September 6, 2007

NEIGHBORHOOD SCAN

CAL STATE FULLERTON

The university launches its yearlong Golden Anniversary blowout the weekend of Sept. 14 with a picnic, concert, alumni homecoming, mock elephant races and a tribute to Hispanics services.

On Sept. 14, the show “From Hula Hoops to iPods: A Celebration of 50 Years of Popular Music” will highlight five decades of melodies. The show is headlined by Cal State Fullerton alumni and international opera star, Rod Gilfry, and will feature CSF’s musical theatre students, The Preeminents.

Tickets are $20 per set or $200 for a table of 10. Bring your own picnic, organize a potluck or arrange a catered dinner through the university at 657-278-4124.

An open house and alumni homecoming will be held Sept. 15.

Guests are invited to sing “Happy Birthday” and enjoy a birthday cake from 10 a.m. to noon followed by mock elephant races featuring electronic and human-powered elephants from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The original Elephant Racing Club will recount the first intercollegiate elephant race in history.

And on Sept. 16, “Empowering the Minds,” a tribute to CSF’s Hispanic Serving Institution, will feature a free 11:30 a.m. concert by the Mariachi Divas in Downtown Santa Ana at Fourth and Main streets.

For more information, visit www.fullerton.edu.

CHAPMAN AVENUE

Fullerton College has welcomed 10 new full-time faculty members for the academic year.

The newly hired instructors were introduced through a series of workshops hosted by Brandon Floerke and Staff Development – and at the campus convocation.

The new faculty includes Renee Battoclette-Young, fashion; David Brown, library catalog; Allen Caveness, basketball; William Henke, ceramics; and Melody La Montia, photography.

More are: Kimberly Orlijan, English; Stewart Kimura, matriculation; Stephanie Piazza, reading; Beth Solomon, gallery director; and Amanda Walzer-Prieto, English.

HARBOR

Adjunct Faculty United, a labor union for teachers in the North Orange County Community College District, has elected executive board members for the 2007-08 year.

Sam Russo takes the helm as president with assistance from vice presidents Natasha Bauman at Cypress College; Jerri Girard-Corkum, Fullerton College; and Slimane Gueddi, School of Continuing Education.

Other new officers are Alice Rice, treasurer; Catherine Whitsett, secretary; Denny Konshak, grievance/negotiations; Judi McDuff, editor/negotiations; Ruth Honer, negotiations; and Bob Fey, past president.

Members will have a chance to mingle with the new board at the fifth annual “Back-2-School-Party” set for the parttime teachers from 6 to 10 p.m. in the courtyard at Villa Del Sol, 305 N. Harbor Blvd. Information: 714-526-5759.

SMOKEWOOD

Probus Club membership chairman Dick Canevari is hoping senior golfers and senior bridge players will consider joining the organization that caters to retired and semi-retired professional and businessmen.

Eighty Probus golfers play courses in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties bi-weekly.

The club also has openings for bridge players. About 60 members play duplicate, Chicago or Marathon Bridge monthly in Fullerton.

Information: 714-871-3186.

WILSHIRE

Beginning Sept. 1, the First Christian Church of Fullerton launched its “Buy A Brick” fundraiser for the Fullerton Habitat for Humanity.

The congregation set a goal of $25,000, and has already raised more than half.

For the remaining amount, members are selling bricks for $100 apiece, and putting the temporary blocks on the wall in the Chapman Lounge. Organizers say they want the wall to be complete by February 2008.

The church is also looking into starting a Prayer Shawl Ministry to make knitted or crocheted items for those with special needs.

The idea is to pray while crafting the item, and when it is finished, have the entire group bless the donation.

Prayer Shawl Ministry is a grass-roots creation of Janet Bristow and Victoria Cole-Galo, who graduated from the 1997 Women’s Leadership Institute at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.

Neighborhood Scan tells what’s happening in the city’s neighborhoods. Do you have a news tip on your neighborhood? Call Barbara Giasone at 714-704-3762.