Attendees can also visit returning favorites such as Virginia Kettering’s Holiday Train Display in the Kettering Tower, 40 N. Main St. This display is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays through January 2. Another returning favorite is the Wintergarden Wonderland Windows, which features the old holiday displays from Rike’s department store.
Wonderland Windows is on display daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Schuster Center, 1 W. Second St. Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Cost: free. Call 937-224-1518 or visit www.downtowndayton.org.
2) BUFFALO KILLERS
Buffalo Killers has always been a productive crew. The locally-based band, with members in Cincinnati, Dayton and Middletown, has released four full-lengths, the "Ohio Grass" EP and several 7-inch singles since its self-titled debut came out in 2006. However, the group has been working on overdrive since signing with Sun Pedal Recordings late last year. Buffalo Killers celebrates the release of "Fireball of Sulk," its second release of 2014 on the Warner Music Group subsidiary, with a performance at Canal Public House, 308 E. First St., in Dayton at 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28. Cost: $10. Call 937-461-9343 or visit www.canalpublichouse.com.
3) LEGENDARY LIGHTS OF CLIFTON
For more than two decades, couples, friends and families throughout the region have celebrated the Christmas season with a visit to the Legendary Lights of Clifton. The massive holiday display — which features more than 3.5 million lights illuminating the mill, the gorge, the riverbanks, trees and bridges — returns to Clifton Mill, 75 Water St., in Clifton. The Legendary Lights of Clifton, which opens for the season on Friday, Nov. 28, is open daily from 5 to 9 p.m. through New Year's Day. Cost: $10, free for children 6 and younger. Call 937-767-5501 or visit www.cliftonmill.com.
4) GUSTAFER YELLOWGOLD
In the 1990s, music fans in Dayton knew Morgan Taylor as a guitarist and songwriter for local pop-rock groups such as OO OO WA and Mink. However, what many folks didn't realize was much of his non-musical time was spent drawing. For the past decade, he has combined both creative outlets as the creator, illustrator, songwriter, musician and performer behind the popular animated children's series "Gustafer Yellowgold." The Dayton native, on the road supporting his latest musical DVD/CD set, "Wisdom Tooth of Wisdom," presents his multimedia animated concert experience at Southminster Presbyterian Church, 7001 Far Hills Ave., Centerville, at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 29. Cost: free with food drive donation. Call 937-433-1810 or visit www.sminster.com.
5) 33 PEOPLE
When the time came in 2010 to pull the plug on 33 People after two decades of rock, the members of the local cover band held a farewell show at Gilly's, 132 S. Jefferson St., Dayton. It's only fitting the group chose the same downtown venue to host its reunion show at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28. Cost: $10. Call 937-228-8414 or visit www.gillysjazz.com.
6) LAVERNE COX
Laverne Cox has broken a lot of ground, receiving critical acclaim and industry accolades as a pioneering black transgender woman. She appeared on VH1's "I Wanna Work for Diddy," produced and starred in her own VH1 program, "TRANSForm Me," and is a regular on the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black." Cox, who is also an in-demand speaker, will discuss moving beyond gender expectations at the Nutter Center, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway, Fairborn, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2. Cost: free. Call 937-775-3498 or visit www.nuttercenter.com.
7) ICE SKATING
Attention, ice skating enthusiasts. The outdoor rink at Riverscape MetroPark ice rink, 111 E. Monument Ave., Dayton, is now open for parents looking for a family activity or couples looking for a break from the standard dinner and a show. Ice rink hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays, 2:30 to 8 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 2:30 to 5 p.m. Thursdays, 2:30 to 10 p.m. Fridays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays. Hours change after Dec. 21. No registration is required. Cost: $5 admission, $2 skate rental. All ages welcome. Call 937-274-0126 or visit www.metroparks.org.
8) HALL OF HOLIDAYS
"Hall of Holidays: Baroque Drawings From the Jackson Album" opens at Dayton Art Institute, 456 Belmonte Park N., Dayton, on Friday, Nov. 28. The new exhibition, which features more than 150 European drawings gifted to the museum by Dorothy Patterson Jackson in 1976, is on display in DAI's South Gallery, Lower level. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. $12 adults, $9 seniors and active military, $6 youth 7-17, free members and youth 6 and younger. Call 937-223-4ART (4278) or visit www.daytonartinstitute.org.
9) THE PLURALS
The band The Plurals, from Lansing, Mich., is currently on a fall tour, playing shows in the Midwest and the East Coast. The group closes its latest outing with a stop at Blind Bob's, 430 E. Fifth St., in Dayton on Saturday, Nov. 29. This is also the final Ohio show until spring for Cincinnati rockers Pop Goes the Evil, which is taking a break while one of the members deals with the birth of a new child. Manray, the up and coming blues-rock trio from Dayton, is also on the bill. Cost: $5. Call 937-938-6405 or www.blindbobs.com.
10) CHARLIE MURPHY
For years Charlie Murphy was regarded as the joke-telling older brother of better known star Eddie Murphy. However, a breakout run on "Chappelle's Show" turned the actor-comedian into a bankable commodity in his own right. Murphy returns to town for a weekend run at the Funny Bone Comedy, 88 Plum St., The Greene, in Beavercreek, on Friday through Sunday, Nov. 28-30. Show times are 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Cost: $25. Call 937-429-LAFF (5233) or visit www.daytonfunnybone.com.
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