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For a typical society charity gala, wealthy sponsors donate money or goods, people buy expensive tickets to attend and maybe also spring for auction items, then at the end of the day the costs of feeding and entertaining everyone are deducted and what’s left over goes to the feted organization. The Menlo Charity Horse Show, which begins its 45th annual event on Monday, is in its own world, in terms of the amount of money needed to make it happen. A horse capable of being trained for the sort of events that happen at this show — hunter competitions, jumping contests and more — might cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. And that doesn’t count the expenses for boarding the horses, paying the riders and transporting a horse, say from Kentucky to California.

Ragazzi Boys Chorus: Holiday show “A Cheerful Noise” features works by Mozart, Purcell, Handel and Halley; 5 p.m, Dec, 7; First Congregational Church, ballet cookie cutter / ballet shoe cookie cutter / slippers cookie cutter Palo Alto; 4 p.m, Dec, 8; Old First Church, San Francisco; 4 p.m, Dec, 15; Cunningham Memorial Chapel, Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont; $10-$30; at www.ragazzi.org, Chanticleer: The acclaimed male vocal group’s annual holiday show, “A Chanticleer Christmas,” is a blend of traditional carols, Renaissance songs, Rachmaninoff, a world premiere work by composer Steven Sametz, a medley of African-American spirituals, and more; performances Dec, 11-23 at various Bay Area venues; $28-$65; www.chanticleer.org..

Reeder received special congratulations from husband Dave Reeder and her granddaughter Sarah Delfava. Firsttime Follies performer Kathryn Han received a bouquet from her daughters. Emcee John Sylvester said that over the 20 years, Follies has raised $350,000 for the theater company. The auction raised more than $75,000 for the Charlotte de Gery Endowment Fund, which is named in honor of the school’s founder. Parents, faculty and friends had a wine connoisseur’s experience at the Oct. 6 benefit at Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills. Thierry Nivaggioli, who has reprised his role for six years, heard rave reviews on the new venue and the delicious dinner served by Chef Steve Chan.

Sure, you could watch the Patriots and Rams kick off at home, Or you could head for one of these 19 Bay Area Super Bowl parties — at Gott’s, Plank, Flights and more — where the screens are huge, the brewskis cold and the chicken wings hotter than hot, The S.F, Independent Film Fest is back, with scores of shorts and feature films you just won’t see anywhere else, from Sam Elliott trying to kill Bigfoot to ballet cookie cutter / ballet shoe cookie cutter / slippers cookie cutter a documentary about a tumultuous time in the Napa wine region, We have deets and picks for the festival here, Meanwhile, Netflix is dropping a buzz-generating dark comedy/thriller about snooty art dealers unleashing a wave of terror, Your weekend movie options are here..

Although both the British governess and the members of the Thai royal family find each other’s ways strange, it’s the Asian characters that are portrayed as relatively backward and the cross-cultural exchange seems mostly one-sided: the King and his family learn more from Anna than she does from them. At the same time, the verbal sparring and budding friendship between Anna and the King is delightful, as are the songs by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/scripter Oscar Hammerstein II. It’s a charming, funny show that never seems at all mean-spirited. As the King says several times in the show in his slightly broken English, “Is a puzzlement.”.