It’s that time of year again…..time when the Sugar Plum Fairy dusts off her wand and dances into theaters throughout the world. It’s that time when children look excitingly through windows for Santa. It’s that time of year when friends get together and enjoy the camraderie…yes, it’s getting to be that time again when little girls dream of being the Sugar Plum Fairy, dancing through Tchaikovsky’s beautiful music.
Each year this ballet is danced by thousands of excited dancers who range from young children to seasoned performers and this delightful Christmas “bon-bon” has become an enormous part of the Christmas holiday season.
This year’s local Lake Arrowhead performances will be held Friday, November 27 at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 28 at 2:30 and 8 p.m. with the final performance at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday November 29. The charge remains at $20 per seat.
For more information log onto the company’s website at: http://www.arrowheadballet.org or call the dance studio at (909) 336-1359.
Tickets are still available but they won’t be for long so purchase your tickets as quickly as possible or you are apt to be out of luck.
Several of the above-photographed board members will be returning to serve another year on the board of directors. Longtime president Kevin Somes will also serve another term as president of the local organization.
Members of the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce still have time to submit nominations for the upcoming awards which will be bestowed on individuals and businesses during the organization’s annual dinner and awards ceremony on Saturday, November 7. The evening will include a delicious dinner as well as honoring individuals, businesses and organizations for their contributions throughout the year in ways that help enhance, primarily, the Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake and Green Valley Lake areas. The award categories include: an individual, club or organization and/or local, county, state or federal agencies. The nomination deadline for these awards is Thursday, October 29 at 2 p.m.
For decades, the chamber has acknowledged residents who give to their communities, organizations that make life easier and better for local residents and visitors and to those people who have gone beyond the call of duty to help make the local Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake and Green Valley Lake communities a better place to live and work.
The installation dinner is always an exciting event so to reserve a place contact the chamber of commerce office at (909) . The prime rib dinner will be catered by Bacchus (aka Blondie’s) and it is always delicious. In addition there will be a table filled with great donations from chamber members or their chamber contacts as well as a silent auction. This event is a great way to get a head start on holiday shopping and it helps the chamber at the same time.
Come and enjoy this special event and honor residents who continually help make our communities a better place to live and work. The charge for dinner is $25 per person.
For information on the installation call (909) 867-2411. Feel free to leave a message if you would like someone to return your call.
Save some money this year. Instead of spending thousands of dollars to go to Munich for Oktoberfest just drive to Lake Arrowhead for authentic German food as well as delicious German beer to celebrate this annual German celebration. Come enjoy the fun of delicious German food and music. It’s just like going to Europe………..only a lot closer.
The Hours are noon to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through October.
For more information log onto: http://www.LakeArrowheadOktoberfest.com</strong. Come and enjoy the fun….it will be over soon for another year so enjoy it while it’s here.
The clock is ticketing on time to purchase tickets for the upcoming Lake Arrowhead home Tour on This event has been held for many, many years and it has become one of the late-summer “have to be there” events and each year a few hundred people wander through the beautiful homes. Because this event enables guests to go from home to home (on their own) it’s great fun because you end up seeing people over and over again. Along the way guests who have been in one home tell upcoming guests about it so it’s not just a home tour but a great way to meet new friends.
This year’s tour will be held on September 18 and 19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and tickets are available.
All guests tour the homes at their own pace and choosing throughout the day so everyone can go to the homes they’re most interested in seeing or they can get a peek at all the homes. Looking for some new decorating ideas? Take a small notebook and pen and be ready to take some notes on ideas for your own home.
For more information on this incredible, fun annual event contact the lake Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce at (909) 337-3715. The chamber of commerce office is located in Lake Arrowhead Village on the “lower level” near McDonald’s and the office looks directly out on the lake..
The Home Tour has been a Lake Arrowhead area occasion for many years and it has become one that attracts hundreds of locals as well as off-the-mountain visitors. If you’re thinking of redecorating or you need some new ideas for your home you won’t want to miss this home tour. Given a little “tweek or two” you can replicate many of the ideas that you are bound to glean while touring these great homes.
For further information contact the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce. Their office is located on the lower level of Lake Arrowhead Village in Suite D-100.
Have fun! You’ll love every minute but be aware….you’re apt to go home and want to redecorate you house!
….And there was dancin’ and singin’ and a whole lot of fun at the 2015 Mountain Top Days party in R.S. that brought out lots of people who had a great time. This photo was taken at the site on Saturday, July
Another Mountain Top Days in Running Springs has come and gone but it certainly was a lot of fun. The one and one-half day event began with an incredible parade followed by Friday Night Live. This fun event is held on property owned by local beautician Susie Heisler and it abuts Commercial Way. Each year there dancin’ and singin’ and a lot of fun at this event that features a live band and entertainment, even for those who don’t get up and dance. It always draws a big crowd that more than thoroughly enjoy themselves and that’s true for children as well as adults. It’s always fun to see the little ones dancing and having such a good time and it is, of course, great to see everyone enjoying themselves outdoors under the stars!
Following the successful Mountain Top Days Parade it was time to dance and celebrate. Great hot dogs and food and terrific live music and dancing!
Another big “congrats” to the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce for a day and a half of fun! A big thank you to Susie Heisler for the use of her property at Cut Above salon. It’s a great place to throw a party! This year’s Mountain Top Days parade was an enormous hit so it was a great evening all the way around!
Havin’ a great time? You bet! The annual Mountain Top Days party always draws a lot of people who enjoy the evening air, the great band, the food and the fun! Another R.S. Area Chamber of Commerce HIT!
If you”re planning on attending the always-exciting and wonderful Awards Gala, sponsored by the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce you need to know that while tickets are still available they may not be for very long.
With the event right around the corner, on Saturday evening, February 28, tickets are selling quickly. The gala is always held in the ballroom of the beautiful Lake Arrowhead Resort. The evening begins at 6 p.m.
This wonderful evening is always a first-class event with delicious food, great camaraderie, an elegant ambiance and excitement. This event, which has been held for decades, is always one of those very special events that not only honors some terrific people who help their community (or communities) over and over again, but the food is delicious and it’s a great evening to say hello to friends and enjoy the ambiance.
This year four helpful, creative, supportive people will be honored by the chamber as a way to thank them for their years of support and service to the Lake Arrowhead communities and the other mountain areas where their helpfulness overflows.
Congratulations to this year’s honorees: Tracy Lenocker, Citizen of the Year; Dennis Parker, Volunteer of the Year; Mountains Community Hospital, Business of the Year; and a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded to the family of the late John Wood.
Tickets for this gala event are still available and they can be purchased online by logging onto: http://www.LakeArrowheadChamber.com. Tickets are $75 per person and a table for 10 guests can be reserved for $800 (rather than the regular rate that would equal $2,000).
I have attended this beautiful and fun event for years and years and it is always an honor to be there among people who love and care so much about their community.
One of the highlights of this annual event is that June Lockhart is the mistress of ceremonies and as a longtime Lake Arrowhead property owner she has been such a bright shining representative for the community she loves so much. It is always a joy to see this lovely lady!
For information or tickets log onto the chamber website or call (909) 336-4517 . The hotel is located at 27984 Hwy. 189 in Lake Arrowhead.
For decades the Lake Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce has honored people and organizations who have been intricately involved in life in Lake Arrowhead and its surrounding communities. This year, of course, will not be the exception.
Congratulations to several local Lake Arrowhead residents who will be honored by the Lake Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce during their annual gala on February 28 at the beautiful Lake Arrowhead Resort. Each of the award recipients have been of service to their friends and neighbors for years and they were nominated for the various awards they will receive during this important chamber of commerce event.
My best wishes to “Citizen of the Year” wonderful Tracy Lenocker who is so instrumental in all the Rim communities. This special award will go to longtime resident and fabulous guy and although she isn’t part of the honoree his wife Jodi is a huge help with emergency radio and many different agencies. Where you’re apt to see Tracy you’ll probably see Jodi because they both volunteer so much and give so much of their time to the mountains they love.
Congratulations to longtime resident Dennis Parker who will receive the “Volunteer of the Year Award”. Dennis devotes so much of his time to volunteering and he is an integral part of the Boys and Girls Club of the Mountain Communities.Without his longtime help it is entirely possible that the organization, at least on “our” mountain, would not be able to provide so much help for children of local families.What an asset he is to the mountain communities! Always has been, always will be!
The “Business of the Year” award will go to Mountains Community Hospital which has played such a huge part in the life of residents in the local mountain communities. Ever since it was known as the Santa Anita Hospital “way back when” the local facility has helped not only local residents but visitors as well. Throughout the years, thanks in great part to generous donors and staff members the hospital has modernized and purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars (or probably millions of dollars) worth of new and innovative equipment. The rural hospital has changed a great deal (of course) since its inception so many years ago when nuns were the nurses at the facility and it was owned by Santa Anita Racetrack. Throughout the decades the board of directors has changed a great deal but along the way they have managed to add up-to-date equipment as well as physicians, the medical building next door and the skilled nursing facility (to name a few of the improvements). Although the facility is in a rural area in many ways the staff and directors continue to add new programs to help local mountain residents as well as those who become sick or injured while visiting the mountain communities.
A posthumous memorial and thank you will go to the late John Wood who was a much-beloved realtor in the Lake Arrowhead area for many, many years.He was the “mountain’s auctioneer” and his skills and humor at events won him many compliments as well as great joy. He must have loved what he did because he kept right on doing it for years and years. Throughout those years he helped raise thousands upon thousands of dollars as an auctioneer for many different mountain entities such as Mountains Community Hospital, funds for the paramedic program and many, many more worthwhile causes. His profession was real estate and he worked at Coldwell Banker Skyridge Realty for many years but I imagine his great love was serving as an auctioneer because, having been to several events throughout the years to see him in action, it was apparent that he absolutely loved what he did. If you can go to heaven having enjoyed your life on earth consider yourself lucky. My bet is that he’s up there somewhere getting ready for the next round of upcoming auction events in the “great beyond.”
Congratulations to all of these award-winners. They have each, individually, helped make the mountain communities they live in and serve, a better place!
As the event gets closer I will update this information!
Last year’s firefighters had a great time at their annual Christmas party at Charles Hoffman Elementary School. It’s planned for Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. at Charles Hoffman Elementary School. Thanks, firefighters, we should all be treating you not the other way around. See you there!
One of the longest running events in this small community during the holiday season is the annual Running Springs Fire Department Christmas Party. it begins at 6 p.m. on December 17 and the decades-old tradition continues. This fun event always includes free hot dogs, fun and who knows…..Santa has promised to be here again. He says he loves this great longtime community event and unless his sleigh has a mechanical breakdown or all his reindeer are sick he’ll be around.
It’s always such a fun time and it’s often hard to tell who has more fun at this event: the children or the adults. If you want a special holiday event where you’re bound to know people who attend, don’t miss this fun party. You’ll kick yourself if you miss it! This is one special evening that I never miss. All the food and drink (coffee, etc.) are free as a courtesy from the local firefighters so come and enjoy. Bring your family and your local friends and part-time residents who live in the area. You’ll have a wonderful time.
Santa has promised to be on hand to listen to the children’s Christmas wishes. You know, he’s quite a guy. Just think how many events he has to be at all over the world and he still finds time to come to this great small-town annual holiday celebration. He deserves a great big kiss and a big “Thank You” from everyone. Many years ago I gave Santa a kiss and you know what he did? He didn’t flee the room, he didn’t scream and he didn’t push me off his lap. He gave me a kiss right back. Isn’t Santa great and aren’t all our local firefighters just wonderful! What in the world would we do without them! Here’s your chance to thank them as many of them attend.
We were so happy to have members of the local Rim of the World Chapter of Blue Star Moms at the Christmas celebration.
The most successful “Santa’s arrival” event in Running Springs was held tonight, December 3 and a lot of children and their families braved the cold to attend the fun visit with Santa. This exciting and always wonderful event was held on Hilltop Blvd. in the big parking of the building that houses the Running Springs Golden Oaks Thrift Store.
A lot of children (and I mean a lot of children) turned out with their parents to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. While the children and their parents loved the fun Santa undoubtedly had the most fun listening to the Christmas wishes from the children.
Golden Oaks members loved hosting the big Tree Lighting and Santa visits for the community in front of their terrific Hilltop Blvd. thrift store.Everybody loves Santa including Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce President Kevin Somes. Merry Christmas to both of you!
Sponsored each year by the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce this event has literally been held for about 40 years and while the annual fun is similar each year it is also different at the same time. This year was no different and the chamber (and I’m sure the community) are grateful to the Golden Oaks for the use of their large driveway. Santa was really happy to have so much room this year and so were all the children and parents. At the beginning of this exciting event there were probably close to 75 people standing in the large driveway with their anxious children. It truly was sight to see and while it was cold no one seemed to care!
Surrounded by local children in Running Springs Santa was having so much fun. So were the children and their parents. It was a cold evening but nobody cared as everyone bundled up!
Santa “held court” sitting in the large carved wooden chair that was carved decades ago by (then) longtime resident Gene Wall. Although Gene died several years ago I like to think that he’s watching down and enjoying every moment and he is happy that Santa and the children who come to give Santa their Christmas wishes enjoy it every year. Gene is also the man who carved and painted all the totem poles that can be seen throughout the community so I like to think he was looking down on all the Christmas fun and having a great big smile on his wonderful face.
In addition to Santa and the chamber members of the Rim of the World Chapter of the Blue Star Moms also braved the cold but they had a great time. It is always a privilege to have these great women attend some of our events, as they are the moms of our deployed military. They had a table full of delicious goodies and coffee and the Golden Oaks had their great “old-fashioned” popcorn machine which all added great fun to this annual community Christmas celebration.
The community Christmas Tree is always a beacon during the holiday season and even in the fog it can be seen. The tree is old and it has been a beautiful beacon for literally decades thanks to the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce and great residents who decorated it decades ago. It is located by the Fireside lounge and decades ago local residents Dee and Charlie Balletti and members of the community decorated the huge tree. It’s been a holiday “fixture” in the local community literally for decades.
The breathtaking performance by the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier always thrills the audience and this year’s performance was fabulous! Congratulations to all the dancers and to ballet director Sharon McCormick.
It is amazing each year that Sharon McCormick and her staff at the Lake Arrowhead School of Dance are able to carry off such magnificent productions of The Nutcracker, but somehow it all comes together and the audiences who pile into the Rim of the World Performing Arts Center are grateful for this delightful, colorful, exciting, adorable, beautiful production each year.
The seats are always filled by parents, grandparents, ballet lovers, excited children and family members and after the final performance everyone involved can look back and sigh and assess the success of the venture that always draws hundreds of people to the Lake Arrowhead facility. This year, of course, was no different.
Each year the lobby is transformed into a fairyland of beautiful decorations and children dressed in Dickens-era costumes. Tucked into the back of the lobby, between the colorful Christmas trees the Arrowhead Arts Association’s strings quintet plays music that adds so much to the excitement of this annual event. The performances of The Nutcracker leaves local dance students with the lifelong knowledge and memories of their participation in this beloved holiday ballet. As a longtime ballet student in my much younger years I have always regretted that I never had the opportunity to dance in The Nutcracker so I hope the parents of these ballet students involved know that all the work, the support, the money it costs for many different expenses, are worth every cent. The children (and all the adults who take part) will remember their participation the rest of their lives.
Members of the Arrowhead Arts Association strings students are seen playing before the performance. They also performed during intermission. To put it mildly, they were fabulous! What a treat and what an asset the strings program is to local students. Beautiful!
The costumes for these local productions are always exquisite and from the youngest children dressed in bright costumes and hats that look just like Hershey’s kisses to the magnificence of the Waltz of the Flowers performed by senior dancers in beautifully colored pastel tutus. The exquisite costumes for this wonderful production are always a huge part of “The Nutcracker” experience so an enormous “thank you” and “hats off” to . When these talented senior dancers perform I love hearing the oh-so-soft “plop” of their toe shoes as they hit the stage and it takes me right back so many, many years ago when I wore toe shoes in long-ago productions and talent shows.
Without a doubt each year the production continues to be enjoyed by “standing room only” crowds who cannot help but be in the holiday mood as soon as they enter the Rim High Performing Arts Center. Earlier in the day the otherwise “ordinary” lobby is turned from a “mundane” area into a magical Christmas tree-filled area with musicians, delightful gift possibilities, decorations galore and crowds of people. If you want to see a transformation of an area you need to be present in the center’s foyer prior to and after the performances have ended and it goes back to being a somewhat plain foyer. During the Nutcracker productions the the foyer becomes a “fairyland” for all the performances.
For the past several years some of the Arrowhead Arts Association strings musicians gather around the Christmas tree in the foyer and as people enter or exist the area or have purchased items from the “store” the talented music students play classical music. What a special touch to this festive occasion. Throughout the years the wonderful Arrowhead Arts Association has sponsored local students who want to play an instrument and they help them receive lessons and sometimes help pay for students to rent instruments. This local organization has, and continues to have, such a dedicated philosophy of bringing “music to the mountain” and they sponsor incredible local events throughout the summer and fall.
Absolutely thrilling dancing by the Sugar Plum Fairy (Jackie McConnell) and the Cavalier (Christian Squires). Together this duo were thrilling and truly a match made in heaven! They took my breath away and judging from what other people said about the duo I wasn’t the only one left breathless.
The ballet company remains eternally grateful to the benefactors who make the performances possible including the San Manuel Bank of Mission Indians. Grand Benefactors include Patricia and Neale Perkins, Soroptimist International of the Rim of the World Communities, the Morning and Afternoon Lake Arrowhead Rotary Foundations, Arlene Alonso on behalf of her daughter, Jessica Liebermann, Nancy and Ken Camarella, Cindy and Tony Gardner, Andrea and Donald Willerth, (the late, wonderful and oh-so missed) Sandy McCormick, Nancy McCormick, Barbara and Ron Doutt, Cheryl Russell and “Friends” Barbara Carbajal, Valerie Immel, Eileen Pickering, Hugh Bialecki and Lori Semeniuk, Rene Lagler, Gloria Loring, Debbie George, Agnes and George Peterson, James Ferranti, Margaret Stivers and Patrick and Jo Bonita Rains. Without the financial support of benefactors it is most likely that the productions of The Nutcracker would cease, or certainly would not be the same, because the expenses for the performances are very high.
Each year the ballet company hires professional ballet dancers who specialize in performing the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier. Many people who attend this thrilling production believe the dancers are former dance company dancers but that isn’t true. The ballet company pays thousands of dollars to bring the “prime roles” to the audiences. The company’s expenses include plane fare (from wherever the premiere dancers are from), food, housing at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and other expenses. The company pays thousands of dollars each year to have professional dancers who specialize in the roles of this always-exciting Christmas ballet. It’s worth every single cent but it is costly so without benefactors the local ballet company would, most likely, not be able to present the wonderful, creative, charming, fun, beautiful ballet it has done for years upon years.
Ballet Company Director Sharon McCormick with some of the ballerinas just prior to the Saturday night performance. It’s always breathtaking!
This annual production truly is a delightful “bon bon” and such a special part of the holiday season. Many patrons have attended year after year after year and they don’t have children or grandchildren in the production. They attend because it’s local, it’s delightful, it’s colorful and filled with love and not attending would be unthinkable. Remember, love comes in many different ways and I, and hundreds of other people, love the annual performances. It’s always good to see returning dancer Jeremiah Tatum who absolutely slithers with his partner Ali Goodman while she dances as the snake around his body as part of the Arabian dance. It is truly a remarkable dance and always appreciated by the audience.
One of these years it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Santa came down to Lake Arrowhead, pulled by his trusty reindeer, just to see what everyone’s talking about. I can guarantee he’d be thrilled all the way back home to the North Pole.
And so, “Clara,” the production is over for another year. It’s time to tuck away the beautiful costumes, the sets and glance back to review the productions, tuck away all the fabulous gifts from the gift counter, thank the Rim of the World School District for the use of the performing arts center and to look forward to next year when it will be “Nutcracker” time in Lake Arrowhead once again.
Ballet Board Member Jim Rex served as an excellent Dickens-like bell ringer. He looked great and he had a lot of fun!
This year the “plum” role of Clara went to dancer Victoria Lynn Peterson. She was charming and her dancing was wonderful in this not-to-be-forgotten role as the child who opens and loves the Nutcracker. The production wouldn’t be the same withouters longtime perform Eddie and Merry Escalera who performed (for the first time) the roles of party-givers Herr and Frau Stahlbaum. Another longtime dancer, Gregory Valladao performed his “signature role”as the magical Herr Drosselmeyer and he has danced in the Spanish segment for the past several years. Another longtime cast member is Ray Genato who “morphs” into the role of the Mouse King so beautifully. He is a 15-year veteran Lake Arrowhead Classical Ballet Company dancer and it’s always thrilling to see him as the swashbuckling Mouse King. Such fun and children love this part of the performance!
The continuity of the production, of so many of the dancers (“guests” or “regulars”) helps keep the community feel of the exciting Christmas tale. If you didn’t attend this year as soon as you get your 2015 calendar mark it down…or at least be aware that next year’s performances are only 365 days (or so) away.
It’s that time of year again…..time when the Sugar Plum Fairy dusts off her wand and dances into theaters throughout the world. It’s that time when children look excitingly through windows for Santa. It’s that time of year when friends get together and enjoy the camraderie…yes, it’s getting to be that time again when little girls dream of being the Sugar Plum Fairy, dancing through Tchaikovsky’s beautiful music.
Joan Moseley's Mountain Top Echoes 