Calling all artists in San Benito County! We may have the
potential to build a $1 million arts and recreation facility funded
by existing grant money. An introductory meeting has been scheduled
for Wednesday, April 20 at 6:30pm at the office of The Community
Foundation For San Benito County, 719 San Benito St. Suite G.
Calling all artists in San Benito County! We may have the potential to build a $1 million arts and recreation facility funded by existing grant money. An introductory meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 20 at 6:30pm at the office of The Community Foundation For San Benito County, 719 San Benito St. Suite G.
This will be an opportunity to learn more about various arts groups, discuss the development of a new non-profit organization and determine how best to move forward in coordinating future events to promote the arts. This meeting is open to the general public. Please R.S.V.P me at: [email protected] as seating is limited. We may have to move the meeting to a larger facility.
Gary Byrne, executive director of the Community Foundation For San Benito County, will discuss how that agency serves various non-profit groups in the community from a financial stewardship perspective. Kathleen Sheridan will share some of her experience managing local and statewide arts programs and events. And members of various arts groups are expected to share their mission statements and how they serve San Benito County at present. Yes, the event schedule will briefly clash with Vision San Benito’s scheduled meeting. So come support the arts first and then go to the Vision meeting second.
According to sources from the county, there may be more than $1 million available from state park bond money that could be used to build a community center for arts and recreation purposes. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the community to develop rock-solid public-private partnerships that can attract philanthropic donors who complement public funding resources. But we have to develop the vision, and the vision should include a facility and a program that benefits the greatest number of community members in San Benito County. Hey now! That’s pretty exciting!
And speaking of exciting, I attended the Hollister Downtown Association’s annual Sweets and Wines of San Benito County event last Saturday night. You should have seen the “Sweeties” that modeled the finest of women’s intimate apparel from Boutique de Lingerie … and the confections looked good too. Martha Hill did a fantastic job of crooning the standards to her own accompaniment and also provided the background music – music to watch girls by. Not that I was looking, mind you. Special thanks to the following businesses that sponsored this event: San Benito County Winegrowers Association, Boutique de Lingerie, Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, Kaleidoscope Graphic Design and the Hollister Free Lance
Wineries: Calera Winery, DeRose Vineyard, Enz Winery, Flint Wine Cellars, Pessagno Winery, Pietra Santa Winery and Summerayne Vineyard
Candy/Desserts: The Elegant Touch, Marich Confectionery, B&R Farms, and Kayla’s Kandies.
Fashion Show: Boutique de Lingerie, She’s Apparel, Muenzer’s and Dorothy McNett’s Place.
Art: Hollister Art League
Food: Hard Times Cafe, Las Palmas Restaurant, Main Street Bistro, Paine’s Restaurant, The Vault, Roxy’s Lil’ Cafe and Bistro 427.
Retail Displays: Dorothy McNett’s Place, Drapoel, French’s, Heatherfields, Kelly’s Gift Place, Maddux Jewelry, Michelle’s Studio, The Old Flower Mill and Perfectly Imperfect.
This just in: In a few weeks, cell phone numbers will be released to telemarketing companies and you may start to receive unsolicited offers – and you will be charged for the call! To prevent being contacted, call the National Do Not Call List at (888) 382-1222 or visit www.donotcall.gov for more information. Registering with this service will block your phone number for five years. Pass the information on to friends and family.
It’s been a fairly quiet week in local politics – unless you live in San Juan Bautista. A group of citizens is attempting to recall some of the city councilmen that fired superhero former City Manager Larry Cain. Obviously, I’m biased in favor of Larry. He was a student of mine who took water distribution and water treatment classes from me to become a state certified water distribution and water treatment operator. What was his goal? To better serve the City of San Juan Bautista and its precarious water utility system.
Also, the sore losers who want to recall Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz have changed the name of their Web site to a less inflammatory one. So think of them as a group of kinder and gentler sore losers. As I have said before, I do not support recall campaigns unless and until overwhelming proof of dereliction of duty or corruption undermines the public trust.
Mike Smith lives in Hollister and is interested in public policy, music and the arts.He works in the water utility industry in Salinas
