Smarty Scoop on Weekend Activities: June 10-12

Happy Wednesday Smarties! Summer has arrived – schools out, schools out, teacher let the monkeys out! Which means the monkeys are looking at you wondering what is on tap for the weekend. Lucky you, the Cardinal Lane Book Warehouse sale is this week and you can follow that up with a visit to Blakeney for the Family Fun Fest to benefit the Boys and Girls Club. These are just a couple of offerings to get your Summer off to a great start. Get out and enjoy!

Family Fun Fest
Blakeney Shopping Center
June 10, 4:00pm-9:00pm
Grab your family, friends, and neighbors for an evening of family fun and entertainment. The Wells Fargo Family Fun Fest offers summer fun for folks of all ages with live music by The Chad Mackey Band, a Kid’s Fun Zone and rock climbing wall, crafts and other fun activities. The event is free, but Kid’s Fun Zone wristbands are $5 per person or $15 per family. Benefits The Boys and Girls Clubs of Charlotte.

Cardinal Lane Books Warehouse Sale
Cardinal Lane Book Fairs, 327-B West Tremont Ave
June 9-15, Weekedays, 9:00am-5:00pm, Sat. June 11, 9:00am-3:00pm, closed June 12.
Open warehouse sale – everyone is invited! Moms, dads, children, teachers, child-care providers, etc ., all welcome. Everything in the warehouse is 40% off. Cardinal Lane is a locally owned and operated company. As such they reach out to groups in the community that they can offer help and assistance. This year they will provide a mechanism that books can be purchased and donated to Promising Pages, a new non-profit here in Charlotte. Promising Pages distributes books to children that are waiting with parents in locations such as Crisis Assistance Ministries. We will also collect gently used books that customers want to donate for Promising Pages. It is very exciting to us to assist with literacy efforts.

Taste of Charlotte
Tryon Street from MLK Jr. Blvd. to 6th Street
June 10-12, Fri. , Sat., 11:00am-11:00pm; Sun., 11:00am-6:00pm
North Carolina’s largest food festival is set to return for its 13th Year in the streets of uptown Charlotte. The event, which drew approximately 100,000 visitors last year, offers a mix of family entertainment, unique shopping, live music, kid’s activities, a wide array of specialty beer and fine wine along with more than 100 menu items for sampling from a collection of Charlotte’s hottest restaurants. There is no cost for admission to Taste of Charlotte.

Briarhoppers Concert
Great Aunt Stella Center
June 10, 7:30pm
Charlotte’s WBT Briarhoppers just might be the longest-running stringband on the planet. Born in the heyday of live-music radio, they will bring their newest incarnation to the Great Aunt Stella Center, 926 Elizabeth Avenue, for the June 10th Gathering of the Charlotte Folk Society. The free concert gets underway at 7:30 PM; donations appreciated. Doors open at 7 PM. The Briarhoppers’ performance is co-sponsored by the Levine Museum of the New South in conjunction with its updated and recently re-opened Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers Exhibit. Cost is free.

Blakeney Summer Concert Series
The Village Green, Ardrey Kell and Rea Roads
June 10-11, 7:00pm
Grab your family and friends and join us for a summer night of great entertainment. Enjoy the sounds of Jazz, Acoustic, Blues and R&B every Friday and Saturday night from 7pm – 10pm! Cost is free.

Day Out With Thomas
Tweetsie Railroad
June 3-12
Twenty-five-minutes rides on a 15-ton replica of Thomas the Tank Engine, chance to meet Sir Topham Hatt, activities at the Thomas & Friends Imagination Station, giveaways in celebration of the new “Thomas & Friends”
Cost is $22-$34; free ages 2 and younger.

Movies in the Park
Freedom Park Amphiteater
June 10, Movie begins at sunset
Enjoy free movies at the amphitheater. Bring a blanket or chair. Free popcorn and prize giveaways. All ages. This week’s movie is “MegaMind”.

The Sound of Music
Matthews Community Center
June 10-12, Fri., 8:00pm; Sat., 8:00pm; Sun., 2:00pm
The final collaboration of Rodgers & Hammerstein has become the world’s most beloved musical. When a postulant nun proves too high-spirited for the religious life, she is dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval Captain. Her growing rapport with the youngsters, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain, and they marry. Upon returning from their honeymoon they discover that Austria has been invaded by the Nazis, who demand the Captain’s immediate service in their navy. The family’s narrow escape over the mountains to Switzerland on the eve of World War II provides one of the most thrilling and inspirational finales ever presented in the theatre. Cost is $10-$17.

Touch a Truck
EnergyExplorium at McGuire Nuclear Station
June 11, 11:00am-1:00pm
Put your imagination in gear and go! Children will get a chance to get behind the wheel and rub elbows with their hometown heroes. Come and climb on and explore your favorite vehicles including fire engines and police cars. Cost is free.

Rail Days
N.C. Transportation Museum
June 11-12, Sat., 9:00am-5:00pm; and Sun., 1:00pm-5:00pm
The N.C. Transportation Museum’s 2011 Family Rail Days Festival, scheduled June 11 and 12, will celebrate the golden age of railroading and offer something for every member of the family. Featuring historic locomotives and rail cars displayed alongside modern rail equipment, the event will give visitors a chance to enjoy train rides, great music, model train layouts. Cost is $10-$12; free ages 2 and younger.

Symphony in the Park-Cornelius
Bailey Road Park, 11536 Bailey Road, Cornelius
June 11, 6:00pm
It’s that time of year again! Bring your picnic baskets and blankets and join us for an evening with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra as they create musical magic under the stars with a FREE, outdoor Summer Pops Concert.

Charlotte Symphony Summer Pops Concert
Symphony Park
June 12, Prelude at 7:00pm; Orchestra at 8:15pm
Outdoor concerts at Symphony Park, SouthPark will begin on Sunday, June 12 with Charlotte Symphony Music Director Christopher Warren-Green conducting his first Summer Pops concert. The concerts continue on Saturday, June 18, with CSO Assistant Conductor Jacomo Bairos conducting, and Sundays, June 19 and 26 and July 3 with Albert-George Schram returning to Summer Pops for his eleventh season. All concerts begin at 8:15 p.m. with prelude performances at 7:00 p.m.
Beginning this season, the CSO will charge a nominal admission for its concerts at Symphony Park. Tickets are $10 for adults, and free for children 18 and under. A Summer Pops/Symphony Park pass good for admission to all five Symphony Park concerts will be available for $25. The CSO will no longer solicit free-will donations from the audience.