The Creek Beat: The Holiday Spirit In Walnut Creek

If you love the holidays, then you can really enjoy yourself the next couple weeks in Walnut Creek.

The city has a variety of holiday-related events as Christmas and New Year's Day approach.

We can start with the Center REPertory Company's production of "A Christmas Carol" in the Hofmann Theater at the Lesher Center for the Arts.

We were fortunate enough to be able to attend the opening Thursday night with our good and generous friends, Tom and Sue Keane.

I had somewhat moderate expectations and was pretty much blown away by the high-quality show I saw.

It was well-acted and well-directed with high energy and a lot of creativity to make Charles Dickens' elaborate story fit onto that stage.

A nice touch was the narrator reading from the original Dickens' work. As a writer, I appreciated that.

"A Christmas Carol" may be the greatest story ever put into novel form. Dickens wrote it in six weeks, publishing it in December 1843. It's credited by some for reviving Christmas celebrations in Europe and the United States.

It was good to see it portrayed so well.

If that isn't enough "Christmas Carol" for you, then be at Civic Park on Friday evening or Saturday night.

A foundation has organized a community reading of the Dickens classic. That's right. On both nights, members of the public will read the entire novel aloud, much like Dickens used to do himself.

For something a little different, the Contra Costa Wind Symphony will be performing seasonal favorites at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church on Monday night.

On Friday evening, the Diablo Ballet will provide an evening of dance inside the Steinway Piano storefront on Bonanza Street. The festivities will include wine, punch and cookies.

The following week, the Pacific Boychoir Academy will team up with the California Symphony for a family concert at the Lesher Center for the Arts on Monday night.

That's just some of the festive events coming to Walnut Creek these final 10 days before Christmas.

And don't forget the ice rink in Civic Park. Every time I drive by, there are dozens of people skating, no matter what the temperature is. I usually roll down the car window to hear the music and the excited chatter.

So, pick something to attend and go out and enjoy it. Most of the events are free and if you can't get into the holiday spirit by going to one, then you probably can't get into the holiday spirit.