Stories, ukuleles will fill holiday program | Sonora / Tuolumne News ...

Ukuleles and story-tales will usher in the holiday season when Delta Kappa Gamma hosts its fourth annual community holiday show for families from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Stage 3 Theatre in Sonora.?

?Santa?s Gone Hawaiian!? will feature storyteller B.Z. Smith and Peg Reza with her Blue Shoes Auxiliary Ukulele Orchestra of Columbia.?

The wintery family concert is a benefit for ?The Read To Me? program, which provides a gift for family reading to every new baby born at Sonora Regional Medical Center. This year the event will also serve as a food donation drive for the Mother Lode Food Project.?

?We?d like show attendees to bring a non-perishable food item on the day of the show,? said Judy Hodges, a Delta Kappa Gamma member and chairwoman of the holiday show project.

?This is our fourth year for the show,? Reza said. ?We have a lot of fun and so do the families.??

Her band, the popular ukulele orchestra, will lead familiar holiday and winter songs while Smith shares stories and poems of the season. ?

?While we all have a good time, we can also raise funds for one important cause and bring in food donations for another,? said Smith, who also is a Delta Kappa Gamma member. ?And the crowd has grown. I start to get phone calls about the show in mid-November.??

The program offers about 40 minutes of storytelling and singing, followed by a brief intermission when cookies and juice are served. Then the program continues with a few more holiday selections.?

?It helps everyone if the kids get a little stretch in the middle,? Smith said.?

There will also be a family-friendly raffle during intermission.? From a Twain Harte Tree Farm Christmas tree? to rides on ?Santa?s Express Train? at Railtown 1897 Historic Park and a plethora of toys and activities, all of the prizes are planned for families and children.?

?And Peggy has donated a bright green ukulele to the raffle,? said Willow Thorpe, another DKG member and one of the project?s committee members.

?Our hope is to bring everyone into the holiday season with good cheer and a bright memory,? said Smith, Sonora?s longtime storyteller. ?

Both Smith and Reza bring rich experience and lots of performance years to this show.?

Smith is a nationally recognized storyteller, who won the National Storytelling Network?s 2011 Oracle Award for the Pacific Region.?

Reza is one of California?s premiere ukulele performers. She?s been a professional musician since her teens, but picked up the ukulele as her lead instrument about 10 years ago.?

?The uke has a bright, happy sound,? she said. ?It?s not surprising that so many people are ?Ukeing It Up? for a hobby these days.??

Reza has approximately 60 ukulele students of all ages in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties. A popular instructor at Asilomar?s annual West Coast Ukulele Retreat and at Camp Oo-Koo-Lay-Lay, held each year in Pinecrest, this year Reza also joined Central Sierra Arts Council?s roster of Artists-in-the-Schools where she now offers a ?Learn the Ukulele Residency? for grades four and up.

Tickets for ?Santa?s Gone Hawaiian!? are $5 for everyone age 3 and up. Younger children are free, and do not require a ticket, but a canned food donation would be helpful, Smith said.?

Adults are welcome to attend with our without a child.?

?It?s just plain fun, no matter what your age,? Reza said.?

Advance tickets can be purchased at Mountain Bookshop in The Junction shopping center or at the Stage 3 Theatre Box office at 208 S. Green St.?

For the last two years the show has hit its maximum attendance of just under 100.?

Any unsold advance tickets will be available at the door, but advance purchase is highly recommended.?

?We really encourage people to get their tickets early,? Hodges said. ?As our audiences have grown, lots of people are there with their tickets in hand. We?d hate to have to turn anyone away.? ?

?The Read To Me? program of Tuolumne County?s Iota Epsilon Chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International is a 26-year old family literacy program.?

?The Tuolumne County members of Delta Kappa Gamma provide each new baby born at Sonora Regional Medical Center with a book-bag. They give books to nearly 60 babies and their families each month. The book bags include a children?s book, a book authored by Delta Kappa Gamma members about the importance of family reading, and a bib with the ?Read-To-Me? bear printed on it.?

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International includes many active teachers, retired teachers and professional women whose careers support education.?

For more information on DKG, visit www.dkg.org. ?

In addition, Ellen Beck and Susan Mundy, founders of the Mother Lode Food Project, will be on hand to fill their bright green donation bags and to answer questions about how the group is serving needy families in our community.?

For more information on ?Santa?s Gone Hawaiian,? call Smith at 532-7697 or visit www.stage3.org.?

Source: http://www.uniondemocrat.com/News/Entertainment/Stories-ukuleles-will-fill-holiday-progra

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