Museum of Northern Arizona exterior

CELEBRATE THE SEASON AT MNA

Bell ringers, storytellers, student performers, and craft projects are all part of the free holiday festivities at the Museum of Northern Arizona’s Community Holiday Party, Saturday, December 2 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Vesper Bells handbell choir from the Federated Community Church will perform a musical selection that will ring in the holiday season. Performance begins at 10 a.m.

At 11 a.m., Havasupai storyteller Jolene Watahomigie, in traditional Havasupai dress, tells her culture’s winter songs and stories about hunting, traveling, and living in the winterlands.

At noon, Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy (FALA) students present holiday choir and ballet performances.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., MNA’s community partners will be making hands-on learning activities for kids of all ages to take home with them. The Flagstaff Children’s Museum, in conjunction with the Trappings of the American West exhibit, will assist children in designing their own ranch brands to make holiday cards, while the Nuestras Raices Mexican/Mexican American/Hispanic pioneer families have planned a collage project, and FALA students will be helping holiday celebrants create marbled paper for seasonal wrapping.

Cookies, hot chocolate, and coffee will add to the fun, along with bite-sized samples from Amanda Stein and Mary Garland’s new cookbook, Sharing the Table at Garland’s Lodge. Authors Steve and Lois Hirst will also have their book available, I Am the Grand Canyon: The Story of the Havasupai People, and both sets of authors will sign their books.

The Museum’s galleries will be open during the celebration. Trappings of the American West, a sales exhibit of fine and functional art of the American cowboy, Timeless Excellence with artworks from the Museum’s fine arts exhibit, and woodblock prints and accompanying writings from the 1930s in the Everett Ruess and the Search for Beauty exhibit will all be viewable.

And remembering those who are less fortunate this season, MNA requests that you bring canned food items to the Community Holiday Party, in support of the Care and Share Food Bank.

The Museum of Northern Arizona is located three miles north of historic downtown Flagstaff on Highway 180. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Additional information is available at 928/774-5213.