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Editor’s note: For a roundup of Fourth of July events and where to view fireworks Thursday in DeKalb County, visit www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle.
This weekend
1. Learn about the history of barbed wire in DeKalb: Built by Barbed Wire is a free program that kicks off at 3 p.m. Saturday at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St., featuring Glidden Homestead executive director Jessi Haish LaRue. LaRue will provide remarks on the history of the invention in DeKalb. Library executive director Emily Faulkner will provide a behind-the-scenes tour of the portion of the library building that was donated by inventor Jacob Haish. The event is held to help mark the 150th anniversary of Joseph F. Glidden’s barbed wire patent. For more information, contact LaRue at jessi@gliddenhomestead.org or 815-756-7904.
2. Get up close and personal with communal gardening in Sycamore: DeKalb County Community Gardens is inviting the public to help exercise their green thumbs from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the DCCG’s and Northwestern Medicine community garden, 2475 Bethan Road, Sycamore. Volunteers are invited to help water plants, seed and plant vegetables, harvest for the Community Gardens’ regular food distributions across the neighborhood, and help weed the garden beds. The event is open to all ages, registration is not required, and those who attend are asked to wear comfortable clothing that can get dirty, and close-toed shoes. For more information, contact Chelsea at chelsear@dkpl.org or call (815)-756-9568 ext. 1700 or visit www.facebook.com/events.
This month
3. Enjoy an outdoor show in Sycamore: The latest in the Sycamore Park District’s Summer Concert Series will feature The Grady Experience from 7 to 8:30 p.m. July 11 at the GoodTymes Shelter, Sports Complex, 435 Airport Road, Sycamore. Participants are encouraged to bring seating or blanket. Food from the grill, including burgers, hot dogs and brats, as well as snacks, beer, and wine are available for purchase. For more information, visit sycparks.org.
4. Check out a performance of “Cabaret” in DeKalb: Curtain call for Stage Coach Players’ latest musical begins at 7:30 p.m. July 11 at the theater, 126 S. Fifth St., DeKalb. Performances of “Cabaret” will be held through July 13, and July 18 through July 20. There also will be matinee performances at 2 p.m. July 14 and 21. “Cabaret” tells the story of Clifford Bradshaw, an American writer who arrives in Berlin to work on a new novel. Bradshaw receives black market work from Ernst Ludwig, a German smuggler, and stays at a boarding house run by Fraulein Schneider. He visits the Kit Kat Club and meets and befriends Sally Bowles, an English cabaret chanteuse. Bowles visits Bradshaw the next day after being fired and convinces him to let her live in his room. Schneider also begins a romance with Herr Schultz, an elderly Jewish fruit shop owner. The show contains mature content. Tickets cost $23 for seniors and children ages 12 and younger and $25 for everyone else. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit stagecoachplayers.com.
This summer
5. Prepare for an evening of laughs in Sandwich: Comedian Jeff Allen will perform a comedy show at 6 p.m. Aug. 4 at the Sandwich Opera House, 140 E. Railroad St., Sandwich. He’s on his “Are We There Yet Tour?” tour, which includes topics from his book of the same name, also encompassing recovery. For more information, visit sandwichoperahouse.org.
Would you like your event featured in this weekly feature? The first step is submitting your events to the Daily Chronicle’s community calendar at https://www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle/local-events/ where they are then considered for inclusion in this feature. Submissions to the community calendar are also printed in the Thursday edition of the Daily Chronicle.