Activities begin early, continue all weekend

Weekend activities begin early this week in New Bern, with two theatrical productions available beginning Thursday night.

Craven Early College will present a production of “Chicago” at Orringer Auditorium on the Craven Community College campus. It features high school actors from throughout Craven County.

This year’s show is from the acclaimed Broadway hit by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb.

Show dates are Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are available by calling Craven Early College at 252-637-5706. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students.

New Bern Civic Theatre’s “Beauty and the Beast, Jr.” begins its second week with a local youth cast of more than 40 youngsters. Show dates are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Adult admission is $12 in advance, $14 at the door. Students are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

Also on Thursday, a trio of guest speakers will present a program in Tryon Palace’s African American Lecture Series entitled “African Americans in Civil War North Carolina and a Southern Woman’s Perspective of Reconstruction.”

The 7 p.m. lecture at the visitor center auditorium is free.

A panel discussion targets three topics relating to African-Americans during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Jeffrey Crow will talk about African-Americans in Civil War North Carolina and read an excerpt from, “A Spelling Book in One Hand and a Musket in the other: African Americans in Civil War North Carolina.”

Crow’s focus is on “Mary Bayard Clarke’s ‘Betsey Bittersweet’ Articles 1867-1868: A Conservative Response to Reconstruction.”

Mary Barden’s topic is her great-grandmother, “Mary Bayard Clarke: The New Bern Years.” Barden’s husband, William J. Clarke, participated in the Kirk-Holden War of 1870 and trained former slave George Henry White in law in the late 1870s.

The Friends of the Library — New Bern-Craven County Public Library — holds it annual book sale Friday through Sunday at the Sudan Shrine Center on Broad Street. Sale hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The book sale has been held for more than 30 years, and each year thousands of donated books are available at bargain prices — $1.50 for hardbacks, 50 cents for small paperbacks, $1 for large paperbacks and 25 cents for children’s books. There is a special section of books also, priced from $3 to $10.

The book sale is held in the spring and in the fall and is the Friends’ major fundraiser each year.

It aids summer reading programs, monthly receptions for artist of the month and various special programs for the children’s department — computers and compact-disc books and other equipment.

Elinor Hawkins, former Friends president and current board member, said there is plenty of room at the Sudan for those who like to browse in leisure.

The Down East Folk Art Society Series presents guitarist Danielle Miraglia on Friday evening at Trent River Coffee Co. on Craven Street in New Bern, and the following night she is at Clawson’s in Beaufort.

A native of the Boston area, she released her debut EP "Bad Poetry" in 2001, followed by a second release, "Just Wrong Enough" in 2002.

Another library-related event is a two-day visit by best-selling North Carolina mystery author Margaret Maron.

There is a Friday night reception at the home of  Dr. John and Maria Cho in downtown New Bern. Tickets are $20 and go toward library programs. Tickets are available at the library.

On Saturday, Maron will be at the New Bern Scotish Rite Temple on Hancock Street at 2 p.m. for a lecture. It is a free event, but tickets are needed due to seating restrictions. Tickets are available at the library.

Call 252-638-7800 for tickets or information.

The Tryon Palace Lecture Series hosts “Notable New Bernians in the Garden of Athens” on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the visitor center auditorium. It is sponsored by the Harold H. Bate Foundation and is a free event. Speakers include Rebecca Reimer Arthur, curator of education, and Lisa Wimpfheimer, the palace curator of gardens.

The Palace will also host an African American Historic Walking Tour on Sunday at 2 p.m., beginning at the visitor center.

The 90-minute tour covers 16 blocks and traces 300 years of history.

A minimum of 10 people are needed for the tour, so reservations are required. Tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for students.