religious institutions while
allowing women access to contraceptives without cost. Ultimately, the HHS regulations
put the decision of whether or not to use contraceptives at the discretion of
each individual woman and her informed conscience, and this is the ultimate
test of religious liberty and the protection of conscience. [Catholic
Democrats, accessed 1/26/12]

Fox
Has Previously Portrayed Obama And His Administration As Anti-Religion And
Anti-Christian

Fox Hyped
Perry Ad Accusing Obama Of Waging A “War On Religion.” After former GOP
presidential candidate Rick Perry released a television ad in December
promising to “end Obama’s war on religion,” Fox News figures hyped the ad. Host
Bill O’Reilly said during his Fox News show that Perry’s “Hail Mary” ad was “a
smart move,” while co-host Bill Hemmer said on America’s Newsroom that
“some would say” Perry’s ad is “powerful.” During a
broadcast of Hannity, Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson said,
while discussing the Perry ad, that the Obama administration doesn’t “hate
religion. They hate traditional Christianity.” [Media Matters, 12/12/11]

Fox News
Contributor Used Artificial “Christmas Tree Tax” Outrage To Imply Obama Was
Displaying “Contempt For Christianity.” In a November 12, 2011, column on
Newsmax.com, Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce used outrage over an alleged
“Christmas tree tax” to claim that Obama was displaying “contempt for
Christianity” by levying a tax on Christians that she said was rooted in Muslim
tradition.

• In Fact, “Christmas
  Tree Tax” Was Fictional — Fee Was Approved By Tree Industry. In fact, the
  “Christmas tree tax” was invented by right-wing media; the $.15 cent “checkoff
  fee” had long been sought by the Christmas tree industry, who wanted use the
  fees to fund an advertising campaign for the industry. [Media Matters, 11/11/11, 11/9/11]

Fox Launched
Attack On Obama’s Lack Of Easter Proclamation. Fox News figures, as well as
Fox Nation, attacked Obama in April 2011 for not issuing a presidential proclamation
about Easter. On Hannity, Nancy Pfotenhauer, a Republican strategist,
called it “a mistake … it leaves people thinking that he is either hostile or
indifferent.”

• In Fact,
  Presidents Have Not Issued Proclamations About Easter For Over 30 Years, And
  Obama Hosted Easter Prayer Breakfast And Easter Egg Roll. In fact,
  presidents have not released proclamations about Easter since 1980, and Obama
  hosted the first-ever Easter Prayer
  Breakfast as well as the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. [Media Matters,
  4/26/11, 4/26/11]

Gretchen
Carlson: “Some People” Say Obama
Discussing God “Was Disingenuous Coming From A President Who Does Not Go
To Church On A Regular Basis.” On the June 16, 2010, edition of Fox
Friends, after airing a video clip of Obama invoking God during his
speech on the BP oil spill, co-host Gretchen Carlson said, “Did you find
it at all disingenuous — because some people are analyzing that this morning
and saying it was disingenuous coming from a president who does not go to
church on a regular basis.” [Fox News, Fox Friends, 6/16/10]

On Fox, S.E.
Cupp Claimed “Liberal Media” Has A “Comrade” In The WH To “Back Up Their
Secular Agenda.” The April 28, 2010, edition of Fox News’ Hannity
featured a segment that claimed to show, as on-screen text read, “the liberal
media’s bias against Christianity.” Conservative commentator and radio show
host S.E. Cupp said: “It’s the first time [the media] have had a comrade and
ally in the White House to back up their secular agenda. This is a guy who is
very uncomfortable with public worship. He’s always elevating atheism to the
level of Christianity and Judaism and Islam.” [Fox News, Hannity, 4/28/10]

But Obama Administration Has Engaged Faith-Based Communities
And Directed Millions In Stimulus Funds To Religious Groups

Obama
Administration Established The First Advisory Council On Faith-Based And
Neighborhood Partnerships. Obama established the White House’s first
Advisory Council On Faith-Based And Neighborhood Partnerships. The council is
comprised of 25 religious and secular leaders, including seven leaders from
Catholic organizations. In a March 2010 report, the advisory council issued 64
recommendations “for changes in policies, programs, and practices that affect
the delivery of services by” faith-based and neighborhood organizations. [White
House, accessed 1/26/12;
Advisory Council report, March
2010]

Obama
Hosted First Ever Easter Prayer Breakfast And Made Tradition Annual. In April 2010, Obama
hosted an Easter Prayer Breakfast for “Christian leaders from across the country.”
He hosted the breakfast again in April 2011; as a blog post on the Christian
Broadcasting Network’s (CBN) site noted:

Today President Obama welcomed a room full,
an East Room full, to be exact, of Christian leaders for an Easter Prayer Breakfast.

The tradition began last year, when President
Obama hosted the very first breakfast of this kind at the White House.

“I’m going to make it annual, why
not?” Obama said, smiling. “The Easter Egg Roll, that’s well
established.”

The President welcomed the faith leaders
saying some have been extraordinary influences in his life. [White House, 4/6/10;
CBN.com, 4/19/11] 

Obama
Administration Defended National Day Of Prayer In Court. In April 2010, a U.S.
District judge in Wisconsin ruled that the annual National Day of Prayer,
established in 1952, was unconstitutional. The Obama administration appealed
the decision, and in April 2011, a federal appeals court overturned the ruling.
Describing the Obama administration’s decision to appeal the decision, CBN News
chief political correspondent David Brody wrote in an April 2010 post on CBN’s
website:

The Obama administration is appealing the
ruling by a federal judge that decided the National Day of Prayer is
unconstitutional.

You can read the Department of Justice notice
to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals below but let’s be very clear here.
President Obama is a defendant in this case. Hey, conservative Christians how
does that grab ya?

[...]

Look, let me ask you a question. Is there
going to be any conservative Christian leader and/or group that applaud the
president here? I mean this administration DID NOT HAVE to appeal this
decision. You can make the argument that it’s a no-brainer to appeal it but it
wasn’t a given. And let me just add that my guess is many conservative
Christians probably were skeptical that the administration would appeal it in
the first place. So many of his critics are out to get this President
on the faith issue. You would think when he steps to the plate and does the
“right thing” in their eyes they would give him kudos. Not that
the President needs kudos from his critics but if the kudos are not forthcoming
it may speak to the hypocrisy issue a little bit yes?

Look, either way the bottom line is this:
Barack Obama, the President of the United States is defending prayer in the
federal court system. That bit of news should not be lost on anyone. Will the
press releases commending the administration for doing so follow? I would
suspect that if George Bush was President the releases would be flowing.
Conservative Christians may not see eye to eye with the President on many
issues but isn’t holding hands on this appropriate? [CBN.com, 4/22/10]

Recovery
Act Directed Millions Of Dollars To Faith-Based Groups. In a December 2010
article headlined, “Obama’s stimulus pours millions into faith-based groups,” Politico
found in an analysis of Recovery Act
spending that “at least $140 million in stimulus money has gone to faith-based
groups, the result of an unpublicized White House decision to spend government
money, where legal, supporting religiously inspired nonprofit groups.” Politico
further reported: 

In an aggressive attempt at outreach, federal
agencies, in conference calls and online seminars, instructed faith-based
groups on how to apply for the grants, and federal officials sometimes stepped
in when the state officials who distribute the money were reluctant to spend it
on groups associated with churches and other religious establishments.

“Part of our job is to ensure that
there’s a level playing field — we don’t encourage anyone to favor faith-based
groups over other organizations, but we do want to ensure that there’s no
discrimination against faith-based organizations,” said Joshua DuBois, who
heads the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships,
which Bush created and President Barack Obama renamed and expanded. [Politico,
12/3/10] 

Catholic
Charities President On Obama Administration’s Funding Of Religious Groups:
Obama “Took What President Bush Did And Has Expanded It.” From the December
2010 Politico article:

Some conservative critics remain. Jim Towey,
one of the heads of the faith-based office in the Bush years, told POLITICO he
believed the programs would very likely favor groups that backed Obama’s
policies and said that with large federal programs like Head Start, even Bush
had been able to direct only “a nickel on the dollar” to faith-based groups.

Other observers, though, see more continuity
with Bush’s program. Obama’s approach to spending government money on
faith-based initiatives has been “almost entirely identical” to the
Bush policy, said Robert Tuttle, a professor of law and religion at The George
Washington University.

Religious groups that have received federal
funds – some of which have clashed with the administration on other policy
fronts – say the stimulus package embodies the White House’s understanding
of their role in the social safety net.

Obama “took what President Bush did and
has expanded it,” said the Rev. Larry Snyder,  president of Catholic
Charities USA, whose agencies received about $50 million from the stimulus, he
said.

Some of the funding to Catholic Charities
came as the White House bitterly battled the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops on health care reform, which the bishops said would lead to
government-funded abortion and fiercely opposed, and the charity group sought
to hold a middle ground between backing the bill and opposing the
abortion-related measures.

Snyder, who sits on the White House’s Faith
Advisory Council, said that debate never spilled over. [Politico, 12/3/10]

Bishops plan to use London Olympics to renew interest in Catholic faith

By Simon Caldwell
Catholic News Service
MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — British bishops plan to use the 2012 London Olympic Games to renew interest in the Catholic faith, with initiatives ranging from fighting human trafficking and homelessness to promoting youth ministry and ecumenical dialogue.
The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales is also preparing resources for liturgies and holy hours and will post them on the Internet before the July 27-Aug. 12 games.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the bishops’ conference, called the Olympics and Paralympics “a moment of great opportunity for us all.”
“These great sporting events generate all sorts of good ideas and initiatives, particularly for young people, reminding all of us of the importance of good health, the dignity of our bodies, the care of our physical well-being and its spiritual meaning,” the archbishop said in a Jan. 24 statement.
“The example of many who are dedicated to training routines in preparation for these games reminds us of the need for good habits and routines in our own daily lives if we are to make the most of our God-given talents,” he said.
The Catholic Church in Britain has been preparing for three years to seize the opportunity presented by the games to evangelize, said James Parker, the Catholic executive coordinator for the games.
Twenty-four chaplains have been trained for the occasion, and training is also being offered to representatives of more than 5,000 Catholic churches who will organize parish events, such as street parties, during the games.
In London, visitors will have access to two Catholic hospitality centers — one at Westminster Cathedral and the other at St Anthony Parish, the church closest to the XXX Olympiad Stadium.
The Joshua Camp, a tented village for Catholic youth, will open near London’s Olympic Park, to offer catechesis and formation centered around sport themes.
Parker said the church also will use the Olympics to draw attention to a range of social issues, such as homelessness, fair trade and care for the environment, and the bishops intend to use the occasion to promote Catholic teaching on the human body.
Before the Paralympics, an international conference will take place in London on disability, theology and sport, and Aylesford Carmelite Priory will hold a celebration of disabled people.
Many of the church’s projects will be carried out through More Than Gold, a charity made up of 16 Christian denominations, taking its name from the attempts at Christian engagement made at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Its initiatives include the Athlete Family Homestay Program, in which individuals and hoteliers are recruited to show hospitality to athletes and their families unable to afford to stay in London hotels.
Parker said the church will be involved in the 100 Days of Peace initiative, which encourages parishes and schools to promote peace in the 50 days before the Olympic opening ceremony and 50 days after the Paralympic closing ceremony. The initiative will aim to combat gang violence in particular.
At a parish level, Catholics throughout the country will be encouraged to make their presence felt during the games, especially on the route taken by the Olympic torch in the two months before the games begin.
Parishes are being asked to at least offer refreshments to the people who will line the streets to watch the passage of the torch, which will travel within easy reach of 95 percent of the nation’s homes.
Parker told Catholic News Service in a Jan. 27 email that “it will be difficult for the Catholic Church in the future to not take seriously the importance of engaging wholeheartedly with global sporting events.”
“This venture has stirred the Catholic Church in the U.K. to be more than a spectator of the world of sport,” he said.
Parker added: “We hope to bring the presence of Christ into greater play by reaching the 800,000 pupils in our Catholic schools and people within our 5,000 parishes about the goodness of sport, the God-given dignity of the human body, and the untapped talents that lie within each one of us, irrespective of our level of ability.”

 

PHOTO: Louis Smith of Britain performs on the pommel horse at an international gymnastics event in London Jan. 12. The competition was part of the testing program for the 2012 Olympic Games that will run July 27-Aug. 12 in London. (CNS photo/Reuters)

Martin County Community Calendar, updated Jan. 27

Martin County Community Calendar

New Listings

SpringFest Flea Market/Exhibit Show: New Hope Fellowship Campus, 3900 SW Citrus Blvd., Palm City, 8 am-1 pm, Feb. 18.

Introduction To Nature Journaling: Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge and Nature Center, 13640 SE US 1, Hobe Sound, 10 am-noon, Feb. 18. Ages 6+. $3. Reservation: 772-546-2067; info@hobesoundnaturecenter.com.

End Of Year Sale: All Saints Episcopal Church Thrift Shop, 2377 NE Patrician St., Jensen Beach, 7 am-2 pm, Jan. 28. 772-334-0228; allsaintsjensenbeach.com.

Nutrition For Kids workshop: Starbucks Coffee Company at Pineapple Commons, NW Federal Hwy., Jensen Beach, 5-8 pm, Feb. 7. Benefits the arts programs of local schools. 772-692-3031.

“The Rat Pack Now”: Evening of nostalgia with live band. Palm Beach State College, Eissey Campus Theatre, 11051 Campus Drive. Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 6. $25-$30. Ticket: 561-207-5900

LOOKING AHEAD

Special Event Singles Dance: American Legion Hall, 3195 NE Savannah Rd., Jensen Beach, 7:30 pm, Jan. 27-28. Ages 50+. $12. 772-236-9449; britetreasures.com/commodore.htm.

Music For Little People: Rosalind’s Uptown Fitness Studio, Harbour Bay Plaza, 3718 SE Ocean Blvd., Stuart, 10 am, Jan. 27. Ages 8 months-3 years. RSVP: cogsil@aol.com.

Rain Barrel Workshops: MC Extension Office, 2614 SE Dixie Hwy., Stuart. 2 pm Jan. 27; 10 am Jan. 28. $40/barrel. Reservations: 772-288-5654; martin.ifas.ufl.edu.

Unarmed Security Officer Training: 40-Hour Class D License Training. Tactical Advantage Solutions, LLC, 850 NW US 1, Ste. 224, Stuart, 8 am-5 pm, thru Jan. 27. Ages 18+. $100. Register: 772-324-8147; tacticalLEO.com.

End Of Year “Close Out Sale”: All Saints Thrift Shop, 2303 NE Skyview Dr., Jensen Beach, 7 am, Jan. 28. 772-334-0228; allsaintsjensenbeach.com.

Fitness To Feed Hope: Food Drive Plus open house. Bring nonperishable food item. Gold’s Gym, 6067 SE US 1, Stuart, 8 am-noon, Jan. 28. Adults. Register: 772-221-2121.

Pancake Breakfast: All you can eat. Trinity United Methodist Church, 2221 NE Savanna Rd., Jensen Beach, 8-10 am, Jan. 28. $5. 772-334-3404.

South Florida Race For The Cure: Meyer Amphitheater, 104 Datura St., West Palm Beach. 5:30 am, Jan. 28. komensouthflorida.org/2012rftc; 888-470-6374.

Astronomy Night: Lecture, telescopes to view constellations. DuPuis Management Area, 23500 SW Kanner Hwy., Canal Point, 6-9 pm, Jan. 28, Feb. 11. RSVP: 561-924-5310; kkanter@sfmwd.gov.

100 Years Of Cars Show: The Pine School, 12350 SE US 1, Hobe Sound, 10 am-4 pm, Jan. 28. $10. Benefits Patriot Scholarship Fund. 772-675-7005; 100yearsofcars.com.

Author Discussion: Zora Neale Hurston. Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterey Rd., 2 pm, Jan. 28. Ages 15+. 772-221-1403; library.martin.fl.us.

Magic Carpet Ride: Black tie, silent auction, dance, live band. Mariner Sands Country Club, 6500 SE Mariner Sands Dr., Stuart, 6-11 pm, Jan. 28. $375. RSVP. 772-463-4128; vimclinc.net.

Sousa 2012!: Salute to John Philip Sousa. Eissey Campus Theatre, 11051 Campus Dr., Palm Beach Gardens. 8 pm, Jan. 28. $15 matinee/$20 evening. Ticket: 561-207-5900; newgardensband.org .

Beginning Genealogy: Workshop. Trustees Room, Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterey Rd., Stuart, 10:15 am-noon, Jan. 28. Ages high school+. $3-$5 donation. Register: 772-220-1638; mcgsfl@gmail.com.

Jove Comedy Experience: Sketch comedy, improv. Atlantic Theater, 6743 W. Indiantown Rd. #34, Jupiter, 8 pm, Jan. 28. Ages 13+. $15-$20. Ticket: 561-575-4942; theatlantictheater.com.

Arts Crafts Fair/Bake Sale: Local crafters, raffles, hot dogs. Holiday Out Rec Hall, 10820 S. Ocean Dr., Jensen Beach, 9 am-1 pm, Jan. 28.

Atlantic Classical Orchestra: Chamber music series; Maestro Stewart Robertson. Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterey Rd., Stuart. 772-221-1403; library.martin.fl.us. 11 am, Jan. 28, Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio by Shostakovich.

Feb. 18: “Enoch Arden” by Strauss.

Mar. 24: piano quintets by Beach Schumann.

“Cabaret”: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., thru Jan. 29. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

Rockin’ Riverwalk Music Series: Category 5 (Blues) Riverwalk Stage at end of St. Lucie Avenue, Stuart, 1-4 pm, Jan. 29. 772-288-1010.

Brunch Aboard Schooner Lily: With “All Spiced Up” meet the Chef. Stuart Riverwalk Pier dock, 121 SW Flagler Ave. 11 am-1 pm, Jan. 29. Adults. $45. Reservation: 772-324-8025; treasurecoastsailingadventures.com.

Outdoor Market: Sims Creek Antique Mall, 1695 W Indiantown Rd., Jupiter, 8 am-2 pm, Jan. 29. Register: 561-747-6785; simscreekantiques.com.

Brandeis National Committee: Treasure Coast chapter. Bus tour of Jewish Miami w/guide. Palm City Grill parking lot, 3208 SW Martin Downs Blvd., 7:45 am, Jan. 31. Adults. $75. Register: 772-545-8575; sanwith@comcast.net.

Jewelry Making: Council on Aging of MC. Kane Center, 900 SE Salerno Rd., Stuart, 1-3 pm, Jan. 31. Ages 55+. $35-$40. Register: 772-223-7800; kanecenter.org.

A Study Of The Holocaust: IRSC Wolf Center, 2400 SE Salerno Rd., Stuart, 10 am-noon, Jan. 31. Feb. 7. Ages 50+. $60. Register: 772-462-7880; irsc.edu (click Lifelong Learning).

Living Younger Yoga: Kane Center, 900 SE Salerno Rd., Stuart, 9-10:30 am, Jan. 31, Feb. 7. Ages 55+. $15-$60. Register: 772-223-7800; kanecenter.org.

“Chairapy” Yoga: Kane Center, 900 SE Salerno Rd., Stuart, 11 am-noon, Jan. 31, Feb. 7. Ages 55+. $10-$13/class. Register: 772-223-7800; kanecenter.org.

Food Drive: Treasure Coast Food Bank, 1172 SW 30th St., Suite 3, Palm City, 9 am-5 pm, thru Mar 2. 772-219-4454; edwardjones.com.

FEBRUARY EVENTS

Cosmetic Open House: Learn about cosmetic treatments, how to reduce signs of aging. Fier Eye Care Surgery Center, 1441 E Ocean Blvd., Stuart, 6-8 pm, Feb. 1. RSVP: 772-286-0007.

Admissions Open House: Tours, information sessions offered for Lower School programs. Pine School, 1300 E 10th St., Stuart, 8:30 am, Feb. 1. 3 years to sixth grade. 772-675-7017; admissions@thepineschool.org.

Discover St. Edward’s School: For Martin, St. Lucie county parents. Hampton Inn, 1150 NW US 1, Stuart, 7 pm, Feb. 1. 772-492-2367; steds.org.

Painting Ceramics: Stuart Ceramics Painting Studio, 15 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 6-9 pm, Feb. 1, Mar. 7, May, 2, June 6. Ages 21+. $10-$24. 772-287-7000; stuartceramicsstudio@yahoo.com.

Artists Musicians Legal Lecture: Issues tailored to perspective of creative arts people. Courthouse Cultural Center, 80 E Ocean Blvd., Stuart, noon-1:30 pm, Feb. 1. $10-$50. 772-287-6676; martinarts.org.

“Biloxi Blues”: Neil Simon comedy. Barn Theatre, 2400 SE Ocean Blvd., Stuart, Feb. 1-5. 13+. $20. Ticket: 772-287-4884; barn-theatre.com.

BBC History of World War II: “Dunkirk – Deliverance” Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterey Road, Stuart, 10 am, 772-221-1403; library.martin.fl.us.

Feb. 1: “The Road to War”

Feb. 8: “Turning Against the West”

Feb. 15: “Battle of the Atlantic – Grey Wolves”

Feb. 22: “Battle of the Atlantic – Keeping Secrets”

Feb. 29: “Battle of the Atlantic – The Hunted”

Mar. 7: “Battle of the Century – High Hopes”

Mar. 14: “Battle of the Century – Spiral of Terror”

“Writing In The Silence”: Unity of Stuart, 211 SE Central Pkwy., 7-9 pm, Feb. 2, 23. 772-286-3878; unityofstuart.org.

“EZ College Cooking Freshman 101″: Eight cooking classes. Stuart Recreation Center, 724 E 10th St., Stuart. 6 pm, Feb 2, 9, 16, 23, Mar. 1, 8, 15, 22. $40. 772-288-5340; eopila@ci.stuart.fl.us.

Women In Literature Part X: “Astrid Veronika” by Linda Olsson. Hoke Library, 1150 NW Jack Williams Way, Jensen Beach, 2-3:15 pm. Feb. 2. 772-221-1403; library.martin.fl.us.

Feb. 16: “Crow Lake” by Mary Lawson

Mar. 1: “Olive Kitteridge” by Elizabeth Strout

Mar. 15: “Sophie and the Rising Sun” by Augusta Trobaugh

Mar. 29: “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter Sweet” by Jamie Ford

W.E.B. Du Bois – Battle of Ideas: Charles Everett Pace performs as famous scholar, activist, artist. Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterey Rd., Stuart, 6:30 pm, Feb. 2. 772-221-1403; library.martin.fl.us.

3 vs. 3 Basketball Tournament: Martin County Parks and Recreation teen event. Bnner Lake Community Center, 12212 SE Lantana Ave., Hobe Sound, 6-10 pm, Feb. 3. Middle/high school ID’s required to sign in. Pre-register: (772) 469-2801; teens@martin.fl.us.

“Simply Sinatra”: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm, Feb. 3. $40. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.Atlantic Classical Orchestra: Lyric Theater, 59 SW Flagler Ave., Stuart, 4 pm, 8 pm, Feb. 3. $55-$60. Ticket: 866-310-7521; acomusic.org/store/Stuart-Lyric-Theatre.html.

Focus On Foreign Film: Cinema club screens discusses movie. Cummings Library, 2551 SW Matheson Ave., Palm City, 2 pm, Feb. 3, Mar. 2, Apr. 13, May 4, June 1. 772-221-1403; library.martin.fl.us.

Sunset Tour: Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Museum, 500 Captain Armour’s Way, Jupiter. Sunset, Feb. 3, 8, 17, 22. $15-$20. RSVP: 561-747-8380 ext. 101.

“To Benjamin With Love”: Concert featuring John Matz, faculty, students, alumni of The Benjamin School. Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 7:30 pm., Feb. 4. Benefit $50. 561-472-3476; thebenjaminschool.org.

Hobe Sound Festival Of The Arts: 11954 SE Dixie Hwy., 10 am-5 pm, Feb. 4, 5. 561-746-6615; artfestival.com.

Aesop’s Fables: Kids Korner Series. Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., noon, Feb. 4. $12. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

Second City Laugh Out Loud Tour: Sketch, improv comedy. Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 8 pm, Feb. 4. $35. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

Treasure Coast Woodcarvers Show: Juried competition, demonstrations, sales. Langford Park, 2369 NE Dixie Hwy., Jensen Beach, 10 am-4 pm, Feb. 4-5. $0-$4. 772-285-6402; treasurecoastwoodcarvers.com.

Prom 411: Informal modeling, prizes. Dress Collection, 311 E Indiantown Rd., Jupiter, 11 am-4 pm, Feb. 4. RSVP: 561-529-2379; info@thedresscollectiononline.com.

AAUW Northern Palm Beach County Benefit Luncheon: Harvey Oyer, speaker. Hilton Garden Inn, 3505 Kyoto Gardens Drive, Palm Beach Gardens, 11 am social hour, 11:45 luncheon, Feb. 4. $50; benefits women’s scholarships. Reservation: 561-863-1621; aauwluncheon@gmail.com.

MC Fair Exhibitor Registration: In-person registration for arts crafts, photography exhibitions. MC Fairgrounds, 2616 SE Dixie Hwy., Stuart, 9 am-2 pm, Feb. 4. MC residents. Register: 772-220-3247; martincountyfair.com.

Sporting Clay Fun Shoot Fundraiser: Quail Creek Plantation, Okeechobee, 8:30 am, Feb. 4. $100/shooter. Benefits Hibiscus Children’s Center. 772-334-9311, ext. 404.

History Back To Life: Youth program, mini-production. Post Family Park, 15700 SW Warfield Blvd., Indiantown, 1-6 pm, Feb. 4. 772-248-1377; wix.com/r3youthprogram/web.

Irish Comedy Tour: Two comedians, one guitarist. Atlantic Theater, 6743 W. Indiantown Rd., Jupiter, 7:30 pm; 9:30 pm, Feb. 4. Ages 18+. $27-$30. Ticket: 561-575-4942; theatlantictheater.com.

Cambridge Flea Market: Cambridge Club House, 8201 SE Constitution Blvd., Hobe Sound, 8 am-1 pm, Feb. 4. $15/table. 772-545-1923.

Hobe Sound Fine Arts League: Art show. 8879 SE Bridge Rd., Hobe Sound, 10 am-4 pm, Feb. 4.

Fabulous Flea Market: Woman’s Club of Stuart, 729 Ocean Blvd., 7 am-?, Feb. 4. 772-288-3227; womansclubofstuart.

Woodcarving Show: Bocchino Community Center, Langford Park, 2369 NE Dixie Hwy., Jensen Beach, 10 am-4 pm, Feb. 4-5. treasurecoastwoodcarvers.com.

Classical Guitar Concert Series: José Luis Puerta. Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterey Rd., Stuart, 2 pm, Feb. 4. Tickets available Jan. 30 at library only.

Paws and Claws: Eventmakers, 2928 SE Monroe St., Stuart, 4 pm, Feb. 5. Adults. $200-$300; benefits Humane Society of the Treasure Coast. Ticket: 772-600-3211; hstc1.org.

Coastal Lecture Series: Florida Oceanographic Society. Mark Perry on Everglades revitalization. Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterrey Rd., Stuart, 7 pm, Feb. 6, 20, Mar. 5, 26, Apr. 9, 23. 772-221-1403; library.martin.fl.us.

MARS Lecture Series: Environmental issues. Environmental Studies Center, 2900 NE Indian River Dr., Jensen Beach, 7 pm. Ages high school+. 772-334-4643; escmc.org.

Feb. 6: Future challenges of restoring Cypress Creek watershed, Mike Yustin, Environmental Lands coordinator.

Feb. 13: Lighthouses Along the Gulfstream: Past, Present Future, Annie Potts, director of Bahamas Lighthouse Preservation Society.

Feb. 27: Underwater Moments — Bringing the Underwater World into Focus, JD Valerie Gaynor.

Mar. 5: Synopsis of Photo-identification Dolphin Research in Indian River Lagoon, Marilyn Mazzoil, Senior Research Associate, Harbor Branch/Florida Atlantic University.

Mar. 19: The Secret Lives of Goliath Groupers, Sarah Frias-Torres, PhD, Adjunct Researcher ORCA.

Mar. 26: The State of our Local Rivers, Leon Abood, chairman, Rivers Coalition.

Literacy Award Luncheon: Knight Kiplinger featured speaker. Hutchinson Island Marriott, 555 NE Ocean Blvd., Stuart, 11:30 am-1:30 pm, Feb. 6. $75. Adults. Ticket: 772-221-1409; LibraryFoundationMC.org.

Hearts For Hope Luncheon: Speaker, Stuart Woods; fashion show, auction, drawing. Sailfish Point Country Club, 2203 SE Sailfish Point Blvd., Stuart, 11 am-2:30 pm, Feb. 6. $125; benefits House of Hope. 772-286-4673; hohmartin.org.

“Brigadoon:” Eissey Campus Theatre, 11051 Campus Dr., Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 6. $25-$30. Ticket: 561-207-5900; eisseycampustheatre.org.

The Rat Pack Now: Bob Hoose as Sinatra. Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 6. $25-$30. 561-207-5900; eisseycampustheatre.org.

Broadway To Galway: Irish American entertainment starring Ciarán Sheehan, Kimilee Bryant, Heather Martin Bixler. St. Christopher Church, 12001 SE US 1, Hobe Sound, 7 pm, Feb. 6. $25. 772-546-5150; office@stchrishobesound.com.

Nutrition For Kids: Program during the Starbucks and Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce Arts, Coffee, Conversation, and Goodwill event. Complete Nutrition, Pineapple Commons, 2535 NW US 1, Stuart, 5-8 pm, Feb. 7. 772-692-1666.Moonrise Tour: Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Museum, 500 Captain Armour’s Way, Jupiter. Sunset, Feb. 7. $15-$20. RSVP: 561-747-8380 ext. 101.

Art Of The Age The Story Of English: “Masters of Sea and Sail,” film followed by related film on story of English. Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterey Rd., Stuart. 772-221-1403; library.martin.fl.us.

Feb. 7: Riches, Rivals and Radicals – 100 Years of Museums in America

Mar. 6: Thomas Gainsborough 1727-1788

Apr. 3: Buddhist Art – Ajanta Caves in India

May 8: Alfred Stieglitz 1864-1946

Palm Beach Gardens Concert Band: Patriotic salute. Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 7:30 pm, Feb. 8. $15. 561-575-2223; pbgcb@yahoo.com.

“Ask The Experts”: Home Owner Association Seminar. Vista Pines Condominium Clubhouse, 2600 SE Ocean Blvd., Stuart, 9:30 am, Feb. 8 RSVP: 772-426-8156; tseyffart@gsbb.com.

Environmental Stewardship Awards: Keep Martin Beautiful. Piper’s Landing Yacht Country Club, 6160 SW Thistle Terr., Palm City, 6-9 pm, Feb. 8. $45-$65. RSVP: 772-781-1222; keepmartinbeautiful.org.

Painting Minis: Clinton T. Hobart demonstrates “Mini Still Lifes that Sell”. PCAA at the Cummings Library, 2551 SW Matheson Ave., Palm City, 1 pm, Feb. 8. clintonhobart.com.

“Annie”: Musical. StarStruck Performing Arts Center, 2101 S Kanner Hwy., Stuart, 8 pm, Feb. 9-12, 15-18; 2 pm Feb. 11, 18-19. $25-$50. Ticket: 772-334-9311; StarStruckFL.com.

Pinedemonium Music, Food Festival: Local bands, gourmet food trucks. Pine School, 12350 SE US 1, Hobe Sound, 11 am-6 pm, Feb. 11. $10. 772-675-7005; thepineschool.org/pinedemonium.

Christian Singles Dance: Jupiter Elks, 10070 W. Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm, Feb. 11. 30+. $10. 561-972-1872; meetup.com/Christian-Singles-of-Jupiter.

Symphonic Band Of The Palm Beaches: Scholarship concert. Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 7:30 pm, Feb. 11. $15. 561-832-3115; symbandpb.com.

OPUS Dinner Spaghetti Dinner/Concert: Silent auction, raffle, choir. Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2655 SW Immanuel Dr., Palm City, 5-7 pm, Feb. 11. $5-$10. Benefits Outstanding People United to Sing. Ticket: 772-834-1878; opus-mchs.com.

Elvis Impersonator: Darrell Dunhill. Barn Theatre, 2400 SE Ocean Blvd., Stuart, 7 pm, Feb. 11. $25. Ticket: 772-287-4884; barn-theatre.com.

American Heart Association: 2012 Northern Palm Beaches Heart Ball. The Club at Admiral’s Cove, 200 Admiral’s Cove Blvd., Jupiter, 7 pm-midnight, Feb. 11. $350. Ticket: 561-697-6603; sara.mariani@heart.org.

Concert-thon: All day musical performances. Downtown at the Gardens, 11701 Lake Victoria Dr., Palm Beach Gardens, 10 am-6 pm, Feb. 11. Benefits the Grace Notes Music Foundation. Donations. 561-309-8541; GraceNotesMusicFoundation.org.

“For The Love Of Children”: 5K Run/Walk, benefits Children’s Home Society. Carlin Park, 400 S. SR A1A, Jupiter, 7-7:45 am run/walk registration, 8 am 5K run/walk; 7-7:25 am kids 1-mile registration, 7:30 am kids 1 mile; Feb. 11. $10-$25. Register: 561-868-4385; chs5k.org.

Watch A Rising Star: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Silent auction 6:30 pm, dinner/performance 7:30 pm, Feb. 11. $175. 561-242-9468; juniorAchievement.com.

Car Show: 200+ vintage, collectible cars. Witham Field, 2240 S.E. Witham Field Dr., Stuart, 10 am-3 pm, Feb. 12. $4-$10. Registration. Also: Kick-Off Party, 6-8 pm, Feb. 11, Galaxy Aviation Terminal Bldg., Witham Airport. $25. Tickets. 772-225-1961.

Heart Soul Dinner, Jazz: Music of ’30 thru ’50s, gourmet dinner. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 5150 SE Railway Ave., Port Salerno, 6-8:30 pm, Feb. 11. $45. 772-286-5455; stlukesfl.org.

MC Fair Baking Exhibit Registration: MC Fairgrounds, 2616 SE Dixie Hwy., Stuart, 10-11 am, Feb. 12. MC residents. Register: 772-220-3247; martincountyfair.com.

Kane Cabaret Series: Sunday afternoon concert series benefiting the Council on Aging. Kane Center, 900 SE Salerno Rd., Stuart, 2 pm, Feb. 12, Mar. 11. $12-$20. Ticket: 772-223-7800; kanecenter.org.

Slam Breakfast: Knights of Columbus, 7251 SW Gaines Ave., Stuart, 8-11:30 am, Feb. 12, Mar. 4, Apr. 22. $2-$5. 772-286-7507; Wilmafritz@att.net.

Cooking Demonstration: Chef Greg Williamson will share recipes, samples of prepared recipes, answer questions. DD Family Farms, 5059 SW Citrus Blvd., Palm City, 11 am, 1 pm, Feb. 12.

Vow Renewal Ceremony: Unity of Stuart, 211 SE Central Pkwy., noon, Feb. 12. 772-286-3878; unityofstuart.org.

Memory Lane Impersonator Artists: “A Blast from the Past” performance. Grace Place, 1550 SE Salerno Rd., Stuart, 7-9 pm, Feb. 12. Adults. $20. Ticket: 772-528-4074; Thowse@arcmc.org.

Audrey Auld: Tasmanian singer/songwriter; acoustic folk, roots, country songs. Treasure Coast Unitarian Universalist, 21 SE Central Pkwy., Stuart, 7 pm, Feb. 12. $15. Reservation: 772-337-1036; tcuuc.com.

Palm Beach Pops: Salute to Louis Armstrong. Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 12. $75-$85. 561-832-7677; palmbeachpops.org.

Valentine’s Toast At The Top: Lighthouse Museum, 500 Captain Armour’s Way, Jupiter. 5-9 pm, Feb. 12-14. $50 /couple. RSVP: 561-747-8380 ext. 101.

“Love Letters”: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm, Feb. 13. $50. Benefits theater. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

Garden Program: By Tuckahoe Mansion. Knights of Columbus Hall, 7251 Gaines Ave., Stuart, 12:15 pm, Feb. 13. RSVP: 772-334-2584; gardenclubofstuart.org.

La Boheme to Broadway: Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 13. $35-$55. 561-278-7677; SunsetEt.com.

Mensa Testing: Membership test, open to public. Jensen Beach Community Church, 3900 NE Skyline Dr., Jensen Beach, 2-4 pm, Feb. 4. Age 14+. $40. Reservation: 772-463-0495; janice@aposner.net.

Red: Work of abstract expressionist Mark Rothko. Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Rd., Jupiter. Times vary, Feb. 14-26. $42-$50. 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org

Stig Rosen In Concert: Singer performs pop, Broadway favorites. Eissey Campus Theatre, 11051 Campus Dr., Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 16. $25-$30. Ticket: 561-207-5900; eisseycampustheatre.org.

Lighthouse Lectures: Steve Kruspe: WWII Secret Station J. Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Museum, 500 Captain Armour’s Way, Jupiter. 3 pm, Feb. 16. RSVP: 561-747-8380 ext. 101.Thin Mint Sprint 5K Race: Chip-timed race. Carlin Park, Jupiter, 6 am registration 7:30 am start, Feb. 18. $35-$40. Also: Tagalong Trot 100-yd dash for children ages 8 and under; $10. Register: https://register.gorun.org/thinmintsprint. Info: 561-427-0192; gssef.org.

First Communion Time: Door prizes, informal modeling, measuring, trunk show of communion dresses. Dress Collection, 311 E. Indiantown Rd., Jupiter, noon-4 pm, Feb. 18. Ages: 7-9. RSVP: 561-529-2379; info@thedresscollectiononline.com.

Flea Market Exhibit Show: Fundraiser for women’s ministries. New Hope Fellowship, 3900 SW Citrus Blvd., Palm City, 8 am-1 pm, Feb. 18. 772-418-2199; Palmcitynewhope.com.

Miss Palm Beach County Scholarship Pageant: Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 7:30 pm, Feb. 18. $10. 561-254-6727; mspalmbchcounty@aol.com.

Chinese Year Gala and Reception: U.S. China People’s Friendship Association. Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 4 pm, Feb. 19. $10-$40. 561-207-5810;

“La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi: Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 20. $35-$55. 561-278-7677; SunsetEt.com.

Allapattah Ranch Hike: SFWMD leads hike in western Martin County. Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge and Nature Center, 13640 SE US 1, Hobe Sound, 9 am, Feb. 21. Ages 6+. free. Reservation: 772-546-2067; info@hobesoundnaturecenter.com.

Jewels Of The Reef: Hawksbill Turtle of South Florida: Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge and Nature Center, 13640 SE Federal Hwy., 7:30 pm, Feb. 22. Ages 6+. Reservation: 772-546-2067; info@hobesoundnaturecenter.com.

Discover Opera: Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterey Rd., Stuart, 2 pm. 772-221-1403; library.martin.fl.us.

Feb. 22: “Romeo Juliet”

Mar. 21: “Lucia di Lammermoor”

“Barrage”: Music and dance. Eissey Campus Theatre, 11051 Campus Dr., Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 23. $25-$30. Ticket: 561-207-5900; eisseycampustheatre.org.

An Evening with World War II’s famous Band of Brothers: Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 7 pm, Feb. 24. $50-$150. 561-207-5900; wwiifoundation.org/events

“The Sound Of Music”: Full-length Broadway musical production. Hobe Sound Bible Church, 11295 SE Gomez Ave., 7 pm, Feb. 24-25. $5 donation. Ticket: 772-545-1400; masterfulmusic@gmail.com.

“A Tribute to Andrea Bocelli Friends”: Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 25. $35-$45. 561-207-5900; FrancoCorso.com.

Have A Heart Dinner Dance: Sandhill Cove Retirement Living, 1500 SW Capri St., Palm City, 5 pm, Feb. 25. $60; Benefits 4Cs. Reservation: 772-220-1090.

Lundin Kudo Empty Bowls Project: Enjoy soup bread, keep your bowl. St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 623 SE Ocean Blvd., Stuart, 10:30 am-2 pm, Feb. 26. $15 donation. Benefits Treasure Coast Food Bank Mary’s Kitchen. 772-288-2535; somanyemptybowls.blogspot.com.

Copeland Davis: With Indian River Pops Orchestra. Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 7 pm, Feb. 26. $25. 561-207-5900; IndianRiverPops.org.

Spirituality Speaker Series: “God vs. Gay” by Jay Michaelson. Temple Beth David, 4657 Hood Rd., Palm Beach Gardens, 7 pm, Feb. 27. 561-712-5236.

Hello, Dolly! The Movie: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Rd., Jupiter. Feb. 27, 7 pm. 561-972-6124; jupitertheatre.org.

Gloria Steinem: Live telecast, part of NYC-based 92nd Street Y lectures. BallenIsles Country Club, 100 BallenIsles Circle, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 28. $15. Ticket: 561-712-5226; jcconline.com.

Tuesday Nite Big Band: Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Feb. 28. $15. 561-207-5900.

MARCH EVENTS

Arias: Palm Beach Opera. Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm, Mar. 1. $25. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

Atlantic Classical Orchestra: Featuring violinist Elmar Oliveirs. Lyric Theater, 59 SW Flagler Ave., Stuart, 4 pm, 8 pm, Mar. 2. $55-$60. Ticket: 772-286-7827; acomusic.org/store/Stuart-Lyric-Theatre.html.

Bobby Collins: Stand-up comedian. Atlantic Theater, 6743 W. Indiantown Rd. #34, Jupiter, 7:30 9:30 pm, Mar. 2. Ages 13+. $27. Ticket: 561-575-4942; TheAtlanticTheater.com.

Celtic Crossroads: Traditional Irish music, dancers. Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 8 pm, Mar. 2. $40. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

Spirituality Speaker Series: “Here I Am” by Leonard Felder. Temple Beth Am, 2250 S. Central Blvd., Jupiter, 7:30 pm, Mar. 2. 561-712-5236.

Home Garden Show: Vendors needed; exhibitor spaces $400-$500. MC Fairgrounds, Mar. 2-4. Sponsorships available. 772-219-1719; stuartmartinchamber.org .

Le Bal Masque: Greek dinner, auctions, entertainment. Mariner Sands Country Club, Stuart, 6:30 pm, Mar. 3. $125. Benefits United for Families’ Road to Success program. uff.us/le-bal-masque.

Pearls Of Wisdom Gala: MC Library Foundation celebrates 20th anniversary. Sailfish Point Country Club , 1648 SE Sailfish Point Blvd., Stuart, 6:30-10:30 pm, Mar. 4. Ages: 21+. $350. Ticket: 772-221-1409; libraryfoundationmc.org.

“Yesterday, A Tribute To The Beatles”: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm, Mar. 4. $40. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

Piano Men II: Jim Witter, 1970s and 1980s music. Eissey Campus Theatre, 11051 Campus Dr., Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Mar. 4. $25-$30. Ticket: 561-207-5900; eisseycampustheatre.org.

Secret Gardens Tour Kick-Off Party: Sandhill Cove Retirement Living, 1500 SW Capri St., Palm City, 5-7 pm, Mar. 7. $10. RSVP: 772-220-1090.

Angling For Awareness: Inshore trout, snook, redfish and flounder catch/photo/release tournament to benefit Dandy-Walker research. Jensen Beach Causeway, near the pier, 7 am-2 pm, Mar. 10. $20 plus $5 per angler big fish. Pre-registration: 863-956-6993; djouppi.tcb@gmail.com.

Doug MacCraw: Comedy, hypnotism. Atlantic Theater, 6743 W. Indiantown Rd. #34, Jupiter, 8 pm, Mar. 10. Ages 13+. $20. Ticket: 561-575-4942; TheAtlanticTheater.com.

Conservation Program: Turtle research, Inwater Research Group. Knights of Columbus Hall, 7251 Gaines Ave., Stuart, 12:15 pm, Mar. 12. RSVP: 772-334-2584; gardenclubofstuart.org.

“Hello, Dolly!”: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., Mar. 13-Apr. 1. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

Sandra Day O’Connor: Live telecast, part of NYC-based 92nd Street Y series. BallenIsles Country Club, 100 BallenIsles Circle, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Mar. 15. $15. Ticket: 561-712-5226; jcconline.com.

“Breakfast Brushes”: Watercolor class, breakfast; no experience necessary; all supplies included. Fish House Art Center, Studio B, 4745 SE DeSoto Ave., Port Salerno, 9-11 am, Mar. 17, 31, Apr. 14. Ages 18-80. $35. Reservation: 772-343-8189; watercolorgallery.net.

Spring Training Classic Road Race: 5K and 10K road race. Roger Dean Stadium, 4751 Main St., Jupiter, 7:30 am, Mar. 18. $35. Register: springtrainingclassic.com. Also: Cops-N-Kids Fun Run: 6 pm, March 17.

Shop to Give: Lunch event combines shopping, philanthropy for the Library Foundation. Yacht and Country Club of Stuart, 3883 SE Fairway East, 11:30 am-2:30 pm, Mar. 19. Ages 21+. $150. Ticket: 772-221-1409; libraryfoundationmc.org.

The Big Taste: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach, Martin counties event. Evergreen Club, 4225 SW Bimini Cir. South, Palm City, 5 pm, Mar. 20. TheBigTaste.net; 772-283-8373.

Palm Beach International Boat Show: Flagler Dr., West Palm Beach, noon-7 pm, Mar. 22; 10 am-7 pm, Mar. 23-24; 10 am-6 pm, Mar. 25. $0-$14. 800-940-7642; ShowManagement.com.

South Florida Music Fest: Bluegrass, acoustic music. Abacoa Town Center, Jupiter, 1-10 pm Mar. 23, 11 am-10 pm Mar. 24. $20-$30; benefits Healing Touch Buddies. Tickets: 561-744-1760; SouthFloridaMusicFest.info.

Mutt Derby: Fur Seasons, 1310 SW Treasure Coast Commerce Way, Stuart, 8:45 am-12:30 pm, Mar. 24. $10 to race; benefits Humane Society of the Treasure Coast. 772-286-8283; thefurseasonsresort.com.

ArtsFest 2012: Memorial Park, 80 E Ocean Blvd., Stuart, 10 am-5 pm, Mar. 24-25. Donation: $3. 772-287-6676; martinarts.org.

Secret Gardens Tour: Garden Club of Stuart, 10 am-4 pm, Mar. 24-25. $25. Ticket: 772-485-9092; gardenclubofstuart.org.

Our Sister’s Place Casino Night: 3rd Annual, food; fun. Mangrove Bay, 110 Mangrove Bay Way, Jupiter, 5 pm, Mar. 24. Ages 21+. $60. Reservation: 561-744-6997; oursistersplace.com.

John Pizzarelli Quartet: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm, Mar. 25. $50. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

Jay And The Americans: ’60s pop legends. Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm, Mar. 26. $50-$65. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

You Go Girl!: Women’s charity trade show. Frenchman’s Reserve, 3370 Grande Corniche, Palm Beach Gardens, 2-7 pm, Mar. 27. $10. Ticket: 561-747-9550; yougogirljupiter.com.

Every Woman Is My Sister Fundraiser: A celebration of survivors, featuring Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos. Willoughby Golf Club, Stuart, 5:30, Mar. 29. $125. 772-223-2399; jborowicz@safespace.org.

Atlantic Classical Orchestra: Featuring Luis Gomez, Double Bass. Lyric Theater, 59 SW Flagler Ave., Stuart, 4 pm, 8 pm, Mar. 30. $55-$60. Ticket: 866-310-7521; acomusic.org/store/Stuart-Lyric-Theatre.html.

Centerstage: Acts by Mo’s Danceworks, JB4, Jensen Beach High School Choir, South Fork High School Choir, Stuart School of Music; Eileen Hatt Craig Galvin, etc. The Lyric’s Flagler Center, 201 SW Flagler Ave., Stuart, 6 pm, Mar. 31. $60. Ticket: 772-233-2393; connectingmartinkids.com.

APRIL EVENTS

Mark Bittman: Live telecast, part of NYC-based 92nd Street Y series. BallenIsles Country Club, 100 BallenIsles Circle, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Apr. 10. $15. Ticket: 561-712-5226; jcconline.com.

Ballet Folklorico: Mexican dancers, musicians. Eissey Campus Theatre, 11051 Campus Dr., Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, Apr. 11. $25-$30. Ticket: 561-207-5900; eisseycampustheatre.org.

Creative Cocktails Creative Couture: Woman’s Club of Stuart, 729 S.E. Ocean Blvd., Stuart, 5:30-8:30pm, Apr. 13. Ages 21+. $30-$35. Ticket: 772-834-8508; womansclubofstuart.com.

2012 Stuart Sailfish Regatta: Benefits USS Sailing Center, Children’s Museum and Maritime Museum. Stuart Causeway. 10 am, Apr. 13-15. stuartsailfishregatta.org.

Taste of Success International Wine Tasting: Harbour Bay Plaza, 3766 SE Ocean Blvd., Sewall’s Point, 6 pm, Apr. 14. $50-$150; benefits Helping People Succeed Foundation. Reservation: 772-320-0776; hpsfl.org.

MAY EVENTS

Madeleine Albright: Live telecast, part of NYC-based 92nd Street Y series. BallenIsles Country Club, 100 BallenIsles Circle, Palm Beach Gardens, 8 pm, May 3. $15. Ticket: 561-712-5226; jcconline.com.

“Henry And Mudge”: Kids Korner Series. Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 6 pm, May 4. $12. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

“Pippin”: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm May 18-19, 2 pm May 20. $15-$20. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

JUNE EVENTS

“Bye Bye Birdie”: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm, June 29-30. $15-$20. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.

JULY EVENTS

“Willy Wonka Jr.”: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E Indiantown Rd., 7:30 pm, July 27-28. $15-$20. Ticket: 561-575-2223; jupitertheatre.org.