The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB) announced its grant recipients for the first of two grant cycles in 2012, including several nonprofit organizations supporting local athletics and recreation. The VCB awarded a total of $11,000 in grant money to groups, including the Santa Maria Swim Club, to support […]
Local recreation organizations awarded grants
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Pro wrestling hits Santa Maria
Vendetta Pro Wrestling is returning to Lakeview Junior High School for “Shamrock Slam 2012” on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. In the evening’s main event, Sunami will defend his VPW Heavyweight Championship against former ECW, WWE, and TNA superstar Gangrel “The Vampire Warrior.” In other matches, WWE Tough Enough contestant “Tumbleweed” A.J. Kirsch will take […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Trailblazers
Trail running? You mean people actually run on trails?” I thought when I first started working on this article. Like most normal human beings, I was surprised to learn some people like to run on trails—for fun. I consider myself an avid runner, but I had no idea this kind of running was such a […]
Posted inOpinion
Support nonprofits, support transparency
It is a terrible shame what is happening with—and allegedly by—the Lompoc Housing and Community Development Corporation. Those of us who work in the nonprofit sector, providing services not readily provided by our government or by the for-profit sector, hate to see any services lost or cut. We know how difficult, and how important, it […]
Posted inFood & Drink
More than aebleskivers
If you haven’t experienced Taste of Solvang in the two decades the event has attracted thousands of hungry (and thirsty) visitors, then you don’t know what you’re missing, so let me tell you. It’s more than aebleskivers (the traditional, sphere-shaped Danish pancakes), which are great, but Taste of Solvang has evolved into farm-fresh delicacies made […]
Posted inNews
Miller Elementary School students learn the ‘ABCs of Etiquette’
Sixth-grade students at Miller Elementary School are learning how to mind their manners in a new program called “The ABCs of Etiquette,” which is intended to reinforce what many students have already been taught at home. The first lesson covered restaurant ordering and dining. School principal Karen Porter talked with students in Trinity Hamilton’s 6th […]
Posted inNews
CHC’s Mobile Dental Clinic visits Dana Elementary School
Students at Dana Elementary School in Nipomo lined up outside a large, brightly decorated mobile dental clinic on Feb. 23, waiting their turn to see the dentist and to show off their skills at brushing, as part of the Community Health Centers (CHC) “Brush! Brush! Brush!” program. U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) was also […]
Posted inNews
The Boy at the End of the World, by Greg van Eekhout
Fisher, “born” the day his Ark dies, is one of many creatures preserved in a Life Ark by long-ago scientists. Awakened by his robot minder when the Ark and all else within it are destroyed, Fisher and the robot he names Click are alone in the world. Or so it seems. Following clues that reveal […]
Posted inNews
Hobnobbing With Helen
An explosion of joie de vivre. That’s the best way to describe OCAF’s unusually festive 10th birthday celebration on Friday, Feb. 24, at the Radisson Hotel. More than 160 people gathered to support OCAF, the Orcutt Children’s Arts Foundation. The subtitle of the event could have been “Happy Talk”—there was tons of it. In fact, […]
Posted inNews
Get dirty and play with clay!
As part of the Discovery Museum’s Music and Art month, we’re excited to give kids the chance to get their hands dirty “throwing” clay on a potter’s wheel during the March 8 “Twilight Thursday.” Join us at 5:30 when Bob Nichols from the Allan Hancock College art department brings his wheel and demonstrates to kids […]
Posted inNews
Fire, food, and help where it’s needed
A group of Central Coast firefighters recently took a breather from battling blazes to face down another foe: food, and lots of it. On March 3, seven men packed their stomachs with pepperoni, sausage, ham, cheese, and more on behalf of Central Coast Firefighters Charity, a group that helps Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo […]
Posted inNews
510 Event Center
There’s a new kid on the block in downtown Santa Maria: The 510 Event Center. Though it’s a new business, it occupies a building, built in 1945, with a colorful past. After extensive restoration and redecoration, the 510 Event Center’s transformation into a warm, welcoming venue with mahogany tables and chairs, pale green walls, and […]