It has the look of many farmers markets, but the Farm Store in San Juan Capistrano is a permanent fixture of the Ecology Center, open every day year-round. All the produce sold there comes from the fields just yards away on the longest continuously running farm in Orange County.

“For thousands of years, the Acjachemen tribal members farmed this land, and we feel that we are just stewards caring for it,” said Jonathan Zaidman, the center’s vice president of community.

Executive Director Evan Marks, who had created ecological projects in Central America and Africa, brought his passion for the land to this area when he founded the Ecology Center in 2008.

Six years later, Zaidman joined him to create “our version of a community relationship with the land,” he said.

The pair sought to build and harness a population of people passionate about health and nourishment and zealous about respecting and caring for the land.

“What does that (passion and commitment) look and taste like?” Zaidman asked. “We try to show people what that is like.”

The ecological oasis is filled with trees, drought-tolerant plants, fruits, vegetables and flowers. Since 2019, it has encompassed a 28-acre regenerative organic-certified farm. The land is owned by the city of San Juan Capistrano and leased to the center.

Located on the premises, besides the country store, are a café, a permanent school plus a play area for visiting children, a special events dome, a picnic and eating area, and the working fields beyond. The farm became part of the center when a commercial organic grower whose land surrounded the original center went belly-up and it was offered to the center for lease by the city.

Also on the grounds sits the 1878 Congdon House, the oldest wooden structure in the city.

The city does not provide funds for the nonprofit center, which relies on donations, admission to special events, and proceeds from the sale of produce and branded merchandise sold in the store,

“Everything we grow is sold in the Farm Store, used in the café or reinvested in the center,” Zaidman said.

Many local chefs and restaurants source ingredients from the farm, which has grown foodstuffs requested by area chefs for special preparations.

“The farm is the beating heart of our operation,” he said.

On any given day, the center is bustling with shoppers, visiting families, hungry guests, and workers running to and fro servicing the various activities. The café is open for breakfast and lunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday, with a farm brunch offered Saturdays and Sundays. Wednesday dinners from 5 to 9 p.m. feature pizza, while on Thursday and Friday nights, farm dinners are served. Outdoor tables offer an inviting place to chow down.

Newly opened on the grounds is Zaidman’s favorite locale, the Peace Dome, designed to house special events, lectures, and happenings like movies and concerts.

From inside the meditative space, you can gaze through clear wall panels toward the colorful fields of flowers and food.

“The surroundings are vibrant, dynamic and beautiful,” Zaidman said with a large dose of pride.

On the Wednesday I visited, I asked Zaidman if the bustling crowd represented a particularly busy day. His answer was that it was “a slow day.” Weekends see the most visitors, he added.

The center boasts a staff of 125, many of whom work there full-time. It prides itself on offering employees a living wage, including the field workers.

“We develop a relationship between the food and the grower,” Zaidman said.

More than 100 plantings, such as strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant and fava beans, are grown. Crops are rotated seasonally, with fields allowed to regenerate in turn. Tree plantings encompass Mediterranean, stone fruits, apples and pears, and citrus in appropriate quadrants of the land.

Much of the center’s core beliefs were inspired by the farm-to-table movement spearheaded by Berkeley chef Alice Waters in the 1970s. The center operates with care for the food and reverence for the land, Zaidman said.

“Our goal was to bring the space to life and offer a model of community,” he said.

Programming includes specialty dinners, educational offerings, school field trips and field demonstrations.

Among the premiere offerings at the center are its Community Table dinners set outdoors on Saturday nights through November. Area chefs with particular strengths cook their specially themed dinners using ingredients from the farm or foraged within a distance of 25 miles.

“The chef will bring 75 people together to tell his or her story and celebrate the local culture,” Zaidman said.

Featured chefs are listed on the center’s website.

“Our values are driven by the ingredients, and we believe in wrapping our arms around our value system,” he said. “Our hope and goal is to bring back the agricultural atmosphere that the O.C. once had and to bring healing to the community and the culture.”

The Ecology Center is located at 32701 Alipaz St. in San Juan Capistrano. It is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. For information, call 949-443-4223 or visit theecologycenter.org.

“Gold Coast: Treasures of California,” this year’s theme for the annual Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, offers a rich overview of the state’s significant museums, such as the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, destinations like Hearst Castle in San Simeon, and one of the newer additions, the Hilbert Museum of California Art gracing the campus of Chapman University — all in a span of roughly 90 minutes.

Pageant Director Diane Challis Davy and her volunteer researchers selected 12 museums, along with several art sites within driving distance from the pageant, culling works intriguing enough to be transformed into the show’s signature tableaux vivants, or living pictures.

This year, it seems that Challis Davy and her crew have taken a somewhat different approach to the show: Instead of cleaving almost exclusively to the formula of turning figurative paintings, such as “Recreation” (1857) by Jerome Thompson (at the De Young Museum in San Francisco), into living pictures, they added theatrical stage scenes featuring people visiting a museum and looking at still paintings.

Susan Hoehn’s 2024 works “Blue Dog” (at the Broad) and “The Artist at LACMA” exemplify this new trend, which thus allows subjective or abstract paintings to be shown in a pageant setting. (Hoehn’s paintings are also included in this year’s Festival of Arts, Booth 104.)

Previously, for example, there were stage replications of fashion show audiences or other smaller scenes involving the acting out of situations.

This time, the audience gets the vicarious thrill of dancing at Hearst Castle or sauntering through the museums influenced by a young woman armed with a cellphone.

The Hearst Castle segment features the opulent residence in several configurations. Designed by architect Julia Morgan, the castle has a theater showing film clips of William Randolph Hearst’s mistress, Marion Davies; lavish rooms filled with sculptures and urns from ancient Greece and Rome; and a swimming pool dazzling with its mosaics.

Staged scenes of ballroom fetes with fashionably attired real dancers keep audience imaginations connected to past and present.

Among recreations of sculptures, as sculptures vivants if you will, there are several standouts, with the volunteers enacting figures displaying remarkable acrobatic skill.

“Mechanics Monument,” by Douglas Tilden (in San Francisco), comes to mind as does the majestic “El Cid Campeador,” by Anna Hyatt Huntington (at Balboa Park, San Diego).

Then again, there is the graceful 1789 “Mantel Clock,” by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (at the Getty), that prompts the imagination back to an era when keeping time might have been a gentler process than today’s cacophony of cellphones.

In a different vein, the charming Indian Chess Set (at the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena) can make one forget that chess is a war game.

After intermission, the show veers into Southern California to, somewhat puzzlingly, a statue of Helena Modjeska, a Polish emigree better known for her Shakespearean acting than for making art.

But subsequent drawings reveal that she loved to invent fairy tales for children of friends and family members and accompany them with intricate pen and ink and color illustrations. Ghosts and fairies and creatures of her own invention abounded in the pageant.

Then it was on to the beach culture. Not surprisingly, the segment emphasizes surfers and water enthusiasts in the form of Bill Limebrook’s sculptures of surfer Phil Edwards, surfing acrobats Barrie and Steve Boehne, and surf and sailing pioneer Hobie Alter in “Hobie Riding the Wave of Success.”

A giant mosaic replica of the movie poster for “The Endless Summer” underscores the legends. Built by local mosaic artist Mia Tavonatti, the piece graces Waterman’s Plaza in Dana Point.

Local audiences can transpose themselves a couple of blocks down from the pageant into the Marine Room, a once notorious biker bar turned family friendly pub, replete, under the brush of painter Bradford J. Salamon, with a visiting dog, billiards players and a cat.

Brought to life here, the painting is part of the Festival of Arts Permanent Collection.

Salamon, a former FoA exhibitor, created more local scenes, like “Monday at the Crab Cooker” and “Seal Beach Nighthawks.” Both are in the Hilbert collection.

Altogether the show features six paintings from the Hilbert Museum, established in 2022.

The pageant ends with Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” a traditional closing to the show.

“Gold Coast: Treasures of California” nightly through Aug. 29. Tickets start at $47. Visit foapom.com for more information.

Laguna Woods resident takes part in third pageant

By Daniella Walsh

Correspondent

When the Pageant of the Masters announced auditions in January for its “Gold Coast: Treasures of California” production, Laguna Woods resident Reggie White decided to give it another shot.

After all, he had taken part in the pageant for two seasons already.

Last year, White appeared in Daniele Tamagni’s photograph “The Playboys of Bacongo,” part of the pageant show “À La Mode: The Art of Fashion.”

“I posed the entire summer last year and was also an alternate,” White said in an interview. “I had to stand still a lot.”

In early June, the pageant notified him that he was in the stage cast again.

“I get to walk through a simulated museum in the (California) Museum Suite,” he said. “This year, I am only in costume with no makeup, which is simpler than last year. I did several walk-through rehearsals and two in costume.”

White explained that there are two teams of actors – a blue team and a green team, which perform in alternating weeks. Altogether he performs for one month of the season, though he did not perform on opening night.

White taught himself to stand still for 90 seconds – the time required of the cast members to pose in the tableaux vivants.

“You have to freeze,” he said. “Some people can’t do that,”

In 2022, White was accepted for the pageant show “Wonderful World,” celebrating global culture.

“The stage piece was about holy rollers. It was a long, 15-minute piece, and I was singing in it,” he recalled. “Singing was easy. I sing in church. I learned the lyrics and really enjoyed myself.”

Altogether the pageant involves more than 500 volunteers who contribute more than 60,000 hours to the seasonal production.

“As long as they’ll have me, I’ll come,” White said. “Everyone should experience the pageant at least once.”

Undeterred, the couple went out and bought a new one.

“We decorated it last night,” Larry Sharp said with a laugh as they and grandchildren Harry and Madeline and their dog Daisy sat in line at Clubhouse 1 ready to roll.

“We’ve joined every parade here for the Fourth of July. We weren’t about to miss this year,” said the 14-year residents of the retirement community.

Patriotism runs in the family: Carol Sharp’s mother was an Army nurse during World War II and her dad was a Marine.

“My mother-in-law outranked her husband. He had to salute her,” Larry Sharp said.

“Any day is a beautiful day in the United States, land of the free,” someone called out.

For Richard and Maggie Gardner, residents just since September, this was their first parade in the Village.

“We bought a golf cart. We’re up for the parade and the party,” said Richard Gardner. “We’ll party at least till sundown.”

Roughly 100 elaborately decorated carts rolled off at 11 a.m. to follow two designated routes, one taking off from Clubhouse 1, the other from Clubhouse 5, and both ending at Clubhouse 2 for a celebration with live music.

Streets and front lawns along the route held clapping and waving spectators cheering on carts representing Village clubs like the Electric Car Club, the Chinese American Club, the Aquadettes and the Laguna Woods Bible Club. American flags in every shape and size, from small hearts to near bedsheets, were everywhere.

American eagles were well-represented, with one large white one being kept blown up or deflated, depending on needs, by its own generator, run by Rhonda Guilin and Jennifer Brown.

“The generator is there to deflate the eagle when we drive through the tunnel,” they said. “We met such nice participants last year, we wanted to join in. Let freedom ring – we’re all Americans.”

The golf carts were joined by bikes with flags and patriotically dressed riders, at least one motor scooter and a cart defying description carrying a smiling driver.

Waving children and well-behaved dogs enlivened the scene.

Somewhere toward the back of the lineup, someone played “Who Let the Dogs Out,” at top decibel, while closer to the front, a subdued guitarist played patriotic music.

Hoots and whistles provided further accompaniment as the procession wound its way through the streets.

Not to overlook was one lone driver dressed in authentic Revolutionary War uniform in the midst of it all.

Coming 56 years after the historic Woodstock Music and Art Fair in upstate New York, Laguna Woodstock was again organized by the Boomers Club, this year for at least the 16th time.

More than 1,300 wristband-wearing music fans in tie-dyed garb and recreated hippie gear gathered on the patio dance floor, in the clubhouse and on the front lawns under canopies brimming with food and libations and groovy vibrations, the sweet, pungent scent of pot wafting over the scene.

Jimi, the guitar-playing skeleton, was back at his post under a tree, and strung-up bras danced in the breeze with a sign designating the underwired losers for burning.

Sign-carrying “protesters” snaked through narrow paths decrying the war in Vietnam and various issues of social justice.

Kevin Kennedy, a seven-year resident of the retirement community, was a kid in Oklahoma when Woodstock shook the nation’s elders.

“It did not have much of an impact on me when it happened,” he said. “I’m catching up now.”

Dressed in an approximation of the hippie garb, he said he likes to dance, listen to music and smoke pot.

“I have peace in my heart,” he said.

With peace and love as the fest’s leitmotif, Maryann Bamberger and her husband of 48 years, Steve, wore shirts with the original Woodstock logo. They said they have attended the Boomers’ Woodstock festival every year.

“This was our time. I still listen to all the songs of Woodstock – Jimi Hendrix,” she said.  “People should have more love in their hearts; there’s so much hate now.”

Kathi Fox, a 19-year resident, also has attended the local Woodstock every year.

“Woodstock was our era. Music and watching people bring back memories from 1969,” she said. “My daughter was born that year and a man landed on the moon. We were young and hopeful. We wanted peace and love – we wanted to dream.”

Joining her was Gaye Thomson, who said she came for the music and the dancing.

“We come for the atmosphere, to watch people dance and enjoy themselves,” she said.

On the front patio of Clubhouse 2, throngs of folks, ranging from teenagers to those more than old enough to have been at the original Woodstock, danced to music by the 1969 Tribute Band, The Trip, Family Style, Funk Station and AbSOULute.

Inside, vendors touted their wares: tie-dyed bell bottoms resembling skirts, handmade jewelry and other accessories completing an on-the-spot hippie look. Food and drinks were for sale. As for the pot, it was strictly bring your own.

In the coolest corner of the building, festivalgoers lined up to have their fortunes told through Tarot cards.

Gloria Martinez, at Woodstock for the first time, said she came to have her fortune told “just for fun.” Dressed in regular clothes, she said she forgot the hippie guise.

“I graduated from college in ’67 and had my first kid in ’69. I watched Woodstock on TV,” she said.

As for peace and love, she and her husband had done a stint in the Peace Corps.

“I loved the concept of bringing peace to so many people. We need that now,” she said.

When Teresa and Jeff Casta crossed onto the dance floor, it was evident that Jeff had his own interpretation of a post-hippie look: He had fashioned his long beard into a colorful five-point star.

“That took a lot of hairspray and colored spray,” he said, calling it “a tie-dyed beard.”

Even though the couple has lived in the Village for six years (his grandparents and parents had also been residents), it was their first time at Woodstock.

“I grew up in Connecticut and actually almost went to Woodstock,” he recalled. “We love how the music has translated into today; we grew up with it. It’s still relevant today.”

“As is love and peace,” added Theresa.

Boomers Club President Howard Fox shared his enthusiasm for this year’s festival.

“Everyone really enjoyed the music this year, and the variety of vendors and food was another success,” he said.

Kirby joins former NFL player Chris Kluwe and Huntington Beach Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark, who have already declared their candidacies for the open seat in 2026.

Kirby grew up in Riverside County and spent 12 years as a U.S. Coast Guard petty officer. After leaving the Coast Guard in 2023, he founded Krieger Gaming, a veteran and first responders nonprofit that aims to connect people experiencing mental health problems or facing isolation to come together through video games.

“One of my deep passions is mental health and actually getting people the help they need,” Kirby, a Huntington Beach resident, said.

Kirby recently earned a bachelor’s degree in science and environmental science from the American Military University. But in mid-June — after watching the military intervention during the protests in L.A. and growing unhappy with what he called the Trump administration’s “misuse of power” — Kirby said he decided to run for office.

“Prior to that, I had no interest in being a politician,” Kirby said. “But I feel like this is going to be the best way for me to actually push forward ideas that I believe are going to benefit all Californians, not just picking sides or playing party politics.”

Kirby, who is running as a Democrat, said he has always been unaffiliated with a political party, but running as an independent would pit him against both parties. He said his voting behavior and platform mostly align with the Democratic Party.

His priority focus is protecting individual and constitutional rights, especially the freedom of speech and the importance of giving everyday citizens a voice, he said. Kirby also wants to improve the problem of homelessness in the 72nd Assembly District.

“We have all of these things that we’re not actually solving, we’re just moving them around from place to place,” Kirby said.

In addition to focusing on mental health and protecting the coastlines and water systems, Kirby said he wants to invite the people affected by state legislation into the lawmaking process itself.

“I want to start a program that I want to push forward to the state of California, where we peer review all of our documents,” Kirby said. “It should be peer reviewed by people that it affects.”

The 72nd Assembly District spans from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach and juts inland to include  Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest and Laguna Woods. Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, is running for a spot on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Like Kirby, Kluwe — a former player for the Minnesota Vikings — is also a first-time candidate. He announced his bid for election after his recent arrest during a Huntington Beach City Council meeting regarding the installation of a plaque with a MAGA acrostic outside the city library.

Van Der Mark was the first to announce her campaign for the open Assembly seat. She sits on the Huntington Beach City Council and previously served one year as the city’s mayor.

Win a trip on “The Price Is Right.”

That’s what happened to Laguna Woods resident Marcus Geiger in February. His trip to the Big Easy comes with round-trip airfare for two, a five-night stay in a “historic property” near the French quarter, a helicopter tour and a private city tour.

But Geiger couldn’t brag about his big win back then. By strict show rules, he had to wait until after the episode aired on TV. That finally came on June 12.

“I’ve never been to New Orleans, and I’ve never been on a helicopter ride,” he said.

Even four months after the taping, Geiger spoke about his experience as enthusiastically and energetically as if it had just happened.

But that’s the kind of guy he is – enthusiastic and energetic, just the kind of person they like for “The Price Is Right.”

“I knew he was going to get picked because he was perfect for the show,” said Geiger’s friend, Teri Judd, who accompanied him to the taping. “He’s friendly, outgoing and very energetic. And he was determined to be up there.”

Geiger said that in the interview room, he “did the whole low five – ran by everybody up one side of the room and down the other, slapped their hands, showed a lot of energy, interacted with all the other people in the room.”

That energy – and Geiger’s bright orange shirt and matching shoes – appeared to catch the eye of the two interviewers.

“They looked at each other and smiled,” Judd said.

Geiger also came prepared for the interview, he said, rehearsing responses to what he figured would be the questions.

“They ask you where you live and what you do and what makes you interesting,” he said. “You gotta play it up a little bit.”

Geiger gave a shout-out to Laguna Woods in the interview.

“I talked about how great life is in Laguna Woods, all the fun stuff here, like every day there’s a lot of fun stuff going on.”

He also talked about being a crossing guard at a school in Laguna Beach and about four-wheeling in his Bronco.

“It’s all about how well you can keep a conversation going under duress,” he said.

When it came time for Geiger to “come on down,” he high-fived his way down to the floor, where the first price test would come.

He missed the first prize – a shuffleboard table – bidding just $2 over. (The price was $1,799.) Show host Drew Carey even commented on that near miss.

On his second try – for a picnic package complete with a tabletop umbrella – Geiger bid $601 and won; the package was worth $865. (The three other contestants guessed too low.)

Once Geiger got on stage for the game “Coming and Going,” his time in the spotlight was over in just about a flash: He simply had to say whether the price of the New Orleans trip was higher or lower than indicated. He listened to his friend Judd in the audience and won the trip, worth $7,469.

“I’m glad I won, but I wish it had been a longer game, like Plinko,” he said.

Geiger didn’t make it into the final showcase, but he’s looking forward to visiting New Orleans. He has a year from the air date to take the trip. (And yes, he’ll be paying taxes on all his winnings.)

So, who will be the lucky person he’ll choose to go with him?

“If I meet my soul mate, it would be great to take her on the trip,” Geiger said. “If I were engaged to be married, it would be great for a honeymoon.”

The Native American-inspired ceremony, held under the branches of a massive pine tree in a remote spot inside Gate 11, was led by Village resident Zahir Movius, a healer, astrologer, yoga instructor, mystic and shaman.

With the solstice on June 20 – the longest day of the year – marking the start of summer, the ceremony was about “honoring the season, nature, growth and fertility,” Movius said. “Acknowledging that we are one with nature and building relationships with each other and the trees and birds.”

To the slow, gentle beating of a drum, the ceremony began with a smudging, a cleansing ritual to purify individuals of negative energies using smoke from burned sage and cedar.

“You never go into prayers without a smudging first,” said Village resident Shining Eagle, a descendant of the Pequot tribe of Connecticut.

As each participant stood to receive the cleansing, Shining Eagle used eagle feathers to waft the smoke from head to toe.

Prayers followed, with the blowing of a conch shell, then a set of Native American songs: a Chumash welcome song, a Lakota song of thanks and a Yaqui good luck song.

Then each participant received a blessing with sacred water, spritzed with an eagle feather.

Anna Kupernov, originally from Bulgaria, drove from Yorba Linda to take part in the ceremony.

“I felt the energy, the presence of my ancestors,” she said. “I tried to connect to them and ask for forgiveness and pray for healing.”

Movius has been holding summer solstice ceremonies in the Village for about 10 years, he said, always at the same site in Gate 11, though the original tree died and he had to choose a new one.

“Certain spots generate an energy that stays,” he said. “Also, it’s a little way away from others – we’re not disturbed, and we’re not disturbing anyone. There’s a sense of remoteness.”

The old pine tree, wrapped with a red ribbon, is special, Movius said.

“There’s just been a lot of prayer under that tree. That’s what makes it special to me, and maybe to a lot of other people,” he said. “To me, all trees are special. They’re a sacred part of nature, and all of nature is special.”

Referred to as “slow looking” for centuries, Harvard researcher Shari Tishman helped define slow looking as the practice of taking the time to really see – whether it’s a painting, a tree or that morning cup of tea.

Instead of rushing past something with a quick look, slow looking means you stop, stay with it and let yourself really explore what’s in front of you. This kind of focused observation often leads to details you’d completely miss otherwise, like the way light falls on a leaf, or how a brushstroke in a painting seemingly moves.

What’s great is that looking slowly isn’t just for art lovers or museum-goers. You can do it anywhere, anytime. During a walk, maybe pick a “looking” theme such as studying the bark texture of trees. Sit with a photograph and notice the emotions it stirs. You don’t need any special training – just curiosity and some patience.

There are two ways to engage in slow looking. One is introspective – asking how what you’re looking at makes you feel or what memories it brings up. The other is externally – thinking about the context such as who made it or contemplating the backstory. Both approaches deepen your connection to what you see.

Making a habit of being a slow looker comes with some surprising perks. It sharpens your observation skills, boosts your focus and even helps with learning. In schools, it’s being used to teach students how to notice, interpret and discuss things from different perspectives, all great skills for generally any subject.

Most of all, slow looking helps us build a personal connection with the world around us. Instead of relying on someone else’s interpretation, we begin to trust our own eyes and thoughts.

As Vincent van Gogh once wrote to his brother, “Painters understand nature and love it, and teach us to see.”

Slow looking gives all of us that chance, not just to see, but to really see. It invites us to pause, to notice the overlooked, to find beauty in the details and meaning in the mundane.

In a world driven by speed, the ability to slow down and truly observe is not just a luxury, it becomes a powerful practice. It reconnects us to ourselves, to each other and to the richness of the world around us.

And that, perhaps, is the most valuable vision of all.

Writer, editor and speaker Cheryl Russell is a Laguna Woods Village resident. Contact her at Cheryl@starheart.com.

Laguna Woods Globe columnist

Retirement, commonly referred to as the golden years, is the final frontier. No more deadlines or pulling all-nighters preparing for next morning’s dog and pony show to at least give the impression to the company’s grand poobahs that you’re worth what they pay you.

No more college tuition payments for your erstwhile cherubs, now sporting four-day-old scraggly facial hair that, in their formative years, you’d lovingly refer to as peach fuzz. The kids have moved out and moved on (after two or three false starts), and you’re finally an empty nester. Now your kids have kids, and some of those kids have kids. The circle of life.

Now, every day is Saturday and the world is finally your oyster (oysters and I have a symbiotic relationship of sorts; I don’t eat them and they don’t cause me intestinal ischemia).

The golden years bring with them their own set of joys and sorrows, positives and negatives, surprises, both good and not so, and a myriad of issues and decisions attendant thereto that many of us paid absolutely no heed when told by our folks what the final frontier has in store for us.

Annual doctor appointments give way to monthly appointments. The occasional aspirin has been replaced with a war chest of pills, lozenges and balms.

Dental questions change from “Should I get a root canal and a crown, or just get a filling instead?” to “Do I really need that tooth somewhere in the back that throbs and not in a good way, or should I just buy some string, find a doorknob and eliminate the $950 extraction fee?”

America is on wheels. In our dotage, many of us look askance at our motor vehicle and opt to head for Staters in the ubiquitous golf cart. After a lifetime of washing and waxing our steel chariots weekly in an effort to outshine the neighbors’, it seems now the weekly issue is whether to have a car at all.

We’re proud when we tell our friends, “You know, my 12-year-old land yacht only has 13,000 miles on it.” Is that something to be proud of?

The first three years that I lived in Laguna Woods retirement community, I took my chariot to the car wash weekly (since there’s some sort of prohibition regarding washing cars in the ‘hood, plus the fact that when you’re 70+, interest in gleaming chrome and shiny hubcaps wanes abruptly).

The big three issues of life used to be, in order, sex, food and health. In the golden years, the order is health, or lack thereof, food, and I can’t remember what the third is.

Shaun Tumpane is a Laguna Woods Village resident.

Whether a pastrami sandwich or a lox-topped bagel represents comfort food or culinary outreach, the event will offer an opportunity to indulge in the traditional foods that define Jewish deli cuisine.

The fourth annual festival returns to Clubhouse 1 on Sunday, June 22, from 5 to 8 p.m., sponsored by the Reform Temple of Laguna Woods. Admission and entertainment are free, with food for sale.

Deli delicacies available will include pastrami and brisket sandwiches, lox and cream cheese on bagels, barbecued jumbo all-beef hot dogs, noodle kugel (pudding), hummus and pita bread, small challahs (egg breads), chicken soup with matzah balls, jelly doughnuts and home-baked treats such as rugelach, mandelbrot and coffee cake. Dr. Brown’s sodas, popular back East, will also be available for the first time in several years.

While the focus may be on the food, community and camaraderie top the menu for festival Chair Lynne Rosenstein.

“An event like this brings the community together,” she said. “People of every ethnic group and background in the Village can come and have a chance to sample and enjoy Jewish foods.”

Many may have eaten the foods before, while for others, the tastes will be new and different, she said.

Foods identified with Jewish culinary culture derive from two main traditions. Immigrants from the Germanic and Eastern European countries who came to this country in the mid- to late-1800s brought with them the delicatessen staples of frankfurters, sauerkraut, pickles and cold cuts like pastrami and corned beef.

These transplants came from the Ashkenazi tradition, while Jewish immigrants from southern Europe and northern Africa came from the Sephardic tradition and brought with them foods like hummus that were associated with the Middle East.

Cold cuts, bread, pickles and meats will be sourced from local purveyors, as they have in the past.

While lox from Costco has been a festival staple, this year the smoked salmon being served has been made by temple member Rebecca Weinstein.

Her Seattle cousins have owned and operated a deli grocery store since the 1940s, and she borrowed their recipe for the home-made lox, she said.

“I take a slab of salmon flavored with sugar, salt and liquid hickory smoke, cover it with plastic wrap and set it in the refrigerator for a week or two,” Weinstein said.

Then she slices the fish with a carving knife and freezes the slices until ready to use.

“Easy!” she said, although she admitted that it took a while to convert 25 pounds of salmon to lox since she could only accommodate two pieces of salmon in her refrigerator at a time.

“Lynne Rosenstein was my taste tester, and she really liked it,” Weinstein said.

Last time, the festival kitchen sold out its entire poundage so organizers are stocking up with more this year.

Baked goods have also been home-made by “talented bakers” under the leadership of Susi Levin.

The festival also offers lively music for dancing along with other entertainment. The Shtetl Menschen Klezmer Band will play on the back patio. Village resident Rebeca Gilad and her troupe will lead participants in Israeli dance moves, and magician Jeff Olds will entertain with close-up magic.

An opportunity drawing with a multitude of gift cards will be a feature of the event.

Besides the Reform Temple, organizations sponsoring the event are ORT America, Friends of the Jewish Federation, the National Council of Jewish Women, Chabad Jewish Center of Aliso Viejo and Laguna Woods, and Hadassah.

Rosenstein touted the cooperative spirit existing among the Jewish organizations in the Village.

“When I moved here in 2016, there was no cooperation among the Jewish groups here at all,” she said. “Now, we work together, because when one is strong it strengthens the others.”

Dozens of volunteers are vital to the success of the event as well.

The first Jewish Food Festival took place in 2018. Rosenstein recalls that it was so well attended, the food ran out.

“That has never happened again,” she emphasized.

For Rosenstein, however, it has never been about the food.

“It’s all about camaraderie and community building,” she said.

Food tickets can be purchased in advance in the Drop-In Lounge at Clubhouse 1 today, June 19, from 10 a.m to 12 p.m. or at the door the day of the festival. Prices will range from $4 for pita bread with hummus to $15 for sandwiches.

Parking will be at a premium. So an Age Well bus will shuttle attendees from the Clubhouse 4 parking lot to Clubhouse 1 at no cost to riders. The bus will begin a continuous loop from the Clubhouse 4 lot beginning at 4:30 p.m., with the final return run leaving Clubhouse 1 at 8 p.m.

Village residents who have a Laguna Woods Senior Mobility card can request a free taxi from their home to Clubhouse 1 and return.

From bagels to brisket: Food festival united community

By Penny E. Schwartz

Correspondent

Partying on the Clubhouse 1 patio was in full swing Sunday night, June 22, as revelers clapped to the sounds of  klezmer music and followed the lead of a spirited group of Village dancers.

That was after many in the crowd had chowed down on pastrami and brisket sandwiches, bagels and lox, hot dogs and sweet baked treats at the fourth Jewish Food Festival, sponsored by the Reform Temple of Laguna Woods.

Deemed a resounding success by event chair Lynne Rosenstein, the festival attracted about 1,000 hungry guests. She based that estimate on the number of sandwiches – 850 – that were sold.

Business was lively at all of the food stations, including the outdoor grill for hot dogs and inside tables for sandwiches and baked goods – home-baked treats like rugelach, mandelbrot, cakes and cookies that sold out quickly.

Two tables of opportunity raffle drawings offered certificates for everything from candy treats to haircuts, nail treatments, restaurant and grocery fare, and even an initial visit to a local dentist.

The feeding frenzy started early as long lines waited impatiently for doors to open at 5 p.m. Guests dined and danced on the patio until festivities wound down a couple of hours later.

“This was a huge success,” said temple member Rachel Forman, who has participated in all four festivals sponsored by the congregation. “People seemed to enjoy eating and schmoozing.”

Temple member Avima Yaffe, attending her first food festival, contributed baked goods and said she especially loved the Israeli dancing.

Member Susan Abelson found the food delicious, especially the pastrami, but she enjoyed the camaraderie even more.

“I loved the feeling of being together,” she said.

Several other Jewish organizations offered baked goods, matzo ball soup and kugel for sale.

Rosenstein credited the volunteer work of about 150 temple members, nearly half the congregation. They wore their yellow Jewish Food Festival T-shirts as a badge of honor, she said.

“The event’s success gave the members a feeling of accomplishment and it served all the purposes set out beforehand.”