North Oak Cliff Library is keeping the artistic spirit of Day of the Dead alive with an art contest for students.

The competition is for kindergarten to 12th grade students and submissions can be in any format — paint, sculpture, crayon, diorama — that gives an interpretation to the holiday.

Dia De Los Muertos is a national holiday in Mexico valued by many for its celebration of the dead. The day is popular for its artistic renditions of skulls and skeletons.

Submissions will be accepted until 6 p.m. Oct. 9. Awards will be given out on Oct.7 along with an award for the most Oak Cliff students to participate from one school.

The competition is sponsored by the Taylor Farms, Dallas Public Library, and Friends of the North Oak Cliff Library.

If you’re particularly proud of your facial hair, make your way to the Texas Theatre on Saturday for the Lone Star Beards’ inaugural Beard and Moustache Competition. The Texas will also be screening a medical documentary called Doctored as well as a double feature of La Jetee and 12 Monkeys.

Also on Jefferson Boulevard, the Oak Cliff Cultural Center will host an opening reception this evening for “Full Circle,” an exhibit of photos taken around the world by Oak Cliff native Art Hooker.

Remember Fastball, the Austin band who had a pre-millennium hit called “The Way”? According to their bio on the Kessler Theater’s website, their last album was released eight years ago. Nonetheless, they’re playing the Kessler tonight.

Let’s get kid-friendly. The North Oak Cliff Library will be the site of a storytelling/dancing/musical program called “Mesoamerican Folktales” at noon on Saturday.

Let’s get bike-friendly. Bike Friendly Oak Cliff’s fourth annual Cyclesomatic festival kicks off Saturday, although the first Oak Cliff event is not scheduled until Oct. 7.

Keith Jackson (5) and the Adamson Leopards open district play tonight. (Photo: Andrew Buckley)

Adamson (3-0) will look to keep up its hot start to the season when it takes on Seagoville (1-2) to open District 11-4A play at 7 tonight at Pleasant Grove Stadium.

With a victory, the Leopards will have won at least four games in a season for just the fourth time since 1997. Adamson was 6-4 in 2008, 4-7 in 2009, and 4-6 in 1997.

On my quote-unquote professional Facebook page, I’m friends with Harriet Boorhem, who’s the director of Promise House — a shelter, outreach, and advocacy program for runaway and at-risk teens — on West Page Avenue.

Anyway, I’m going to take the liberty of pasting part of a post Boorhem wrote Monday (one I just saw), because it reads like fantastic news:

WOWZA!!!!! We just found out from the RGK foundation that we are getting $115,000 for our Transitional Living Programs and our Counseling Program! My development folks are running up and down halls!

Founded in 1966 by Ronya and George Kozmetsky, the Austin-based RGK Foundation bills itself a “catalyst for progressive change in humanitarian concerns” that seeks “innovative projects in the area of health, education, human services and community affairs … .”

Promise House holds regular fundraisers to stay in operation, and was on the beneficiary list for a special Sept. 21 Cirque du Soleil show. You can read all about the nonprofit here.

Kings Highway will have their quarterly resident meeting tonight at 7 p.m. on the patio of Nova Restaurant.

The line-up for the night includes info on next week’s National Night Out event as well as updates on community projects like bike lanes and the ReTrees project.

Check out more in the full agenda.

This past week two burglaries were thwarted in the Oak Cliff area thanks to dogs who were on the lookout.

At 11:30 p.m., Friday, a burglar was thwarted from breaking into a house in the 300 block of South Oak Cliff Boulevard as a barking dog scared him off after smashing a window.

Between 8:30 p.m. Sept. 22 and 11:17 a.m. Sept. 23, a burglar tried to break into a garage in the 700 block of North Clinton Avenue but was scared off by two dogs in the backyard.

The latest press release I got from the folks at the Kessler Theater said their upcoming outdoor brouhaha is called the North Oak Cliff Music Festival. “Hey,” I said, “I thought it was the Oak Cliff Music Festival. When did ‘North’ get added to the name?” In so many words, the answer to that question was “Friday.”

As in, you buy a biscuit, and they donate money to help fight breast cancer. Obviously.

Tomorrow, stop by Norma’s Cafe on the 1100 block of West Davis Street for homemade fluffy biscuits with Texas-style gravy. With your purchase, Norma’s will donate a portion of their proceeds to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

I’ve had their biscuits before, and agree with the Dallas Observer for recently naming them Best Breakfast  spot in Dallas.