Free Trees! As part of the Trees for America Campaign, the National Arbor Day Foundation will give five free Crapemyrtle trees to each person from Louisiana who joins the foundation during the month of January. The 6-12-inch trees will be shipped at the right time for planting (between Feb. 1-April 30) and are guaranteed to grow or they will be replaced free of charge. To join, send a $10 membership contribution by Jan. 31 to Five Crapemyrtles, National Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Ave., Nebraska City, NE 68410. For more information, call (888) 448-7337.

Throughout the month of January, select handbags are 50 percent off at DL Creations Accessory Boutique (4955 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie, 888-9461) where there will be a $9.95 shoe sale Thursday and Friday, Jan. 18 and 19.

Tulane University invites the community to celebrate the grand opening of the new Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life (LBC) — which includes a new Tulane bookstore, a revamped food court and additional retail outlets and services — and enjoy a weeklong series of events with food samplings, artist demonstrations and appearances by the Wild Tchoupitoulas Mardi Gras Indians. All this week there will be daily musical performances by the Radiators, Soul Rebels, Irvin Mayfield and others at the LBC on McAlister Drive. The grand opening coincides with Martin Luther King Week for Peace and the first week of classes for Tulane's 2007 spring semester. For more information, call 865-5196.