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First Thursday

* Artist reception for fiber artist Susan Welsh-Smith at the Funky Monkey from 6 to 8 p.m. today.

* St. Elias Brewing Co. in Soldotna will host Mike Morgan playing acoustic classics, folk, blues and Hawaiian slack key guitar at 7 p.m. today.

* The Kenai Fine Arts Center, at 816 Cook St, across from the Oilers/Bingo Hall inOld Towne Kenai,will playhost to the Juried Water media Show through the month of November. The winners will be announced and awards presented at 7 p.m.today.

* Bluegrass jam at the Christ Lutheran Church in Soldotna at 6:30 p.m. today.

* John Winter's work will be on display at the Soldotna Visitor's Center through the end of the month.

* Kaladi Brothers artist of the month is Sophia Taeschner.

Best Bets

* Peninsula Artists in Motion present their fourth annual Dance Concert at 7 p.m. Friday at the Renee C. Henderson Auditorium at Kenai Central High School, and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Nikiski High School Auditorium. General admission is $12; student and senior admission is $10 and children 5 and under are admitted free of charge. Tickets are available at Encore Dance Academy and Charlotte's in Kenai, and River City Books in Soldotna.

* The Triumvirate Theatre in the Peninsula Center Mall will present "Shop 'til you Drop... DEAD!" a murder mystery written by Craig Sodaro and directed by Angie Nelson. The play will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Nov. 13 and 14. Admission price is $10 per person. Tickets are available in the Triumvirate Bookstore. It is open from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturday.

* The 10th annual Benefit Concert Series for the Kenai/Soldotna Shriners will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Renee C. Henderson Auditorium at Kenai Central High School. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. The concert is free but donations will be accepted. The concert features the music of Hobo Jim and the Ken Peltier Band. For more information, call Rodney Young at 907-727-6253.

Events and Exhibits

* The Kasilof Historical Society's cabin museum is open from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays or by appointment. It has historical displays, and area artists and crafters are invited to display their work on weekends. The cabin is at Mile 1.5 of Kalifornsky Beach Road. For more information, call 262-5125.

* The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center on Ski Hill Road outside Soldotna has films on wildlife, the refuge and the history of the area daily at noon, 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. For more information and complete pr ogram listings, call 262-7021.

Entertainment

* AmVets Post No. 4 in the Red Diamond Center holds blind draw darts at 7 p.m. Wednesdays; Texas Hold 'Em at 7 p.m. Fridays and 4 p.m. Sundays; and open house and dinner at 6 p.m. and karaoke with Mary and Jack at 8 p.m. Saturdays.

* BJ's in Soldotna will host Alaska's Hobo Jim at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

* Kaladi Brothers will have live music from 6 to 7:45 p.m. at its Sterling Highway location, next to Subway in Soldotna.

* The Funky Monkey in the C Plaza in Kenai, in conjunction with Mike Morgan, will host Wednesday nights Acoustic Song Circle and Jam Session from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

* Rainbow Bar in Kenai has free Texas Hold 'Em at 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday; live music with Acoustic Rhythm Machine from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and pool leagues Tuesday; and live music with the Maybrey Brothers Thursday through Saturday.

* The Duck Inn on Kalifornsky Beach Road has karaoke at 9 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

* The Riverside House in Soldotna hosts the After 10 party Fridays and Saturdays with Rock Star DJ Service. Dancing until 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

* The 406 in Kenai has karaoke with Steve and Debbie at 9 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

* Mykel's in Soldotna has music by Dave Unruh and Bob Ramponi from 6:30 to 9:30 Friday and Saturday.

* Veronica's in Old Towne Kenai, will host open mic from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday; and Sarah Jane Superman at 6:30 Saturday.

Films

* Call Orca Theaters at 262-7003 for listings and times.

* Call Kambe Cinemas at 283-4554 for listings and times.

Upcoming events

* World Music for the Kenai will host "Crooked Still" from Boston for a weekday concert Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Peninsula Grace Auditorium at 44175 Kalifornsky Beach Road. The cost is $25 general admission; $23 for KDLL members; and family/teen discounts are available. For more information, call 262-6548 or e-mail mjmorgan@gci.net . For group back ground visit www.crookedstill.com and http://www.myspace.com/crookedstill .

* The Challenger Learning Center of Alaska, at 9711 Kenai Spur Highway, will take visitors on a journey to the center of our Galaxy when it unveils unprecedented mural-sized images of the Milky Way's core as seen by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory. Challenger will host a free to the public Star Party where it will unveil the images to the public on Nov. 20. The photographs of the central region of the Galaxy commemorate the International Year of Astronomy. For time and more information on the unveiling of the never before seen images, along with an overview of the interactive activities for the whole family available throughout the evening, visit www.akchallenger.org or call 907-283-2000.

Down the Road

* The Pratt Museum in Homer is at 3779 Bartlett St. For more information about exhibits and events, call 907-235-8635 or e-mail the museum director at info@pratt-museum.org.

Submissions may be e-mailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com. The deadline is 5 p.m. Mondays.