August 27, 2004

NEWS BRIEFS

Evergreen Islamic Center invites you to an open house Sept. 18

Visit the Evergreen Islamic Center, 2846 Ruby Ave., on Saturday, Sept. 18 for lunch and festivities. Hafiz Salim (Imam) leads the prayers offered five times a day at the Evergreen Masjd.

As residents of the Bay Area, we take pride in the wide variety of cultures that settle here. The Evergreen Islamic Center, located in Evergreen foothills at the intersection of Ruby and Tully, invites you to an open house on Saturday, Sept. 18, 11 a.m., at the Evergreen Islamic Center, 2846 Ruby Ave.

This organization started serving the residents of Evergreen in the mid-1990s. Primarily a place of worship for the devotees of the Islamic faith, the center operates as a satellite mosque of the South Bay Islamic Association, one of the oldest Islamic Centers of the Bay Area. The Mosque community, which is basically the people who frequent the center, comes from at least 10 different geographical origins.

“As your neighbors and our brethren in humanity, we invite you to spend a few moments of your precious time with us to allow us to introduce ourselves as to who we are, what our beliefs are, and what we as Muslims share with the rest of the wonderful people of Evergreen,” said Nayeem Sheikh. “We look forward to the opportunity to listen to your hopes and dreams for our joint future.”

All guests are invited to enjoy lunch and examine a bazaar that will feature booths with ethnic foods, henna, books, calligraphy, handicrafts, and embroidered and distinctive clothes. For children, there will be an AstroJump, face painting, gifts, etc. The program will consist of a brief presentation by Councilmember Dave Cortese. For more information, call 947-9389.

Missing trash receptacles in the Meadowlands

Some residents in the Meadowlands have reported disappearing trash receptacles during the night before the city’s garbage pick-up service can empty them. One resident of Meadowlands Lane placed his garbage outside at midnight and it was gone by 8 a.m. the next morning. With identity theft on the rise, make sure you don’t throw out any mail that lists credit card numbers or other vital financial information. If you have any information about this problem, please contact the Evergreen Times at 494-7000, ext. 203.

Councilmember Dave Cortese invites you to Day in the Park

Saturday, Oct. 16, 10 a.m.– 4 p.m.

Mark your calendar for this year’s Day in the Park, A Multicultural Festival, which will once again be held at Lake Cunningham Park, 2305 S. White Rd., on Saturday, Oct. 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Day in the Park, A Multicultural Festival, is a community-wide celebration that brings people together to enjoy a day full of activities, rich in diversity, full of talent and plentiful in ethnic food.

It’s also an information fair where the community gathers to enjoy a day of entertainment as well as meet local businesses, government and community-based organizations to learn of the services available. This event is a celebration of community, bringing the world’s diversity together in one of Evergreen’s beautiful settings.

This year, watch for the return of the FREE San Jose Firefighter’s BBQ, ethnic food booths, arts and crafts, Children’s Play Area, Ronald McDonald Show, FREE pumpkin patch, AstroJump, a Skate Park, bone marrow drive, hair drive,

Police Helicopter Air2, Fire Truck, K-9 Unit, Police Mount Unit, high school marching band, local JROTC drill team and color guard, Girl and Boy Scout troops, music, dance, live entertainment and much more.

With the tremendous success from last year’s event—including a record turnout of more than 8,000 attendees—District 8 expects an even greater turnout for 2004. Don’t miss the fun! For more information, call Kerynn Gianotti at (408) 277-5242 or kerynn.gianotti@sanjoseca.gov.

San Jose Public Library’s new online database makes locating sheet music a snap

Ever wonder who owns a copy of “Maria Elena”? How many versions there are of “Ave Maria”? Can you get hold of just the music to “Who Let the Dogs Out” and is it the big band version or the disco rendition? How many places in how many collections over how many years might you have to search?

Only one place and in no time at all if you take advantage of the innovation of San Jose Public Librarian David Kravitz who, with the aid of countless staff hours, took the considerable print music resources of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library and made them searchable online from the comfort of your home computer.

Kravitz’ creation replaces the old “title only” card index with a flexible database that allows you to search with more specificity. Now you stand an excellent chance of locating that elusive piece of sheet music you need to set the tone for your parents’ golden wedding anniversary or any other special occasion.

All you have to do is log on to www.sjlibrary.org. Click on Research, then Special Research Collections, then Music Collections Database and you’ve tapped into the mother lode, a database containing over 21,000 entries representing five different print music collections available at the King Library.

What do you do when you find what you want? Residents of California’s South Bay Area are invited to pay an in-person visit to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library to make a photocopy. Those who reside outside the library’s primary service area may contact their city’s local library to request a photocopy through Inter-Library Loan. San Jose Public Library does not lend music or mail copies to individuals from these collections.

For more information, contact the King Library Reference Connection at 808-2100.

Ages 8 to 18: Enter statewide young artist contest

Union Bank of California N.A., in partnership with Staples, invites students of all ethnicities (ages 8 to 18) to participate in its fourth annual young artist contest, in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Students simply submit an original 8.5” x 11” drawing or painting based on the theme, “Hispanic Heritage” with a completed entry form signed by a parent or legal guardian to be eligible to win cash prizes. Nine first place winners statewide will win $1,000 plus $1,000 to the winners’ school; nine second place winners receive $500 and three third place winners win $250 and prize packages provided by Staples.

Entry forms and additional information are available at your local Union Bank branch or Staples locations through Oct. 15. For more information, go to the Web at www.uboc.com.

Youth Poetry Contest explores concept of world peace

For baby boomers and their parents, the anniversary of Dec. 7 has served as a reminder that peace should never to be taken for granted. For youth coming of age today, Sept. 11 carries the same symbolic importance.

Recognizing that peace is an act of collective will, San Jose Public Library—in partnership with SJSU Library and local jazz recording and performing artist Eddie Gale—invites young people in grades three through twelve to explore the concept of world peace and its personal meaning for them through submission of an original poem.

The poetry contest will operate on two levels, with separate cash prizes for first ($100), second ($75) and third ($50) place in each level. The “Children of Peace Poetry” contest is open to children in grades three through seven. The “Teen Peace Poetry” contest is open to teens in grades eight through twelve.

Simple entry rules apply to both levels. Type or neatly print an original poem in English, no more than 25 lines long, on the topic of World Peace. Include your name, phone number, age, grade and name of your local library. Turn in the poem to the children’s librarian at your local library by 6 p.m. on Sept. 18.

A panel of judges from the local literary arts community will select winning poems. Poems will be judged on the basis of creativity, relevance and grammar. Winning entries will be announced and awarded at the Concerts for World Peace scheduled for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Oct. 23 at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in downtown San José.

Winners will be invited to read their poems following each of the concerts. For more information, visit library Web pages at www.sjlibrary.org or your neighborhood San Jose library. For information on the Concerts for World Peace, contact the King Library Cultural Heritage Center at (408) 808-2645.

The Villages community bands auditioning

For more than two decades, the Villages senior community in Evergreen has invited volunteer instrumentalists from the Santa Clara Valley to participate in two bands.

The Villages Concert Band rehearses Tuesday evenings and is directed by Dr. Hal Peterson, a well-respected San Jose musician and teacher for 35 years. Performances are held four to six times a year, September through July 4.
The dance band features charts from the 30’s to the 90’s with standard 15-piece instrumentation. Rehearsals are Thursday evenings and dances are monthly on Saturday evenings.

Both bands are currently auditioning for all instruments including woodwind, brass, piano and percussion players, high school age and beyond. Ability to read music at high school level required. For information, please call (408) 274-8446 or email ReidCW@Earthlink.net.