5 Things You Need To Know Today: March 16

1. Congratulations to the Jazz Ensemble and director Gary Piazza for earning gold at the Central District MAJE Festival! The MHS Jazz Ensemble will perform at the MAJE State Festival on Saturday, March 24, at Framingham High School. Lucas Allen, guitar; Colin Davis, piano; and Nick Mosca, alto saxophone all received an Outstanding Musicianship Award at the district MAJE Festival. More congratulations is in order for the Whitcomb Middle School Jazz Ensemble and director Simon Harding for earning an Outstanding Performance rating at the Clark Terry Jazz Festival. A total of 18 middle school groups from Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts participated in the festival at the University of New Hampshire on Saturday, March 10. The festival was very competitive and only two schools received the Outstanding Performance rating, said a release from the District. 

2. The Friends of the will hold the last showing of their “2012 Friends Classic Film Series” Saturday, March 31 at 2 p.m. in the Library's Bigelow Auditorium, with the film “The African Queen” starring Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn and Robert Morley and directed by John Huston.

3. The Coffee Loft will offer open studios and featured artists this weekend who will be showcasing pastel paintings, photography, textiles, and sculpture. The artists’ reception, will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, with gallery hours Saturday from noon to 9 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. There will Coffee Loft will also present the music of Andy O'Brien from 7 to 9 p.m., Friday, and John Fuzek with Ed McGuirl from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday. 

4. A St. Patricks Day skating party for cancer research will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday, March 17, at the Roller Kingdom in Hudson. Children: $10 and Adults: $15 (price includes admission and rentals). There will be prizes so bring some extra cash to buy some raffle tickets. All proceeds will benefit Team Maureen and the PMC event.

5. Do you represent or own a Marlborough business? If so, look it up on Marlborough Patch and claim the listing. It's a great way to let everyone know what you have going on! Also, if you know of a great local business that isn't yet in our directory, email josh.gray@patch.com with the name of the business and I'll get it in the works. Also, you can check out this great one minute video on the claiming process. 

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