FAT PARTY: Everybody knows Monday was Valentine’s...

FAT PARTY: Everybody knows Monday was Valentine’s Day. But did you know that today is another holiday? Mardi Gras enthusiasts do. Today is Fat Tuesday, traditionally the last night of Mardi Gras and the day before Lenten fasting begins. Among the Creole places celebrating: There’s a Fat Tuesday party tonight, with saxophonist Paul Carmen, at Randell’s Jazz Club at the Hutton Centre in Santa Ana. . . . Says spokesman Gary Baume: “Fat Tuesday is the post-party party. But my guess is some customers won’t know what it is.”

SUDS HEAVEN: Oceans of beer--poured a sample at a time--will be washing around the Fullerton Hofbrau this weekend. The micro-brewery and restaurant is hosting its second annual Karnival of Beers and general manager Russell Brent says nearly 50 micro-breweries in the western United States will offer their suds for sipping. Designated drivers get $8 off the regular $20 admission price and “all the food and soda they can hold.”

SPECIAL APPLE: A great influence on Jan Kraushaar was Dr. Jo Stanchfield, one of her professors at Occidental College. So Kraushaar, an experienced elementary teacher from Irvine, jumped in when Stanchfield asked her help in organizing the American Literacy Corp. First, it must raise money, but eventually, it hopes to reward teachers doing special work in literacy. . . . “Bonuses and rewards are common in the corporate world,” says Kraushaar. “But it’s not often you see a bonus for teachers.”

FENDER’S WORLD: The Fullerton Museum Center will offer a bonus to its current exhibit on the late Leo Fender, a Fullerton resident legendary for making electric guitars. On Thursday, the museum will offer three afternoon tours of Fender’s last factory. . . . It’s not the place where he perfected his electric guitar, but he worked there the last decade of his life, and his workshop remains unchanged. The center warns that reservations for the tour, at $15, are a must.