Children ages 5 to 12 will be able to see their drawings come to life today through animations created by the wizardry of digital photography and computers.

The Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts is hosting children's animation workshops from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2-5 p.m. today. The children will create flipbooks from pictures they draw of everything from snakes to spaceships to likenesses of their brothers and sisters.

"The children create flipbooks, which are digitally photographed and transformed to short animations via a computer,'' said Kelly O'Donnell, assistant director of Weston Art Gallery. "It seems that the snakes was a general theme throughout the flipbook drawings. The fun part is when the children get a chance to see their drawings on a screen with music.''

O'Donnell said two groups of 15 children each will participate in the workshops. The children are part of the Taft Families Creates & Project Connect, an after-school program designed to assist inner-city kids.

The morning workshop will include children from different schools. The afternoon workshops are for students from Porter Hays school in the West End.

Workshops will be conducted by Russ Johnson, professor of theater arts at Wright State University in Dayton.

Golf pro wins award

Golf pro Robert Higby has won a rookie of the year award. Not as a player, but as head golf professional at Neumann Golf Course.

"It was a big shock to me,'' said the 29-year-old Delhi Township man. "I really like being in this end of golfing. My play is pretty good, ranging from high 60s to high 70s, depending on what day it is and the weather.'' Higby, a 1998 University of Cincinnati graduate with a degree in business administration, previously managed the Dunham and Woodland Golf courses.

Billy Casper Golf of Vienna, Va., the nation's sixth-largest golf course management company, made the selection. The company started managing the Cincinnati Recreation Commission courses in January 2003.

The recreation commission received the Community Service Award.

Be a clown

The Funny Companie Clowns, an auxiliary that raises money for Children's Hospital Medical, are looking for people who want to have fun and help with fund raising.

Free classes start Feb. 3 at the hospital and run from 7:30-9 p.m.

For information, call 887-9968 or 232-5033.

Summit fund-raiser

Volunteers working on the Summit Country Day campaign for capital improvements and endowment plan to announce at an event from 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday that the effort has reached 70 percent of its goal.

The campaign committee is expected to report that $14.1 million of the $20 million has been raised.

Group assists Over-the-Rhine

Their ministry takes them into the recesses of poverty in Over-the-Rhine on a mission to try to help the less fortunate.

There are 10 of them, members of the St. Clare Church Drop-Inn Center ministry in College Hill.

Throughout the year, they are busy collecting food and clothing for the center. Bill Schwemberger, Gene Ochs, Bill Ehlers, Jack and Mary Dyar rotate in picking up used clothing from the Lord's Bounty, College Hill, and Yesterday's Memories, Groesbeck, and deliver them to the center.

"The ministry was started about 25 years ago when our associate pastor Jim Willig told us about the center,'' said Shirley Halloran, a member of the ministry committee. "We had never heard of the Drop-Inn Center.''

Father Willig died three years ago of renal cancer.

The biggest event of the year is giving a Christmas party at the center.

"On Dec 22, about 50 people, including committee members and other members of the parish came together to serve about 300 people for the party at the center,'' Halloran said. "Activities included a dinner, a Santa Claus, Christmas caroling and bingo. Each person received a gift.''

The group also collects money to help in the center's drug-addiction program.