Butler Little Theatre opens “A Year with Frog and Toad,” based on the books by Arnold Lobel, on Friday and will continue it through Dec. 7 at the theater at One Howard St.

In addition to the usual curtain times of 8:15 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, there will be two Saturday matinees at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Dec. 7.

Tickets are $10, available by calling 724-287-6781 between 7 and 9 p.m. weekdays. Also, a special children's ticket for $7.50 is available.

SAXONBURG — Sing Hosanna! will host a Hosanna! Holiday Celebration at noon Dec. 7 at Saxonburg Memorial United Presbyterian Church, lower level, on Main Street.The menu will include homemade chicken and wild rice soup, holiday breads, sliced glazed ham, baked potatoes, mixed vegetables, cream puff cake and beverages.Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Holiday music will be provided by the barbershop quartet “Just Us.” Theme baskets will be raffled.Cost is $20 for adults and $7 for children age 10 and younger. Reservations are required and due by Dec. 4. Tickets are available at May's Music Shoppe, 247 E. Jefferson St. Call 724-287-8362.

CRANBERRY TWP — St. Ferdinand Parish will host its annual New Year's Eve party beginning at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Marriott-Pittsburgh North, Route 228.Tickets are $75 through Dec. 22 and $80 from Dec. 23 to 29. Tickets must be bought in advance. Reserved seating is available. Those age 18 and older may attend.Call 724-776-9177, Ext. 313 on weekdays or 724-779-3986 on weekends.The ticket includes hors d'oeuvres, a three-course dinner, champagne or sparkling juice toast, two drink tickets, and music by a disc jockey.

PITTSBURGH — Carnegie Science Center's Miniature Railroad and Village will present Lionel Days, a monthlong festival of trains, opening Friday and continuing through Jan. 1.The Allegheny County Mortuary Building is new to the exhibit. The model shows not only the building itself, but the building in the process of the move: a team of tiny horses walk in a circle to turn a winch that pulled the morgue along steel rails.The centerpiece event of Lionel Days is Locomotion Weekend, Dec. 14 and 15. The center will host a rail yard filled with guest train displays by local hobbyists. Visitors can bring their own model trains for a free checkup by the “Loco Doctor” and enjoy themed activities.The railroad is free with general admission.Call 412-237-3400 for more information.

Comet ISON could be a spectacular object in the morning sky from the end of November through the first half of December.Currently, it has not brightened as much as the earlier predictions hyped, but if it achieves the brightness predicted, viewing of the comet will be available on clear mornings from Saturday through Dec. 14, or later if necessary, at Wagman Observatory Deer Lakes Regional Park, Allegheny County, near Russellton.ISON should become visible 30 minutes before sunrise the first few mornings and then about an hour by mid-December.Those interested can call 724-224-2510 to check on the viewing possibilities.