1. The very first verse of the Bible talks about God creating the heavens and the earth. So, mosey on over to Clifton on Jan. 10 to the open house at the Paul and Jane Meyer Observatory at the Turner Research Station, 14801 FM 182, Clifton. Each month the Central Texas Astronomical Society presents a program. If the weather cooperates, visitors may view the heavens with portable telescopes and the 24-inch Meyer telescope. If you can’t make this one, register at www.centexastronomy.org for notices of dates and sites for star parties in Bell and McLennan counties.
2. OK, you’re full of giblets and gravy. The New Year means you can get back to real food - like meat charring on a hot griddle. That’s when you head to Old Jody’s, 1219 S. First St. Sure, the hamburgers are legendary, but drop some quarters in the jukebox to get your head tuned to 2009. Old Jody’s has the best country juke in town - Strait, Brooks, Alabama, Adkins, just too many to list. We counted 96 albums with eight to 12 songs each. That’s more than 1,000 songs at four for $1. All that and battered onion rings, too.
3. New beginnings liven the world. Ella Koepke Mewhinney’s paintings take a fresh view of Central Texas. A retrospective of her work continues through January at the Bell County Museum in Belton. The exhibit of paintings and crafts by Holland resident, Mewhinney (1891-1975) is often bold and envigorating, despite traditional subject matter. Mewhinney is among the largely ignored bevy of women regional painters whose works deserve more merit and attention. This exhibit does that and more. Her canvases glow with color and brilliance; her subjects are treated with respect and intelligence. The museum is open noon until 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For information, go online to www.bellcountymuseum.org
4. Travel west and you’ll be saying: “Ein gutes und gesegnetes neues Jahr” (“a good and blessed New Year”). Kempner Brick Oven is a truly authentic German restaurant and bakery for “Prosit Neujahr!” (“Happy New Year!”). Take your pick of schnitzel - traditional (with or without gravy), Jaeger, onion, Rham and gypsy. Cucumber salad is available on Fridays and Saturdays. And don’t leave there without dessert and a loaf of rye for breakfast the next morning. Our favorite: the pretzel balls. Kempner Brick Oven, 12093 E. Highway 19.
5. In colonial New Amsterdam, now New York, the Dutch settlers munched on sweets and pastries are eaten on New Year’s. Drop by Belton’s Heidenheimer Coffee Co., 126 N. East St. for a cup and homemade cookies or muffins or pies or cakes or biscotti, or - ah, the choices. It’s the only way to clear your head from holiday partying. Besides, you get to eschew those big-buck coffee chains and support your local roaster. Then, take home a couple of pounds of specially roasted and flavored java. For the more traditional, they also have specialty teas. James and Donna Ernst opened their mom and pop shop in an old Heidenheimer bank building in January 1994 and moved to Belton the following year. See www.txjava.com.
6. The Hindu Temple of Central Texas, at 4309 Midway Drive, will observe the Makara Sankranti celebration, a day of good will and friendship, on Jan. 17 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. A harvest festival, it is also a celebration of spring as the sun rises to the north. People traditionally exchange pieces of sugar-cane, molasses, dry coconut, peanuts and fried gram as a symbol of the need to be generous and kind to everyone. The observance is open to the public, but be ready to leave your shoes at the door. See www.hindutemple.org.
7. The New Year is the most important holiday in Japan, where it is a symbol of renewal. In December, various Bonenkai or “forget-the-year parties” are held to bid farewell to the problems and concerns of the past year and prepare for a new beginning. To do this, the Japanese start the New Year off by cleaning. Even if you aren’t Japanese, French Natural Soaps, made in Temple, are a good way to start the New Year. With such exotic scents as lavender rose goat milk, Texas mesquite and cinnamon oatmeal, the soaps are made of pure vegetable oils. See them online at www.
frenchnaturalsoaps.com
8. Start the year off with praise on your lips and a song in your heart with the intriguing harmonies of Sacred Harp music. It’s also called Fa-So-La singing for the first three notes of a musical scale. That’s what churches on the U.S. frontier for more than two centuries used to do. Sacred Harp singing was a community musical and social event, emphasizing participation, not performance, where people sing songs from a tune book called “The Sacred Harp.” Over the decades, the singing has evolved but certain things remain the same: the music is acappela and everyone participates. The music is often in shaped notes, part of a system to teach sight-reading. Shaped notes like ordinary notation, except that the note-heads are printed in geometrical shapes to indicate their position and musical syllable. Singings are usually daylong events, full of food, fellowship and fa-so-la. For details and contacts, see http://singings.texasfasola.org.
9. Finally, the New Year will also be tender farewell in 2-4 time. January marks the end of an extraordinary era in polka music. Anton, age 80, and Alfred Vrazel, age 67, made it cool to polka. They are hanging up their dancing shoes and accordions after 55 years and thousands of performances. Alfred will continue to host his Sunday afternoon radio Polka Show on KMIL radio in Cameron. The brothers began playing at small stores and halls such as Oscar Store Three Oaks in Cameron, Sefcik Hall in Seaton, and others. Details: Jan. 24, 3 to 8 p.m., Frank Mayborn Civic & Convention Center. Come early because a lot of people want to have just one more waltz around the floor. See www.vrazels polkaband.com.
