Thank you to Col. Frank Guevara and his team at San Bernardino County’s Department of Veterans Affairs for their tremendous work over the past years. In 2020, the County’s VA department assisted our veterans in receiving over $67 million in new cash benefits. This amount is more than any county in the state, and $20 million more than what San Bernardino County veterans received in 2019! For more information on how to receive benefits for your service, call (909) 382-3290, visit http://hs.sbcounty.gov/va/Pages/default.aspx or e-mail Inquiry@va.sbcounty.gov

“My general philosophy is, have I been? No? Okay, then — let’s go,” Dr. Jeremiah Gilbert said with a laugh. An avid traveler, the San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) mathematics professor has carried a wide-angle lens through more than 80 countries. He enjoys chronicling the places around him — both at home and abroad. This year, a compilation of his circular photographs was published in the local anthology San Bernardino, Singing, and his book of travel tales was published, titled Can’t Get There From Here: Fifty Tales of Travel.

Many people with his level of interest in other cultures and societies might have chosen to live abroad temporarily or permanently, but not Gilbert. He currently resides in Loma Linda and teaches today in the same town in which he was born — San Bernardino, Calif.

A graduate of Colton High School at the age of 15, Gilbert’s academic journey kept him bound to the Valley as he was too young to move away from home for university. He enrolled at SBVC before transferring on to California State University, San Bernardino where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. He later earned a Master of Arts in Mathematics from University of California, Riverside and a Ph.D. in Education from Capella University.

He returned to SBVC professionally as a part-time instructor, where he taught classes year-round. In 2005, he became a full-time instructor. With the perk of having summers off, he booked his first trip abroad. In 2006, he celebrated his thirty-fifth birthday on the Great Wall of China on his way to Tibet.

When he first began traveling, Gilbert used an all-purpose lens on his camera, a 28–30 mm. Eventually, he became more comfortable with shooting and noticed something. “As I was going along, I realized I didn’t zoom in a lot, but there were many times I wished I could pull back more,” Gilbert explained.

As curious as they come, Gilbert invested in wide-angle lenses — the wider, the better. Eventually, he picked up an 8 mm circular fisheye lens, the widest angle possible, which literally captures a circular photograph. The style is uncommon and used mostly for medical purposes, but it posed an interesting challenge to him. He learned how to stand without capturing both his feet and stomach. He learned the best conditions to shoot in — “Never a sunny day,” he advised. He learned that the best subjects to shoot were things that were already circular or straight lines.

While he took the lens abroad a few times, he found that the best place to shoot was SBVC’s campus, especially the newer modern architecture that features clean, straight lines.

“With modern architecture, you can bend the lines in interesting ways and create really cool effects,” Gilbert said. “It posed an interesting challenge for me because I both had to learn how to shoot, but also how to edit. Did you know you can crop a circle?”

Gilbert submitted 14 of these circular photographs to the local anthology, San Bernardino, Singing, and all were accepted. The result is a world traveler’s wide-angle perspective on his hometown’s crown jewel.

Gilbert’s website, jeremiahgilbert.com, has always featured photography from abroad. During a trip to London in 2019, he began working on a section of short stories as well — travel tales, he called them. He wanted to share the mishaps and funny occurrences that can only happen during international travel.

He captured the memory of having to be smuggled across a checkpoint in Bolivia due to miscommunication. “We left our passports behind, knowing we weren’t going out of the country,” he explained. “No one told us we would need passports to go through checkpoints.”

He penned the story of his 40th birthday in Paris — a lovely celebration until a pickpocket swiped his money and identification. With the robbery occurring on July 3 and the U.S. Embassy closed on July 4, Gilbert barely had time to acquire a passport before his flight left Paris on July 5.

He worked on these travel tales a little bit at a time, he said. Then in February 2020 while his wife was visiting family in Beijing, news of the novel coronavirus broke. Gilbert’s instinct told him to book a backup flight for her. He was glad he did when her March flight was canceled with no promise of a reschedule until May — but then the backup flight was canceled. With a resolve to not see his wife stranded abroad, Gilbert reunited his family just in the knick of time.

“I’m not sure we would have been able to get her after we did,” he admitted. The original essay, “Can’t Get There From Here“ chronicles his family’s reunion and closes what is now the book by the same title.

With his wife safely home, Gilbert made the most of the historic global pandemic by writing 50 travel tales and publishing them in September 2020. His book Can’t Get There From Here: Fifty Tales of Travel is available on Amazon.com.

Thus far, Gilbert has seen 85 countries. (His wife’s one rule is that she has to stay one country ahead of him; she sits at 86.) But for him, there is really no place like Southern California.

“I’m one of those rare native southern Californians,” he laughs. “I know this area backward and forward. I love the diversity of it, how multicultural it is, and also how much access we have to different landscapes.”

With LAX nearby, he knows that any destination he can imagine is just a flight or two away, and during times like these when he can’t travel? “We have the mountains, desert and beach all within a two-hour drive.”

“It’s everything I need when I’m not traveling.”

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- The San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra is preparing for the second concert in their hybrid 92nd season. “Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi & Grieg” will premier digitally Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. on the Symphony’s new SBSOtv platform accessible from their website, www.sanbernardinosymphony.org.

The performance will include selections prominently featuring two very special instruments: the Maestro’s recently returned bassoon and an historic 1929 Wurlitzer organ.

Shared Maestro Parnther, “Tchaikovsky and Grieg penned two of the most compelling and deeply expressive works for string orchestra; Tchaikovsky’s Serenade in C Major and Grieg’s Holberg Suite, respectively. We will perform excerpts from both of these incredible works.”

Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in D minor, one of the Maestro’s personal favorites, will also be performed, but with a creative twist. Specifically, Maestro Parnther will be tackling dual roles as both soloist and conductor on this dazzling work for solo bassoon and orchestra. As mentioned, the bassoon the Maestro will be playing is the very same instrument that was recently returned to him after it was stolen just two days before the March 2020 concert was cancelled due to Covid restrictions.

“For my bassoon to be taken two days before my Mozart concerto performance last year… and gifted back in a time for the replacement Vivaldi concerto a year later… there is a sign in all of this,” said Parnther.

As repairs are still underway to the Symphony’s local performance venue, San Bernardino’s historic California Theatre, the concert will be recorded at Bandrika Studios in Tarzana which is owned and operated by composer Nathan Barr.

Pictured at left, this world class studio is constructed around the 1928 Barr/Fox Wurlitzer Theater Organ, which lived on the famed Newman Scoring Stage at Fox Studios from 1928 to 1998. It can be heard in dozens of classic film scores including The Sound of Music, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Witches of Eastwick, and Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Said Parnther, “With 1,366 pipes and a plethora of real percussion instruments, this organ truly must be heard to be believed.“

Years after the organ was removed from Fox in 1998, Barr purchased it from Ken Crome of The Crome Organ Company in Reno, Nevada, and thus began a four year restoration by Crome’s team. Since Bandrika’s opening in May 2018, the Barr/Fox Wurlitzer has re-entered the world of film music, and can be heard extensively in Barr’s score for Amblin/Universal’s The House With a Clock In Its Walls and also in Danny Elfman’s score for Universal’s hit adaptation of The Grinch (2018).

The Symphony will feature this magnificent instrument on two works in this program, including the Albinoni Adagio, and a solo work that will use every feature on the instrument.

“This concert is not to be missed,” said Symphony Board of Directors President Dean McVay. “We were incredibly gratified with the audience response to our February digital concert, and we believe this one will also please the discriminating musical palates of our patrons.”

A Hybrid Season… and Ticketing Options

The Symphony’s online concerts are presented in high resolution digital format and made easily accessible online through our website’s new SBSOtv platform using the password provided to each purchasing patron.

Following the March concert, a third digital offering, “Mozart and Beethoven,” will premier on May 1, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.

Two live concerts – slated for October 23, 2021 and December 11, 2021, will follow. The live concerts are scheduled to be held at the historic California Theatre of the Performing Arts in downtown San Bernardino.

Single household tickets for the digital concerts are $65, and single assigned-seating tickets for the live concerts ($30-$100) may be purchased online at www.sanbernardinosymphony.org or by calling the box office at (909) 381-5388. Box Office hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.

By Lue Dowdy

Krissy Harper a Superwoman at home and in the community! I can’t say enough about this phenomenal woman. Growing up, Krissy has always been about her community. So, this week, Queen Krissy, I salute you! See below why I selected Krissy Harper for my article a tribute to amazing women in celebration of National Women’s Month.

Though Krissy wears many hats in our community, her passion is fueled by being the Director of the Legendary San Bernardino Pacesetters Drill Team and Drum Squad. As a third generation Pacesetter, Krissy has made it her mission to serve the community by marching through the streets all around the world. With a group of over 85 young people, Krissy is determined to change the world. She often tells them that, “Building Better Lives Builds Better Communities”.

If you care enough to want to see change in a person, then you’re one step closer to changing the world. The Pacesetters has been a pillar of our community for over 60 years now and it is Krissy’s desire to continue the legacy of greatness to help rebuild the city through unconditional love and service one step at a time.

If you would like to get involved with the drill team and Krissy please look them up on Facebook under ‘The Pacesetters’. I believe right now they’re recruiting for new members. So, if you like to drum or march and you’re from the town, tap in. Remember to always march to the beat of your own DRUM. Until next week, L’s!

Almost anyone who has traveled the I-15 route between Los Angeles to Las Vegas has passed by the mysterious Zzyzx (Zye-zix) Road. Some tourists stop for the obligatory snapshots, but most whiz by without learning more about this unique First District landmark.

But what exactly is Zzyzx and what does it represent? Its story is as interesting as its name.
Although during the 1860s Soda Springs served as a US Army outpost, this vast, isolated area was virtually untouched until 1944, Curtis “Doc” Springer and his wife Mary Louise Berkebile opened a sanitarium here called Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.

The resort, named by Springer to be the last word in the English language, was the couple’s second stab at a health resort. Their “Haven of Rest” in Deer Valley, Pa., closed down in 1937 after the couple failed to pay their taxes.

Hoping for a fresh start at Soda Springs, Springer built — with the help of some drunks and drifters from San Pedro — an elaborate complex that included a church, radio station, private “Zyport” airstrip and 60 cabins, along with a health spa with mineral baths. The resort even boasted a mechanical exercise horse once owned by President Calvin Coolidge.

Springer, who gave himself the title of doctor and minister though he was neither, extolled the virtues of his health foods via his evangelist radio station, drumming up brisk business among ail- ing seniors throughout the West. Among his remedies were “Hollywood Pep Tonic” and “Antediluvian Desert Herb Tea.”

The American Medical Association came to learn of Springer through his radio show, quickly dubbing him the “King of Quacks.”

Springer’s enterprise drew to a close in 1974, when the government shut him down for food and drug law violations as well as unauthorized use of federal land. He was jailed for a few months and then retired to Las Vegas, where he died in 1986.

Today, Zzyzx Springs is home to California State University’s Desert Studies Center, run by Professor Rob Fulton of Cal State Fullerton. (The campus remains off limits to visitors without prior reservations.)

“In our collective trauma, we still choose not to see our history, our past acts and our current blind eye to injustice. Even as a Christian nation, we still do not pay attention to the well-being of other human beings,” said Kathleen Dameron, (Paris, France) Internationally recognized Cross-cultural Trainer Kathleen Dameron is launching a series of seminars titled, “Healing the Collective Trauma of Racism” as a way to help Americans recognize and move beyond the systemic racism that has plagued society for hundreds of years.

The importance of her sessions became clear when angry white insurrectionists invaded the United States Capitol carrying Confederate flags on January. 6. The insurrectionists were cheered by then-President Donald Trump, who openly supported white supremacists throughout his presidency.

His lies about the election being stolen were a blatant effort to disenfranchise the millions of black voters who voted against him.

“The insurrectionists were so convinced of their impunity, that they took selfies of themselves and then posted them on social media,” Dameron said.

With the horror of that day still fresh in people’s minds, Dameron said it’s time to work toward healing the collective trauma of racism.

“The times, they are a-changing,” she said, quoting Bob Dylan’s iconic song. “We have a perfect window of opportunity. We need to work with whites not to feel ashamed, but to open their hearts so they can recognize how cold and cruel and undemocratic they have been toward their fellow human beings…. and themselves.”  

Dameron’s seminars are ongoing, and sessions focus on everything from enslavement and Jim Crow laws to targeted policing and mass incarceration of Black people and people of color.

In her seminars, Dameron will help participants understand the difference between interpersonal and institutional racism, guiding them to build a feeling of community and healing energy.

Before starting her sessions, she is offering a free, self-paced, one-hour course “First Steps” so each one can build their Racial Literacy. You can enroll by going to www.KathleenDameron.com

“We will take time over six weeks, then six months, to explore the impact of racism in the United States,” Dameron said. “We will take time to open our eyes, our minds and our hearts.  “We will start our individual action, looking at what’s very local around us. And in community, we will walk together toward larger and more impactful actions.”

Kathleen Dameron is an American based in Paris with more than 30 years’ experience coaching, facilitating, and training within multinational companies in French, English and Spanish.

Through KD Conseil, her French consultancy, she coached coach American, European and Asian executives all over the world, helping organizations transform their cultural diversity into a competitive advantage.

Moving beyond America’s systemic racism and even getting some Americans to recognize that it exists will not be easy.

Dameron noted the ongoing drumbeat against Black Lives Matter and the false equivalency of BLM and the violent insurrectionists heard daily on conservative news programs. It is important to listen to different drumbeats.

But her seminars are one step toward healing the collective trauma of racism.

“In our collective trauma, we still choose not to see our history, our past acts and our current blind eye to injustice. Even as a Christian nation, we still do not pay attention to the well-being of other human beings.

“We need to talk often and softly with humor and enthusiasm and begin our transformative journeys,” she said.

Learn more at www.KathleenDameron.com

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians recently donated nearly 10,000 school supplies to at-risk students in the San Bernardino Unified School District (SBCUSD). Just as the district announced that distance learning will continue for the remainder of the school year, the Tribe reached out to students most in need to help them continue achieving academic success. The supplies were donated to the Access to Learning for All Students program which consists of approximately 1,000 students facing homelessness or currently living in foster care.

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On Monday, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians with the help of their partners, School Specialty and Mark- it Smart, delivered supplies to the Community Day School. With the stress of distance learning being top-of-mind for local parents and educators, we thought you would be interested in this feel-good story about an organization reaching out to help out students in the community.

Re-written and edited by Naomi K. Bonman

March is Women’s History Month, and although it is normally used to recognize women in history that have made tremendous strives to pave the way for other women, it deemed appropriate to highlight young women who are local to the Inland Empire that were of impact to the community but are no longer with us.

Ariell L.M. Gipson left this earth on June 3, 2017. Her mother, Todella D. Brown, strongly believes that there were spiritual signs surrounding the night and location of Ariell’s death that stated she was needed in Heaven. According to Todella, the number “5” was also very prominent surrounding the day of her daughter’s death.

Ms. Ariell was headed to Unit #5. She was driving from Planet Fitness. Ariell exited the 215 freeway at “5^th Street” and was hit by a DUI driver in front of In-N-Out Burger. Ariell was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center where she later succumbed to her injuries. She had just successfully completed the exam to become licensed as a LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse). She completed her internship at Community Hospital. She was the oldest of “5” children.

While still in high school, Ariell became a Certified Nurses Assistant (CNA) and later completed her LVN exam. She was also a cast member at Disneyland where she enjoyed working.

Ariell is the Great Granddaughter of Ms. Scoot who was a Gourmet Chef and Nannie. Ms. Scoot was born in Crystal Spring, Mississippi and is the mother to Ariell’s Grandfather, Willie F.J. Brown. Brown served in the U.S. Army and Air Force ad became a U.S. Immigration Agent.

Ariell is survived by her parents Aaron L. Gipson and Todella D. Brown; her siblings Aaron Brown, Aaron Gipson Jr., Tahan Cooper, and DaShia Taylor.

Today in the light of the COVID Bill that was submitted into congress named HR 6666, as the COVID-19 pandemic, Todella Brown wants to share through her daughter’s memory that our health has always been more important than our wealth. She also recommends the movie, “5 Feet Apart” to add to people’s list of things to watch while still in quarantine. The number “5” means “God’s Grace”.

The Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) presents the World Premiere of Genius: Aretha, on Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 7:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM CT / 10:30 PM ET. Join star actor, Courtney B. Vance for a pre-show special performance at 7:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM CT / 10:00 PM ET, and star actress Cynthia Erivo, following the screening, for a post-show special performance.

For information about virtual screenings and events, or to purchase a ticket or pass to participate in PAFF now through March 14, please visit PAFF.org.