NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin State University's Nelson Rusche College of Business will celebrate its renovated facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, on the first floor of the R.E. McGee Building on the SFA campus.

The ceremony will recognize the new Mattress Firm Commons, the Marleta Chadwick Student Financial Advisors and the Mark T. Layton Lobby.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and the Children's Performing Arts Series will present two performances of "The Lightning Thief" on Friday, Feb. 5.

Also featured during the 2014-2015 children's series, "The Lightning Thief" was so popular that some audiences missed their chance at seeing the show last year, "so we decided to bring it back," said Diane Peterson, manager of the SFA Fine Arts Box Office and director of the series.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Art will host "Refined IX: Humor" exhibition Jan. 29 through March 12 in the Reavley Gallery of The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

"Refined" is a biennial exhibition of jewelry and metalwork hosted by the art metals program in the School of Art at SFA, according to John Handley, director of art galleries at SFA. Cash prizes totaling $1,500 are awarded at the juror's discretion.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music faculty member Charles Gavin will present a horn recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The selected compositions will feature the lyrical, singing qualities of the horn, according to Gavin, professor of horn and chamber music at SFA.

Performing with Gavin are colleagues Scott LaGraff, voice; John W. Goodall, oboe; and James Pitts, piano. LaGraff will join Gavin in a performance of a group of songs set to the poetry of Walt Whitman.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The College of Fine Arts at Stephen F. Austin State University will host L.A. Theatre Works in presenting Bram Stokers' "Dracula" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Heterodyne Duo will present a program of selected pieces that are highly varied in their compositional styles when the duo performs at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

The duo features Dr. Nathan Nabb, SFA professor of saxophone, and Dr. Brad Meyer, director of percussion studies at SFA. They will perform "West, or Evening Song in Autumn" by Masakazu Natsuda, "The Metaphysics of Notation" by Mark Applebaum and "Walk the Walk" by Michael Daugherty.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The work of artist Kent Rush will be showcased in an exhibition that displays Jan. 20 through March 10 in Griffith Gallery on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

Black and white photographs, drawings and prints are featured in "Kent Rush: Photo-Syntax," curated by Neal Cox, faculty member in the SFA School of Art, who describes Rush as his mentor.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - SFA Gardens at Stephen F. Austin State University will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14 in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches. Adam Black will present a lecture titled "Collecting Amazing New Plants for Gulf Coast Landscapes."

Holding the vintage whistle to her lips, she blows it with gusto as if revisiting the days when she dressed in her drum major uniform and directed the 1939-40 Lumberjack Band on SFA's Birdwell Field.

A born leader and performer, Arnodean "Deana" Bolton Covin's '72 drive for perfection pushed her to excel in everything she attempted.

"As a child, she entered a singing contest and won second place. That wasn't good enough," Covin's daughter, Jadean Roberts, said. "She wanted to do something she could be the best at, so she taught herself to twirl a baton."

Grant Girouard '91 learned a valuable lesson about baking from his mother, Rose, who founded The Cake Lady Bakery in Friendswood in 1981. Every confection the bakery produces must contain the precise measurements of flour, sugar, eggs, milk and butter. In addition, there is a special ingredient that his mother blended in to each item that made it stand out from other bakeries-love.