The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Monterey Peninsula Friends Meeting are holding a Peace Lantern Ceremony, on Sunday August 5th from 7 to 9pm. This commemoration is held each august throughout Japan and, for the last two years at Lovers’ Point Cove, Pacific Grove.
What will we get in it’s place? Another art gallery? A bistro? Come on, think!
After a 34-year run, Pacific Grove’s Hallmark store is closing its doors.
Customers lined up throughout the day to take advantage of a closing sale which started Thursday morning. Most items in the shop, including greeting cards and gifts, were marked down 20 percent.
The shop’s last scheduled day of business will be Sept. 15.
Are those Day-glo posters still available? Seems they are getting passed around a lot . .
Pacific Grove is trying to avoid declaring a financial emergency.
Council members are scheduled to meet Wednesday night to decide weather or not to call for an election to try to solve the problem.
There are eight solutions on the table for council members to choose from, including raising the parcel tax, the tot tax, admissions taxes and hiking the business licensing fee.
Readers of www.pacificgrove.com/forums have a few ideas
Casino
Transform one of the low enrollment schools to a prison
Grow & sell Monarch Medicinal Marijuana at the Butterfly Trees
John Denver Memorial RV Park
Six Flags Over Asilomar
The City Council unanimously rejected installation of parking meters on Central Avenue; but not before laying the groundwork for what may be future problems including more budget challenges.
As an alternative to the lost meter revenue, Councilperson Scott Miller suggested changing the parking sign time limit from two hours to ninety minutes, saying “our parking enforcement guy made a killing down there. He would write 64 tickets a day and many of them from there” (Scott Miller was speaking as to the time he was Chief of Police). Wasn’t the two hour limit for parking on Central Avenue imposed to allow ample time for people to have a meal and do some leisurely shopping without fear of citation?
That was the intention of the two hour limits – however it looks like businesses take up a majority of two hour spots, leaving a precious few for those “leisurely shoppers”
?
Wine will be served at the next Pacific Grove Artwalk scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 10, said Artwalk organizers.
In May, wine was banned during the regular showcase of the town’s art galleries after Police Chief Darius Engles sent a letter to the Chamber of Commerce informing the organization that without licenses, merchants could not legally provide alcohol to the public during the event
About 50 people packed the Central Avenue Bakery for the second Coffee Shop Talk, a new event giving residents who don’t always show up at City Council meetings a chance to ask tough questions or simply make their points in an atmosphere without overhead projectors, gavels or microphones.
One topic was a proposed new farmers market for Lighthouse Avenue.
“I am at a loss to know why the city wants to have a farmer’s market,” resident Ellen Coile said. “We need another farmers market in this area like we need another golf course.”
. . or like we need another art gallery or Mexican restaurant.
Another meeting is scheduled for August 13, 6:30 p.m. at Black Forest Espresso in the Country Club Gate Shopping Center.
Sorry mayor, there are no longtime residents left. The charm is increasingly phony.
This week’s Feast of Lanterns opening ceremonies had just that feel. On a weekday afternoon, while most people were at work, about 100 residents gathered at Chautauqua Hall to celebrate.
Older women in Chinese costumes prepared large bowls of punch while the festival’s royal court was introduced to the crowd. They invited everyone to a street dance and an ice cream social, among other gaieties. Girls performed dances.
The parents of each of the princesses and the queen stood in the back, waving when their daughters were introduced.
The scene could have been right out of a black-and-white photo.
“Does it ever occur to you that we are Leave It To Beaver-land?” Cort said. “Yeah, we are. People stop their lives for the little things … We value quality of life. We value those kinds of ’50s things. We just don’t want them to go away.”
On July 25, Olga Ospina was walking Lulu on a leash when the other dog, owned by Donna Marie Bazan of Rancho Palos Verdes, jumped through an open car window and attacked her Maltese. Ospina was bitten on the hand when she tried to break up the fight, but McGuirk wouldn’t elaborate on the extent of her injuries. Ospina has been staying with family in Southern California and could not be reached for comment.
Pacific Grove City Manager Jim Colangelo said police chief Darius Engles has already determined the dog is vicious. Colangelo said he has appointed Carmelita Garcia as the hearing officer in the case. Garcia will listen to both accounts of the attack and will determine what exactly should be done with the Lab, he said.
“The dog could be banished” from the city, Colangelo said. Or it could be ordered to be euthanized.
In P.G.’s attempt to copy Carmel in the dog-accessible area, did people ever think that all dogs are not friendly to each other?
Anyway – it’s a civil matter.
… other traditions remained, such as the Royal Court’s enactment of “The Legend of the Blue Willow,” a romance involving a princess who drowns herself when her father forbids her from marrying her poor lover. Layne describes the story, based on a famous ceramic pattern, as an ancient Chinese myth.
In fact, according to Williams’ research, the story is not a Chinese legend at all: Both the blue willow pattern, and the story to explain it, were fabricated in the UK.
Another festival tradition puts the mayor in stereotypical Asian attire. This year Mayor Dan Cort plans to don a Chinese robe – and if he can’t find it, he says, he’ll wear a Japanese one – to kick off the July 27 street dance. “There was an uncomfortable history with our Chinese immigrants,” he admits. “We hope that celebrations like the Feast of Lanterns honor the contributions of the Chinese to Pacific Grove.”
Doctoral student Williams views the dynamic in psychological terms. “It’s an interesting juxtaposition to have this celebration of the Chinese at the same time that a legal mechanism was taken to burn them out,” he says. “There are various possibilities for why any group of people will celebrate the aesthetics of what they’re in the process of destroying.”
From the PG Bulletin:
do not place blankets, chairs etc., on the beach to save space for Feast of Lanterns until Saturday morning, July 28. All items placed prior to Saturday morning may be removed.
Picture from Wednesday night, 2005:
From www.feastoflanterns.com (do check out the belly dancer videos there):
Wednesday, July 25th, Chautauqua Hall.
– Opening Ceremonies, 1:00.
Thursday, July 26th Chautauqua Hall.
– Feast of Salads 11:30.
– Children’s Chalk Fest the “Feast of Art” 2:00.
Friday, July 27th, Caledonia Park.
– Children’s Pet Parade – gather at 2:00, parade begins at 2:30.
Friday, July 27th, Congress & Lighthouse.
– Street Dance – 6:30-9:00.
Saturday, July 28th, Lovers Point Park.
– Children’s Activities – 11:00.
Saturday, July 28th, Lovers Point Park.
– Feast of Lanterns Food Booths – 12:00 – 6:30pm.
Saturday, July 28th, Lovers Point Beach.
– Pier Entertainment – 12:00 – 7:00.
Saturday, July 28th, Lovers Point Beach.
– Feast of Lanterns Pageant, Fireworks – 8:00 – Dark.
Also see Snick’s annual Feast Of Flashlights comic at www.93950.com/cog