The staff of the Heritage House Arts and Civic Center is asking locals to step away from their TV and computer screens and join them Thursday nights for evenings of interaction with the community.
Through the new Nights of Heritage program, the staff provides themed programming that ranges from dice and card games to a werewolf-inspired live action role play in the park each week from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
A small-scale example of the artistic talent in East Brainerd, members of the AmbiArtists group complete miniature canvasses after joining the organization. According to Heritage House Director Chris Holley group members include musicians, writers, painters, filmmakers, actors and photographers."We wanted to create fun, creative, family-friendly nights for people out here to participate in," said Heritage House Director Chris Holley. "Other than church and bars, there aren't many options for people to get out and be a part of a group anymore."
Instead of having to pay to hire instructors, Holley said she and her art assistants are working together to provide free programming for the events. The family game night installment, which occurs the second Thursday of each month, was art assistant DeAnna Prather's idea.
"I love board and card games, but didn't have a lot of store-bought fancy games growing up," she said. "Nights of Heritage gives me a chance to resurrect those games from my childhood and share them with a new group."
Improv Night, also titled "Community Drama - the good kind," is another of Prather's projects. The recurring event every third Thursday of the month includes theater improvisation, games and other theatrical instruction through a variety of fun, interactive activities.
"Sometimes it may look like an episode of 'Whose Line is it Anyway' and sometimes it looks like an episode of 'Saturday Night Live,'" she said.
Holley said local residents from age 2 and up have participated in the Nights of Heritage, and she hopes to see participation grow.
"We want to see people using the Heritage House more and truly become a hub in the community for people to come and gather," she said. "We want to see people start thinking 'Hey, it's Thursday night, I wonder what's going on at the Heritage House."
For more information, contact the Heritage House at 855-9474 or search for Heritage House Arts and Civic Center on Facebook.