North Laurel

Musical comedy "A Holiday Happening" runs through Dec. 29 at the Young Artists Theatre, 11200 Scaggsville Road in Laurel. Reservations required. Tickets are $9 per person, $8 per person for groups of 10 or more. For show times and reservations, call 301-604-2844. Art exhibit "Ascending Through the Darkness," an exhibit of abstract drawings and paintings by Ania Milo, is on display through Feb. 26 in Tai Sophia Institute's Himmelfarb Gallery, 7750 Montpelier Road, Laurel.

Blood drive Donate at the Red Cross Blood Drive being held from 7:30 a.m. to noon Sunday, June 10, at Emmanuel United Methodist Church, 10755 Scaggsville Road. For information or to schedule an appointment, call: 800-272-2123. Youth dance The Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department's Junior Firefighters sponsor an end-of-school youth dance from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 2, at the firehouse, 6275 Old Washington Road. Tickets are $10. Food and beverages, including pizza, hot dogs, pretzels, nachos, candy, water and sodas, will be for sale.

After being open nearly a year, skateboarders are mostly pleased with the North Laurel Community Center's outdoor skate park, which Howard County opened last June. The 12,000-square-foot park opened June 3, 2011 along with the rest of the $25 million North Laurel Community Center. The skate park is mostly made of concrete and has metal rails and stone boulders at different places throughout the park. One end of the park has a covered sitting area where skateboarders can rest or watch each other perform tricks on the various ramps, rails, boxes and curved pool.

Emmanuel Methodist Preschool, located near Route 29 and I-95 in Howard County, is registering for the 2012-13 school year that begins in the fall. The North Laurel school offers an MSDE-accredited program for children ages 2-1/2 to 5 years old. Limited space is available in the three-day program for ages 2 1/2; the two-day afternoon program for 3-year-olds; and the five-day extended (9 a.m.-1 p.m.) and full-day (9 a.m.-3 p.m.) programs for 4-year-olds. For information, call 301-725-5178 or go to emmanuelpreschool.com .