CONWAY — The community is invited to celebrate the holiday season with the Conway Symphony Orchestra Guild at its annual Nutcracker Sweets event Saturday.
The special pre-concert event for families will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday in Rooms 111-113 of the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center at the University of Central Arkansas, prior to the orchestra’s Christmas concert, set to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the nearby Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for parents — and grandparents — to take their children and grandchildren for a special, festive night out during the holiday season,” said Beverley Freiley, CSO Guild president. “I am bringing my two grandsons, who are 8 and 4. They love it every year.
“We have permission to send information home with the students in the Conway School District, so parents will be made aware of this special opportunity for the children.”
Freiley said the event will feature a variety of activities, including storytellers Mary Mosley, Margaret Palmer, Richard Clark and Joyce Fiddler, who will tell the tale of Clara and the Nutcracker.
“We will have six or seven craft stations where children can make Christmas ornaments, nutcrackers, Mouse King swords, crowns and other things,” Freiley said. “There will also be Nutcracker Sweets coloring books.
“The children will have an opportunity to visit with the ballerinas and CSO music director Israel Getzov,” she said. “There will be plenty of photo opportunities, so parents and grandparents should bring their cameras.”
Freiley said there will also be a drawing for “Sir Reginald,” a nutcracker dressed especially for the event with a red velvet cape made by Suzann Waggoner, an at-large member of the CSO Guild’s board of directors.
“I’ve done this for several years,” said Waggoner, who is also a local artist and a member of the Mid-Southern Watercolorists and the Conway League of Artists.
“I tell the parents, or grandparents, that the cape is not washable and the nutcracker is not a toy, but I’ve often seen kids who win it go flying through the lobby with it,” Waggoner said, smiling. “It normally takes 20 to 24 hours for me to make that cape.”
Refreshments will be served at the event and will include cookies, lemonade and water.
Tickets for Nutcracker Sweets are $5 for kids and free for an accompanying adult.
“This does not include a ticket to the concert,” Freiley said. “Concert tickets are sold separately.”
To make reservations for Nutcracker Sweets, call (501) 269-1066 or purchase tickets online at conwaysymphony.org. Patrons will not receive a paper ticket, but their names will be on a registration list at the door.
“The Conway Symphony Orchestra Guild exists solely to raise funds for the orchestra and to raise awareness in the community of our wonderful orchestra,” Freiley said, noting that Nutcracker Sweets is not a fundraiser but a “public service” event. Fundraisers include the guild’s designer house and Jazz It Up events, held in alternating years.
“Our motto is ‘Keep the Music Playing,’” Freiley said.
Other members of the guild board include Mary Mosley, acting vice president; Carla Jones, secretary; Patsy Desaulniers, treasurer; Margaret Palmer, immediate past president; and Bonnie Stidham, Pat Baker, Joyce Miller, Linda Briggler, Mike Binko and Sarah Morse, members-at-large.
The Conway Symphony Orchestra’s holiday concert, A Classic Christmas, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday following the Nutcracker Sweets.
“This Christmas, we’re focusing on your favorite traditional holiday tunes performed with energy and excellence by the CSO,” Getzov said. “Vocalist Suzanne Bannister will join the orchestras, plus brand-new selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker with the Arkansas Festival Ballet. This might just be the perfect holiday concert.”
Concert tickets start at $5 for children and all students with a valid ID, with a group rate of $15 for 10 or more. Adult tickets start at $20, with gold seats at $30 and platinum at $38. Tickets may be purchased online at conwaysymphony.org. For more information, call (501) 269-1066.