Delivered as part of the Davenport Public Library's virtual 3rd Thursday at Hoover's Presidential Library & Museum programming, the museum's archivist Craig Wright will present the December 17 Zoom webinar The 1929 Christmas Eve White House Fire, telling of the four-alarm emergency that led to dozens of engines and ladder companies working to extinguish the inferno.

Lars Rehnberg, vice-president for Davenport's seasonal tavern Miracle at the Freight House, discussed the pop-up venue's origins, operations, and challenges in this pandemic year, along with the yuletide décor that might make Disneyland only the second-happiest place on Earth. We spoke on Wednesday, December 2.

A timeless holiday classic is set to get an immersive and unforgettable makeover at Davenport's Outing Club from December 4 through 13, with the professional talents of Ballet Quad Cities delivering their brand-new yuletide offering The Nutcracker in a Round a series of holiday dance vignettes that employ Tchaikovsky's legendary The Nutcracker as inspiration, but pay tribute to that ballet in never-before seen, or heard, ways.

History and Christmas buffs will be treated to a ho-ho-whole lot of entertaining factoids in a new virtual presentation on December 1, with the Davenport Public Library (in conjunction with the German American Heritage Center) hosting an online, holiday-themed treasure trove of world history in From Turkey to Germany and Beyond: The Legend & Celebrations of St. Nicholas Day.

The first in a series of webinars devoted to exploring the benefits of nature in our collective health and well-being, the virtual presentation Nature as a Source of Healing will be co-presented by the Niabi Zoo and the University of Illinois Extension on November 19, the special hour-long program delivered by physician and noted author Suzanne Bartlett Hackenmiller.

Hosted by Eastern Iowa Community Colleges and Muscatine's Stanley Center for Peace & Security, the virtual discussion Empathy in Times of Crisis will gather community members for a conversation on some of the most pressing social issues of our times, with the 90-minute presentation boasting insight and opinion from author Imbolo Mbue, whose novel Behold the Dreamers garnered her the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Blue Metropolis Words to Change Award.

Delivered as part of the Davenport Public Library's virtual 3rd Thursday at Hoover's Presidential Library & Museum programming, noted area historian Sarah Uthoff will present the November 19 Zoom webinar Laura Ingalls Wilder, sharing insights and imaginings on the beloved pioneer and author best-known for her popular series of Little House on the Prairie children's books.

A special Zoom party hosted by the Davenport Public Library, the Figge Art Museum, and special guest “JAPANNA” Anna Ito, the November 211 Virtual Teen Anime Day will allow ages 11 to 19 to celebrate their love of the art through a live party featuring a trivia contest with prizes, greeting-card-making activities on Japanese calligraphy and creative-Zen meditation, group drawing activities, demonstrations, and much more.

The history behind one of the most famous pieces of European architecture in the final months of World War II will be explored in an online event on November 15, with Davenport's German American Heritage Center and Dr. Wolf Koch presenting Remagen Bridge: A Virtual Lecture, a program tracing the bridge's legacy from its creation to the epic 1945 battle that nearly destroyed it.

Hosted by the NormaLeah Ovarian Cancer Initiative in Rock Island, a celebration of music, art, and community awareness goes virtual in its fourth year with the girlpARTs Gala 2000, an evening filled with music, dance, comedy, fantastic auction items, artistic bodices, and dinner options courtesy of Johnny's Italian Steakhouse.

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