SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - On April 25 more than 70 members of American Legion posts throughout the state of California, along with members of the American Legion Auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion, spent an informative and interactive day meeting their legislators and sharing their concerns for the future of the more than 1.7 million veterans living in the Golden State.

The American Legion is one of the largest veteran advocates in the United States. Sons of the American Legion (SAL) also exists to honor the services and sacrifices of those who served their country.

Veterans Legislative Advocate Seth Reeb welcomed attendees with an explanation of the day’s events and kept the program moving as Assembly members and Senators from El Dorado Hills, Napa, Merced, Thousand Oaks, Riverside, Fullerton, Dana Point (Orange County), and Oceanside, many of them veterans themselves, explained the legislation they are sponsoring.  

Dr. Vito Imbasciani M.D., secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs and head of the CalVet Leadership Team, spoke of the tragic killing of three staffers by a former patient at the Yountville Veterans Home on March 10, 2018. The patient was in a special program for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.  SB1314 has been introduced to prevent this from happening again.

Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa), a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, and Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) each received the Department’s 2017 Leo P. Burke Legislator of the Year Award for their leadership, support and dedication to the veterans and service members of California.

Senator Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado Hills) is working on Senate Bill SB 1375 that would reinstate the “VETERAN” license plate, which will be available only to veterans. Gaines spoke of his father who at 18 years joined the Army Air Corps during World War II, serving on a tail gunner on a bomber in Germany.

Assemblyman Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) and Chair of the Assembly Committee on Veterans Affairs described AB 2325, which would protect an eligible veteran’s ability to access county mental or behavioral health services.

Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), Chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, explained his Bill, SB 1080, which would streamline the state’s driver licensing requirements for active duty military and their families so they can begin earning extra income from ridesharing companies such as Lyft and Uber without unnecessary fees and delays.

Other examples of bills included AB 2394, which exempts military retirement pay from California state income tax, AB 2801, which addresses the problem of veteran and law enforcement memorials being vandalized, and SB 1452, which would establish the War on Terror Memorial Committee to look into the feasibility of the construction of a memorial in or around the State Capitol Park.

Other proposed legislation addresses veteran housing, homelessness, issues with disabled veterans, and more funding for county veterans service officers from the current $5.6 million to $7 million.

Elizabeth Perez-Halperin, a U.S. Navy veteran, was recently named Deputy Secretary of Minority Veterans at the California Department of Veteran Affairs. She gave a presentation of her work with minority and unrepresented veterans including African American, Latino, Native American, LGBT, and the homeless. In a recent issue of CalVet Connect, she describes her work, “To help immigrant veterans become naturalized citizens.” Herself a member of the Native American community, she said, “I am committed to ensuring that we actively identify and address any challenges in serving ALL veterans.”

The American Legion (AL) and American Legion Auxiliary (ALA), both founded in 1919, exist to help veterans and their families. The AL is active in supporting the interests of veterans and representing on their behalf.  According to the ALA, they are the world’s largest women’s patriotic service organization. Working side-by-side with their American Legion posts, members volunteer tens of thousands of hours in their communities and raise millions of dollars to support its programs.

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - When a distinguished professor retires into emeritus status, we expect him to be taking a bow at his retirement party. However, Don Kendrick of Sacramento State found a way to have his students take a bow with him. And he did it simply by including them in the public performance celebrating his retirement.

Kendrick is the founder of the Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra, which honored their creator with an event on May 12 at the Community Center Theater. The performers included 280 singers, 3 soloists, and an orchestra of 52 professional musicians. The huge force was assembled by combining the musicians of the SCSO with Sacramento State’s three choirs — the Women's Chorus, the Men's Chorus, and the University Chorus — and the Sacramento Children’s Chorus.

The concert comprised three works: Ottorino Respighi’s Suite No. 2 of “Ancient Airs and Dances,” Antonín Dvorák’s “Te Deum,” and the West Coast premiere of Dan Forrest’s “Jubilate Deo.” The Respighi work is a purely orchestral composition, so the tiers of seats for the singers were empty as Kendrick launched the performance with a sense of anticipation. As SCSO president Jim McCormick noted in his pre-performance presentation, Respighi “gets the endorphins flowing!”

The singers filed in and filled the performance space to capacity for Dvorák’s “Te Deum,” an ancient hymn of praise in Latin. With a text derived from the Book of Psalms, the “Te Deum” was a joyous foreshadowing of the new work constituting the evening’s concluding work, which was also derived from the Psalms. Supertitles helpfully provided both Latin text and English translation.

After the intermission, Maestro Kendrick led the ensemble in Forrest’s “Jubilate Deo” (Be joyful in the Lord), a cosmopolitan composition comprising seven world languages in seven movements. The boisterous first segment in Latin cites passages from Psalm 100 and exhorts the entire world (“omnis terra”) to celebrate. The second movement is an ethereal exchange of statements and echoes in Hebrew and Arabic, a plaintive call for unity.

The third movement incorporated the Chinese two-stringed fiddle, played with bow by guest performer David An. The Mandarin text derived from Psalm 23’s invocation of the Good Shepherd, and the music was a tranquil meditation highlighted by a soprano soloist.

After being lulled into a sense of peaceful serenity by two movements, the audience was jolted into full wakefulness with the percussion-driven opening of the fourth movement, as the chorus sang out a Zulu text calling for enthusiastic celebration. The kinetic impact of the movement was felt throughout the theater, and the singers were swaying to the music’s dance impulse.

The fifth movement offers a lyrical respite, “Bendecid su nombre” (Bless his name), with Spanish-language text and a mood of contemplation. Strings are prominent, with both harp and guitar accompaniment.

The title of the sixth movement is “Song of the Earth,” but it is not evocative of Mahler. Rather, it is a wordless celebration of the entire world, until eventually the singing of the performers resolves into one word: Alleluia!

The finale encompasses all that went before in recapitulation and closes the circle of life with evocations of the opening bars, particularly the “jubilate” (celebrate) theme. The title is “Omnis Terra” (the whole world), and it builds to a dramatic climax full of excitement and drama. The audience, full of pent-up energy because of the frequent reminders to be quiet as the performance was being recorded, finally burst into explosive applause and shouts of approval. Kendrick took his bows, as did his students and all the other performers with him.

Interested Nonprofits Must Apply by June 25

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - SMUD announced today that the application period for its Shine program is now open. Shine is a community development program designed to improve and revitalize neighborhoods in the Sacramento region.

Shine awards will range from $5,000 to $100,000 and are very competitive. Any nonprofit organization—501(c)(3) or 501(c)(6)— within SMUD’s service territory is eligible to apply.

Shine awards are available at three funding levels: Spark (up to $10,000), Amplifier (up to $50,000) and Transformer (up to $100,000). Applications will be accepted through Monday, June 25.

While SMUD will consider a broad variety of potential projects, it is primarily interested in proposals within the following areas:

• Neighborhood revitalization or clean up

• STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)

• Environmental, energy efficiency, energy conservation or greenhouse gas reduction

• General beautification

“We were thrilled by the response we received to the launch of the Shine program last year,” said SMUD CEO and General Manager Arlen Orchard. “Our community is very lucky to have a large group of dedicated nonprofits focused on improving our neighborhoods, and we’re excited to help them continue their great work in 2018.”

In 2017, SMUD awarded over $400,000 in Shine sponsorships to twenty local nonprofits. SMUD received a wide range of applications, and the selected projects were able to successfully demonstrate collaboration and the potential for broad neighborhood impact.

For more information about the SMUD Shine program, including a list of last year’s winners and a link to the 2018 application, visit smud.org/Shine.

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Carmichael’s Marie Segur claims she was only ever gainfully employed for a few weeks of her long life. “I’ve been fully occupied as a mother and a volunteer ever since,” she says. Segur, 83, is one of that dwindling generation of women who married, raised children and spent every waking moment thereafter doing good work in the community.

During a recent spring luncheon fundraiser, fellow members of the Carmichael Presbyterian Church named their stalwart “Queen for a Day.”

Arriving in Carmichael in 1961, Kansas-born Segur and husband David found a second home in the Marconi Avenue congregation. Together they were active in many areas of church life. On the long road to becoming grandmother to 17 and great-grandmother to nine, Marie Segur served multiple terms as a church deacon and elder. She also works with other denominations and churches and, according to church deacon and elder Lisa Benadom, “Marie has touched many, many lives. I’ve learned that whenever there is a question in our church, the answer is: ‘Ask Marie.’ We all owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude.”

The congregation’s Queen for a day spent the rest of her reign making announcements, awarding raffle prizes and tidying up after the fundraiser.

“I serve the Lord,” she explained. “And I’m blessed and grateful to serve my church in any way I can.”

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Carmichael’s oldest school has begun its 101^st year. Carmichael Elementary (Sutter Avenue) opened its doors for Centenary celebrations last week. An estimated 600 past and present students -- and many former teachers -- attended family-style festivities.

The formal program included a performance of the school song. Borrowing melody from the US Army’s “Caisson Song,” the school’s previous Principal, Brandei Smith, authored its lyrics. The “Cougar Song,” declares:

“We are bright, we don’t fight -- we will always choose the right -- as the Cougars go rolling along (Rah! Rah!)…”

Oldest reunion participant was Jack Pefley, 94, a WW II veteran who trudged to school from his family’s Palm Drive farm during the 1920s. He and siblings began three generations of his clan to attend the institution. Youngest centenary attendees included 2018 kindergarten pupils.

Community founder and realtor Daniel Carmichael donated ten acres to establish the two-room Carmichael School in 1917. Hosting Farm Bureau dinners and church services during the Depression, the school also served as a community town hall.  Baby-boom years saw huge school graduating classes.  Administered by the San Juan Unified School District, Carmichael Elementary now has 400 pupils from kindergarten to Fifth Grade.

Though the 100-year milestone was reached last year, festivities were designed for the 2018 spring semester. Near neighbor since 1931, the Crossroads Church co-sponsored the event with hotdog dinners for all comers.  A history display included old yearbooks and vintage teachers’ clothing; a 1917 school bus recalled transport in founding years; a mock pirate ship catered for energetic attendees; a contest offered naming rights for the school mascot. After speeches and presentations, the program show-stopper starred kindergarten pupils singing and signing Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful Word.”

Among alumni staff, two contemporary school principals attended. Principal Brandei Smith master-minded the centennial but recently transferred to head Howe Avenue Elementary. Principal Marianne Williams takes the Carmichael Elementary job in August. Williams predicts high achievement for Carmichael charges. “I’m passionate that all students should receive an education that prepares them for college or for a career,” says Williams. “Carmichael has a long and rich history. I’m humbled by the opportunity to lead this school into its second century.”