Jazz on the Lake at The Pines Resort is back this summer and it is better than ever. No, this is not a one-time event; rather it is many nights of great music and fun spread out over the entire summer. On Friday nights from May 23-August 29, you can relax with delicious food and delightful music.

The exciting news is that this year they have added lawn seats that will be available at a lower cost and the menu has been expanded and improved. The menu will change each week. Here is a sample of some of the dishes: fajitas, barbecue chicken, tri-tip sandwiches and meatballs, corn on the cob, salads, fresh fruit and desserts.

The gates will open at 6 pm on most nights. You can choose package options will prepared food or buy concert-only tickets. You must call head if you want to have dinner prepared. Call the concert hotline at 559-692-8857.

Some of the groups in this year’s lineup include: ‘Nuff Said, Time Slip, Sunset Steel Drum Band, Nite Flite, Time Slip, Horizon and Arrival.

Click here to visit the Bass Lake website and get more details.

Yesterday was Memorial Day and hopefully you took a little (or a lot of) time to reflect on the purpose and the meaning of this day. Yes, for many of us it is the beginning of the summer season, but it is also a day or remembrance as well.

Did you know that it was not always called Memorial Day? At first it was known as “Decoration Day.” The graves of soldiers who had died were decorated on that day, hence the name. It was first celebrated in the late 1860s

The term “Memorial Day” did not come into use until 1882, but even then it was not used widely. The widespread use of the term “Memorial Day” did not come until after World War II. The Federal government did not make this the day’s official name until the 1960s. It was one of the holidays that was part of the 1968 Uniform Holidays Bill, a piece of legislation that moved three holidays to specified Mondays to allow for the three-day weekends surrounding Veterans Day, Columbus Day and Memorial Day to become a standard part of our calendar.

If you weren’t able to support earlier “Mat for Mayor” fundraising efforts, such as this past Wednesday’s midnight viewing of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” you will still be able to lend Mat your support. Mat Sands is running a great campaign and you can be a part of it.

We hear about how politicians hold these fundraising dinners with the per plate cost being hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is your chance to throw your money around and attend a “political” fundraising dinner. Come out on Sunday May 25, starting at 7pm, for “Spaghetti with Eddie”. When you attend this dinner, to be held at The Oak Room Bar in Oakhurst, you will be treated to homemade meatballs, garlic bread, Caesar salad, and of course spaghetti.

This charity dinner will benefit the “Mat for Mayor” campaign for the Harry H. Baker Boys and Girls club. The cost-$7 per plate-is a bargain because you’ll get to eat well with your neighbors and help support a worthy cause.

Call 559-760-4077 to get more information.

With the warm weather upon us those pestering mosquitoes are coming out. Here are a few tips that may help relieve some of the annoyance. 

This has to be one of the most entertaining mayoral fundraisers yet.

Come out on Wednesday, May 21 at midnight (yes, that’s right midnight) for a premier of the new movie “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” at Met Cinemas in Oakhurst. If you really want to get your Indiana Jones fix, you can come a couple hours before the midnight showing to see “Raiders of the Lost Ark” as well. Doors open at 8pm and the first movie starts at 9pm and there will be an hour intermission between the two movies. The cost for both movies is $15, with $7 of that money going towards the “Mat for Mayor” campaign. While Mat is “running” for mayor, Indy will be running from the bad guys in Peru when the Cold War is at its height.

The fourth part of the Indiana Jones franchise stars (of course) Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett and Shia LeBeouf. Harrison began portraying adventurer Indiana Jones in the 1980s. The first Indy movie was “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”. This was followed by “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, which also starred Sean Connery.

If we don’t keep our area clean, who will? First and foremost it is important not to litter, but of course we know that everyone does not do this. It is not fair, but in order to keep our area looking good, sometimes we do have to clean up the messes that someone else has made.

With that in mind, the Community Roadside Litter Clean-up will take place this Saturday, May 17 from 8 am until Noon. You will be able to pick up trash bags at the following locations: the Oakhurst Branch Library, the Coarsegold Tepee, the North Fork Post Office and the Bass Fork Mini Mart. There are some areas in North Fork, Coarsegold and Ahwahnee that are in need to attention, so keep that is mind as you decide where you want to help. Call Mountain Area Information at 559-877-3424 for more information.

When you have filled your bag(s), you should place them so that they are not in the road. There will be trucks that will come to pick up the trash. Then pat yourself and your companions on the back for a job well done. Take yourselves out for ice cream or plan some other treat as a reward for your selflessly volunteering your time to make our community look a little better.

In these days when gas prices are soaring, many people are looking for alternate modes of transportation. Some people adapted the bike-riding habit years ago; others are just catching on. Either way, it cannot hurt to consider new ways to get where you need to go. Biking is not only better for the environment; it can also create a healthier you.

May is Bike Month, May 12-16, 2008 is Bike-to-Work Week, with May 15 being highlighted Bike-to-Work Day.

Here are some ways you can take part in Bike Month in May and beyond-

-Follow the example of Sacramento, CA and track community biking miles.
-Have a progressive dinner with bikers traveling and eating along a pre-determined trail.
-Have a bike parade on your block.
-Ride your bike to the library and get a book about cycling.
-Teach a child how to ride a bike.
-Go to a cycling race.
-Make a bicycle-themed dessert.
-Set up a scavenger hunt for cyclers.
-Help to clean up litter on a bike trail.
-Donate a bike helmet to someone who needs one.

For more ideas visit the Bike League website.

In continuation to the post last Friday.

Sadly, a mere nine years after the first official Mother’s Day was celebrated, Anna Jarvis became a major opponent of what the holiday had become.  She wanted to keep the holiday simple, yet commercialization became rampant and this was quite different than how she had envisioned her original idea.
 
Mother’s Day is now the most popular day of the entire year to dine out at a restaurant.  American’s are expected to pay $3.51 billion dollars dining out on Mother’s Day.  Most people dine out for brunch or dinner.   It is by far the most commercially successful holiday that is celebrated in the United States, even surpassing Christmas.  Americans will spend approximately 68 million on greeting cards this Mother’s Day.  There is expected to be approximately $2.6 billion spent on flowers.  There will be approximately $1.53 billion spent on spa treatments and other lovely pampering gifts for Mom.

Mother’s everywhere work hard and deserve all the thanks that they can be given.  The commercialism is certainly a far cry from the day of rest for Mom’s that was what Anna Jarvis set out to accomplish in 1908, but everyone seems to enjoy pampering their Mom on one special day.

Here’s wishing all Mom’s a Happy Mother’s Day….no matter how you decide to celebrate it.

The place to be on May 17, 2008, is Wasuma Elementary School where you can celerbrate life and join the fight against cancer. Each year the American Cancer Society, with the help of many local  volunteers put on the event national known as Relay For Life^®. It’s a time and place where people come to celebrate those who have survived cancer, remember those we’ve lost, and fight back against a disease that touches all our lives.

Join this year and be a part of the celebration and fight for life.

Your involvement will help the American Cancer Society work towards a mission of eliminating cancer and will support much needed services in our community. If you want to be a part of the fight against cancer or your interested in learning more or receiving an invitation, please email Rebecca Morris at rebecca.morris@oakhurstmed.net

A Mother’s Day History Lesson Part I Of II

Mothers’ Day is celebrated on various days in various ways depending on what country you reside in.  In the United States, Mother’s Day is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May.
 
Originally it was inspired by the British Mother’s Day which is also called “Mothering Sunday”.  In 1858, Ann Jarvis who was a young Appalachian homemaker from West Virginia attempted to improve sanitation through what she called “Mothers’ Work Days”.  She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitation conditions and tried to help reconcile both the Confederate and Union neighbors.  It was originally intended as a call to unite women against war.  In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation which was a call for peace and disarmament.    She did not ever receive formal recognition for a “Mother’s Day for Peace” that she sought.

After Ann Jarvis passed away 1907, her daughter Anna Jarvis, began to work to find a way to honor her mother as well as all mothers.  She wanted to make it a simple celebration to show appreciation for all her mother had done for her.   Her efforts paid off and led to the first recognized Mother’s Day.  The first Mother’s Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia on May 10, 1908.  Other states began to declare Mother’s Day an official holiday beginning in 1912.  In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day as a day for all American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons have died in war.

Please check back on Monday for the conclusion to this post.