ACT II, the Colquitt County Arts Center Theatre for Youth, will present “The Quiltmaker’s Gift” on Friday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., each night.

The story is based on the book written by Jeff Brumbeau and beautifully illustrated by Gail de Marco published by Scholastic, Inc. The script book was written by Alan J. Prewitt, with music for the one-act musical written by Craig Bohmler and lyrics by Steven Mark Kohn.

“The Quiltmaker’s Gift” is the story of a king so greedy that he decrees he will have two birthdays a year in order to acquire more things. The King believes having more things will make him happy. He soon learns that there is a quilt maker who has not yet given him a gift and he seeks her out to demand that she do so. The Quiltmaker makes it very clear that her quilts are only for the poor and needy — of which the King is obviously neither — and refuses to give him one.

The King chains the old woman to a bear and when she escapes unharmed, he banishes her to an island only big enough to stand on so that when she falls asleep she will drown. The next morning he finds her alive and well and after realizing that she has gotten the best of him he asks again what he must do to have one of her quilts. She tells him...

Now did you really think I was going to give away the story? You will have to come to the Arts Center on Friday or Saturday at 7 p.m. to find out what happens next! Tickets are only $5 person plus one blanket from your family for a needy family. The box office will open at 6:30 p.m., each night. The twelve cast members of the show thought it would be a great idea to collect blankets for the needy as the Quiltmaker only gives her blankets to the needy.

All blankets will be given to the Sunbelt Area Chapter of the Red Cross to be used in emergency situations such as a house fire. Kayla Monday, director of the Sunbelt Area Chapter of the Red Cross said the blankets come in very handy for victims of house fires as most fires happen at night and fire victims are given a blanket to wrap up in. Monday said they will easily give away 100 blankets in single family house fires in one winter season.

The Quiltmaker’s Gift cast includes the talents of Vickie Allegood, Mimi Bair, Lindsay DeMott, Mandy Hamm, Mary Grace Holman, Lennie Flowers, Lindsay Oxley, Hannah Riley, Randi Tapscott, Halie Tucker, Camden Wiggins, Michael Young, Maegan Bair as Tech Director and Jared Riley as Stage Manager. Following each performance will be a time for tea with the cast members.

The gallery will also be open following each performance for you to enjoy the beautiful quilts in the Juried Quilt Exhibition of local traditional and contemporary quilts. The exhibit will be in the Vereen Gallery through Oct., 31, and is sponsored by Verizon Wireless. While there, you can also purchase a raffle ticket or two for the beautiful Log Cabin Quilt made by members of the Arts Center Creative Quilters Guild and quilted by Suzanne Leimer of Suzanne’s Quilt Shop on the square. The Log Cabin Quilt is on display by the office of the center.

As you are reading this, the cast of the Arts Center Community Theatre (ACT) production of “The Lion In Winter” is in Columbus, Ga., representing our community in the Georgia Theatre Conference One-Act Play Competition at Columbus State University. We are all anxious to hear how they did in the competition.

ACT is also beginning work on an entertaining Madrigal Dinner, which will take place on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m., in the ballroom of the Arts Center. The evening will be filled with good food and delightful entertainment with a medieval flair.

Theatre is LIVE and alive in well in Colquitt County. Come to the Arts Center and see for yourself!!