Hitting the Ground Running

I barely caught my breath from my (wonderful) vacation when I found myself knee-deep in things to do. For example, last Thursday I had the opportunity to attend a virtual reality demonstration at Glendale Community College.
GCC recently installed this technology from Dreamscape Immersive, made available (in part) from State Senator Anthony Portantino, with the guidance of Dreamscape Immersive. I had a chance to try it out and I have to say the experience was incredible and exciting. I spoke to GCC superintendent/president Dr. Ryan Corrner regarding the technology and what it means for the future of GCC. You can read my story on page 3.
On Saturday night (into Sunday morning) I was at the YMCA of the Foothills in La Canada for Prom Plus (PP), the after-prom party for Crescenta Valley High School seniors and their guests.

The Y is such a great venue; as previous president of PP, I am so grateful to CEO Vince Iuculano and his staff for allowing PP to take place at the YMCA. It’s a roomy venue that has a kitchen made available to PP, plus a large multipurpose room and parking lots a plenty to handle the number of cars of volunteers and guests. The lower parking lot (the one that faces Foothill Boulevard) is where PP places the zip line and it had plenty of room.

In addition to the zip line, there was a mechanical bull, climbing wall, food (most donated) and prizes. Thanks are extended to Joe Allen who purchased and arranged the prizes in addition to securing the funding for them, Juan at LA Partyworks – the company that provided all the “toys” that the students enjoyed during the night – and Julie Dowse who worked with Mary O’Keefe to make sure the kitchen was pumping out food all night. There were plenty of others too – too many to mention – but please know how grateful the PP committee is for the undying help.

Alas – this year might be the last for PP. It’s been around since 1994 after the 1991 murder of a CVHS senior at an unsupervised post-prom hotel party and there seems to be few parents willing to step up and take the reins for this 30-year-old organization. That’s a sad reflection of the times, I’m afraid. Though I am not sure what the future holds for PP, what I do know is that, in the words of Mary O’Keefe, we’ll get on the bus to help out but won’t drive it any more.

Sunday was not a day of rest for me (or Mary). A young lady that we know (and love) was having a college graduation event at my house on Sunday morning beginning around 11 a.m. Thankfully I was able to get a couple of hours of sleep before helping to set up my house. The party was so much fun, though, and I think she had a great time, too.

Monday of this week saw me – well, exhausted. I think I’m getting too old for all of this activity! But looking back I’m happy with everything that took place and am pleased that I was a part of it.

Is it a bad thing for me to be already planning my next vacation…?