Calendar: 'American Idol' winner to perform in Branson

July 24

Missouri State University’s Collegiate Chorale presents its summer concert at 7 p.m. at Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts on the MSU campus. The choir will be conducted by Guy B. Webb, professor of music, and graduate students Rebecca Adkins and Jason Bartlesmeyer. Selections for the evening include compositions by Beethoven and Brahms. Also to be performed is “Mother’s Vanished Hope,” written in 1907 in Nixa by Eliza Faught. The concert is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to enter the hall through the west entrance.

July 26-Aug. 22

Missouri State University’s Meyer Library features the Mapping Missouri exhibit, with reproductions of more than 100 Missouri maps. The exhibit explores the history of cartography in Missouri and the role maps have played in everyday life. Located on the third floor of Meyer Library, outside special collections, the exhibit is free and open to the public during regular library hours. For more information, visit http://library.missouristate.edu/.

July 30

2006 “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks will perform at 8 p.m. at the Welk Resort Theater, 1984 State Highway 165 in Branson. Tickets range in price from $39.50 to $59.50, and are available at www.sullivanshows.com.

July 31

Springfield Sister Cities Association presents an informational meeting at 5:30 p.m. about an upcoming trip to Tlaquepaque, Mexico. The meeting will be held at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, 202 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway. The Tlaquepaque trip will be Sept. 19–25, with a cost of $1,550 for double occupancy or $1,850 for single occupancy. For more information, call (417) 864-1191.

Aug. 8

The Civil War Round Table of the Ozarks will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell Ave. For more information, call (870) 426-2513 or visit http://history.missouristate.edu/WGPiston/CWRT/cwrt.htm.

Community

July 24

Community Blood Center of the Ozarks, Springfield Cardinals, KY3, KTTS, Hardees and Chase Financial Services present the third annual Red Tuesday Blood Drive 7 a.m.–7 p.m. at CBCO, 2230 S. Glenstone Ave. The community is encouraged to wear red that day to show support for CBCO and the Cardinals. Red Tuesday blood donors will each receive two tickets to the July 31 Springfield Cardinals/Arkansas Travelers game at Hammons Field, a Red Tuesday T-Shirt, and a Cardinals poster featuring Stan Musial, Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols. Hardee’s will be providing breakfast biscuits or cooked-to-order Thickburgers to all donors. For more information, visit www.cbco.org.

Aug. 11

Area organizations, including Urban Neighborhoods Alliance, Urban Districts Alliance, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Springfield-Greene County Library, present the inaugural Dream Big Festival 10 a.m.–3 p.m. at Jordan Valley Park. Designed for children in kindergarten through fifth grades, the event aims to focus children’s energy on the creative arts. Activities include mural creation, a musical petting zoo, drumming circle and puppet making. Each child who completes four activities will receive a free ice skating pass that can be used 11 a.m.–4 p.m. at Jordan Valley Ice Park. For more information, visit www.unaonline.org/dreambig

festival.php.