Community News

Open House, Job Fair

The City of Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine (PRM) will host an Open House and Job Fair on Saturday, March 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Doris Topsy-Elvord Community Center at Houghton Park, located at 6301 Myrtle Ave. The event will include information on current PRM programs and services, a preview of this year’s summer programming, and a job fair for those seeking summer employment.

The Job Fair is intended to hire candidates interested in summer employment with PRM, with positions open for a variety of recreation programs. Applicants are encouraged to view information about the positions and complete an application prior to the event on the PRM Job Opportunities web page. Applications will also be available at the event. Job Fair participants will be taken through preliminary interviews and get the opportunity to meet hiring supervisors and learn what a day in the life of a Long Beach Recreation Leader is like. 

For additional information about the PRM Open House and Job Fair visit LBParks.org or call (562) 570-3150.

Coming of Spring in Song

The Long Beach Chorale returns to one of its favorite venues for a concert full of seasonal joy. Sweet Spring, conducted by LBCCO’s Interim Artistic Director, Matthew Martinez, will fill the aquatic halls of the Honda Pacific Visions Theater at the Aquarium of the Pacific on Saturday, March 12 at 7 p.m.

The concert will feature selections that explore the delightful hope that the coming season provides. A variety of pieces ranging from the Beatles to Ralph Vaughan Williams, with Yiddish and Jamaican folk songs, a popular sea shanty, and the well-known Irish song Wild Mountain Thyme add to the eclectic program.

Tickets are $30 for adults, child/student tickets are $20, and there are special discounted prices for Aquarium of the Pacific members. To purchase tickets, please visit the Aquarium website at aquariumofpacific.org/events/info/long_beach_chorale_concert/

Speaker Series Closes

Critically-acclaimed actor and Long Beach native Michael Stuhlbarg will appear in person on Sunday, March 13 at the Alpert JCC’s Lipeles Family Auditorium at 2 p.m. in a Special Sunday Finale of Tuesday Talks, a speaker series to benefit the programs and services of JFCS of Long Beach. The topic of his talk is “Seeing Ourselves and Our Times in Stories.” The event will also be available via Zoom.

Stuhlbarg is currently appearing in Hulu’s miniseries “Dopesick,” playing the role of Richard Sackler, the physician and businessman who, with his father, built Purdue Pharma, the developer of the opiod OxyContin. He also acted alongside Bryan Cranston in Showtime’s drama series “Your Honor,” playing the role of Jimmy Baxter. In 2017, Stuhlbarg played significant supporting actor roles in three films nominated for the 2018 Academy Awards’ Best Picture honor. One of his films, “The Shape of Water,” where he played the role of Dimitri Mosenkopf, a Russian spy who was undercover as scientist Dr. Robert Hoftstettler, won the award.

Tickets to attend in person are $75, and a Zoom link ticket for at-home viewing is $50. No tickets will be available at the door.

Purim Events

In celebration of Purim, known as the Feast of Lots, the Alpert Jewish Community Center presents “Hocus! Pocus! Hamentaschen!” on Sunday, March 20, at 1 p.m. Purim officially begins March 16 at sundown.

Purim is a remembrance observed in festive, carnival-like traditions. As told in the book of Esther, brave Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai protected the Jews from Haman who wanted to execute all the Jews in the Persian Empire in the fourth century BC.

Hocus! Pocus! Hamentaschen! provides families an opportunity to celebrate the whimsy of Purim and bravery of Queen Esther and Mordecai with crafts, games, body art, LOTS of hamantaschen (filled with flavors ranging from chocolate to poppyseed, and many in between), and a special performance from Joseph Derry’s Theater of Magic. Children ages two to eight will have a blast learning about the meaning of Purim through music and play.

The event will take place outdoors at the Alpert Jewish Community Center on the Weinberg Jewish Long Beach Campus, 3801 E. Willow St., Long Beach, CA 90815 and will move indoors if it rains.

Visit www.alpertjcc.org/purim22 to purchase tickets for both events ahead of time. Tickets will be sold at the door, capacity permitting. Rock the Megillah is $15 for the concert only and $10 for AJCC members; concert plus unlimited drink and dessert is $40 per person $36 for Alpert JCC members. Ticket packages available! Hocus! Pocus! Hamentaschen! is $10/person and $5/person for Alpert JCC and Temple Israel Long Beach members; children under two are free. Parking is free, but carpooling is encouraged. Financial assistance is available for anyone unable to afford admission.