Reporter

Set Up Shop. The Tulsa Master Gardeners are looking for crafty, garden-related vendors for their new, Fall Garden Festival to be held Sept. 17-18, adjacent to the OSU Extension Center on 15th Street.

Sandie Bailey, veteran Tulsa Master Gardener, said that local garden clubs are also invited to showcase their programs and there will be speakers, hands-on demonstrations, food, a Kids Zone and the OSU Bug Zoo. Spaces are available on a first come basis. Contact the Tulsa Master Gardener office at 918-746-3701, for registration details. Visit tulsamastergardeners.org for applications.

Youthful Success. Edison High School 2011 graduate, Emily Hedgecock, is the 2011 recipient of the VSA Playwright Discovery Award, a prestigious honor culminating in a professional production of her original work in Washington, D.C.

The script for Handspeak was selected by a panel of professional directors, producers and playwrights and will debut at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

Hedgecock was inspired to write a play about a deaf girl and her developing friendship with her interpreter's non-hearing-impaired son from her personal experience with a friend.

Proof Required. The Oklahoma State Department of Health urges parents to get their children's birth certificates now, rather than late July and early August, which are typically the busiest months to obtain birth records for fall school preparation.

Birth records are available at three locations in the state: Oklahoma City -- Oklahoma State Department of Health, 1000 N.E. 10th St.; Tulsa -- James O. Goodwin Health Center, 5051 S. 129th E. Ave.; and McAlester -- Pittsburg County Health Department, 1400 E. College Ave.

To obtain a copy of a birth certificate, qualified applicants will need to provide the child's full name, date of birth, place of birth, parents' full names (including the maiden name of the mother), and furnish government-issued photo identification. Visit vr.health.ok.gov for applications and a list of authorized applicants.

Mysterious Funds. Tulsa Public Schools has received a $175,000 grant from an anonymous donor that will be used to fund eight service specialists/social workers in TPS high schools for the 2011-12 academic year.

The eight social workers had been previously eliminated from the budget on June 14; they were included in $4.2 million in cuts from the TPS special education budget due to the end of 2009 stimulus funding by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and reductions in state funding by the Oklahoma legislature.

By restoring these eight social worker positions, TPS can continue to help students in difficult situations such as: clothing, food and shelter assistance; suicide and abuse; loss of a loved one; or any situation that puts the stress of a crisis on the student. For additional information about Tulsa Public Schools, please visit the TPS website, tulsaschools.org.

Home Sweet Home. St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway sold out of 9,000 raffle tickets in 16 minutes. This breaks the previous year's record and is the third record breaking year in a row for the Tulsa St. Jude Dream Home campaign.

After tickets sold out, calls continued to come in to donate an additional $2,235 for children's medical research. A total record setting amount of $902,235 was raised.

Gerald Carter of Coweta, Okla. was the winner of the 3,850 square foot, four-bedroom Dream Home in the Wellstone Neighborhood of Forest Ridge. Gerald and his wife Carol say buying the ticket wasn't about winning the house; they have been donating to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital since 1984.

Beginning in March 2011, Green Country residents were able to buy $100 tickets with hope that their name would be called for one of nineteen prizes and/or the grand-prize of the Dream Home. For the second year in a row, Epic Custom Homes built the house.

Mediterranean Melodies. Tulsa Oratorio Chorus is participating in the International Festival of the Aegean July 5-19, on Syros Island, Cyclades, Greece. Dr. Tim Sharp, Artistic Director of TOC, is the Principal Guest Conductor for the Festival.

During the Festival in Syros, Tulsa Oratorio Chorus will be performing in four shows including Rachmaninoff's Vespers at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. Visit festivaloftheaegean.com for more information.