Editorial

Every Monday

Learn to line dance!

Learn to line dance every Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Allemande Hall, located at 7400 Standifer Gap Road in Chattanooga. No partner required or experience necessary. The group dances to all genres of music including pop, hip-hop, country and more. The cost is $7 per person. For more information, contact Vicki Pierson at www.linesinmotion.net or 423-309-6842.

Now through April

Foster and adoptive parent training

Centerstone in Hamilton County has announced the new set of dates for their Parents as Tender Healers certification courses, classes the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services require all potential foster and adoptive parents in the state complete. The 12 courses, which will be held in the Centerstone offices at 6110 Shallowford Road, Suite B, will take place every Tuesday evening beginning January 29 and ending in April. PATH is designed to equip parents with a fundamental knowledge and understanding of the child welfare system, effective discipline, first aid and CPR, medication administration and other physical and emotional needs their adoptive or foster children might have. Those interested in additional information or registering for courses may contact Michelle Snow, Centerstone Foster Care Coordinator, at 423-710-5843 or michelle.snow@centerstone.org.

Beginning Friday, February 8

Ensemble Theater of Chattanooga presents “The Pillowman”

Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga will present the black comedy “The Pillowman” as the second production in its 2013 season. The production runs February 8-24. Performance times are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. All performances will be held at the theatre’s space inside Eastgate Town Center, located at 5600 Brainerd Road. “The Pillowman” focuses on the story of Katurian Katurian, a writer living in an unnamed totalitarian state. In an interrogation room, the audience learns of a series of child murders that bear a striking resemblance to some of Katurian’s stories. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at www.ensembletheatreofchattanooga.com, by phone at 423-987-5141, or at the door beginning one hour before each performance. Doors open 30 minutes before show time. Free parking is available at Eastgate Town Center.

Friday, February 8

Cocktails for Conservation

Guests are invited to spend an evening at the Chattanooga Zoo enjoying cocktails, light hors d’oeuvres and up-close animal encounters. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Zoo’s conservation projects including the breeding of Hellbenders, the largest salamanders in North America, and Kihansi Spray Toads, a species of toad extinct in the wild. In addition, monies raised will be used to support the Zoo’s Conservation Outreach Group as well as the Zoo’s “Species Survival Plans” for critically endangered animals.  Tickets are $30 a person, and guests must be 21 or older to attend. To purchase tickets, call 423-697-1319 or visit www.chattzoo.org.

Saturday, February 9

Free winter workshop: Hiking Day at Outdoor Chattanooga

Outdoor Chattanooga’s next free winter workshop will be a Hiking Day beginning at 10 a.m. at Outdoor Chattanooga, located in Coolidge Park. Representatives from several local hiking groups will be there to guide attendees to this region’s favorite hiking spots. Jeffrey Hunter of Tennessee Wild will do a short presentation titled “What’s in Your Daypack?” at 11 a.m. At 1 p.m., they’ll offer free public guided hikes on Moccasin Bend’s Blue Blazes Trail and a guided introduction to Stringers Ridge. No preregistration is necessary. 

Sunday, February 10

Learn chocolate art

Life Care Center of Collegedale invites the community to “Chocolate Art: The Way to Your Heart” at 2:30 p.m. The facility’s new full-time pastry chef, Emily Stone, will demonstrate how to make different chocolate concoctions, which will be available for tasting. The event is free. Life Care Center of Collegedale is located at 9210 Apison Pike.

Monday, February 11

Soul-to-Soul: Yiddish & African-American music group

to perform at Southern Adventist

The popular musical “Soul-to-Soul: Yiddish and African-American Music Meet in a Celebration of Two Cultures” will be performed at Southern Adventist University at 7:30 p.m. in the Iles P.E. Center. The event is open to the public. Tickets, available at the door, will be $10 for adults and $20 families. Created and directed by Zalmen Mlotek, artistic director at the National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene, “Soul to Soul” is comprised of Broadway veteran Elmore James, singer-actor Tony Perry, and Israeli singer Magda Fishman. Through the musical performances, audiences learn the connections between African American and Yiddish music and gain insight into the struggle for freedom found in each culture’s experience. 

Tuesday, February 12

Young Women’s Leadership Academy

Odyssey 2013 Luncheon

Individual tickets for the Young Women’s Leadership Academy Foundation’s annual fundraiser and luncheon, Odyssey, are available for purchase. The event will take place Tuesday, February 12 at noon and will be held at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Odyssey 2013 will feature Nashville-based recording artist and author Jimmy Wayne as the speaker and entertainer. Wayne is the author of “Paper Angels” and the founder of the nonprofit, Project Meet Me Halfway. Individual tickets are seventy-five dollars and can be purchased by visiting www.cglaonline.com and clicking the Odyssey 2013 tab. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. For more information on tickets or sponsorship opportunities, contact Shawanda Mason at smason@ywlaf.org or 423-468-4105. 

Life in China today

Area residents are invited to the Elder Scholars meeting in the Lookout Mountain Room at the UTC University Center at 1 p.m. The scheduled speakers are Meili Niu and Sam Speed. Meili and her husband live in China. The couple, here to visit Speed’s family, will be discussing what it’s like to live and work in China in the 21st Century.

Get Fresh

“Fresh,” an acclaimed documentary featuring local and other sustainable food luminaries, will be shown at Barking Legs Theater, located at 1307 Dodds Avenue, at 6 p.m.