November 13, 2008

NEWS BRIEFS

AVCS to host annual Breakfast with Santa

Celebrate the beginning of the Holiday Season this year with your family and friends at the annual Almaden Valley Counseling Service’s Breakfast with Santa. The AVCS’ fundraising event will again be held at the Almaden Golf and Country Club.

The deliciously popular Breakfast Buffet and Pancake Station will be offered again, as well as the opportunity for children to have their pictures taken with Santa. Enjoy caroling from a local children’s choir as well as the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for a fully decorated Christmas tree.

The AVCS Auxiliary is the fundraising arm of the Almaden Valley Counseling Service and their continued dedication in organizing events throughout the year is a key component to our ability to continue to provide affordable counseling services to the youth and families of our community as well as the greater Santa Clara County area.

So mark your calendars for Saturday, Dec. 6 from 9 – 11 am. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for children (ages 2-10), and $10 for children under 2…if you need a high chair or want to have a picture with Santa and other goodies.
Don’t wait to send in your reservation – this event sells out early!

Tables are for eight and reservations are due by Dec. 1. If you would like to attend, a reservation form is available to download at www.avcounseling.org (under Fundraising Events), or call the agency at (408) 997-0200.

All proceeds will benefit the Almaden Valley Counseling Services.

Winter movie season to return in December

Team San Jose announced its winter movie series at the California Theatre this December. Save the date and plan to attend this year’s movies for only $5 per person, beginning Wednesday, Dec. 17 running through Sunday, Dec. 28. Guests will receive a coupon for a free treat upon entry.

In addition to experiencing a classic movie, a new Wurlitzer organ has been fully restored for guests to enjoy in the lobby in the California Theatre before each show. This classic piece was once the main auditorium organ in the Fox Riverside Theater. The restored organ is a wonderful asset to the classic theatre.

Don’t miss this unique theatre experience. The California Theater is located at 345 South 1st Street in Downtown San Jose.

Located in the heart of downtown San Jose, the renovated California Theatre celebrated its grand re-opening in September 2004. Originally built in 1927, the 1,119-seat movie palace has been transformed into a major performing arts center by adding state-of-the-art audio and video technology to the original structure. More holiday movie information will be available soon at www.sanjose.org.

Recycling tires the environmentally friendly way

The city of San Jose and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency will join Borgata Recycling to celebrate the opening of its new processing facility in the Monterey Corridor Redevelopment Project Area on Saturday, Nov. 15.

The program, which features Mayor Chuck Reed, District 7 Councilmember Madison Nguyen, John Weis, the assistant executive director of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and Brian Chrisman, president and CEO of Borgata Recycling, will begin at 11 with speeches and the ribbon cutting, followed by a reception and facility tours at 1919 Monterey Road, Suite 20 (at Stauffer Boulevard).

The San Jose Redevelopment Agency and the city of San Jose assisted Borgata to identify a 19,000-square-foot manufacturing and warehouse space for Borgata’s new tire waste recycling center. The site is situated within the Monterey Corridor Redevelopment Project Area, the State of California’s designated Enterprise Zone.

Borgata currently employs a staff of 15 at its new facility, and plans to expand its workforce to 71 employees over the next five years.

In addition to providing recycled construction materials from used tires (Enviro-blocks), Borgata Recycling is developing a new technology that will convert used tires into diesel fuel.

Borgata services will support San Jose’s Green Vision, which includes goals to increase the number of clean-tech jobs and to convert waste into alternative energy. Since the company’s launch in July, Borgata has been able to divert 2,805 tons of used tires from local landfills.

For more information on Borgata Recycling, visit www.borgatarecycling.com.

Children’s Musical Theater opens with Disney classic

Children’s Musical Theater San Jose presents Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” on Nov. 20-23 at the Montgomery Theater in downtown San Jose (corner of Market and San Carlos streets).

In the Alice and Wonderland production, Charlie Ibsen, left, plays the White Rabbit, Noah Lerner as the Mad Hatter, Mandy McDonell as Alice and Nora Vellis as the Queen of Hearts in CMT’s November production of “Alice in Wonderland.”

This fast-paced stage adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland” features updated dialogue and new arrangements of such classic Disney songs as “I’m Late,” “The Un-Birthday Song” and “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.”

CMT’s production features over 100 young performers, ages 8-13 and is directed by CMT alum and seasoned performer, Ian Leonard, who performs professionally throughout the Bay Area with AMTSJ, TheatreWorks and Pacific Coast Rep. He is a favorite among CMT performers and has pulled out all the stops on this imaginative journey down the rabbit hole.

Performance schedule is as follows: Thursday and Friday, Nov. 20 and Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 22 at noon, 4 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Nov. 23 at 1 and 5 p.m. Tickets are now on sale and priced at $18 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.cmtsj.org or call (408) 288-5437. Tickets may be purchased in person at the ticket services office at American Musical Theater San Jose (1717 Technology Drive, San Jose) Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or at the Montgomery Theater, one hour prior to performances. CMT’s production of “Alice in Wonderland” is generously supported by the city of San Jose.

Over the past 40 years, Children’s Musical Theater San Jose has grown to become one of the premier theater companies for youth in the nation, providing performance and training opportunities for more than 1,000 children each year. The company has been recognized five times by the National Endowment for the Arts for Access to Artistic Excellence.