Thanksgiving Day was no exception. And by noon, more than 60 plates had left the kitchen, many of them second helpings, just like a traditional Thanksgiving at home.

"We are giving them a true Thanksgiving experience," said Angels and Sparrows founder and chief bottle washer Sandy Tilley. "Everybody else gets to eat what they want until they explode on Thanksgiving, so why shouldn't these folks?"

At least one "customer" had thirds last Thursday as business was brisk, but the room was never uncomfortably full during the two hours Tilley and company served. In all, Tilley estimates they served 116 people a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, including her signature stuffing. When dinner was over, a selection of desserts was offered from a tray, a presentation that could rival many quality restaurants.

While the team of volunteers dished up and served the meals, Tilley circulated throughout the dining room, greeting old friends and new ones, and generally doing her best to make all feel welcome.

"I've seen some new faces today," she reported.

All the while — as usual — people arrived to deliver even more donations of food, including volunteers from the Carrington Ridge Fry Boys turkey fry, an annual cooking event that also includes a collection of donated non-perishable food items. For Friday's lunch, Brooklyn Boys restaurant in Mooresville delivered enough chicken Parmesan, baked ziti, garlic bread knots and salad to serve 100 patrons.

"By Friday, everybody is tired of turkey and dressing," said Tilley while loading the commercial refrigerator with the rectangular foil trays. "We traditionally serve Italian the day after Thanksgiving."

Angels and Sparrows' holiday season mission goes far beyond serving quality meals to the area's hungry and elderly. Tilley recently received a much-needed circular garment rack for her winter coat program — she accepts donations of good quality, clean coats and displays them for those who need them — and the food mission is accepting new, unwrapped gifts for children for its annual Christmas party, scheduled for Friday, Dec. 23.

At the party, in addition to a holiday meal, kids will have the opportunity to select from an array of gifts. Last year, there were enough for each kid at the party to have four gifts each. Tilley would like to at least repeat that. Gifts may be dropped off at Angels and Sparrows weekdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The kitchen is next to New Friendship Presbyterian at the corner of Old Statesville and Ramah Church roads.

For more information, visit www.angelsandsparrows.org or call 704-918-0122.

— Andrew Warfield

Buy some cookies to fight kids' cancer

The second annual Lake Norman Cookies for Kids' Cancer bake sale will be held Saturday, Dec. 3, from noon to 6 p.m. at Birkdale Village in Huntersville. The fundraiser is a companion event to the Charlotte Bake Sale, held at Blackhawk Hardware in Charlotte the same day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Combined, the sales made more than $30,000 last year, an amount matched by Bank of America and Glad Products Corp.

Cookies for Kids' Cancer is a national non-profit organization that raises money for pediatric cancer research through local bake sales.

"Our inspiration is through the many children in our local Lake Norman community who are also battling cancer and who have touched our hearts," says organizer Julie Sparks, whose son suffers from neuroblastoma.

Organizers hope the two events this year will raise more than $50,000. Bank of America and Glad Products Corp. will again double the money raised by both the Charlotte and the Lake Norman sales. All the money raised from the bake sales will go directly to fund research and new treatments for children.

To prepare for the event, local bakeries and candy shops are donating sweets for the sale, businesses are donating gift cards and merchandise to put in raffle baskets and teams of people connected to the sale will be baking and donating cookies, cakes, pies and other confections.

Cookies for Kids' Cancer was founded by Gretchen Holt Witt, a mom inspired by her son's battle with pediatric cancer. After learning that cancer is the United States' number one cause of death by disease in children younger than 18, she was determined to do everything in her power to change that fact.

She made it her mission to raise funds for new and improved therapies for childhood cancers through the concept of local bake sales. Cookies for Kids' Cancer provides the inspiration and support for individuals, communities and businesses to help fight pediatric cancer.

"We are in this fight because every child battling cancer deserves a fighting chance," says Witt. "We need people to know about the need. We need people to care. It's not the lack of knowledge that is holding us back. It is the lack of funding. We can do this together, one cookie at a time."

Cookies for Kids' Cancer is not about one child or one type of pediatric cancer. It is about improving the survival rates for all pediatric cancers. Key statistics include:

• There has not been a new drug developed specifically for pediatric cancer treatment in nearly 20 years.

• The treatments most children receive today were created for adults and have not been proven truly safe for children.

• If children survive the initial treatments, they are often left with other life-threatening conditions from the aggressive treatments intended to save them.

• The survival rates for pediatric cancers have improved from where they were in the 1980s when very few children survived at all.

• The unfortunate reality is that progress has all but stalled and survival rates lag behind most adult cancers. Breast cancer for example now has survival rates over 90 percent.

To help contribute either time, money or baked goods to these sales, contact Julie Sparks at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Denise Hurley at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for the Lake Norman bake sale; or Lesa Helbein at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for the Charlotte bake sale.

DCP looking for the lamb

For the holiday season, Davidson Community Players will present a holiday show by award-winning local playwright Judy Simpson Cook. Cook's Retrieving the Lamb will be performed Dec. 1-18.

Christmas comes only once a year, but in Cook's story that's far too often for the folks in Travis Whitten's nativity play. Mary, Joseph, and the angel are sick, winter's chill is offset by the heat of a temperamental furnace, the music director rearranges the carols, and a powerful storm leaves the cast in darkness while the Christmas lamb is lost in the night. As a local farmer braves the elements to search for the lamb, the rest are left to search for love, compassion, understanding and the spirit of the season they have lost.

Retrieving the Lamb is directed by Davidson Community Players' Artistic Director Melissa Ohlman-Roberge. Following each performance, children are invited to visit with Crash, the live lamb.

Admission is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and $12 for students, and tickets are available by calling 704-892-7953 or online at www.davidsoncommunityplayers.org. Those who bring a map from the Christmas in Davidson visitors' booth will receive $5 off any adult or senior admission ticket for the first weekend only. Shows are staged Thursdays through Sundays all three weekends and show times will vary. Visit the Web site for a complete schedule.

Red Cross blood drives

The American Red Cross will hold two local blood drives in December. A drive sponsored by the Lake Norman-Huntersville Rotary Club will be held Wednesday, Dec. 14, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m at Aquesta Bank, 19510 Jetton Road in Cornelius; and Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville, Thursday, Dec. 29, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., 10030 Gilead Road in Huntersville. to schedule an appointment, visit www.redcrossblood.org.

DCP production will focus on the deaf

Davidson Community Players will hold open auditions for its February 2012 production of Mark Medoff's Children of a Lesser God. Winner of the Tony Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award as best play of the season, the Davidson production will be directed by Sam Parker, a director/actor/author and a child of deaf parents.

Parker is also Associate Clinical Professor at UNC-Greensboro. Consulting on the production will be Julianne Gold Brunson who originated the role of Lydia in Children of a Lesser God on Broadway and went on to play the role of Sarah. Brunson received her doctorate in clinical psychology from UNCG and has worked as an advocate for the hearing impaired through numerous organizations in the Charlotte area as well as in the Northeast.

Auditions for adult actors and actresses will be held on Sunday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m. and Monday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. at Armour Street Theatre, 307 Armour St. in Davidson. Actors need attend only one session, but should plan to arrive as close to the audition start time as possible and stay for about two hours.

The audition will consist of group theatre exercises and readings from the script. A one minute monologue is welcomed but not required. Hopefuls should bring a recent picture, list of experience (if any) and list of conflicts for the January-March, 2012 time period. The production will open Feb. 23, and will run through March 11. Rehearsals will begin in January, three to five evenings a week, and will include some weekend rehearsals. Rehearsals and performances will take place at Armour Street Theatre.

Roles are available for at least two deaf or hearing impaired actresses and one deaf or hearing-impaired actor plus two hearing actresses and two hearing actors. Davidson Community Players is committed to casting a deaf actress in the role of Sarah. All roles are available and will be cast color-blind.

A character breakdown includes:

• James Leeds, 30s, hearing, signs fluently, teacher in a deaf school.

• Sarah, late 20s-early 30s, deaf, does not speak, signs fluently, works at the school.

• Orin, 20s, hard of hearing, speaks and signs fluently, a student activist.

• Lydia, late teens to early 20s, hard of hearing, speaks and signs fluently, a student.

• Mr. Franklin, 40s-50s, hearing, some signing, the head of the deaf school.

• Mrs. Norman, 50s, hearing, no signing, Sarah's mother.

• Edna Klein, late 20s-early 30s, hearing, no signing. A lawyer, she should be attractive enough to make Sarah feel competitive

Davidson Community Players is committed to engaging the deaf community in all facets of this production. Additional opportunities are available for back stage work (costumes, set painting, props), rehearsal support and as ushers for the production. For more information, contact Melissa Ohlman-Roberge at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 704-892-7953.

Grasso honored for The Bin service

University of Phoenix recently awarded alumna Alissa Grasso, a 44-year-old Mooresville resident, with a Community Service Award for her high level of involvement with The Bin, a nonprofit based in Huntersville.

As president and chairperson of the Board, Grasso is a key part of the mission to help improve the lives of individuals and families facing challenging life situations. The organization helps by providing partnerships with social service agencies and household necessities to meet basic needs, help stabilize homes and effect positive change.

Grasso recorded at least 30 hours per month of volunteering at The Bin, including assisting clients with shopping, administrative paperwork, public relations, marketing, event planning, fundraising and overall decision making on the board. In 2010, The Bin served nearly 280 families. Most recently, Grasso developed a business plan and five-year strategy for The Bin and coordinated and submitted all paperwork to the IRS to formally confirm The Bin's nonprofit status.

Earning her master's degree in business administration in 2009 from University of Phoenix, Grasso works in the marketing department at Lowe's Home Improvement corporate office in Mooresville.

"I remain committed to The Bin because it gives women and children in my local community hope and opportunity," says Grasso. "I was very close to needing assistance as a single mom struggling to survive with two small girls."

For more information about The Bin, visit: www.test.the-bin.org.

Our Towns' 'Miracle' to benefit Ada Jenkins

Our Towns Cinema in Davidson will hold a special series of screenings of the holiday classic, Miracle on 34th Street, in December with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Ada Jenkins Center of Davidson. Between Friday, Dec. 9, and Thursday, Dec. 15, $1 from each $7.50 ticket purchased for the film will be donated to the center.

Screenings will be daily at 1:30, 4:30 and 7 p.m., with 9:15 screenings on Friday and Saturday only. Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce members are invited to a special kickoff event Thursday, Dec. 8, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the theater, located at 227 Griffith St. in the Sadler Square Shopping Center. Advance tickets are available by calling 704-237-3238.