Orchestra Miami will present a series of free family concerts, designed to introduce young children to classical music. At 7 p.m. Friday , the orchestra will perform "Tough Turkey in the Big City: A Thanksgiving Odyssey," by Bruce Adolphe and Louise Gikow at Miami Shores Presbyterian Church at 602 NE 96th St.

At 1:30 p.m. Saturday the orchestra will bring the concert to the North Dade Regional Library at 2455 NW 183rd St. in Miami Gardens.

The story behind the music is what happens when a turkey from the sticks meets a Park Avenue pigeon? Tough Turkey... follows the comic blunders of Tom Turkey, who leaves the farm to try his luck in the big city. The story is told to the audience by a narrator and illustrates a close call with a menacing chef, a tussle at the "Turkey Club," a brief romance with a pigeon, and a happy mix up at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Tom is portrayed by the bass trombone and his barnyard friends by the violin and clarinet.

The two concerts are sponsored in part by the Miami-Dade Public Library System. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, children are asked to bring canned goods to be donated to local food banks.

Handbell choir

Some sacred music seems all the more beautiful when the choir is accompanied by a handbell choir, and on Saturday (Nov. 17) churches with handbell choirs and individual ringers are invited to a workshop to be from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, 254 Curtiss Pkwy. in Miami Springs.

The workshop is sponsored by the Miami Chapter of the Amrican Guild of Organists and will be conducted by Maryann Tobin.

A free lunch will be provided and following the workshop, the ringers will perform a short concert.

For more details call the church before 1 p.m. weekdays at 305-888-2871.

‘TED’-style lectures

Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz will continue the monthly "TED"-style lecture series at 10 a.m. Sunday in the board room of Temple Israel of Greater Miami 137 NE 19th St. The talk is entitled, "Blessings and Prayers That Work in Real Time."

Just in case you don’t know, the rabbi said TED is the acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design, an online collection of thought- and soul-provoking talks on a wide range of topics, given by some of the world’s most innovative thinkers, Chefitz is a TED fan and in his talks, which he calls "Moshe Talks," he has put a Jewish spin on the concept with a four-part series of TED-style discourses he said he wished he’d heard to enhance his own Jewish education.

"I regret I never heard these talks," said Chefitz, a bestselling author and scholar-in-residence at Temple Israel. "But now, 40 years later, I know how to give them."

The series which began Oct. 14, will run through January. The event is open to the community and is free. For more information call the temple at 305-573-5900 or email info@templeisrael.net.

‘Five Keys to Health’

The public is invited to a free health lecture presented by Dr. Matthew Westrich, at 7 p.m. today in the fellowship hall at Silver Palm United Methodist Church, 15855 SW 248th St. Westrich will speak on the topic, "Five Keys to Health." Attendees are asked to bring a can of food in support of the church’s Family Food Ministry, which provides food weekly on Fridays to the families of children attending Redland Elementary and Middle Schools.

Call Margaret Cross at 305-255-5894 for more information.