Features

This weekend is an excellent chance to support kids throughout the community, starting in the heart of White Rock.
Chamisa Elementary will host a carnival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to raise the final portion of money for some shade structures. This is a great time for alumni to come back and get their spot in line for the staff member dunk tank.
If sports are your arena, then head on down to the baseball fields near overlook, for opening day.
One year, at opening day, a gentleman announced, “Remember there’s no crying in baseball.” I remember thinking, of course there is crying in baseball. Have you ever been to a T-ball game?
Rumor has it that Alex Kirk returns to his hometown to toss out the first pitch. How wonderful for younger kids to see someone who started as one of them, endure to accomplish his current success, with a bright future ahead.
Oh and someone tell Eva Pacheco, at LAHS that there’s no better time than now for autographing those shoes.
If you head uptown, it is Earth Day and some lovely PEEC activities.
Those who enjoy a little shopping on the weekend can keep that money on the hill, with the Pegasus Parking lot sale. You can find your one-stop treasure hunting excursion and aid a high school project.

Los Alamos Business Assistance Services, a program of Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation, is offering a seminar on the Upgraded Commercial Property Database from 1-2:30 p.m. on April 18 at the Small Business Center conference room, 190 Central Park Square.
The seminar is free to chamber members or $25 for nonchamber members. If you are interested, please contact Katie Stavert at 661-4805 or katie@losalamos.org.
LACDC has been a referral resource for commercial property for many years and has made many referrals leading to tenancies throughout the community. LACDC has developed an upgraded property inventory tool that includes the ability for property owners and brokers to log in to the web and change basic information and status for their properties. Attendees at the workshop will learn how to log in and work with the system.
They will also learn about premium features that are available to promote their properties.
With the improved inventory tool, LACDC is now able to accurately estimate occupancy rates for the area market for various types of commercial properties and in various submarket areas.

Lisa Bravo is the Director of Education and Training for the Children’s Success Foundation and Psychotherapist, that has been teaching and writing about the Nurtured Heart Approach for 10 years.
The Nurtured Heart Approach, according to Bravo, was developed by her colleague, Howard Glasser, in the 1990s.
“It began as a therapeutic approach for addressing the behavioral needs of children DX with ADD, ADHD and a host of other behaviorally based components,” Bravo said.
On Monday, many LAPS staff, from the middle and high school, will spend a day of professional development learning the approach and the ease of implementation for the classroom.
“I specialize in working with difficult teens in my practice and I can assure you that what they need the most from us is relationship and connection,” said Bravo. “This training will address the emotional needs of these young adults and how to foster emotional competency.”
Bravo was excited to see the LAPS district focus on the upper-grade levels, when many communities tend to just focus on elementary-aged students.
When the Los Alamos Juvenile Justice Advisory Board identified a gap that needed to be filled, they stepped in to help.

Great Conversations is an afternoon of delicious appetizers and desserts and an in-depth conversation with a subject area expert. This is the 4th Annual Great Conversations hosted by the Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation. It will take place on April 28 from 2-5 p.m. at Los Alamos High School in the new building. This is the third in a series about the conversations that will take place.

Reading into the Change in Books: Kindle, Nook & iPad
Steven Thomas
How is the nature of the publishing industry being fundamentally altered? Steven Thomas, the Los Alamos County Library Chief Administrator, will guide a conversation on the effects of technology on libraries, publishers, and most importantly, readers.
This conversation will delve into the future of the book as the center of education and learning. Change is inevitable, but how will technology share the future of libraries? What do experts studying current industry trends think will happen next?
Thomas has served as a library manager/administrator in systems including the Brooklyn, New York Public Library, the Fayetteville Arkansas Public Library, the Kanawha County West Virginia Library System, and the Washington County Arkansas Library System.
He and his wife, Lisa Caldwell, recently re-located to Los Alamos and they love it here!

Looking for a fun-filled afternoon for the entire family? Seek no more. On the first Friday of every month, the Pajarito Environmental Educational Center hosts Friday Forts. It is an opportunity for kids and their parents to play, build and enjoy the outdoors.
Executive Director Katie Watson started the program over a year ago and it has gotten a positive response from parents and children in the Los Alamos area. “It is a great bonding moment for them,” she said.
Earlier this year, first, second and third grade students from different schools in the area had come for field trips. “I think the most kids we have had here at one time was 18,” Watson said.
The public is welcome to attend anytime, but it is strongly recommended that parents stay present with their children while they play, due to the outdoor, open area of the dirt pile and the surrounding ravine.
Steve Niezgoda and his son Emory, 4, took advantage of the spring day on last week. The two spent some time build a fort out of tree trunks and sticks strewed throughout the dirt pile.

Posse Lodge hosts a fundraising concert Friday featuring Los Alamos roots-rock band, DK & the Affordables. The band and some friends are donating their time and all money will go toward the series.
The band members are DK Warner on guitar and lead vocals, Rob Heineman on bass and vocals, Aaron Anderson on keyboards and Quinn Marksteiner on saxophone. Drummer Scott Beguin can’t make the show, but Santa Fe’s Jeff Sussman will replace him.
Tickets are $15 per person or $25 per couple. Appetizers are being donated by Susan Brockway, Andrea Pistone, Kimber Heineman, Kim Lazarus and DK & Jocelyn Warner.
The Los Alamos County Summer Concert Series is set to begin May 17. Nineteen concerts are planned for this series. For specific information on this and future concerts, visit gordonsummerconcerts.com.  

The Los Alamos MainStreet program is encouraging residents to take an
online survey to help local businesses know what the wants and needs of the public are. The survey is available throughout April.
All local residents can help the effort by taking the survey at lamainstreet.com/survey. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and responses are anonymous.
There is an opportunity for those who complete the survey to enter a drawing for $100 in Chamber Checks in appreciation for their time.
“We already have data at a high level about the levels of leakage in the various shopping categories,” says Business Advisor Katie Stavert.  “The results of this survey will supplement that with demographic breakdowns and preference information.” 
Stavert is available to work with businesses on using the available data to better understand the market. 
“I am hoping that people taking the survey will tell us about their preferences,” says Dave Fox of CB FOX. 
For more information, contact Katie Stavert at 661-4805, katie@losalamos.org. 

Ahh Spring break, the time when many get an opportunity to take a break, a brief vacation, or just an opportunity to unwind.
On Saturday, 45 youth and adults from the United Church of Los Alamos and the Unitarian Church, woke up bright and early to head to Mexico.
This inter-congregational gathering isn’t for a vacation, but for the chance to work their behinds off.
The team will build three homes in one week and change the lives of three families forever.
The start of the trip wasn’t easy as the van nicknamed El Sol, broke down multiple times on the way to Arizona.
After some very patient travelers arrived at the guest church, a team worked into the night to repair the alternator, before the border crossing the next day.
Sunday the team crossed the border and set up a camp they would call home for the week. Here culinary caretakers prepared each meal with love.
Monday was concrete day, as the team poured three home foundations of concrete all mixed by hand in a wheel barrow with a shovel and a lot of determination.
Today is framing day, when walls take shape and depending on the concrete, may even be put into place.
Wednesday the pieces go up, the roof goes on and then they will get have their first lunch in the shade, the shade of the home.

Don’t forget about the Posse Shack Pancake Breakfast. All proceeds from this morning’s pancake breakfast will go towards Friends of the Shelter. Some of our current adoptable dogs will be there as well. 

The Los Alamos Animal Shelter, 226 East Road, 505-662-8179, has a great selection of onsite adoptable pets just waiting for their forever home. Others are currently off-campus in loving foster homes.

Be sure to visit the Friends of the Shelter website, lafos.org, where you can get more information about volunteering, adopting and donating. Also check out the Petfinder page for pictures and to learn more about all of the adoptable pets,
petfinder.com/shelters/friendsoftheshelter.html. All adoptable pets are spayed or neutered, have their shots and are microchipped.