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Art Friends of the Kingsport Archives will host photojournalist Earl Carter April 17 at 6 p.m. at the Kingsport Higher Education Center as part of the Gail Hale Memorial Lecture series.
Carter will present "The Journey: A Photographic Odyssey" where he will share images from his photographic career. ••• Johnson City’s 2025 Art Struck Festival is set for 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. April 26 at The Pavilion at Founders Park, 105 W.
Main St. Presented by the Johnson City Public Art Committee, this festival includes art demonstrations and activities for all ages including kite decorating, mask decorating, bucket drumming, a weaving fence, and wand making. Dozens of local artists will have their works available for sale, and a variety of food trucks will be available for attendees to enjoy.
Festival highlights include a giant puppet march complete with a live brass band. ••• Johnson City’s Wildabout Walkabout scavenger hunt includes 28 bronze animal sculptures. All the pieces have been installed downtown in and around King Commons and Founders Park and around Main and Market streets.
Printed copies of the scavenger hunt clues are available at various downtown businesses and at the Johnson City Public Library. Clues are also available online on the Johnson City Public Art website. Birding The monthly meeting of Birding Kingsport will be held April 22 at 7 p.
m. in the fellowship hall of St. Michael's Episcopal Church at 584 Lebanon Road, Kingsport.
The program will be "Birds of Seven Islands State Birding Park" by Clare Datillo, park interpretive ranger. ••• The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, will offer a monthly Birding in the Gap series on the second Saturday of each month. Participants should meet at the front gate of the museum.
The Birding in the Gap monthly series will be held rain or shine. Participants are asked to wear appropriate clothing for the weather and comfortable walking shoes. Binoculars are encouraged but not required.
Registration is not required for this program. For more information email [email protected].
gov or call 276-523-1322. Concerts The Larry Prevatte Memorial Duffield Jam is held on the first, third and fifth Thursday of each month from 6-8 p.m.
at the Thomas Village Community Center, 355 Cecil D. Quillen Drive in Duffield, Virginia. For more information call 276-431-1083.
••• Michael W. Smith will bring his Beyond The Far Horizon Tour to East Tennessee State University’s Martin Center April 30 at 7:30 p.m.
To purchase tickets visit ETSUMartinCenter.org or call the Martin Center box office at 423-439-2787. ••• "Beatles vs.
Stones – A Musical Showdown" will return to the Paramount Bristol on May 30 at 8 p.m. Tickets may be purchased by phone at 423-274.
8920, at the theater box office or online at www.paramountbristol.org .
The box office is open Tuesday – Friday from noon to 6 pm. The Paramount Center is located at 518 State St., Bristol.
The show is appropriate for all ages. ••• The Black Jacket Symphony will present Jimmy Buffett's "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" on June 21 at 8 p.m.
at East Tennessee State University’s Martin Center April 30 at 7:30 p.m. To purchase tickets visit ETSUMartinCenter.
org or call the Martin Center box office at 423-439-2787. Dance Outdoorsmen, 4535 Highway 11W, Blountville, will host Shooterband on April 18. Line dance from 6-7 p.
m. Band plays from 7-10 p.m.
Potluck at 6:15 p.m. Upcoming shows are Julie Williams and the Hired Guns on April 25.
••• The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society holds dances at the Jonesborough Visitors Center, 117 Boone St., the second and fourth Saturday of each month. Dancing to live music is open to community members of all ages.
There will be a lesson of basic contra dance moves for beginners at 7 p.m. with dancing from 7:30-10:30 p.
m. Tickets will be sold at the door. Contra dance is for all ages.
No partner is needed. Contra dances are family friendly, alcohol-, tobacco- and fragrance-free. For more information visit the group’s site on Facebook.
Garden fair Exchange Place Living History Farm in Kingsport will hold its annual Spring Garden Fair April 26 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.
m. and April 27 from noon until 5 p.m.
at the 1850s farmstead, located at 4812 Orebank Road. Admission is $5 for adults and is free for children under the age of 12. All proceeds go towards the maintenance of our site, building restoration, and keeping Exchange Place's animals fed.
Library fun The Friends of the Johnson City Public Library is holding a book sale April 26 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.
m. and April 27 from 1-3 p.m.
in the library’s Jones Meeting Center. The Sunday sale includes a special $5-per-bag deal. Bags are provided at the sale for those who need them.
Planetarium Bays Mountain Park’s night sky observing sessions — StarWatch — has returned for the spring season. StarWatch sessions allow the public to enjoy the splendor of the night sky at Bays Mountain Park’s observatories. If the weather is good, attendees can typically see star clusters, nebulous gas clouds, colorful multiple-star systems, distant galaxies, and the moon and planets.
If the weather is poor, the park will have an alternate activity in the planetarium theater. StarWatch sessions will be held April 12, 19 and 26 at 8:30 p.m.
This is a free event and does not require registration. For more information visit www.baysmountain.
com or call 423-229-9447. ••• “One Sky: Finding Patterns” is showing in the Bays Mountain Park Planetarium Theater through April 30. The program is being shown Tuesday through Friday at 4 p.
m. and on Saturdays and Sundays at noon and 4 p.m.
The program features short stories of different cultures and indigenous societies from around the globe and also includes a brief tour of the current night sky. The alternate planetarium feature showing Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
through April 30 will be “Appalachian Skies.” For more information visit www.baysmountain.
com . Poetry Kingsport native and award-winning poet Jane Hicks will headline the “Annual Celebration of Regional Poetry” April 13 at 3 p.m.
at the Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church, 136 E. Main St. in Abingdon, Virginia.
The event is part of the Sunday with Friends literary series sponsored by the Friends of the Washington County Public Library. Hicks will be joined in this celebration by the poets from the Appalachian Center for Poets and Writers: Henry McCarthy, Daryl Ann Beeghley, Margie Ann Stanko and David Winship. There will be book sales and signings as well.
Project Friendship Project Friendship by the Kingsport Altrusa Club is continuing its meet-and-greet events at Shooters Billiards in Kingsport on the second and fourth Fridays at 6 p.m. This event is for anyone who works from home, is new to the area, or just doesn’t get out often.
It’s a low-key way to meet others and have fun! Text to 423-384-0425 for more information. Quilt show The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park's “A Stitch in Time” Quilt Show will be open for public viewing in the museum through May 31. Regular admission rates will apply.
Reunion Church Hill High School Class of 1971 is planning a class reunion for Saturday, April 26. Please contact David Price at 540-892-4350 for more information. Sewing Sew Crazy of Northeast Tennessee will host their next meeting April 19 from 10 a.
m. to 2 p.m.
at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 201 E. Watauga Ave., Johnson City.
Sew Crazy is a charitable sewing group that creates projects for other charities and groups helping those in Northeast Tennessee. Sew Crazy will be making pillow cases for Sleep in Heavenly Peace. Area sewers of any experience are invited to join.
Bring your sewing machine and traveling sewing kit. All other materials — fabric, notions and patterns — will be provided. For more information email info@sew-crazy.
org or visit www.sew-crazy.org .
Science Hands On! Discovery Center is an all-ages science center that offers a guest experience that includes fun, interactive programs and immersive, STEM-based exhibits for the whole family as well as exhibits and information about the Gray Fossil Site, an active fossil dig site dating back 5 million years. Tickets may be purchased at https://visithandson.org/tickets .
Songwriting contest The 2025 Gathering in the Gap Music Festival will accept entries for its annual Songwriting Contest through April 25. Both traditional and newer styles of songs are encouraged. Entry is $10 for the first song and $5 for each subsequent song.
Panelists will choose 10 finalists who will compete on stage during the Gathering in the Gap Music Festival. For rules and a downloadable registration form, please visit the festival website at www.gatheringinthegap.
org or call 276-523-1322. The Gathering in the Gap Music Festival will be held at the Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park in Big Stone Gap May 25 beginning at noon. Theater Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, will present "Hamlet" now through April 23 at Barter's Smith Theatre.
For ticket information call 276-628-3991 or visit www.bartertheatre.com .
••• Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, will present "Pete the Cat" now through May 10 on the Gilliam Stage. For ticket information call 276-628-3991 or visit www.bartertheatre.
com . ••• Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, will present "Million Dollar Quartet" now through May 11 on the Gilliam Stage. For ticket information call 276-628-3991 or visit www.
bartertheatre.com . ••• Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, will present "Thurgood" by George Stevens Jr.
May 11 through June 1 at Barter's Smith Theatre. For ticket information call 276-628-3991 or visit www.bartertheatre.
com . ••• Jonesborough Repertory Theatre will present ”The Sound of Music” May 23 to June 8. To purchase tickets visit jonesboroughtheatre.
com . ••• Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, will present Disney’s "Frozen" May 24 through Aug. 17 on the Gilliam Stage.
For ticket information call 276-628-3991 or visit www.bartertheatre.com .
Trains On Saturday, May 3, the Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society and Museum will sponsor a train excursion on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and enjoy the beauty of the spring season while riding the rails in vintage passenger railroad cars.The one-day excursion will cover most of the operating trackage of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.
The Spring Great Smoky Train Excursions sell out fast, For ticket information, go to www.wataugavalleynrhs.org or email wataugavalley@gmail.
com . ••• The Kingsport Model Trains Project operates eight model train layouts in six rooms at the Lynn View Community Center including a 24-by-20 “O” scale representation of the Santa Train. There is a workday every Tuesday from 1-4 p.
m. and an open house the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Special hours/days are possible for events/birthday parties.
Call 423-502-5359, email [email protected] or check us on Facebook. ••• The Chuckey Depot Museum in Jonesborough is open free of charge, but donations are appreciated.
Attendees can visit the museum Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 1-4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.
m. to 4 p.m.
For more information visit Jonesborough.com or call 423-753-1010. ••• Submit items for Out & About at features@sixriversmedia.
com ..
