5 Things: Blood, Baseball, History, Culture and The King

'Rock and Roll Up Your Sleeve Blood Drive'

From noon to 6 p.m. Friday, Valley West Mall hosts the 23rd annual  “Rock and Roll Up Your Sleeve Blood Drive” in the lower level of the mall, located at 1551 Valley West Drive.

Sponsored by LifeServe Blood Center, 95 KGGO and 98.3 WOW, the clinic kicks off National Blood Donor Month and serves as a reminder of the importance of donating blood.  

Everyone who registers to donate at this blood drive will receive a free commemorative T-shirt and double points to spend at the Online Store. No appointment is necessary.

Baseball is Just Around the Corner

One of the cruelties of the balmy January weather we’ve been having is that though it feels like baseball season, it isn’t. It is, however, time to start talking about baseball at a team meeting for the Holiday Park Baseball Club at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the West Des Moines Public Library’s second-floor classroom. The library is located at 4000 Jordan Creek Pkwy.

Jordan House Hold Civil War Tea

A Civil War Tea is held at Historic Jordan House, 2001 Fuller Road, Sundays from 1:30-3 p.m. The Jordan House is a Victorian mansion and is the previous home of Valley Junction founder James Jordan. The house was a part of the Underground Railroad and is now a museum for the city.

Learn a Native Language of India

From 2-4:30 p.m. Sunday, the West Des Moines Public Library offers a Telugu Badi program in the second-floor classroom teaching children to learn Telugu, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi. For more information on this program, call the library at 222-3400.

The King May Be Dead But It’s Still His Birthday

For die-hard Elvis fans, it’s always a blue Christmas without him. To fill that empty spot, The Longest Yard, 122 Fifth St., is holding a birthday for The King from 7-9 p.m. Sunday.