Current events

Help for Haiti

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The Indo-American Cultural Association will hold an evening of dinner, dance and entertainment at 7 p.m. Friday at the Belair Conference Center. Tickets cost $25, with sponsor tables available for $500. All proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross. For information, call Ravi Murugappan at (706) 855-2098, or Geetanjali Talukdar at (706) 373-7429.

Area Rotary clubs are helping raise money and collecting "shelter boxes" through www.shelterboxes.org. For information, call Pam Lightsey at (706) 840-2087.

Foot Solutions of Evans, in Mullins Crossing, is collecting lightly used shoes for the Soles 4 Souls charity, to be sent to Haitian refugees. For information, e-mail augusta@footsolutions.com or call (706) 228-3663.

Pre-K hot line

The Columbia County school system has set up a pre-kindergarten registration hotline with information on the new drawing process for pre-K classes at (706) 541-1829.

Scout events

Boy Scouts from Troop 643 in Evans will be "celebrity waiters" at Fatz Cafe from 5-9 p.m. Thursday. The scouts also will hold a yard sale from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Windmill Plantation Clubhouse. Funds from both events will help offset costs for the boys to attend the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Virginia.

Blood drive

The Columbia County Emergency Management Agency and Shepeard Community Blood Center will hold a blood drive Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Columbia County Government Complex Auditorium in Evans, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Roads and Bridges Department on County Camp Road in Appling.

Nature walks

Reed Creek Park in Martinez will hold a nature walk for 3 to 5 year-olds accompanied by adults from 10-11 a.m. Thursday. Cost is free for members, $2 for non-members.

A free program on frogs for ages 5-older will be held 7-8 p.m. Friday.

Go to www.reedcreekpark.com, or call (706) 210-4027.

Scholarships

Friday is the deadline for applications for scholarships available to family members of Georgia Farm Bureau members who intend to attend a school in the University System of Georgia or Berry College and study in agricultural or related fields. For information, call the Columbia County office at (706) 556-6258, or go to www.gfb.org.

GOP breakfast

Insurance commissioner candidate Ralph Hudgens and gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel will be the guest speakers at the Republican Party breakfast, 8:45 a.m. Saturday at Fatz Cafe in Evans. Breakfast costs $6. For information, go to www.columbiacountyrepublicanparty.org.

Band fundraiser

The Greenbrier High School Band will hold a spaghetti fundraiser from 4-7 p.m. Saturday in the school cafeteria. Plates cost $6.50 for adults, $4.50 for children, dine in or carry out. For information, call (706) 228-1628.

'Gypsy' show

The Augusta Players will present the musical Gypsy at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, at the Jabez Sanford Hardin Performing Arts Center. For tickets, call (706) 826-4707, or go to www.augustaplayers.org.

Charity gala

The Columbia County Charity Gala, a black-tie-optional Las Vegas-style event to benefit the Columbia County Arts Endowment Fund and the Columbia County Cares food pantry will be held at 7 p.m Saturday at Savannah Rapids Pavilion. Tickets cost $75 and are available by calling (706) 312-7191.

Night of White

The second annual Night of White benefit dinner and silent auction, with proceeds going to pediatric patients at the Medical College of Georgia Hospital, will be held 7-10 p.m. Saturday at Saint Paul's River Room, 605 Reynolds St., Augusta. Tickets cost $50. For information, call (706) 825-4465, or go to www.nightofwhite.org.

Chili cookoff

Volunteers and contestants are needed for a chili cookoff to benefit Mercy Ministries, 5-8 p.m. Saturday at Vineyard Church of Augusta, 3126 Parrish Road, off Furys Ferry Road. Entry fee is $100 per team. For information, call (706) 726-2647.

Tech forum

The Augusta Alumni Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers will hold its 15th annual Technical Forum for students in fourth-12th grades from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The event is free, and lunch is provided. For information, call (706) 854-7201 or e-mail nsbetechforum@gmail.com.

Clothes closet

The clothes closet in the family life center at Marvin United Methodist Church, Belair at Wheeler Road, is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Clothing is free, but donations are welcome.

Tax prep at fort

The Tax Center at Fort Gordon at the Courtyard, on Brainard Avenue, is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, noon to 8 p.m. Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. For information, call (706) 787-1040.

Democrats meet

The Columbia County Democratic Party will hold its general monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in the Columbia County Government Complex Auditorium, 630 Ronald Reagan Drive, Evans. For information, call Floyd Everett at (706) 825-8314.

Newcomers

The Augusta Area Newcomers Organization will hold a welcome coffee at 11 a.m. Tuesday and March 30, and a luncheon and auction at 10 a.m. March 18. For information, e-mail hospitality@augustanewcomers.com or call Laura Dobbins at (706) 364-6824.

Gardening tips

The Columbia County Extension Service Gardening at Lunch series will be held at 12:10 p.m. March 3 with a program on lawn care. Future programs include insect and disease control in vegetable gardens, April 14; maintaining irrigation systems, May 5; and gardening for kids, June 2. For information, call county Extension Agent Charles Phillips at (706) 868-3413.

Women vets

The Women's Veterans Club meets at 11 a.m. the first Saturday of each month at Ryan's Family Steakhouse, 208 Bobby Jones Expressway, Martinez. Dues cost $24 per year. For information, call Garnet Brickey at (706) 210-7331, or April Starks at (706) 868-5601.

Free wills

The Georgia Legal Services Program will offer a free wills clinic for low-income residents from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 13 at the program office, 209 Seventh St., Suite 400, Augusta. Registration is required by March 5. For information, go to www.glsp.org.

Pancake benefit

The Martinez-Evans Optimist Club will hold its third annual Old Fashion Pancake Breakfast from 7:30-10 a.m. March 6 at Warren Baptist Church. All-you-can-eat tickets cost $5 at the door. Proceeds benefit the Optimist Childhood Cancer Campaign. There will be prize drawings every 30 minutes.

Survivor speaks

Rev. Lora Pavlenko from Kiev, Ukraine, will speak at North Columbia Church in Appling at 10 a.m. on March 7, and at Harlem Baptist Church at 5:30 p.m. Pavlenko's grandfather and his brother were the only members of their family to survive Josef Stalin's forced famine that killed 17 million Ukrainians from 1932-33. For information, call Rev. Dan White at (706) 832-0986).