The Pearl Ball

StoneCrest Medical Center presents the fourth annual Pearl Ball at 7:15 p.m. Saturday at The Sam Davis Home in Smyrna. Dollars raised at the Pearl Ball benefit The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation and are earmarked for cancer research and education in Rutherford County.

The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit public charity committed to funding programs that provide the greatest benefit to cancer patients and their families. By supporting new programs in cancer research, education, and patient and family services, we honor the memory of Sarah Cannon, a cancer patient herself, who created the beloved character “Minnie Pearl.”

Believing in the mission of providing hope in the fight against cancer, Cannon gave the name of her beloved character to The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation in 1991, simultaneous to the founding of The Sarah Cannon Cancer Center.

Tickets are $150 per person. You may also purchase an engraved honor or memory pearl for survivors or victims of cancer.

Formal dinner provided by Five Senses Restaurant and Bar.

For more information contact Jean Seals at StoneCrest Medical Center, 615-768-2223.

Civil War Symposium

History buffs and students alike are encouraged to attend “The Legacy of Stones River: Pathways to Freedom,” a weekend symposium focusing on the demise of slavery during the Civil War, which features distinguished speakers.

The symposium will get started with a continental breakfast and registration at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Rutherford County Courthouse, with music from the Nashville Old-Time String Band during breakfast serving as a program highlight. The speakers will begin at 9 a.m.

Sunday will get under way beginning at 8 a.m. at the Rutherford County Courthouse, while living-history program will take place in the afternoon at Fortress Rosecrans and Stones River National Battlefield. Symposium activities are slated to conclude at about 4 p.m., organizers reported.

Event speakers will be Dr. Barbara J. Fields, history professor at Columbia University; Dr. William W. Freehling, senior fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities; and Dr. Robert E. Hunt, MTSU history professor.

Registration is $10 per person. Registration brochures are available on the Web at histpres.mtsu.edu/tncivwar or www.nps.gov/stri.

For additional registration information, please call the Stones River National Battlefield at 615-893-9501.

Fall events and hayrides

Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation presents the 11th annual Fall Harvest Hayride from 5-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17 at the General Bragg Trailhead on the Stones River Greenway.

Featuring the band, “Mink Slide,” named after the area on Murfreesboro’s Vine street where weekly Friday night dances took place before World War II, the Mink Slide musicians play the same mix of blues, gospel, country, and ragtime that characterized rural roots music before commercialism broke it into marketable pieces.

This unique hayride offers the whole family a great time with hayrides, live music, bonfire, hot dogs, s’mores and childrens’ activities.

The cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children, and kids 3 and under enter for free. Includes hot dogs and s’mores while supplies last.

General Bragg Trailhead is located at West College Street.

For more information, please contact Rachel Singer at 893-2141 or email rsinger@murfreesborotn.gov.

Parks and Rec also holds the fifth annual Splashacre from 6:30-9 p.m. Saturday at Patterson Park Community Center and Water Worx Waterpark.

Splashacre kicks off the Halloween season with spooky carnival games, followed by a pirates-abound, PG-rated movie in the pool.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own float. The cost is $5 per person, includes admission, food, prizes and a glow-in-the-dark necklace.

Patterson Park Community Center is located at 521 Mercury Blvd.

For more information or to register, please contact Kathi Mize at 615-893-7439 or kmize@murfreesborotn.gov.

Rock Out for the United Way

The Rutherford County Government Annual Employee Campaign kicks off at 6 p.m. Saturday with live music and a silent auction from 6-11 p.m. Saturday at the Boys and Girls Club of Rutherford County, 820 Jones Blvd.

All Proceeds will Benefit United Way Of Rutherford and Cannon Counties. For silent auction items please visit: www.rutherfordcounty.org/silentauction for a full list of prizes and to submit bids.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.

Junior League Women’s Day Fair

The Junior League of Murfreesboro holds its annual Women’s Day Fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

The event’s goal is to empower the women in Rutherford County with information and resources that are available to them throughout the community.

Representatives from organizations such as Goodwill Career Solutions, United Way, Tennessee Nutrition Program and the Boys and Girls Club will be on hand to discuss the programs and services they offer.

The event is free and open to the public and will be held at the Murfreesboro Housing Authority, 415 N. Maple St.

The Fur Ball

The second annual Fur Ball waltzes back into Stones River Country Club from 6-10 p.m. Friday.

The black-tie fundraiser will benefit On The Fifth Day, which continues on its path to raise $100,000 to purchase land, the first dog run and administrative building for an animal sanctuary.

Tickets are $125 each or $100 if you become a sanctuary member for an annual cost of $25. Tickets an be purchased online at www.onthefifthday.org or by sending a check to Post Office Box 10987, Murfreesboro, TN, 37129.

For more information, contact Jen Flatt Hilsher at 615-233-5398 or jenghilsher@onthefifthday.org.

Oaklands Museum

Headstones, Hearses and Heartaches: Mourning Customs Exhibit takes place this weekend at Oaklands Historic House Museum.

The historic house is decorated with Victorian Mourning customs and can be explored by visitors.

For more information, call 615-893-0022 or visit www.oaklandsmuseum.org.

Theater

“On Golden Pond” takes the stage at the Arts Center of Cannon County at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The play is a moving story about an elderly curmudgeon and his wife who find themselves saddled with a soon-to be step-grandson. Generations collide and families heal in this timeless comedy made famous by the Oscar winning movie starring Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn.

The Arts Center of Cannon County is located at 1424 John Bragg Hwy in Woodbury. For information, call 615-563-2787 or 1-800-235-9073 or visit www.artscenterofcc.com for more information.

Smoky Mountain Reining & Volunteer Breeders Classic

The Tennessee Reining Horse Association presents the Volunteer Breeders Classic, a derby specifically held for the eligible get of stallions that are donated to our stallion auction or nominated for eligibility.

The three-day event takes place all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Tennessee Miller Coliseum on Thompson Lane.

The purse for the VBC is guaranteed a minimum of $17,000 added money. Last year, the TRHA paid out nearly $53,000 to our participants during the show.

MTSU School of Music

MTSU School of Music presents a faculty piano recital by Lynn Rice-See at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and the MTSU Symphony Orchestra at 4 p.m. Sunday in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of Wright Music Building.

E-mail concert questions to: tmusselm@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-2493.

Seminar for the Digital Television (DTV) Transition

Linebaugh Public Library and your neighborhood RadioShack present an educational seminar to help community members prepare for the upcoming digital television (DTV) transition in the second floor reading room at Linebaugh Public Library, 105 W. Vine St.

Starting Feb. 17, 2009, full-power television stations nationwide must switch from the old method of transmitting TV signals, known as analog, to digital television (DTV). It is estimated that nearly 70 million television sets could lose their signals when the transition happens.

If you currently own a TV set with a digital tuner or subscribe to cable or satellite service, you will likely continue to receive TV programming as usual. However, if you watch TV on an analog TV set that is not connected to cable or satellite, you will need to take action before the transition date.

If you have an event you’d like included, contact Michelle Willard at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.