By Marcia E. Gawecki

At the final bow, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Some of the audience members were loudly blowing their noses. One woman clasped her had over her mouth to keep from sobbing.

“Really? People were crying? I couldn’t tell,” said Juwan, who played Orpheus, after the show.

However, you could tell that he was impressed. Any time a high school theater cast brings an audience to tears is an accomplishment.

The final show of “Eurydice,” a modern take on the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice, by Sarah Ruhl, was held on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m at Idyllwild Arts Academy.

“I think it was our best show,” said Juwan, after striking the set. “Everything seemed to gel together.”

You didn’t have to know anything about Greek mythology to appreciate and understand the play. It’s been done hundreds, if not thousands, of times. But Sarah Ruhl made it more interesting and palatable.

“I’m glad that it was set in the 21st century,” said one student.

Brooke, a senior who played “Eurydice,” brought Nelms, a piano teacher at Idyllwild Arts, to tears. He stood out in the courtyard with huge tears rolling down his face. Everyone around him smiled. It was rare to see such open emotion from a middle-aged man.

“Brooke just broke my heart,” Nelms said.

Brooke was the happy-go-lucky pretty thing that was in love with Juwan. As a musician, he listened to the “beat of a different drummer.” She loved words, and he loved music. Somewhere in between, they connected.

“There was a lot of kissing going on at the beginning,” exclaimed Juwan’s mom, who came all the way from Kansas, to surprise him.

“I’m glad that Juwan finally got a lead role,” another student said.

Juwan played Orpheus, the heartbroken bride groom, to the hilt. He sent music, and wrote letters, to the Underworld, and delivered them via worms. He told his bride of his dreams, in which her hair was made out of faucets. It only made everyone cry harder.

“Please come back!” he begged.

In one of his scenes, he’s talking to a telephone operator. He’s trying to connect to Eurydice in the Underworld. The operator on the other end is confused and exasperated.

“This is a special case,” Juwan tells her. “She’s dead.”

How can he connect to a dead woman? The audience cries harder. Somehow they’ve been there before. Asking an operator for help beyond reason.

When Juwan first saw Sarah Ruhl’s play, he thought it was a kind of dumb. Then he listened to Howard, and drew from his own experiences of heartache, to play a believable role.

Brooke (as Eurydice) might have broken Nelms’ heart with her letters home.

“Don’t try and find me again,” Brooke wrote after they flubbed up the voyage back. She called out his name and he looked back, so that was it.

“I’m sorry,” she wrote to Orpheus. “I was afraid. But don’t come looking for me again.”

In her open letter to her husband’s next wife, Brooke demonstrated her emotional range.

“Be sure and feed him often, because he forgets to eat,” she recited out loud. “And be sure and notice that he blushes pink when you kiss him. If you kiss his forehead, I will thank you for it.”

What woman would want her husband to be happy with another woman? Eurydice had matured while underground.

Everyone expected Joe Spano to steal the show. After all, how can high school theater students measure up to a professional actor with an Emmy nod and many successful shows under his belt?

“He was great, but he didn’t steal the show,” said some theater students.

It wasn’t a slight. What Joe Spano did was elevate “Eurydice” to the next level. Everyone stepped up their game. Because they already had it in them.

Brooke, Juwan, Jake, and the Stones were just as good as Joe. And that’s the way it should be.

He was fun to watch, no doubt. Especially when his daughter was adjusting to being dead. He built her a makeshift room out of string that he tied to umbrella handles hanging from the ceiling.

“That was the saddest part,” said Chris, a music major who saw the show on Friday night.

For others, Joe’s saddest moment was when Eurydice left to follow Orpheus home and said, “With her gone, it’ll be like a second death to me.”

Jake, who played an “Interesting Man,” (who must’ve said “interesting 100 times) was really just a letch, who lured Eurydice to her death.

By the way, Brooke’s slow-motion fall was eerie, but effective. Kudos to Howard Shangraw, the director, and the set designers for making it happen with lights and poles.

I’m not sure why Ruhl created the Lord of the Underworld (also played by Jake) as a pre-teen, but it took away some of his bite. Running around on a trike with oversized shoes and a lit-up umbrella hat was entertaining, but typically, I like my demons older. His youth made it hard to take him seriously.

But, in the end, little Lord Fontleroy on the trike, had the final say.

“I just got chills all over,” said Chris Pennock, an Idyllwild actor best known for his “Dark Shadows” days.

His wife was the one who covered her mouth to keep from sobbing.

“It was so amazing,” she said, wiping away her tears.

Outside, Idyllwild residents took pictures Joe Spano and the other actors. It was nice having a celebrity amongst them.

“We grew up watching Joe Spano on ‘Hill Street Blues,”” one resident said. “It was nice to see him live on stage today.”

Spano, who played Eurydice’s father, and his real-life daughter, Liana, played a stone that guarded the Underworld.

“This was the best experience,” said Milan, who was Spano’s understudy. “He improved my acting performance by a mile.”

“Eurydice” played to packed houses on Friday and Saturday nights, Jan. 21 and 22. The Sunday, Jan. 23rd audience stood on their feet to show their appreciation. On Apella Drive, the road out, past the parking lot, a few women were walking home. What a testament to the show! Without a car, they arrived on foot rather than miss the show.

Copyright 2011 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

Karate shown on TV and on the big screen often  glorifies the fight, and downplays the martial art part. However, there’s a karate instructor in Idyllwild who teaches “whole body karate.” In his classes, students learn to reach their goals and even walk away from fights.

At age 50, John King earned a black belt in Kung Fu San Soo, and continues to study with Master Steven Gregoire. John started learning karate years ago with his family, but keeps it up to stay in shape. For the past eight years, he’s taught beginning and intermediate karate to youngsters and adults in Idyllwild.

“I love to see the smile of confidence on a kid’s face when he’s finally learned something of value,” John said. “Karate is a lifelong journey.”

In his classes, students get some exercise, but also learn discipline, self respect and more about martial arts. In short, it’s not a class for wimpy kids who want to get back at schoolyard bullies.

“I talk to these kids about how to walk away from fights, if they can,” John said.

He too, was bullied as a child.

“I used to be meek and walked around with my head down all of the time,” John confessed. “But through Kung Fu, I learned to walk with self confidence.”

John also talks to his students about their goals, namely the ones they want to reach within five years. Some the goals they’ve mentioned to him include: getting better in math, learning how to ride a skateboard,  and earning a black belt in karate.

“Earning a black belt was my goal too,” John said. “It’s an achievable one for anyone. I got mine at 50.”

However, the black best test takes about three hours, and it can be exhausting, he said, like running a marathon. He’s run marathons too, including the Long Beach and Las Alamitas Marathons. During the day, John paints houses, and on Friday nights, he sings and plays fiddle for Change Required at the Lumber Mill. But his great love is teaching.

At first, his middle-aged and older adult students were apprehensive about learning karate.

“They tell me that they’re too old to be kicking their feet in the air,” John said. “But most times, they’re younger than me.”

John’s classes are affordable and are now held at the Spiritual Living Center in Idyllwild. (After 1 1/2 years, he moved from the large studio next to Curves to make room for the Idyllwild Library). The sign-up fee is $40, which includes a uniform. The monthly cost is $65, which averages to about $8 per class, he said. He’s also willing to work with families with financial hardships.

To sign up, call John at (951) 659-3785 or email him at

Ch************@gm***.com











.

Cpyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

“Digital art is original art,” said Francoise Frigola, an Idyllwild photographer.

She told us about a disagreement that she had with a previous gallery owner, who claimed that digital art was not original art.

“She kept insisting that it was just color copies,” Francoise said in frustration.

Digital art takes the same amount of time and effort that it would take to create a painting, she said. It’s just using a different medium.

Francoise is exploring the limits of digital art, and knows computers inside and out. In fact, she owns a computer business in Idyllwild in which she troubleshoots, fixes, and updates PCs. She even instructs others how to use PhotoShop and other software.

Even though digital art has been around for decades, there is still much confusion about it, Francoise said.

Digital art covers a range of artwork that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative process. Since the 1970s, various names have been used to describe it, such as computer art and multimedia art.

Francoise’s next exhibit, “ODA,” (short for Original Digital Art), will feature several of her recent and past digital art series, will open this Thursday, Jan. 6, at Earth n’ Fire in Idyllwild.

Several of her digital art series will be represented, including ‘Les Chats,” “Hymn to a Forest,” and “Squared Drops,” abstracts made from photographs of water droplets.

Francoise explained how she shot a series of water droplets on a glass plate, and then layered them to get the optimal effect.

“I take many overlapping photographs, and then seam them together, which is not as simple as it looks,” Francoise explained. “I only move the camera one-eighth of an inch at a time. ”

She added that when the light changes, the seaming process of Photoshop gets lost and it doesn’t recognize adjacent images.

“I have to manually place them one-by-one,” she said.

After she prints out her digital images on canvas, she then applies impasto, which is similar to clear paint, which gives it an extra dimension and makes each piece unique.

Some of the pieces in the “ODA” show are smaller, such as “Le Chats,” or the cats, measuring 6 x 8 inches, while others are rather huge, up to five feet wide.

Luckily, Earth N’ Fire has very tall ceilings, and can hold such large images, Francoise said.

Over the years, Francoise’s work in photography, sculptures and digital art reflect her fascination of form, shape and color. Mostly self-taught, Francoise has explored many innovative techniques in darkroom processes, acrylic manipulation, and digital art. She has exhibited internationally.

Many of the photographs on her web site show her keen attention to detail from pine cone patterns to the whiskers on her cats.

Since the first time that Francoise arrived in Idyllwild, it was her dream to photograph the curved branches of the Coulter pine tree, which generally grows in the higher elevations.

Once while hiking, she came upon a dead Coulter pine tree, recently cut down due to the drought.

“It was my dream coming true,” she said. “I was able to get really close to shoot all of the details.”

Everyone is invited to Francoise’s “ODA” opening this Thursday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Earth N’ Fire, located upstairs in the Fort.

To see more of Francoise’s work, visit francoisefineartgallery.com.

Copyright 2011 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

The Idyllwild Barber Shop has been open for a few months now and Don Strunk, the barber, has a few good things going for him.

First of all, he’s got a great location, just off Hwy. 243 as you enter Idyllwild.

He’s a friendly guy, who is willing to give directions to almost anyone who stops by. Since he’s a newcomer too, he’s stocked up on Idyllwild maps, business cards and sales pamphlets.

Best of all, he charges a fair price for a haircut, and does a good job, said Bill Waring, a 7-time customer who lives in Palm Desert and Idyllwild. “But I think Don put something on my hair to make it grow faster!”

Most of Don’s haircuts cost $8, and only $15 for “hippy” or long hair. These prices are similar to what barbers are charging in Hemet, where Don used to work. He lives in Anza now, but said that town already had enough stylists.

“So I opened up a shop in Idyllwild, where everyone is friendly,” Don said.

Even at those low prices, Don said that can break even, and will eventually make a profit. He averages about two new customers a week. Later on, he might offer a chair to a stylist with experience in coloring and perms.

“I just do haircuts,” said Don, who lists only his first name on his business cards. He is a man of few words, preferring to let others in his chair do the talking.

“I don’t like going to beauty shops,” said Bill. “They scare the Dickens out of me. All those women and their perms!”

Bill said that it’s worth the drive up from Palm Desert every three weeks for a haircut.

“His prices are fantastic,” Bill said. “And he’s a nice guy.”

Because of his location, Don also gets students from Idyllwild Arts on weekends.  Michel, who comes from Mexico, said that his prices were right, and he did a nice job.

Don said that he was fortunate to rent the place, which housed Idyllwild Appliance for years. He had been looking around town, and almost settled on a place on Cedar and North Circle Drive. Then, he drove by Idyllwild Appliance and saw the guys moving out. He asked if the place was for rent, and called the owner immediately.

“When I told him about my plans to open up a barber shop, Jim said, ‘That’s the best darn idea that I’ve heard in a long time,'” Don said.

Don did some remodeling of the place, including painting the walls, changing the carpeting, and adding a checkerboard tile floor. He also has a TV with game boards in his waiting area.  Outside his front door, Don has put a few sandwich boards and for the holidays, he added some Christmas lights.

“I’m really lucky to be here,” Don said. “I love this town.”

Copyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

In any given month in Idyllwild, CA, hundreds of squirrels run across Highway 243 and side streets and get hit. Locals know to honk their horns, and the squirrels will run back quickly. Their “stop and go” tactics might be able to divert natural predators, but they are no match for fast-moving cars and inattentive drivers.

That being said, squirrels don’t often die after being hit by cars. Barbara Hunt, a local realtor and animal lover, has nursed countless squirrels and birds back to life. She once told me, “Oftentimes, when a squirrel is hit, it’s only stunned, or temporarily dazed, but then the second car comes along and kills it.”

So when I saw the car in front of me, hit a squirrel I was hopeful when I drove by and saw that its head was still up. When squirrels die, they usually lie on their back or sides. Was it still alive?

I quickly pulled over and picked up a small basket from the back seat of my car, and a magazine. When I got to him, he was breathing heavily, but still alive. His back legs looked a little twisted, but otherwise he was OK. So I pushed him a little bit with the magazine to see if he would run off, but he winced in pain.

Just then, a guy drove by and shouted, “Hey! What are you, some kind of nut?!”

By this point, I realized that I was blocking traffic. It was 25 feet from a stop sign on Hwy. 243, so cars were slowing down naturally, but I was standing in the middle of the road. So when a friend of my boyfriend’s, drove up and asked nicely what was going on, I told her my intentions.

“So then get it out of the road,” she said, and I scooped him up without looking. He didn’t fight or try to run away. I think he was still dazed and likely in pain.

Just then, several young hikers walked by, and said that it was really cool at what I was doing, saving the squirrel and all. I was starting to get embarrassed about the whole affair.

I put the squirrel in the basket on the floor of the front seat and drove home about a mile away. He didn’t like the car’s motion, and crawled up under the dashboard. I was nervous that he might jump around or bite me in a panic, so I kept talking to him like I do my cats.

“Don’t worry, baby, everything’s going to be alright,” I cooed.

Speaking of cats, I have four of them, and I’m bringing a wounded squirrel home! They would dance on my head all night long if I brought him inside the bathroom.

Jeff, my boyfriend, suggested that I call Barbara Hunt to see if she’d take him off my hands. Her husband, Bud, answered the phone and said that she already had too many animals to take care of.

“So what should I do with the squirrel?” I asked, hoping for a few squirrel tips.

“Take it back to where you got it, and let it go,” Bud said. “Squirrels don’t like to be cooped up inside.”

My heart was racing. It was already dark and a wounded squirrel would be easy prey for a coyote. I decided he needed more time to rest.

“He may not live though the night,” Jeff said. “You’ve got to prepare yourself for that.”

Ever since I was young, I believed that I had a “gift” for saving the world.

His friend, Richard, who retired from the Idyllwild Post Office, gave me lots of peanuts and other squirrel food (His wife works for the U.S. Forest Service). He also told many great stories of how they have nursed bluejays, raccoons and even a bobcat back to health. They didn’t bring the bobcat inside, but brought her a medlee of raw chicken, beef and pork for weeks, until she was well enough to hunt on her own.

Many people in Idyllwild often go out of their way to help wounded animals. One woman I know has nursed a female coyote back to health, and another guy is nursing two baby raccoons. Seems like everyone in town has at least one story to tell.

“When it eats, then you know it’s OK to send him back,” Richard advised.

I put the peanuts, a bowl of water and a wool blanket inside the car for the squirrel. I cracked a back window for air and went to bed. After all the drama, I was exhausted.

Early the next morning, all four of my cats were sitting on top of my car, saying, “Please hurry! Let the wounded squirrel out!”

The squirrel was chirping and running around the car, but hadn’t eaten anything all night. It knocked over the water bowl and left some droppings.

But I didn’t take him home that day because he hadn’t eaten.

I worked all day, and returned home around 8 p.m. He was sleeping under one of the seats, so I set my alarm for 6 a.m. and prepared to return it to the state park the next day.

“That way, he’ll have all day to find its mother and get home,” Jeff said.

We were all quickly becoming squirrel experts.

The next morning, I witnessed him eating the peanuts and tried to get a few pictures, but he moved too quickly, or my camera was too slow.

So I drove to the park. It was a cold, sunny morning, and I had to smile. Growing up, one of my favorite movies was “Born Free.” My heart ached when Elsa was returned to the wild, but nearly starved to death because she didn’t know how to hunt. Although there were no parallels between a lioness and my baby squirrel, I felt a little sad about letting him go.

Actually, I decided he was a she, and called her “Cookie,” for being a “tough cookie” and surviving the car accident.

I opened up all four doors and waited. Cookie didn’t rush out. So I backed off to give her a little room. Well, after about 15 minutes, I was getting cold and a little bored. So I walked up to the back door and told her that I had things to do. As if on key, she jumped up on the back seat and paused for a second. I grabbed my camera and quickly snapped her picture.

Then Cookie took off, down the seat and out the door. She ran about 20 yards and stopped for a moment. I took another picture. Cookie was “Born Free.”

“Be careful!” I shouted, like a sympathetic idiot. “Stay away from the highway!”

As I drove away, I thought about how weird Cookie must feel, spending two nights in a car, and now being back home again. Would she remember me?

Tucker, my supervisor at work, thinks so. He lives next door to Barbara Hunt, and friendly squirrels often come to his door. Once, a bluejay landed in his hand.

I have to admit, I felt pretty good about giving Cookie another chance. I just hope that other motorists do too, and honk when they see squirrels crossing the road in Idyllwild or anywhere they live.

Copyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

“Be Prepared to Stop,” a familiar bright orange sign, warns motorists of a construction crew ahead. CalTrans, Idyllwild’s savior during inclimate weather, is preparing the roads for the rain and snow. Today, Oct. 12, there’s a slowdown on Hwy. 243 from Idyllwild to Hemet for about a three-mile stretch (from mile marker 74:53:25 to mile marker 74: 55:50).

The wait lasted approximately seven minutes, however, it must’ve seemed like eternity for the group that was waiting to go next.

You see, I was the last car in the caravan behind the “Follow Me” truck.  Just for fun, I lagged behind so that the car ahead was well out of sight. By doing this, I made more than a few motorists wait longer, I probably made a few guards sweat.

Where is the last car? Why is she taking so long? Why did she wave at the prisoners? Is she really taking pictures?

Wait a minute, what prisoners?

Dressed in neon orange and green, looking just like CalTrans workers, are select members of the Bautista Fire Crew. They’re not construction workers or firemen, but inmates from the Larry D. Smith Correctional Center in Banning. They travel in a bright red fire truck that has “Bautista Fire Crew” printed on the side. They are heavily guarded by wardens from the same prison, also dressed in neon green and orange and impersonating CalTrans workers, except that they’re carrying radios and rifles.

“Nope, they’re just CalTrans managers,” you might argue. “Look at the logo on the trucks!”

That’s right, when the Bautista Fire Crew is working, there are always lots of CalTrans trucks around. Most of them are situated at various points along the road, not to observe the work in progress, but the convicts.

Are they whacking the weeds like they should? Are they talking to any motorists? Are they going to escape?

If  you want to make those “CalTrans” guards nervous, try taking pictures of the Bautista crew as you drive by. After all, you’re a citizen, and it’s a free country! You can take pictures of the scenery, and anyone working in it if you’d like. But those guards are likely having silent fits (and memorizing your license plate number!)

In exchange for manual labor, such as weedwacking, shoveling, raking, or even fighting fires, these guys likely will get a reduced sentence. Keep in mind, these are not hardened criminals who have killed anyone or set any place on fire. They’re awaiting arraignments, hearings, trials, and sentencing, or they’ve been sentenced to serve a county jail term.

These are inmates from a medium-security prison that are deemed eligible to work and interact with the public.

Because for a brief moment, when you drive by today, you’re interacting with them. Dressed up in their neon CalTrans vests, these 15 prisoners look like normal workers. But normal workers don’t look right into each car, and straight into your eyes as you pass by. They’re busy working on the road. But these guys, for their free labor and payback to society, are also checking you out. Because, for a very long time, all they’ve seen are the same bunch of guys from the same correctional center.

There’s been a long history of inmates working along Hwy. 243, according to the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility web site. In fact, it proudly mentions that prison chain gangs built Hwy. 243 in the 1930s.  That makes sense now. As you loop back and forth along Hwy. 243, from Idyllwild towards Banning, you can’t help but get a scenic view of the prison every time. It’s as if the road was paying homage to it.

The first time I heard of the Bautista Fire Crew was about three years ago when I covered a brush fire on Hwy. 243. I was a freelance writer for the Idyllwild Town Crier at the time, and eager to please. Covering a midnight brush fire was front-page material, I thought.

There must’ve been 15 trucks in all. The fire was under control, but still burning a little. I reported on what I saw, took a lot of dark pictures and even talked to some of the firemen. In the last paragraph, I mentioned that the Bautista Fire Crew, that was still battling the blaze, appeared to be working the hardest.

The next day, my editor took out the reference.

“Why did you do that?” I asked. It didn’t seem fair that the other firemen should take all of the credit.

“Because no one wants to read about convicts,” she answered.

I walked away in silence, shocked that the state would use convicts to fight fires.

“But, why not, if they’re willing?” I reasoned later.

Apparently, a lot of people in Idyllwild know about the Bautista Fire Crew, and are OK with it.

“They get out of prison for the day, and California gets some free labor,” they’ve said. “Who else wants to whack weeds and shovel dirt along the highway?”

So now you know. The next time you see one of those bright orange “Be Prepared to Stop” signs along Hwy. 243, you’ll be looking at the situation with new eyes. Where you once only saw CalTrans workers, you’ll now notice the guards, the inmates and the trucks.

It’s not prudent to lag behind the “Follow Me” truck, or take pictures of the convicts. The CalTrans crew, or prison guards, won’t like it. And you don’t want to make those carrying guns nervous.

For more information, contact the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility, located at 1627 S. Hargrove Street in Banning, (951) 922-7300.

Copyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

At midnight, I came home to find a bird hanging from the inside curtain of my front door. Since it’s so close to Halloween, I was afraid to open it.

I had also seen too many horror movies in my day. The ax murder finds something or someone that you hold dear, such as your family pet or best friend, and then kills it to psychologically destroy you. Who could ever forget the bunny boiling scene in “Fatal Attraction?”

Did someone kill a bird to get to me? My mind was racing. After someone had put sugar in my gas tank recently  (which nearly killed my car’s engine) I’ve been on edge. Was this the next step in my own psycho-nightmare?

I didn’t want to see a dead bird. I absolutely love all kinds of birds!  Every day, I work hard to keep them hanging around my Idyllwild home. I regularly change the sugar water in my hummingbird feeder. I put out pellets and bread crusts out for the birds, but it’s the bluejays who get most of them. Three years ago, I planted a Fuji apple tree, which finally bore seven apples this year, and didn’t say a word when the bluejays poked holes in all of them.

But with four cats, there’s no way I could have a domestic bird. Remarkably, my cats are also tender-hearted because the birds, mice and lizards they bring to me as “gifts” are still very much alive. They are scared, ruffled and shaken, but still alive. Then it’s up to me to capture them and put them back outside where they belong.

I turned the key, opened the door slowly, and quickly flipped on the light.

The junior woodpecker, as it turns out, was still alive!  He flew from the curtain to the ceiling beam (where I couldn’t resist taking his picture). He was beautiful, with a bright red crown, and white and black markings on his feathers.

Now, how do you get a scared bird out of your house at midnight?

After putting the four cats in the bedroom, I opened up all of the windows and doors. But the little guy didn’t budge.

He just looked at me, as if to say, “Don’t you know I can’t fly at night? Only bats can do that!”

So I started toward the kitchen to unpack my groceries, absent-mindedly turning on more lights. That’s when Woody Jr. took flight. But it was painful to watch. He flew towards the back door, bumping his head on the ceiling four or five times.

I wanted to shout, “Don’t go up, go ooooooout!”

He ended up behind my refrigerator, scared to death. So I unplugged it, and risked ruining a few things. But the refrigerator buzzing annoys even me, so I can’t imagine how a young woodpecker could stand it all night. So I shut the windows and doors, and went to bed.

Laying in the dark, I remembered an old wives tale: “If a robin flies into your home through an open window, death will soon follow.”

I shook off the death notion. It was a woodpecker, after all. And it was likely dragged in through the window by one of my cats.

The next morning, while I was making toast, I saw him again–clinging to a wine bottle that had colored wax dripped all over it.

“Does the wax resemble tree bark to him?” I wondered.

He kept nervously darting his head back and forth from behind the bottle. So I opened up all of the windows and doors again, warning him to watch the ceiling this time.

Again, he didn’t budge.

So I got out my camera to take another picture, and he flew towards the ceiling. He landed on a picnic basket on the top shelf.

So that’s where I left him to go run errands. I figured my presence was making him nervous, but I was also taking a risk leaving my house open during a recession.

“Come on, in and take whatever you’d like, just make sure you leave the doors open so the woodpecker can get out!”

When I returned, Woody Jr. was gone.  I missed his farewell flight, but was glad that he was back to his normal life in Idyllwild.

He left me a memento, though. A small feather that dislodged during his overnight stay.

Copyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

Ever since Russian composer Sergei Prokofieff created “Peter and the Wolf” for children in 1936, it has had tremendous worldwide appeal. Now that the Idyllwild Arts Student Orchestra plans to play it on Oct. 16 &17, people are talking about it again, with smiles on their faces.

“Peter and the Wolf” tells the story of a young boy who wanders into the woods in search of a wolf, much to the dismay of his grandfather. Besides Peter and the wolf, the cast of characters includes a bird, a duck, a cat and some hunters. Each is identified by a different instrument.

“It’s a great way to introduce young children to classical music,” said Charles Schlacks, Jr., an Idyllwild resident for about 10 years. “They can easily pick out the different instruments.”

Charles is an avid record collector, to say the least. Over the past 30 years, he has amassed 44,500 classical records–of which 26,200 are stored in Hemet, and 18,300 reside in his Idyllwild home. One of his favorites is “Peter and the Wolf,” a 10-inch record, conducted by Serge Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with the former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as narrator.

Charles said that he doesn’t know the circumstances surrounding Eleanor Roosevelt as narrator on his record, but, on the back, it states that it was recorded in only three hours in 1947 in Tanglewood, Massachusetts. The record was issued in 1952.

“Tanglewood is like the Hollywood Bowl,” Charles explained. “People can sit on the grass in the open air amphitheater with their families and listen to the music.”

They recorded “Peter and the Wolf” on a smaller, 10-inch record because it would only fit on one side of a 12-inch record, Charles explained, and they probably didn’t want to put anything else on the flip side. The entire piece only takes about 20 to 25 minutes.

Charles has two 10-inch records of “Peter and the Wolf,” which are worth about $95 each, according to the 2000 edition of the Canfield Guide to Classical Music. He doesn’t remember where he got them or what he paid for them, but he knows that it wasn’t $95. And he’s willing to part with one of them.

“I’d be willing to start the bidding at $60 or $75,” Charles said. “The cover is in mint condition, and the album doesn’t have any scratches or anything.”

He said that these “Peter and the Wolf” records are considered “rare” because not many of them were recorded, or are still in existence.

He plans to bring one of his “Peter and the Wolf” records to the concert on Saturday, Oct. 16th, to show people, if they’re interested.

Besides Mrs. Roosevelt, Koussevitzky also recorded “Peter and the Wolf” with Alan Hale, an American actor.

“British actor Sean Connery and George Raft, an American actor, have also narrated ‘Peter and the Wolf,'” Charles added.

Harry Shearer, from “The Simpson’s” fame, will be the narrator for the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra next weekend.

Chen, a junior at the Idyllwild Arts Academy, was chosen to play the role of the cat on his clarinet in “Peter and the Wolf.” He remembers performing it four years ago in China, when he was 12 years old.

He said that the melody of the cat is pretty much the same throughout the entire piece, but he’s glad for the role. He also doesn’t like cats.

“They’re not as smart as dogs,” Chen said on his way to his music lesson at Colburn last week. “But the cat is gets away from the wolf by climbing up a tree.”

He added that he doesn’t have to like cats to play the piece, just has to know how they act.

Charles said that he always attends the Idyllwild Arts concerts, even though the acoustics are not the best at the IAF Theater in Bowman.

“The ceiling is low, so the sound isn’t great,” Charles said. “But it’s good for detail, especially when you’re listening to the various instruments.”

He said every time he hears “Peter and the Wolf,” it sounds differently. Even if you went to both concerts next week, they’d sound differently.

“It depends upon where the musicians are sitting, and the mood of the conductor that day,” Charles said. “Perhaps he’d want to speed things up, or emphasize the strings or brass.”

The Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra will play “Peter and the Wolf” with Harry Shearer on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. and on Sunday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. at the IAF Theater in the Bowman Arts building. All concerts are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Idyllwild Arts at (951) 659-2171 or visit www.idyllwildarts.org.

Copyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

It’s not unusual for Idyllwild Arts Academy to attract music students from all over the world. Last year alone, they came from China, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Canada, Costa Rica, Bulgaria, Venezuela and Germany. Yet, only one auditioned for the school via You Tube from the mountains of Caracas, and has studied with the LA Philharmonic’s hot new conductor, Gustavo Dudamel.

William, a flute player at Idyllwild Arts, is tall, modest, and could be a dead ringer for President Barak Obama. His English has improved greatly since his audition from the mountaintop a year ago. And, as a postgraduate senior, he stands a good chance of getting into college.

His whirlwind journey began when Peter Askim, Idyllwid Arts Music Director and Composer-in-Residence, contacted one of his friends from the Venezuela Philharmonic, William said, and asked her to find him a flute player.  However, William was up in the mountains when he got the call.

“I was 10 hours from Caracas,” William said. “There was no way that I could make a demo tape and send it.”

So he missed the deadline, but they called him again.

“So my friend videotaped me playing, and I posted it on You Tube,” William said.

When the school e-mailed him that he was accepted, William’s mother (who didn’t speak or read English) was skeptical.

“She wasn’t going to send me halfway around the world based on an e-mail message,” he said. “She thought I was going to be abducted.”

So Marek Pramuka,  Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Idyllwild Arts, asked Georgina, a music student from Costa Rica, to talk to his mother in Spanish, William said.

“She told her all about the school, and the orchestra, and she convinced my mom  that it was OK for me to come to America,” he said.

Although William was accepted on a full-ride scholarship, the logistics of getting to Idyllwild was challenging.

“First, we had to transfer bolivars (Bolivar fuerte currency) into dollars,” William explained. “But we couldn’t do that at the bank, so we had to rely on street venders.”

Then he had to get a passport and visa to leave the country. Since his mother doesn’t have a car, they relied on public transportation and a family friend to take them to the various places.

“Although gas is cheap in Venezuela, cars are expensive,” William explained. “Gas is about 25 cents a gallon, but a car that costs about $25,000 in the US, would cost nearly double in Venezuela.”

He lives with his mother (who is studying to be a nurse) and uncle in a tough neighborhood. His father remarried, and William worries that his younger stepbrother will get into trouble with gangs. According to various web sites, 30 percent of Venezuelans live on less than $2 US dollars a day.

“William is a product of ‘El Sistema,'” said one of the Idyllwild Arts patrons while talking about scholarship recipients during the Jazz in the Pines concert this year. “It’s an excellent model of how to keep young at-risk kids interested in music. They give them instruments and keep them so busy that they’re not tempted to join gangs or get into trouble.”

According to various web sites, the State Foundation for the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela, commonly known as ‘El Sistema,’ is a government-funded organization, founded by maestro José Antonio Abreu, aimed at music education through symphony orchestras and choruses. A link to ‘El Sistema’ is listed under “Fesnojiv” in Gustavo Dudamel’s personal web site.

William said that his orchestra rehearsals began right after school, and lasted for hours. They also kept them occupied during summer vacations.

“I was glad that I was part of the orchestra,” William said. “I had somewhere to go after school.”

He chose the flute because he’s always been attracted to the sound. And, although female flutists are common in the US, male flutists are more common in South America, he said.

The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra was a great training ground and that’s where he worked with LA Philharmonic’s conductor, Gustavo Dudamel. But he didn’t say much about him.

“Maybe he’s sick of talking about it,” said Kitty’s mom at The Redlands Bowl. William and Kitty, a fellow Idyllwild Arts music student, won $500 scholarships and were asked to perform before a live audience in June.

“All of LA is talking about Gustavo Dudamel,” Kitty’s mom said. “He’s LA Philharmonic’s hand-picked darling. Of course, the New York Philharmonic thinks he’s too young and inexperienced, but we don’t think so.”

William and Kitty talked about the other performers that evening, including a violin player who couldn’t be more than 10 years old.

“We hate to follow her in the program,” William said. “How can you compete with that cuteness?”

The night before, William had been to the Redlands Bowl for a practice run and sound check with his flute teacher, Sara Andon, and his piano accompanist, Lara Urrutia.

“Lara’s great,” William said. “She keeps up with me. Other accompanists I’ve played with fall behind, and I end up following them.”

They discussed the amphitheater’s acoustics and what to wear for the performance. Since William was playing excerpts from Bizet’s French Opera, “Carmen,” they decided to wear red.

However, William was concerned about playing in an open-air ampitheater, something that wasn’t made clear to him.

“When you play a wind instrument, you already are maxing out your lung capacity,” he said. “Now I have to project even more so that the audience can hear me. I just hope that the wind is not blowing at me, but away.”

William’s selections from  “Carmen” was a crowd pleaser at The Redlands Bowl. Kitty played two contemporary pieces, “Prelude,” and “Alternating Currents,” but wasn’t as happy with her performance. Kitty, who attended Idyllwild Arts all four years, now attends Rice University on a full music scholarship.

When William applied for the Redlands Bowl scholarship, he had to save up for the $50 entry fee.

“At school, you get $20 a week allowance, so I had to save up for three weeks,” he said.

In fact, 68 percent of the 250 students who attend Idyllwild Arts receive some sort of scholarship money, states The Boarding School Review.

When William told his grandmother about the competition, she was certain that he was going to win.

“She said, ‘You’re going to win,'” William said. “Even when I told her how many people tried out. But she’s always believed in me.”

Another person who has believed in William is Askim, who brought him here from Caracas. William said that he didn’t see Askim for two weeks after he arrived. Then when he was in the orchestra, he was annoyed by his name.

“You see, there are two Williams in our orchestra, me and a clarinet player who sits right behind me,” William said. “Whenever Peter would shout, ‘William,’ we both would answer. So he tried calling us ‘William No. 1’ and ‘William No. 2,’ but we both wanted to be ‘William No. 1.”

So Askim nicknamed William the flute player, “Baldy” and William the clarinet player, “Hairy,” for his spiked hairdo.

Hear “Baldy” playing the role of the bird during the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra’s performance of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” on Oct. 16 and 17. The show will also feature guest narrator, Harry Shearer, from “The Simpsons” fame. The show is free and open to the public and will be held in the Bowman Arts Building. For more information, visit www.idywildarts.org.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

Taiji, Japan is 8,342 miles from Idyllwild, California.  Yet, the distance is not stopping one Idyllwild resident from doing his part to pressure the Taiji government to stop their 20,000 annual dolphin slaughter.

It all began in March when Jeffrey Taylor, from Green Cafe, showed “The Cove,” this year’s Academy Award winning documentary, to about 25 residents, which included professors, scientists and animal activists. It was part of his weekly “Cafe Cinema” series that he’s held in Idyllwild for 10 years.  Many of his friends couldn’t bear to see dolphins killed onscreen, yet, those who went said it wasn’t such a graphic portrayal, and getting out the message was key.

“The Cove is a stunning heist-like story that is half Jacques Cousteau and half James Bond,” said Taylor. “A ‘dream team’ of activists venture to Japan to expose the secretive work of fishermen who slaughter dolphins so they can sell the meat nationally and abroad.”

Ric O’Barry, who rose to popularity with “Flipper,” the popular TV show about dolphins in the 1960s, said that he became an activist when he saw that dolphins would rather die than be in captivity.

O’Barry collaborated with Louie Psihoyos in creating “The Cove” documentary to get the word out of the 20,000 dolphin slayings that are held each year from September to March in Taiji, Japan. In a small cove, 26 local fishermen herd dolphins in from the sea by forming a line of boats and making noises with metal poles. The process is known as “oikomi.”

“Dolphins are keenly sensitive to noise,” O’Barry said in the movie. “They are afraid of the noise and swim to the cove to get away from it. There, they are herded into nets and the bottle nosed dolphins are sent to marine parks like “Sea World,” while the other dolphins are slaughtered with spears.

Since the showing, Taylor has not been quiet about the Taiji dolphin slaughter. He regularly visits web sites dedicated to dolphin preservation, and e-mails updates to his friends and customers. Among the information that he’s sent include news reports about the toxic levels of mercury in Taiji;  O’Barry’s recent trip to Toyko; a You Tube video account of a young woman who swam in the Taiji Cove; and a slide show by Leilani Munter, a dedicated volunteer.

All of the portrayals show worldwide support of the ban on the dolphin killings. When O’Barry visited Toyko (because nationalists threatened him in Taiji) with 100 other supporters, he had a list of 155,000 signatures from supporters all over the world.

Some of the supporters are from Idyllwild, and, like Taylor, are unwilling to give up the fight.

In September, the start of the dolphin killing season in Taiji, Taylor hung a banner outside his Green Cafe office in Idyllwild. It was a birthday present from his artist girlfriend. It depicts a torso of a smiling dolphin swimming in a sea of red with the text, “Stop the Slaughter, Taiji.”

“At first, I was worried about posting a political banner outside my business,” said Taylor. “But then I realized that most of my customers agree with the message.”

However, many Japanese do not know about what is going on in Taiji, and would likely not approve of it. In the documentary, tests prove that dolphin meat has toxic mercury levels, and is not good for human consumption. In fact, in the May 10th issue of the Japan Times (another article sent by Jeffrey Taylor), the National Institute of Minamata Disease (NIMD) stated that many Taiji residents have unusually high levels of mercury in their systems.

Even with mercury poisoning, Taiji’s 3,000 residents remain defiant. They say that killing dolphins is no different than killing cows or pigs, and people should mind their own business.

But the more people know, the more they want to help.

In the comment section after an article about O’Barry’s trip to Taiji, one woman wrote: “After watching ‘The Cove,’ like many others, we felt helpless about the dolphin killings in Taiji, Japan. My daughters asked me if we could sell all of our things and go to Taiji in support of the dolphins. I told them that we would sell what we could and send the money to the conservation groups.”

In one You Tube video, O’Barry was asked by a reporter, “What can people do to help?”

“Don’t buy a ticket to ‘Sea World’ or any other dolphin show,” O’Barry said. “It’s a 1.6 million dollar business, and its all about supply and demand. If people won’t pay to see the dolphin shows anymore, then the fishermen will stop capturing and killing them.”

In his blog dated Sunday, September 26, 2010, Ric O’ Barry wrote:

“It’s with a heavy heart that I write today’s post. Despite all our efforts and despite the worldwide condemnation of the cruel dolphin slaughter, the Japanese government remains defiant and has allowed the first dolphin kill of this season at Taiji.

“This defies all logic, both because of the brutal inhumane abuse of dolphins and because it is now proved that the dolphin meat is poison — containing dangerous levels of mercury.

“Throughout the first month of the season several captures have taken place with select dolphins retained for export to zoos and aquariums. The rest of the pod were released back into the wild. However, a few days ago one group of 15 Risso’s dolphins was brutally killed and taken to the slaughterhouse.

“I can’t tell you how angry this makes me. And I know it makes you angry, too. Many of you will be frustrated, but I don’t want you to lose hope. I also am more convinced than ever that our campaign to generate worldwide pressure for an end to the slaughter is right and must succeed.

“We must be vigilant and turn up the heat. The Japan government’s defiance must not be allowed to stand.

“Change does not happen overnight, and we have only just started to get the word out to the Japanese people.

“We are working to keep people on the ground in Taiji to monitor the Cove and report back to the world. Take a look at this video done by one of our dedicated volunteers, Leilani Münter.”

“Taiji will stop their annual dolphin slaughter only when world pressure hits them in the pocketbook,” Taylor added. “One thing we can do is stop buying Japanese products. If 10 percent of Americans stopped buying Japanese products, I’ll bet Taiji would stop killing dolphins.”

For more information, visit www.savejapandolphins.org, and www.takepart.com. And if you want to receive Jeffrey Taylor’s dolphin updates, e-mail him at

we*******@gr*******.com











.

Copyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All Rights Reserved.