Thumbs up: Girl Scout salutes downtown art. Kaiser teaches peace.
Thumbs up to Miranda Deis, 13, downtown art tour guide and creator of MAD’s Downtown Art Guide, which gives information highlighting downtown Fresno’s public art in a way that both kids and adults can appreciate.
Use her guide for a self-tour, or she also gives public tours throughout the year. The next one is today from 10 a.m. to noon, beginning at the Yokut Indian sculpture on Fulton Street north of Inyo. A resident of the Cultural Arts District, Miranda made the guide and tours a project for her Girl Scout Silver Award, which requires community action.
The tours are strictly by donation. More information is on Facebook on MAD’s Downtown Art Guide for Kids, or call 577-9829 to arrange a group tour. Expect about a 3-mile walk.
Miranda is quite the entrepreneur. Last year, she was the top Girl Scout cookie saleswoman from Madera through Kern counties. She sold 4,458 boxes, but is not resting on her past success.
She also is selling this year, pulling her wagonload of sugar bombs through downtown, in the Fulton area and the Cultural Arts District. She also delivers if you call 577-982 . Her email is madsartguide@gmail.com to order. She is on Instagram as madcookieboss.
She is home schooled, and has been a wheeler-dealer in Girl Scouts since kindergarten.
Thumbs up to Fresno orthodontist Dr. Pat DiCiccio for supporting two kinds of troops, Valley Girl Scout troops and also American troops overseas. He’s accomplishing his goal in the most delicious way by purchasing dozens of cookies from scout troops who stop by his office. And then he plans to donate the goodies to Blue Star Moms of the Central Valley. They will add the cookies to care packages they send overseas to deployed members of the military. Win-win.
Thumbs down to the California lawmakers for accepting lavish gifts from special interests. What low-life greed. No wonder people are losing trust. The Los Angeles Times is reporting this week that elected officials are being showered with hundreds of thousands of dollars in freebies, including foreign travel, golf games and concert tickets, even as efforts to rein in gifts to elected state officials after a series of corruption scandals have stalled.
Even the threat of incarceration hasn’t stopped the graft, as The Times reports lawmakers also were given a disgusting number of free tickets to sporting events, bottles of champagne and whiskey, cigars, flowers, neckties and makeup in 2017, continuing a trend of gift-giving with few limits that has not slowed after the bribery scandals that sent former Sens. Leland Yee and Ron Calderon to prison.
Gov. Jerry Brown didn’t help things by vetoing a bill in 2014 that would have restricted the gifts. This is yet another ugly side of politics that makes voters lose trust in their elected officials and needs to be cleaned up. Just stop. Buy your own cigars and booze, cheapskates.
Thumbs up to staff members of Blair, Church & Flynn, an engineering firm in Clovis, for surprising a pair of Kids Day volunteers Tuesday. The Clovis Roundup is reporting that the volunteers were hawking special editions of The Bee outside the engineering offices when the folks from the firm stepped up and bought out their corner on Clovis and Fifth avenues with a $500 donation to support Valley Children’s Hospital.
About 8,000 volunteers throughout the Valley were selling a special $1 edition of The Bee, with proceeds going to the hospital. Since its beginning, $8.6 million has been raised for the Children’s Fund via Kids Day. It’s not too late to give. Text GEORGE to 80077 to donate $10 or online to www.valleychildrens.org/donate.
Thumbs up to Kaiser Permanente Fresno for bringing a performance of “PEACE Signs,” to Hamilton Elementary School Monday at 11 a.m. at the school gym, 102 E. Clinton Ave. The play will reach about 200 students, demonstrating creative ways to resolve conflicts peacefully
A family night performance will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday for families of fourth-through-sixth-graders. “PEACE Signs” dramatizes adventures of students facing challenging issues, including name-calling, bullying and domestic violence.
The one-hour performance, part of Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Program, uses performers/educators, audience interaction, comedy, music and dance to promote peaceful conflict resolution.
“PEACE Signs” is part of a $98,000 grant provided last year to increase access to mental health counseling and other trauma-informed support services for students and staff at Hamilton. The grant given to Family Foundations Counseling Services – a nonprofit organization already working in the school – expands the mental health services and training for school staff, teachers and students.
This story was originally published March 10, 2018 at 5:21 AM with the headline "Thumbs up: Girl Scout salutes downtown art. Kaiser teaches peace.."