We’ve already mentioned two of this weekend’s big events – the Congress of Neighborhoods and the school greening Green Apple Day of Service – but there are a lot of other great ways to fill out your weekend. Oddly, they all fall on Saturday this week…so we can all take Sunday off to recover!
First up, on Saturday morning, the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District will sponsor a Community Street Cleanup and Homeless Outreach Day. Volunteers will meet at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of St. Basil’s Church, 3611 Wilshire Blvd., and will be joined by folks from LAPD, the City Attorney’s Office, City Council District 10, the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC), and Sunburst Academy. Everyone is welcome. For more information, call (213) 382-9140.
One of fall’s most interesting and distinct events is the annual West Adams Heritage Association (WAHA) Annual Living History Tour at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year at 1831 W. Washington Blvd. in Historic West Adams. The event starts at 9 a.m. for advance ticket holders, with walk-in sales starting at 11 a.m. (tours start every 25 minutes). This year’s tour features costumed actors performing as a “rogues gallery” of notables interred at the cemetery, including:
• Josephine Callaghan, armless daredevil heiress, horsewoman and aviatrix
• Welterweight boxer Cecil Lewis “Young Jack” Thompson
• Silent film actress Alice Browning, and her husband, Tod Browning, director of the film Freaks
• “Prince” John Rex de Guelph Windsor, who claimed he was the first-born son of King Edward, the Prince of Wales
• Constance Crawley, famous English stage actress with leading roles in Shakespearean tragedies
• Mable Monohan, Vaudeville roller skater, mother-in-law to a notorious Vegas gambler, and murder victim
• Walter R. Kreps, first LAPD motorcycle officer killed in a traffic crash on duty; and
• Jazz saxophonist Jackie Kelso, who played with all the greats: Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Johnny Otis, Duke Ellington and, later, the Count Basie Orchestra
According to WAHA, Angelus Rosedale Cemetery (originally Rosedale Cemetery) was founded in 1884, when Los Angeles was a small town and the cemetery’s location at what is now Washington Boulevard and Normandie Avenue was in the countryside, outside the city limits. It was the first cemetery in Los Angeles open to all faiths, races and creeds, and it was the first to use a new design approach called “lawn cemeteries…where nature and art conspire to surround the burial places of the dead with beautiful trees and flowers, natural scenery and works of monumental art.” WAHA’s annual tour of the cemetary helps educate the citizens of Los Angeles about our history, and the community’s architectural and cultural heritage. Tickets are $40 for both WAHA members and the general public.
After your morning volunteer events and the history tour, you might enjoy a bit of shopping. The Melrose Business Improvement District is sponsoring its second annual Melrose Saturday Sidewalk Sale from 12 to 6 p.m. on Melrose Ave. 23 different Melrose merchants between Highland and Fairfax will offer discounts and deals via sidewalk racks and tables or, in some cases, storewide sales. Merchandise will include men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, shoes, jewelry, art, hair products and makeup, accessories and much more. Many Melrose Ave. restaurants will also offer specials all day. For more information and a partial list of participating stores, see http://www.melroseavela.com/events/melrose-sidewalk-sale/ and https://www.facebook.com/events/1032879743413046/
Then, after shopping, there are some great cultural events.
The Craft and Folk Art Museum , 5814 Wilshire Blvd., is opening three new exhibitions on Saturday: Paperworks, a group show featuring the diverse range of contemporary artists who use paper-cutting techniques to create large and small-scale sculptural works…Binh Pho: Shadow of the Turning, which blends the worlds of literature and contemporary craft through the wooden sculptures of Vietnamese artist Binh Pho…and Cathy Weiss: Love and Light, a site-specific installation featuring lanterns made from Weiss’ own handmade prints, inspired by love poetry from the book Song of Songs from the Old Testament. The exhibits open at 12 p.m. for a members-only preview and Smithsonian day; 6:15 p.m. for an artist talk with Binh Pho; and a 7 p.m. reception open to the public. The event is free to CAFAM members; $12 for non-members.
And finally on Saturday, the annual Tarfest music and culture festival, sponsored by 88.5 FM KCSN and LAUNCH LA, will take place at the La Brea Tar Pits, 5801 Wilshire Blvd., from 1-8 p.m. The free event, appropriate for all ages, will feature musical performances by Salt Petal, Babes, Jessica Childress, The Shelters, and Gavin Turek. There will also be live painting by Greg “Craola” Simkins, Johnny “KMNDZ” Rodriguez, and Joseph Lee…as well as special performances by Move the World Dance Activism, and family friendly activities with the Japan Foundation of Los Angeles, Orchard Supply Hardware and the Petersen Automotive Museum. Food will include offerings from Lagunitas Biergarten, the Dark Horse Wine Bar, and various food trucks.
Enjoy your weekend!
