CALENDAR: How you can honor veterans today and beyond

Staff reports  | While North Charleston will have a tribute to veterans starting at 10:30 a.m. today at Park Circle, there are ways you can pay your respects to service over the next few weeks.

In North Charleston today, Mayor Keith Summey and members of city council will meet at Park Circle for an annual Veterans Day tribute.  Keynote speaker for the event is retired Amr Force Col. John Dorrian, who currently serves as vice president for communications and Marketing for The Citadel.  More.

More than 500 veterans are expected to attend the event, which will last until about 1 p.m.  For the ninth consecutive year, the Department of Defense and the Veterans Day National Committee has selected North Charleston as a regional site for Veterans Day 2019, according to a press release.  Lunch for all event attendees will be provided immediately following the ceremony with The Old Tickers performing live music during the luncheon. 

Other ways you can celebrate the service of veterans:

Art show: Now through Dec. 22, the City Gallery at Waterfront Park in Charleston will showcase We The People: Portraits of Veterans in America by Charleston artist Mary Whyte.  Over the last few years, she has traveled across the country to depict what being a veteran truly means through water color.

VIDEO: Whyte was profiled Sunday on CBS Sunday Morning.

Free admission:  Veterans on Nov. 11 receive free admission to the Charleston Museum and the Joseph Manigault House.

Flag display:  Through Nov. 12, Flags for Heroes will be at the Patriot Point Naval and Maritime Museum. The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club is showcasing hundreds of American flags in front of the USS Yorktown. 

Also on the calendar:

Holiday Festival of Lights:  Opens 5:30 p.m., Nov. 15 to Dec. 31, 2019, James Island County Park.  Now in its 30th year, the Holiday Festival of Lights is open every evening, rain or shine, with closing set for 10 p.m., except Fridays and Saturdays, which close at 11 p.m.  The show returns to make merry magical memories with its vibrant light show is one of Charleston’s most cherished holiday events, featuring an estimated two million dazzling lights.  More.

Annual Redux benefit:  8 p.m. Nov. 16, 1056 King Street, Charleston.  Redux Contemporary Art Center will hold its 17th silent and live auction on Nov. 16 to promote contemporary art and culture in Charleston and to continue to provide opportunities for emerging visual artists.  The event is the organization’s primary, annual fundraising event. Funds raised at the Redux auction support for comprehensive exhibitions, education and outreach programs, and robust studio program.  Attendees will be able to bid on art by 150-pus artists and enjoy good food, an open bar and dancing with tunes from a special guest DJ. Tickets start at $60. More info.

Coming to the Gaillard.  Check out these awesome coming events at the Charleston Gaillard Center, 95 Calhoun St., Charleston:

Goo Goo Dolls: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 17.  Charleston is one of 20 cities in which the band is performing on its tour in support of its 12th studio album, Miracle Pill.  Formed in Buffalo, N.Y., during 1986 by John Rzeznik and Robby Takac, Goo Goo Dolls quietly broke records, contributed a string of staples to the American songbook, connected to millions of fans, and indelibly impacted popular music for three-plus decades. Tickets start at $25.  More.

Rach 2: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 22 and 23.  The Charleston Symphony Orchestra will present Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, which may have been early music therapy for the composer.  The Gaillard explains: :”Rachmaninoff was in the midst of a four-year long depression, caused by the near-universal excoriation of his first symphony and the death of his musical idol, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He found the treatment so helpful that he wrote Piano Concerto No. 2 in only a matter of months, and even dedicated it to the doctor who treated him.” Tickets are $25 to $114.

CofC Orchestra:  7:30 p.m., Nov. 25.  The College of Charleston Orchestra will perform a fall concert conducted by Yuriy Bekker. The program will include Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s final scene from “Eugene Onegin)”, J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, Astor Piazzolla’s Invierno Porteño and Primavera Porteña from “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires,” Modest Mussorgsky’s “Night on the Bald Mountain,” and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnole.” Free, with a suggested donation of $20.  More.

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas:  7:30 p.m., Nov. 26. You can celebrate 35 years of holiday magic as the groups bring its annual holiday tour to fans throughout the country. Experience the performance of the #1 Christmas music artist in history and for the first time ever, hear the entire album that started it all, LIVE!”  Tickets are $49.50 to $89.50.

Early morning bird walks at Caw Caw:  8:30 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday, Caw Caw Interpretive Center, Ravenel.  You can learn about habitats and birds, butterflies and other organisms in this two-hour session.  Registration is not required, but participants are to be 15 and up. $10 per person or free to Gold Pass holders.  More:  http://www.CharlestonCountyParks.com.

AREA MARKETS

Holiday markets are springing up all over.  Click here to read where you can find 20 area holiday markets so you can buy local and be local.  More: Charleston City Paper.  In other regular markets:

• FRIDAYS/SATURDAYS:  Night Market.  Every Friday and Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. for the rest of the year, you can shop with 108 vendors, including artists and craftsmen, at the night market on Market Street between East Bay and Church streets.  It’s more than four blocks of local shopping and fun. Free.
• SATURDAYS:  Johns Island Farmers Market operates each Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. year-round with more than 50 local farmers and vendors, food trucks, music and more.  The market is located on the campus of Charleston Collegiate School, 2024 Academy Road, Johns Island
• SATURDAYS: The Charleston Farmers Market is open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Marion Square each Saturday through Nov. 30.  More info.

MARKET NOTES: To help you keep up:

• The Mount Pleasant Farmers Market weekly market on Tuesdays finished in September. The next opportunity to shop is a special Dec. 7 holiday market and craft show at the market pavillion at Moultrie Middle School, 645 Coleman Blvd., Mount Pleasant. Time:  11 a.m to 4 p.m. Free parking. Lots of activities. More info.
• The West Ashley Farmers Market, typically held every Wednesday, had its last event of the year in October.   More.
• If you have an event to list on our calendar, please send it to feedback@charlestoncurrents.com for consideration. The calendar is updated weekly on Mondays.