Community Calendar

October is one of the best times of year to stargaze at Grandfather Mountain. The air is cool and clear, and the summer constellations are still very prominent, with some early winter sights making their appearance later in the evening. Our goal for this class is to create a familiarity with the night sky and learn the basics of stargazing that can be applied on your own on any clear night throughout the year. We’ll start in the classroom by exploring some of the best print and digital resources for exploring the night sky and cover some of the basics of stargazing and how to orient to the night sky. We’ll also discuss the use of planispheres, star maps and star charts to find some of the most beautiful deep sky wonders that can be seen through binoculars or small telescopes. During the evening hours, we’ll be out at various viewing locations on the mountain, practicing our stargazing skills while looking for meteors and learning about some of the most prominent stars, constellations and other objects visible this time of year. This event costs $60 for general admission and $51 for members of Grandfather Mountain’s Bridge Club – plus tax. Limited to 15 participants.

Miles 2 Hearts was born from the eyes of a truck driver who saw more than just highways - he saw people hurting, forgotten, and alone on streets across the country. Instead of looking away, he decided to take action. That action became a mission. That mission became a movement.

Miles That Matter 5K isn't just a race - it's a call to the community to care deeper, to step forward, and to run with heart.

Principal® Foundation, a global nonprofit organization committed to helping people and communities build financially secure futures, is now accepting submissions for its third annual Money Chronicles: A Story Initiative, a national short story contest designed to help destigmatize money conversations and encourage financial confidence through storytelling. Charlotte residents can visit Principal Foundation's Short Story Dispenser at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library to print last year’s winning stories for free—a great way to get inspired before submitting their own.

Visit the story dispenser at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library today to print a story, get inspired, and share your own lived experience with money so Charlotte voices can help lead the way in a national initiative to break down barriers around money conversations.

Submissions are open until October 12, 2025, at 11:59 pm PDT. One winner will receive $1,000, and up to 20 finalists will each receive $150. Selected stories (fiction or creative nonfiction) will appear nationwide through Principal Foundation’s Short Story Dispensers, including in Charlotte, beginning January 2026.

From Oct. 4 through 12, guests enjoy short, guided nature walks that highlight Grandfather Mountain’s fall colors. The Fall Color Rambles take place daily, weather permitting, and are included in your admission ticket. The short excursions begin at 1 p.m. and typically last for 30 minutes. Rambles will start outside the entrance of the Wilson Center for Nature Discovery.

Everyone's favorite Scottish nanny is headed to Morganton in a "feel-good, family-friendly comedy that delivers" (The Hollywood Reporter). Based on the beloved film, it's "the lovable, big-hearted musical comedy we need right now." (Chicago Tribune) - one that proves we're better together.

Adult: $48 - $98
Youth (18 and under): $38

*Above prices include $3 per ticket facility fee
*PLUS 6.75% NC Sales tax
*All persons must have a ticket, including infants

Dig In! Little Explorers is designed especially for curious minds ages 0-5 and is a playful and engaging early learning program that introduces young children to the wonders of history through storytelling, music, hands-on activities, and imaginative play.

In this session we’ll explore the storytelling, language, games, and crafts of the Catawba people.

This reception will take place October 16th 6-8pm.

Grief is an emotion often seen as taboo in contemporary American culture, unruly and sometimes frightening to behold. And yet, to ignore grief is to deny the love we feel, which can result in curdled anger. In Breathing By the Wound, Daisy Patton sources photographs of mourning from various times and places and re-presents them in bloom. An adult child posing with photos of their deceased parents, a woman holding a photo of a baby no longer alive—all these images show how those in mourning carry forward memories of lost loved ones into the present and beyond. Their losses linger beyond their own time, speaking to ours.

Alongside her re-presentations of historic photographs, Patton includes her own pictures of people who lost loved ones due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. The deliberate erasure of this pandemic and its effects on our world has, like the 1918 flu pandemic before it, led to a rise of authoritarianism and acceptance of mass death. Honoring the memory of those we have lost is one way to refuse eugenics and the harms caused by the abandonment of public health. Grief is a call to action, to remember and to care—Breathing By the Wound invites viewers to commune with those who have lost and rekindle their own feelings, remembering that we are all connected in our humanity.

Daisy Patton is a multi-disciplinary artist born in Los Angeles, CA to a white mother from the American South and an Iranian father she never met. She spent her childhood moving between California and Oklahoma, deeply affected by these conflicting cultural landscapes and the ambiguous absences within her family. Influenced by collective and political histories, Patton explores storytelling and story-carrying, the meaning and social conventions of families, and what shapes living memory. Her work also examines in-between spaces and identities, including the fallibility of the body and the complexities of relationship and connection. Patton earned her MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Tufts University, a multi-disciplinary program, and has a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Oklahoma with minors in History and Art History and an Honors degree.

This exhibition will run October 3-November 7.

The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame will hold inductions for the 2025 class on October 16, 2025 in Mooresville, North Carolina. The 2025 class is made up of 6 nationally known and award-winning legends who were born in North Carolina: Clyde Mattocks, David Childers, Dexter Romweber, Hattie “Chatty Hattie” Leeper, Luke Combs, and Robert Deaton.
This event is attended by almost 1,000 people each year including national celebrities, business leaders, and state and local officials. Attendees experience history in the making during the exciting and educational evening. It is an event you do not want to miss!
The honors will be commemorated in a live event that will take place at the Mooresville Performing Arts Center in Mooresville, NC open to the public. The ceremony will include appearances by inductees and live performances as we honor their legacy and importance to the State of NC. Tickets are on sale now! Updates and latest event details can be found on the organization's social media pages and website. https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/
About the NCMHOF
The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Its mission is to recognize, promote, and commemorate musicians, singers, songwriters, and producers from the state of North Carolina. The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame has a museum located in Kannapolis, NC. Learn more at: https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/

Join us for Claudia’s 5K: Call Out for Courage—a powerful event where fun meets purpose, all in support of mental health. Hosted by icuTalks, a Charlotte-based ministry working to break the stigma around mental health and create spaces for healing and hope, this 5K promotes courage, connection, and real change.

Mark your calendars for the 40th Anniversary of the NC Liver Mush Festival on Saturday, October 18th, from 9 AM to 4 PM in beautiful Uptown Shelby!

Recognized in regional and national media, including Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods, this festival celebrates the unique regional delicacy and local food staple known as liver mush.

Festival highlights include a liver mush eating contest, recipe contest and cookoff, Kids Zone, live music, and more than 100 craft, food, and beverage vendors. Featured partner RollOver Pets presents the "Mutts" portion with a pet costume contest and parade, K9 demo and trick shows, musical sit contests, and more! Enjoy freshly prepared liver mush sandwiches and dishes proudly served by local producers of this well-loved "delicacy"!

Free to attend, pets welcome, and fun for the whole family! Learn more at www.nclivermushfestival.com.