May 2014 by Joseph Brewster

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EVENTS Cyber Bowl! At Big Daddyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sunset Bowl Every Friday 10pm-12am & Saturday 8pm-11pm

WILD WILD WEST FESTIVAL Pueblo River Walk Union Avenue 4pm May 16 The Riverwalk will have the boats open this weekend so be sure to Pueblo Ice Arena come by the Welcome Center and Lazer Light Public Session get a ticket to ride the Riverwalk. 100 N Grand Ave We will also have a Budweiser Bar Every Friday and Saturday 7:30pm- located in front of the PBR building 9:30pm on the channel level, with live music With skates, admission $4 students on the Flood Wall Stage. $5 adults Magical Mondays with The Party Downtown Social Shuffle People and Theater of Mystery! EVERY Wednesday 2pm Mondays June 16th-Aug 11th Shamrock Brewing Company 685 S Union 108 W 3rd Street 6:30pmOpen to the public - $4 per person 7:30pm May call 582-1490 for reservations Free, friendly 3.1 mile run or 2 mile walk in downtown Pueblo around Mountain Park Environmental the Riverwalk to meet up, unwind, Center enjoy company, get out and enjoy Summer Camps Start in June downtown while getting some Find dates, information & exercise! registration at: Hikeandlearn.org or call 719-485Pueblo Historical Aircraft Society 4444 23rd Annual Moonlight Ball May 10 2014 Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum Boats, Bands & BBQ 31001 Magnuson Ave by Loafâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; N Jug Dance and Dine among Vintage Pueblo Riverwalk on Union Avenue Aircraft in a Historical Aircraft Jun 6th 5:00pm & June 7th Museum. 10:00am Starts at 6:00 pm, Dinner 7:00 pm, Boats, Bands and BBQ on the Live Music 8-11 pm provided by Riverwalk. The Springs Band. Great food, live music and a $55 per person. Group festival-type atmosphere, this is Tables (8) $385. Reservations one experience your family is sure Recommended!! Semi-Formal Dress to enjoy. There is an ice cream and Military Uniform Encouraged. eating and wing eating contest and Benefit for : Pueblo Weisbrod Backyard cook-off competition for Aircraft Museum. the Citizens of Pueblo.

Thank you to our sponsors! Call Amy today to be an event page sponsor

671-6030

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ARTS 1st Friday Art Walk First Friday of every month beginning at 5pm Union Avenue & Riverwalk Art Galleries. Enjoy a variety of Art, Entertainment, refreshments & more!

SCTC VIP CAMP! – Sign Up Now! Full day and half day available Music/singing, acting/theatre, dance, audition prep. Focus on self-esteem building, leadership and acceptance

Indulge Evening: Eat, Drink & Create! Sage Art Academy 203 N Main May 17th & June 14th 6pm-8pm A special evening for adults only! Professional artist Kim Furrh will lead you through an art lesson that you create on a canvas as you drink premium wines, taste yummy hors d’oeurves and listen to lively music! Price: $45 Must RSVP to: 719-696-9490

Sangre De Cristo Arts & Conference Center 210 N Sante Fe 719-295-7200 Wonderful Wednesdays! Buell Children’s Museum Opens early every Wednesday at 9am for pre-school age children and their grown-ups! Pastels with Artist Leslie Myers Tuesday May 27th 11am-1pm Buell Children’s Museum

Damon Runyon Theater 5th & Main Art Gallery: Listen at 611 N Main Street Lunch www.runyontheater.org Historic Federal Building – 5th & For season tickets call box office Main Espresso Bar 12:00-1:30 - 719-564-0579 OR buy show tickets Enjoy amazing talent during lunch! 2 weeks prior to opening date Tuesdays & Thursdays: LC Houston piano & guitar, rhythm & blues. You Can’t Take It With You Fridays: Eunice Weatherford, May 30th – June 1st piano, show tunes and classics. Everyone has a family they don’t want to introduce to someone Steel City Theatre Company important but very few families are For tickets & more info, go to www. as eccentric as…. sctcpueblo.com SHREK The Musical Murder Mystery Dinner July 18th-July 27th Show Dates: May 16th & 17th Zombeo and Juliet The Musical Our 2014 Jr Musical! July 17, 18 & 19 at 7pm July 20th at 2 pm

Thank you to our sponsors! Call Amy today to be an event page sponsor

671-6030

For local coupons & event information visit www.inpueblo.com

ROOMS

FOR $89

Not valid with any other offer.

Offer Expires 7/1/14

ROOMS

FOR $129

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Offer Expires 7/1/14

25% OFF

TILE CLEANING Not valid with any other offer.

Offer Expires 7/1/14

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SPOTLIGHT

La Gente Mentoring Program Making a Difference inPueblo It’s 3pm on a Wednesday afternoon. As the kids get off the school bus, there are mentors waiting in the community center to greet them, listen to how their day went and help with homework. After homework is complete they have snacks and may listen to a business person talk about their job along with interactive activities or play at the adjacent park. It’s not uncommon for police officers or sheriff deputies to stop by to play and even help with homework! Sounds like a great community right? People are stepping up in the best interest of our future – the children. Do you know where you will find this happening? You’ll find it in the least likely of places; Eastwood Heights, known to many as Dogpatch. It’s a secluded area with all the statistics none of us like to see. So how did this come together? Diana Hall, an entrepreneur and Non-Profit Consultant saw a community with a great need for change. Instead of turning her head, Diana went to work forming LaGente Mentoring Group. She worked with community members to turn this need for change into a vision and in one short year rallied an incredible handful of volunteers to help kids in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Pueblo. What do the kids love most? All of it! They enjoy hanging out at the park, they love when business people or public servants come to talk to them about what they do. They’ve been able to sit in a police cruiser turning on the lights, look through the lens of a camera and use a stethoscope but it’s more than that. Most of these children have not been encouraged to think about a different life than what they’ve known. Many families are stuck in a cycle of poverty and many of the children have had a tough start to life. Some have been abused, abandon, neglected and watched parents and other family members get arrested. Some are living with foster parents, grandparents and single parents who are ill equipped to give them the support and attention they need, let alone encourage them to see outside the limited world around them. In fact some are even discouraged and ridiculed if they dare to aspire to something better. So where do you start? Diana says “first we make it a casual environment, open doors, no judgment”. “It’s a place they find smiling faces, support, encouragement and the mentors become friends they can trust and look up to. When you see a girl who was afraid to talk to anyone come running into the center with that graded paper she can’t wait to show off or the boy who used to flinch when someone touched his shoulder running in to hug you, you witness transformations that warm your heart. We help them to see that they have strengths and gifts and talents. There’s one boy who was grounded because he got in trouble at school for singing opera in the bathroom.” Diana smiles, “when he told me about it with a downcast face I asked to hear him sing. He has an amazing voice with vibrato and everything at such a young age! When I asked where he heard someone sing like that he answered ‘on TV once’.” “We help them dream and set goals then identify choices that will help them and the choices that will get them off track. We encourage them to envision the life they want and remove limitations.” Officers from the Pueblo PD and Sherriff’s Dept come over and we’ve watched the attitudes toward them shift as they engage with the children. There is still a great need however; a need for more volunteers and support! More volunteers would allow more individualized attention. The kids and parents would love to see this program open more than once a week. We would also love to get more middle and high school kids involved and that means offering an additional 2 hour time frame and a meal since they don’t get off the bus until 4:30. Do you need to be a math expert to volunteer? Definitely not. Do you need to have all the answers to life’s questions? No, who does? What do you need to be a volunteer? 2 hours a week you’re willing to give these children and a heart to make a difference. Everyone, including the director is a volunteer. La Gente Mentoring is a 5013c non-profit that is completely dependent on donations and sponsors to fund materials for curriculum, training and supplies. More funding helps is needed but they’ve done an amazing job this first year with less than $11,000 in donations & sponsorships. They also need more business professionals, trade professionals and civil servants from the community to share what they do and have fun with it for 30 short minutes on a Wednesday afternoon. Will you invest 2 hours a week in our future? Our children who need you? If you’d like to get involved, please call or email the director Jennifer Hucalo at 720-272-7563 jennifer@LaGenteMentoring.com For more information, please go to www.lagentementoringprogram.com

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