Poetry: Jim Magill featured reader Thursday

Jim Magill will be the featured reader for the River Poets on Thursday, April 4, at 7:30 pm at the Bloomsburg Public Library, Market Street. Magill's writing has received, and continues to garner, some national attention. A sample of his writing can be accessed at his web site: http://romonxassociatedartists.com/profile/JamesMagill. This will be an interactive event, audience participation requested.

Folk/pop charmers to play Carver

In the market for some low-key folk/pop? Sheila Carabine and Amanda Walther of the group Dala will perform Friday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. at BU's Carver Hall, Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium.

The duo has been nominated for a JUNO Canadian Music Award and were winners of the Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year. They're toured North America, performing at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and California’s Strawberry Festival and Mariposa.

Tickets for the Celebrity Artist Series show in the fairly intimate Gross Auditorium are $29.50 for adults, $16.50 for children, and $14 for BU students.

For tickets or more information, visit www.bloomu.edu/CAS or call the box office at (570) 389-4409.

Upcoming Celebrity Artist Series shows include:

• Kathy Mattea – Friday, April 26, at 8 p.m. in the Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Tickets: $34.50 
• Nai-Ni Chen with the Ahn Trio – Saturday, May 11, at 8 p.m. in the Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Tickets: $34.50 

Miscellanea: Poetry, prose, justice and the Arctic

Poetry:

PNC Television will air  "A Gathering of Laureates" Wednesday and Thursday, March 27 and 28, at 11:05 pm. The program features past and present laureates of Perry, Berks, York, Harrisburg, and Montgomery counties, including Melanie Simms of Sunbury — a familiar face in the Bloomsburg poetry community.

Prose:

Puerto Rican writer Marta Aponte Alsina will give a talk "We Had Never Seen Such People Before: Puerto Rican Literature and the Writing of Other" on Thursday, March 28, from 7 to 8 pm in Kehr Union, Multipurpose Room B. In connection to that lecture, there will be a series of talks related to diversity throughout that day.

• Paul Loomis, faculty, "Student Life in South America" (1:20-1:50 pm)
• Tom Aleto, faculty, "Carnival in San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca, Mexico: A Ritual of Inversion² (2:00-3:00 pm) 
• Kendal Arthur, international student, "St. Lucia: French and British Culture" (3:00-3:20 pm) 
• Marthe Beauvais, student, "Once Upon A Time, Haiti" (3:20-3:40 pm) 
• Iker Omar Belsaguy (exchange student, Mexico), "The Importance of Learning a Foreign Language. Experiences on Chinese language" (3:45-4:00 pm) 
• Study Abroad Panel (China, Germany, France, Haiti, Panama, Peru, Spain): 4:05-5:00 pm 

Justice: 

Terrence Roberts, one of the Little Rock Nine, will speak on Lessons from Little Rock, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 2 in Bloomsburg University’s Kehr Union, Ballroom. Roberts was a 15-year-old 11th-grader when he joined eight other African-American students in 1957 and entered all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. Roberts’ presentation, open to the public free of charge.

The Arctic:

Arctic scientist Martin Jeffries will speak on "The Arctic Report Card: On the State of an Environmental System in Rapid Transition" on Wednesday, April 3, at 7:30 pm in BU’s Hartline Science Center, Kuster Auditorium. Jeffries, currently on leave from a faculty position with the University of Alaska/Fairbanks, is program officer and arctic science adviser for the Ocean, Atmosphere and Space Research Division at the Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Va. His talk is sponsored by the Green Campus Initiative and open to the public free of charge.

Students exhibiting in Haas

BU students are exhibiting their work in the Haas Gallery through Tuesday, April 9. Approximately two dozen students are exhibiting about 40 pieces in a variety of media. An artists' reception will be held Friday, March 29, from 7 to 9 pm.

Upcoming shows at Haas Gallery include:

• An exhibit of works by Toshiko Takaezu from April 17 to May 1. The show of works by the late, internationally-renowned  ceramicist is being organized by the museum exhibition class. Takaezu was a close personal friend of BU professor emeritus Karl Beamer and she contributed many works to the university.
• The BU senior exit show will open May 8 and run to May 18.

Lecture: Climate expert sees note of optimism

Internationally acclaimed glaciologist and climate scientist Richard Alley, professor of geosciences at Penn State University and a member of the Penn State Ice and Climate Exploration Group, will speak at Bloomsburg University Wednesday, March 27, at 7:30 pm in Hartline Science Center, Kuster Auditorium, room 134.

Alley studies the flow and stability of ice sheets, the relationships between ice and climate change, and has testified about climate change before congress.  His talk, "Energy and the Environment: The Surprisingly Optimistic Big Picture," is sponsored by the BU Campus Green Initiative.

Columbia County celebrates 200 years

Columbia County will celebrate its bicentennial Saturday, March 23, with several events (in addition to the magic show mentioned below).

There will be a Bicentennial 5K Run/Walk at noon beginning at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds Race Track and finishing at the Bloomsburg Hospital parking lots, where the top three finishers of male and female participants will be given awards.

There will be a parade starting at 2 pm at the Geisinger- Bloomsburg Hospital/Bloomsburg University parking lots and continuing to the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds grandstand entrance.

From 11 am to 9 pm the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds Arts and Crafts Building will be open with exhibits of local businesses, churches, historical societies and other organizations showcasing their years of service. There will also be live entertainment from noon to  6 pm. The celebrate will be capped off when the Bicentennial Time Capsule will be displayed and sealed at 7 pm followed by a firework show at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds.

Kid's stuff: Magic time

Moreland the Magician will give two performances on Saturday, March 23. A special "free preview" performance at the Columbia County Bicentennial Celebration at the Arts & Crafts Building on the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds at noon, and a full "pay what you wish" performance at 6 pm at the Alvina Krause Theatre, 226 Center Street, Downtown Bloomsburg.

Called "extremely entertaining" and "a laughing good time" the "March Magic" show features audience participation, classic and original tricks, and is appropriate for all ages. Tickets for the general admission show are pay what you wish, meaning patrons will be asked for any donation in exchange for admission. Moreland the Magician is donating his performance to BTE, and all proceeds will benefit Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble.