News Briefs

Volunteers needed

Volunteers are needed on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 9 a.m. to help put the holiday food boxes together for Ramona Food & Clothes Closet’s Share Your Christmas program. Those volunteering will meet at RFCC, 773 Main St. Park in the back parking lot and come through the employee gate. Call Kelly Spinks at 760-789-4458 for more information.

Winter Concert

Ramona High School’s Jazz Band, Symphonic Band and dance students will present a Winter Concert in the Charles R. Nunn Performing Arts Center at Olive Peirce Middle School, 1521 Hanson Lane, at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9. Admission is $5 per person. A silent auction will be held. Proceeds benefit the music and dance programs at the school.

Toys for Tots

Members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves will be in full uniform at the annual Toys for Tots drive at Ramona Airport, 2926 Montecito Road, on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sponsored by Delkin Devices, WakeWorld and Pacific Executive Aviation, the annual event at Ramona Airport accepts new unwrapped toys. Donations may include bicycles, games, dolls, stuffed animals and money to purchase additional toys.

The family event is an opportunity to meet the Marines, watch airplane take-offs and landings, view airplanes, talk with pilots, enjoy refreshments and see cars from the Ramona American Graffiti Cruise.

Equestrian center open house

The newly renovated International Equestrian Center at 16911 Gunn Stage Road in San Diego Country Estates (SDCEA) will host an open house to showcase its upgraded amenities, introduce trainers and meet the new equestrian manager, Nancy Zadrozny, on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Open to the public, the event also will include demonstrations, a used tack shop ’n swap, vendors, opportunity drawing and complimentary lunch. There will be no trailer-in fee so guests may bring their horses to try out the facility or ride the trails.

Christmas Concert

The Choral Club of San Diego will present a Christmas Concert at Ramona United Methodist Church, 3394 Chapel Lane, on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 1 p.m. Admission is free.

The congregation invites the community to “come join us for a wonderful concert presented by this awesome women’s choir.” Refreshments will be served after the concert.

Blue Christmas Service

First Congregational Church of Ramona at 404 Eighth St., the corner of Eighth and D streets, will host a Blue Christmas Service for those who might be feeling more blue than joyful this holiday season. The service will be on Sunday, Dec. 11, at 4:30 p.m. and is for those feeling the holiday blues because of a death in the family, illness, unemployment, having someone away on active duty, or something else. They will find First Congregational Church a place to celebrate Christ even in the midst of life’s wintry season.

All are welcome. For more information, call 760-789-3348.

Library art

Ramona Library is partnering with 2Create Gallery and Ramona Art Guild to provide juried art shows and has extended its deadline for art submissions in the first show. Submissions for the theme “Ramona, a Wonderful Place to Live” will be accepted until Jan. 10. The first show will be wall art only, displayed in the library from January through March. Each quarter new work will be placed in the library and a show event will be held to introduce the artists to the community.

For an application or more information, email LibraryRamona@gmail.com.

Masek earns degree

Tiffany Masek of Ramona has earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in general business at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

She and other UW-Whitewater graduates celebrated with their families and friends at commencement ceremonies in the university’s Kachel Fieldhouse.

Prescribed burn

Cal Fire and California State Park officials are preparing for a prescribed burn at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.

“The prescribed burn will occur some time within the next month or so. The timing depends upon when conditions are favorable for a safe burn,” said Superintendent Kevin Best. “A prescribed burn on Middle Peak will be visible to the majority of San Diego County residents, and I want to assure the public that this joint agency effort is being planned and managed in coordination with Cal Fire. We’ll have fire trained personnel on-site, round the clock looking after it.”

The burn is in preparation for planting approximately 30,000 native conifer seedlings this winter. The ongoing activities are part of a larger reforestation effort aimed at restoring the mixed conifer forest, 95 percent of which was devastated by the 2003 Cedar Fire.

‘Island of the Blue Dolphins’

Sara Schwebel, associate professor of English at the University of South Carolina, will be at the Julian Branch Library on Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. to discuss “Island of the Blue Dolphins,” Newbery award-winning novel by Scott O’ Dell, who was a Julian resident when he penned his first children’s novel in 1960, winning the Newbery award in 1961.

Schwebel has researched the novel to provide annotations and has published “Island of the Blue Dolphins: the Complete Reader’s Edition.” Her collaboration with partners including the National Park Service, Channel Islands National Park, and the University of South Carolina Center for Digital Humanities is building a virtual museum and digital archive centered on the novel and the historical actor upon whom it is based, the so-called Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island.

“We are excited to be hosting Ms. Schwebel as she has visited Julian several times during her research,” said Branch Manager Colleen Baker. “There are many facets to her research, and attendees will learn more about the Channel Islands, the important history within this book, and a sneak into the life of Scott O’Dell.”

For more information, contact Baker at the Julian library, 760-765-0370. The library is at 1850 state Route 78 in Julian.