The Black Hills Fun blog is on hiatus while we gear up for some more FUN STUFF!!! Back soon . . .

From Judy, she tells me:

Dakota Choral Union, a non-auditioned community chorus, invites area singers to join in the spring 2010 concert season. DCU rehearsals for the April Vivaldi’s “Gloria” concert begin Monday, January 11, 2010, from 7:00-9:15 PM in National American University Lecture Hall, 321 Kansas City Street. Call 718-9983 or 341-1397 for more information.

I quickly emailed her back for more information — who can join? How often are rehearsals? You know, all the good stuff. Judy wrote me right back:

Thanks for the good questions!

Jan. 11 is the opening night for the spring season, which culminates with the April 25 concert at Blessed Sacrament Church in RC.

Dakota Choral Union meets weekly on Monday nights (with a few exceptions) and invites singers from high school through senior citizens from RC and the surrounding Black Hills area. DCU is an organization that is a melting pot of people from all economic positions, all educational backgrounds, and all walks of life who share a passion for singing.

Check out our webpage at www.dakotachoralunion.org and/or send any other questions. (-:

I visited the Dakota Choral Union website to find out more. I found out that the Dakota Choral Union is the official choir for the Black Hills Symphony. How cool is that?

This sounds like a great opportunity for people to sing, and have FUN (–you know we’re all about fun) and get to know others in the community who have a love of music and singing. How terrific that we have a group like this here in the Black Hills!

Rapid City has a jewel that most locals know about — just check out the reviews — most of them are 4 star or higher. While a fun summer attraction to take the little ones to, it is right after Thanksgiving when Storybook Island transforms into a winter wonderland.

The 15th annual Storybook Christmas is in full swing at Storybook Island. The exhibits are decorated with thousands of lights– it almost becomes another attraction entirely. The best part is watching all the little kids zip in and out among the characters, excited that their favorite summer destination now sparkles and shines.

The train still runs as the “Christmas Express” and rides are only $1.  Hot Cider and Cocoa are available as well as cookies, and the Jolly Elf himself will be there!

Days left to view lights until Christmas….

Days open and Hours:

Dec.. 4-6, 11-13, 18-31, Jan. 1-2

5:30-8:30 pm

ADMISSION: $2.00 per person

Photography of Storybook Island as Storybook Christmas by Johnny Sundby

– visit and view his work at www.johnnysundby.com

I have twin daughters. When they were little we would visit the ultimate Santa at the Rushmore Mall. Did you ever see this Santa? He didn’t wear the traditional red suit, instead he wore pine green pants with suspenders and a holiday shirt. He had a real beard and was a short, round little guy. He seemed more like one of the elves than Santa himself. You could tell he took his job seriously. Even though the twins were infants, he took both of them at once and held them  in the crook of each arm as they snoozed. We have a great picture of this Santa, holding both of the twins pretending to have fallen asleep himself while reading The Night Before Christmas.

We went back every year while my kids were little and had a picture taken with this Santa.

I would love to hear some of your Santa  memories — did your kids scream and cry? Or were they happy to sit by the jolly guy and tell their fondest Christmas wish?

From us here at BlackHillsFun.com to you, we bring you this “Santa Map” with an outline of where you can find Santa in the Black Hills this holiday season. If you know of any place Santa is going to be that we have missed, please leave us a comment and we’ll add it to the map.

Enjoy!

View Black Hills Fun Finds Santa! in a larger map

What girl doesn’t like to shop? Shopping is FUN! So fun that we here at Black Hills Fun are scouring the internet to bring you the Black Friday scoop in the Black Hills:

At the Rushmore Mall:

Rushmore Mall Hours for Black Friday:  Friday, November 27th, 2009:
6am-9pm

These stores are opening up early just for you!
Old Navy at 3am
Starbucks at 4am
Herberger’s 4am
JCPenney 4am
Sears 4am

Other Locations in Rapid City:

Target 5am

Kmart

Walmart – 5am

Shopko

Kohls – 4am

Best Buy — 5am

Downtown:

According to Black Hills Fox News:

Several stores, including Shangri La Boutique and Edge Sports, will open at 7 a.m. and mark down prices on nearly everything in store.Now through Christmas Eve, parking at the 6th Street parking ramp is free on Saturdays, and the Elks Theatre is offering free admission for kids to all Saturday matinees while parents shop downtown.

I found out on Facebook that Alternative Fuel is having a “FREE for you” event on Black Friday — A free slice of pumpkin or banana bread with a 20 oz drink purchase.

And Facebook also tells me that Someone’s in the Kitchen is offering free coffee and scones!

If anybody knows of anything I missed, please post it in the comments below for others to enjoy!

See! No reason to sleep in on Friday –

About.com has a great list of 10 tips for getting the best bargains on Black Friday — check them out, rev up the engines and go SHOPPING!

We thought it would be fun- - ’cause we’re all about fun — to bring to you a take on The Nutcracker from a performer’s point of view — taken from a former performer’s point of view! (Did you follow all that?)

So we bring you: The Gingerbread interviewed by a (former) Mouse:

	Mouse: What is your favorite part about being a Gingerbread?
	Gingerbread: The Dancing, of course! Oh yeah, and the costumes!
	Mouse: What do you do when you are a Gingerbread?
	Gingerbread: We do gymnastics. And cartwheels. Lots of cartwheels. I like to do cartwheels. And skipping. We do lots of skipping. Even Drosselmeyer was skipping the other day!
	Mouse: Ha! I like to skip too! When you auditioned did you want to be a Gingerbread?
	Gingerbread: Yes! A Gingerbread — or maybe a Harlequin.
	Mouse: What is a Harlequin?
	Gingerbread: A Harlequin is kind of like a joker.
	Mouse: I think I’ll just say “joker” because I can spell “joker.” I don’t think I can spell harle — what you called it.
	Gingerbread: Good idea. Yes, just say “joker.”
	Mouse: Thank you for this great interview Gingerbread! I know I’ll be there to see the Nutcracker! I can’t wait!
	Gingerbread: Thank you, Mouse!

So there you have it! I don’t know about you, but I felt like I really got the inside story from that interview.

I’m told that this version of The Nutcracker will be slightly different and follows as close as possible the E.T. A. Hoffman version of the tale. Costumes this year will also include some new attire such as mouse costumes and new party scene costumes. There are also several new additions to the set.

Guest dancers include Darius Redfern, Zachary Kapeluck, Brianna Boyle, and General McArthur Hambrick.

One thing is for certain: the Black Hills Dance Theatre’s performances of The Nutcracker will be  sure to enchant the entire family. Visit our calendar for dates and times.

	About the Gingerbread: Emily has been dancing for 6 years and currently dances at Dance Elite studio where she takes jazz and ballet. This is her second Nutcracker performance.
	About the Mouse: Kayla has been dancing for 8 years and currently dances at Dance Elite and Pure Form Dance. She performed as a mouse in the Nutcracker in 2005 and 2007.

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We’ll have random.org pick a number on Thanksgiving evening at midnight.

Good Luck!

In honor of the Lille Norgefest we have a great giveaway for you this Friday! Our Scandinavian friends have put together this awesome gift box for the lucky winner. You don’t have to be Scandinavian to appreciate all this goodness!

In light of the smorgasbord post from earlier this week, we have a signed Fine Art Print from Jana Johnson Schnoor — a Swedish-American artist from Rockford, Illinios.  The print is titled “smorgasbord” — and depicts all the Scandinavian delicacies from the holiday table.

And for Christmas Eve, we have a special addition for the Nisse (Norwegian for Santa) who comes to visit. A milk-and-cookies set from Porsgrund in Norway in the famous Hearts & Pines pattern. What? You say you can’t read the link to Porsgrund? That it’s all in Norwegian? Here’s a link to a description of Porsgrund in English. All kidding aside, this is very fine Norwegian china — in a holiday pattern that has been beloved for over 30 years and finds a place of honor on many a Norwegian holiday table. The hearts, of course, represent the love of home during the holidays. For you we have a milk pitcher, a cup and cookie plate.– all ready to place by the hearth.

To place next to the treats by the hearth in hopes Nisse will fill them with treats himself — a pair of handmade painted clogs from the Grannas Hemslojd in Sweden. These new, handpainted clogs feature a traditional rosemaling pattern.

So, how do you enter to win? It’s simple. Just leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post in the comments section and we will randomly draw a name by midnight Sunday, November 22  using random.org to generate the number. The winner will be contacted by email, so be sure we can get hold of you! And don’t worry, we have a very, very strict no spam policy. We will never, ever use your email to bug you or give your email to someone who will.

Good luck!