Dec. 8 Short & Sweet
About time to turn on the lights …
Holiday cabaret: Need a holiday lift? Head to the Ice House Theatre tonight or tomorrow afternoon for the “Second Annual Hope for the Holidays” directed by Charlotte Garcia Da Rosa. This holiday cabaret will once again be filled with songs of hope, love, inspiration, and joy with holiday songs and cheer, and Broadway show tunes. Only performances left are 7:30 p.m. tonight and 4 p.m. matinee Sunday. Tickets are $13. Reserve a seat at www.visaliaplayers.org.
Chamber music: The Tulare-Kings Hispanic Chamber of Commerce held its annual dinner and awards banquet, the Silvery Anniversary Business Awards and Installation of Officers Dinner at the Visalia Convention Center last week, when the chamber honored a number of individuals and businesses. First off, congratulations to Visalia educator Dr. Robert Aguilar for his reception of the Man of the Year honors; and to Hanford banker and Kaweah Delta Health Care District Community Relations co-chair Prabhjot “Joti” Kaur as Woman of the Year. Kaweah Delta had more representation: director of marketing Dru Quesnoy received the President’s Award. Other honorees included: Visalia Rawhide as medium Business of the Year; The Source, LGBT+ Center as Non-Profit of the Year; and Robert Rueda of Lindsay as Young Professional of the Year. Congratulations to the chamber and its worthy honorees.
Moving presentation: Announced this week is a one-woman show worth installing on calendars: Some years ago, Oscar Speace of Fresno, and Valley Public Television, wrote a play, “Janka,” in which the only character, Janka Festinger, a Romanian Jew, recounts her life story. She survived the Holocaust, married an American soldier and eventually immigrated to the United States, where she raised her family in New Jersey. Oscar is Janka’s son, and Oscar’s wife, Janice Noga, portrays his mother in this one-woman performance. “Janka” comes to the Ice House Theatre January 11–13 for four performances. It is at least the second time in Visalia, as Noga performed it at 210 a couple years ago. Oscar and Janice have brought “Janka” all over the world, including to New York’s off-Broadway, Europe and Australia. Anyone who witnesses this powerful story of love, survival and the human spirit never forgets it.
All-American: College of the Sequoias cross-country teams recently ran in the California state championship meet, and Ismael Ramirez earned the first cross country All-American honor at College of Sequoias since his coach, David Sanchez, did it in 2009. Ramirez covered the four-mile course at Fresno’s Woodward Park in 20 minutes, 39.3 seconds, to finish 8th in the California Community College Athletic Association state finals. The top 14 finishers were honored as All-Americans. A freshman, Ramirez led the Giants team to a 10th place finish, also their best since 2009. It was the first season coaching at COS for Sanchez, who did a marvelous job with both men’s and women’s teams. Way to run, Giants.
Milestones and records: BTW, former COS athletic director Al Branco must have an enormous tickler file or a Giant memory, because he recently reminded that Mr. Visalia, Stan Simpson, will celebrate a birthday on Dec. 17. We won’t say which, but Stan graduated from high school 60 years ago, so do the math. We can report this: Stan Simpson will be the inaugural honoree of “The Rotary Club of Visalia Roasts … Stan Simpson” on Feb. 23. Get tickets now at www.visaliarotaryclub.com.
Historical connection: The next 210 Connect forum, 7 p.m. Monday, at 210 W. Center Ave., will bring back Terry Ommen for a program on local history. This year, Terry’s talk will be “Larger Than Life Characters of Old Visalia.” It will include four of early Visalia’s big names: a Wild West star, the Father of Visalia, the wealthiest man in Tulare County, and a newspaperman and community leader considered the Father of Sequoia National Park. It’s free, of course, but bring some cash, because there will be a fundraiser. 210 has 20 bottles of wine it will auction. Get there early.
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Arts for the holidays: Arts Visalia’s annual Holiday Show & Sale goes for another week. This is a chance to get truly unique gifts and support local artists. Arts Visalia gallery, at 214 E. Oak Ave., is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from noon to 5:30 p.m. Stop by and bring some art home for Christmas. Information: www.artsvisalia.org or 739–0905. Keep in mind Arts Visalia’s next fundraiser, “Pizza with a Purpose,” Feb. 5 with partner Pieology. More later.
Into the cloud: Looking for Short&Sweet online? Go to the S&S blog at this URL: https://medium.com/@prhurley2012. The archive is building. Thanks for reading online.
Ring Dem Bells: Know anyone celebrating milestone wedding anniversaries? Pass on the information to Short & Sweet.
Sounds of success: It was reported last time that the Turkey Transit Singers had completed their annual ride to raise money for the Thanksgiving dinner distributed by Visalia Emergency Aid Council to the needy. The totals are in, and it can now be reported that the Singers raised a little more than $15,000 in this year’s drive. Congratulations to them and to Visalia Emergency Aid on providing holiday dinners for about 1,200 families this Thanksgiving. Now on to Christmas …
Change of scenery: Speaking of Visalia Emergency Aid, its executive director, Liz Wynn, is leaving that post to lead the Kaweah Delta Health Care District Foundation. Great news for KDDH, but huge shoes to fill for VEAC. Congratulations, Liz.
Help! Have an item for Short & Sweet? Email me at prhurley2012@gmail.com, or call me at 636–1719.
Holiday stuffing: The Stocking Lady, aka Kathleen Dowling of Visalia is continuing her quest of filling 1,500 Christmas stockings for needy kids distributed by Visalia Emergency Aid. The Stocking Lady has had lots of partners, including ImagineU Children’s Museum, Crystal Barn, Lifestyle Center, Sycamore Valley Charter School, put out boxes. But she is still way short of the goal and needs a big push. The VEAC Thrift Store is setting aside stockings. Elf Joan Kingsford is collecting stuff. The Democratic Club has made a donation. Crystal Barn will offer a discount in return for a donation. Want to help? Call the Stocking Lady Hotline: 731–7823. Those hwo want to donate, the campaign is a 501(c)3, so donations are tax deductible. Donations can also be dropped off at Visalia Emergency Aid. Joy Marshall has been coordinating a drive among the Visalia Friends Meeting. Also, businesses who want to help by displaying a Stocking Lady collection box, call the hotline and Kathleen will deliver one. The Stocking Lady wants her supporters to know she appreciates their support and that the children are extremely grateful. So stuff a stocking for Christmas.
Still wild, still red, white & blue: Gathering for Veterans’ Day weekend for about five days were Steve Dwelle and his pals in the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds precision flying team at Steve’s Pebble Beach home. [Steve lives in Visalia most of the time]. They spent some time on the golf course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and the rest of the time hung out and recalled their days flying together, including as pilots serving in Vietnam. One of the Thunderbirds, Bill Elander, was a Vietnam POW, and he talks about his experiences at the Hanoi Hilton. Steve said he and his T-bird mates remain close, as expected from a group of flyers who would spend 250 days a year on the road. Joining Steve and his group was Steve’s schoolmate from Visalia, Stanley Simpson. By all accounts it was a poignant assembly and apropos of Veterans Day, was
Sweet!
