The sock on the right hand is used to wipe away dust to look for imperfections.

Tickets are limited to 1,000 available at $100 each. Purchase yours online at http://www.theclaycenter.org/members/friends.aspx with a credit card using our secure server ($3 processing fee) or mail your check, payable to McClaugherty Raffle, to Raffle, Clay Center, One Clay Sq, Charleston, WV 25301 (include a note with the name, address and phone number of the person to whom the ticket should be sent).

Tickets will be sold through March 23 under the administration of Arnett & Foster, P.L.L.C.. All ticket buyers and sellers are invited to attend the Drawing Party on March 30 courtesy of the Charleston Marriott.

This year’s prizes include:
- $20,000 grand prize
- Trip for two to New Orleans, Louisiana for four days and three nights at The Maison Dupuy Hotel with Economy Class Air, including a Tour of the City, Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, Dinner Jazz Cruise and Class at the New Orleans School of Cooking
- Two 2010-11 Grand Series Tickets courtesy of the WV Symphony
- Two 2010-11 Clay Center Presents Season Tickets courtesy of the Clay Center
- Two 3-Month Nautilus Memberships courtesy of the YWCA
- One-of-a-Kind Designer Jewelry courtesy of Deborah Davis Designs
- One-of-a-Kind Handcrafted Jewelry courtesy of Holly Bailey Designs LLC
- One-of-a-Kind Handcrafted Jewelry courtesy of Shelia Neal/Shekes Custom Chic
- $100 Savings Bond courtesy of Balgo & Kaminski, L.C.
- $100 Gift Certificate courtesy of Pea Pod Printing

These three Elkins, WV natives are talented musicians promising a night of dancing and grooving at the Empty Glass. Bring friends for a fun night of music! http://www.reverbnation.com/venue/theemptyglass

These guys also played at Powershift and the Glass as Pappa Groove last fall.

Pianist Gerald Lee has won numerous piano competitions, performed around the world, and teaches at West Liberty University. He will play music from Liszt’s Years of Pilgrimage in Italy and Switzerland, Schubert’s Piano Sonata in A Major, and Liszt’s virtuosic arrangements of Schubert’s songs.

Tickets are $17, $5 for students, and free for children accompanied by a paying adult. Tickets are also free for West Virginia State University students and staff.

Want to go out, but not sure what to do with the kids? During the concert, there is a free event for children ages 2-10 – a sing-along with Mountain Stage host Larry Groce. To register (or for more information), email CCMSChamberkids@yahoo.com.

At 1pm on the afternoon of concert, Professor Lee will coach area pianostudents in a masterclass at Cavendish Hall (207 52nd Street East, Charleston). This class is free and open to the public.

For more about the Charleston Chamber Music Society and their concerts,visit the CCMS Web site: www.charlestonchambermusic.org or call 304.344.5389.

Sparks’ most recent book, “The Last Song,” is a compelling drama of family dynamics, a coming of age story exploring a rebellious teenage girl’s romantic awakening and her first encounter with heartbreak. The movie version of the book, starring Miley Cyrus, will be released this month.

Sparks is the author of 15 New York Times bestsellers, including “Three Weeks with My Brother,” the memoir he wrote with his brother, Micah. Five of his novels have been adapted into major motion pictures, including “The Notebook,” “A Walk to Remember,” “Message in a Bottle” and “Nights in Rodanthe.” The film adaptation of “Dear John,” starring Channing Tatum, is playing in theaters now. Warner Bros. is scheduled to release the film version of “The Lucky One” in late 2010.

Sparks lives in North Carolina with his wife and family. Along with his wife, he founded The Epiphany School in New Bern, N.C., and he spent five years coaching track and field athletes at the local public high school.

“We are celebrating the West Virginia Book Festival’s 10^th anniversary by offering a star-studded lineup of authors this year,” said Alan Engelbert, Kanawha County Public Library Director.  “Mr. Sparks is joining James Robertson, noted Civil War historian, as a headliner, and we will be announcing other authors soon.”

The West Virginia Book Festival is an annual, two-day event celebrating books and reading presented by The Library Foundation of Kanawha County, Inc., Kanawha County Public Library, the West Virginia Humanities Council, The Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail. The 2010 festival will be held Oct. 16 and 17 at the Charleston Civic Center. For more information, visit www.wvbookfestival.org.

Tickets are on sale now for the fourth annual silent auction of literary themed baskets, sponsored by the Friends of The Library Foundation of Kanawha County.

A Tisket, A Tasket…A Literary Basket will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 10, at the former Sunrise Museum, now the law offices of Farmer, Cline & Campbell PLLC, 746 Myrtle Rd. in Charleston. Attendees will have the opportunity to bid on dozens of baskets all built around a literary theme and filled with books, gift certificates, event tickets, gift items and much more.

Tickets are $25 each and must be purchased in advance. Tickets are available online at www.kanawhalibrary.org, from Jane Turner, event coordinator (304-345-9476), or from The Library Foundation’s office (304-343-4646, ext. 283).

This fund raising event combines the fun and suspense of a silent auction with the opportunity to support Kanawha County Public Library’s programming, with an emphasis on programs for children and families. Last year the event earned nearly $26,000, which helped sponsor the Summer Library Club and special programming for children and families throughout the year.

The event is sponsored by the Friends of The Library Foundation of Kanawha County and is co-sponsored by Dow Chemical; Kanawha Valley Advertising; Kendall-Jackson; Lisa and Larry Pack; NTV Assett Management; Proud Eagle, Inc.; The Segal & Davis Family Foundation; Tyler Mountain Water; Steve and Katy White; ZMM Architects & Engineers, Inc.

The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s 2009-2010 ZMM Pops Series continues with an exciting and patriotic concert of the best of John Philip Sousa’s marches and music with “Sousa at the Symphony” featuring Sousa master and scholar Keith Brion.

Mr. Brion is one of the foremost Sousa experts and the leader of his own New Sousa Band.  He painstakingly researched Sousa from newspaper articles, manuscripts and interviews with former Sousa band members to create a completely unique experience that is both totally authentic and greatly entertaining.  From” Stars and Stripes Forever” (which Mr. Brion calls the greatest march ever written) to the rousing “Liberty Bell March,” Mr. Brion offers listeners the complete Sousa repertoire.

Tickets for the March 19 & 20 concerts start at $9 for adults and $5 for students and children and are available through the Clay Center Box Office, 304-561-3570.  Tickets may also be ordered online at www.wvsymphony.org.   Both performances will take place at 8 p.m. at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of West Virginia.

As a special thank you to those who have served our country, the WVSO is offering service men and women, and their families, a special discount of 40% for this concert.  Those who wish to claim this discount must show a valid military ID at the Clay Center Box Office upon purchase.  For more information, please call 304-561-3570.

Maestro Grant Cooper, Artistic Director & Conductor of the WVSO, will narrate these ZMM Pops Series concerts, which are sponsored in part by Bob and Nancy Douglas and The Elliott Foundation.