At a cocktail reception, the Women's Center kicked off its annual "Through Women's Eyes, By Women's Hands" art exhibition and sale. The center serves more than 5,000 Triangle area women and girls each year through financial and career counseling, homebuyer education and legal information services.

Indulgences-- from a chocolate fountain to massages and facials-- were in abundance at the Ronald McDonald House fundraiser.

The annual event attracted hundreds of brides, grooms, family members and supportive friends to see the best the local wedding industry has to offer.

Held at The Franklin Hotel, the event, featuring a live and silent auction, raised money for the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County and UNC Hospitals' Beacon Program.

Images from the grand opening of the Orange County Main Library in downtown Hillsborough.

Through Dec. 20, PlayMakers' biggest production ever will take the stage. It's seven hours of theater performed by 25 actors in 150 roles. Here's a preview. (Photos by Jon Gardiner.)

The annual Holiday Auction featured music by Equinox, a silent auction, live auction and dessert auction at the Sheraton.

On Nov. 5, the UNC campus was transformed into a Food Network set as Chef Robert Irvine of "Dinner:Impossible" scrambled to make a gourmet meal for 100 students using only ingredients found in dorm rooms on campus.

More than 50,000 people flooded the streets of downtown donning costumes from the scary to the curious.

The annual fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House, held at The Carolina Club, included lots of good eats, a raffle for a trip to Aruba and a silent auction.

Proceeds from Tickled Pink at Twilight in the Pope Box -- which featured food and a silent auction -- raised money to provide direct support to cancer patients and their families through the Patient and Family Resource Center at the new N.C. Cancer Hospital.

The Greater Chapel Hill Association of Realtors (GCHAR) chose Kaye Martinez’ home on South Greensboro Street in Carrboro as the beneficiary of its third annual Fix-A-Home project. The house, built from empty army barracks from Camp Butner in 1948, had a swarm – well, 40 or so, according to ReMax’ Pat Nagle – of GCHAR members descend on it for two intense days this fall, painting, nailing, building, fixing and upgrading.

For the second consecutive year, Bynum Front Porch hosted a Casino Night at Chatham Mills to raise money for its scholarship fund. High rollers spent the evening trying their luck at blackjack, craps, roulette and poker.

On Oct. 7, Aveda Institute provided complimentary services to customers. Donations went to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

A fundraiser for the Chapel Hill Public Library Foundation, "Long Story Short" at Fearrington Village included author readings by Lee Smith, Jill McCorkle, Sarah Dessen, Michael Malone, Daniel Wallace, Haven Kimmel and Will Blythe. Performers included Midtown Dickens and the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

The N.C. Literary Festival brought 102 authors to UNC's campus to make appearances, sign books and speak about their craft.

About 25 bakers -- ages 8 to 80 -- competed for bragging rights in the "Chapel Hill's Most Luscious Cupcake" contest at the Horace Williams House, judged by novelist Michael Malone, mural artist Michael Brown and WRAL traffic reporter Brian Shrader.

CHM's Lisa Rossi stopped by Fridays on the Front Porch at the Carolina Inn, and snapped these photos.

On June 26, the N.C. Symphony made its annual stop at Southern Village. Prior to the event, Harrington Bank hosted a party at its Southern Village location.

This year marks the 21st edition of the Carolina Kids Classic golf tournament. Voice of the Tar Heels Woody Durham founded the tournament with Mike Haley in 1988 to raise funds for children across North Carolina. Since then, the tournament has raised more than $2.7 million for the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Children’s Hospital and the Childhood Trust.

Associate Editor Lisa Rossi went to a gathering at Extraordinary Ventures Friday night and snapped a few photos. It was a big night for the organization, which just received a $10,000 donation from CVS Pharmacy, money that will go towards the organization’s health and wellness programs.

Project Graduation is a celebration put on each year in the UNC Student Union by high school faculty, parents and other volunteers to give graduating seniors an all-night, substance-free party that features everything from live music to games, live entertainment, a giant raffle with door prizes and scholarships, free food from local restaurants and more. Thanks to all the volunteers that give the community this celebration as a gift, and congrats to the class of 2009!

Chapel Hill's newest resident, Jim Norton, received a warm welcome yesterday evening at a reception held in his honor at Spanky's. That's because Norton is finishing up his first week as the new executive director of the Downtown Partnership. He comes to Chapel Hill from Tulsa, Okla., where he served as president of Downtown Tulsa Unlimited.