The following is a Q&A with Dave Hastings Ed.D, Program Coordinator for Fine Arts Cecil County Public Schools.

CECIL COUNTY — If you’re looking for a special way for you and your sweetheart to celebrate Valentine’s Day — and the month of love in general — there are plenty of options right here in Cecil County.

HAVRE DE GRACE — After the State Theater sat vacant for nearly 20 years, its current owner is breathing new life into the building.

RISING SUN — Fans of the 1988 film “Heathers” and the musical it inspired will be familiar with how the show equips dark humor to tackle even darker themes against the backdrop of fictional Westberg High School in the 1980s.

CECIL COUNTY — Two Cecil County theaters won a total of three awards in BroadwayWorld.com‘s Baltimore regional competition.

NORTH EAST — Laughter may be the best medicine, but music is certainly a close second if you ask folk roots duo Piper Hayes and Carson Ritcey-Thorpe.

HAVRE DE GRACE — From ice sculptures and snow queens to a chili cook-off and hot wing competition, the second annual Fire and Ice Festival will bring a warm touch to Havre de Grace’s winter wonderland this weekend.

CHESAPEAKE CITY — The Poplar Hall Christmas Market in Pell Gardens on Saturday marked a homecoming of sorts for organizer Greg Shelton, who was born and raised in Chesapeake City.

RISING SUN — Matilda Wormwood demonstrates that even if you’re little you can do a lot to change the course of your story in Street Lamp Community Theatre’s production of “Matilda.”

NORTH EAST — With Christmas less than a month away, the Cecil Dance Theatre is welcoming audiences to officially get into the holiday spirit with their performance of “The Nutcracker.”

ELKTON — John and Julie Cargill found their respective artistic media along different paths: one out of utility, the other on a whim.

CHESAPEAKE CITY — For Greg and Dawn Shelton, the Christmas season isn’t about fending off crowds to buy the newest, hottest gifts from a big box store; it’s meant to be spent with loved ones and giving a few handmade presents with a personal touch to the special people in your life.

NORTH EAST — The sound of ringing bells fills the air around the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” but in the bell tower itself lives a quieter soul: Quasimodo.

CECIL COUNTY — Get into the holiday spirit with these wintry events leading up to Christmas.

When Houston, Texas alt-rock quintet Blue October released their landmark album, “Foiled,” in 2006, the band was climbing the charts and entering the homes of millions with songs like “Hate Me,” and “Into the Ocean.” But behind the scenes, lead singer Justin Furstenfeld was struggling with s…

ELKTON — The Palette & The Page co-owners Patti Paulus, Janet Youse and Lynn Strano-Whitt joke that running a business with one another is like being part of a married throuple.