Good morning, readers. It is Friday, Sept. 25, and we’re winding down the workweek with a pleasant day around Santa Cruz County, with sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s and low 80s.
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The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum will unveil a restored beacon at the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse on Saturday as part of a celebration marking the museum’s 40th anniversary, Alia Noll reports. The festivities will also spotlight the connection between Santa Cruz, Hawaii and the history of surfing on the California coast.
Max Chun has a recap of Wednesday night’s Santa Cruz mayoral forum, which saw Ami Chen Mills and Ryan Coonerty discuss a variety of city issues, including budgets and homelessness. Between talking about the issues, the candidates also talked about the divisiveness of the campaign — and the issues they’ve had with each other.
With Dolly Parton being celebrated today – 9/25, as in her classic film “9 to 5” – David Brody and Sheree Storm of First 5 Santa Cruz County take to Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, writing about the local impact of her Imagination Library, which has put 20,000 books into the hands of thousands of Santa Cruz County children in the past year.
The TGIF headlines also include a cheat sheet to eating well and going out during a festival-packed weekend around the county – let’s get after it.
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Santa Cruz Surfing Museum is turning 40 – and celebrating with a newly restored lighthouse beacon
The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum will celebrate its 40th anniversary Saturday with music, Hawaiian cultural performances and the unveiling of a newly restored beacon at the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse. The restoration was made possible by more than $90,000 raised by the community. Read Alia Yee Noll’s story here.
OPINION: Dolly Parton’s legacy lives on: 20,000 books to Santa Cruz County children
One year in, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has delivered nearly 20,000 free books to young children across Santa Cruz County. More than 3,000 local children now receive a new, age-appropriate book in the mail every month — building home libraries and a love of reading from the earliest years. As communities celebrate Parton’s legacy through the first-ever “Give Like Dolly Day,” David Brody and Sheree Storm of First 5 Santa Cruz County say this is only the beginning of impact in our county. With community support, they say the next 20,000 books can reach even more young readers. In a Community Voices op-ed, they explain how to sign kids up for the program and support Parton’s work locally. Read it here.
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Thanks for reading – here’s to a smooth Friday for all of us, and a safe, relaxing weekend beyond.
Will McCahill