• The Tower Hill Choir, directed by Fiona Smith Sutherland, will sing favorite carols of the season by Rutter, Ives, Joubert and more at 7 p.m. Dec. 11 at Tower Hill First Presbyterian Church, 255 Harding Road, Red Bank. The choir will feature soloists Jacqueline Quirk, soprano, and Douglas Clark, tenor, singing works from Handel’s Messiah and more. All are invited to attend.
• Navesink Maritime Heritage Association announced that Michelle Moon, a local museum consultant and historian, will give a festive presentation at Bahrs Landing Restaurant, Highlands, and via Zoom, at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14. Moon will discuss how Monmouth County’s farming and fishing communities supplied New York City with Christmas decorations from the end of the Civil War to the 1930s. Schooners and steamboats, loaded with evergreens, plied back and forth between Bayshore ports and New York’s markets. Participants are asked to register at NavesinkMaritime.Org/Events. Registered Zoomers will receive a meeting link by 6:30 p.m. Dec. 14.
• The Monmouth County Park System will host the Creative Arts Center Exhibit and Sale on Dec. 10 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Thompson Park Creative Arts Center, Lincroft. Celebrate the original artwork of the center’s students and instructors during this exhibit and sale. Admission and parking are free. Details: 732-842-4000.
• The Monmouth County Park System will host 19th Century Christmas Ballads on Dec. 10 from 1-3 p.m. at Historic Longstreet Farm, Longstreet Road, Holmdel. Enjoy 19th century Christmas ballads played on the piano. Free. Details: 732-842-4000.
• The Monmouth County Park System will host the Casual Birder on Dec. 20 at 9 a.m.
at Thompson Park, Lincroft, meet by Marlu Lake. Join a park system naturalist for a laid-back morning bird walk. Free. Details: 732-842-4000.
• The Monmouth County Park System will host the Sounds of Christmas on Dec. 11 from 1-3 p.m. at Historic Longstreet Farm, Longstreet Road, Holmdel. Celebrate the holidays by enjoying wistful music as Larry Moser and Mary Nagin play Christmas carols on the hammered dulcimer and fiddle. Free. Details: 732-842-4000.
• The Monmouth County Park System will host a Nature Lecture Series: Snowy Owls of Monmouth County on Dec. 15 from 7-8 p.m. at the Bayshore Waterfront Park Activity Center, Middletown. Find out where these owls come from, where they go, what they eat and why they are so mysterious. Free. Details: 732-842-4000.
• New Jersey Blood Services, a division of New York Blood Center, will conduct the following blood drives which are open to the public: Dec. 15, Most Holy Redeemer, 133 Amboy Road, Matawan, 1-7 p.m.; Dec. 19, North Centerville Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1, 372 Middle Road, Hazlet, 1-7 p.m.; Dec. 27, Lincroft Bible Church, 790 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, 1-7 p.m.; and Dec. 30, St. Dorothea Church, 240 Broad St., Eatontown, 12:30-6:30 p.m. To donate blood or for information about how to organize a blood drive, call toll free, 1-800-933-2566, or visit www.nybloodcenter.org
• The Holiday Made in Monmouth event will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 10 in the Robert J. Collins Arena on the campus of Brookdale Community College, Route 520, Lincroft.
• Dove Hospice Services of New Jersey is seeking volunteers who are willing to make a difference with individuals who are experiencing the challenge of end-of-life. Volunteers dedicate a small amount of time each month to provide companionship-friendly visits; play cards; sewing, knitting or craft projects; music enrichment; pet therapy; and office or administrative assistance. Dove Hospice Services is also seeking veterans who are interested in providing compassion, support and outreach to fellow veterans and their families. Visits can be made to individuals living in facilities or private homes. Ongoing training is provided. Volunteers must be 18 or older and a COVID vaccine is required. Details: Michelle Rutigliano, 732-405-3035.
• Women of Color discussion group is an online meeting held once a month (third Tuesday at 5:30 pm) to discuss issues, coping strategies and resources relevant to women of color. Offered by the Mental Health Association in New Jersey. Upcoming meeting dates are Dec. 20. Email [email protected] to receive a link.
• “A Gathering of Womyn of Color” is an online group that meets once a month for all LGBTQ womyn of color in the Black, Indigenous, People of Color community. The group is an open discussion of multiple topics. The group meets on the first Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. Offered by the Mental Health Association in New Jersey, the agency’s PEWS program and the Emotional Support for Families of Color Initiative. To receive a link, email [email protected].
Items for the Datebook may be sent to [email protected]. Please send items at least two weeks prior to a scheduled event.