'Night in the Big Apple' to benefit choral union

The Friends of the Lynchburg College Choral Union are sponsoring a dinner, “A Night in the Big Apple,” to benefit the group, an ensemble made up of faculty, staff, students and alumni, as well as community singers.

Set for 6:30 p.m. March 6 in the Memorial Ballroom of the college’s Hall Campus Center, the night will include an Italian buffet and a cash bar from 6:30 to 7 p.m.

Dinner music will be provided by Square Peg, a jazz ensemble led by education professor Glenn Buck, and Choral Union members will later perform Broadway and movie tunes. There will also be dancing, a silent auction and a raffle for a surprise big-ticket item.

Tickets are $35 per person and are available at Givens Books, Aylor’s Farm and Garden, and the Lynchburg College Bookstore. The deadline to buy them is March 1.

For more information, call (434) 544-8664.

Randolph presents poetry and prose

The Randolph College Heritage Ensemble will present the 15th installment of professor Hiawatha Johnson’s “Flavor” series, featuring Pan-African poetry and prose enhanced by music, movement and theatrics, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday.

This year will include the works of Maya Angelou, Haki Madhubuti, Bertrice Berry and Alice Walker, as well as current and former students.

For more information, call (434) 947-8292.

Bedford Foundation holds event

The Bedford Community Health Foundation — a nonprofit committed to improving the health of Bedford City and county residents, as well as impacting the quality of services provided — is hosting a Black Tie and Blue Jeans Ball from 7:30 to 11 p.m. Friday at the Elks National Home in Bedford.

The event features community dancing with The McKenzies, country-style hors d’oeuvres and wine tasting. It will also showcase the winners of the foundation’s 2010 Philanthropy Award: Nancy and Danny Johnson (the Family Award), the Gunnoe Sausage Company (Business Award) and Jacqueline Wente (Service Award).

The Bedford Community Health Foundation awarded more than $116,000 in grants and scholarships in 2009.

Admission to the ball is $25 per person, which includes one free beer. For more information, call (540) 586-5292 or e-mail info@healthybedford.org.

First Fridays events rescheduled

Several local art galleries are having Last Friday receptions, in lieu of the cancelled First Fridays, for their February exhibits:

• The Academy Gallery (600 Main St.) will show the oils, monotypes and sculptures of Dymphna de Wild, while the Up Front Gallery shows “Rome 101,” a photographic series by Steve Coates and 10 Lynchburg College students. The reception will run from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday.

• The Avenue Arts Studio Gallery (1206 Rivermont Ave.) is showing the monotypes, oil pastels and Yupo designs of owner Kelly Mattox from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

• The Light Wings Gallery (849 Belmont St.) will show the work of Czech artist Petr Liska, who now lives in Gladstone and is influenced by impressionists and surrealists, and Terry Arnold, a Lynchburg artist who works primarily in pastels, from 5 to 8 p.m.

• Riverviews Artspace (901 Jefferson St.) will be closing “Emerging Sculptors,” a show featuring the work of four contemporary Virginia artists who work with everything from glass to ceramics to textiles to mixed media, in the Craddock-Terry Gallery.

The Jefferson St. Gallery will also be showing “Reflections of Recovery,” a collection of work created by people using art as a cathartic outlet during their healing process, while the Coop Gallery presents an exhibit called “Love Is …”

The Urban Art Bazaar will be open in Riverviews. All events run 5:30 to 8 p.m.