RAD Women
The Murfreesboro Police Department will be conducting a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) class for women only in February. RAD teaches realistic self-defense tactics and techniques to give women options in the case of an attack. The class focuses on risk awareness, reduction, recognition and avoidance while also providing physical self-defense techniques designed to empower women to escape abduction or sexual assault attempts.
The classes will be held on four consecutive Thursday nights beginning Feb. 2 from 6-9 p.m. at the Middle Tennessee Association of Realtor’s building, 311 Butler Drive.
For more information or to register, contact Officer Amy Norville at (615) 895-3874 or anorville@ci.murfreesboro.tn.us.

A Chinese Lion Dance

Chinese New Year Celebration
The Discovery Center will ring in the Year of the Dragon with a traditional Lion Dance with the Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville Lion Dance and Drum Team, crafts, learning about Chinese culture with the Confucius Institute of MTSU and traditional Asian food.
The celebration will begin at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, with the Lion Dance at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free; remember to wear red for good luck!
Discovery Center is located at 502 SE Broad St., Murfreesboro.
For more information on this and other animal, art and nature programs offered at the Discovery Center call (615) 890-2300 or visit discoverycenteronline.org.

Presentation Observes Black History Month
As part of Murfreesboro’s Bicentennial celebration Patterson Park Community Center will present “Our People,” a tribute to the local multicultural heritage past and present. This theatrical presentation, held at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, at the Patterson Park Community Theater, is free and open to all ages.
For more information, contact Ron Steed at (615) 893-7439, ext. 19, or rsteed@murfreesborotn.gov.

Truck & Tractor Pull
The Southern Invitational Indoor Truck & Tractor Pull will be held Feb. 3-4 at the Tennessee Miller Coliseum. Children 10 and under admitted free.
For tickets or more information, call (615) 494-8879.

Justice O’Connor to Visit MTSU
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will help MTSU celebrate its Centennial year during a special visit on Wednesday, Feb. 8, as part of the University’s renowned Windham Lecture Series. Justice O’Connor will present her free public lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Hinton Music Hall inside MTSU’s Wright Music Building.
O’Connor became the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court when President Ronald Reagan named her as an associate justice in 1981. During her almost 25 years on the high court, Justice O’Connor cast tie-breaking votes in more than three-fourths of the panel’s 5-4 decisions. She retired from the court in January 2006, and Arizona State University renamed its law school in her honor that same year. In 2009, President Barack Obama presented the retired jurist with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.
Justice O’Connor has also written three best-sellers: The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice, the family memoir Lazy B and a children’s book, Finding Susie.
The Feb. 8 lecture is sponsored by the MTSU Centennial Committee, the College of Liberal Arts, the University Honors College, the American Democracy Project and the MTSU Department of Sociology and Anthropology. For more information, call (615) 494-7628.

City Schools Foundation Gala
Murfreesboro City Schools Foundation will hold its annual gala at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10 at the Stones River Country Club.
This year’s Hollywood style celebrity roast focuses on former State Rep. John Hood. Roasters include Ed Barlow, Dan Whittle, Lana Seivers and Bob Mifflin. Event chair and emcee is Andy Womack. MTSU President Sidney McPhee and first lady Elizabeth will host a premiere pre-party at their home.
For tickets or more information, call Lisa Trail at (615) 893-2313.

Tai Chi at Agri-Park
Each Wednesday morning from 9-10 a.m. Tai Chi classes meet at the Lane Agri-Park, 315 John Rice Blvd., taught by certified instructor Pat Whitaker. The classes are open for all, but are especially good for persons with arthritis.
To register or for more information, call (615) 898-7710 or e-mail pwhitak1@utk.edu.

Wedding Dresses, Language of Love
Oaklands Historic House Museum will feature elegant and fashionable wedding dresses worn by ladies from both Murfreesboro and around the country throughout the decades.
The museum will also offer tours that focus on courtship customs of the Victorian Era. The romantic language of flowers and fans, as well as the rules of engagement for courting, will be presented during these tours.
Both special programs run through Feb. 15. For more information, call (615) 893-0022.

An Evening for the Arts
The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce will host the Arts for Education Elegant Evening from 6-9 p.m. Feb. 24.
This evening of food, music, entertainment, and art (youth and adult) will benefit the Business Education Partnership Foundation programming to enhance math and science education in both City and County schools.

Hoopathon
Boro Hoops, a local group dedicated to the positive effects of Hula-Hooping, will hold a Hoopathon on Feb. 25 to benefit the American Heart Association’s Wear Red for Women campaign.
“Hooping is an excellant form of cardiovascular activity, raising the heart rate and thereby strengthening the heart,” says Boro Hoops founders Shea Brock.
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women. Unlike many other diseases, heart disease can be prevented through lifestyle management; healthy diet, exercise, losing weight, not smoking and lowering cholesterol are all ways of preventing heart disease.
For more information on Boro Hoops, e-mail shea@borohoops.com; for more information on the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign, visit goredforwomen.org.

Winter Reading Program
Linebaugh Public Library’s annual Adult Winter Reading Program runs through March 3. Patrons are challenged to meet a goal of reading and briefly reviewing at least six books over the course of the program. All genres and formats are accepted and count toward the goal of six books.
Patrons may sign up for the program at the library’s circulation desk.
Each week during the program, a review written by a participant will be randomly selected and that person will be able to choose a free book from a selection. That person will also receive a copy of The Hunger Games, this year’s One Book, donated by Read to Succeed.
At the conclusion of the program, every person who has met the goal of reading and reviewing at least six books will be awarded a gift card from Barnes & Noble, and a waiver good for up to $10 in library fines. And a grand prize winner will receive gift cards from Maple Street Grill and Barnes & Noble worth a combined value of $200.
Linebaugh Public Library is located at 105 W. Vine St., Murfreesboro. For more information about the Winter Reading Program, contact David O’Flaherty at doflaherty@linebaugh.org.

Get Creative, Shutterbugs!
Photographers can now submit their work to the first ever Picture Perfect Rutherford County Photo Contest, sponsored by the Rutherford County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Photos may be used in various publications and on the RCCVB visitor website to promote Rutherford County. The top photos in each category will win dinner for two at an area restaurant or a $25 gift card to the Rutherford County Keepsakes gift shop. Categories are People, Places, Nature, Events and Food.
Photos must be taken in Rutherford County and be received no later than March 21. So grab a camera and get creative.
An entry form and complete contest rules are available at readysetrutherford.com/contest.php. For more information, call (615) 278-2389.