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Welcome to the
Olvera-Street.com
E-Newsletter!
Celebrating our Culture, History, and the Arts
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April 2008
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 Spring is in the air on Olvera Street and throughout the City of the Angels, with all the blossoms, baseball, festivals, fairs, warmer weather and expectations of an endless summer that is Southern California. Olvera Street’s 78th anniversary fest takes place April 19, a day will also see the opening of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard's Annual Student Art exhibit at Olvera Street's Pico House Gallery. Also that weekend: the L.A. Zoo’s Earth Day Expo.
A few centuries before there was Olvera Street or the L.A. Zoo there were the original Los Angelenos, the Tongva. Read about their civilization below. Speaking of civilization and Mother Earth, we at Olvera-Street.com are continuing to “Go Green” with Planet GreenLight by providing ideas on how to preserve our gift of life and pass it along to future generations. We are working with the good and green folks from Shaklee to provide a whole host of biodegradable household products to keep your family healthy, wealthy and wise.
Festival Latino, a celebration of all things Latino, will be held at UCLA Saturday, April 12 and it’s free. And then the L.A. Times Festival of Books cracks its covers April 26–27. It too is at UCLA, and also free. Then Fiesta Broadway’s humongous 19th Annual Cinco de Mayo spills into the streets of Downtown L.A. April 27.
Scroll down for more info or these are several other happenings, all this month on and around Olvera Street. April 27. The 36-square city block fair will bring an expected half-million revelers. And it’s free.
Scroll down for more info or these are several other happenings, all this month on and around Olvera Street.
Make sure to visit our “See L.A.!” to plan your excursions with your family and friends. We have links to various places right here in Los Angeles to explore. It’s a great page to bookmark for your reference.
See below for more on all of the above. And that’s all way too much for the shortest month of the year, but such is life in the Year of the Rat on Olvera Street.
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What’s Happening at
Olvera Street!
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Welcome to Spring on Olvera Street!
April means sunnier skies, longer days, spring flowers, April Fools, spring break, Dodger baseball, and Olvera Street’s 78th anniversary.
One of the oldest avenues in Los Angeles, Olvera Street is a traditional Mexican marketplace that was opened in the 1930s. Olvera Street, also known as El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, it has hosted presidents, dignitaries, movie stars and visitors from around the world. The celebration is free to the public. To learn more about the history, click here!
What to you get a 78-year-old? How about a visit? Come to Olvera Street’s 78th anniversary celebration on Saturday, April 19. The festivities for the Mexican marketplace are scheduled from 11 am.- 5 pm. The event is free to the public.
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Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard invites you to the 15th Annual
34th Congressional District Student Art Competition Exhibit
Exhibition: April 19 - May 31, 2008
Pico House Gallery
El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument at Olvera Street
424 N. Main Street, Los Angeles CA 90012
Open 10 am - 3 pm
Wednesday through Sunday
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W Radio presents "Feria del Pueblo" at Olvera Street
April 26-27, 2008
W Radio presents Mariachi Los Ángeles, Nydia Rojas, Elvia, Cumbia Jam, Ballet Folklórico de Los Ángeles, Lilly Nava / Pasión Latina, Hermanas Arteaga, El Preve de Sinaloa, L.A. Aztec Dancers, Mauricio Herrera, Emilio Tejeda, Sonora Dinamita, Pasteles Verdes y Banda Limón. Ven y conoce a Gerardo Lorenz, Mirthala Salinas, Juan Manuel Arenas, J.C Galindo, Samuel Jacobo with 60 booths at this festival.
For more information: W Radio 690 AM - http://www.wradiousa.com/eventos.asp
or call 818-972-4200,818-972-4200.
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by John Trausch
Long before the 11 original families of Los Angeles began their historic trek from the San Gabriel Mission to the Olvera Street neighborhood in 1781, Los Angeles was home to people who lived, worked and raised families in our town.
 The Tongva Nation spanned what is all of Los Angeles County and northern Orange County today. It was the Tongva who greeted Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo of Spain when sailed into San Pedro in 1542. (Cabrillo declined their invitation to come ashore.)
Tongva greeted Spain’s Gaspar de Portolá and his men in 1769. His expedition, which included Fr. Junipero Serra, reached “Alta California, New Spain,” at the top of Elysian Park hill. The Dodgers weren’t in town yet, but did see a large green valley and a beautiful river (Los Angeles River) that ran through it.
There were an estimated 5,000 Tongva locally when the Spanish “established” Los Angeles in 1781. There are 31 known sites believed to have been Tongva villages, each with as many as 400 to 500 homes. This includes a prehistoric milling area estimated, from about 6,000 B.C.E., which was found in 2006 by archaeologists at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The find included about 100 tools used by the Tongvas.
We do know a number of things about the Tongvas, the original Los Angelinos.
The Tongva are among the few Native American nations who navigated the ocean. They built canoes, called titi'ats, using planks that were sewn together, edge to edge, and then caulked and coated with either tar from the La Brea Tar Pits, pine pitch, or asphaltum that washed up on shore from offshore oil seeps. Titi'ats could hold up to 12 people and all their the trade when they traveled to market their goods, often along the coast or to one of the Channel Islands.
 The Tongva believed in a god that brought peace to the world by setting it upon the shoulders of seven Atlasian giants. Tongva believed humans originated in the north where the Supreme Being lived and that the god led the Tongva to Los Angeles. God created humans, as well as lower animals, including owls and porpoises, the highest animals who were revered and never killed. The Tongva did not believe in evil spirits, or any concept of a hell before the Spanish introduced these ideas. Tongva religious ceremonies were held in a circular structure within the village. Chosen men and close relatives could only enter the structure during funerary ceremonies. Women were allowed, too, but only if they were singing.
Although war was rare for the Tongva and crime was rare, to fail to show courage was the height of disgrace among the Tongva. Men would lie on top of red anthills and have handfuls of ants placed in their face as a demonstration of, um, courage.
The Tongva introduced boys to manhood through fasting, hallucinogenics and trials of endurance. An elderly man would instruct boys about the ways of the world. These ceremonies were believed to provide the boys with a spiritual nature. The boys were also tested for courage by facing trials by fire, whippings, and lying on anthills. Boys who failed these tests earned reputations of weakness and cowardice.
Tongva communities suffered greatly after the San Gabriel Mission was established in 1771. Many Tongva were coerced to join the mission (and the Missions San Fernando and San Juan Capistrano) and taken from their villages and culture. It was their association with the Mission San Gabriel that gave the Tongva their Europeanized name “Gabrielino.” By the time the first U.S. settlers arrived in Southern California in 1841, Tongva survivors were scattered and working at subsistence level on Mexican farms.
In our high growth area today, controversies have arisen around land use issues relating to the Tongva. Developers have inadvertently disturbed burial grounds, and archeologists have broken bones while studying the site.
In the 1990s, Kuruvungna Springs, a natural spring located on the site of a former Tongva village on the University High School campus in West Los Angeles, was revitalized due to the efforts of the Gabrielino/Tongva Springs Foundation. The spring, which produces 22,000 gallons of water daily, is considered by the Tongva to be one of their last remaining sacred sites and is used for ceremonies.
 Another controversy was over Puvungna, the birthplace of the Tongva prophet Chingishnish, and believed by some Tongva to be the place of creation. The site, formerly home to a Tongva village and also containing an active spring, is on western edge of Cal State Long Beach. Developers repeatedly attempted, beginning in 1992, to build a strip mall in the area. The courts blocked them.
Today, it is estimated that a few hundred to a few thousand Tongva still live in California, and the “Gabrieleno/Tongva of San Gabriel” claim just over 300 enrolled members.
Other remnants of the Tongva are still with us today. Tongva Peak is a 2,600-foot summit in Glendale’s Verdugo Mountains. The Gabrielino Trail is a 28-mile path through the Angeles National Forest. Tongva named places still in use today include: Pacoima, Tujunga, Topanga, Rancho Cucamonga, Azusa, and Cahuenga Pass.
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We at Olvera-Street.com are doing two things: giving you hopefully not-that-inconvenient ideas every month on way to “go green,” and partnering with the folks at Shaklee, who have been sounding the environmental trumpet for a half-century now.
Three ways of Going Green for April:
1) Don't print out everything you see! Save it, bookmark it, and only print it out if absolutely necessary. Like if it's a reminder on how to "Go Green," or something.
2) Blow up your tires! Keeping tires inflated can save up to 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere.
3) Our fast-lane health conscious lifestyles have finally crashed into our yet reckless consumerism, resulting in a colossal pile-up of empty plastic water bottles. Americans down more than 70 million water bottles EVERY day. They eat away at our fragile ozone layer, add to our air pollution crisis, fill up land space and oceans while sucking up 1.5 million barrels of oil annually.
 New York and San Francisco have already passed laws curbing bottled water, and many believe Los Angeles isn’t far behind.
Bottled water cost more than 1000 times more than using the home tap. And the killer is, bottled water is neither safer nor cleaner. In fact, nearly half the commercially available bottled water was bottled not from a mountain stream, but from a tap.
So if water is so good for your health but so harmful to the planet and your wallet; how do you get healthy, good tasting h2o without the waste or the ongoing expense? The green folks at Shaklee have three streams to get you there.
Their "Perfect Pitchers" filters water poured right from your tap. It traps and holds contaminants, while reducing odd tastes, smells, and up to 99% of the led that can seeps into water from plumbing fixtures.
The Reverse Osmosis System II sits on or below your counter, cleaning and filtering your water. Reverse Osmosis reduces cryptosporidium cysts, one of the most common causes of waterborne diseases in the U.S.
And if you're serious above health and longevity, try the MTS 2000, a broad-spectrum filter that produces up to 1,000 gallons of filtered, great-tasting water. It significantly reduces dissolved lead and more than 40 volatile compounds that may be in your water. And like the Reverse Osmosis System, it reduces the evil cryptosporidium cysts.
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Use Get Clean in your home, and know that you’re letting in products that care as much about your family’s safety as you do. Not to mention the earth’s safety. And yet, they clean more powerfully than most of the other cleaners you probably use. For more information about the starter kit and other products, click here!
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE by using nontoxic eco-friendly cleaning products and make a positive impact on our environment. "Go green!" Take a look at some of Shaklee’s products: http://www.shaklee.net/planetgreenlight/prodMain .
Shaklee offers a healthier and better life with an array of outstanding biodegradable products for home care, water filtration system, air purifiers, nutritional supplements, weight management, and personal care. Shaklee products have been enjoyed by millions of loyal users, athletes and celebrities. For more than 50 years, Shaklee's mission has been to make the world a better place... one person at a time.
Become part of the solution in saving our planet.
To learn how you can receive discounts on products through Shaklee’s memberships, or make smart healthy choices for your family part-time and earn extra income from your home, visit: http://www.shaklee.net/PlanetGreenLight/ It's easy!
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Interested in having your own Green Business?
 Join us for an incredible business opportunity in starting an international business AND make a difference in the world by creating your own green business. View videos and information on the Gold Ambassador Program for current business opportunities in Mexico, China, Canada and a growing global market. Shaklee's International expansion plans include launching into 50 countries. This is the best way to make a residual financial opportunity for yourself and others while making a difference.
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Somebody’s Children
News About Our World Update
Iraq War
At Olvera-Street.com, the spirit of giving, understanding, compassion,
and support goes far beyond our doors.
As of April 7, 2008 according to a CNN count: “There have been 4,320 coalition deaths -- 4,020 Americans, two Australians, 176 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, one Czech, seven Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 33 Italians, one Kazakh, one Korean, three Latvian, 22 Poles, three Romanians, five Salvadoran, four Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war in Iraq as of April 7, 2008. At CNN, there is the list
of names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments. The list also includes seven employees of the U.S. Defense Department. That is 74 more deaths since January 30, 2008.
At least 29,628 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. That is 590 more wounded since January 30, 2007.
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In 2004 we honored the 1250 Americans who had died in the Iraqi desert; that list has now grown with an additional 2,892 lives cut short. Note: May 1, 2007 marked the four-year anniversary when President Bush announced “Mission Accomplished!” and the end of hostilities in Iraq.
We send our love to them, their families, and dear friends.
The altar was dedicated to their memories so they won’t be forgotten, true to the meaning and spirit of Dia De Los Muertos!
* (The "Altar of the Iraq War" honoring the dead was created by six artists: Ginette Rondeau, Juliane Backmann, Al Herion, Bonjunnie Comostiles, Gabriela Quintero, and John Trausch. The altar does not necessarily reflect the thoughts of the Olvera Street merchants or El Pueblo Historic Monument.) To learn more about the Iraq War, click here!
The first “Altar of the Iraq War” was created on October 28, 2004 to honor and respect the memories and lives of all those who have died. NOTE: The figures do not count the estimated 100,000-200,000 Iraqi deaths, including women and children.
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The original altar was featured in a children’s book: “Day of the Dead: A Celebration of Life And Death” by Capstone Press and distributed in bookstores around the United States as well as on Amazon and other prominent retailers. National Geographic and NBC News also came out and filmed the exhibition last year.
The “Altar of the Iraq War” was re-created at last year’s “El Amor Eterno” Dia De Los Muertos Juried Exhibition at the Pico House Gallery. There were several thousands of visitors including children who were very touched and left notes of love at the altar. The gallery was created to be a place of healing, understanding and a place of education.
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“Mailbox to Heaven”
 There is a lovely story online in which you can share with your family and friends. Visit the site and learn about a child who desperately wanted to write to her Grandmother who had passed away. It is an inspirational story dedicated to
Belen Tapia and by the Dia De Los Muertos Celebration.
If you know someone who died in the Iraq War and
would like to share your story in honor of his or her memory,
please submit it to webmaster@Olvera-Street.com
Just make sure you write “Stories to Share” in the subject line of your e-mail.
We are looking for communities who would like to make their own Mailbox to Heaven. If you are interested, please contact Ginette Rondeau.
To write a private letter to a beloved one, visit: www.MailboxToHeaven.com
(The “Mailbox to Heaven” has been featured at the El Pueblo Gallery and Pico House Gallery for the Annual Dia De Los Muertos Juried Exhibition, since 1992.)
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Gift Ideas
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“See L.A.!”
Supporting the Arts and Our Community
“Events Around Town”
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April 10, 2008
Gregorio Luke, formerly of the Museum of Latin American Art, will give a lecture on Mexican artist/icon Frida Kahlo on Thursday, April 10 at the acoustically pristine Carpenter Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach.
Admission runs $30, or $20 for seniors, or $10 for students. The Carpenter Arts Center is on the north end of campus, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. Lecture time is 8pm.
For more info: 562-985-7000 or www.carpenterarts.org
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More than 300 women have been murdered and dumped in Juarez in the past 15 years. “The Women of Juarez,” currently at the Frida Kahlo Theatre, explores the story of a mother searching for her missing daughter only to discover an intricate web of misogyny, police and political corruption. Since 1993, more than 600 women have been reported missing. Most of the victims are dark-skinned young factory workers.
English Performances are on April 10-13.
Spanish Performances are April 3-6, 17-20.
Showtime is 8 pm., Sundays at 6 pm.
Tickets are priced at $15; with a special $12 price tag on Thursdays.
The Frida Kahlo Theater is at 2332 West Fourth St. in Downtown.
For information: 213-382-8133 or fridakahlotheater.org.
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(photo: Ed Fuentes, viewfromaloft)
Downtown Art Walk
(Second Thursday of Every Month)
Next Art Walk: Thursday, April 10, 2008
12pm - 9 pm • Free Admission
(limited hours at some venues where noted on the Art Walk map)
The Downtown Art Walk is a free, self-guided tour of the many art exhibition venues in Downtown Los Angeles — commercial art galleries, museums, and non-profit arts venues.
Public information and a printable map of the Downtown Art Walk are available at www.downtownartwalk.com.
Participants in the Downtown Art Walk are The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles Public Library, Grey Goose, Gary Leonard, L.A. Artcore Center, 2nd Street Cigars and Gallery, M. J. Higgins, bank, Continental, Crewest, The Regent Galleries, Pharmaka, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, El Nopal Press, Bert Green Fine Art, INMO Gallery, Red Dot Gallery, Niche.LA Video Art, Kristi Engle Gallery, Art Murmur Gallery, 626 Gallery, Gallery Waugh, Infusion Gallery, Gallery 727, The Hive Gallery, City Center Gallery, Museum of Neon Art, BOXeight Studios, and the Downtown Art Gallery.
Visitors are encouraged to arrive by public transit, as the Art Walk is easily accessible by the Red, Gold, and Blue line trains which run past midnight, and the area is well served by the
DASH bus system until 6:30 PM. Parking is plentiful in the areas many paid lots and garages, at meters on the street until 4 PM, and free after 6 PM on most streets.
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 The 50th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Dodgers
The Original Blue Man Crew has returned to Chavez Ravine for the 50th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Dodgers. New Dodger manager Joe Torre leads his boys, now through September.... or maybe October, if they catch a few breaks.
After the opening series with the San Francisco Giants, the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates are in April 11 to 16, followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, April 23 to 27.
Enjoy the celebration!
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Festival Latino
a celebration of all things Latino
UCLA’s Wilson Plaza
Saturday, April 12.
It’s all free, aside from the parking, and is sponsored by UCLA’s Latin American Student Association. Expect culture, music, dancing, food, good times,and much more!
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 L.A. Zoo’s Earth Day Expo
What better way to salute Mother Nature than to spend Earth Day at the L.A. Zoo’s Earth Day Expo? The bipeded humans and KRTH-101 are running the show, to educate homosapians about easy ways to keep our planet healthy through fun games, crafts, demonstrations and informational booths. In addition to offering recycling and conservation tips, the zoo will celebrate California wildlife, with exhibits highlighting brown pelicans, harbor seals, desert bighorn sheep and the Channel Island fox, among others
The Earth Day Expo runs April 19–20, from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission requires a zoo ticket. Note to Funny Looking Humans: hang on to your Zoo ticket, or they might not let you out.
The Los Angeles Zoo is located in Griffith Park in the heart of Los Angeles. (Or perhaps it’s in the chest cavity.)
For more information visit http://www.lazoo.org/
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 The annual
Santa Barbara County Vintners' Festival
April 19
The annual Santa Barbara County Vintners' Festival attracts wine lovers from near and far for an opportunity to meet member vintners, taste their wines, and enjoy great food and music in a festive outdoor environment. The 2008 Vintners’ Festival will be held from 1 to 4 pm on April 19th at River Park in Lompoc.
The festival will feature the wines of our 100+ members of the Association, live and lively music, a silent auction and wine country cuisine by the area’s finest chefs. And why not make a weekend out of it, celebrating the arrival of Spring and the beginning of the 2008 vintage with us? The Vintners’ Visa is your four-day pass to twelve participating wineries, each of whom are waiving tasting fees and might even be planning something special just for Visa holders. To fully take advantage of the weekend, get a “combo” ticket to visit tasting rooms on Friday, Sunday or Monday and enjoy the Festival on Saturday.
Click here for more details and to purchase tickets.
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 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
April 26–27.
It was Groucho Marx who once rhapsodized: “outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” It won’t be too dark at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, slated for the expansive UCLA campus the weekend of April 26–27.
The Times/UCLA fest is the largest book festival in the country. More than 450 authors are scheduled to attend, reading, speaking, sitting on panels and signing a few tombs.
It’s all free, aside from the $8 they’ll charge you to park, and 140,000 are expected.
Try 213.237.6552 or http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/ for more information. The Book Fest on the main campus in Westwood will be open April 26 from 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and April 27: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
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It may be a tad premature, but the 19th Annual Fiesta Broadway to celebrate Cinco de Mayo will be held
April 27 this year.
The downtown street fair, covering 36 square city blocks but centered at Broadway and Olympic just south of
Olvera Street, will be rapt with Mexican music, spicy food and colorful festivities for the expected. In what is billed
“the largest ‘Cinco de Mayo’ celebration in the world,” a staggering half-million is expected to attend.
 There will be music pouring out from six separate stages, although the promoters were yet to release any names
of performers at press time. And expect tons of food.
It’ll be from 11 am to 6 pm., and is all free to get in. Try: http://www.fiestabroadway.la/ or 310.914.8308 for
more information.
Cinco de Mayo, for those of you that slept through history, celebrates the victory of a group of Mexican
teenagers over French forces in Puebla, Mexico in 1862. It was but a temporary victory for Mexico trying to expel
the French invaders, however it kept the forces of Napoleon III from traveling up north into Texas and assisting
the Confederate forces in their war against the United States. So arguably, Cinco de Mayo was strategically
more important to the U.S. than to Mexico.
For those of you that are more traditional, and like to celebrate Cinco de Mayo... in May, at least, if not on the
fifth, Olvera Street will hold it’s Cinco celebration from Friday - Sunday, May 2 - 4, 10 a.m. - 10 p.m., daily.
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Movie to See!
 Now in theatres: Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna), a drama centers on a young boy's journey across the US/Mexico border to find his mother.
The film shows the human side of the immigration issue. Carlitos is an innocent adolescent living with his ailing guelita (grandmother) in Mexico while his mother works as a maid in Los Angeles, hoping someday to send for her boy. But when the grandmother dies, Carlitos secretly steals across the border to find his mother.
His naive traveling plans become difficult when her runs into thugs, drug addicts, would-be kidnappers and the INS.
Under The Same Moon is a film about hope, love, survival and principally, family.
Great for the entire family to see.
To see where it is playing or to see clips visit:
www.foxsearchlight.com/underthesamemoon/
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The man who
does not read books
has no advantage
over the man
that can not read them.
- Mark Twain
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Enjoy the sweetness of spring.
May all your wishes and dreams come true.
Ginette Rondeau, Director & John Trausch, Editor
For more information about www.Olvera-Street.com
comments or suggestions, contact our Webmaster@ibiz360.com
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