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   Olvera-Street.com
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June 2007

Bienvenidos! Ready for the summer?  It doesn't matter if you are or you aren't, it's blooming on your doorstep. 

It’s evidenced on Olvera Street as it is elsewhere around Southern California:  by the hordes of un-tanned flesh jetting out of shorts and swim suits that seemed to fit last September. So weed the garden, scrape the crust from the barbeque, dust off your Dodger cap and determine the camps, classes and getaways of another beautiful Southern California Summer with family and friends.

At Olvera Street in June flower children, shutterbugs and ordinary people are invited to the Fiesta de Las Flores, which will also feature mariachis, charro equestrians and folkloric and Aztec dance groups throughout the day. And for Dad's Day, bring the Old Man out to see some Old School Rides. we have photos shows and a Father's Day First Annual Olvera Street Car Show. 

And nearby there's a gluttony of great entertainment, from the multiple (and free!) Grand Performances at the California Plaza on Grand Avenue to Normal Mailer and Bob Woodward's appearances at the Music Center.

Make sure to visit our “See L.A.!” so you can plan your summer with your family and friends. We have links to various places right here in Los Angeles for you to explore. It’s a great page to bookmark for your reference.

All this and more, this month ....

“FIESTA DE LAS FLORES”
COMBINES CULTURE AND CAMERAS

Historic Photographic Scenes, Olvera Street

Saturday, June 9, 2007
11 AM to 7 PM

Fiesta de Las Flores will be presented by the Olvera Street Merchants on Saturday, June 9. Photography enthusiasts, flower children and all visitors may explore different areas of the Historical Monument adjacent to Olvera Street  to view colorful cultural and historical scenes from L.A.’s past. These areas will provide photo opportunities for both amateur and professional photographers alike.

Free entertainment will be offered in the plaza throughout the day, including a performance by Mariachi Monumental de America from 11 AM to 2 PM. This will be followed by a charro equestrian show between 2 PM and 4 PM. Charros are the traditional cowboys of Mexico and will perform with specially trained horses dancing to Banda de Lobato. There will also be folkloric and Aztec dance groups and mariachi performances into the evening.

Ezekiel Tarango
Photo Exhibition at The Pico House

June 9 through June 30, 2007
10 AM to 3 PM

Complementing Fiesta de Las Flores, a photographic exhibit will open in the Pico House featuring the work of photographer Ezekiel Tarango.

This exhibit will showcase an extensive collection of photographs taken at various festivals, traditional events and community gatherings held at El Pueblo Historical Monument over the years. This retrospective photo exhibit is free to the public and will be open daily from 10 AM. to 3 PM June 9 through June 30. The Pico House is located at 424 North Main Street (at Arcadia Street) on the south end of the Monument.

First Annual Olvera Street Car

Fathers’ Day
Sunday, June 17, 2007
10 AM- 4 PM

OLD MEMORIES LOS ANGELES CHAPTER invites you to their First Annual Olvera Street Car Show.

There will be trophies for the best classic trucks and low riders of the 30s, 40s, 50s as well as current rides.  There will also be trophies for motorcycles and bicycles. Old Memories Los Angeles’ theme is “no attitude/no violence/no alcohol.”

The free family event will also feature live on stage: Raice de Mexico, Aztec Dancers, Swing Dance, Danny De La Paz, DW3 featuring Billy Montdragon lead singer of Tierra, M.C. Time Mr. Duran, Marvin Spencer, Jewel Accams, Melinda Del Toro, Live WAire, Sangria, and DJ Mike Garcia.

For more information visit: www.oldmemorieslosangeles.us
 

Photos by Ginette Rondeau

Feliz Dia de Los Padres!

History of the Father’s Day Celebration

It was 1909. Teddy Roosevelt was just leaving the White House and the new fangled auto-mobiles were seen as the cure for pollution. Sonora Dodd, a 28-year-old woman from Western Washington, sat in church and listened to the sermon praising mothers on the occasion of Mothers' Day.

She thought it unfair, since her father, a U.S. Civil War veteran, had raised six children after his wife died during childbirth.  Sonora spoke to her pastor, and the concept of "Father's Day" was born.

Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910.

The idea took off, and eventually led to something called the National Father's Day Committee, formed in 1926 in New York City.  It took a literal Act of Congress to make it a national day of recognition, which is what happened in 1966. With all the wrangling about other issues of the day... the Vietnam War and Civil Rights unrest, for example, Congress probably looked at this as the one thing they could do that might make everyone happy.

Fast-forward to 1972.  Electronic gadgets are often a favored gift on Father’s Day, so appropriately it was the president often associated with electronic devices, Richard Nixon, who established it as a permanent holiday on the third Sunday of every June.

Sonora proposed the wearing of a red rose for a living father, and of a white one for a deceased but not forgotten padre. Others clamored for a white lilac.  But a Pennsylvania preacher suggested a dandelion. It was the appropriate flower, he argued, since “the more it is trampled on, the more it grows.”

So Father's Day was born in memory and gratitude by a daughter who thought that her father and all good fathers, grandfather, uncles and significant male role models should be honored with a special day.

We would like to wish all the wonderful fathers,

 “A Happy Father’s Day!”

Feliz Dia de Los Padres!

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 June 5, 2007, according to a CNN count: “There have been 3,769 coalition deaths -- 3,493 Americans, two Australians, 149 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, seven Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 32 Italians, one Kazakh, three Latvian, 19 Poles, two Romanians, five Salvadoran, four Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war in Iraq. The list is the 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 142 more deaths since May 3, 2007.

At least 25,830 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. That is 740 more than May 3, 2007.

In 2004 we honored the 1250 Americans who had died in the Iraqi desert; that list has now grown with an additional 2,377 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.

 
  
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.

* (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.)
 

We send our love to them, their families, and dear friends. The “Altar of the Iraq War” was re-created at last year’s “El Amor Eterno” Dia De Los Muertos Juried Exhibition at El Pueblo Gallery.

The altar was dedicated to their memories so they won’t be forgotten,
true to the meaning and spirit of íDa De Los Muertos!

Mailbox to Heaven”
created by Ginette Rondeau

“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 was featured at the
Pico House Gallery
for the Annual Dia De Los Muertos Juried Exhibition,
October 28 - November 26, 2006

Supporting the Arts
and Our Community
“Events Around Town”

Norman Mailer

Thursday, June 7 at 8:00 PM

Norman Mailer and son John Buffalo Mailer will appear Thursday, June 7 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion as part of the 2007 Music Center Speaker Series.

Norman Mailer is an innovator of creative nonfiction (The Naked and the Dead, The Executioner’s Song) as well as a journalist, playwright, screenwriter and film director. He received several nominations for the Nobel Prize for Literature and was one of the founders of The Village Voice. His son playwright and author, John Buffalo Mailer has made a name for himself as the author of the socially conscious plays Hello Herman and Crazy Eyes. In 2005, the Mailers’ The Big Empty: Dialogues on Politics, Sex, God Boxing Morality, Myth, Poker and Bad Conscience in America was published.

Bob Woodward

Friday, June 8 at 8:00 PM

Bob Woodward will appear Friday, June 8 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion as part of the 2007 Music Center Speaker Series.

Woodward is best known for earning The Pulitzer Prize for The Washington Post in 1973 for his reporting with Carl Bernstein on the Watergate Scandal. His experiences were later turned into the book, and the movie, “All the Presidents’ Men.”

Now the assistant managing editor of the Post, Woodward has won nearly every American journalism award as well as the Pulitzer. In addition, Woodward was the lead reporter for the Post’s articles on the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks that won the National Affairs Pulitzer Prize in 2002. Woodward has co-authored or authored 12 nonfiction books; ten have been number one national bestsellers, more than any other contemporary American writer, and the other two were on the national bestseller list for months.

Our Olvera-Street.com subscribers will receive a special discount!

Receive up to $10 off* tickets to

Norman Mailer and Bob Woodward!

*The last two speakers in Speaker Series*

Discount Details
*Discount applies to Silver ($75) and Bronze ($50) level seating only. Tickets subject to availability. Not valid on previously purchased tickets. Other restrictions may apply. No refunds, cancellations or exchanges. Offer not available at Ticketmaster outlets.

To receive $10 off, select regular priced $75 tickets from the drop down menu, and enter number of tickets under the Promotions and Special Offers header, followed by promotional code.

For $10 off Silver Level Seating use promotional code: MCSS1

To receive $5 off, select regular priced $50 tickets from the drop down menu, and enter number of tickets under the Promotions and Special Offers header, followed by promotional code.

For $5 off Bronze Level Seating use promotional code: MCSS2

2 Ways to Buy:

• Click to Order Online
• Call Ticketmaster: 213-480-3232
• Visit www.musiccenter.org/spkser.html for more information.

Don’t miss out on this special opportunity!

The following speakers appeared this year
at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion:

• Honorable Vicente Fox
• Jim Lehrer
• Dr. Maya Angelou
• Honorable George H.W. Bush
• Honorable Madeleine Albright
• Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
• George Will
• Joan Didion
• Fareed Zakaria

Grand Performances

GP on GRAND June 10, 2007, 3 PM

Grand Performance’s season-opening block party kicks off Sunday, June 10 on Grand Avenue with L.A.’s own Dengue Fever. The band will feature their concoction of early psychedelic garage band guitar inflections, Cambodian folk pop, R&B and James Bond-like soundtrack. New York City-based turntablist/mixmaster DJ Logic (Living Color, Body Count) and celebrated guitarist Vernon Reid (Living Color, co-founder Black Rock Coalition) will turn up the heat with their band the Yohimbe Brothers. Crunching rock guitar hooks, hip-hop beats, reggae riddims and world music collide. Ozomatli closes the evening with a booty-shakin’ lovefest! (Please Note: No outside alcoholic beverages will be allowed in Street Festival.)

Grand Performances summer series takes place on two stages at California Plaza the Watercourt stage and the Marina Pavilion. The larger of the two venues - the Watercourt stage - is a performance site that can hold as many as 70 performers and is partially surrounded by a system of gardens and water features. The capacity crowd for this stage can be as large as 6,500 people. The smaller Marina Pavilion stage has an amphitheater style feel and can accommodate close to 300 audience members.

To view the summer calendar of events, click here!

Downtown Art Walk
(Second Thursday of Every Month)

Thursday, June 14, 2007        12 - 9 PM
(some locations close earlier, see details on 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), Lo sAngeles 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.
 

Past Events on
Olvera Street

Cinco De Mayo Festival

May 5- 6, 2007

Olvera Street celebrated a two-day Cinco de Mayo festivities. The weekend was be packed with free entertainment, a carnival and food for the entire family to enjoy. Various bands representing the regional musical styles of Mexico will perform throughout the weekend celebration bringing an eclectic mix of Latin jazz, R & B and traditional Mexican sounds. 

SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE
“LA MAESTRA LULA”
From TELEMUNDO

NORMA ROQUE
From UNIVISION

NATALIA LIVINGSTON
Plays “Emily” in General Hospital ABC

MAYTE PRIDA
TV Celebrity from UNIVISION and TELEMUNDO
Spokesperson for PPA

MABEL KATZ
From TV Show “Despertar” TV AZTECA

To read the history of Cinco de Mayo click here!

To learn more about President Benito Juarez, click here!

Viva México! Viva Benito Juarez !

Viva El Cinco de Mayo!
 

Got Gas?

As a public service we at Olvera-Street.com want to help you find the least painfully-expensive gas in your area. To find out the best gas prices around, click here!

If you have any other suggestions for links that our community can either learn or benefit from such as scholarships, community programs, et cetera, please submit them to us.

Coupons for our Subscribers as a thank you for visiting us!

"I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work fifteen and sixteen hours a day.

I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example."

- Mario Cuomo

Thank You for Visiting!

Bookmark Olvera-Street.com and our “See LA” link as a reference... and visit us often to find out about the latest arts, fundraisers, business mixers, screenings and much more. We hope you will visit us often throughout 2007.

Please e-mail this page to anyone you think may be interested.

  Feliz Dia de Los Padres! Happy Father’s Day!

                   May all your wishes and dreams come true.

John Trausch, Editor & Ginette Rondeau, Director
 

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