Artemis Adventures, which allows visitors to experience what it’s like to drive a lunar rover, and the Solar System Encounter, which features high-definition images from space, both aim to teach patrons about space exploration through interactive, hands-on activities.

“Here at Discovery Cube our mission is to make learning fun,” said Cherie Whyte, vice president of marketing. “Not only do we provide all of these amazing elements where you can learn about the world around us, but we do it in a way that kids can explore, touch and feel.”

In Artemis Adventures – a nod to NASA’s current Artemis program, which aims to establish a long-term human presence on the moon by the end of the decade – an exhibit invites visitors to imagine what it would be like to eat, sleep and travel while living on the moon.

A few feet away, visitors can follow in the footsteps of astronauts who explored the moon during NASA’s Apollo missions in the late 1960s and early ’70s by driving mini remote-controlled lunar rovers across a detailed model of the moon’s surface.

Guests may venture out even further in the Solar System Encounter, a popular returning exhibit that features a colorful, large-scale model of the sun, planets and other objects at its center.

Here, visitors may participate in space-themed experiments, find out what they’d weigh on other planets, and – new this year – view images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provided through a collaboration with James Bullock, an astrophysicist and dean of UC Irvine’s School of Physical Sciences.

Cindy di Avani, education manager for the Discovery Cube, said space is a popular topic among students served by the organization, and the new exhibits provide an engaging way to teach visitors about chemistry, physics and other science-related topics.

“Kids don’t realize that all the things they love are science, and there is science in everything,” she said. “So when they come here, they get to be more fully enveloped in the science all around them.

“This is their opportunity to really just dive in, experience their experiences and ask those questions of ‘What is this’ and ‘How does it work’ and ‘Why does it work,’” she added.

Artemis Adventures is a permanent exhibit, while the Solar System Encounter will run through March 3; both are included with Discovery Cube general admission.

Information: www.discoverycube.org

“Flower Street on Historic Main” is modeled after the Nguyen Hue Flower Street festival in Vietnam, organizers say, a Lunar New Year tradition featuring cultural and entertainment events and elaborate floral designs that attracts more than 2 million visitors annually. The Flower Street celebration joins a vibrant tradition of Lunar New Year events in Orange County.

This year’s Flower Street festivities include a retooled Lunar New Year’s Eve countdown on Feb. 9 and day-long street festivals on Feb. 10 and 11 that aim to bring the Flower Street tradition to an American audience while showcasing the richness of Vietnamese culture.

Organizers reflected on last year’s inaugural festival and previewed plans for this year’s event during a recent press conference at the District 1 Deli on Main Street that featured Vietnamese food and drink, a mini fashion show and remarks by various stakeholders.

Related: 8 returning favorites at Disneyland’s Lunar New Year food

Related: What to expect during 2024 Lunar New Year festival at Disney California Adventure

“Our efforts paid off,” Phillip Ho, a member of this year’s organizing committee, told the crowd about the 2023 festival. “We saw the families of Garden Grove and surrounding communities laughing and smiling and taking lots of pictures. We hope to bring the same energy and joy to Garden Grove with each additional event.”

More than 15,000 people attended last year’s festival, organizers said. They are hoping to attract even more this year.

During the festival, Main Street will be closed to traffic from Garden Grove Boulevard to Acacia Parkway so that participants can freely visit shops, take photos with floral displays sponsored by community groups and businesses, and participate in a variety of programming.

The first day of the festival will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Feb. 10. Scheduled activities include an opening ceremony, traditional lion dance, performances and games. The second day will run from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 and also features lion dances and a full day of activities and entertainment.

As 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, dragon statues fashioned from colorful flowers will be stationed near the Historic Main Street sign to welcome attendees, said Sophie Tran, this year’s emcee who likened the festival to another popular American New Year’s tradition.

“Imagine the Rose Parade, except you get to stay and take pictures with these beautiful arrangements,” she said.

While the festival may provide aesthetically pleasing photo opps on the surface, organizers say it also serves a deeper purpose: to highlight the fullness of Vietnamese culture while uniting people across ethnicities and generations.

Orange County is home to the largest Vietnamese population outside Vietnam, Tran said, and publicly celebrating the start of the Lunar New Year is a fitting way to introduce residents of all backgrounds to Vietnamese traditions and culture.

Tran said that while local Lunar New Year events abound – annual celebrations are typically held in Westminster, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana for example – Flower Street on Historic Main is unique in that it intentionally showcases both traditional Vietnamese and modern Vietnamese American arts and culture.

In doing so, Tran said, organizers hope to unify multi-generational Vietnamese families and get them excited to ring in the Lunar New Year together, and to bring into the fold younger Vietnamese Americans who may feel disconnected from traditional Vietnamese culture because they don’t speak Vietnamese or are growing up far away from their ancestors’ homeland.

“Just because they don’t understand the language does not mean that they are no longer members of our community,” Tran said.

“The committee wants to put together events like this for the next generation to feel like they can travel the world and go to where their parents were born to celebrate Lunar New Year,” she said, “but also to introduce our culture to other communities as well.”

During the recent press conference, organizers highlighted some of the new additions to this year’s festival that are designed to appeal to larger audiences and bridge the generation gap.

Little Saigon TV and the Vietnamese Creatives Collective are hosting for the first time a Lunar New Year’s Eve countdown show, “Harmony of the Dragon,” from 7 p.m. to midnight on Feb. 9 at the nearby Garden Amp outdoor amphitheater. The event will feature merchandise and food and will blend traditional and modern with a line-up that includes artistic performances, spoken word poetry, a DJ set, stand-up comics, and more.

Kids and families are also encouraged to work together to decorate wagons with flowers and items from their gardens during a children’s wagon decorating contest on Feb. 10.

And children and young adults will don floral-inspired áo dài – traditional Vietnamese dress – during a flower-themed fashion show on Feb. 11.

Flower Street on Historic Main is being organized by the Vietnamese Sport Association of Southern California in collaboration with Little Saigon TV, and with support from a network of residents, businesses and groups, including the city of Garden Grove and the Garden Grove Downtown Business Association.

City Councilmember Stephanie Klopfenstein was among those who spoke about how the festival benefits the whole community.

“In Garden Grove we really celebrate our diversity,” she said. “This is such a wonderful way to promote cultural harmony and all of us coming together. We are extremely excited to have this once again on Main Street.”

“We hope,” she added, “it becomes a tradition for many years to come.”

For more information, visit Facebook.com/Tetflowerstreet or www.vsasocal.org.

A coalition of residents, business owners and skating enthusiasts has long contended that skaters need a safe, dedicated space to practice their craft in town, especially after the closures of the Big-O and Vans skate parks that once operated in Orange.

That vision is picking up steam, as the city has allotted $1.77 million to build a roughly 11,500-square-foot skate park at Grijalva Park, and has hired a company to design it over the next few months.

The City Council set the project in motion in 2022, when it directed city staff to use $1.75 million in park development fees to build the first city-owned skate park at Grijalva Park.

As a result, the project was added to the city’s 2023-24 fiscal year capital improvement projects list, using $1.75 million in park development fees and $27,426 from a separate fund for Grijalva Park projects.

In October, the City Council authorized city staff to pay Grindline Skateparks, Inc. $267,690 to draw up preliminary designs and construction documents for the facility, which is slated to feature a lighted concrete skate park, a prefabricated restroom, paved ADA access, security lighting and spectator seating.

Grindline has designed and built more than 300 skateparks nationally and internationally since 2002, according to its proposal submitted to the city. Locally, the Seattle-based company has worked on the Ponderosa Park Skatepark in Anaheim, the McVicker Park Skatepark in Lake Elsinore, and the Vista Skatepark System in Vista.

It is using public input to help shape plans for the proposed skate park in Orange.

An initial community meeting was held in December at the Sports Center at Grijalva Park, where stakeholders could learn about the project, meet the designers, and contribute ideas for the skate park’s design.

Grindline is compiling the feedback received from that meeting, and will bring forward an initial design concept in the next few months, according to Charlene Cheng, public affairs and information manager for Orange. The general consensus was the park design should accommodate even beginning skaters, she added.

At least one additional public input meeting will be held this year; information about upcoming meetings will be posted to the city’s website and social media channels.

Design and construction documents for the new skate park are expected to be completed by late spring/early summer 2024, Cheng said, with the city going out to bid for construction after that in summer/fall 2024.

The city is developing the 42-acre Grijalva Park site in phases.

Plans for a skate park have been included in the park’s master plan since 2005, although the exact size of the skate park and proposed location within Grijalva Park are still to be determined, Cheng said.

Those interested in receiving email updates about the skate park project may send an email to: csinfo@cityoforange.org.

The St. Vincent de Paul societies at St. Mary, St. Juliana Falconieri and St. Philip Benizi parishes are banding together to run a new program that will provide participants with low interest loans of up to $7,500 to help them keep their housing or get back into it.

The Michael Clements Mini Loan Program aims to reduce the number of people who are homeless, at risk of becoming homeless, or caught in a cycle of debt by providing them with affordable, accessible loans that can be used to help them get back on their feet.

“We find that there are many people who are working, but are struggling to make ends meet,” said Thomas Saenz, a deacon at St. Juliana who is involved in the initiative. “We understand that many of them require rental assistance or require support in getting the deposits and other funds necessary to get into an apartment and we just really felt that something needed to be done to help them.”

The three churches have been working together for years to improve living conditions for the homeless through what’s known as the Fullerton Tri-Parish Collaborative, Saenz said. Most notably, the group worked alongside the city and other individuals, agencies, interfaith groups and nonprofits to get a transitional care shelter for the homeless established in Fullerton.

Through the mini loan program, the collaborative aims to stop homelessness before it starts by focusing on areas where the working poor need the most help.

Organizers say that many of those who are at risk of becoming homeless are stuck in a debt cycle that makes it difficult for them to get ahead.

One day they can be employed, living in an apartment or hotel, and using high interest loans to supplement their income, and just days later they can find themselves at risk of eviction or saddled with hefty medical bills if life brings unexpected changes. If they do end up homeless, it’s even harder for them to repay high interest loans, bills and debts, while also trying to save up to move back into stable housing, organizers said.

The program aims to stop this cycle by offering two types of loans: One that the working homeless can use to cover apartment move-in fees, and one that participants can use to pay off high interest debts so that they have more funds available to put toward housing.

The loans, which will be administered through the Notre Dame Credit Union, will range from $500 to $7,500, and will be repaid over 36 months at 2% interest. Repayments will be reported to the credit bureaus, which will help participants start or rebuild their credit.

In addition to repaying the loan, recipients must also take a basic financial literacy training that covers topics such as budgeting and financial discipline, Saenz said. After successfully repaying their loan and completing the training, they’ll receive a $50 bonus to start a savings account.

“The goal is to help the working poor – those who are really making an effort to live their lives as we all want to live but they’re really struggling – and those who may be on the verge of becoming homeless and who want to get back from falling into that state of being without a home,” Saenz said.

“We felt that helping people goes beyond extending charity,” he said. “It also means giving them an opportunity to get ahead and established, and have a life that everyone is entitled to.”

​Saenz said that plans for the loan program are moving right along. The program was launched in September, the credit union was brought on board in October, and donations from individuals and organizations have been rolling in since then.

The funds for the program will come directly from gifts, donations and grants. Although the group hasn’t quite hit its $100,000 fundraising target, it’s collected enough money to where it can start making loans, Saenz said.

Organizers say the loan program will be self-sustaining, in that loan repayments will go back into a collective pot so that they can be loaned out to new applicants.

“The funds are in, the bank is ready to help administer the program, and we have the three parishes identifying potential applicants and conducting home visits,” Saenz said.

Program volunteers are currently screening for potential applicants in Fullerton, but will also be expanding their search into surrounding cities such as Anaheim, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Brea, La Habra, La Mirada and Buena Park, Saenz said. Those interested in applying can also contact the three churches directly.

Fr. Dennis Kriz, pastor of St. Philip Benizi, said the idea for the program emerged over the last few years as he and other organizers spoke to residents about their living situations while interacting with them at food distributions and other outreach events.

Kriz said he’s encountered scores of local families living in precarious situations – from those living on the streets while they await government assistance, to those doubled up in cramped apartments, to those living out of their car at the end of the month because they can no longer afford a hotel room.

“I could see that they were working, but they were unable to get themselves out of the situation,” Kriz said. “And so, it occurred to me that this would be a way that perhaps we could get some of these families out of there because some of this just gets really heartbreaking.

“This is John Steinbeck, ‘Grapes of Wrath,’ stuff,” he said. “You would think that in our time this would be basically unheard of. And yet there are dozens of families that find themselves in this situation.”

The program is named for Michael Clements – a Fullerton native who died in 2022 – who dedicated his life to helping others. Clements advocated for children with special needs, worked to revitalize low-income neighborhoods in Santa Ana, and pressed for better working conditions for migrant farmworkers alongside Cesar Chavez.

Although the program is open to people of all walks and faiths, organizers say it’s also a way for the three churches to minister to the community.

“We’re doing good work here, but there’s a deeper meaning to this,” Saenz said. “As Catholic Christians we believe in the dignity of every human being and that everyone has a right to live according to their dignity with good housing, good shelter, good educational opportunities, and it’s a challenge. So as a faith-based community, we feel called to help them in that regard.”

As the roll out of the mini loan program picks up steam, organizers say they are optimistic about the positive changes that it could bring to the community – one person or family at a time.

“We are very thankful for the generosity of our donors and our volunteers,” Saenz said. “We look forward to making a positive impact in the lives of people through this program and others.”

For more information, visit michaelclementsminiloanprogram.com.

“I know all about that,” I said to myself, recalling how many times my mom pushed me to graduate from college and become a journalist when all I wanted to do was give up.

From childhood, my mom taught me that our ancestors emigrated from Mexico to give us a better life and that out of gratitude we should seize the opportunities available to us in the United States.

Over time, this belief broadened my horizons, gave me direction and confidence, and showed me that my ancestors had already carried the heaviest loads. All that was left for me – and my kids – to do was prosper.

My family began immigrating to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some were children. Others were newly married couples. Still others were adventurous young men flying solo.

Their reasons for making the nearly-3,000-mile trek were varied but profound. Some came to work. Others came to study. Still others came fleeing social unrest triggered by the Mexican Revolution.

When my ancestors arrived in Orange County, they joined fledgling Mexican American communities in Anaheim and Santa Ana and provided for their families by picking oranges on the Irvine Ranch, hauling scrap metal in Westminster and harvesting seasonal crops in Northern California.

But life was bittersweet. While they enjoyed new freedoms, they also faced segregation. Society dictated where they could attend school, buy property and sit in movie theaters.

Years passed, laws changed and my ancestors assimilated. During World War II, the women entered the workforce, and the men enlisted. Both my grandfathers served in the Army.

By the time I was born in the late 1970s, our family had a comfortable, middle-class life. My father drove trucks for years and later held a desk job, and my mom was – and still is – a school librarian.

I was raised in a modest Santa Ana neighborhood, near my grandparents and great-grandparents. I saw them often, knew their life stories and respected the paths they had blazed. As a young adult, I had hoped to build on their feats by earning my bachelor’s degree and finding a job after graduation.

All went according to plan, until I fell in love with journalism.

I took a writing course here, a design course there, and soon I was pulling all-nighters in the campus newsroom. I was soon hired by a local newspaper and began splitting my time between school and work.

Days turned to years, and before I knew it, nearly a decade had passed. I found myself married with a baby and another one on the way, and a few credits short of earning my degree. I was exhausted and ready to drop out. But my mom – who had earned an associate’s degree and was working toward her bachelor’s degree until health problems derailed her quest – wasn’t about to let another bachelor’s degree slip out of our collective hands without a fight.

She kicked the family history lessons into high gear and reminded me daily about our ancestors’ struggles. I finally finished my coursework and attended my commencement ceremony – with my family in the stands and my baby girl squirming within me.

Looking back, my mother was “pushy.” But I’m better for it. Her insistence helped me stick to my goals and launch my dream career, which in 17 years has led me from the halls of Georgetown University for a summer journalism program to a Hollywood coffee shop to interview my favorite rock star. In the past few months, her stories have also inspired me to enroll in graduate school.

Now that my kids are school aged – 4, 8 and 9 – our family’s immigration trek is again taking center stage. Driving near our home in Santa Ana, I point out the patches of land that their forefathers tilled, the homes they helped build, and the once-segregated movie theaters they frequented. When we get to the Logan neighborhood, I proudly show them my grandfathers’ faces in a mural honoring veterans.

When my kids bring home coursework about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. fighting for racial equality, or Cesar Chavez advocating for better working conditions for farm workers, I remind them that they’re doing more than reading a story in a book. They’re studying issues that tangibly affected our family.

I pass these lessons along to my kids, not to open old wounds, but to help them appreciate their roots and see that they are embarking on the next chapter in our family’s immigration story.

My parents didn’t know much about the university system, so I had to navigate it and pay for it on my own. When it comes time for my kids to enroll, I will impart the knowledge I’ve gleaned to help them find their way. Will I, like my mom, push them toward higher education? Yes. Will I push them to achieve their dreams when they want to quit? Absolutely. We’ve come too far – figuratively and literally – to let our family’s trek end now.

“I know all about that,” I said to myself, recalling how many times my mom pushed me to graduate from college and become a journalist when all I wanted to do was give up.

From childhood, my mom taught me that our ancestors emigrated from Mexico to give us a better life and that out of gratitude we should seize the opportunities available to us in the United States.

Over time, this belief broadened my horizons, gave me direction and confidence, and showed me that my ancestors had already carried the heaviest loads. All that was left for me – and my kids – to do was prosper.

My family began immigrating to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some were children. Others were newly married couples. Still others were adventurous young men flying solo.

Their reasons for making the nearly-3,000-mile trek were varied but profound. Some came to work. Others came to study. Still others came fleeing social unrest triggered by the Mexican Revolution.

When my ancestors arrived in Orange County, they joined fledgling Mexican American communities in Anaheim and Santa Ana and provided for their families by picking oranges on the Irvine Ranch, hauling scrap metal in Westminster and harvesting seasonal crops in Northern California.

But life was bittersweet. While they enjoyed new freedoms, they also faced segregation. Society dictated where they could attend school, buy property and sit in movie theaters.

Years passed, laws changed and my ancestors assimilated. During World War II, the women entered the workforce, and the men enlisted. Both my grandfathers served in the Army.

By the time I was born in the late 1970s, our family had a comfortable, middle-class life. My father drove trucks for years and later held a desk job, and my mom was – and still is – a school librarian.

I was raised in a modest Santa Ana neighborhood, near my grandparents and great-grandparents. I saw them often, knew their life stories and respected the paths they had blazed. As a young adult, I had hoped to build on their feats by earning my bachelor’s degree and finding a job after graduation.

All went according to plan, until I fell in love with journalism.

I took a writing course here, a design course there, and soon I was pulling all-nighters in the campus newsroom. I was soon hired by a local newspaper and began splitting my time between school and work.

Days turned to years, and before I knew it, nearly a decade had passed. I found myself married with a baby and another one on the way, and a few credits short of earning my degree. I was exhausted and ready to drop out. But my mom – who had earned an associate’s degree and was working toward her bachelor’s degree until health problems derailed her quest – wasn’t about to let another bachelor’s degree slip out of our collective hands without a fight.

She kicked the family history lessons into high gear and reminded me daily about our ancestors’ struggles. I finally finished my coursework and attended my commencement ceremony – with my family in the stands and my baby girl squirming within me.

Looking back, my mother was “pushy.” But I’m better for it. Her insistence helped me stick to my goals and launch my dream career, which in 17 years has led me from the halls of Georgetown University for a summer journalism program to a Hollywood coffee shop to interview my favorite rock star. In the past few months, her stories have also inspired me to enroll in graduate school.

Now that my kids are school aged – 4, 8 and 9 – our family’s immigration trek is again taking center stage. Driving near our home in Santa Ana, I point out the patches of land that their forefathers tilled, the homes they helped build, and the once-segregated movie theaters they frequented. When we get to the Logan neighborhood, I proudly show them my grandfathers’ faces in a mural honoring veterans.

When my kids bring home coursework about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. fighting for racial equality, or Cesar Chavez advocating for better working conditions for farm workers, I remind them that they’re doing more than reading a story in a book. They’re studying issues that tangibly affected our family.

I pass these lessons along to my kids, not to open old wounds, but to help them appreciate their roots and see that they are embarking on the next chapter in our family’s immigration story.

My parents didn’t know much about the university system, so I had to navigate it and pay for it on my own. When it comes time for my kids to enroll, I will impart the knowledge I’ve gleaned to help them find their way. Will I, like my mom, push them toward higher education? Yes. Will I push them to achieve their dreams when they want to quit? Absolutely. We’ve come too far – figuratively and literally – to let our family’s trek end now.

“I know all about that,” I said to myself, recalling how many times my mom pushed me to graduate from college and become a journalist when all I wanted to do was give up.

From childhood, my mom taught me that our ancestors emigrated from Mexico to give us a better life, and that out of gratitude we should seize the opportunities available to us in the United States. 

Over time, this belief broadened my horizons, gave me direction and confidence, and showed me that my ancestors already carried the heaviest loads. All that’s left for me – and my kids – to do is prosper.

My family began immigrating to the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some were children. Others were newly married couples. Still others were adventurous young men flying solo.

Their reasons for making the nearly 3,000-mile trek were varied, but profound. Some came to work. Others came to study. Still others came fleeing social unrest triggered by the Mexican Revolution.  

When my ancestors arrived in Orange County, they joined fledgling Mexican American communities in Anaheim and Santa Ana and provided for their families by picking oranges on the Irvine Ranch, hauling scrap metal in Westminster and harvesting seasonal crops in Northern California. 

But life was bittersweet. While they enjoyed new freedoms, they also faced segregation. Society dictated where they could attend school, buy property and sit in movie theaters. 

Years passed, laws changed, and my ancestors assimilated. During World War II, the women entered the workforce, and the men enlisted. Both of my grandfathers served in the Army.   

By the time I was born in the late 1970s, our family had a comfortable, middle-class life. My father drove trucks for years and later held a desk job, and my mom was – and still is – a school librarian. 

I was raised in a modest Santa Ana neighborhood, near my grandparents and great-grandparents. I saw them often, knew their life stories and respected the paths they had blazed. As a young adult, I hoped to build on their feats by earning my bachelor’s degree and finding a job after graduation. 

All went according to plan, until I fell in love with journalism. 

I took a writing course here, a design course there, and soon I was pulling all-nighters in the campus newsroom. I was soon hired by a local newspaper, and began splitting my time between school and work. 

Days turned to years, and before I knew it, nearly a decade had passed. I found myself married with a baby and another one on the way, and a few credits short of earning my degree. I was exhausted and ready to drop out. But my mom – who earned an associate’s degree and was working toward her bachelor’s degree until health problems derailed her quest – wasn’t about to let another bachelor’s degree slip out of our collective hands without a fight.

She kicked the family history lessons into high gear and reminded me daily about our ancestors’ struggles. I finally finished my coursework and attended my commencement ceremony – with my family in the stands and my baby girl squirming within me.

Looking back, my mother was “pushy.” But I’m better for it. Her insistence helped me stick to my goals and launch my dream career, which in 17 years has led me from the halls of Georgetown University for a summer journalism program to a Hollywood coffee shop to interview my favorite rock star. In the past few months, her stories have also inspired me to enroll in graduate school. 

Now that my kids are school aged – 4, 8 and 9 – our family’s immigration trek is again taking center stage. Driving near our home in Santa Ana, I point out the patches of land that their forefathers tilled, the homes that they built, and the once-segregated movie theaters that they frequented. When we get to the Logan neighborhood, I proudly show them my grandfathers’ faces in a mural honoring veterans. 

When my kids bring home coursework about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. fighting for racial equality, or Cesar Chavez advocating for better working conditions for farm workers, I remind them that they’re doing more than reading a story in a book. They’re studying issues that tangibly affected our family.

I pass these lessons along to my kids, not to open old wounds, but to help them appreciate their roots and see that they are embarking on the next chapter in our family’s immigration story.

My parents didn’t know much about the university system, so I had to navigate it and pay for it on my own. When it comes time for my kids to enroll, I will impart the knowledge I’ve gleaned to help them find their way. Will I, like my mom, push them toward higher education? Yes. Will I push them to achieve their dreams when they want to quit? Absolutely. We’ve come too far – figuratively and literally – to let our family’s trek end now.

Get in the Halloween spirit by talking with two novelists this week at the Laguna Niguel Public Library. Vanessa A. Ryan, author of a vampire trilogy and “A Palette for Murder,” and Deborah M. Pratt, author of “Age of Eve: Return of the Nephilim” and “The Tempting: Seducing the Nephilim,” will be at the library from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday. The library is at 30341 Crown Valley Parkway in Laguna Niguel.

Information: ocpl.org/libloc/ln

ST. JUDE ANNUAL GALA

The 13th annual St. Jude Orange County Gala, celebrating the life-saving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, takes place from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel in Dana Point. The event features a formal dinner, live and silent auctions and dancing. Perrey Reeves is the celebrity guest host. Tickets are $395.

Information: stjude.org/ocgala.

CLASSIC GUITAR PERFORMANCE

The Aliso Viejo Library is hosting a performance by New York-based classical guitarist Peter Fletcher, featuring guitar music from four centuries, at

2 p.m. Sunday at Laguna Woods City Hall, 26264 El Toro Road. Included will be selections from his recent CD, “Music for the Christmas Season.” RSVP to the Aliso Viejo Library at 949-360-1730.

Tickets and passes are now on sale for the Laguna Film Festival, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Regency Directors Cut Cinema, 25471 Rancho Niguel Road in Laguna Niguel. The festival aims to showcase the work of emerging filmmakers. It includes short film screenings and panels comprised of professionals who have made their mark in the entertainment industry. Film genres range from animation to comedy to horror. To view the schedule and to buy tickets, go to lagunafilmfestival.com.

Toddler and preschool

storytime with Miss Nicole

Looking to keep the little ones entertained while learning? Barnes & Noble bookstore in Aliso Viejo hosts toddler and preschool storytime with Miss Nicole at 10 a.m. Fridays. The store is in the Aliso Viejo Town Center at 26751 Aliso Creek Road. Information: barnesandnoble.com or 949-362-8027.

Learn how to make your property water wise

The Moulton Niguel Water District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are offering free classes on water wise landscaping – including one from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in Laguna Niguel. Topics include evaluating and designing your site, selecting the right plant in the right place, and using rainwater as a resource. The fast-paced workshops offer solutions to common landscape problems. RSVP at mnwd.com/landscapeclasses to learn the location of the class.

“We want to help our homeless, our troubled and hurting youths, our struggling families, our veterans and senior citizens who have fallen down, get back up,” group founder TyRon Jackson said in a news release. “We want to show them that there’s still hope. Dreams only die if we let them.”

Operation Warm Wishes volunteers, individual stylists and representatives from hair salons and barber shops will come together under one roof to provide free haircuts and makeovers to those in need. Attendees also will get help and resources to get them back on their feet, Jackson said.

“It’s going to be an incredible day of cutting the hate and sharing the love!”