THIS WEEKEND
Korean War vets
Attention Korean War veterans (1950 to 1953). If you served, you may be eligible for the Korean Ambassador Peace Medal. The medal is an expression of appreciation from the Korean government to U.S. service men and women who served in the Korean conflict. To be eligible, veterans must have served during the Korean War from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953. The deadline for the application, which is available at calegion.org/html/korean-peace-medal.html, is Sept. 23. Applications can be mailed to the South Korean consulate in San Francisco, 3500 Clay St., San Francisco, Calif. 94118, or by faxing the application to (415) 921-2251.
ESL assistance
Speak more English, learn new words and make many friends as a member of Milpitas Public Library’s ESL Conversation Club. Members of this free club meet 10-11 a.m. every Friday in the conference room on site at 160 N. Main St. This club works to improve listening and speaking skills for all levels of English language learners. Topics include American culture, life skills and current events. For more information, call the library at (408) 262-1171, extension 3616.
Guided meditation
Come for a free guided meditation session every Sunday from 3-5 p.m.,”Live life with joy, purpose and confidence.” In these sessions you will learn powerful but simple breathing techniques to eliminate stress and experience a guided meditation. This workshop, held at the Cracolice Building, 540 S. Abel St., offers an opportunity to learn about the nature of the mind and the keys to deal with stress in everyday life. For more information or to confirm your seat in the workshop, call Usha Ara at (408) 520-1674.
NEXT WEEK
Meditation workshops
Free meditation workshops, sponsored by Science of Spirituality, will be held on Thursday evenings from 7-9 p.m. at the India Community Center, 525 Los Coches St. No fees, donations, equipment or special clothing are needed.
Fair housing workshop
Come to a fair housing, know your rights workshop at the Milpitas Public Library auditorium, 160 N. Main St., on Sept. 4 from 1-2 p.m. Topics covered will include (1) who is protected under the fair housing laws; (2) what types of discriminatory housing practices may be illegal and what you can do about it; (3) making housing accessible to seniors and persons with disabilities; (4) rights and options if you are facing a fair housing problem; and (5) free counseling, information and referral and housing discrimination investigation services available to Milpitas and Fremont residents through Project Sentinel. Informational literature will be distributed. No reservations are required. Questions? Contact Caroline at Project Sentinel at ccohen@housing.org
Fair housing questions? Project Sentinel will have a resource table set up at the Milpitas library from 3-6 p.m. on Sept. 4 to answer questions about fair housing, pass out brochures about your fair housing rights and provide Project Sentinel’s free fair housing counseling services provided to the Milpitas and Fremont community.
Golden Hills meeting
The Golden Hills Art Association will hold its next meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room of the Milpitas Police Department, 1275 N. Milpitas Blvd.
The program for the evening will be presented by Timon Sloane, professional artist/painter known for his luminous landscapes of the California coast and interior. Sloane paints to explore and interpret the unique beauty found within particular moments in time. His paintings reflect the world as he experiences it.
Sloane was born in Los Altos and grew up in a home and a community of creative people. After graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1986 he gravitated toward the technical field and started working for internet companies in Silicon Valley. Over time art became a more important part of his life, so in 2008 he quit his job to pursue painting full time. He turned to plein air painting in an attempt to force himself to paint looser, bolder and faster. After he shifted the balance of his activities from Internet jobs to painting he became adept at working on location with either pastels or oils. Each medium offered unique benefits for interpreting a subject.
He has paintings in many galleries and participates in various art shows throughout the Bay Area. His demonstration will be an oil painting showing how to capture realistic illumination in a painting. The public is invited to attend free of charge to meet the artist and see some of the paintings.
LATE SEPTEMBER/BEYOND
Annual lu’au
Hui Ilima’s 55th Annual Lu’au will be held on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. at I.E.S. Hall, 1401 E. Santa Clara St. San Jose. Enjoy an all-you-can-eat sit-down dinner with favorite Hawaiian foods and traditional lu’au entertainment for tickets ranging from $20-$50. Vendors will be selling Hawaiian gifts and leis. Purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win a trip to Hawaii. Wear aloha attire if you have it. For tickets and information, please call (408) 472-1422.
Council forum
A forum for candidates running for Milpitas City Council will be held Saturday, Sept. 13 from 1-4 p.m. at Milpitas Public Library, 160 N. Main St. The candidates will state their positions on the issues and then the public will have time to ask questions.
Samuel Ayer reunion
The 10th annual Samuel Ayer High School reunion for all classes will take place at Cardoza Park on Saturday, Sept. 20, from 9 a.m. to dusk. Call Butch Janitz at (408) 262-8124 for more information.
Energy Run 5k/10k
The Reciprocal Energy Fitness third annual Fun Run/Walk/Jog Event will be held on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 8 a.m. This is planned as a grand event of fun, friends and fitness. Take off from the start line and cruise down a flat paved path through a community park. Then everyone will make their way onto the scenic Berryessa Creek nature trail. All participants will receive water, food, a T-shirt and a certificate of participation. Medals will also be awarded to the male and female first finisher in both the 5k and 10k.
Those wishing to support their Fremont participants on the sidelines can do so for free. To register online visit, re-fitness.com/RegistrationFNRN003.html.
Plein Air Paint Out
In its efforts to promote art in the community, the Fremont Art Association will hold a one day Plein Air Paint Out at the Dominican Sisters’ 26-acre estate behind Mission San Jose at 43326 Mission Blvd., on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in Fremont. Artists will paint until 2 p.m. followed by an exhibit and reception in the courtyard from 2:30-3:30 p.m. The public is welcome. The event is being co-sponsored by The Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, Olive Hyde Art Guild, the Fremont Cultural Arts Council, and Mission Coffee Roasting Co., which will provide coffee and mini-pastries for the artists at registration time. It will be open to both FAA members and non-members, with members paying a $20 entry fee and non-members paying $30.
All two-dimensional mediums will be accepted including oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels and mixed media.
Pre-registration is encouraged, with a mail-in registration deadline of Sept. 10. Registration applications and rules can be picked up at the FAA Gallery, at 37697 Niles Blvd., or from FremontArtAssociation.org. For more information, call David at (510) 656-4256.
Hearing loss meeting
Hearing Loss Association of America-Silicon Valley will meet Sept. 10 at the Masonic Center, 2500 Masonic Drive, San Jose. They will be celebrating the chapter’s 30th anniversary. They will have presentations by incoming board President Meg Wallhage and Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager. They will recognize four charter members and show chapter highlights. A potluck will start at noon. Browse the library and white elephant tables. Meetings are looped and captioned. Contact Earl Mizuguchi at earlmiz@sbcglobal.net for more information.
Family center and children’s festival
The grand opening for the Sunnyhills Family Resource Center, and the Children’s Festival, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Sunnyhills United Methodist Church, 355 Dixon Road. Join for the grand opening of the new Sunnyhills Family Resource Center serving Milpitas. There will be a variety of entertainers and activities including: Andy Z, performers from Jensen Dance Studio, Potter the Otter, resources for families, food and other activities.
For more information, call (408) 684-4785 or visit healthtrust.org/services/learning-together-initative/.
Special needs respite
Children with special needs and their siblings are welcome to come to the Mount Olive Ministries, 1989 E. Calaveras Blvd. for an afternoon of free fun on Satuday, Oct. 4 from 1-4:30 p.m. to give parents an afternoon off.
Take a break, get away, do some shopping and breathe while your children (developmental ages 1 to 14) play games, make crafts and have fun with music and snacks.
All activities will be led by trained staff and volunteers. Children must be pre-registered because there is limited space. Children with food allergies should bring a snack with them. For more information contact Linda Tatsuno at ltatsuno@sbcglobal.net.
Gourdfest
The third annual Gourdfest will be presented Oct. 11 and Oct. 12 at Uesugi Pumpkin Patch, 14485 Monterey Highway in San Martin, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Featured will be a “make and take” for children, where for a nominal fee, children can make a small art object from a gourd, and take it away with them. Also featured will be educational presentations and demonstrations for children and adults alike, as well as booths where craft ready and finished art gourds are available for sale. In addition, off site classes in gourd art are available for adults ages 16 and over.
The event is sponsored by the Calabash Club of Silicon Valley. For more information, visit gourdfest.com.
Bicycle education
The East Bay Bicycle Coalition is offering free bike skills classes for adults and teens in the Fukaya Room at Fremont Main Library, 2400 Stevenson Blvd., throughout 2014.
These are all two-hour sessions taught by instructors certified by the League of American Bicyclists. The topics include rules of the road, how to equip a bicycle, fit a helmet, avoid bike theft, bike after dark, avoid common crashes – basically anything that improves a person’s safety on a bike while also boosting their confidence level. Presenters also connect people to local resources like bike shops, biking groups, route maps, planning meetings and more.
The next session will be held Monday, Oct. 20, 6-8 p.m.
The Fremont Main Library is wheelchair accessible. The library will provide an ASL interpreter for any event with at least seven working days’ notice. Call (510) 745-1401 for more information.
