Scene Calendar: Fun things to do Dec. 31, 2021-Jan. 6, 2022

ET CETERA

Carson Springs Wildlife New Years Tours: 10 a.m. today and 1 p.m. Saturday, Carson Springs Wildlife Conservation Foundation, 8528 E. County Road 225. Tickets: $35 adults, $10 ages 2-11, free ages 1 and younger. Registration required. (carsonspringswildlife.org, 468-2827, contact@cswildlife.org) Meeting the animals and contribute to saving species. Walking or riding tours for the whole family.

Sparks in the Park/Downtown Countdown: 5 p.m. today-midnight Saturday, Depot Park, 870 SE Fourth St.; Bo Diddley Plaza, 111 E. University Ave. Free. (bit.ly/sparks22) Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Depot Park and enjoy the last sunset of 2021 while a DJ hosts a family friendly dance party plus “Sparks in the Park,” a 20-minute musically choreographed fireworks show over the main pond. Following the fireworks display, neighbors are invited to enjoy dinner, drinks, festivities and all that downtown has to offer. Later, the Downtown Countdown begins at 9 p.m., and continues until midnight in Bo Diddley Plaza.

Spark Wonder NYE: 5:30-8:30 p.m. today, Cade Museum of Creativity and Invention, 811 S. Main St. Cost: $15 general admission, $13.50 adult members, $10 ages 5-17, $9 members ages 5-17, free ages 4 and younger. (cademuseum.org) Ring in 2022 safely with a bevy of unique activities, food, drinks, fireworks and glow-in-the-dark dancing for revelers of all ages.

Suwannee Lights: 6-10 p.m. today-Sunday, 2022, Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, 3076 95th Drive, Live Oak. Tickets: $12 adults on Saturdays, $10 adults on Fridays, $8 adults Sundays-Thursdays, $2 children. (suwanneelights.com/tickets) Drive or walk through more than 10 million beautiful, colorful lights along with moving displays, Craft Village, Santa’s workshop and more.

Ultimate New Year’s Eve Party: 6:30 p.m. today, The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, 3076 95th Drive, Live Oak. Tickets: $75 per couple, $40 per person. (bit.ly/ultimate22a) New Year’s Eve celebration featuring fireworks, champagne and the Alter Eagles performing ’70s music.

Pond Lights: Dusk today, North Florida Regional Medical Center, 6500 W Newberry Road. Free. (nfrmc.com) The annual light display at North Florida Regional Medical Center’s pond. Guests are encouraged to walk around the pond to see the festive light displays. Social distancing and masks required at all times.

Rosewood Community Day: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Archer Community Center, 16671 SW 137 Ave, Archer. Free. (bit.ly/rosewood21) Family friendly event honoring the victims and survivors of the 1923 Rosewood massacre that supports the future site of the Rosewood Museum. Food trucks, music, crafts and speakers.

Horse Feeding: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Mill Creek Farm Retirement Home for Horses, 20307 NW CR 235A, Alachua. Entrance: Bag of carrots. (millcreekfarm.org) The Retirement Home for Horses provides lifetime care to elderly horses seized by law enforcement agencies, rescued by the SPCA or humane societies, as well as horses retired from government service such as police patrol or state and federal parks.

Historic Haile Homestead Tour Holiday Decorations: Noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Historic Haile Homestead, 8500 Archer Road. Entrance: $5 ages 13 and older, free ages 12 and younger. (hailehomestead.org) The Historic Haile Homestead is unique in the nation for its "Talking Walls.'' The Homestead will be decorated with greenery and Christmas trees. This year's theme is "Let It Snow!"

Birds and Brews: 6:15-8 p.m. Sunday, First Magnitude Brewing Company, 1220 SE Veitch St. Free. (facebook.com/FirstMagnitudeBrewing/events) Socially-distanced bird walks. Meet in front of the metal Maggie sign by the entrance to The Source. The group, led by volunteers from the Alachua Audubon Society, will identify birds at Depot Park. Some binoculars and bird guides provided, but feel free to bring any other equipment you wish.

Sweetwater Wetlands Park Wednesday Bird Walks: 8:30-10 a.m. Wednesdays through May 25, 2022, Sweetwater Wetlands Park, 325 SW Williston Road. Admission: $5 per vehicle; $2 for pedestrians, vans and bikes. (alachuaaudubon.org) Discover the rich diversity of birds at one of north central Florida's premier birding hotspots during a two- to three-hour guided walking tour. Birders of all levels welcome. Walks are led by volunteers from Alachua Audubon Society with assistance from Sweetwater Wetlands Park rangers.

Barnyard Buddies: 3-4 p.m. Wednesday, Morningside Nature Center, 3540 E. University Ave. Free; registration required. (bit.ly/barnbuddies2021) Weekly program where youngsters, with an adult, can meet and greet farm animals by helping staff with afternoon feeding. Number of participants will be limited. All attendees must register for each session. Tickets will be made available the Thursday before the next program. Facial coverings are required for all participants over the age of 6 unless exempt. Animals love donations of carrots, squash, apples, sweet potatoes and melons.

PAGES

2022 Winter Reading Challenge: Read for a Better World: Registration open; online event runs Sunday-Jan. 31, 2022, aclib.beanstack.org. Free. (aclib.beanstack.org, aclib.us/winter) The Winter Reading Challenge returns with a new goal for the community – to read 600,000 minutes from Jan. 1-31, 2022. Chances to win prizes and help the library district compete against libraries across the country.

CASTING CALL

“The Full Monty”: 7-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Monday auditions, Acrosstown Repertory Theatre, 619 S. Main St. (acrosstown.org/0121-open-auditions-the-full-monty) A raucous, pop-rock-musical send-up of gender expectations and stereotypes that takes it all off. Multiple roles and backstage personnel needed; see website for role information. No prepared monologs required; expect cold readings from a provided script. Be prepared to sing 16 measures of a show tune of your choice, and bring sheet music for your song selection. If no sheet music is available, you will be asked to sing “Happy Birthday.” A piano player will be available to accompany you. Wear comfortable clothing to auditions that reveals your overall body shape accurately. Performance dates: March 18-April 3.

ART

Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention: Closed for New Year’s day. The Cade’s latest museum-wide theme, “Toys and Games,” and exhibit, “The Great Indoors,” welcomes explorers young and old to build their own fortress and accept their very own quest into some of their favorite video game worlds; “Measurement Rules,” an interactive exhibit, on display through Sunday. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday. $12.50, $10 seniors and college students, $7.50 ages 5-17, free ages 4 and younger. 811 N. Main St. (371-8001, cademuseum.org)

Cedar Key Arts Center: Closed for New Year’s day. 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Monday Fabric Paint Your Panel with Bunny Hand Session; 3:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesday Watercolor Tea with Sandi Allen; 9 a.m. Wednesday Boat Builders; 2-4 p.m. Thursday Cedar Key Poets. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, 457 Second St., Cedar Key. (543-5801, cedarkeyartscenter.org)

Florida Museum of Natural History: Closed for New Year’s day. “Tiny Titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies” on display through Jan. 9, 2022. The exhibit is $8 for adults; $7 for Florida residents, seniors and non-University of Florida college students; $5.50 for ages 3 to 17; and free to museum members and UF students with a valid Gator 1 Card. “Tiny Titans” uses authentic specimens, lifelike models and realistic artwork to transform the area into a “Jurassic Park” day care and showcase the rarely seen world of dinosaur parenting. Standing exhibits include the “Our Changing Climate: Past and Present,” “Butterfly Rainforest,” “Florida Fossils: Evolution of Life & Land,” “Northwest Florida: Waterways & Wildlife,” “South Florida People & Environments,” “Exploring Our World,” “Fossil Plant Garden” and “Florida Wildflower & Butterfly Garden.” All standing exhibits are free, but regular admission fees apply to enter the “Butterfly Rainforest” exhibit: $14 for adults ($12 for Florida residents and seniors) and $7 for ages 3-17. Admission is free for museum members and UF students with a valid Gator 1 card. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. 3215 Hull Road. (floridamuseum.ufl.edu, 846-2000)

Gainesville Fine Arts Association Gallery: Closed for New Year’s day. “Winter Showcase” on display through Sunday. Gallery hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. 1314 S. Main St. (gainesvillefinearts.org, info@gainsevillefinearts.org)

Harn Museum of Art: Closed for New Year’s day. “Tempus Fugit: Time Flies,” a reflection on time and its many meanings, on display through Jan. 23, 2022; “Plant Life: Exploring Vegetal Worlds in the Harn Museum Collection,” featuring 12 works that were chosen because something in them provokes critical reflection on the strange entanglements of humans and plants, on display through Feb. 20, 2022; “Shadow to Substance,” which creates a chronological arc from the past to the present into the future using historical photographs from the Harn and Smathers Library collections and through the lens of black photographers working today, on display through Feb. 27, 2022; “Plural Domains: Selected Works from the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Collection,” drawn exclusively from the collection of the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2002 by Ella Fontanals-Cisneros to foster cultural exchange and enrichment of the arts, on display through April 24, 2022; “Global Perspectives: Highlights from the Contemporary Collection,” a celebration of global interconnectedness, on display through Sept. 25, 2022; “Florida Impressions: Gift of Samuel H. and Roberta T. Vickers” includes celebrates the transformative gift to the Harn Museum of Art from Samuel and Roberta Vickers who formed one of the world’s most extensive collections of Florida-themed art; “Everyday to the Extraordinary: Highlights from the Korean Collection” includes objects from everyday life alongside exemplars of artistic production. Ceramics in the exhibition span nearly 2,500 years of history, from the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BCE–668 CE) to the present, while paintings date from the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) and into the 20th century. On display indefinitely; Ongoing exhibitions include “ClayCurvyCool,” “Elusive Spirits: African Masquerades,” “Highlights from the Asian Collection” and “Highlights from the Modern Collection.” Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, 3259 Hull Road. Free. (392-9826)

Hippodrome Gallery: Closed for New Year’s day. Exhibit featuring a celebration of the creativity of the Hipp’s staff and volunteers will be displayed through Tuesday. Gallery hours are noon-10 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Hippodrome Theatre, 25 SE Second Place. (thehipp.org)

Matheson History Museum: Closed for New Year’s day. “When Johnny Came Marching Home: Some Gave All – All Gave Some,” remembering those who came home from war with both physical and mental wounds, on display outside; “Trailblazers: 150 Years of Alachua County Women,” celebrating the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in the United States, on display; “Lights of Conversation” on display outside; “Beyond the Headlines: Reflections on 2021 from Behind the Camera” on display online; “COVID-19 Community Archives” on display online; “McCarthy Moment: The Johns Committee in Florida” on display. Hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 513 E. University Ave. (378-2280, mathesonmuseum.org)

ALTERNATIVE ART SPACES

Good News Arts Inc.: “Thank you for coming,” a celebration of local artists who have been crucial to Good News Arts in its first year, on display. Gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. 23352 W. U.S. 27, Suite 80, High Springs. (goodnewsarts.com)

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Scene Calendar: Fun things to do Dec. 31, 2021-Jan. 6, 2022