CLC brings Hurston to life

• Reprints

Cheryl Howard has the title role in the one-woman show “Zora,” based on the life of Zora Neale Hurston, Feb. 1 at the James Lumber Center at College of Lake County.

Take a trip back to the 1930s with your teens to meet “Zora,” 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1 at James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts, College of Lake County, 19351 W. Washington St., Grayslake. Actor Cheryl Howard will become writer Zora Neale Hurston in this one-woman show.

“It is a study of a wonderful African-American heroine of the Harlem Renaissance and African-American literature,” Howard said. “It’s a great time to see who she was, what her life’s work was and how she fit in, in terms of American history, not only from a literary point of view but also from an historical and anthropological point of view.”

Howard noted that, in her desire to preserve African-American culture, Hurston was one of the first people to travel around the country collecting African-American folklore stories.

Tickets are $25, $23 for seniors, $15 for teens and $12 for children under 12.

For details, call (847) 543-2300 or visit www.jlcenter.clcillinois.edu.

Search party

You and your children can become nature detectives during Wildlife Tracking for Families, 10-11:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 22 at Fourth Lake Forest Preserve, 19808 W. Grand Ave., Lindenhurst. You’ll search for clues about wildlife and make an animal track cast. Cost is $10 per Lake County resident family, $15 for nonresidents. Register by Jan. 21.

For details, call (847) 968-3321 or visit www.lcfpd.org.

Disney Day

There will be free skating and hockey clinics, skating characters, a dance party, contests, raffles and prizes during Radio Disney and Rink Side Family Fun Day, noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 at Rink Side Family Entertainment Center, 6152 W. Grand Ave, Gurnee. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for kids.

For details, call (847) 856-1064 or visit www.rink-side.com.

They’re blue

... but your kids won’t be when they see “The Smurfs” at noon Saturday, Jan. 21 at Fremont Public Library, 1170 N. Midlothian Road, Mundelein. The PG film runs 103 minutes. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. Lunches are OK, but no popcorn.

For details, call (847) 566-8702 or visit www.fremontlibrary.org.

Happy New Year — again

Children ages 2-5, accompanied by an adult, will learn about Chinese New Year traditions, 10-11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Lake County Discovery Museum, Ill. 176 west of Fairfield Road, Wauconda. They’ll make a Chinese New Year dragon. Cost is $6 per adult, $2.50 per child, free to ages 3 and younger. Register by Jan. 24.

For details, call (847) 968-3321 or visit www.lcfpd.org.