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Help us protect our historic windows!
Dear Friends of The Center,
Unpredictable weather over the past year has exposed our historic windows to damage. Please help us preserve them with a small gift so that we can build up a supply of plywood to cover our windows in the event of a hurricane or wind storm.
Please select from the options below and you will be redirected to PayPal.
We are grateful for your gift and to your commitment to our organization.
OFF THE RAILS CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 29 Purchase tickets here!
Join us Saturday, September 29, 2018 for Off the Rails Craft Beer Festival!
Tickets are available at The Caboose, at the gate or online. ($1 handing fee for online purchase).
Please click on the link to purchase admission tickets. You must print out your PayPal receipt or save a screen shot on your phone as proof of purchase at the entrance to the event.
Ashland Musical Variety Show Delayed by One Year!
Hanover Idol 2018 Auditions!
Audition information:
You will have only 2 minutes or so to sing.
You may sing any song of your choice. You may sing the same song for the competition.
You may play an instrument or have someone play for you. We have a piano available.
You may sing with a cd or your iPhone. Acappella is fine. We have a CD player.
Karaoke background music is best.
Audition Applications are now CLOSED.
Late submissions will not be accepted at this time. Thank you for your understanding!
Get your voice warmed up and ready to SING!
Auditions: January 20, 2018
(Audition slots will be assigned to each participant)
Hanover Idol: Show on March 4, 2018
Hanover Junior Idols age 10-15 by January 1, 2018
Any mailed audition submissions mailed by January 15th but arriving after the 15th (due to Martin Luther King Holiday)will be counted.
JULY 4th PARADE AND CELEBRATION!
Join us for our annual July 4th parade and celebration featuring loads of patriotism and small town pride!
Parade Line Up: 10:15AM at Henry Clay Elementary School
Parade Step Off: 11:00AM (Parade begins at Henry Clay and ends at The Center)
Patriotic Concert with Hanover Concert Band will immediately follow the parade
Patriotic Pet Contest!
Apple Pie Baking Contest!
Food!
Family Games!
Fun!
ASHLAND MUSICAL VARIETY SHOW: Ashland Loves a Parade!
Make plans to join us for this year’s Ashland Musical Variety Show, “Ashland Loves a Parade” as we celebrate FIFTY years of arts, community and education in the Center of the Universe!
A cast and crew of over 400 folks from all over the area will entertain you with this hilarious, quirky and sweet show on March 30, 31, and April 1, 2017.
Reserved Tickets are available by calling 798-2881. General admission tickets are available at Cross Brothers Market.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to experience one of Ashland’s favorite and most charming traditions while supporting Hanover Arts & Activities Center in the heart of town.
CENTER PLAYERS YOUTH THEATER PROGRAMS Spring/Summer 2017
The Center Players are proud to offer the musical “Shrek” for their 2017 production!
Auditions will be on May 10 and 11, 2017 at 6PM. Please come prepared to sing an a cappella piece for your audition. Forms for the production will be filled out at auditions.
Big Top Summer Theater Camp for elementary schoolers form is available under “Summer Theater Camps”
Ashland Musical Variety Show Sponsorships
Do you know a Hanover, Ashland or Richmond business that might like to advertise in our Ashland Musical Variety Show playbill?
Over 1800 folks will have this playbill in their laps during the show and to take home with them so it is a GREAT way to highlight your services and to support community building through the arts.
Hanover Arts & Activities Center is turning 50 this year and through that time we have served our community faithfully by providing education, community events, arts events, meeting space, music rehearsal space, a special events venue and so much more. Help us make the most of our biggest fundraiser of the year by placing an ad in the playbill so that we can carry on being “The Center” of the Center of the Universe for another 50!
Information on sponsorships and what your sponsor dollars provide you is included in the picture below. For a form you may click on the link to the PDF and print it out to send to us at PO Box 486, Ashland, Virginia 23005. To ask any questions you may have please email Sara Holloway at info@hanoverarts.org.
Please join us for one of Ashland’s most entertaining, charming and community oriented events!
Rehearsal Schedule for the 2017 Ashland Musical Variety Show
UPDATED Rehearsal Schedule. Changes in RED.
Holidays at Hanover Arts & Activities Center
We have SO many opportunities for enjoying the holiday season this year at Hanover Arts & Activities Center.
Join us Saturday, December 3, 2016 for Light Up the Tracks where Ashland transforms into a mile long Christmas Card. Featuring singing by the Community Chorus, a visit from Santa and more! The festivities begin at 5:30PM.
Rehearsal for the Community Chorus is on Thursday, December 1, 2016 at 7PM at The Center. Lend your voice to the fun!
“Little Women, a Holiday Story” a play adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” and presented by the talented Louise Ricks & her Whistle Stop Theatre Company will begin on December 3, 2016 at 3PM. Visit http://www.whistlestoptheatrecompany.weebly.com to buy tickets today! Shows will be on December 8, 9, 15 and 16.
The Community Idea Stations will be hosting the Mercy Street Season Two premiere at the Blackwell Center for the Performing Arts at Randolph-Macon College on Sunday, December 11.
Before the premiere, we invite you to join us for a reception to benefit the Ashland Museum, The Hanover Arts and Activities Center (The Center) and the Community Idea Stations. The reception will be held at The Center, 500 S. Center St., Ashland, 12:00-2:00 pm. Take a step back to 1862 when Ashland Baptist Church, now
At the reception, you will be able to visit with some of Mercy Street’s actors, producers and program staff at PBS, and learn about the area’s history during the Civil War. Along with costumed characters, Robert Szabo will be here with his wet plate collodion photography equipment. There will be festive fare and music.
Your purchase of a ticket to the Mercy Street reception at The Center includes a reservation for the 3:00 pm free screening of Mercy Street at the Blackwell Center for the Performing Arts at 205 Henry Street on the R-MC campus. This screening will include a Gospel music performance and a chance to watch the first episode of season two of Mercy Street with the cast and crew who filmed the series in the Richmond and Petersburg areas. At the screening, you will get a behind-the-scenes look from co-creator and executive producer Lisa Wolfinger, producer David A. Rosemont and Audrey Davis of the Alexandria Black History museum. Davis is one of the on-set historians whose expertise is in the contraband slave movement. You will be given your ticket to the screening at the event.
Tickets are $40 for adults, $25 for middle and high school students.
Use our online registration form and pay by PayPal or by mail at Ashland Museum, PO Box 633, Ashland, VA 23005.
Questions? Contact Ashland Museum at 804-368-7314, or info@ashlandmuseum.org
The Hanover Concert Band presents its annual Christmas Pops Concert with music and refreshment at 7PM on December 13, 2016. Come support Ashland/Hanover’s favorite music makers as they entertain us with the sounds of the season! The concert is FREE!
HALLOWEEN, TRAIN DAY, LIGHT UP THE TRACKS, LITTLE WOMEN by WHISTLE STOP THEATRE
The Center is gearing up for some fun this fall and holiday season. Check out all of the great programs below in partnership with all of our favorite Ashland Institutions.
Join us for some spooooooky fun on Halloween night! Trick or Treat on the tracks and stop by to hear some Halloween entertainment by the Hanover Concert Band and to enjoy some refreshments.
Train Day is almost here! Our friends at Ashland Main Street Association have been working hard to bring you all things train, all day on November 5 from 10-5. The Center will feature some great train sets for old and young to enjoy together.
You don’t want to miss Ashland lighting up the tracks to become a mile long holiday card! The Center will be where you want to be to enjoy entertainment by our Community Chorus and to watch the lights go on. Then stop by our wonderful businesses to see what they have on offer for the season and to have a treat or two.
A tender Christmas adaption of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” by super talented Ashlander and Director of the Whistle Stop Theatre Company, Louise Ricks. Showing before Light Up the Tracks and for four additional shows over the holiday season.
Welcome to the Center!
For more than 45 years, the Hanover Arts & Activities Center has been committed to being the “Center” of the “Center of the Universe,” as the town of Ashland is affectionately called. Located on the railroad tracks that run through the heart of Ashland, Virginia, the Center is dedicated to the enrichment of our community through cultural, educational and community activities.