University of Southern Indiana issued the following news tiffany release:

A Christmas Carol is a timeless story that appeals to all ages. USI Theatre’s A Christmas Carol features a cast of 34 people ranging in age from seven years to 60-something. With 12 children from the surrounding Evansville area participating, USI Theatre is producing one of its largest productions.

Lenny Leibowitz, assistant professor of theatre and director of the production, said, “Working with so many people from different walks of life and of different ages is a real joy – we have a cast that encompasses USI students, children, siblings, and veteran performers in the community. I love that our production and our process will truly celebrate the spirit of Dickens’ timeless story.”

Theatre patrons who saw the USI Theatre production of Meet Me in St. Louis will recognize some of the young actors in A Christmas Carol. Hanna Van Winkle, a fifth-grader from Slaughters, Kentucky, is the Ghost of Christmas Past and Jessica Bailey, Henderson, is Young Fan and Belinda Cratchit.

Newcomers with USI connections are Nadia Scharf, daughter of Amy and Ed Scharf, earrings USI web developer, and Matlyn Macleod, granddaughter of Dr. Daniel Scavone, professor emeritus of history.

Another returning performer, Andi Conkright, said, “This show is so different from Meet Me in St. Louis because I am playing more than one character. I get to be the cute little sister, Sara, but I also get to play the scary character, Want.”

The children have been working for five weeks learning blocking, rehearsing lines, and discovering the “ins and outs” of theatre.

Several pairs of siblings are represented in the production. USI theatre majors Erica Becker and Becky Fortner are in the production with their younger siblings Nicholas Becker and Sara Fortner. Other young cast members are Jessica and Matthew Bailey and Taylor and Reece McDaniel.

Erica Becker said, “Even though I am from the Evansville area, my schedule gets crazy and it is hard to be home and to spend time with my family. Having the opportunity to work with Nicholas is so rewarding because I get to see him grow as an actor and hang out with my little brother.”

A Christmas Carol runs through November 22 at the Mallette Studio Theatre in the Liberal Arts Center. Tickets key rings are $12 with discounts for seniors, students, and children. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 812/465-1668.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.

A limited supply of H1N1 flu shots will be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on silver jewelry Saturday, Nov. 14, at the South Tower Pharmacy, 417 S. Tower Ave., Centralia. A $10 donation will be accepted but is not required.

Only the following priority groups will be able to receive the vaccine (subject to change depending on type of vaccine available — injectable or nasal spray — and quantity available):

–Pregnant women (vaccine may not be available at this site)

–Ages 2 through 24 years old (vaccine not available for those 6 months through 2 years old)

–Ages 25 through 64 years old with chronic medical conditions

–All health care and emergency medical workers

–All adults, children and teens who care for infants under 6 months old.

Workshop Assists Seniors With Medicare Enrollment

By The Chronicle

Open enrollment time for Medicare will continue through Dec. 31. Two workshops will be frank gehry jewelry held regarding changes to Medicare D prescription drug coverage to assist seniors with getting information to help make decisions about health care and prescription drug coverage.

The first workshop will be held Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library, and the second workshop will be held Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Centralia Timberland Library. Both days will have speakers from 10 a.m. to noon and a workshop for individual assistance from the Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance program from 1 to 3 p.m.

Speakers will include professionals from the Lewis County Health Department, SHIBA, Hall’s Pharmacy, and Assured Home Health and Hospice.

For more information, call Valerie Mason at the Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging at 748-2524 ext. 101 or 748-2288.

Evergreen Playhouse Seeking Volunteers and Holding Auditions

By The Chronicle

The Evergreen Playhouse in Centralia is looking for volunteers and potential board members to help choose and produce plays and other events presented year-round.

For more information visit http://evergreenplayhouse.wordpress.com or its Facebook page by searching “The Evergreen Playhouse.”

Auditions will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday for “Over the River and Through the Woods” bangles at the Evergreen Playhouse, 226 W. Center St. For more information call director Norma Rogers at 262-0712.

Shop for Christmas, Help Fight Cancer

By The Chronicle

Team Remembrance is hosting a “Guilt-free Shopping Day” from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at 18139 Sunshine Lane S.W., Rochester.

There will be Pampered Chef, Cookie Lee, Tupperware, Mary Kay, Stampin Up and more in one convenient location.

A portion of the proceeds, with some vendors giving half or all, will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

Mississippi horticulturist Felder Rushing fields your most frequently tiffany and co asked questions about how to have a truly green holiday.

Are fake trees better for the environment?

No. “They can be reused, but they’re not biodegradable,” says Rushing. Eventually, artificial trees end up in landfills and stay there for centuries. Another problem: These trees are often made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a plastic that releases harmful dioxins into the air during manufacture. Plus, overseas factories produce most fake trees and ship them great distances, generating high levels of carbon dioxide emissions in transit.

How about a living tree that can be replanted later — is that a good way to go? “It’s a nice idea but a bad practice,” according to Rushing. “Bringing these trees indoors in the winter is a terrible thing, physiologically speaking. A very small percentage of the trees survive, probably less than one in 10.”

But if I buy a fresh tree, aren’t I contributing to deforestation? “Nope. These plants are silver pendants farmed specifically to be Christmas trees,” explains Rushing, who adds that they’re typically a low-pesticide crop. “In fact, you’re supporting local agriculture when you buy one grown in your area.” (Find farms at localharvest.org.) After the holidays, most towns offer to turn the trees into compost or wood chips for free. Check earth911.com for a list of recycling centers near you.

COUNTRY CALENDAR

ELVIS BEFORE HE WAS KING

Elvis Presley would have turned 75 on January 8, 2010, but he doesn’t look a day over 21 in a new Smithsonian exhibition. The collection — 56 early photos of the King taken by Alfred Wertheimer — tours the country, starting in Los Angeles on Presley’s birthday and continuing through 2013. To view the schedule, visit sites.si.edu/elvis.

THE BEST WAY TO SPEND $24

For not much dough, the festive Scandinavian-style print of this ROLLING PIN gives you something pretty silver earrings to look at while baking — and to display all the time. (anthropologie.com)

The 76-foot-tall Norway spruce that will be set up early Thursday morning in New York tiffany jewelry City’s Rockefeller Center has hometown roots.

The towering tree, which will be the centerpiece for the midtown Manhattan landmark’s Christmas festivities, was chopped down Wednesday on the North Park Avenue property of Maria Corti.

About 160 neighbors, relatives and the curious turned out for the tree-cutting operation, joined by dozens of staffers from Rockefeller Center, who were handing out green sweatshirts, red scarves and assorted breakfast treats. The activity turned usually placid North Park Avenue into a beehive of activity, with about 60 cars parked up and down the street and a detail of Easton police officers assigned to direct traffic.

“I called Rockefeller Center last spring, thinking that I had a possible tree for Christmas,” Corti said, adding that she moved into the ranch home only about a year ago. “They suggested that I send in a picture of the tree with someone in the picture for proportion. So, that’s what I did.”

Corti said that she figured she probably would never hear from Rockefeller Center again. “I thought: ‘That would be the end of that,’ so to speak, because I’m sure a lot of people write in thinking that they have a tree worthy enough for Rockefeller Center.”

Corti, a fifth-grade teacher at Cider Mill School in Wilton, said that within a few days she was pendants contacted by David Murbach, Rockefeller Center’s gardens

manager.

“Actually, it is a tough job,” Murbach said when asked about how he goes about finding the perfect tree. “It’s one in a million. You think that there are a lot of good trees around, but they’re not perfect like the ones that we need. We look for perfection.”

Murbach said that he goes aloft in a helicopter to find showcase trees. From the chopper, Murbach said that he spotted the Corti spruce from miles away.

“I was hoping that it was someone else’s tree, because then I’d have one for next year,” he said. “She turned out to be one of the sweetest people that we ever had to deal with.”

Corti’s tree has a “double trunk,” which provides it with greater branch density, makes it easier to mount the star and results in fewer broken branches when it’s moved, Murbach said. “We’ve been using double trunks for a number of years.”

It grew quickly because it was situated over the septic tank. Still, he said that his staff fertilized the earrings tree throughout the spring and summer to fill it out a little more.

About 10 a.m. Wednesday, the lumberjacks’ buzz saws fell silent and the tree, already supported by a huge crane, was lifted off its stump and lashed onto a 115-foot tractor-trailer flatbed for the trip to New York City.

A flock of grade school children immediately descended onto the stump to count the rings.

“Forty-three!” confidently announced Kate McKinnon, an 11-year-old student at West Rock Middle School in Norwalk. “I counted twice.” She was with her 6-year-old sister, Claire, and both said that they would be sure to see the tree after it’s decorated.

The tree-lighting ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Dec. 2, and it will be broadcast live on WNBC-TV, Channel 4.

Meanwhile, Murbach said that his crew will restore Corti’s backyard “better than it was before.”

As for the giant spruce, he said that it will continue to serve the public after Christmas. Lumber from the tree will be used in homes to be built by Habitat for Humanity, he said, probably as window frames.

The tree is the second from the region in two years to be chosen as Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree. In 2007, another Norway spruce — about 84 feet tall — from Shelton got the distinction.

Tree timeline Historical milestones for Rockefeller Center tree: 1931: Workmen on a muddy construction site put up the first Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. At the time of the Depression, the workmen placed the tree in the middle of a construction site. 1933: First formal Rockefeller Center tree-lighting ceremony takes place. Tree is decked with 700 lights in front of the 8-month-old RCA Building. 1936: Two trees, each 70 feet tall, were erected. For the first time, the lighting ceremony included a skating pageant on the newly opened Rockefeller Plaza key rings outdoor ice skating rink. 1942: Three trees were placed on Rockefeller Plaza, one decorated in red, one in white and the other in blue to show support for troops in World War II. 1949: Tree was painted silver to look like snow. 1951: The center’s tree lighted for the first time on national television on the Kate Smith Show. 1966: The first tree from outside the United States was erected. It was given by Canada, in honor of the centennial of its confederation. 1980: For 50th anniversary of tree lighting, a 70-foot-tall Norway spruce came from the grounds of the Immaculate Conception Seminary of Mahwah, N.J. Bob Hope participated in the lighting. 1999: The largest tree in Rockefeller Center history, 100 feet high, from Killingworth, Conn. 2007: For the first time, the tree is lit with 30,000 energy-efficient LEDs. Hundreds of solar panels atop one of the Rockefeller Center buildings help power the new LEDs.

There are lots of things that say Christmas tiffany: Trees, cookies, parties and presents, for example. But murder mysteries? Who knew?

Publishers did.

Sales of author Anne Perry’s mystery stories appeared to plateau a few years back. But when the author put out a Christmas novel in 2005, sales shot up, said Daniel Goldin, owner of Boswell Book Company on Milwaukee’s east side.

Mystery writers now join novelists, yarn-spinners and memoirists in expounding on the season.

Here’s a roundup of some of this year’s new holiday titles, from graphic novels to Victorian mysteries to how-to and children’s books.

Unexpected Xmas authors

–”The Dreaded Feast: Writers on Enduring the Holidays,” edited by necklaces Michele Clarke and Taylor Plimpton (Abrams Books, $15.95)

Cynical anthology from writers including John Waters, Charles Bukowski, Dave Barry and Hunter S. Thompson. For those who believe that the best spirits of the season come in a bottle.

–”You Better Not Cry,” by Augusten Burroughs (St. Martin’s Press, $21.99)

His childhood wasn’t so cheery, so it stands to reason that his holidays weren’t brimming with happiness, either.

–”Matchless,” by Gregory MaGuire (HarperCollins, $19.99)

The author of “Wicked” puts his spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Match Girl” to celebrate the season.

Graphic-novel greetings

All are $14.99 from HarperCollins.

–”A Kidnapped Santa Claus”: Alex Robinson adapts the L. Frank Baum story.

–”The Fir-Tree”: Comics author Lilli Carre’s take on the bangles Hans Christian Andersen tale.

–”The Gift of the Magi”:

Joel Priddy gives his view of O. Henry’s famous tale.

Christmas chick lit

–”The Christmas Cookie Club,” by Ann Pearlman (Atria Books, $24.99)

Women bond over life and over cookies.

–”Knit the Season,” by Kate Jacobs (Fantastic Fiction, $24.95)

Third book in the Friday Night Knitting Club Series is set in Scotland.

–”A Christmas Promise,” by Anne Perry (Fantastic Fiction, $18)

The seventh book in her series of Victorian Christmas novellas.

Winter wonderlands

–”A Christmas Blizzard,” by Garrison Keillor (Penguin Group, $21.95)

Rich man finds the true meaning of Christmas in a South Dakota blizzard.

–”The Gift,” by Cecelia Ahern (HarperCollins, $19.99)

Ahern, the co-creator of TV’s “Samantha Who?” takes on the season.

–”Wishin’ and Hopin’: A Christmas Story,” by Wally Lamb (HarperCollins, $19.99)

Lamb, famous for “She’s Come Undone,” turns back the clock to Christmas, 1960s style.

–”Christmas Memories: Gifts, Activities, Fads and Fancies, 1920s-1960s,” by Susan Waggoner (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $17.95)

If you ever wondered how the characters on “Mad Men” rings might have celebrated Christmas, it’s in here.

Murder meets mistletoe

–”Decked with Folly,” by Kate Kingsbury (Berkley Publishing Group, $14)

Holiday season at the Pennyfoot Hotel includes death in a duck pond.

–”Holiday Grind,” by Cleo Coyle (Berkley Publishing Group, $23.95)

After seven stories in the coffeehouse mystery series, authors Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini (a.k.a. Cleo Coyle) set this one during Christmas cookie season. Recipes included.

–”Mrs. Jeffries & the Yuletide Weddings,” by Emily Brightwell (Berkley Publishing Group, $23.95)

Two weddings, the Christmas holiday and a murder. It’s a trifecta.

God is in the details

–”The Christmas Glass,” by Marci Alborghetti (Guideposts, $15.99)

The latest from Alborghetti, famous for her faith-themed books, is being compared to 1995′s wildly popular “The Christmas Box” by Richard Paul Evans.

–”Santa Miracles,” by Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger (Adams Media, $12.95)

Think “Chicken Soup for the Jolly Old Soul” for this collection of Santa stories.

–”Christmas Traditions: True Stories that Celebrate the Spirit of the Season,” edited by Helen Szymanski (Adams Media, $10.95)

Writers share their purposeful and accidental traditions from the season.

Holiday kid lit

–”Fly, Santa, Fly,” by Betty Ann Schwartz, illustrated by Steve Cox (Sterling Publishing, $9.95)

Geared to infants and preschoolers, it lets kids control Santa’s flight with a lenticular disc.

–”A Pussycat’s Christmas,” by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated Anne Mortimer (HarperCollins, $9.99)

Beautiful photos ask the questions: Can cats hear snow, smell Christmas bracelets trees or celebrate the holiday? Answers inside.

–”Secret Santa,” illustrated by Simone Abel with design and paper engineering by Richard Jewitt (Sterling Publishers, $16.95)

Follow the letter exchange between Santa and a fan with stunning pop-ups that tell the story of the North Pole.

–”Horrid Henry’s Christmas,” by Francesca Simon, illustrated by Tony Ross (Sourcebooks, $4.99)

Nothing says Christmas like a story that includes Pimply Paul.

–”The Great Reindeer Rebellion,” by Lisa Trumbauer, illustrated by Jannie Ho (Sterling Publishers, $14.95)

Turns out elephants don’t make good replacements when reindeer strike at the North Pole.

Retailers’ third-quarter results this week came with cautious outlooks for the fourth quarter tiffany jewelry, as consumer spending remains weak and the ghost of Christmas past looms large.

Analysts’ holiday sales estimates vary from a 1% decline to a nearly 3% gain over last year. That uncertainty, coupled with the highest unemployment rate since 1983 and disappointing consumer sentiment, means retailers “don’t know how Black Friday is going to be. They don’t know how December will be,” said Walter Loeb, president of retail consultancy Loeb Associates Inc.

On Friday, J.C. Penney Co. posted a 78% drop in fiscal third-quarter profit and offered a mixed view of its fourth quarter. It provided a wide estimate of potential profit and forecast a revenue drop larger than Wall Street estimates. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kohl’s Corp. and Macy’s Inc. also issued lower-than-expected guidance, citing the uncertain economy.

“Everybody is chastened by the experience of last year’s holiday debacle,” said pendants Craig Johnson, president of consultancy Customer Growth Partners.

Department store chains have been among the hardest-hit retailers, as budget-conscious shoppers traded down to discounters including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and TJX Cos.’ T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s. The sector as a whole has posted negative year-over-year sales every month for more than a year, according to Thomson Reuters.

The chains that posted results this week — including Penney, Macy’s, Nordstrom Inc. and Kohl’s — all managed to eke out gains in product-sales margins, aided by sharply lower inventories and operating costs.

On Friday, Penney reported its third-quarter margins had improved by 2.1 percentage points, benefiting from leaner inventories and fewer markdowns, even as overall sales fell. Although Penney’s stocks are in line with projected demand, Chief Executive Myron E. Ullman III sounded a cautious note in a Friday conference call. “Unemployment remains at high levels. Everybody is concerned about the equity value of their homes . . . and many consumers are seeing constriction and cancellation of their credit,” he said.

Suppliers also continue to voice caution. Eric Wiseman, chief executive of VF Corp., which earrings owns Wrangler, North Face and Vans, said while sales trends have improved over the past 90 days, “does it mean we’re in a recovery? I don’t think so. What happens over Christmas is unpredictable.”

For the quarter ended Oct. 31, Penney, of Plano, Texas, posted a profit of $27 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with $124 million, or 56 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest results included a pension expense of $73 million. Analysts were predicting 12 cents a share profit, according to Thomson Reuters.

Sales fell 3.2% to $4.12 billion while sales at stores open at least a year declined 4.6%.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. on Friday also reported a decline in fiscal third-quarter earnings on key rings lower sales. It posted a profit of $38.8 million, or 44 cents a share, down from $63.9 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue decreased 15% to $765.4 million on a 22% drop in same-store sales.

Santa Claus is coming to town, and visitors to the tiffany jewelry Wyoming Valley Mall and downtown Wilkes-Barre can expect some yuletide fun.

The city will kick off the holiday season with a day full of events in downtown Wilkes-Barre on next Saturday. The annual parade will feature the arrival of Santa Claus and the lighting of the Christmas tree on Public Square at 3:15 p.m.

The tree was put in place Friday, marking the start of the holiday season.

“The City of Wilkes-Barre is proud to offer such a fantastic schedule of free, family-friendly activities next Saturday,” Mayor Tom Leighton said. “The community is invited to join us to celebrate the holiday season throughout the month of December.”

Children of all ages will be enchanted by a classic Christmas tale told by Mrs. Claus at Barnes and Noble, and Wilkes-Barre Movies 14 will offer free admission to the movie “Elf” with an unwrapped toy, to benefit Toys for Tots.

King’s College Cantores Christi Regis Choir will perform outside of the Ramada on Public silver key rings Square. The talented group of King’s students will perform spirited sounds of the holidays in front of the hotel.

Santa Claus will arrive in Wilkes-Barre with music, floats and holiday fun. The parade begins at the intersection of South and South Main Streets. Immediately after the parade the tree lighting on Public Square will take place.

Leighton will flip the switch to illuminate the Christmas tree on Public Square. There will be complimentary treats from the Salvation Army and the Wilkes-Barre City Lions Club; $5 photos with Santa to benefit Valley Santa, courtesy of Boscov’s, will be located in the center of the Square.

For more information about the Christmas parade and related activities, contact Lore Majikes at 208-4149 or lmajikes@wilkes-barre.pa.us.

Santa arrived at the Wyoming Valley Mall Friday evening and will be available to see children through silver necklaces Christmas Eve.

The jolly old elf has taken up shop in the mall’s center court. His new “home” is a giant sleigh filled with reindeer, trees, lights and snow.

Santa will be available for photos in center court through Christmas Eve, and all children visiting will receive a free gift and a cheeseburger from McDonald’s.

Santa’s hours at the mall are: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Christmas Eve, Santa will be at the mall from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. before he whisks back to the North Pole to get ready to deliver gifts around the world.

Navajo County issued the following news release:

State Senator Sylvia Allen, Navajo County Supervisor David Tenney, Mayor Rick tiffany jewellery Fernau and the district director from Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick’s office spoke to hundreds of schoolchildren, teachers and their parents at the second stop on the statewide Capitol Christmas Tree tour on November 10, 2009.

“We’re very proud of Show Low’s donation of time and resources to this project,” said Mayor Fernau. “The White Mountains will be on display for all the nation to see.”

Supervisor Tenney quipped that it was “about time we showed the nation that we silver pendants have Christmas trees here that don’t look like saguaro cactus.”

“More importantly, I wanted to point out that this is a Christmas tree,” Supervisor Tenney said. “I think the nation would do well to remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.”

Senator Allen challenged all the schoolchildren to make a Christmas wish.

“I want you to make a wish that you could show more love, give more service and silver earrings show more kindness this holiday season,” Senator Allen said. “I think that if we all wish for that, this tree will give people hope whey they see it in the Capitol.”

District Director Virginia Turner also sent congratulations and well-wishes on behalf of Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, who could not be present for the event.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.

Toys for Tots is giving Santa Claus a run for his christmas gift money.

The Marine Corps’ annual drive has increased its goals for the Philadelphia region this year because the recession and high unemployment threaten to deprive many children of getting a gift over the holidays.

This year’s goal is 150,000 toys, up from last year’s original target of 60,000, announced Brian P. Tierney, chief executive officer of Philadelphia Media Holdings, at a news conference yesterday.

Hopes were boosted by the overwhelming public support of last year’s drive.

By early December last year, donations were falling far short, when the company that produces The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com stepped up to the plate.

“This was 10 days before Christmas, and there were thousands of children money clips who weren’t going to have a Christmas,” Tierney said.

A “toy emergency” was declared, the word was spread with help of newspaper and online ads, and the public responded big-time.

The final tally: about 139,000 toys.

Even more are needed this year because of the troubled economy, said Tierney and Gunnery Sgt. David Pierson, speaking behind an array of footballs, plush toys, dolls, and games in the lobby of the Inquirer Building.

The collection, worth $5,000, was a new gift from the company, in addition to $4,500 in other donations.

The Inquirer Building, at Broad and Callowhill Streets, and the company’s printing plant in pendants Upper Merion Township are just two of dozens of locations throughout the area — including schools, museums, offices, and restaurants — where toys can be dropped off.

Lincoln Financial Field will be a major collection point Dec. 20, when the Eagles play the San Francisco 49ers.

To find a spot, go to www.toysfortotsphila.org . For locations, click on “Donate Toys,” and be sure to click “Next” in the upper right to browse for additional listings.

Money can be donated through the Web site or by mailing a check payable to Toys for Tots earrings of Philadelphia to 2838-98 Woodhaven Rd., Philadelphia 19154.

Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.

Tickets will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. tiffany jewelry Monday.

The pageant will run Dec. 7-13 with performances at 6:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.

For more information contact Northside Baptist Church at 361-578-1568.

Chur

Northside Baptist Church’s annual Christmas rings pageant, known for its elaborate scenery and live animals, is turning 25.

“Silver Bells” is the theme for this year’s pageant, which tells the story of Jesus and will include modern-day holiday song and dance scenes.

“It’s what Christmas is all about,” said Sylvia Manning, who does publicity for the event. “It’s the birth, death and resurrection of Christ and friendship and fellowship and love.”

Manning said the event is suitable for all ages and anticipates bracelets available tickets to quickly run out. Although the project involves nearly 500 church members and is expensive to produce, tickets are free.

“It’s presented as a Christmas gift to Victoria,” Manning said.

More than 9,000 people attended the pageant last year, and similar crowds are expected for the 11 presentations scheduled for this season.

Tickets will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. Monday. The pageant will run cufflinks Dec. 7-13 with performances at 6:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. For more information contact Northside Baptist Church at 361-578-1568.