• Internationally-reknowned gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi will be in town Tuesday to help kick off the 2007 Tyson Fitness Challenge. He’ll make a fundraising announcement at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in conjunction with Children’s Miracle Network. The fitness challenge is a joint effort between USA Gymnastics and Tyson Foods to help the country’s kids become more physically active and raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network.
• Clarification. Last week in a City Note, we said the Murray Hill Town Center project will cost $700,000. The project’s budget is actually $828,750.
• Members of the Ritz Chamber Players will present two free concerts Sunday. They will perform at the Friday Musicale at 645 Oak St. as part of the Cummer Museum of Art Concert Series at 3 p.m. For reservations, call 356-6857. The Players’ baritone Robert Sims will perform a selection of Negro spirituals with the University of North Florida Wind Ensemble at 3 p.m. in the UNF Dept. of Music on St. Johns Bluff Road. Call 620-2960 for information.
• Don’t forget your sleeping bags! The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens hosts “Slumber at the Cummer” March 9. The night-long party is for children ages 6-12 and includes a flashlight-guided tour of “Temples and Tombs: Treasures of Egyptian Art from The British,” art projects, a banquet-style dinner and maybe even a little sleep. Begins at 7 p.m. March 9 through 8:30 a.m. March 10. Cost for members is $60 and $70 for non-members. For more information or to register, call 355-0630.
• The numbers are in from the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville’s weekend Warehouse Party – which was a huge success despite the fact that it fell on one of the coldest nights of the year, according to Troy Spurlin, director of special events and marketing for the museum. Canvas of Sound II, a fundraiser for art education and exhibition programs, attracted over 300 guests and pulled in $7,000.
• Jacksonville musicians and music lovers raised $39,722 in ticket sales at a performance fundraiser held earlier this month for Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Percussionist Charlotte Mabrey and her life partner Melissa Humber. Humber was involved in an accident last may that left her paralyzed. JSO and the University of North Florida’s Percussion Ensemble presented the concert. All proceeds will go to “sisters of the Sea for Melissa Humber,” to help offset mounting medical expenses that have resulted from months of corrective surgeries and rehabilitation.
• Amelia Island Plantation will hold its 6th Annual Wine Fest May 25-26. Local art and wines from all over the world will be featured in the two-day event. Tickets are $40 a day in advance and $45 the day of each event.
• Aleighen Bunkers of the Jacksonville franchise of Designs of the Interior was named the top performing design consultant for the franchise last year. The company is owned locally by Kim Dodson-Prescott and Bill Prescott, who’s also senior vice president of stadium operations and CFO for the Jacksonville Jaguars.