Filipino American history gets spotlight at La Jolla Library
The fourth annual Filipino American History Month Festival last weekend treated guests to Filipino folk dancing, singing, free food and authors Tracy Badua and Bonnie Harris at the La Jolla/Riford Library.
Friends of the La Jolla/Riford Library sponsored the event, with help from branch manager Dana Sanchez and San Diego Public Library area supervisor Kelly Verheyden.
La Jolla resident honored at Mount Soledad memorial
The life and military service of La Jolla centenarian Robert Barto were recognized at a veterans honor ceremony and plaque dedication Oct. 4 at the Mount Soledad National Veterans Memorial in La Jolla.
Barto, 100, attended the event with friends and family members.
Barto’s story began in New Jersey, where he volunteered as a firefighter and mail carrier at age 15. From there, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was deployed with the 5th Marine Division.
Over the next two decades, he volunteered as a stretcher bearer on Iwo Jima, enlisted in the Army Air Corps, flew cargo planes during the Korean War and served as a combat crew member in Southeast Asia amid the Vietnam War.
Barto retired in 1970 and has lived in La Jolla since.
Pets welcome for church’s Blessing of the Animals
Congregational Church of La Jolla will welcome pets and their owners to its Blessing of the Animals ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, at 1216 Cave St.
Pastor Tim Seery will conduct the ceremony on the church’s front lawn as part of the usual Sunday service.
UC San Diego brings back Holocaust Living History Workshop series
The UC San Diego Library will present its Holocaust Living History Workshop for the 2025-26 academic year with a series of six events from October to May.
The theme of this year’s series, the 17th, is “The Holocaust Between Worlds,” focusing on the lives of people who navigated the boundaries between persecution and refuge, trauma and resilience and destruction and survival.
Students pass UC San Diego’s Geisel Library, which will host part of the Holocaust Living History Workshop series. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
All lectures will be from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays. Some will be held in person at UCSD’s Geisel Library with a virtual option, and some will be online only.
The schedule:
• “The Precarity of ‘Privilege’: Intermarried Families in Prague during the Holocaust,” featuring Tatjana Lichtenstein. Oct. 16. In person and virtual.
• “Conversion and Catastrophe: Jews Choosing Christianity in Times of Crisis,” featuring Abraham Rubin. Nov. 13. Virtual only.
• “Religion as Camouflage? Hidden Children During the Holocaust,” featuring Lauren Rossi. Jan. 22. In person and virtual.
• “Palaces of Memory: Polish Jewish Post-Holocaust Memorial Books,” featuring Eliyana Adler. March 5. Virtual only.
• “Write Us Long Letters: Trauma and Isolation in Jewish Refugee Letters from Nazi Germany to America, 1937-1941,” featuring Barry Trachtenberg. April 16. In person and virtual.
• “Bitter Sweet: Daily Life in Occupied France,” featuring Kitty Morse. May 14. Virtual only.
All events are free and open to the public, though registration is required. Learn more at library.ucsd.edu.
La Jolla Open Aire Market to celebrate 27 years
The La Jolla Open Aire Market will host an event Sunday, Oct. 26, to honor its founder, Sherry Ahern, and celebrate the market’s 27th year.
The anniversary celebration will feature live music; children’s activities including a bounce house, face painting, lawn games and a harvest scavenger hunt; craft workshops in partnership with the UC San Diego Craft Center; free lawn yoga led by Soul Plunge; a dog costume parade; and new market-branded gear including aprons, hats and stickers.
There also will be a raffle with vendor-donated gift baskets. Tickets will be available in advance at La Jolla Elementary School and during the anniversary celebration, with proceeds benefiting Friends of LJES. All of the market’s proceeds since its founding have gone to La Jolla Elementary to support teacher salaries, classroom aides and programs related to science, technology, engineering, math, art and music.
The La Jolla Open Aire Market is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Sunday on the La Jolla Elementary campus at Girard Avenue and Genter Street. Admission is free.
La Jolla Shores plan would nearly triple the size of house
An application has been filed with the city of San Diego to remodel a two-story, 4,905-square-foot house at 2486 Vallecitos Court in La Jolla Shores. The work is to include a 9,245-square-foot addition; a new detached two-story, 1,096-square-foot accessory dwelling unit; a new detached two-story, 701-square-foot gym; and associated site improvements.
The project is undergoing environmental review and the decision to approve or deny it will be made at a public hearing on a date to be determined.
Athenaeum Jazz Fall Series returning for four concerts
The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library’s Jazz Fall Series returns to La Jolla later this month and will extend into December.
The four-part series will be divided between the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Music Room at the Athenaeum and the auditorium at Scripps Research.
The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla is preparing for its 2025 fall jazz series. (File)
Here is the schedule:
• Kris Davis Trio: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St.
• Anthony Wilson Nonet: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9, Scripps Research Auditorium, 10620 John Jay Hopkins Drive
• Django Festival Allstars with Veronica Swift: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, Scripps Research Auditorium
• Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Tickets for the series cost $188 for Athenaeum members and $208 for non-members. Individual concerts are $50-$55. For tickets and more information, visit ljathenaeum.org/jazz or call 858-454-5872. ♦