The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 207

Mi THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2005 1 IS 1 15 uiooe nunnvvbbi People Events Noel Coward's "Hay Fever" April 21-23 at 8 p.m. 617-627-3493. Diana Brown, TRIBUTE TO MOMS: When it comes to Mother's Day gifts on May 8, Parenting Resource Associates' founder and codirec-tor Jodi Hill is trying to persuade gift-givers to invest in homeless mothers rather than flowers and perfume. She's calling it the "Mother to Mother" program. Tax-deductible donations will go toward the COMPASS program for homeless families, with cards going to mothers who are being honored, "letting her know of your thoughtfulness and of the difference your support makes in the lives of a homeless mother and her children," Hill said.

The donations pay for mothers to participate in three weekly programs: a support group, an expressive arts program, and an interactive mother and child playgroup. For more information, call 781-862-4446 or by e-mail at pralexmaaol.com. SPRING IN HER STEP: Belmont's Deborah Hawkins believes dance, music, and the arts have a power all their own. So she The following activities will take place in the area this week; future events are included as space allows. Music Andover Music at Palmer's Restaurant and Tavern, 18 Elm St.

Entertainment Thurs. at 8 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. at 9 p.m. April 21, MikeTebo Duo.

April 22, Lisa Love Experience. April 23, Groove Authority. No cover. 978-470-1606. Arlington: The Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra and the Arlington-Belmont Chorale will perform Brahms, Vaughn Williams and Bruckner April 24 at 3 p.m.

at First Parish Unitarian Universalis! Church, 630 Massachusetts Ave. 978-369-4648. Chelmsford: Music at the Java Room, 14 Littleton Road: 8 p.m. unless noted. April 22, Katrin Band.

April 23, Frances-ca Reggio Pamela Gouveia. No cover. 978-256-0001. Concord: The SARASA Chamber Ensemble will perform "Amor hai Vinto: Highlights of the German and Italian Baroque" April 24 at 7 p.m. at First Parish Church, 20 Lexington Road.

under 12 free. 617-492-4758. Lexington: Music at the National Heritage Museum, 33 Marrett Road: April 24, 2 p.m., Ted Drozdowski and The Scissor-men. Free, www.monh.org. Lexington: An "April in Paris Cabaret" will be performed April 23 at 7:30 p.m.

at Pollen Church, 755 Massachusetts Ave. $10. Proceeds benefit The Metco College Scholarship Fund. 781-861-7689. Littleton: At the Indian Hill Music Center, 36 King St.

April 23, 8 p.m., Latin jazz with El Eco, $15. 978-486-0540. Lowell: The Lowell Opera Company will perform Gilbert and Sullivan favorites April 24 at 2 p.m. at the Lowell Senior Center, 276 Broadway. 978-441-6926.

Medford: At Tufts University, Aidekman Arts Center, 40 Talbot Ave. Today at 8 p.m., Tufts Flute Ensemble. April 22, 7 i p.m., Gospel Music at the Movies. April 25, 8 p.m., Tufts Small Jazz Ensemble. Free.

617-627042. North Andover Music at the Rogers Center for the Arts at Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike St. April 30, 7 p.m., Count Basie Orchestra. 978-837-5355. Winchester Pianist Barbara Lieurance will perform a "Young Composers Past and Present" concert April 25 at 7 p.m.

at Winchester Community Music School, 407 Highland Ave. Free. 781-821-2950. Theater Arlington: Arlington Friends of the Behind -rwUHilt 1 I LJ I Children Acton: The Discovery Museums, 177 Main St. Children's Museum: Tues.

and Wed. p.m., Thurs-Sun. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Science Museum: and Fri. p.m., Wed.

1-6 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Museums feature nature, humanities, and arts activities and exhibitions for children. $8 per museum; $12 for both.

www.discoverymuseums.org. 978-264-4200. Andover Phillips Academy will host a College Fair April 25, 5-7 p.m., at Case Memorial Cage, 5 Highland Ave. Free. 978-749-4675.

Concord: Concord Youth Theatre will perform "Hansel and Gretel" today at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at 40 Stow St. For ages 4 and older. $8.50.

978-371-1482. Reading: Creative Arts, 25 Woburn will present "Robin Hood's Sherwood Shennanigans" by children ages 6-14, April 22 at 6 p.m. Free. 781-942-9600. Shirley: Hands-on Art Museum, 3 Lancaster Road: Projects, workshops, and art activities.

Open through April 23: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. under age 2, free. 978-425-6161. Historical Houses Concord: The Ralph Waldo Emerson House, 28 Cambridge home of the author from 1835 to 1882, is open for guided tours: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sundays 1:30 p.m.

students and seniors, $5. 978-369-2236. Concord: The Old Manse, 269 Monument St. Home of the Emerson, Hawthorne and Ripley families. Guided tours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sundays and holidays, noon-5 p.m.

Trustees of Reservation members free. 978-369-3909. Lexington: Lexington Historical Society Continued on next page In order to complete the re-creation of the organ as it appeared and sounded during the heyday of the silent film era, Shanklin spent 2'2 years building a special place to house it on Sandy Pond Road. "It was originally for my own enjoyment, so I could play it," Shanklin said. "We built the building so big that we could put on concerts.

"We recognize that if people were going to enjoy it, people get most of their information through their eyes," he said. "So, we put in a theatrical lighting system complete with a theatrical dimming system." Another design facet includes many percussion instruments hanging on the front wall. Each instrument is spotlighted when the organ plays a sound that corresponds to it. Shanklin also had a curved wall built at the back of the concert space to enhance the acoustics. "Instead of just walking into the room where someone is playing music, you have an audiovisual performance," Shanklin said.

"It's a very special instrument in that it always sounded great and it better with a room that's built for it," he said. Because, according to Shanklin, the Continued on next page "I i AT DEPOT SQUARE Oil paintings by Sophia Yee (top) and saggar-fired vessels by Joan Carcia are on display Square Gallery, 1837 Massachusetts Lexington. The artists discuss their works at noon today. Drama, 22 Academy will perform "Kiss of the Spider Woman" April 22 and 23 at 8 p.m. and April 24 at 4 p.m.

$18. www.afdtheatre.org. 781-646-5922. Concord: The Concord Players, 51 Wal-den will perform "Memory of Water" April 22, 23, 29 and 30 and May 6-7 at 8 p.m., May 1 at 2 p.m. $15.

978-369-2990. www.concordplayers.org. 978-369-2990. Lowell: "Constant Star" will be performed through April 24 at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 50 E. Merrimack St.

at 8 p.m., Sat. at 8:30 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. Matinees Sat, and Sun. 978-454-3926.

Medford: At Tufts Balch Arena Theater: the scenes 1 trscssst .1 i I 31 'i Wwu4 ii fcttaad it A Metropolitan Theatre, now the Wang Center. It was in Boston until the 1970s when it was purchased by the pizza parlor. "The Metropolitan organ was the largest organ in New England and probably the best organ in New England," said Shanklin. "It's a magnificent restoration. It's a work of art." nn Historic pipe organ is no longer Groton's secret started fund-raising five years ago and created SpringStep lj in Medtord Square I fi i two years ago.

The i i tural arts center has grown wiui a wiue variety of offerings from belly dancing and folk dancing to concerts. On April 29, from 7 p.m. to DEBORAH HAWKINS midnight, the center is hosting "Radiance" in Hawkins's honor with a special Indian classical dance performance, a live auction, food, and dancing to the music of a variety of groups. Visit www.spring-step.org for more details. DIGGING IN: Getting back to gardening is the focus of Andover's Virginia Lopez Begg's new book, "Old Time Gardens: A Book of the Sweet O' The Year," which she plans to sign and discuss May 5 at 7 p.m.

at the Andover Bookstore. HEAVY HITTER: Lexington's Bill Lichten-stein was recently named a Guggenheim Fellow for producing compelling docu mentaries about social issues. He is now working on "Juveniles in Crisis." 1 jrtr. I which focuses on 4 the social welfare of young puupie in America and is due to air on public television in 2007. Lichtenstein is the founder of Lichtenstein Creative Media BILL LICHTENSTEIN company in Cambridge, which produces the public radio series "The Infinite Mind" and other independent television and film works.

He also coproduced an award-winning documentary, "West 47th Street," about four people with mental illness over a three-year span. His work has won United Nations, Emmy, Grade, and George Foster Peabody awards. ARIZONA BOUND: Lexington's Brianna Bakow learned recently she is one of 80 students selected by the Earth Watch Institute in Belmont to go to Portal, to work at the Southwestern Research Institute. Bakow is a junior at Iawrence Academy, a private high school in Groton, who hopes to pursue environmental science in college. She will join a research project on the "hybridization and fitness of harvester ants" this summer.

The research institute is an affiliate of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Send People column suggestions to dbrownglobe.com. 1 Concert by organist Phil Kelsall Shanklin Auditorium 130 Sandy Pond Road, Groton May 1, 2:30 p.m. Tickets $20 978-670-1269 When Garrett Shanklin heard that the original console and other pieces of the historic pipe organ once used at Boston's Metropolitan Theater was in a Portland, pizza parlor, he thought, "I have to have it." So when the pizza place closed in the late 1990s, Shanklin, who owns a packaging machinery company in Ayer, bought the organ and brought it back to Groton, where he lives. He had it restored and then built an auditorium specifically designed for the organ and its music.

The result is a little-known entertainment gem in Groton, spawned by one man's passion for an art form: the Shanklin Auditorium, home to the Shanklin organ, a nd the site of three or four organ concerts a year. The next concert, on May 1, will feature organist Phil Kelsall, who plays for the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool, The Shanklin organ, originally located in the Boston Metropolitan Theater, was purchased and restored by Garrett Shanklin of Groton. England. Shanklin, who is in his 70s and semi-retired, calls the auditorium and its organ "the best-kept secret in Groton." "I've had people come in and say, drive by this every week and I never knew it was he said. The organ was used in the 1930s to accompany silent films at the historic "I 1 Leonard From Additions In-Law Apartments To 1 AFFORDABLE 3-Car Garages, Hooksett, NH 03106 www.BuildiyiyGarage.com GARAGES, INC.

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