Slayton House

Slayton House Theatre in Wilde Lake Village Center will present "Magical Illusions," with Turner, Dean of Magic, at 3 p.m. July 27. The family-oriented show includes live animals that vanish and reappear, and Turner's floating assistant. Tickets, which can be purchased in advance at Slayton House, are $5. Some tickets may be available at the door. The theater will screen the last film in its 2002-3003 season of "Marvelous Movies and More" at 3 p.m. Aug. 10 - a change in the usual schedule for the series.

A steady stream of visitors quietly roams the foyer and art gallery area of Slayton House, the community center for Columbia's Village of Wilde Lake, during a weekday lunch hour.The show includes about 30 paintings, depicting everything from still lifes to desert scenes. The artist is Robert Lewis, a Timonium resident who says a recent trip to the California desert was inspiration for his watercolors on display at the Slayton House Gallery."People stop in constantly to see what's on display," says Bernice Kish, the village manager.

The Yoga Center of Columbia is offering senior yoga classes at Slayton House on Wilde Lake Village Green. The classes, held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays, are adapted to individual needs; they are slower-paced, and emphasize breathing and stress reduction. A current session runs through June 21. The cost is $52 for a four-week session; $15 a class for drop-ins. Columbia lien payers can request a 10 percent discount. Classes are appropriate for all levels of experience, but participants are encouraged to consult a physician before starting any exercise program.

WORKS BY TWO local artists will be featured in an exhibit titled "Outside/Inside" starting tomorrow at the Slayton House Gallery.Wilde Lake resident Sue Anne Bottomley will display 4-foot-long panoramic drawings of Wilde Lake and Hyla Brook Road, as well as drawings of Howard County farmland.She will also show 10 relief prints she created using a technique she invented, called "stenocut.""It's a variation on linocuts," she said, but uses inexpensive materials. "The technique is safe and suitable for people of all ages," she added.

WORKING HER magic for the seventh year, special events coordinator Sharon Lea transformed Slayton House into a winter wonderland for Wilde Lake's Breakfast with Santa recently.It took two seatings to accommodate the more than 200 children and parents who attended.The children watched cartoons, sat on Santa's lap and bought gifts for family members in the Secret Shop, which provided free gift wrapping.Lea and Slayton House bookkeeper Kitty Brice started decorating the morning before the event.

WATERCOLORS AND photographs by two 30-year residents of west Columbia will be on display at Slayton House Gallery beginning Sept. 10.The Lobby Gallery will feature "Here and There, Then and Now," an exhibit of watercolors by Longfellow artist Bob Kramer. "WILDE LAKE lake," a display of photographs by Wilde Lake resident Nick Vogel, will be hung in the Bill White Room Gallery.Residents may recall Kramer's pen-and-ink sketches of Wilde Lake that were included in the village's 30th anniversary cookbook.

If you watch the Nostalgia Channel on cable TV, you've probably seen Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire glide gracefully across a dance floor or two, wishing you could dance like that.Well, perhaps you'll never be as graceful as Ginger and Fred, but you can learn how to dance the Tango, Foxtrot, Waltz and a few other fancy steps at Slayton House this fall.Those who have missed the opportunity in the past can now join John Taylor's Ballroom Dancing class. Sessions with Columbia's ever-popular dance master begin on Sept.

FRIENDS AND neighbors of the late James Rouse gathered at Slayton House on Saturday morning to plant a dogwood tree in memory of Columbia's founder."It was a group of people who loved Jim Rouse and what he did," said Janet Blumenthal, chairwoman of the Wilde Lake Village Board and the event's coordinator. "We were all there to celebrate that he lived here."Speakers included County Councilwoman Mary Lorsung, Norma Rose of the Columbia Council, Paul Imre, a village board member and Rouse's former neighbor, and Wes Yamaka, a longtime friend of Rouse.

Mike Meyerhoff's woodworking students learn much more than how to in his "Working With Wood" class at the Columbia Art Center in Long Reach Village Shopping Center.He teaches students to know and identify types of wood and to appreciate them. They study the grain, learn characteristics and uses of all varieties of wood."My students are always impressed when I tell them that a granite slab can be broken by the sheer force of saturated wood that has expanded after being placed in holes drilled in the slab," he said.

It may not be opening "tomorrow, tomorrow," but the Baltimore Children's Theatre production of Annie will open Saturday at Slayton House in Columbia and then move to the Baltimore Museum of Art in November. The BCT version of the Broadway musical tells the classic tale of misadventures of the feisty red-haired orphan. Professional adult actors and local children star in the production, including Caitlin Grant in the title role. Mark Andrew Beachy directed and produced the show, and Nicole Chopyk choreographed.