When Dance Classes Start for Fall 2008

You probably have already registered, but if any of you have not yet done so I’ve collected a list of Huntsville dance studio start dates below. If you know of more, drop me an email or post them in the comments.

I asked a few moms about what they were doing about dance classes, and all said something to the effect of, “Oh, I registered right after the last class little Betty took.”

OK I am a looser. Geez. I have STILL not decided where to place Ella. I just picked up the registration form for Ann’s. I know I said I was going to find a new studio, but 5-7 year olds go into a four-in-one class. That’s what I call value. The cheap me is whispering in my ear, “Make it easy on yourself, just do it.”

Unfortunately, Ella does not like Tap. I know! What little girl does not like Tap. Let me baffle you more. Ella does not like the very popular Hip Hop Dance or Acrobatics, all of which are included in the four-in-one combo class in addition to ballet. Ella is in the Arts Council’s Art Ventures Camp this week which includes a class in hip hop every day. Because of this one dance, she has threatened not to go back to camp. We may live in the city, but Ella is less urban than a Huntsville fox!

Here’s to waiting to the last minute. See below. Cheers!

Dance Studio Start Dates

Ann’s Studio of Dance- August 4

Alabama Youth Ballet - August 20

Community Ballet Association - August 11

Jill’s Studio of Dance - August 18

North Alabama Dance Center - August 18

Susan’s Dance Studio - August? -waiting on a reply. I will update the post when I hear from them. (539-5224 E-mail: susandance@bellsouth.net)

Registration for Fantasy Playhouse Classes - Fall 2008

It’s time to register for classes offered at Fantasy Playhouse Children’s Theater.

Classes START August 25th. (Thank you for giving moms time to settle into the new school year!)  Check out the whole class schedule.

KinderMusik Registration - Ends 8/4/08

An international infant through pre-school music program with certified instructor

Sign2Me Registration - Ends 8/4/08

Baby sign language class with a certified instructor

Academy Class Registration - Ends August 11/08

HOW TO REGISTER: Call (539-6829) or come by the Fantasy Center at 3312 Long Avenue and pick up a registration form.

Fantasy Players Auditions - Monday Night, August 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Fantasy Arts Center for Junior High and Senior High School Students.

Dolly, Mommy, & Me Tea Party to Raise Funds for the National Children’s Advocacy Center

This is so exciting! LocalMoms411 is partnering with Emma’s Tea Room to raise money for the National Children’s Advocacy Center. We’ve set up a registration page right on the home page of www.LocalMoms411.com, and of course you are invited!

ahem….

You are cordially invited to attend

a Doll Tea Party for Girls Age 4 & up and Their Moms, Aunts, and Grandmothers

2:00 p.m. on August 17, 2008

at

Emma’s Tea Room

401 Pratt Ave. NE
Huntsville, AL 35801

To benefit the National Children’s Advocacy Center.

Girls are invited to dress-up to enjoy a fun event complete with dainty treats served with tea to delight dolls and little darlings alike. There will be activities, a make-and-take craft and door prizes! Door prizes include:

• Discovery Toys provided by Cheryl Michael, Discovery Toys Educational Consultant
• Books donated by the award-winning, Emma Lea Books, written by Babette Donaldson and Illustrated by Jerianne Van Dijk
• Books from Maren Green Publishing, Inc.
• Gifts from Emma’s Tea Room
• Gifts from In My Kitchen (located above Emma’s Tea Room)
• And more!!

Register here or call Emma’s Tea Room (489-5850.) Cost is $20 per person and includes tea, treats, make-and-take craft supplies, and door prizes! Limited to 38 people. Payment is due at time of registration.

Hope you can join us!

Rocket City United Soccer Camp July 28 - Aug. 1, 2008

Have you signed up for soccer this Fall at the City parks? You have two more weeks to register. The details are right here on LocalMoms411.com.

Your young soccer star in the making can get ready to get their game on by brushing up on their skills at a soccer camp from Rocket City United soccer club right before the Fall season starts.

This camp offers 5 days of high level coaching for 3 hours per day. Each camp is open to 50 players with up to 5 coaches for a 10:1 player/coach ratio. Every player will also be evaluated by the coaching staff and a written report will be given on the player’s strengths and weaknesses, with drills to help the player improve in the off-season.

You can registration information download a form or call the Rocket City United offices at 256.895.8325. Register online now.

COST: $150 Lunch included. Each camper also receives RCU camp shirt, camp ball, and a written evaluation.

NOTE: I contacted Andy Zorovich, RCU President and he said if you can’t attend the whole week you could register in person on Monday for the days you will attend and the cost would be prorated.

WHEN: 9am-1pm, Monday through Friday 7/28 - 8/1, with a lunch included.

WHERE: Cove Park, Hampton Cove

AGES: Boys and Girls Ages 4 through 14 years

Rocket City United
555 Sparkman Drive NW
Suite 1602-C
Huntsville, AL 35816

Phone: 800.965.7404
Fax: 267-390-8356

info@rocketcityunited.com

Alabama Tax Free Weekend! August 1 - 3, 2008

Wait! Don’t buy those school supplies yet. Choose but don’t buy your kids clothes and shoes. Do take off work Friday August 1 and buy all those things without tax! Hey, 8% adds up. There are dollar limits and exclusions, yada, yada, yada . . . so read up quickly on the Alabama Tax Free Holiday and map out your route.

It will be nuts out there! Fleet Feet Sports told me that this is their second biggest shopping weekend of the year. You can reap the rewards too. Don’t just buy kids stuff. You can buy your socks, shoes, coats, bras, books and also not pay tax.

The Basics

• Beginning at 12:01 a.m. (CST) on Friday August 1, 2008, and ending at twelve midnight on Sunday August 3, 2008.
• Madison, Huntsville, & Madison County are particpating. Local sales and use tax may apply in other areas– see list of participating cities and counties.
• Computers, books, school supplies, and Human apparel (Fifi will have to go without that pink sweater for Obedience School.) are included.  View, print and take with you the 2-page list of inclusions and exclusions.
• There are limits of cost of an item in a category.  Clothing for example is $100 per item. A coat priced at $120 won’t qualify at all.  Not even the first $100 of the cost qualifies.  All or nothing. Read the rules.

Tips & Tricks

• Some stores will hold merchandise BEFORE the weekend and allow you to just pick up and pay on Friday (Fleet Feet, for example.) Shop now, and if you find items, ask now. This could save you a lot of time and give you a better selection. Last year, Shoe Carnival was decimated by the time I got there on Sunday. There was no sneakers left in Ella’s size.
• Keep in mind that a slew of Fall Consignment sales will start in August too. You might spend more if you go nuts with new stuff.

If you have questions after reading the documents on the Alabama Department of Revenue web site you need more information, you can contact them 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., CST, Monday through Friday, 334-242-1490 or 866-576-6531.

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Movie Hits Home

This in not the typical Strawberry Shortcake, toy-inspired, entertainment created just to sell a doll. Kit Kittredge actually stands on her own with a solid plot, surprising twists and really good actors like Abigail Breslin (Kit) and Julia Ormond (Kit’s mom.)

With a lot of belt tightening going on in present-day America as families deal with rising fuel and food costs, this movie shows that it could be economically worse. The setting is Depression-era America, but the movie is actually NOT depressing. Kit’s can-do, spunky, sleuthing personality (Nancy Drew like) combined with a wacky cast of supporting characters (Joan Cusack for one) makes for a fun and engaging movie for both girls and boys.

Yes, BOYS. I don’t mean older boys that are way too cool to be caught dead with mom in a movie linked to a doll, but just younger than that would enjoy it too. OK, I know I only have a daughter. But wait! There is a mystery, danger, AND two of the main characters are boys. Max Thieriot plays a cute (Tiger Beat poster material) hobo boy, and there is a boy from Kit’s class that ends up living in her house and becoming her friend.

Oh, and moms will actually like going to this kid flick. It teaches history, good values, the value of a job and . . .

Chris O’Donnell as Kit’s dad is totally hot! There I said it. I sure thought it when I was watching the movie.

I would not mind seeing this movie again. For ALL of the reasons above.

Caution: Be prepared for a sub-plot about fathers leaving home to find work and not returning. One mom even removes her wedding ring which could prompt discussion about dad leaving and make kids who live in a divorced family a little uncomfortable.

Minimum age is a mature 5  or 6 for this movie because of the above caution and because this has a plot centered around a mystery which takes a more developed attention span to follow. It also touches on some issues like class discrimination.  Younger kids might be bored, confused, or scared.

Fall Sports Registration Starts This Weekend @ Huntsville City Parks

Registration for Football, Volleyball, Soccer, Fall Baseball*, Fall Softball* are scheduled for July 19, 26, and August 2 (Saturdays, 9 am-noon.) Didn’t you see the yard signs?

Me neither. I asked my friend Shannon C. (a wise mom of older kids) last year how I was supposed to know when registration for soccer was. “Didn’t you see the yard signs?” was her sarcastic response. Wow! Huntsville really is a high-tech town. No, really I just thought she was being facetious. “No really,” she said “look for the yard signs.” The very cost-efficient yard sign system just doesn’t work for me. Apparently no one in my neighborhood participates. Thus began my quest to find a published, reliable electronic source of this information.

THE HOLY GRAIL

After a long Internet quest I found THE Holy Grail of recreation documents, the master document that tells you when registration is held for each sport every year - The Huntsville Parks Recreation Guide. Now you know too! This PDF has the sports offered by the city, the registration schedule for each sport, the zones explained, and a map of the zones.

You know your zone, right?

Get in the Zone.

The city is divided into Zones.

The zones are based on school zones.

You must know your Zone to get information.

Click here to find your Zone, park, and pertinent contact info. All the contacts you need and your park address are here.

The Zone is the key to unlocking information. If you are confused and need information, contact your Zone coordinator. Each Zone breaks down into leagues. League names mean nothing as far as I can tell. We are in the “International” League. Unless the neighborhood next to mine is in another country, I am pretty sure it means nothing. There are 4 Zones in the city and 11 Leagues.

Some Leagues have their own web sites (some have nothing.) There is no standard format to these web sites and the information may or may not be complete or updated. I think volunteers from the league board must be responsible for maintaining the content. I had to laugh when I read the very nicely done FAQs on the Patriot League site. (Read the the last FAQ and smile.) Once you know your Zone and League, check out your league web site.

Local Moms 411 Fall City Sports FAQs

Q: WHAT ARE THE FALL SPORTS?

A: Football, Soccer, Volleyball, Cheerleading are played in the Fall; therefore, registration for all should start this weekend. Exception: Cheerleading.

You might think registration for cheerleading would start now since they cheer for football. Well you thought wrong, and so did I last year. Cheerleading registration for the International League (aka. Mayfair Park) was that last two weekends in February and the first weekend in March. Cheerleading already started with a training camp in June and on going practices.

*But that’s not all! There are two more sports registering now that are NOT in The Holy Grail rec doc. Some Leagues offer Fall Baseball and Fall Softball. Contact your Zone Coordinator to find out what League in your Zone is doing this. You can also ask at your neighborhood park office during registration.

Q: HOW DO I REGISTER MY CHILD?

A: The 4 Basic Things needed to Register are

· a completed Player Registration Form ( print in advance and complete to save time or fill out one during registration

· a copy of a valid birth certificate for the player

· proof of residency (if you’re new to the park or have recently moved)

· full payment of registration fee (checks are not cashed until registration closes) - Expect to pay over $50. I paid $65 for cheerleading and $55 for Soccer last year.

Q: How old do you have to be to play the Fall Sports?

A: Depends on the Sport. See below sports rundown.

Volleyball
Registration: Last two weekends in July and first weekend in August each year.

Season: Does anyone know? I could not find this on the web. I’ll call the city and ad when I do or maybe someone can post it the comments.

Co-Ed

Age as of Sept. 1:
10-U (10 and “U”nder)
12-U
15-U
18-U

Football
Registration: Last two weekends in July and first weekend in August each year.

Season: The regular football season begins on the first Monday after Labor Day and runs through November

Weight Restrictions apply to age groups except Flags (5-6).

Ages As of August 1:
Flag 5-6
Freshman 7-8
Sophomore 9-10
Junior 11-12

Recreational Soccer

Registration: Last two weekend in July and first weekend in August each year.

Season: Regular season play begins around the first of September and concludes in November with a City-wide invitational tournament (no tournament for U-6).

U-6 (Under age 6, 4-5 year olds - Four year olds must have turned 4 by August 1st of this year. Also, children can not have turned 6 before August 1st. )
U-8
U-10
U-12
U-14
U-16
U-19

Club Soccer

REC. PLUS Ages: U-9 U-10
PREMIER Ages: U-11, U-12, U-13,U-14, U-15, U-16, U-17, U-18, U19
CLASSIC Ages: U-11, U-12, U-13,U-14, U-15, U-16, U-17, U-18, U19

Did you know there was a special League for kids with challenges? It’s call the Challenger League. Challenged children may participate in Challenger League regardless of where they live in the city. For more information contact the coordinator. Click here for contact information.

Art Ventures Art Camp Next Week - July 21- 25, 2008

I heard about this early in the summer and have been searching for 411 on this all summer. The Arts Council Web site is either not user friendly or not Mac friendly; I’ve checked that web site all summer and never been able to locate info. on this camp. I finally found it on Chaffee Elementary School’s web site. Too late for 10 - 12 year olds but not for 6-9 year olds. Here is the 411.

Art Ventures Art Camp

Children can explore classes in sculpture, dance, music and drama. Plus, for the older campers of Week 1, they now have photograph. (Sorry moms of 10-12 year olds, maybe next year.)

Where: First Baptist Church, 600 Governor’s Drive

When: June 16 - 20 ages 10 to 12
July 21 - 25 ages 6 to 9

Camp hours: Monday - Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Friday is a special day for the parents to visit us!
Campers will produce a Grand Finale to wind up the week and we will all have a pizza lunch, courtesy of The Arts Council.

Registration fee: $150 per camper includes a T-shirt and all camp supplies.

Scholarships are available for a limited number of campers. Please visit www.artshuntsville.org or call 519-ARTS (2787) for application requirements and
deadlines.

*Campers will rotate daily through classes on each art form.

*Campers will need to bring their own sack lunch Monday through Thursday. The Arts Council will provide snacks for those campers staying past 3 p.m.

*Multi-child discounts are available.

Remaining Botanical Gardens Camps and Classes

The Botanical Gardens has tons of classes this Summer. If you have missed out so far here is what is left before school starts. Max out your remaining few weeks with some fun classes.

Wildlife Junior Master Gardener, Grades 2-5, July 28-August 1, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Become a certified wildlife gardener in this program designed by the National   Wildlife Federation and Junior Master Gardener programs.
Fee: Members $150, Non-members $175.

Worldly Wise, Grades 3-6, June 23-27, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Grades 1-3, July 21-25, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Investigate the plants, inventions and scientists from around the world. This action packed, hands-on class will take you on a trip you won’t soon forget.
Fee: Members $160, Non-members $175.

Get Ready for School, Grades 1-5, July 29-31, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Your kids won’t dread going back to school after they finish making all the fun projects in this program!
Fee: Members $100, Non-members $125.

Rainbow Gardening, Second-Fourth Grade, July 21, 9-11 a.m.
Discover the cool colors you can make by using garden chemistry!
Fee: Members, $20; Non-members, $25

Damsels in Distress, 5-7 year-olds, July 22, 9-11 a.m.
Discover the world of the Dragonfly and Damselfly in this interactive program.
Fee: Members $15, Non-members $20.

Junior Master Gardeners Revisited, Second Grade and Up, July 23, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Calling all past Junior Master Gardeners! Add to your outdoor knowledge in this fun-filled class!
Fee: Members $25, Non-Members $30.

Whimsical Garden, 4-6 year-olds, July 24, 9-11 a.m.
Bring a shoe, glove, pot, anything that will hold dirt and we’ll plant some fun container gardens!
Fee: Members $15, Non-members $20.

Sun in a Pot, 4-6 year-olds, July 25, 9-11 a.m.
Decorate and plant a fun sunflower pot!
Fee: Members $20, Non-members $25.

Beat the Heat Thursday Evenings at Burritt

Boy is Burritt on The Mountain active this summer. They are cranking out the family activities.

Beat the Heat on Burritt’s Bluff

Dates: Thursdays, July 3 - Aug. 28
Where: Burritt on the Mountain
Time: 5-8 p.m.
Cost: Free for members, $5 per family for nonmembers

The Welcome Center (Josie’s), the Green Space and the Bluff will be open to anyone who would like to enjoy a summer Thursday evening at Burritt. Come picnic, walk, visit and enjoy the view. They have also put out old-fashioned games like croquet, horse shoes and more your use.

And remember, it’s usually a good 7-10 degrees cooler on the mountain.

Tip: I hear they sell beer and wine. This event could be fun for moms night out or let the kids play games and run crazy while mom and dad relax!