Boogaloo for birds
A benefit 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4 at Café Boogaloo, 1238 Hermosa Ave. will benefit International Bird Rescue Research Center (www.ibrrc.org) in San Pedro. The center rehabs injured wildlife, often pelicans and gulls from this area, and responds to international ecological crises like the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
A $10 donation includes entry into a bar-wide game of Go Fish to meet new people and compete for a prize. Football will be on the box, and a silent auction will feature gifts donated by local businesses.
Rotary party
A Hermosa Beach Rotary holiday party will be 5:30 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, at the clubhouse at the southern tip of Hermosa Valley Park, Gould Avenue and Valley Drive. Donation is $30, and the evening features hors d’oeuvres, dinner and dessert, a no-host bar, a live auction and 50-50 raffle.
RSVP to Barbara Clark at 310-989-3655 or 310-376-0951.
Snowfest Dec. 11
Snowfest, a new, expanded version of the city’s downtown holiday celebration, has been postponed until Saturday, Dec. 11 to give its organizers more time to prepare. After City Hall abandoned the event for lack of funding, Spyder Surfboards stepped in to save it, and has been working against a tight deadline to get everything up and running.
Snowfest will feature the lighting of a large tree, music, and the arrival of Santa aboard a fire truck, and will be expanded to include a free, family-friendly snowboard movie on the Pier Plaza and a snow hill nearby on upper Pier Avenue, where pros will demonstrate snowboarding and event-goers can sled and play. The event will go from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Kiwanis Claus
The Hermosa Beach Kiwanis Club Christmas tree lot, at the corner of Pier Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway, opens Friday, Nov. 26 for the 23rd straight year. Business hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Visitors can choose from more than 2,000 premium trees and chat with Kiwanians as they stroll among Noble and Douglas firs, fragrant rosemary and live trees, colorful wreaths, garlands and door swags, listening to Christmas carols and enjoying the spirit of the season.
“To ensure special holiday tidings, we even have the trees blessed by a reverend from St. Cross Episcopal Church,” said Paul Amarillas, who co-manages the lot with his wife, Yvonne.
All proceeds go to charities such as PS I Love You, Sunshine Kids, Children’s Miracle Network, American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Project Touch, 1736 House, special needs populations, emergency relief, pediatric trauma, numerous school projects, and scholarships for kids.
The lot gets fresh shipments directly from growers throughout the season, and all the trees can be fireproofed and delivered to the buyer’s door. MasterCard and Visa are accepted, and purchases are tax-deductible.
For more info call 310-466-0960.
Great and small
A recent open house for the Peter Zippi Fund for Animals, at VCA Coast Animal Hospital on PCH, saw the adoption of four kittens and two adult cats, and raised more than $7,000 to help support the Fund’s cats and kittens, and provide discount spay/neuter vouchers. ER
