Cover Story
And Handel reigns forever
Great music is forever. Whether written today or nearly three centuries ago, it will resonate in people and throughout time. And some musical pieces, depending on their potency, will come to epitomize an ideal and personify an experience or feeling. Such is the case with the great oratorio Messiah by George Frideric Handel. Having long…
Baseball’s a hit
Players ages 6 through 18 years old are invited to come out and improve their skills on the diamond at the annual Allan Hancock College Holiday Baseball Clinic to be held Dec. 17 to 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Players will have the opportunity to hone their hitting, fielding, and pitching skills. Instructors…
Do you have what it takes?
Think you have what it takes to become a part of the 2013 Hancock Bulldogs track and field team? Start running and register now. Men interested in running for the team should register in PEIA 150 for three credits, ticket No. 40694. Women interested in running track should register for PEIA 155 for three credits,…
Time for tennis camps
Players, from beginners to the most experienced, are invited to come out and join Ark Tennis for three weeks of holiday tennis camps at Orcutt junior high school. Organized for kids ages 6 to 17, the camp stresses fundamentals and making friends. Tennis is a lifetime sport that can be played from age 6 to…
Athlete of the Week: Alex Mendoyino
Handling the left middle position in soccer is by no means an easy task; it requires constant running, directing other teammates, and a whole lot of thinking. Pioneer Valley High School varsity soccer player Alex Mendoyino plays the position with unparalleled skill and smarts. In keeping with his family’s tradition of producing soccer players, he…
Taking the steer by the horns
Steer wrestling. It’s one of the fastest events in rodeo, it’s probably the most dangerous, and it’s for people with a slight disregard for self-preservation. Also known as “bulldogging,” steer wrestling requires strength, agility, speed, timing, and, most importantly, understanding the principles of leverage. Competing against each other and the clock, cowboys mounted on horses…
Songs of the season
As soon as Thanksgiving passes, familiar melodies seem to weave their way into our lives via radios, television, and, of course, live music. The holiday season has inspired many a song and countless albums that capture the essence of what the time of year means to all of us. The Santa Maria Town Center has…
A Christmas Carol rewritten
The holidays are looking a bit grim this year, thanks in part to political Grinches, budgetary Scrooges, and lobbyist wise guys. I wonder if there will be a Nativity scene at the White House this year, considering that no one can find three wise men and a virgin in Washington, D.C. If an epiphany isn’t…
Vienna waits for you
The Santa Maria Philharmonic Society is preparing a special raffle for its February gala event titled “Passport to Vienna.” The raffle is for a trip for two to Vienna, Austria, valued at up to $8,600. Vienna was the famed home of such composers as Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann. The trip will include a room…
The results are in
The city of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department has announced the winners of the 16th annual “Lights, Sights, and Holiday Nights” decoration contest. After considering the 32 nominations, which included three local businesses, Recreation and Parks commissioners “Bruno” Brunello and Gayle Pratt officially judged the winning locations based on the quality of holiday cheer…
A creative Christmas
While the big box stores are clotted with cutthroat corporate consumers this holiday shopping season, locals have a chance to enjoy a serene, inspired experience thanks to the Lompoc Valley Art Association’s “Christmas Holiday Show” showing at the Cypress Gallery in Lompoc. The Lompoc Valley Art Association is a collective of local artists, numbering in…
Enter the dragon
Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a dragon by its fire-breathing roar. That’s the message of The Reluctant Dragon, the play PCPA Theaterfest’s Outreach Tour is currently performing at local schools and libraries. Based on the 1898 children’s story by Kenneth Grahame and adapted by PCPA’s own Roger DeLaurier, The Reluctant…
A beautiful life
Just 14 days after first tasting the splendid 2010 Hilliard Bruce Chardonnay, I was riding through the gorgeous 101-acre estate in the passenger seat of the co-owner’s golf cart. I met John Hilliard at the fabulous Wine and Fire event at La Purisima Mission in August. Two weeks later, Hilliard gave me a personal tour…
My valuable lesson
I’m 23 years old (soon to be 24, I shudder) with a bachelor of arts degree in English. I graduated with honors; I’m hardworking, mature, and responsible. Despite all this, I sleep on a twin bed with my parents as housemates and work two part-time jobs along with babysitting and house cleaning on the side.…
Orcutt Academy students spread a message of peace
Twelve-year-old Sadako Sasaki is training to become the fastest girl in Hiroshima. Her best friend, Kenji, and she run together every day in preparation for the big race. However, while training one day, Sadako becomes ill so her parents take her to the hospital. The diagnosis: Leukemia—or “The Atom Bomb Sickness.” Sadako, the audience learns,…
Hobnobbing With Helen
What is more fun than holiday hobnobbing? Particularly if said hobnobbing is at the third annual (and possibly final) Candlelight House Tour, held on Sunday evening, Dec. 9? If you weren’t the high bidder on one of three nonprofit Candlelight Tour auction items, eat your heart out. You missed a memorable evening. For three years,…
Give, but don’t break the bank
You’d better watch out, and you’d better not cry. You’d better not pout—I’m telling you why: As of this printing, Christmas is only 12 days away and, counting today, there are only five days of Hanukkah remaining! The elections are over and political ads have been replaced by holiday commercials. The last bit of Thanksgiving…
Give the double gift of books
This holiday season, thousands of people on the Central Coast will decide to give the gift of books to their friends and families. With the continuing march of new technologies, more and more of these books will be given without any exchange of physical goods and instead will move through the ethereal plane of the…
Fit health into life
Eating right, getting fit, and staying healthy doesn’t happen in a day. It can’t. Such life-affirming (and preserving) activities are choices, made to incorporate into individual and family lifestyles. Starting in January 2013, locals looking to walk the path of health will find help at Marian Regional Medical Center, where, thanks to a more than…
Spotlight on: Z Folio Gallery
Architectural.” That’s the adjective Z Folio co-owner Michael Mendizza used to describe the vast collection of colorful glass sculptures that shimmer in the light of the gallery he operates with his wife and co-owner Zdena Jiroutova. He then contrasted the glasswork of the Czech artists who made most of the gallery’s collection with the other…
Coast Guard officer killed in panga accident
An early-morning raid on a suspected drug-smuggling skiff off the Central Coast ended in the death of a U.S. Coast Guard officer, according to a release from a top Coast Guard official. Earlier this month, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter CGC Halibut, based out of Port Hueneme, was investigating a possible panga in the water.…
Zuniga finishes first in race for Santa Maria City Council
Terri Zuniga was the top vote getter, with 9,728 votes, in the race for Santa Maria City Council. The Santa Barbara County Election’s Office posted finalized election results on Dec. 4. “My phone was blowing up with people saying, ‘It’s 5 o’clock. Why haven’t they posted it yet?’ I just kept refreshing my computer screen,”…
Attorney tries to block testimony in Myers case
Attorneys for Ty Hill, the Santa Maria man facing a possible death sentence for his alleged role in the 2010 kidnapping and murder of Nipomo teenager Dystiny Myers, called roughly a dozen law enforcement and fire officials to the stand on Dec. 5 in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court in an attempt to suppress…
Santa Maria’s interim police chief Ralph Martin drops the ‘interim’
Ralph Martin is now the police chief of Santa Maria, city officials announced to the media on Dec. 10. The appointment of the man who’s been acting as interim chief ends a tumultuous year for the Santa Maria Police Department, which has been embroiled in controversy since the shooting death of officer Albert Covarrubias, Jr.,…
What’s the best Christmas or holiday gift you’ve ever received?
Elias Herrera drafter “My son. He was born around this time.” Derek Thoele engineer “Probably a new surf board. My mom got it for me and she knew exactly what I wanted, so it meant a lot.” Carl Lorenz retired park ranger “My wife getting through her operation. She had open-heart surgery. That was the…
