11 a.m. @ 212 E. Broughton Street Admission: Free

www.leopoldsicecream.com , 912.234.4442

Savannah’s beloved ice cream parlor celebrates 93 years of creating tasty memories with a block-wide “sock hop” celebration. There will be live music, family games and activities, dance demonstrations and much more. Enjoy free souvenir photos & ice cream for 93 cents! Come dressed as your favorite retro TV or movie personality, from Elvis to Holly Golightly! For listing of activities and times, visit www.leopoldsicecream.com  for more information.

AOA Fitness, 318 Johnny Mercer (Next to Marcos Pizza & Coach Val’s Tumblegym), Wilmington Island, email wistcoach@yahoo.com , 912-414-8503 AOA Fitness is a SouthernMamas.com advertiser

All American Gymnastics’ Fall Term starts next week, Aug. 6 2012.

Registrations are going on all week. Several classes are filling fast, so make sure you sign up early. Check out the Fall 2012 Class Schedule here.

Please tell them SouthernMamas.com sent you!

All American is NOW offering a Tiny Cheer Team for ages 4-5. Practices are on Mondays from 4-5:30.

FACEBOOK:  ”Like” All American Gymnastics on Facebook here for more updates & pictures from all of their programs.

OPEN GYM EVERY SUNDAY:
Sunday’s from 6-7:30 & Tuesday from 6:15-7:45
Cost is $10 per day
Must be 10 years old or permission from a coach if younger

All American Gymnastics, 7808 White Bluff (across from Hunter AAF) (912) 354-4343, email sam.allamericangymnastics@gmail.com, www.aagsavannah.com  On Facebook here. All American Gymnastics is a SouthernMamas.com advertiser.

Savannah’s Place for Art, Culture and Education (S.P.A.C.E.) is now registering students for its Fall visual arts classes and workshops Session Four and Five.

Day and evening sessions are offered for children, teens and adults in all skill levels.  Sessions begin September 17  – October 27 & October 19 – December 14^. Both sessions are held at the Department of Cultural Affairs S.P.A.C.E. studios, located at 9 W. Henry St.  Registration forms are available online at www.savannahga.gov/arts or by calling (912) 651-6783.

Three and six week classes are available, as well as weekend workshops.  Visual arts sessions include ceramics, metals, glass, painting and drawing.  New offerings this session include children’s cartooning workshops and a cartooning class, lapidary stone cutting for jewelry design, expanded drawing and painting classes, beginning watercolor and Raku firings.

Class details, descriptions & registration info here.

Skidaway Island State Park playground

Be sure to try to check out one of the many FREE kids’ events happening in August at Skidaway Is. State Park, 52 Diamond Causeway Savannah, 31411.

Event details here.

FREE activities kick off Wed. Aug. 1 with an 8 AM Bird Walk.

Additional highlights of the month include Coastal Reptiles program; Birds of Prey; Fire Building; Toads and Turtles; Intro-to-Geocaching; Toddler Time (which is a story time with puppets for ages 2-4); Snakes Alive!; evening Bat Chats & more.

Event details here.

Here’s a great event to help make kids’ soccer even more affordable: Savannah Celtic FC Operation Swap Gear FALL 2012.

Savannah Celtic FC hopes that all kids will have a chance to play the ‘Beautiful Game.’ Operation SWAPGEAR 2012 helps to equip kids for Fall Soccer

Event Information
Date: August 25, 2012
Time: 9 am to 12 pm

Location: SuperGoose Sports, 3700 Wallin Street, Savannah, GA 31404

You can get new gear/items one of two ways:
*You can swap item for item (old cleats for new cleats, old shorts for new shorts, etc)

*You can pay a small fee to get a swap ticket, which will allow you to get items without trading (all proceeds go to fund player scholarships for the upcoming season).

DONATIONS NEEDED!!!
You can donate items at the Savannah Celtic office between: 9 AM-3 PM at SuperGoose Sports (3700 Wallin Street, Savannah, GA 31404).
Cleats
Shinguards
Socks
Shorts
T-Shirts
Soccer Balls

Please do not drop items off outside the building, Savannah Celtic cannot ensure they will be received. Savannah Celtic offices are inside, up the stairs, first door on the left. If you need assistance carrying items, just come in and get Savannah Celtic to help, they DON’T MIND!!!

Reminder:

Registrations for Savannah Celtic’s Fall 2012 season are open.

Savannah Celtic’s MICRO PROGRAM has grown signficantly, increasing every season and this past season Savannah Celtic had 376 players under the age of 8 playing. Savannah Celtic aims to break the 450 number this fall, with dreams of 500.

The sooner Savannah Celtic can get you signed up, the more work they can do now in preparation for late August/early September.

Savannah Celtic has a system in place so you can register online. That page can be found here: http://gs-celticrec.sportsaffinity.com/reg/index.asp?sessionguid=

If you prefer to register in person, you can come by the office 9am to 3pm any day of the week. The office is at3700   Wallin Street,Savannah31404.

Or you can mail (or scan and email) a paper registration form. That form can be downloaded and printed here (the mailing address is on the form): http://www.savannahceltic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Rec-Registration.pdf

Savannah Celtic FC, http://www.savannahceltic.com/ If you have any questions, please email Savannah Celtic at celtic@savannahceltics.com. Savannah Celtic is a SouthernMamas.com advertiser.

Below is a guest post from the owner of Hubbard’s Maid Service in Savannah & the Lowcountry to our readers who have entered to win our current giveaway: a year of house cleaning from Hubbard’s Maid Service plus monthly $2o gift card to a restaurant & a bottle of merlot. To enter to win this “One Year of a Maid, a Meal & a Merlot”, click here.

A Letter from the owner of Hubbard’s Maid Service:

After reading so many entries for our contest, Hubbard’s Maid Services Year of a Maid, A Meal, and a Merlot, I am blown away! There are so many hard working (Southern) mamas out there. Their stories have touched my heart. I’ve always been fascinated by women and their amazing abilities that are inherently unique to them. The theme I read over and over again is women, who are the glue to their families ability to function like a well run business, are the heart of their homes.

Just how valuable are wives and mothers to our communities? Aristotle said that the state is a “union of families and villages”. Women are at the heart of these unions. In these hard economic times we often find ourselves in a state of fear and of worry, it is inspiring to read these entries by women who are courageous and strong and keeping it together through this recession.

I believe that it is the wives and mothers of this country who are going to…Read the entire letter here.

Savannah’s Rails to Trails  - a 6 mile biking/walking/jogging trail along the Savannah River – is eroding. The west end is so bad that it is almost impassable in some areas.

If you want this trail to be there in the future for your kids to enjoy, please like Save our Rails to Trails Savannah Facebook page here to find out how you can help. The mission of Save our Rails to Trails Savannah Facebook pg is to bring awareness to the deteriorating conditions of Rails to Trails & get it restored.

Rails to Trails is along Hwy 80 East on your way to Tybee. The main entrance is just past the Bull River Bridge coming off the islands (Whitemarsh, Talahi & Wilmington). Rails To Trails is known on maps as “McQueen’s Trail” & “McQueen’s Island”. The other entrance is immediately left upon turning into Fort Pulaski.

Volunteers working to save Rails to Trails plan to have workdays once a month. Stay updated about the clean-ups & other ways to help (fundraising, etc) by liking their page here.

You’re invited to bring your children to Richmond Hill Library for Spanish storytime! Shake your maraca, play a tambor, sing a canción, hear a new cuento, create an obra

This is a fun and engaging way to learn Spanish or support the Spanish skills you already have. Cheyenne Kozaily is a certified Spanish teacher and the only Spanish instructor at Savannah Technical College.

The storytime is for families who wish to learn something new and families who want to keep their children’s Spanish skills strong. Ages 0-6

When: Fridays @ 10:30 AM

Cheyenne will also offer Spanish children’s and adult’s classes soon Email Cheyenne for details: cheyenne.kozaily@gmail.com

More info here. Lingüa is for families who want to give their children más.

Reach for the Stars!! is a pledge-based reading incentive program, designed to benefit schools, individual classrooms, clubs, pre-schools, church groups, home school groups, charities, businesses and public libraries.

The goal of Reach for the Stars!! is for participants to read, or be read to, for 300 minutes over a two week period of time, thus developing a reading routine. Reach for the Stars!! has flexible options to meet your needs, whether you need books for the library, classroom, community projects, or perhaps cash for a specific purpose. A minimum of 100% of the pledges are returned to the participants and organization in the form of books, or a combination of books and cash with the fundraising option.

If you or your organization is interested in hearing more about this generous program, contact Melissa A. Mallory, Local Independent Educational Consultant, at 912.856.1450 or mmallory@myubah.com.

Now, here’s a reading incentive for Southernmamas subscribers.  Visit the online catalog and share on Melissa’s Facebook page which 3 titles your children would enjoy reading and receive $10 off your next order ($25 minimum order must be placed by August 10).

You’re invited to bring your children to Richmond Hill Library for Spanish storytime! Shake your maraca, play a tambor, sing a canción, hear a new cuento, create an obra

This is a fun and engaging way to learn Spanish or support the Spanish skills you already have. Cheyenne Kozaily is a certified Spanish teacher and the only Spanish instructor at Savannah Technical College.

The storytime is for families who wish to learn something new and families who want to keep their children’s Spanish skills strong. Ages 0-6

When: Fridays @ 10:30

Cheyenne will also offer Spanish children’s and adult’s classes soon  Email Cheyenne for details: cheyenne.kozaily@gmail.com

More info here.  Lingüa is for families who want to give their children más.

If you are planning to take the kids to the ballpark and cheer on the Savannah Sand Gnats & visit with Gnate the Gnat this summer, don’t procrastinate. Only a few more Sand Gnats home games this season. Check out the schedule above.

Admission: $7 General Admission Seating, $8 Reserved Seating, $10 Box Seating, $5 Children Ages 4-12/Seniors/Military General Admission Sea

Visit www.sandgnats.com or call 912.351.9150 to purchase tickets today.

Don’t forget, the Live Oak Library summer reading program offers free Sand Gnats tickets to kids who complete Level 3. More info on the summer reading program here.

Take the kids to the 1978 movie “Superman” @ Lucas Theatre, 32 Abercorn St., Savannah, 31401 on Saturday, August 4 at 7 p.m.

Superman is a superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Richard Donner directed the film, which stars Christopher Reeve as Superman, as well as Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Glenn Ford, Phyllis Thaxter, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Valerie Perrine and Ned Beatty. The film depicts the origin of Superman, including his infancy as Kal-El of Krypton and his youthful years in the rural town of Smallville. Disguised as reporter Clark Kent, he adopts a mild-mannered attitude in Metropolis and develops a romance with Lois Lane, while battling the villainous Lex Luthor.

Tickets are $8 each, $6.50 for seniors (55+). Available by calling 912-525-5050 or online here.

Superman (1978)
Saturday, August 4 at 7 p.m.
Presented by the Lucas Theatre

Superman is a superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Richard Donner directed the film, which stars Christopher Reeve as Superman, as well as Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Glenn Ford, Phyllis Thaxter, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Valerie Perrine and Ned Beatty. The film depicts the origin of Superman, including his infancy as Kal-El of Krypton and his youthful years in the rural town of Smallville. Disguised as reporter Clark Kent, he adopts a mild-mannered attitude in Metropolis and develops a romance with Lois Lane, while battling the villainous Lex Luthor.

Tickets are $8 each, $6.50 for seniors (55+). Available by calling 912-525-5050 or online here.

Love those Tax-Free Weekends that offer shoppers a weekend of relief at the cash register. Here are ours:

Georgia Back-to-School Tax Free Weekend: August 10-11, 2012.

South Carolina Back-to-School Tax Free Weekend: Aug. 3-5 2012. More info here.

In Georgia, tax-free items include:
• Clothing and footwear with a sales price of $100.00 or less per item.
• A single personal computer or personal computer-related accessory purchase with a sales price of $1,000.00 or less.
• General school supplies for classroom or related activities with a sales price of $20.00 or less per item.

The sales tax exemption does not include these: clothing accessories, jewelry, handbags, umbrellas, eyewear, watches, watchbands, cellular devices, furniture, computer-related accessories designed for recreational use, items used in a trade or business or for resale, or rentals; or sales in theme parks, entertainment complexes, public lodging establishments, restaurants, or airports.

Love those Tax-Free Weekends that offer shoppers a weekend of relief at the cash register. Here are ours:

Georgia Back-to-School Tax Free Weekend: August 10-11, 2012.

South Carolina Back-to-School Tax Free Weekend: Aug. 3-5 2012. More info here.

In Georgia, tax-free items include:
• Clothing and footwear with a sales price of $100.00 or less per item.
• A single personal computer or personal computer-related accessory purchase with a sales price of $1,000.00 or less.
• General school supplies for classroom or related activities with a sales price of $20.00 or less per item.

The sales tax exemption does not include these: clothing accessories, jewelry, handbags, umbrellas, eyewear, watches, watchbands, cellular devices, furniture, computer-related accessories designed for recreational use, items used in a trade or business or for resale, or rentals; or sales in theme parks, entertainment complexes, public lodging establishments, restaurants, or airports.

If you are planning to take the kids to the ballpark and cheer on the Savannah Sand Gnats & visit with Gnate the Gnat this summer, don’t procrastinate. Only 18 more Sand Gnats home games this season. Check out the schedule above.

Admission: $7 General Admission Seating, $8 Reserved Seating, $10 Box Seating, $5 Children Ages 4-12/Seniors/Military General Admission Sea

Visit www.sandgnats.com or call 912.351.9150 to purchase tickets today.

Don’t forget, the Live Oak Library summer reading program offers free Sand Gnats tickets to kids who complete Level 3. More info on the summer reading program here.

Dream With Me – A Family Program
This dreamy program features stories, songs, and family activities. Space is limited. Ages 3-10.
Oglethorpe Mall Library, Tuesday, August 7, 3 p.m.

Pajama-Rama
Pooler Library
Monday, August 13, 6 p.m.
Listen to some funny stories, sign silly songs and learn new fingerplays and rhymes for ages 2 to 6 years-old. Wear your pajamas, slippers and bring your favorite stuffed animal!