Our love for masks began with the...

Our love for masks began with the Lone Ranger. Once upon a time, in the East, we strode into the kitchen, plastic six-shooter at our side, and announced to our mother that we had just shot Maddie, the family dog. “We had to,” we told her, “she was on the furniture.” The Lone Ranger’s riding days ended after dad discovered that someone had taken his black silk polo shirt and cut two eyeholes in it. We were dumbfounded. No one ever spanked the Lone Ranger before. “Don’t call us kemosabe, it ain’t gonna help,” he said. In college we wore a mask of Albert Einstein around a house that we shared with six other lost souls, thinking it would help with homework. The D’s just kept coming. Over the years we’ve worn the likenesses of Popeye, Goofy, Bullwinkle, Yosemite Sam, Ringo and Nixon. Let’s face it. Where else would we be today than the Craft & Folk Art Museum’s Festival of Masks? It’s being held at 11 a.m. at Hancock Park, Wilshire Boulevard and Curson Avenue in Los Angeles. The celebration of the city’s ethnic diversity will feature an opening procession, music, dance and food. Admission is free. For information call (213) 937-5544.