MIDDLETOWN - Members of the community will gather at Miami University Middletown today to help do their part in the struggle against AIDS.

        The free event, from 2-4 p.m. in the Dave Finkelman Auditorium, is held in connection with World AIDS Day, which was Friday. It is open to the public.

        Plans call for performances from high school choirs, as well as dances, skits and speakers. A special art exhibit is in the auditorium lobby. Artists from Middletown High School and St. Rita School for the Deaf will display works, as will professional artist Brian Joyner.

        A reception will follow.

        Other groups helping with the program include: Miami University Middletown's FACES (Faces and Cultures of Every Student), End Zone Club of Middletown, Middletown Fire Department and various drug companies.

        The Middletown campus is at 4200 E. University Blvd. Information: 727-3379.

        HAMILTON — Barry Goldwater was a man who helped change conservative politics.

        And now a Hamilton native, William Rentschler, has written Goldwater: A Tribute to a Twentieth-Century Political Icon.

        Mr. Rentschler, a Lake Forest, Ill., resident who knew Mr. Goldwater for 30 years, has written what he calls a memoir about the 1964 presidential candidate.

        He describes Mr. Goldwater as “the resolute shaper of America's destiny, values and reigning philosophy during a span of these past five decades.”

        Mr. Rentschler will host a reception and sign the book from 3:30-5 p.m. Sunday at the Lane Public Library, 300 N. Third St.

        He is a freelance writer and the former editor-publisher of 11 News/Voice community newspapers on Chicago's North Shore and papers in San Francisco and other communities.

        While you're visiting the library, stick around for the Lane Library German Village Christmas Walk at 1:30 p.m., with music by the High Wired String Trio in the South Reading Room.

        LEBANON — The Warren County Historical Society will hold its annual Christmas banquet at the museum Dec. 13.

        A cash bar will open at 6 p.m., and dinner, catered by Best Cafe, will follow at 7 p.m.

        The cost is $18 per person, including tip. Make reservations by Dec. 10. Instead of a gift exchange, visitors may give a voluntary donation. The money will be forwarded to Mary Haven children's home.

        To make reservations, members and friends may send checks to the Warren County Historical Society, 105 S. Broadway, Lebanon, OH 45036.

        The museum will be closed Dec. 24-25 and Dec. 31-Jan. 2.

        LEBANON — “Stories of Christmas” will be performed at 3 p.m. Dec. 10 by the Lebanon Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

        The program will include familiar Christmas carols, and parts of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.

        The full-orchestra concert will be held in the Lebanon High School auditorium, Ohio 48 North at Miller Road, near Lebanon.

        Single tickets cost $10 each. Information: 932-7376.

       Randy McNutt's column runs on Saturday. He may be reached at 860-7118 or at The Cincinnati Enquirer, 4820 Business Center Way, Cincinnati 45246.

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