St. Andrew’s to host Celtic Sunday service
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ben Lomond is inviting the community to its Celtic Sunday service on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 10am.
The service will include bagpiping, reflections on Celtic spirituality and its relevance for today. Holy Communion will be offered to all, reflecting Celtic hospitality.
Following the service, guests can stay to hear the talented family band Dance Around Molly, who will play traditional Irish music.
St. Andrew’s is located at 101 Riverside Ave., at the corner of Glen Arbor, in the center of Ben Lomond. For more information, visit saintandrewsbenlomond.org.
Draft Hazard Mitigation Plan available for review
Santa Cruz County, in partnership with local cities and special districts, has released a draft update of the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJHMP) for public review and comment.
The MJHMP is a comprehensive roadmap for reducing risks from natural hazards, including floods, wildfires, earthquakes, coastal hazards, drought and landslides.
The updated plan reflects lessons learned from recent disaster events, new climate science and local development trends. Its purpose is twofold: to identify strategies that protect residents, neighborhoods, and infrastructure from repetitive disaster damage; and to maintain eligibility for federal funding through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs.
Public participation is essential to ensuring the plan reflects the needs and priorities of all Santa Cruz County communities. By sharing their perspective, residents can help shape strategies that make neighborhoods safer, protect local businesses and strengthen the ability to recover from future disasters. Feedback will directly influence how the region prepares for, responds to and reduces risks from natural hazards.
The deadline to provide input is Oct. 20. The draft plan is available online at mitigatehazards.com/santacruzmjhmp/santacruzmjhmp-public-draft/.
The MJHMP represents a collaborative effort among the County of Santa Cruz, the Cities of Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville, as well as local partners including Soquel Creek Water District, Scotts Valley Water District, Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency, Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz Port District and Cabrillo College.
Boulder Creek orchestra presents ‘Fall and Fantasy’ concerts
The Concertino Strings, Boulder Creek’s 25-player string orchestra, features “Fall and Fantasy” for its next concert series.
Concerts are Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 11:30am and Saturday, Oct. 25, at 3pm at the Boulder Creek United Methodist Church, 12855 Boulder St., in resonant 150-year-old redwood acoustics. The concert program is about an hour long, casual and admission is free, with donations gratefully accepted.
The orchestra will offer a smorgasbord of music in many styles. The concert will feature six composers, four conductors/leaders and numerous soloists, including Jennifer Cass, harp soloist in Martin Gaskell’s “Fantasia for Harp and Strings”; Mary Kay Wilkinson in “Sombor” by Les Thaler, honoring the late local violinist Anna Sombor; Joanne Tanner in Vivaldi’s “Autumn”; and members of the Open Heartstrings Band in “Pig Ankles Rag” by Mamie Williams, 1905, arranged by Renata Bratt. Also, there will be spooky surprises like “Halloween” by composer Charles Ives and “This is Halloween” movie music by Danny Elfman.
For more information about the orchestra, visit concertinostrings.com.
‘Human Library’ set in Santa Cruz for United Against Hate Week
In celebration of United Against Hate Week, local organizers are inviting the community to be a reader in the Human Library on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 1-4pm, at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., in Santa Cruz.
At the Human Library, guests can borrow books, just like at any other library. However, the difference is that the books are living people with personal stories and experiences from their own life. Every book is drawn from a group in society who are negatively marginalized or targeted with (or vulnerable to) prejudice and discrimination because of their identity, lifestyle, occupation, social status, religious belief, sexuality, ethnic origin or something similar.
“Everyone has prejudices, but not everyone has the opportunity to find out whether what they believe about other people is true within a safe space. That is the core of what the Human Library offers,” according to organizers.
Drop in for one or more 30-minute conversations with up to three different “books.” The last reading starts at 3:30pm. Activities for identity and intersectionality exploration will be available between readings. Registration is recommended and walk-ins are welcome.
This event is part of United Against Hate Week (Oct. 19-25); a call for a week of local civic action by people in every community to “stop the hate and implicit biases that are a dangerous threat to the safety and civility of our neighborhoods and community,” stated organizers.
It is presented through a collaboration between the Human Library, the Conflict Resolution Center, the Resource Center for Nonviolence, Santa Cruz County United for Safe and Inclusive Communities and Santa Cruz Public Libraries. For more information and to register, visit the SCPL calendar entry for the event santacruzpl.libnet.info/event/14307927.
