Main Street begins its festive transformation, with holiday decorations starting to take shape. (John Fournier)
Sunday Gazette: November 24, 2024
Hello Riverside, and Happy Sunday!
This is one of those weeks when, for me, at least, regular life slows down as we get closer to Thanksgiving, and my alternate life as sous chef and in-home hospitality coordinator slowly takes over before family and friends from all over show up in our home. The team here at The Gazette is leaning into that swing of the pendulum and is taking a break for the week. We'll be back in your inboxes Thursday morning with our second annual guide to supporting local small businesses in your holiday shopping and a calendar of events for the long weekend. We'll return to our regular publishing schedule next Monday; I wish you a delightful week.
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Thank you to the Subscribers who became paid supporters this week: Roger Stearman. Your ongoing financial support is vital to our success in serving Riverside with the news it deserves!
CBU College of Engineering Fosters Creative Learning this Holiday Season
CBU's Gingerbread House Shakedown blends creativity and engineering, giving high school students a hands-on introduction to real-world challenges.
High school students team up with CBU engineers to design gingerbread houses for an earthquake shake test. (Courtesy of California Baptist University)
For local high school students, the road to engineering careers is paved with icing as California Baptist University hosts the annual Gingerbread House Shakedown.
Combining creativity, competition, and a taste of the season, the educational hands-on challenge brings teamwork, real-world math, and engineering principles together as high school students collaborate with CBU engineering majors to design sturdy gingerbread structures capable of enduring increasingly intense earthquake magnitudes. The structures are tested on the "shake table," an earthquake simulation device.
Each week, we will introduce a new neighbor. This is not a who's who list. These are regular Riversiders doing exceptional things.
Mary Ann MacVey and her Canyon Crest garden, where her love of flowers and community blossoms. (Brenda Flowers)
Mary Ann Mac Vey, a second-generation Inland Empire resident, has lived in Riverside’s Canyon Crest neighborhood with her husband, Ken, since 1985. A lifelong gardener, she has transformed her yard into a colorful oasis of flowers, roses, and fruit trees.
In 2013, after a series of burglaries, Mary Ann helped organize a Neighborhood Watch group that has grown to over 550 members, covering 1,200 homes. Their efforts, including regular updates and Neighborhood Watch signs, have significantly reduced crime, making the area a safer place to live.
A prompt to encourage your practice of creativity this week from Riversider and local author Larry Burns.
The creator revealed. (Titus Pardee)
Welcome back, you magnetic personalities! Last week, we found ourselves uncontrollably pulled in by a magnet's force of attraction and repulsion; we cultivated a sense of wonder using an unseen energy that shapes our world. What kinds of art did you create while testing Newton's Third Law of Motion? Did this magical invisible hand assist you in laying down some mesmerizing patterns with iron filings or constructing a daze of a maze that challenged your spatial reasoning? Are you still humming from a symphony of magnetic vibrations? If so, let's direct that energy reserve into several minutes of play using this week's creative nudge.
Today, we're turning our attention to something less weightier than a dense magnet. This week's nudge is a constant companion all day, every day. Well, at least from sunrise to sunset! Quick, turn around because this week's creative nudge is a shadow! Yes, the elusive and ever-changing shadow realm is where we will hang out today to experience several minutes of creative contemplation.
Brighten someone’s holiday with a simple act of kindness.
Volunteers pack boxes at a Feeding America event, preparing meals for families in need. (Courtesy of Feeding America Riverside)
For most of us, the Holidays are a time of abundance. Of course, for some in our community, it is a time of greater need. The Raincross Gazette would like to share some opportunities to give this holiday season. This list is active, and if you have an event or organization that could benefit from being on our list, please share it at info@raincrossgazette.com.
Hope Collaborative has organized a toy drive for Foster Youth. They have drop boxes all over the Inland Empire. Check their website for details and locations.
Feeding America offers year-round opportunities to donate and volunteer. They tirelessly advocate for food security in the Inland Empire, and their large-scale food bank has helped thousands of families.
The Janet Goeske Center provides food and basic needs for Riverside Seniors. In addition to their regular food bank, they have joined Loveriverside.org for Produce For Seniors. This ensures Riverside seniors access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The next event is on Thursday, December 19. Volunteers are always needed.
