Interested in participating in some kind volunteer project in Our Town

Outdoorsy? Interested in participating in some kind volunteer project in Our Town? Volunteers in Parks (V.I.P.) and the Park Enhancement Program (P.E.P.) are for community groups, individuals, and businesses. Help is always needed to repair park facilities, remove trash, paint, landscape, etc and creative project ideas are especially welcome ($500 grants for park improvement projects can be made available through the Parks Division).V.I.P. and P.E.P. applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and are available online at www.culvercity.org/parks/parkshome.asp?sec=gov. Or just call (310) 253-6472 for more information.

The Culver-Palms Family YMCA’s Active Adults Program will present Program Analyst Odille Hansen, who will lead a discussion on “Understanding Health Care Insurance Reform” on Wednesday, September 23 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the branch, 4500 So. Sepulveda Blvd. The discussion will cover all the pertinent issues that make this such a hot topic. Odille started at the Rand Corporation and worked as Program Analyst in higher education, the Federal government (GAO) and the Board of Education at the L.A. Unified School District. The discussion is free and open to the community. The Culver-Palms Family YMCA is located at 4500 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City 90213, (310) 390-3604.

Congratulations to The Willows Community School, a non-profit, independent school serving grades developmental kindergarten through eighth grade, marking its 15 year anniversary in Culver City on September 19. The Willows community kicks off its year- long celebration with an All-School Picnic this Sunday at Veterans Park, where hundreds of current and former students, families, faculty and staff are expected to gather to mark the date. The school is located at 8509 Higuera Street in Culver City.

A slight touch of Autumn’s in the air for mid-September babies Don Chandler, Agnes Agzarian, Emery Johnson, Ann Duncan, Buddy Carranza, Linda Gill, Phuong Pham, Patricia Richmond, Kristin Berger, Alan Boltuch, Monica Schiel, Ken Chastain, Ross Berger, David Call, Charles Callender, Jaime Perez, Darren Siegel, Stephanie Lowry, Lee Leighton, Molly Ochoa, Selene Soler, Israel Garcia, Laura Arnold-Valadez, Chang Moo Lee, Brian Eleazar, and Joseph Schuster.

You can always feel safe riding Culver CityBus, and here’s just one reason why: Our Transportation Department Equipment Maintenance & Fleet Services Division has been named the fifth best fleet in North America! Out of 5,000 municipal fleets competing for 2009 honors (a record number), all adhering to 12 different and intense qualifiers (identifying exceptional qualities specifically in productivity, accountability and efficiency goals), we met or exceeded the required objectives and were named the fifth best. This is a remarkable achievement, especially when considering there were much larger fleets the Division competed against. Congratulations go out to our Transportation Department!

Parents can get the back to school blues too, and here’s a way to commiserate with your peers while helping to fund some important school programs: You can “Sip for Our Schools” on Saturday, September 26 at the home of John and Nancy Kuechle, Culver City Education Foundation stalwarts – and wine lovers. For just $35 per person there will be three white wines from three countries and three reds from three countries to taste, plus artisan cheeses and blues music to enjoy. Space is limited, so reserve now at ccef@ccusd.org or call Karen at (310) 842-4220, ext. 4212.

The Culver Crest Neighborhood Association is holding its general meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Marycrest Manor. Among the agenda items will be an update on Westfield Culver City (formerly known simply as “Fox Hills Mall”), with General Manager Chuck Martinez on hand to tell about the new layout and stores; how Measure EE will impact schools and pocketbooks; nomination of candidates for the CCNA board of directors; and a Neighborhood Watch report by Lt. Steve Williams, CCPD,

The Culver City Exchange Club’s program last week presented Tracy Woodbury and Cherise Payne from Upward Bound, introduced by Erin Popkin, an alum of the program. Upward Bound, currently with one facility in Santa Monica, provides transitional housing and services for working but homeless families on the Westside. Early in 2010 they will be opening a site on Washington Blvd. in West Culver City that will house 17 families who can stay for up to 90 days. In keeping with their goal to provide up-to-date topics of interest, next week’s Exchange Club speaker will feature Culver City Police Chief Don Pedersen.