Sun Kulcha

Thursday, Dec. 30

Kwanzaa

The Int’l African Arts Festival, Sun Productions, Roots Revisited & Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium present Kwanzaa Reunion Concert with Doug & Jean Carn & Mamadou Dahoue & The Ancestral Messengers, 7:00 p.m. – Midnight at Boys & Girls High School, 1700 Fulton St., Brooklyn. Tickets: $25/advance; $30/door. For ticket information, contact CBJC at (718) 7783-2252.

Friday, Dec. 31

New Year’s Eve

Cinema Arts Center, 423 Park Ave (just south of 25a), Huntington, N.Y. is offering a choice of three movies – The King’s Speech, 6:50 p.m. & 9:10 p.m.; Rabbit Hole, 7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. or Black Swan, 7:10 p.m. & 9:20 p.m. followed by tasty light refreshments (available before & after the films) in the Sky Room Cafe including a champagne toast while watching the ball drop at midnight in Times Square. Tickets: $20/members; $25/public & can be purchased online at www.CinemaArtsCentre.org or at the box office during theater hours or by calling Brown Paper Tickets toll free at (800) 838-3006. For more information, call (631) 423-6711.

New Year’s Eve

BP Markowitz & The Prospect Park Alliance will usher in 2011 with a bang at the 29th Annual New Year’s Eve Fireworks Spectacular at Grand Army Plaza, starting at 11:00 p.m. with musical entertainment by Brooklyn’s Rock ‘N’ Soul Experience & free hot chocolate. Best locations for viewing include anywhere in Grand Army Plaza, inside the Park on the West Drive & along Prospect Park West between Grand Army Plaza & 9 St.

New Year’s Eve

Exclusive Media Entertainment Group & Friends presents the official New Year’s Eve Dons & Divas Ball featuring reggae, soca, R&B, hip hop by N.Y. top radio DJs; fashion show at 10:00 p.m.; live performance begins at 11:00 p.m.; open bar all night; complementary champagne toast at midnight; this is a 21+ event. Event to be held at an undisclosed location in Brooklyn, N.Y. & will be revealed on your ticket. Get your tickets by logging on to www.DonsAndDivasBall.com.; call toll free (888) 816-8816 or text (347) 559-5515.

Monday, Jan. 3

Computer Training

Fresh Start Training Program, 1756 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, a project for displaced homemakers (single parents, married low income, widowed, divorced, separated) is holding orientation for free computer skills training & resume help, 10:30 a.m. Must type 25 wpm. Ongoing registration; call (718) 338-9200.

Business Workshop

CAMBA, Small Business Services, 884 Flatbush Ave., 2 Fl., corner of Church Ave., Brooklyn, is offering a free workshop, All Options to Finance Your Business, focusing on financing options available for startup or existing businesses for growth including online financial sources such as peer-to-peer networks, angel investors & venture capital & how to choose the best options even with bad credit or no collateral. Registration required, RSVP to (718) 282-2500 or email smallbiz@camba.org.

Business Workshop

CAMBA, Small Business Services, 884 Flatbush Ave., 2 Fl., corner of Church Ave, Brooklyn, is offering a free workshop, Surviving Debt & Rebuilding Your Credit, focusing on the secrets & strategies debt collectors don’t want you to know to repair & rebuild your credit, learn to read a credit report & effectively deal to debt collectors. Workshop repeated Feb. 1 & March 1. Registration required, RSVP to (718) 282-2500 or email smallbiz@camba.org.

ONGOING

Call for Artists

The Waterfront Musuem & Showboat Barge’s curator, Karen Gersch, is looking for interested artists for an upcoming spring exhibition, Creatures of the Deep, aboard the historic Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge No. 79. Individuals can submit up to two entries; large works are encouraged; all mediums considered; two-dimensional preferred. If interested, send request & images to Karen Gersch, www.waterfrontmusuem.org, 2901 Conover St., Red Hook Pier 44, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11231 & for more information, call (7178) 624-4719 ext. 11.

ESOL & GED Classes

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow is offering free English as a second language (ESOL) classes, Monday – Thursday, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. as well as Pre-GED, GED & Adult Basic Education classes Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in Bushwick at 25 Thornton St. (enter Broadway & Flushing Ave.). Call today for information (718) 387-1600.

Workforce Resource Ctr.

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow’s Bushwick Workforce Recource Center is now open offering clerical skills job training; GED classes; job placement assistance, immigrant services, ESOL; internship programs for young adults; youth job trianing & employment & affordable health insurance from Helath Plus at 280 Wyckoff Ave., Brooklyn. For information on all services & requirements for health insurance, please call (718) 381-3222, Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Police Athletic League

Registration is ongoing thru Jan. 10, 2011, for the PAL Cops & Kids Program open in Manhattan for young people ages 14 to 17 to participate in the upcoming winter basketball season. To sign up or for more information, contact PAL;s Operations Dept. at (212) 477-9450 ext. 389.

Jazz Academy

Jazz at Lincoln Center will be accepting applications for its Middle School Jazz Academy Class of 2011-12 beginning Jan. 22, 2011. Promising middle school instrumentalists from N.Y.C. are eligible to apply & audition for the tuition-free intensive jazz instruction program held throughout the school year. For eligibility requirements & for an application visit jalc.org/msja. Application deadline is March 4, 2011. The free showcase will take place Jan. 22, 2011 at l:00 p.m. in Irene Diamond Education Center, Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, on Broadway at 60th St., N.Y.C. The showcase is free & open to the public. No reservations, first come, first served. Seating is general admission. For more information, contact Bridget Wilson, (212) 258-9868 or email bwilson@jalc.org.

Talent Quest

The Green Space Battle of the Boroughs Talent Quest 2011 is looking for the best undiscovered performers – bands & ensembles of all genres, instrumentalists, vocalists, DJs & spoken word artists – to take part in its second annual celebration of New York City’s up-and-comers. Selected talent will perform in The Greene Space. Winner of the final battle gets a featured concert plus an opening act slot at SummerStage. Enter before Dec. 31. For rules & more information, go to thegreenspace.org/battle.

You Gotta Believe

You Gotta Believe! adoption agency offers free classes to learn more about adopting an older child. Learn how you can help an older child find a permanent home. Classes are held every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in Coney Island at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 2801 W 8 St., & every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. in East New York at Church of the Holy Redeemer, 2414 Linden Blvd., Brooklyn. For more information, call (718) 372-3003.

Foreclosure Prevention

If you’re behind, or just concerned about your mortgage, come in for free services & assistance to the Open House every Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. sponsored by Flatbush Development Corp, Neighborhood Housing Services of East Flatbush & the Center for York City Neighborhoods. To RSVP or for more information, call (718) 469-4679 or visit www.nhsnyc.org.

Home Repairs

Is your boiler, water main or roof in need of fixing? Do you need major repairs done but lack the finances? Now is the best time to fix it. Neighborhood Housing Services of East Flatbush can assist you. For more information on the Home Improvement Programs, call (718) 469-4679 or visit www.nhsofeastflatbush.org.

Winter Aches & Pains

Try this complete alternative medicine cabinet in a bottle for free. Jamaican Bath Fountain Pimento Oil is an all natural, chemical & preservative free herbal medication that relieves stiff joints, sore muscles, nerve damage amongst a host of other ailments. We will come to your nursing home or church and give you a free massage so you can experience this Jamaican phenomenon for yourself. Call Sandra at (866) 223-2414 or visit www.fountainoil.com for more information.

Comedy

Comedy School Dropout, the free, stand up comedy show hosted by Joe Rocha & produced by fellow comic Joe Dixon continues its show with drink specials on Monday evenings, 8:00 p.m., at the unique lodge lounge setting of Retreat, 37 West 17 St., between 5 & 6 avenues in Manhattan (Subway: “F” train to 14th St.) For informnation, contact (212)488-6600 or visit http://www.retreat-nyc.com.

Compiled by

Ida Eisenstein