Memorial Day is a time to remember the fallen heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our Republic. It should be more meaningful than just a time for mattress sales and barbecuing.

We've made a yearly habit of making a personal observance at the Veterans Memorial in front of Lewisville City Hall. Again this year, we would like to invite anyone who is interested to join us at 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, May 27th.

There's no agenda, and nothing formal about it. We'll just gather around for some silent prayer and reflection, and if anyone would like to say a quick prayer or few words in gratitude to the fallen, or offer any thoughts, they're welcome to do so. But this is not about speeches, and there is nothing political about it. It's just fellow Americans taking some time to stand together in unity and honor those who have given their lives for us.

Where: In front of Lewisville City Hall, 151 West Church Street by the Veterans Memorial
When: Monday, May 27th, 8:00 a.m. (Stay as long as you want; I'll probably leave by 8:30)
Who: Anyone is invited.
What: Informal remembrance of our veterans who have died in service of our country.

Annual bagpipes, drums concert returns to Lewisville; Killdares to Play

More than 300 firefighter bagpipers and drummers from across the country are expected to participate in the annual KTA Jam Session scheduled for Friday, May 10, on the steps of Lewisville City Hall, 151 W. Church Street.

Friday’s event in historic Old Town Lewisville will start at 6 p.m., with performances starting at 7 p.m. The Killdares will take the stage at 7:45 p.m.

The event, which has become a community favorite drawing more than 1,000 spectators, will include a series of performances and presentations by participants and instructors at the Keep Tradition Alive symposium being held that week at the Lewisville Convention Center.

Also performing that evening will be The Killdares, a Celtic-themed band retuning to Lewisville after a well-received appearance in the 2012 Sounds of Lewisville summer concert series.

Keep Tradition Alive is one of the premier training events for firefighter bagpipe and drum corps members across the country, and also includes classes for public safety honor guards conducted by the National Honor Academy. It was started by Lewisville Fire Department in 2008 and is held each May at the Lewisville Convention Center. The public Jam Session held in conjunction with the symposium has become a popular regional activity for participants and spectators.

LakeCities Ballet Theatre will close its 29th season with the fanciful full-length ballet, “Coppélia,” presenting three performances April 26-28 at Medical Center of Lewisville Grand Theater.

Originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, Coppélia premiered in 1870 in Paris. The performance by LakeCities Ballet features choreography by Kelly Lannin and Allan Kinzie. Marcus High School senior Madison McKay will dance the lead role of Swanilda. Steven Loch, guest artist from Pacific Northwest Ballet and an LBT alumnus, will dance the role of Franz. Special guest artist Nigel Burgoine, formerly with Royal Ballet, will portray the role of the eccentric Dr. Coppelius.

Performances will be 7:30 p.m. April 26 and 27, and 2 p.m. April 28. Tickets are $15 per person and can be purchased in advance at En L’Air by calling 972.966.8006. Tickets also will be sold at the door, if available. Advance tickets cannot be purchased at MCL Grand.

There will be a pre-performance workshop at 6 p.m. Saturday (included with the purchase of a performance ticket) that will allow younger guests to interact with Artistic Director Kelly Lannin and visit LBT’s “Wax Museum,” where there will be live wind-up dolls on stage who explain the story of Coppelia and the different roles the dancers will play in the production. Please RSVP for this workshop to guild@lakecitiesballet.org and include the attendee’s name and age.

For more information, please visit www.lakecitiesballet.org.

Medical Center of Lewisville Grand Theater, located at 100 N. Charles Street between Main and Church streets. For details about upcoming events, or rental information for the facility, please visit www.MCLGrand.com or call 972.219.8446.

Watch the promo video here.

The Greater Lewisville Community Theatre, as it continues its 30th anniversary season, proudly presents the uproarious comedy, All the Great Books (Abridged). The show runs weekends April 26-May 12 with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 P.M. and Sundays at 3 P.M.

Made famous by the Reduced Shakespeare Players, the Abridged series takes big, serious topics like Shakespeare, the Bible, Hollywood, and the Great Books, and packs each theme into a hilarious 90-minute production. Wittily written by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, and under the ingenious direction of Alex Krus, the three actors race through 89 classic tomes, poking fun at the titles, plots and characters and cleverly engaging the audience in their ‘scholarly’ antics. It’s a high-energy show that leaves you breathless.

GLCT is located at 160 W. Main St. in Old Town Lewisville. The entrance and parking are in the rear off of Elm Street. Tickets are $16 (adults) and $13 (65 +over/18-under). Call for reservations (recommended) at (972) 221-SHOW (7469). Additional information is available at www.GLCT.org.

Keep Lewisville Beautiful will hold their May Garden Secrets class at the
Lewisville Library’s Crawford room on Thursday, May 16th, 2013 from 6-7pm. This informative class on “Growing and Cooking with Herbs from the Garden” is the perfect class for learning about herbs that can be successfully grown in North Texas and delicious meals and snacks that you can make with them.

The key speaker for the class, Zoe Broxson, is an active Denton County Master Gardener. Bring your family, friends, and neighbors for this informative herb gardening class. We look forward to seeing you there! Don’t forget to bring your questions for the question/answer session. And the best part…..it’s free!

This FREE Herb Gardening class will be held at the City of Lewisville Library in the Crawford room located at 1197 W. Main St., Thursday, May 16, 2013 from 6:00-7:00pm. Please call to reserve your spot! RSVP required by May 13th. This event is open to all participants (Lewisville residency not required). For more information, contact Keep Lewisville Beautiful at 972-538-5949 or info@keeplewisvillebeautiful.org.

Keep Lewisville Beautiful is excited to announce that its 6th annual Miniature Golf Tournament and silent auction will be held on Thursday, May 23rd 2013 at Zone Action Park. Individual registration starts at just $20 per person, or $60 per team of (4). Register by May 1st, 2013 to receive a discounted registration of $50 per team of (4). Dinner and registration will begin at 5:30pm, with a shotgun start at 6:30pm. Tournament players will receive dinner, commemorative goody bags, 18 holes of miniature golf, the chance to bid on great silent auction items, and a fun evening with friends and family. For more information or to register online, please visit www.keeplewisvillebeautiful.org/golf_tournament.htm. All funds generated from this great event go directly into your favorite KLB projects and programs!

The Lewisville Lake Symphony closes its 2012-2013 season with acclaimed violin soloist Shannon Lee giving two performances of Elgar’s Violin Concerto in B minor. In addition to the Elgar, the Symphony, under the baton of Maestro Adron Ming, will perform the much-loved Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” by Franz Schubert.

Miss Lee made a stunning orchestral debut at the age of twelve with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2005. Critical acclaim greeted Shannon in the fall of that year when she was featured as soloist during the DSO's Texas Tour. Since then she has been invited to perform with orchestras in the United States and Europe, consistently garnering highest praise from critics. Her coaches and mentors include world-famous violinists, Itzhak Perlman and Jaime Laredo. Now nineteen, she returned as soloist with the Dallas Symphony earlier this season for its performance of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”. The Dallas Morning News called her performance “very impressive…tossing off skitters, runs and double stops with apparently effortless brilliance”.

The concerts take place at the MCL Grand in Old Town Lewisville on Friday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 21 at 2:30 p.m. There is plenty of parking around the Grand; most is on the City Hall side of the arts complex.

Tickets can be booked online at www.lewisvillesymphony.org and are $25 on Friday and $20 on Sunday. The Symphony provides a special $5 discount for seniors (60+). Student tickets are $10. Information is available at the symphony’s website or 972.874.9087.

Leaders from the Denton County Veterans Coalition, Denton County Friends of the Family, Grace After Fire and Denton County MHMR are hosting a screening of the award-winning documentary THE INVISIBLE WAR at the MCL Grand Theater in Lewisville at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, March 26, 2013.

A groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of our country’s most disturbing and little known secrets, THE INVISIBLE WAR reveals the epidemic of sexual assault within the U.S. military.

Today, a female soldier in Afghanistan is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. Over 24,000 troops were estimated to have been assaulted in 2011 alone (12% were male and 88% female). The number of military sexual assaults from FY 2007 through FY 2011 is believed to be over 110,000.

Tracing the powerfully emotional stories of several young veterans, the film reveals the systemic cover-up of the crimes they have suffered and follows their struggles to rebuild their lives and careers. Featuring hard-hitting interviews with high-ranking military officials and members of Congress, THE INVISIBLE WAR urges us all—civilian and solider alike—to fight for a system that no longer forces our military to choose between speaking up and serving our country.

Lewisville Rotary is participating in a blood drive with Carter Blood Care to benefit Larry Smith on Saturday and Sunday, March 16 – 17, 2013 from 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm at the Vista Ridge Mall located at 2401 S. Stemmons in Lewisville. Look for the Carter Blood Mobile parked near Macy’s.

Here is a letter from Mr. Smith:

Hello, my name is Larry Smith. I have lived and worked in Lewisville for over 42 years. In 2008, I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma cancer. Among other things, Multiple Myeloma attacks the bone marrow and disrupts the flow of red blood cells which give your body oxygen. After being in remission for approximately 3 years, I went through several procedures in 2011 and 2012 which slowed the progress of the disease but did not put me back into remission. The process over the last 8 months has been to have blood transfusions every 3 to 4 weeks. The reason for that is that my hemoglobin (carried by the red blood cells) becomes very low and creates difficulties breathing – all from the nature of the disease. Actually, I am having another 2 units of blood on March 14, 2013 because of the low level of my hemoglobin. As of March 11, 2013, my hemoglobin blood count was 6.9 and should be 14 for normal. So to offset the low hemoglobin, I must have blood transfusions. I would venture to say I have had 14 units of blood in the last 8 months. So to put it bluntly, if it were not for the people who donate blood, me and thousands of others just like me would have serious issues that we might not be able to overcome. You, the individual are the blood lifeline of millions of people all over the United States that could not survive without the availability of blood. The one thing I have learned in my years is that you NEVER know when you, a friend or a family member will need a blood transfusion. Do your part and help someone who will need it so they can hopefully have a normal life. God bless you.

The Lewisville Lake Symphony’s International Chamber Series presents captivating vocal solos ranging from “Carmen” arias to Caribbean melodies plus exciting piano selections by Liszt and Kodály in a concert that features prize-winning mezzo-soprano Avis Stroud-Coleman and Hungarian pianist Imre Pátkai.

Mezzo-soprano Avis Stroud-Coleman (left) and Hungarian pianist Imre Pátkai (right)