26 Thursday, October 15, 2020
Coastal View News • Carpinteria, California
GranVida residents bake for breast cancer awareness
93013 Fund Advisory Committee member Jaime Diamond hands off new headsets with microphones to Jamie Collins, executive director of Girls Inc. of Carpinteria. The new headsets will make it easier for students to communicate in virtual classrooms.
93013 Fund targets teacher wish lists
Carpinteria Unified School District will move into a hybrid learning model on Oct. 13 that combines in-person and distance learning. Targeting new educational and safety needs, 93013 Fund donated 100 headsets with microphones to Girls Inc. of Carpinteria and Carpinteria Boys & Girls Club and $10,000 to elementary school parent groups for transitioning into in-school education. Both United Boys and Girls Club and Girls Inc. have been open since the start of the school year for out-of-school care, which includes assistance with Zoom classrooms for dozens of students during the school day. Teachers commented that audio issues are common for kids
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at the youth centers and headsets with microphones would help teachers pick up students’ voices more clearly. As elementary schools are set to open next week, teachers are largely adjusting to bringing classrooms outside whenever possible. Teachers applied for grants with 93013 Fund for equipment like yoga mats, shade structures and portable trays for their students. To make the funding equitable across the school district, 93013 Fund has donated $10,000 to be divided among each school’s nonprofit parent group based on the number of students in each school. Parent groups are working with teachers to fulfill wish lists and assist in a smooth back-to-school transition.
Residents of GranVida Senior Living and Memory Care are holding a bake sale to raise money for the Breast Cancer Resource Center in Santa Barbara. Using a treasured recipe from a GranVida senior, memory care and assisted living residents joined the baking team to create boxes of half dozen sets of mini cupcakes. “Some of the residents are breast cancer survivors,” said Janey Cohen of Carpinteria Woman’s Club which is helping to organize the fundraiser, “and they wanted to do something to raise money for this cause.” “Our SPARK program that is practiced daily here at GranVida is all about giving our residents the freedom and initiative to come up with ideas, projects and activities of their choice always directed to a good cause,” said Felipe Garcia, GranVida lifestyle director. “Residents feel at home and still have the full sense of serving and helping those in need.” To place an order for a box of six mini cupcakes, contact Garcia at activities@granvidaseniorliving.com or (805) 340-3399. The last day to place orders is Oct. 15.
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Is Halloween even important? CoastalView.com
A MONTHLY MUSE MELINDA WITTWER Are you worried? The world is in the middle of a deadly viral epidemic. Millions of U.S. citizens are protesting the lack of racial equality and are questioning how we can “become” one nation with opportunity, liberty, and justice dispensed through color-blind eyes. On top of that . . . here comes the 2020 election complete with a debate that began and ended with verbal rants, the president coming down with the virus he is supposedly helping protect us from, and multiple controversies that are slowly polarizing our country, driving our citizens apart rather than pulling us together. But don’t despair, Halloween is almost here. Are you ready? Are all the eerie decorations in place? Do you have a costume, complete with mask, that will scare all who come near your abode? Have you bought your pumpkin? Do you have enough candy corn to accommodate yourself and your family? At least this year you probably won’t need multiple bags of sweets as most children won’t be allowed to knock on strangers’ doors. Maybe you can throw out IOUs. As much as we seem to enjoy Hal-
loween, do we really know much about it? The idea of Halloween dates back thousands of years to the celebration of Samhain, a Celtic festival that celebrated the end of harvest and the beginning of a new year. This day was also said to be a time when people could communicate with “those spirits beyond the grave.” Over the years, All Hallows Eve customs and traditions began to include bonfires, bats, ways to get a husband, gifts of food, and scary costumes. Mid 19th century Irish immigrants came to the United States and brought the customs of jack-o’lanterns carved out of turnips, potatoes, and beets and playing pranks on neighbors. By the end of the 1800s in the U.S., Halloween celebrations were more about parties with games, food, and costumes than witchcraft or troublemaking. What Halloween tradition is your favorite part of the celebration? For me I have always found the best part to be the candy. My first trick or treat experiences revolved around my mom cutting a hole in an old white pillowcase and turning me into a ghost. With my blond hair, a ghost was much easier to identify with than a witch. Then my brother and I were escorted around to homes nearby. When we got back, my mom never even thought about checking to make sure there was no “contaminated or dangerous” candy in my treat bag. In fact, housewives often made home-baked cookies or grandpas popped corn to pass out rather than pay for expensive treats. One Halloween my brother will never forget was when he was about 10. A few days after our trick or treating
“Mid 19th century Irish immigrants came to the United States and brought the customs of jack-o’-lanterns carved out of turnips, potatoes, and beets and playing pranks on neighbors.”
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adventure, he went around to several homes of neighbors who did not have children. He explained to them that he would be glad to take any “extra” trick or treat candy off their hands just so it wouldn’t go to waste. Believe it or not, he accumulated quite a stash until my mom found out. She marched him right back to all those homes and made him return what he hadn’t eaten. The part that made me mad was he hadn’t shared any candy with me. Once I became a teenager in high school, I was too mature to go out trick or treating. The only big celebration I can remember involved an old pick-up truck and a nearby rancher who had a pile of brush and wood he wanted to burn. The night was cold but about 20 of us (this may be an exaggeration) piled into the bed of the truck and arrived just in time to help the rancher set fire to leaves, twigs, and branches piled high. We had a great time but didn’t attempt any chatting with dead people. I do remember there was a bit of pumpkin smashing on the way home though. And just FYI, it was legal back then to ride without a seatbelt and in the bed of a truck.
Here’s hoping you vote, you don’t get the virus, and your friends and family don’t get the virus either. And, of course, we want peace and equality and a country whose citizens work together to solve our major trials and tribulations. But during this extraordinary time, let’s not forget to enjoy some light-hearted celebrations. I need smiles and laughter and adventures to look forward to. The option of hugging people is now limited, but we can send a card. We can text and call and email. We can carve a pumpkin and set it on our front porch. We get to enjoy Halloween and then Thanksgiving and Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever else is your celebration of choice. And don’t forget New Years! All these festivities will probably not be celebrated in our usual ways, but this simply challenges us to be more imaginative and innovative. If times are going to get better, we need to keep celebrating!
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Melinda Wittwer first moved to Carpinteria in 1972 and taught mostly junior high students in Oxnard during her 25-year career. Now retired, she enjoys pottery, writing, books and travel.
