DURHAM --The Durham Jaycees Haunted House in the American Tobacco Campus' Crowe Lobby, 406 Blackwell St., is open tonight and Saturday from 6:45-11 p.m.
Admission is $7, but visitors can get $2 off by bringing in-kind donations to benefit local charities.
Another $1 off will be offered to visitors who donate "gently used" hats, scarves or gloves as part of the Coats for the Kids drive at American Tobacco.
This year's haunted house also features a $2 a ticket -- or buy five and get one free -- raffle of prizes including gift certificates to local area restaurants and sports memorabilia from both Duke and Carolina.
Each night it's open, the haunted house proceeds will benefit a local charity.
The charities and preferred in-kind donations are:
n Tonight: Habitat for Humanity of Durham (www.durhamhabitat.org), collecting tape measures.
n Saturday: Animal Protection Society of Durham (www.apsofdurham.org), collecting canned dog food.
For more information, visit www.durhamjaycees.org/hh2009.
Election Day rides available
DURHAM -- The Durham Branch of the NAACP will provide transportation for Durham County residents needing a ride to the polls on Election Day, Tuesday.
Call (919) 682-4930 between 7 a.m.-7 and 7 p.m. Tuesday if you need a ride.
Durham One Call adjusts its hours
DURHAM -- Beginning Nov. 16 users of Durham One Call should note that the center is changingadjusting its hours of operation to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.
The center had been opening at 7, but most calls were coming in after 8.
Joanne Harper, acting manager of Durham One Call, said the new hours are reflective of the call volume coming into the center.
"Our call volume from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. was very low, so in an effort to utilize our staff time more efficiently, we moved our opening time forward one hour," Harper said. "Now, we'll be better staffed for peak calling times, which occur during normal business hours."
Callers contacting the center outside of normal business hours may leave a message that will be retrieved the following business day. Residents may also use the city's Web site at www.durhamnc.gov/departments/onecall to submit service requests to the center.
Ellerbe Creek meeting set
DURHAM -- The public is invited to the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association's (ECWA) annual meeting/party from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Sunday atSundayat the Museum of Life and Science, 433 W. Murray Ave.
ECWA will show slides of Ellerbe Creek's flora and fauna and share how ECWA's efforts are protecting and enhancing the entire watershed. ECWA will discuss their vision of creating a trail system from down town Durham all the way to Falls Lake.
ECWA will provide free drinks and hors d'ouvres. For more information, visit www.ellerbecreek.org online.
Contact Mark Donovan at mdonovan@heraldsun.com or (919) 419-6655. E-mail news of interest to our readers to news@heraldsun.com.
Clean-up event is set Saturday
DURHAM -- The Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, Wall Town Neighborhood Association and the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership Program are sponsoring a volunteer workday from 10 a.m.-noon.
Volunteers are invited to meet at the Carter Community School Playground on the corner of West Club Boulevard and Onslow Street.
Volunteers will be cleaning up sections of the neighborhood, including areas of Walltown Park and Ellerbe Creek, including cleaning up the streets, painting barriers and planting native North Carolina plants at the corner of Clarendon and Knox to beautify the area.
Volunteers should wear long pants, long sleeves, closed-toed shoes or boots for wading in the creek and work gloves in available. ECWA will provide tools, gloves and plants.
To volunteer, e-mail Elizabeth Gill at gillek@duke.edu.
Veterans event slated Nov. 6
DURHAM -- Veterans, their families and friends are invited to the third annual Salute to Veterans on Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. at the Durham Center for Senior Life, 406 Rigsbee St.
The program will focus on the Marine Corps, with a special honor to the African-American Marines who trained at Montford Point, a segregated camp at Camp Lejeune in the 1940s. Finney Greggs, director of the Montford Point Marine Museum, will be the keynote speaker. Camp Lejeune will provide the color guard.
The Wind Symphony of the Durham School of the Arts will perform patriotic music.
The council will screen "The Marines of Montford Point: Fighting for Freedom," a documentary of the nation's first African-American Marines who trained between 1942 and 1949 at Montford Point.
There is no admission, but the council is requesting a donation of a non-perishable item for its food pantry.
Skate Park opens Nov. 7
DURHAM -- The city will host a grand opening of its new Skate Park, 502 Foster St., from noon-4:30 p.m. Nov. 7.
The ribbon cutting will be held at noon and culminate with demos by the Toy Machine Skateboard Team.
The celebration will continue with performances by local bands, giveaways and plenty of fun.
This event is an official Troika Music Festival site and is supported by the Ujamaa Boardhouse and Durham Central Park. The public is invited.
For more information, visit www.DPRPlayMore.org or call (919) 560-4355.
Book distribution to begin shortly
DURHAM -- The newly established First Book-Duke University board will distribute free books to children in literacy programs in the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership.
Duke University's Office of Durham and Regional Affairs formed an official First Book Campus Advisory Board through the national nonprofit organization First Book. The advisory board, comprised of Duke staff and students, is set to begin accepting applications from eligible Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership programs within a few weeks.
First Book is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to give children from low income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books.
For more information about First Book, visit www.firstbook.org .
Census Bureau managers named
DURHAM -- The U.S. Census Bureau has appointed a slate of managers for a new 2010 Census office in Durham at 201 W. Main St., Suite 201, in the Self-Help Building. The new managers, all area residents, are:
n Yvonne Sanks, local census office manager;
n Lawrence Alston, assistant manger for field operations.
n Glenda Smalls, assistant manager for quality assurance.
n Rebecca Savitski, assistant manager for administration.
n Stephen Foreman, assistant manager for recruiting.
n John Davis, assistant manager for technology.
The Durham office will support census operations in Durham, Franklin, Granville, Orange, Person, Vance and Warren counties.
Barnes tribute today at NCCU
DURHAM -- Former "Good Morning America" anchor and actor, Durham resident and Duke University alumnus David Hartman will speak at N.C. Central University's VIP Tribute to the late artist, NCCU football star and pro football player Ernie Barnes today at NCCU's Art Museum.
The tribute will kick off an exhibition of Barnes' work scheduled from October 30, 2009, to December 4, 2009.
Barnes died in April at the age of 70.
Dealership sets benefit event
DURHAM -- The Pretty In Pink Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial resources for under-insured and uninsured North Carolinians with breast cancer, has teamed with Michael Jordan Nissan to celebrate National Breast Cancer Awareness month. A three-day sales event through Saturday will raise money and bring attention to a health care need in Triangle area communities.
The Jordan dealership will donate $100 to Pretty In Pink Foundation for every vehicle sold during the event, which has been named "Ridin' for a Cure."
Michael Jordan Nissan is located at 3930 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd. For more information on Ridin' for a Cure, e-mail Rick Simonette at rrsimonette@michaeljordannissan.com.
Contact Mark Donovan at mdonovan@heraldsun.com or (919) 419-6655. E-mail news of interest to our readers to news@heraldsun.com.
