Super Saturday at the Center

Events for the history buff, the arts lover, and the theatre patron are planned for Saturday, February 28, at the Sautee-Nacoochee Center.

Super Saturday begins at 8am with Simply Breakfast -- all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausage, and a beverage. Breakfast is $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 6-12, and free for children under 6. Reservations are not required.

After breakfast, you can participate in the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association's "Raise the Roof." The SNCA is restoring an 1850's slave cabin, and will be selling hand-split oak shakes to cover the roof of the cabin. Each shake is $10 and your name will be commemorated on a specially created work of art. There will be folk life demonstrators, folk musicians, and tours of the restoration site throughout the morning, as follows:

• 9am - Bob Slack demonstrates riving (splitting) shingles with traditional tools while local musicians keep time to the whack of the maul (wooden mallet) and crack of the froe (metal splitting wedge) with lively tunes
• 10am - Mike Craven demonstrates folk pottery techniques
• 11am - Dr. Tom Lumsden will lead a history walk of the Ceremonial Stone Circle on Alec Mountain. Meet at the Community Hall for an introduction.

On Saturday afternoon, you can view the new "Fiber Arts" exhibit in the Center Gallery, enjoy a fiber art demonstration, get in on the action at the Artists' Trading Card Swap, and meet the artists during the Gallery Reception. The "Fiber Arts" exhibit features the work of the local Fiber Soup Group artists Lynda Doll, Jane threlkeld, Beverly Mannes, Denise Hopkins, Lucia Scroggs, Betty Cooper and Suzy MacKay. Collages by Kathy Whitehead and Nancy Hicks will also be on display.

• 3 - 5 pm - Fiber art demonstration by Marilyn Wall and Martine House
• 4 - 6 pm - Artists' Trading Card Swap
• 5 - 8 pm - Gallery Reception
  

Finally, plan to stay for the Playwright's Showcase. The SNCA will present staged readings of the three winners from their One Act Play Contest, chosen by the Center's Theatre Committee as part of a national contest designed to nurture, support and encourage the development of playwrights. The winning plays are: Jon Dahlstrom's The Girl Who Walked with Music, Tim Quigley's 'Twas the Night Before a Christmas Carol, and Maia Akiva's Me. Both Mr. Dahlstrom and Mr. Quigley are from the Dahlonega area, and Ms. Akiva is originally from Israel and now resides in Los Angeles.

Attendees will have an opportunity to hear original work and to participate in audience feedback with the playwrights after the readings. Tickets are $5 each (+ tax) and are available online at www.snca.org or by calling the Center at 706-878-3300.

Winter Pottery Fest February 14 - 16

The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia and "Ladies of the Lake" present their second annual Winter Pottery Fest to celebrate a craft that has thrived in region for more than 200 years.

The tour begins at the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia, located on Hwy 255 just north of the junction with Hwy 17. Exhibits and videos show how early settlers shaped earth and water into vessels and the evolution of pottery through many generations. Several folk potters will be demonstrating at the museum.

Visitors can follow Hwy 255 north and turn on Hwy 197 toward Lake Burton and find more demonstrating artists at Hickory Flat Pottery, Cottage Cottage Furniture and Burton Gallery Emporium.

For more information www.snca.org

CHEROKEE PRESENTATION AND NATIVE AMERICAN LECTURE

Interested in learning local legends about Sautee, Nacoochee, Yonah, and the way the Indians of the White County area lived? Demonstrations, talks and myths about local Native American heritage will be presented on February 17 at 12 noon in the chapel at Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, GA.

White County had one of the largest American Indian settlements in North Georgia prior to colonial settlement. Speakers include Gracie Schwartzman, Mary Geidel, and Jill Hazen from the Sautee-Nacoochee Center; Donna Redfeather, Tina Shelton of Women of Heart, Kerry Marsh, and Kelly Wells playing Native American Flute.

This Cherokee presentation is sponsored by the Sautee-Nacoochee American Indian Conservancy Trust, Yonah Art Guild and Truett-McConnell College Art Department. For more information, call 706-969-1446 or 706-896-1060.