News & A&E briefs for Monday, Dec. 11

Due to heavy rains this past Saturday, The Toccoa Night of Lights Christmas Parade was rescheduled to Thursday, Dec. 14, starting at 7 p.m.

Floats will begin lining up at 5:30 p.m. For participants who are unable to attend at the new time, contact the Chamber of Commerce during business hours.

 

The City Council in Lavonia has signed off on funding for eight new cameras that will be installed  around the city. The FLOCK cameras will help Lavonia police search by vehicle make, color, license plate number, and other metrics. They’ll come with a price tag of $55 thousand.

 

After more than 20 years as the Sheriff of Hart County, Sheriff Mike Cleveland is not running for re-election in 2024. Early last month, Hart County Sheriff’s Office Chief Investigator Chris Carroll announced his intention to run for Sheriff in 2024.Cleveland told WNEG’s sister station WLHR in Lavonia, that,  while he is stepping back, he’s not quite ready to walk away from the job completely. For more details, read the full story on the WLHR website.

 

The Christmas at The Ritz movie series continues this Thursday, December 14, with the movie Santa Clause 2. Showtimes are 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets and concessions are $1 each. Tickets can be purchased at the Box Office one hour prior to show time. Contact Ritz Theatre General Manager Tami Mayhugh at [email protected] or (706) 244-0039 with any questions.

 

Downtown Toccoa’s ice skating rink is open for the season. The rink is open, weather permitting, through December 23 on Fridays from 5 — 9 p.m., Saturdays from noon — 9 p.m. and Sundays from 1 — 6 p.m. This year, the rink is set up on Sage Street on the South side of E. Tugalo Street. No left turn off of Tugalo Street onto Sage Street is available through December 23.

For more information, visit mainstreettoccoa.com or call Misty Richardson at (706) 282-3309.

 

This coming Saturday, Dec. 16, the Toccoa-Stephens County Community Theater will present a one-night-only staging of its Christmas Show, titled “The Most Amazing Christmas Play Series in the Entire History of the World.” The show will be held at the Ritz Theatre, 166 West Doyle Street in downtown Toccoa, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and curtain at 7 p.m. Admission is $12 per person.  Santa will also be in attendance for photos, and there is expected to be live Christmas music and hot cider. For more information, visit ritztheatretoccoa.com   For more details on the show, visit wnegradio.com or search for Toccoa-Stephens Community Theatre on Facebook.

“Christmas traditions are turned on their heads in this hilariously charming series of four short plays. In Clausarella, the reluctant heir to Santa’s empire finds the strength to step out of his father’s shadow and win true love. Kris Kringle and company get a lesson in corporate greed and worker’s rights in Santa vs. The Garden Gnomes, while Revenge of the Gingerbread Boy transforms the classic confectionary tale into a vendetta soap opera. Finally, Grandma Remembers Something explores “the good old days that never were” and proves that nostalgia is a dish best served confused.”

 

The Good Grief Trio will be returning to the Historic Ritz Theatre on Tuesday, December 19 at 7 p.m. The Night at the Ritz presentation features Greg Hankins on piano, Luca Lombardi on bass, and Seth Hendershot on drums, along with the Peanuts Choir, interpreting Vince Guaraldi’s holiday classic, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Night at the Ritz is sponsored in part through generous grants from The Georgia Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Tickets can be purchased online, at the Main Street Office inside City Hall, or at the Box Office Night of Show.  For more information, contact Ritz Theatre General Manager Tami Mayhugh at (706) 244-0039.