By Neil Rubenstein
Observer Columnist
Theo and I just returned from a great and interesting vacation to Georgia, South Carolina and Florida lasting almost four months. In Nahunta, Georgia we were invited to a high school ROTC flight program where we addressed three classes for an hour each from my perspective as an Army NCO in an Armored Cavalry Regiment.
We also spoke at a city commendation award presentation to Angela Lee for spearheading a group to beautify Waycross, Georgia. Theo and I spoke to the mayor about Miss Lee’s next idea – to start a children’s after-school reading program using books donated or purchased from Friends of the Library, the Board of Education, Reading is Fundamental (RIF), and retired school teachers. Classes would be at her salon and last an hour. There is a lot to do to set this up and get it off the ground.
Finally, the mayor explained to us one of his ideas. It seems in Georgia when people are released from prison they cannot get their driver’s license until they have paid all the money due the court and/or the victim. As we all know, no license, no car, no job, no money. Surely we can come to a compromise. By the way, Mayor Billups graduated from UCLA.
In the weeks to come I’ll discuss the people, historical places, food, etc. we encountered during our trip.
Do you have to be at work on Friday? Well, I don’t since I retired from the Boeing Company over 14 years ago. So, we are making plans to see Sara Evans on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. at the Chumash Casino Resort, (800) 248-6274. Theo and I just love her beautiful voice.
Fall is here so I’m planning to travel up the 101 freeway on Oct. 19 to the Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks Street Fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Over 370 vendors will be displaying arts and crafts on Moorpark Road from Wilbur to Hillcrest Roads, and with free admission. Your bargain purchases will support over 70 charitable causes.
How many of us read on Aug. 4, 2014 that German Brigadier General Markus Laubenthal was made chief of staff for the U.S. Army Europe? This is the first time such a position has been held by a non-American.
Continuing, Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Viktor Bondarev stated more than 200 new war planes and helicopters will be received by them by the end of 2014. Russia also announced this summer that their navy will add more than 50 new vessels by Dec. 31, 2014.
To counter Putin, Germany has absorbed almost 1/3 of the Dutch army. It is felt this will strengthen NATO.
Are you coming to a historic Halloween show? It’s on Sat., Oct. 18 at the Burbank Historical Society, 1100 West Clark Ave., at 1:30 p.m. The show will last approximately two hours and attendees will enjoy silent films, early talkies, and historic recordings on the 1908 Edison phonograph. Free, free, free admission.
We love jazz and for those that also enjoy good music, a rare treat is coming to Culver City on Sunday, Nov. 2 from 2 p.m. to 5. Appearing in the Great Room of the Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum will be Mimi Melnick’s Double M Jazz Salon featuring the Bobby Bradford Mo’tet. Tickets are $20 and seating is limited. Check out http://www.claytonmuseum.org.
For a thought-provoking exploration of Race and Space in Los Angeles, be sure to attend the film program at the Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum on Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. It highlights cinema in LA from the 1940s through 1970s covering a diverse range of neighborhoods, people and subjects, from local slum dwellings in the 1940s, Watts in the 1960s and East L.A. in the 1970s.
For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in that website’s search box.
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