In brief: Salvation Army seeks holiday help; Crosby film festival set

The Salvation Army of Spokane seeks the community’s help this holiday season to help create a memorable Christmas for area residents in need, the Salvation Army of Spokane said in a news release.

There are three ways businesses, organizations, churches and families can help.

The Adopt-a-family program lets sponsors assist any of the 120 families registered in the program. Sponsors can choose the size of the family they can help.

Each Adopt-a-family sponsor will receive information about a family and will purchase gifts for its members. The sponsor also will provide a gift card for a Christmas Day meal.

Sponsors can participate in a Giving Tree program. Giving Trees tagged with Christmas gift ideas will be set up Friday through Dec. 25 at the J.C. Penney stores in NorthTown, 4750 N. Division St., and Spokane Valley Mall, 14730 E. Indiana Ave. Volunteers also can help by hanging gift tags on the trees.

The Salvation Army will also accept monetary gifts. Checks or money orders can be made out to The Salvation Army of Spokane (Memo line: Adopt-A-Family), or donors can contact Teresa White, financial controller, at (509) 435-9021 to make a secure credit card donation.

To participate, sign up online at goo.gl/forms/ FAJXR89N4j4TM5zR2.

For more information, call (509) 590-3307.

Bing Crosby film festival planned

The 14th annual Bing Crosby Holiday Film Festival will be Dec. 14 featuring some of the best loved films of Spokane’s own Bing Crosby, a photo gallery, film clips of Crosby entertaining the troops during World War II, and a special live musical performance by Crosby’s nephew and a Spokane band featuring music from the Crosby era.

The nonprofit Bing Crosby Advocates presents the festival at the Bing Crosby Theater in downtown Spokane each December as part of the community’s celebration of the holiday season. It was at this theater, then known as the Clemmer, that a young Crosby began his career by performing skits in between the silent films shown there. The theater was renamed for him in 2006.

The film times and live music performance are: 10:30 a.m., “White Christmas”; 1 p.m., “Going My Way”; 3:30 p.m., “Waikiki Wedding”; 5:30 p.m., live music by Howard Crosby and the Zonky Jazz Band; and 7:30 p.m., “White Christmas.” Doors open at 9:30 a.m.

Tickets for the festival are $10 and are good for the entire day’s events.

Tickets will be available only at the door, and purchasable only with checks or cash. Children age 12 and younger will be admitted free.

More information is available at BingCrosbyAdvocates.org.