Community News

Give Blood, Get T-Shirt

 As the final holiday rush arrives, the American Red Cross asks donors to shake up their holiday plans and give blood or platelets now and throughout the end of the year.

According to AAA, nearly 113 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, meaning many who may have otherwise given blood will likely defer their donation until the new year. Unfortunately, trauma patients in the emergency room, those undergoing cancer treatment and new parents in need of lifesaving transfusions can’t take a holiday break. The need for blood and platelets is constant.

It’s important for donors − especially type O blood donors and platelet donors − to give now to ensure hospitals have the blood they need into the new year. Schedule an appointment by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

As a thank-you, all who come to give Dec. 16-Jan. 2 will get a long-sleeved Red Cross T-shirt, while supplies last.

Fuego New Year Events

 Fuego celebrates New Year’s Eve with a four-course, prix fixe menu that celebrates the season and offers fun-filled weekend brunches with live entertainment, a holiday “Winter Wonderland” Cabana, and a special Hotel Maya room rate.

Fuego New Year’s Eve Dinner on Saturday, Dec. 31, 5 p.m. to midnight, presents Latin Guitarist Daveed Fernando Alvarado performing during the first seating reservations playing from 5-9 p.m. Mike and the Chemicals performing during the second seating reservations playing from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Fuego New Year’s Weekend Brunches on Saturday, Dec. 31 and Sunday, Jan. 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., offers Francisco Reyes Trio performing live at each brunch.

Eat, drink and celebrate at Fuego at Hotel Maya’s waterfront patio dining area for New Year’s Eve Dinner on Dec. 31 and New Year’s Weekend Brunches on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Reservations for New Year’s seating can be made by phone at (562) 481-3910 or online at www.hotelmayalongbeach.com/fuegorestaurant.

Hotel Maya is located at 700 Queensway Drive.

AAUW January Program

The first meeting of 2023 for American Association of University Women (AAUW) Long Beach Branch will be Saturday, Jan. 7 at the Long Beach City College Planetarium.

The program starts at 11 a.m. with Assistant Professor, Jorge Ramirez giving an astronomy presentation using the College’s state of the art projector. His talk will include viewing stars and constellations.

In addition, AAUW, LB Tech Trek chair, Valerie Armstrong will introduce young LBUSD women who spent a week on the College campuses of Whittier College and UC Santa Barbara learning about STEM careers and engaging in scientific experiments.

Reservations are required as seating is limited. Guests are asked to arrive and check-in by 10:30 a.m. at 4901 E. Carson St., Building D, Room D326. Make your reservation at: aauwlongbeach.reservations@gmail.com

Turtle Trek

Start the New Year in Nature! Walk with ecologists, learn about the flora and fauna of Los Cerritos Wetlands and search for Pacific Green Sea Turtles in the San Gabriel River. This two-hour nature walk begins Jan. 7 at 8 a.m. and is appropriate for ages 7 and up. Closed toes shoes are required. Parking is available on the inland side of the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and 1st Street, at the border of Long Beach and Seal Beach.

For more information or to RSVP contact Elizabeth at elizabeth@lcwlandtrust.org. Learn more about the wetlands at www.lcwlandtrust.org.

Shakespeare 2023 Season

The Long Beach Shakespeare Company and Artistic Director Holly Leveque are pleased to announce LBSC’s 2023 season, The Circle of Life.

“I think about this upcoming season as being part of the Circle of Life,” says Leveque, “with its cycles of joy and sorrow, loss and renewal. So many of Shakespeare’s plays have family and lovers separated for years. And so many in our midst have suffered and lost during these last years of the pandemic. Change is inescapable.

Yet in life as in theatre, transitions can bring new energy, friendship, creativity and love. That’s my hope for this company and our community,” Leveque explains. “So, this season, look for old favorites, great classics, and exciting new programs to build on our core mission to both entertain and inspire our audiences.”

LBSC’s fully staged classic productions for 2023 include Shakespeare’s King Lear, Twelfth Night and The Winter’s Tale, plus, for the holidays, The Gift of the Magi, from the short story by O. Henry. Each of Shakespeare’s tales features heartbreaking divisions and heartening reunions. In King Lear, avarice tears apart a family and a kingdom. In Twelfth Night, stormy seas separate twins, leaving each mistakenly mourning the other. In The Winter’s Tale jealousy breeds tyranny, dividing a formerly happy family. But each story comes full circle with happy unions and reunions. Finally, LBSC embraces its roots with an exclusive production of Helen Borgers’ adaptation of The Gift of the Magi, a poignant mix of love and sacrifice perfect for the holidays.

Fans of LBSC’s old-time radio productions can look forward to eight shows in 2023, beginning in January when “Alice in Wonderland” goes down the rabbit hole and back up again. Spring brings Sherlock Holmes in “The Strange Case of Miss Alice Faulkner.” Next up, Marshall Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke’s “The Guitar” shares a double bill with San Francisco P.I. Candy Matson in “The Black Cat.”

Fan favorite “The Wizard of Oz” returns in July, as a new annual event! October revisits the spookier side of radio dramas, starting with “The Screaming Woman,” originally broadcast on Suspense radio. A pair of scares follows, with “Ghost Party” and “The Sub-Basement” from late-night horror anthology Lights Out. October wraps with The War of the Worlds, the sci-fi adventure that wrought mass hysteria, now a Long Beach institution. The family-friendly classic A Christmas Carol closes the year mid-December.

Two new events round out the 2023 season. A New Works Festival in July “is an opportunity to showcase new shorts, plays, and musicals in various stages of development,” says Leveque. LBSC’s first ever Poetry Series launches in October, with two days of events led by poet Linda Ravenswood, including appearances by luminaries from southern California’s poetry scene. “Let’s celebrate the Circle of Life,” says Leveque, “with collaboration and community, traditions old and new, and, as always, great live theatre.”