Well, gentle readers, our June-July issue is out and thus marks the middle of 2015 … once again, the year is slipping away from us! Far more quickly than some of us older folk would like.
Summer is now upon us and there are lots of “Happenings” to enjoy here in our lovely home in the Bay Area. One of our summertime favorites is an outdoor music concert. It’s just a nice opportunity to enjoy our weather, good music, food, friends and an adult beverage or two as well. We are spotlighting a few music events in the region in this issue but those are just the tip of the iceberg for outdoor music in the area. What is even better is that not only are there many more to enjoy but most of them are free as well! It is hard to beat a great summertime concert that is also free. The key to continuing to have the FREE concerts is that we have to get out and enjoy them so that the organizers can say, “What great crowds we are getting! We must continue doing this every year,” Or something to that accord. By going to these events now we can be sure to inspire our local producers to continue to putting these events on year after year. This is actually true for all of the great events that we have all around us—we HAVE to get out and enjoy them or they will simply cease to exist. That was one of our primary drivers of creating this magazine and website: helping you discover all the amazing events around us every weekend, if not almost every day!
We have plenty of other stories and happenings in this issue to check out and put on your calendar. We would like to ask all of our readers to start thinking about our Local’s Choice awards as well. We know we just announced our winners a couple of issues ago, but voting for next year opens up in September so now is a great time to think about who you want to nominate and vote for in our annual readers’ poll. It is never too early to think about who you would like to see as our next year’s winners. Stay tuned for more details about our voting and when our polls will open.
On a more somber tone, this time of the year also marks the annual Relay for Life events in our communities. If you are not familiar with Relay for Life, or you have wondered what it is, wonder no more: Relay For Life is an annual fundraiser event for the American Cancer Society held in most cities and communities across the country. It is a time to gather to remember those lost to cancer and those who are struggling with it now. We think it is safe to say that all of us have had cancer touch our lives in one fashion or another and this is a great way to not only raise money and awareness but to renew friendships as well. We do have a listing of some of those events for this year but there are always more than we have room to print. You can always find more at our website and at the American Cancer Society’s website as well: www.relayforlife.org. Please take the time learn more and participate as best you can.
Finally, we will offer our birthday wishes to all of you who are celebrating over the next two months as well as some of our family and friends. We would be remiss not to start off with our mother, Genevieve, as well as our niece, Danielle, who is celebrating her 21st birthday along with Julie, Jim, Lisa, Donna, Christine, Victor, Kyle, Ken, Maureen, Marc, Faith, Ann, Lynn, Karen, Juan, Jodi, Julie, Gigi, Sherry, Kenny, Jack, Jay, Tom, Matt, Jennifer, Clint, Ken, Phil, Amelia, Tina, Doug, Krystal, Bob and Pippen—Happy Birthday to you all, and to all whose names we do not have the room to list!
Cheers!
Robert Briseño & Deanna Baillie
