National Renewable Energy Meeting in Indy

The National Renewables Cooperative Organization is holding its first meeting today in Indianapolis, according to Inside INdiana Business.

The group has 24 representatives from electric cooperatives across the country, including Indianapolis-based Wabash Valley Power. The goal of the organization is to help its member cooperatives develop renewable energy resources and increase the use of renewable energy in the United States.

Country Christmas Cabaret

Take a warm and wonderful trip to the heart of the holidays with the American Cabaret Theatre's "Country Christmas Cabaret".

This merry musical, created by Artistic Director Bob Harbin and Musical Director John Austin Butsch, spotlights traditional holiday tunes mixed with hits by a number of classic and contemporary country artists, including Toby Keith, Conway Twitty, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Pride, Patsy Cline, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Reba McEntyre, Kenny Rogers, and Brad Paisley. Country Christmas Cabaret will open 29 November and run through 21 December.

The American Cabaret Theatre is located in the Athenaeum/Das Deutsche Haus, 401 East Michigan Street, Indianapolis. For tickets, visit the box office or call 317:631-0334 x105. Tickets for Fridays and Saturdays, $20; Thursdays and Sundays, $15.

Veterans' Day Parade Affects Downtown Traffic

Tomorrow (11 November) Veterans' Day activities will be held to honor area military veterans. A memorial service will be conducted from 11 to 11:30 a.m. at the Indiana War Memorial.

The annual Veterans Day Parade Downtown will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Marshalling for the parade will begin at 9 a.m. with parade activities completed by approximately 2 p.m.

There will be parking and traffic restrictions along the parade route between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Parade Route:

* South on Pennsylvania Street from Michigan Street to New York Street
* West on New York Street to Meridian Street
* North on Meridian Street to St. Clair Street

Streets closed 9 a.m.-2 p.m.:

* Pennsylvania Street between 9th and New York streets
* Meridian Street between 9th and New York streets
* St. Clair Street between Illinois and Delaware streets
* Walnut Street between Illinois and Delaware streets
* North Street between Illinois and Delaware streets
* Michigan Street between Illinois and Delaware streets
* Vermont Street between Illinois and Delaware streets
* New York Street between Illinois and Delaware streets

Use Ohio, Washington and Maryland streets for east/west travel and Illinois Street and Capitol Avenue for north/south travel.

Sandra Seaton to Speak at Butler

Playwright and novelist Sandra C. Seaton will deliver Butler University’s 2008 Thornbrough Lecture, “Unrecorded History: Dramatizing the Past,” at 4 p.m. 14 November in the Ford Salon at Robertson Hall on the Butler campus in Indianapolis.

The event is free. No tickets are required. Call 317:940-9230 for more information. A reception will follow the lecture.

Seaton’s play The Bridge Party won a Theodore Ward Prize for new African-American playwrights.

Her most recent work, Sally, a solo play about the life of Sally Hemings, premiered at the New York State Writer's Institute in Albany, NY.

The lecture is sponsored by the Indiana Association of Historians and the Department of History and Anthropology at Butler University.

Work by Mark Lewis to Debut at IMA

Mark Lewis’ 2006 work Rear Projection: Molly Parker, premieres at the The Indianapolis Museum of Art on 7 November. It's a short film that looks to the outmoded technique of rear projection that will be on view in the Carmen & Mark Holeman Video Gallery.

London-based Lewis will lecture on his art at 6 p.m. 6 November in the IMA's DeBoest Lecture Hall. There is no charge for the presentation, which will be followed at 7 p.m. by an opportunity to meet the artist and enjoy Puck's Happy Hour with the IMA’s Contemporary Art Society.

Goodwill Hunting

Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana gets a really big plug in today's New York Times. A magazine feature titled "Goodwill Hunting" (Rob Walker's Consumed column) discusses -- quite favorably -- our own Goodwill's decision to hire Young & Laramore to promote the stores in 1996.

Since then, Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana has gone from 23 stores to 40 -- and sales in 2007 were $45 million, up 17 percent from 2006.

Music Academy Benefit Recital

The Fine Arts Society of Indianapolis presents a recital benefiting its Music Academy at 4 p.m. tomorrow (2 November) in the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center, University of Indianapolis Campus, 1400 East Hanna Avenue, Indianapolis

A weekly after-school music education program, the Music Academy provides scholarship-based keyboard lessons, music theory, and classical listening to Indianapolis’ economically disadvantaged elementary-age students.

The recital features a variety of Indianapolis musicians, including UIndy faculty, as well as advanced Music Academy students. Tickets are $15. For information, call 317:788-3255.