Quilting, writing seminars scheduled at SCHC

The Southern Cultural Heritage Center has announced plans for two events.

In the first, quilting professional Diane Jordan will teach a children’s beginner workshop Jan. 7 and March 18, during the Vicksburg Warren School District’s intercession weeks. Sessions will run from 8:30 a.m. until noon, and mothers are welcome to attend. Students will create a charm square quilt.

The fee is $65 per child per workshop and includes a quilting fabric kit. Space is limited to 12 students. Participants must bring a small pair scissors, seam ripper, neutral thread, large zip-top bag and a sewing machine. A few machines are available for rent for $20 and must be reserved.

In the second, Irene Graham, founder of the internationally successful The Creative Writer’s Workshop, will lead two seminars — a fiction writing workshop will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 19-21 and a memoir writing workshop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 22-24. Registration for each is $530 for SCHF members and $545 for nonmembers. Space is limited, and reservations are required.

Graham created The Creative Writer’s Workshop in 1991. It has been taught to hundreds of both new and established writers throughout Ireland. Graham has written three screenplays and is an art photographer. She lives in County Wicklow in Ireland and is writing a book of short stories and another screenplay.

The Southern Cultural Heritage Center can be reached at 601-631-2997 or info@southernculture.org.

Jackson theater group plans ‘A Christmas Carol’

“A Christmas Carol,” produced by New Stage Theatre in Jackson, will open Dec. 4. Performances will run through Dec. 21.

SchoolFest Matinees will be at 10 a.m. beginning Dec. 4.

The version of the play used by New Stage is an adaptation by Ivan Rider, who has directed more than 90 productions for the theater company.

Tickets are $18 for general admission, $15 for students and seniors and $10 for children 12 and younger. They can be purchased by calling 601-948-3531 or visiting www.newstagetheatre.com. Group discounts are available, as well as a $50 family pack, which includes two adult and two children’s tickets. Patrons who bring a canned good to the Dec. 4-7 performances will receive $3 off their tickets.

Monroe sets tours for historic home

One of Monroe’s historical homes, the Cooley House, will be open to the public from noon until 5 p.m. Dec. 6.

The opening is part of the Christmas on the Ouachita weekend activities.

Tours are free and will be each hour on the hour, with the last at 4 p.m.

Christmas on the Ouachita, a debut event, will run Dec. 4-7. A list of events is on the Monroe-West Monroe Convention & Visitors Bureau Web site — www.monroe-westmonroe.org.

The Cooley House is located at South Grand Street and Texas Avenue. It was designed in 1908  and constructed in 1926 by international architect Walter Burley Griffin for Monroe entrepreneur G.B. Cooley. It is a rare example of residential Prairie School architecture in the South. For information, visit www.cooleyhouse.org.