Up & Coming Weekly

DECEMBER 16-22, 2009 UCW 11 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Christmas is less than 10 days away. If you still need to get yourself in the Christmas spirit, a trip to Lu Mil Vineyard's Festival of Lights, might do the trick. Lu Mil Vineyard is located in Dublin, N.C., approximately 30 miles outside of Fayetteville. The light show consists of an approximately 40 minute ride on a double-decker bus through the vineyard, which is elaborately decorated with displays of Christmas lights. Holiday music is playing throughout the tour and at several points during the ride, the bus stops as the song playing synchronizes with the twinkling lights. Some highlights of the show include a patriotic display in honor of America's men and women serving in the armed forces and a narration and depiction in lights of the story of Jesus' birth. The cost of the tour is $5 per person and includes a free cup of hot or cold muscadine cider from the gift shop after the tour. The tours last from 6 -10 p.m. through Dec. 23. There are also tours on Dec. 26 and Dec. 27. I attended the Festival of Lights recently on a Saturday night. There was a crowd, but it was not so busy that I couldn't get on the second tour for the evening. I was glad that I had worn warm shoes and several layers of clothing because I stood in line outside for about 20 minutes before the bus came for the second tour of the night. I suggest bringing gloves, a hat and a blanket. Patrons can either ride inside the bus or on top. The top has a better view of the lights, but the bottom is warmer. After the tour, I was more than happy to step inside the Lu Mil gift shop to redeem my free cup of cider. Mr. and Mrs. Claus were sitting in the back of the shop, happy to speak with anyone who wanted to stop and say hello. The gift shop offers a wide selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic ciders and wines as well as jams and jellies. There are unique cider fl avors, such as peach and strawberry, and customers can sample any variety before purchasing. Lu Mil is also currently offering a special Christmas buffet on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights for $10 per person. The Lu Mil Festival of Lights offers patrons a chance to experience the fun and beauty of Christmas lights at a family-friendly establishment for a reasonable price. Just be sure to bring warm clothing to fully experience the fun. For more information visit the Web site at www.lumilvineyard.com/ events.html. Festival of Lights at Lu Mil Vineyards a SHANNEN DILL Lake Rim Rec Center Offers Child Care for Christmas a SHANESSA FENNER Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas is just around the corner and there is so much to be done. The Lake Rim Recreation Center will lend you a hand through its program to watch children to allow parents to finish their last minute Christmas shopping on Monday, Dec. 21 and Tuesday, Dec. 22 from 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. "The parents will come and drop their kids off so they can do their shopping," said Jaime Osborne, assistant recreation center supervisor. " We will first have free-play in the gym for about an hour and then start our craft activities." Holiday-themed arts and crafts are planned for the kids such as making paper snowflakes, decorating Christmas cookies, decorating reusable bags and making candy cane reindeer. " We will make some ornaments that the kids can put on their Christmas tree," said Osborne. " We are also going to make snowmen out of Styrofoam balls and the kids can decorate them." Osborne added that the children will decorate wreaths and donate them to an assisted-living facility in order to brighten someone's day. " We try to wait and see how many kids we will have before we determine which crafts we are going to do," said Osborne. "If we have a small number of kids we are going to do technical crafts and if we have a larger number of kids we will do easy crafts." Osborne added that there is a staff on site specifically for this program. Games will be played with the kids as well as watching holiday- themed movies, which is the culminating activity of the day. Participants, ages 6-12, must bring their own non-perishable lunch each day. The cost is $10 per day. For more information, call 867-1147. SHANNEN DILL, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com SHANESSA FENNER, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com Beginning Teacher of the Month Beginning Teacher of the Month Congratulations to Marsha Roberts Beginning Teacher of the Month for Cumberland County Schools Marsha Roberts is a third year Health/PE teacher and athletic trainer at Terry Sanford High School. As athletic trainer, she works end- less hours with every athletic team and is at the school practically every day and evening. She has implemented a successful athletic train- ing program at Terry Sanford. Through this program, students are taught the skills of ath- letic training and assist all athletic teams at sporting events. Ms. Roberts has prepared students to go to national health care competitions, in which they have ranked highly. Ms. Roberts has worked tirelessly over the last three years to build her athletic training program and to develop as a teacher. Ms. Roberts is from Tarheel, NC and is a Methodist Universi- ty graduate. Marsha is one of the hardest working teachers in the county. She de- serves the honor of being the beginning teacher of the month for Cumberland County Schools. Sponsored by: Federal Transition to Teaching Grant and

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