Some familiar faces are seen on the Idyllwild Arts campus this week. They’re not former teachers or alumni, but regular Idyllwild Arts Academy students who are taking summer classes. They’re bored watching TV at home, or just want to hone in on some dance, acting, or music skills, before classes resume in the fall.

Jacob, who will be a senior, is a teacher’s assistant for the Costume Shop, and his first assignment is to outfit the play, William Shakespeare’s “MacBeth.”

“I’m really excited to be here,” Jacob said. “I was at home (in Utah) for a few weeks, but I really missed this place!”

Naturally, all of Jacob’s classmates won’t be back on campus until early September, but for many who attend Idyllwild Arts, this full-time boarding school is considered “home.”

As a theater student last year, Jacob became enamored with costumes. So much that he now wants to switch majors and focus on the Costume Shop, instead of acting onstage.

For the “Student Choreography” dance sessions held at the end of the year, Jacob helped out Ariann, a dance student, with her costumes. (See “Student Dance Choreography,” post from May 11, 2010).

“I saw her struggling with shedding the costumes, and I offered to help,” he said. “She was grateful because she needed to get back to the choreography.”

Jacob simply cut the short dresses in strips and pulled and worked with the material.

“It’s all about the material. The cuts needed to move freely when the girls were dancing,” he said.

The most notable part of the costumes was the “straight jacket effect,” in which the dancers arms were confined.

“That was a little tricky,” Jacob said. “Afterwards, everyone said they loved the costumes.”

However, it’s a giant leap from dancer’s costumes to MacBeth, but Jacob is ready for the challenge.

He also was happy to see his other classmates around campus, including Andie, Christine, Haley, Dakota, Kitty, Karina and Dom, among others. Some were visiting, while others were working summer jobs at the cafeteria or in the offices. Yet, most of them were taking summer classes.

“If an Idyllwild Arts student takes a summer class, then their summer tuition is taken off of their academy tuition,” said Diane Dennis, the Summer Program registrar. “It’s called, ‘Pay Once, Learn Twice.'”

According to the “Pay Once, Learn Twice” brochure available in the Bowman main office, Idyllwild Arts students who attend this Summer Program, will receive 100 percent reduction of their summer tuition from their academic tuition. However, it’s only available to IA students who apply to the summer program and are accepted.

Christine, a theater major who graduated in June, is a perfect example. She attended the Idylwild Arts Summer Program for three years, before she spent her senior year at Idylwild Arts Academy. Last year, she said, she received a tuition reduction.

“I wish I would have come to Idyllwild Arts Academy sooner,” Christine said. She was on campus visiting her former theater teachers. “It’s great to be here, and I hope to come back next summer as a teacher’s assistant.”

Andie, who is taking “Song and Dance,” a two-week musical theater workshop, hopes to improve her vocal and dance skills this summer. She will be a junior Theater major in the fall. She said she’ll ask Howard Shangraw, head of the Theater Department at Idyllwild Arts, to attend her final performance.

Diane said that Lina, another Theater student, is enrolled in “Theater Adventures,” a two-week class that begins July 25. There, students will act, dance, improvise and perform a short play.

For these Idyllwild Arts students, Summer Program classes can improve their skills, and “break up the monotomy” of a long summer.

Kitty, who will be attending Rice University in the fall, came back to Idyllwild Arts to help out with a summer class called the “Piano Workshop.”

Since she’s already graduated, tuition reduction is not applicable. But Kitty is happy to be back on campus.

Her plans to travel and perform in Poland were sidelined because of the economic downturn.

“She was really looking forward to visiting Poland. She really loves to travel anywhere,” said Kitty’s mother. “But those who gave her the scholarship said that they couldn’t afford to send her right now.”

Kitty, who has won many musical awards and contests, will likely perform for music students during the summer.

Jacob is going to be a teacher’s assistant for three weeks. Look for his handiwork in the upcoming play, “MacBeth,” that will be held at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 30-31 at the JPT. For more information, visit the Idyllwild Arts web site at www.idyllwildarts.org, and click on “Summer.” And for more information on the “Pay Once, Learn Twice Program,” contact Tara Sechrest at (951) 659-2171, ext. 2345.

At 4:55 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7, an earthquake shook Idyllwild, CA. It registered a 5.4 on the Richter scale, and the epicenter was in Borrego Springs, about 85 miles away, according to news reports.

At the time, I happen to be sitting on the ground outside in my neighbor’s yard. I was taking a break from raking. The earthquake felt like a big, base drum knocking underneath me. Then the vibrations got louder and more intense.

At one point, I looked over at my cat, who was sitting about five feet from me. She didn’t move, nor look alarmed. I thought, “She’s a total California cat. Earthquakes don’t even faze her.”

Yet, afterwards, she threw up.

My neighbor, Gene, who lives in Whittier, ran over pretty excited.

“Did you feel the earthquake?” he said. “It shook everything on the shelves in my house.”

Come to think of it, I did hear dishes rattling in the house next to me. It sounded so faint and delicate, like porcelain wind chimes.

“It must’ve been a number five on the Richter Scale,” Gene said. “I bet they felt it down below too. But you can’t get on any more solid ground than granite!”

Just then, a jogger passed by, and Gene asked if he felt the earthquake.

“Yep, I thought I felt something,” he said, and kept on.

People driving in cars rarely feel earthquakes. My neighbor, Louise, is one of them.

“No, I didn’t feel anything,” she said. “And I was driving past Anza at the time.”

Guess it’s the weight of the car and the forward motion that absorbs the earth shaking for 10 seconds. But Gene said that when the Northridge Earthquake hit, he was driving on a freeway, and his car slid sideways.

“You were pretty safe out here with all these tall trees,” Gene added. “It’s better than being inside your house with stuff falling all around you. Just don’t forget to look up.”

My friend, Charles, 80, was inside his house in Fern Valley at the time.

“That was really something,” he said. “It lasted five, six, maybe 10 seconds.”

He admitted to being scared.

For details on the earthquake in Idyllwild and anywhere around the world, visit the Green Café web site at www.greencafe.com. Jeffrey Taylor, a computer programmer, has tapped into free USGS information on sismetic data. Results are available almost immediately.

Besides the horses, marching bands and floats, they’ll be plenty of “colorful” locals in this Saturday’s Independence Day Parade in Idyllwild, including Raye De Ross, and her belly dancing troupe, “The Outskirts.”

Raye’s the front desk secretary-receptionist for Idyllwild Arts Academy, but also teaches belly dancing classes once a week at The Chakra Shack.

“The Out-Skirts” belly dancing troupe is made up of her friends and customers, namely Sherry Cheney, Dakota Bailey, and her mother (who begged not to be identified for this article.)

“I have to live in this town!” she exclaimed.

She also insisted that she be covered in black from head to toe, including a veil for her face, that only exposes her eyes.

“If no one knows who I am, I can be free to have a little fun,” she said.

“Then we’ll have to put a lot of eye makeup on you, and put a bindi on your forehead,” De Ross said.

She is dressing the rest of them in colorful outfits with veils that cover their faces, long skirts that show off their waists, and belts that “chime” as they move.

De Ross started belly dancing 16 years ago, when her then-5-year-old daughter, Colleen, exclaimed that she wanted to take lessons. They were living in Seattle at the time, and had just watched an international belly dancing competition on TV.”

“It’s a misconception that belly dancing is erotic dancing,” said De Ross, who encouraged both of her pre-teen girls to take lessons. “It was originally created by women for women.”

She said belly dancing builds self esteem in young women and in larger women like her, who often don’t feel coordinated and pretty.

“Belly dancing is embracing our sacred feminine,” she said.

De Ross and “The Out-Skirts” plan to be walking more than dancing in the parade, however.

“Anyone who has been to a parade knows there’s a lot of standing around, waiting for everyone to catch up,” she said. “But, this year, we’re behind the jeeps.”

Like other parade participants, De Ross will be handing out candy and maybe some business cards to the crowd. She hopes to drum up more clients for her $10 lessons on Tuesdays at The Chakra Shack.

Idyllwild Independence Day Parade begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 3rd, at the top of North Circle Drive, then winds down to the center of town. For more information, call the Idyllwild Rotary at (951) 659-4957. For belly dancing lessons by Raye De Ross, call The Chakra Shack at (951) 659-3191.

Idyllwild’s Annual Independence Day Parade has been going on for more than 30 years now. Few small towns in the U.S. still host parades, but Idyllwild attracts the tourists, locals and volunteers like Charlie Wix who support it.

For the past three years, Wix has been scooping poop after the horses in the parade. One would think that he got drafted, but he said that he enjoyed it.

“Are you kidding me? It’s great!” Wix said. “Everyone cheers you on!”

He remembers one time, however, when a friend from Idyllwild Heating was tauting him, so he faked him out.

“I grabbed a handful of candy, and reached down into the wheelbarrow full of horse manure, and pretended that I was picking it up,” Charlie explained. “When I threw the candy at him, you should have seen him duck and run!”

For Saturday’s parade, however, Wix has retired his pooper scooper.

“I’m going to be sitting on the sidelines like everyone else, and enjoy the parade,” he said.

Earlier this year, a heart attack sidelined Wix, but now that he’s got the “green light” from his doctor, he’s ready to get back to work. He’s a popular van driver for for the students at Idyllwild Arts.

Besides the horses, marching bands and organizational floats, they’ll be plenty of “colorful” locals in the parade, including Raye De Ross, and her belly dancing troupe, “The Outskirts.”

Anyone who has been to a parade knows there’s a lot of standing around, waiting for everyone to catch up, but that’s when the parade announcers get creative and talk about the participants and past shows.

Gone are most of the corvette and other car clubs.

“Guess they don’t want to spend the gas to get up here,” Charlie said.

And the beautiful rescue greyhounds are no longer participating. Not because of money, but because of the heat.

“It’s too hot for them to walk on the pavement,” Charlie said.

Charlie isn’t the kind of guy that will sit on the sidelines for long. If he’s not cleaning up behind the horses, he’ll be helping out in some other manner.

Idyllwild Independence Day Parade begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 3rd, at the top of North Circle Drive, then winds down to the center of town. For more information, call the Idyllwild Rotary at (951) 659-4957.

Jewelry designer and teacher Kristin Coffin and her boyfriend, Lewis, loaded up the last of their valuables from their studio apartment near the Jewelry District in LA. The rest of their stuff they were storing at a friend’s house. This is what they’d been waiting for: Summer Camp at Idyllwild Arts.

Kristin was going to teach jewelry making to children, and Lewis, a graphic designer, would be a counselor for nearly three months in Idyllwild.

Kristin came to Idyllwild Arts Summer Program two years ago in response to an advertisement online. Like most teachers they attract, Kristin is an accomplished professional. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Vermont with a BA in metalsmithing and jewelry design. She was the goldsmith at the couture gallery, Grannis Gallery, one of the premier art jewelry galleries on the east coast. Currently, she is the metalsmith for Belle Brooke Designs in Los Angeles.

There, she admitted to unusual sales tactics.

“We’d go to lunch and always wear the jewelry from the store,” Kristin said. “But we’d leave the tag out on purpose. Women would always tell us about the tag, and we’d start a conversation about the necklace.”

Los Angeles is great, but she likes the slower pace of Idyllwild.

“I love it here,” she said, as they headed toward the San Jacinto Mountains. “I’m a small town girl, and Idyllwild reminds me of home.”

This winter, however, she spent a lot of time in the hi-rise buildings of LA’s  Jewelry District.

“It’s bigger than the one in New York City,” Kristin said. “Each of the shops in these hi-rises has a specialty, such as diamonds only four carats and up.”

She said that only those in the jewelry business could shop there, however, and because shop keepers are showing precious jewels, gold and silver, everyone had to be “buzzed” inside.

There, she bought pliers and other tools for her classes, and jewels and materials for her own jewelry that she describes as “organic.”

“It’s kind of feminine use gems only as accent pieces,” Kristin explained. “I use mostly silver and gold, and sometimes blacken the silver, so it creates a nice contrast to the gold.”

For a jewelry maker and teacher, she wears no jewelry at all.

“I used to wear a lot of jewelry, but I’m working in the shop all the time, so it doesn’t make sense to wear it when I’m forging,” she said.

‘METALS WEEK’ KICKS OFF SUMMER PROGRAM

Speaking of forging, it happens to be the focus of one of the classes during “Metals Week” at Idyllwild Arts that starts today, Sunday, June 27, and runs until Thursday, July 1st.

According to the catalog, “Metals Week” is a week of intensive metals studies in which adult students can work with one of six outstanding jewelers and metalsmiths.

“Everyone comes here to learn a skill, such as etching, trapping, sculpting or tool making,” explained Kristin, who is helping out another teacher this week. “It doesn’t make sense for everyone in the class to do one project. You can do that anywhere.”

“Forging Collars, Pendants and Sildes,” is a class taught by Fred Zweig,who has been a metalsmith and teacher for more than 30 years. For the first part of the weeklong class, adult students will take a heavy sterling silver gauge rod and create a stylish neck collar. Then the rest of the time will be spent designing and creating slides and pendants that will hang from the collar.

Other classes that make up “Metals Week” include: “Resin Inlay,” by Karen Christians from Waltham, MA; “Etching,” by Deborah E. Love Jemmott from San Diego, CA; “Sculpted Bezels & Non-Traditional Stone Settings,” by Pauline Warg from Scarborough, ME; and “Trapping Found Objects,” by Joanna Gollberg from Ashville, NC;  and “Tool Making & Alterations,” by Val Link from Houston, TX.

Tuition for all of these classes are $655 plus a lab fee that ranges from $35 to $85, that includes using the school’s tools and equipment. All are limited to 12 adult students.

“Although ‘Metals Week’ classes begin today, we’ll still take walk-ins late,” said Emma Showalter, Assistant Director of the Summer Arts Program. “We will accommodate anyone who wants to come to the classes.”

Idyllwild Arts has a plethora of activities for students during “Metals Week,” including a faculty lecture and slide show tonight at 7 p.m. at the Krone Library; an arts exhibition, hot clay lecture and opening reception at 7 p.m. on Monday at the Parks Exhibition Center; a potluck dinner and auction on Wednesday, June 30 at Studio D and a student exhibition on Thursday, July 1, on the Krone Library’s patio.

For more information on classes and activities for “Metals Week” at Idyllwild Arts, call the registrar at (951) 659-2171, extension 2365; fax (951) 659-4552 or visit the web site at www.idyllwildarts.org, and click on “summer session.”

Idyllwild Arts student filmmakers are looking for ghosts. They are working on a short documentary called “Paranormal Idyllwild,” about ghosts and spirits that haunt our town.

On May 29, the second night of the student Film Screenings at Idyllwild Arts, they gave a preview of this unfinished documentary. In it, they interviewed two employees from Idyllwild Arts, and one local inn owner.

Raye DeRoss, the school’s operator/receptionist, who is also a dorm parent, said that she has heard noises and voices in the dorm that she lives in. However, whenever she would go to investigate, no one would be there. This has happened more than once.

The inn owner described pretty much the same thing. Everyone seems to have heard a lot of random noises, but no one has actually seen a ghost.

Well, maybe someone has. A former student said that he saw a young female ghost with long brown hair and a white robe hovering over a well on the Idyllwild Arts campus. This happened at night, long before he was expelled. His friend, who still attends the school, believes him.

“We need more ghost stories,” said Becca, a junior theater major, who was helping her friend, Bree, the documentary’s writer, find more content.

“We tried Googling ghosts in Idyllwild, but nothing comes up,” Becca added. “But we know there’s more ghosts stories in Idyllwild.”

In the “Haunting Idyllwild Homes,” a post on this blog site from January 2010, an unidentified woman describes her ongoing battle with a ghost that haunts her Idyllwild home. It is driving her crazy enough to move out.

Becca said that she didn’t want to interview that woman because she’s a renter.

“We need to be able to show the inside and outside of the house,” Becca said. “If we were to show it on film, we might make the person who owns the house mad at us.”

If anyone (who is not a renter) is interested in telling their ghost story, call the Moving Pictures Department at Idyllwild Arts, at (951) 659-2171 or visit www.idyllwildarts.org. But wait until the film students return in September.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

Outside his Idyllwild home every weekend, Peter Hopper sets out tables, hardware shelves, beach umbrellas and the American flag. On display are his homemade bird houses, including single dwelling, three-room “condos,” and one unique gingerbread “mega mansion.” Stacked off to the side are flower boxes with flowers or geometrical designs on them. And around the corner is a massive bird feeder mounted on a nine-foot pole.

Although these are the work of a master craftsman, it more of his “calling card,” and an opportunity to teach his two young boys about his old world craft.

“These bird houses are a friendly way to get to know people,” said Hopper, who has lived with his family in Idyllwild since 2000.

Hopper, is tall, clean-shaven (including his head), and speaks with a heavy Austrian accent. Although he looks like “Mr. Clean,” he is soft spoken and philosophical, especially when talking about his family.

“I’m working with my boys on weekends trying to teach them carpentry–like I learned from my father in 1976,” Hopper said.

“Idyllwild is a great place to be because there’s nature all around, not lots of traffic and people are friendly,” he added.

Behind him in the open garage are a plethora of table saws, drills, a planer and boxes of tools. Sawdust is all over the floor and tables.

“As a carpenter, you need high quality equipment,” Hopper said. He mainly does commercial work that includes installing of hardwood floors, marble and porcelain tiles, restoration of antique furniture, and plumbing that includes sprinkler and drip systems.

One of his recent jobs in Idyllwild was on Country Club in which he built several small decks, and an ornate brick entryway. He’d like to do more local work, so he wouldn’t have to commute to Oceanside.

In the meantime, however, he’s content to teach his boys about carpentry on weekends.

His son, Liam, age 15, helps him create the bird houses and flower boxes, while Dylan, age 9, is the salesman. Dylan’s homemade sign reveals the prices: $35 for the single-dwelling bird houses, $45 for the stacked, three-room condos, $180 for the gingerbread mega mansion, and $85 for the bird feeder.

“Dylan doesn’t like the sawdust, so we made him the salesman,” Hopper explains. “He’s great at selling, but doesn’t always understand adult humor. Like when a customer offered to pay for a bird house with a credit card, Dylan was left speechless.”

“We lost the sale, but Dylan knows next time to tease them right back,” Hopper added. “We told him to say, ‘No, we don’t accept credit cards, but we’ll take your cash or a check.'”

All of the bird houses have a standard-sized opening, but Hopper will custom fit them with a smaller wooden insert, if you’d like. Bluebirds, for example, need smaller holes, to keep the larger bluejays out.

There are primarily two styles Hopper sells, a plain one with a slanted roof, and a modified log cabin style (to match many of the homes in Idyllwild). The “condo,” bird house, coined by Dylan, has three rooms.

He created that style when he had seen a tree at his sister-in-law’s place that housed as many as 50 birds.

“Some birds are more social,” he said. “So you can mount two of these condos side-by-side on the tree and make a lot of birds happy.”

However, his latest bird house, the “mega mansion” (also coined by Dylan), shows off Hopper’s carpentry skills. There is great detail in the pitched roof with double chimneys, and the wrap-around porch. It looks like a gingerbread home you’d might find in Austria.

It takes some time for he and the boys to create this masterpiece, so the price is reasonable at $180. They sold two of them last year, with one customer mounting it on a pole, while the other hung it from a tree.

Although ornate, there is no paint or waterproof coating on the mansion–and the other bird houses as well. Hopper said that most of his customers prefer to paint, seal or decorate them themselves.

However, the flower boxes are decorated, stained and sealed with a waterproof coating.

The designs include flowers, geometric patterns, and more recently, children’s cartoon faces. Hopper pencils in the design on the box to start, then carves them with a hand-held router. Then he sands it off and finishes with a wood stain and a polyurethene coating.

You may have seen his handiwork outside the beauty shop in town, the Help Center, and Strawberry Creek Inn.  Adding a name to the flower box costs $15 more.

“People come to me with newspaper clippings and drawings, and ask me to duplicate the design,” Hopper said. “We are happy to accommodate  everyone.”

The flower box dimensions are approximately 33 inches long, by 8 3/4 inches wide and 7 1/2 inches high. Hopper recommends inserting plastic liners into the boxes so that there is protection between the dirt and wood. The liner also serves another purpose.

“At night, you can easily pick up the liner and bring your flowers into the house,” said Kelly, his wife. ” That way, you’ll keep them from freezing, or bothered by animals.”

It was also her idea to add color to the flowers on the flower boxes.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve,” she said.

The bird feeder that sits in front of their house is remarkable. It has a large roof to protect against rain and snow, with a large opening for several birds to feed at once. There is about a one-inch rim around the bottom to keep the seeds or peanuts inside.

Like the bird houses, Hopper recommends that people use a plastic liner for easy inserting and cleanup.

It costs $85, but you can also purchase a nine-foot pole for $10 that can be mounted into a pipe into the ground. Some need help installing the bird feeder, and Hopper helps them for free.

It’s all about teaching, family togetherness, and not so much about the money. He doesn’t have to say it. His sales speak for themselves.

Last year, Hopper and his sons sold about 15 bird houses, and 25 flower boxes, but gave 50 of them away, mostly to schools and children.

He knows that he could beef up sales by opening up a shop in town, or selling online on eBay. None of these options appeals to him right now.

“My family is number one. Here, I have all of my tools and my boys to help me,” Hopper said. “If I have to make 100 bird houses, then it becomes work, and not so much fun.”

He’s been through all that, he said, 30 years ago when he worked 2o-hour days for someone else. Now, he’s just happy to do custom work and making a few bird houses with his boys.

To see the Hopper family bird houses, visit them at 53675 Tollgate Road in Idyllwild, or call (951) 659-5909.

Copyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

On May 28-29, the Idyllwild Arts Academy screened five short films, and trailers for three documentaries. The students work was well received by those who attended, including the media. The school plans to send the short films to area film festivals for review, however, some films don’t start getting attention until almost a year later.

Case in point: “The Steinway Virtuosos,” a short documentary produced by Idyllwild Arts students last year (2009), is now being screened at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival on June 22-28. ShortFest 2010 will present more than 300 short films from 40 countries.

ShortFest 2010 is known worldwide for its extraordinary community of filmmakers it attracts, and the quality and scope of its programming. In 2005, an Idyllwild Arts student, Alexis Echavarria won the “Audience Choice Award” for “18 Minutes,” a short film about the last 18 minutes of sunlight on earth. The 16-year-old student died before the screening at ShortFest 2009, but a student award has been set up in his name.

His mother has not forgotten Idyllwild Arts and has been generous over the years. In Oct. 2009, she dedicated “Alexis Annex,” a building on the Idyllwild Arts campus, in his name.

“She also donated all of the computers that we used to edit the films this year,” said Dr. Ira Abrams, from the Idyllwild Arts Moving Pictures Department.

“The Steinway Virtuosos,” the 2009 student documentary, is about a piano contest sponsored by the Steinway Society of Riverside County, a nonprofit organization that helps put music back into California grade schools what government funding has cut over the years.

Ruth Moir, founder and head of the Steinway Society of Riverside County, said that she hopes that her organization will help to nurture interest in music in grade school students. They have set up a “piano lab” targeted at students from third to fifth grade, in which they learn to play on pianos at school and read music.

The Steinway Society also has an outreach program for talented piano students in which some receive piano keyboards to practice at home. Marcos, a grade school student featured in the documentary, came to the Steinway Society by accident. He was called into the principal’s office for tardiness, and saw a piano there. He asked if he could play it, and impressed the principal, who immediately called The Steinway Society.

Up until that time, Moir said, he was playing “by ear” on a broken down old keyboard at a home that he shared with his single mother and sister with special needs. The Steinway Society gave him a new keyboard and music lessons, and within a year, he has learned to read music.

When the Idyllwild Arts crew came to interview him at his home near Palm Desert, he performed “I Will Always Love You,” a song he created for his grandmother who had just passed away. The strength and intensity of his playing hushed them into silence.

The documentary crew consisted of Amelia, Emily, Joel, Ben, and Scarlett. Two of them graduated from Idyllwild Arts on June 5. Emily plans to study film, while Amelia wants to try acting in front of the camera in her native Vancouver. Daphne or “Kitty,” who won the piano competition that was featured in “The Steinway Virtuosos” documentary, will study piano in college in the fall.

Other Idyllwild Arts music students and faculty who appear in the video include: Doug Ashcraft, Nelms McKalvin, Ie-Seul, Georgina and Timmy.

When Amelia, the producer, graduated this year, she was unaware of the screening at ShortFest 2010, but knew about its potential to appear on public television.

“Guess I’ll have to wait until it appears on TV,” she said. “That would be pretty exciting.”

Scarlett, who edited “The Steinway Virtuosos” as well as five films this year, said it was one of the most difficult to complete. She was working day and night, right up until the screenings on campus last year.

“It changed direction three times,” Scarlett said, as she groaned, remembering. “It was about the Steinway Society, and then the competition. But, in the end, we were pretty happy with the way it turned out.”

Abrams said that he hopes to attend ShortFest 2010, along with others from the Idyllwild Arts Moving Pictures Department, but the film festival is held during their summer break.

“‘The Steinway Virtuosos’ will be shown in a package appropriately called, ‘Performance Anxiety,’ which screens on Saturday, June 26,” said Dr. Abrams. “There will be nine shorts starting at 1:30 p.m., so our documentary will start an hour later, roughly at 2:30 p.m.”

For more information on ShortFest 2010, visit www.psfilmfest.org, for “18 Minutes,” visit www.alexisechavarria.com, and for attending Idyllwild Arts, visit www.idyllwildarts.org.

Copyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

By Marcia E. Gawecki

The first time that I saw her was at midnight in my kitchen. I had just returned from work and had forgotten to shut the back door. I have cats, and always leave kibble out for them. Apparently, the smell had attracted her.

I had written an article on raccoons before, so I knew to start making noise and turning on lights. They don’t like either one. She was headed for the back door, when she suddenly turned around. What was she doing? I got scared.

Then I could see the two little “kits” with her. They were the size of a baby cat, all cute and furry, but with that distinctive black band across their beady eyes. I went for the food drawer, and started getting out some kibble, and promised them more if they left.

I put it out in a pie tin and watched as each of them delicately lifted the food with their hands and ate it. All the while, they didn’t take their eyes off of me once, except for the mother.

I didn’t realize that something was wrong with her until several visits later when she came by herself. She was on the porch ledge eating the bread that I left out for the bluejays.

I put kibble out for her in the pan, and she didn’t step backwards, or run up the tree like her kittens did. In fact, when the food hit the pan, she came towards me immediately. I had no time to react, but kept my voice soft, “Here you go, honey, here’s some more food for you.”

She reached for the food, but missed the pan. She tried again and missed. The third time, she found the food and ate it. I could see in the porch light that her eyes weren’t quite right. Almost a little cross-eyed and tired. They didn’t shine like her kittens’ eyes.

“What are you doing?” my sister in Kansas asked me. “Did you know that they can reach up and open your screen door? If they come inside your kitchen, they can open up boxes and canisters. It would be a disaster!”

I didn’t tell her about the earlier visit.

“I heard that if raccoons, which are nocturnal, go out searching for food during the day, they can burn out their retinas,” some student told me.

“I’m not sure if that’s the case,” said the receptionist at the Idyllwild Ranger Station on upper Pine Crest. “She might have gotten into a fight with another raccoon. You know how sharp their claws are.”

“Isn’t there any raccoon glasses that we can give her?” I teased. I was concerned that if this mother raccoon couldn’t see me, then she couldn’t see any predators either.

“Coyotes may be able to sneak up on her if they can sense that she’s weak,” the receptionist said. “You really shouldn’t be feeding her. Like we always say, ‘A fed bear is a dead bear.'”

I knew what she meant. She wasn’t talking about bears, but the danger of feeding wild animals. Not only for us, but for them. We could get bitten, and they could become dependent, and let their natural defenses down. But what about the blind mother raccoon? Would it be better to let her forage for her own food? It seemed a little cruel.

“Well, she’s teaching her babies that they can dine at your place sometimes,” said my mother.

“Cat food is pretty rich for raccoons,” offered Janice, another receptionist the next day. “They really like dog kibble. Perhaps you could feed them that.”

I had heard of a “Raccoon Lady,” in Idyllwild, who nurses baby raccoons back to health. She’s also a pretty good hairstylist. I plan on talking to her soon. Perhaps she could advise me on what to do next.

Copyright 2010 Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.

It was like having a recital the same night as the Academy Awards. That’s what happened to Idyllwild Arts music students, Una and Meiling, two juniors. Last night, Friday, May 29, was the same night of the student film screenings where they rolled out the red carpet, and the audience line went clear down the parking lot.

However, those friends, family members and faculty who came to Una and Meiling’s recital, got to witness “pure entertainment.”

You knew it the moment you walked into Stephens Recital Hall. Set up before us was a marimba, four kettledrums, and a snare-bass-drum-cymbals combo set. These large percussion instruments dwarfed everything around them, including Una, who weighs about 90 pounds.

Yet, she obviously knew how to command these instruments. For Una’s first piece, “Furioso and Valse in D Minor,” by Hatch, she performed solo, hitting the large wooden marimba keys with her mallets.

For those of us who didn’t know until tonight, a marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. Keys or bars (usually made of wood) are struck with mallets and are arranged like those on a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys.

Marimbas originated in Africa hundreds of years ago and were imported to Central America in the sixteenth century. Needless to say, it’s a very large instrument, but it produces a soft, wooden and metal sound.

For her next piece, “Sonata for Marimba and Piano,” by Tanner, Una was accompanied by her classmate, Keri. Like many instruments that are generally the “backbone” of the orchestra, and never out in front, this was a nice piece. Keri’s piano didn’t drown out the marimba, in which Una played with two mallets in each hand. And Una had many moments in which the piano wasn’t playing.

Next, Una came out and stood behind the four large timpani drums. They looked like oversized copper metal pots covered with soft leather tops. You knew immediately that the sound coming from them would be commanding–and it was. It sounded like a jungle movie in which something was going to happen soon.

In a rare moment at Idyllwild Arts, brother and sister got to play together at the same recital. For this piece “Solo Impression for Four Timpani,” by Firth, Una was accompanied by her older brother, Rich, on piano. His piano part was frenetic sounding and sporadic, while Una’s drumming built up to a crescendo.

Although the timpani piece was a short one, two people in the audience couldn’t have enjoyed it more: their parents.

That night, Una wasn’t without accompanists. For her next piece, “Three Oranges,” by Hoffman, she was joined by Stephanie, a violinist, who is also Rich’s girlfriend. Una played the marimba, while Stephanie “plucked” at her violin. The overall effect sounded like harp music. Naturally, the song lead to larger sounds by both instruments. At times, Una used double mallets to get a larger sound.

For her final piece, “The Love of L’Histoire,” by DeLancey, Una changed instruments again. This time, she played the snare-bass-drum combo. In addition to the drums, there was also a wooden piece that sounded like horse clomping, a cowbell, and cymbals. The title, “The Love of L’Histoire,” suggested a French patriotic sound, but it was more “New Age,” space-type music with irregular rhythms.

But when Una got going, her arms were outstretched, and she was pounding on the snare and bass drums at the same time. It looked difficult, but she pulled it off.

“You should have seen her at the ‘New Music’ orchestra concert,” said Andrew Leeson, a teacher in the Creative Writing Department. “It looked like her arms were stretched eight feet wide. It was amazing!”

Afterwards, Una took two bows and received a standing ovation. She also got flowers from her brother and his girlfriend.

Una is looking forward to returning to Idyllwild Arts this summer. She’s received a scholarship, and will have a chance to work with new teachers and percussion instruments.

After a brief intermission, it was Meiling’s turn. Many of her fellow piano students moved closer so they could see her fingerings on the piano.

For her first piece, she chose “Sonata K280 in F Major,” by Mozart. It started out fast, and Meiling played it loud and confidently. For the middle or “adagio” part, she played the piano more melancholy and quiet.

Her next piece included three preludes by Chopin, including “No. 1 in C Major,” “No. 3 in G Major,” and “No. 16 in B-Flat Minor.” The “No. 3 in G Major,” was the best of the three, because it was loud, intense, and I envisioned a flight of bumblebees.

For Meiling’s last piece, she was accompanied by Yifan, another pianist, on a grand piano set up next to hers. “Scenas Infantis,” or Memories of Childhood, by Pinto, included many familiar lullabies, including, “Ring Around the Rosy,” and “Sleeping Time.”

Although it sounded simple at first, it soon built into a nice, complex arrangement. And the dueling pianos gave it a commanding sound.

“She’s a good player,” said Ie-Seul, a senior pianist, who had played her Mozart and Chopin pieces, but didn’t know her final one.

After her second bow, Meiling received a hug from her boyfriend, Felix.

All in all, the instruments, the arrangements, were unexpected, and the musicians played with skill and confidence. It wasn’t the Academy Awards, but pure entertainment.