5 Things You Need To Know Today: December 30

1. Make your mortgage payment today and you can count the interest payment in your 2011 tax deductions.

2. If you haven't already done it, make your charitable donation today for a deduction on your 2011 taxes. See Patch's column for ideas on local charities.

3. The stage musical version of the television sitcom Happy Days opens at the Manatee Players on January 12 and plays through January 29. Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.  Tickets are $25 for adults and $11 for students. Reserve tickets by calling 941-748-5875 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and one hour before curtain on performance days or on the Manatee Players’ website. All performances are at 102 Old Main Street.

4.The City Council will meet Jan. 4 at 8:30 a.m. in a work session. The meeting will take place in the auditorium conference room.

5. This weekend is time to celebrate the New Year, but save some energy for the following Saturday when Mermaids will arrive at the South Florida Museum. “Mermaids at the Museum” Family Night is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.  Jan. 7 at the Museum, 201 10^th Street West. The family-friendly film “Aquamarine” will be shown in the Museum’s Bishop Planetarium Theater at 4:15 p.m. Afterwards meet a real mermaid. Children can create mermaid landscapes with tinfoil, shells and watercolors and participate in a number of other crafts and activities in the planetarium lobby from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.