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Saturday, Jan. 19

Book signing: The Arts Center @ 319 (319 Main St., downtown Smithfield) will host a book signing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. featuring Smithfield authors Doris Gwaltney and W. Michael Farmer. Copies of their recent works will be available for purchase. Original poems and stories by Gwaltney, Farmer and other members of the Isle of Wight Writers Group are on display at The Arts Center through Friday, Feb. 8.

 

Sunday, Jan. 20

Banquet cancelled: The PDCCC Hurricanes’ 2019 First Pitch Banquet, initially scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 20, has been cancelled until further notice.

 

Friday, Jan. 25

Mike Evans and The Band-It Band will perform from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the club house, 140 Manning Road, Suffolk. There is no admission charge. Donations to the band go in the tip jar, so please give generously. Soft drinks, BBQ, hot dogs, snacks, and desserts will be available for purchase. For more information, call George Fowler at 617-5955.

 

Saturday, Jan. 26

Old-Fashioned Country Breakfast: This will be served from 7 to 10 a.m. by the Smithfield Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8545, 223 Washington St., across from the library and YMCA. The menu features scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits, gravy, hash browns, corn bread, fried salt spot and mixed fruit. Coffee and juice are included with a $7 donation. Omelet to order is an additional $2. Children age 6-12 are $4 and children under 6 eat free. All proceeds go to support the many activities and programs of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8545 in Smithfield.

Snowy creek: Create a painting with oil paint and palette knives at The Arts Center @ 319 (319 Main St., downtown Smithfield, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with instructor Barbara Lively Mastaglio. This is a make-it-and-take-it three-hour workshop for students ages 16 and up of all skill level. The cost is $55 for Isle of Wight Arts League Members and $65 for non-members, plus a materials fee of $18, which covers canvases, paint and the use of all tools provided by the instructor. Register by Thursday, Jan. 24 to reserve your space. For more information or to register, call 357-7707 or email info@smithfieldarts.org.

 

Sunday, Jan. 27

IOW Historical Society: The group will meet at 2 p.m. in the Ruritan Club, 17011 Courthouse Highway, Guest speaker will be Justin A. Sarafin, statewide director of Preservation Initiatives and Engagement at Preservation Virginia. He will highlight endangered historic sites here in Isle of Wight County. For information, contact Carolyn A. Keen at vahistorichouses@aol.com or Albert Burckard at 613-6183.

In search of the Lost Colony: At 2 p.m., Nicholas Luccketti, principal investigator and archaeologist of the James River Institute for Archaeology and first president of research for the First Colony Foundation, offers tantalizing clues recently unearthed as to the whereabouts of one of history’s long-standing mysteries — the possible relocation of the Roanoke settlers of the 1585 Lost Colony to a site in Eastern North Carolina called “Site X.” This lecture will be in the Isle of Wight County Museum, 103 Main St., Smithfield. For details, call 356-1223 or visit www.historicisleofwight.com.

 

Tuesday, Jan. 29

Become a Master Naturalist: The Virginia Master Naturalists – Historic Southside Chapter for 2019 is sponsoring the course. There are 27 hours of classes in ichthyology, botany, entomology, ornithology, forestry, etc. in nine 3-hour lectures at the Isle of Wight Cooperative Extension office. There are also 13 hours of field trips in various swamps, forests, beaches, etc. All classes are taught by career professionals, mainly VDGIF game wardens, fisheries biologists, forest managers, etc. The classes, much less the field trips, feature handling of live specimens and field samples. Tuition is $125 per person or $190 per couple, and includes many field guides in the various disciplines. The entire program is run out of Virginia Tech. To sign up or get more information, contact the Virginia Cooperative Extension Office at 365-6261.

 

Thursday, Feb. 14

Sweetheart dinner: The Airfield 4-H Conference Center will have a Sweetheart Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Special music by Rick Bozart. The cost is $49.95 per couple. Choice of two entrées. Reservations are required. Deadline is on Thursday, Feb. 7.

Small Business Development Consultations: Free one-hour sessions with Jim Carroll from the Small Business Development Center will take place in IOW Chamber office, 100 Main St. Smithfield. These are on the second Thursday of each month. Call 357-3502 or email chamber@theisle.org for an appointment from 9 a.m. to noon.