SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Rehearsals for the Assistance League of San Bernardino’s 53^RD Annual Signature Headdress Ball are in full swing and coming to the final weeks of practice for the 10 headdress models and the volunteer dancers that will be performing with them. The National Orange Show will play host to this year’s Headdress Ball on Saturday, April 12. There will be a matinee performance at 10 a.m. that will include lunch and the presentation of the headdresses.  The cost to attend the matinee is $75 per person.   The evening gala celebration will begin with a cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. sponsored by the Signature Club.  Tickets for the evening black-tie performance are $150 per person.  The tables seat 10 for the evening dinner performance. This year’s headdress models will include Assistance League members: Lillian Vasquez-Wisegarver (Colton), Nancy Gutierrez (Rancho Cucamonga), Margaret Ortiz (San Bernardino), and Marsha Scott (Redlands).  Representing Les Confreres, an auxiliary organization of the Assistance League are Louise Hummel (San Bernardino) and Danielle Hilder (LakeArrowhead). Special guest models that will be representing community interests include: Tammy Martin-Ryles (San Bernardino) representing Inland Empire Black Chamber of Commerce; Geri Jure (San Bernardino) representing Friends of Assistance League; Maria Saenz (San Bernardino) representing San Bernardino Sinfonia Mexicana; and Mary Ann Quiggle (San Bernardino) representing the San Bernardino Chamber of Commerce.

All proceeds from the matinee and the evening performances will go to benefit the children of San Bernardino through the support and funding of the Dr. Earl R. Crane Children’s Dental Health Center and Operation School Bell, a program that provides clothing for needy children. To purchase tickets contact Bobbi Simenton at (909) 862-0732 or you may send your reservations to 3344 Parkside Drive, San Bernardino, CA  92404.  Make checks payable to the Assistance League of San Bernardino.  Tickets and donations to Assistance League are available online at http://headdressball2014.eventbrite.com.

Youth attendees shared educational aspirations during the Wells Fargo and First Generation Films Go College! red carpet community screening of the award-winning documentary, First Generation at LA Live in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES, CA- Wells Fargo Education Financial Services and First Generation Films recently  kicked-off the “Go College!” tour, a national education initiative launching in Los Angeles with screenings of the award-winning documentary First Generation at six Los Angeles Unified School District high schools and culminated with a red-carpet screening at L.A. Live. Go College! Los Angeles was the first of 70 film screenings and a 10-city tour bringing together filmmakers, educators, subject matter experts, civic and community leaders for panel discussions to encourage a national conversation on how students and parents can make attending college a reality.

Filmed over the course of three years, the First Generation documentary is narrated by two-time Golden Globe Award nominee Blair Underwood and explores the problem of college access faced by first generation and low income students. The documentary profiles the journey of four students attempting to break the cycle of poverty and bring hope to their communities as they pursue their college dreams.

The Go College! tour features free screenings for students and educators at local high schools and other locations in select cities. At each screening attendees will have the opportunity to engage the filmmaking team of Adam and Jaye Fenderson, cast members, Wells Fargo private student lending experts and local educational leaders in a dialogue focused on how to make attending college a reality. Free information packets on college application processes, scholarship opportunities, tips to estimate college costs, and how to capitalize on various funding sources to pay for college will be provided at all screenings.

Go College! next tour stops include Las Vegas, Phoenix, Oakland and Washington DC in Spring 2014. In Fall 2014, the campaign will visit the cities of Atlanta, Miami, Minneapolis, Houston, and Dallas. For tour information, please visit www.FirstGenerationFilm.com/gocollege.

Stevie B

ONTARIO, CA- Super Freestyle Explosion is back!  This annual live music event featuring classic artists and infectious dance hits comes to the Inland Empire for one night only this summer with a Friday, June 27 show at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. Super Freestyle Explosion 2014 includes platinum stars Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, Debbie Deb, Expose, Stacey Q, Connie, Nu Shooz, Trinere  and Pretty Poison.  Fans can expect a night full of both chart-topping Hi-NRG hits and smooth ballads like, Stevie B’s “Spring Love” and “Because I Love You,” Lisa Lisa’s “Lost In Emotion,” and “I Wonder If I Take You Home,” Debbie Deb’s “Lookout Weekend,” Expose’s “Seasons Change,”  Nu Shooz’ “I Can’t Wait” and much more. Super Freestyle Explosion tickets will go on sale Friday, April 4 at 10 a.m. and will be available online at www.AXS.com and www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (888) 929-7849 and at the Citizens Business Bank Arena Box Office during normal business hours.

Brian (left), land lord of the office suites, welcomes in Renea Wickman (right) into the office building on behalf of Danny Tillman. Reginald Young (center) is a stronger supporter of Tillman and is helping to move the campaign forward.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Danny Tillman and his team will be having a grand opening of his campaign headquarters on Sunday, April 6 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 577 North ‘D’ Street, Suites 103 & 104 in San Bernardino. An additional open house will be on Monday, April 7 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The office will be open Monday thru Friday from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

“We are so thankful for the community members who made this happen, without your support and donations we could not have done it,” Renea Wickman stated.

Danny Tillman is a Democratic Candidate for U.S. Congress running in California’s 31st District Open-Seat. He is also a San Bernardino Board of Education Member and is known for getting people involved to fight injustices. Mr. Tillman will be a progressive voice and a Congressman who will work hard to create family wage paying jobs and educational opportunities for the people of the Inland Empire. The District 31^st District includes the cities of San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Upland, Fontana Rialto, Colton, Loma Linda and Grand Terrace.       Donations of cash, reams of white paper, envelopes, stamps and office supplies will be greatly appreciated. For more information visit Danny Tillman for Congress at www.dannytillmanforcongress.com or call (909) 567-0222 or (909) 800-0318. Also be sure to follow Danny Tillman’s campaign on Twitter @Tillman4House and Facebook at DannyTillmanForCongress.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- During a 2013 mission trip to West Africa, local non-profit, Women’s Resurrection Ministry (WRM), helped bring electricity to a remote village in Ghana for the first time. Having rallied with government and city officials for over 17 years to bring power to poor communities in West Africa, WRM founder Cassandra Walker was excited to finally see their persistence pay off. In addition to expanding access to electricity in remote villages in Ghana, proceeds from the fundraising breakfast will benefit additional humanitarian efforts such as feeding programs for children and elderly, church planting and transportation in the village.

The 19th Annual Women’s Resurrection Breakfast, will be held Saturday, April 5, 2014 at the Hilton Hotel, 285 E. Hospitality Lane, San Bernardino. Registration begins at 8am. Advanced tickets are $30 for single admission, or two for $55 through March 17th. Groups may reserve a table of 10 for $250. Program features guest speaker, Evangelist Marie “Mom” Brewington, Dr. Reginald Woods of Life Changing Ministries, and gospel singer Leon Hawley. Enjoy special performances, experiences and stories from missionary travelers and learn how the local community can become involved in international humanitarian projects.

To register for the Women’s Resurrection Breakfast, or make a donation to the organization, please visit www.womensresurrectionministry.org, or call 909-965-7878 or (909) 547-5572.

Halle Berry is one of the host of the event

LOS ANGELES, CA- Revlon, The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) and Lilly Tartikoff are proud to announce the 21^st annual EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women.  Revlon Brand Ambassador Emma Stone will host the 2014 event in New York on Saturday, May 3 and Revlon Brand Ambassador Halle Berry, along with Christina Applegate will host in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 10.

Stone will be returning for her third year to host the New York Run/Walk, while Berry is celebrating her eighth year participating in the EIF Revlon Run/Walk, and hosting the Los Angeles event with Christina Applegate.  The Run/Walk was launched in Los Angeles in 1994 through the combined efforts of Lilly Tartikoff, Ronald O. Perelman, Chairman of Revlon, Inc., and EIF with a second event in New York City added shortly after. To date, nearly one million people have participated in the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women and the Run/Walks have distributed more than $70 million to support women’s cancer research, counseling and outreach programs.

The Los Angeles race will take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at Exposition Park. Early registration is encouraged and can be done by visiting http://www.revlonrunwalk.org or by calling the event hotline at (855) 434-3779. Registration is also available on site the day of the event.

Joy Harvest World Outreach Church adopted San Gorgonio High School on April 1. The adoption and ceremony were part of the Adopt-a-School program sponsored by the San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce and the San Bernardino City Unified School District. The program encourages partnerships between community organizations and District schools. San Gorgonio High is the second school to be adopted by Joy Harvest World Outreach Church this year. In February, Joy Harvest adopted Emmerton Elementary School, which is located just down the street from San Gorgonio High. Church members have committed to mentoring San Gorgonio students and helping them connect to the greater community. The April 1 ceremony was a joint adoption by Joy Harvest World Outreach Church and New Hope Missionary Baptist Church.

A new task force made up of parents, educators, and community leaders has begun focusing on ways to boost the academic success of the San Bernardino City Unified’s nearly 8,000 African-American students.

Among the first goals of the Task Force for African American Student Achievement is surveying parents about the District’s parent and community engagement practices. The task force, headed by the Rev. Samuel Casey of Communities Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), hopes to establish more community engagement opportunities that will help parents and guardians work with the District as it strives to increase the number of African-American high school graduates who are ready to succeed in college and careers.

Formed late last year, the task force represents a spectrum of grassroots community organizations, among them the Westside Action Group, Young Visionaries, BLU Educational Foundation, the San Bernardino chapter of the NAACP, Boys and Girls Club of San Bernardino, Youth Action Project, Inland Empire Concerned African American Churches, and the Black Voice Foundation. The task force’s mission is to ensure that the District’s Targeted Instructional Improvement Plan, known as TIIP, is implemented for the benefit of African-American students.

“We have a responsibility to hold the District accountable but also to work alongside the District,” Casey said. “Effective collaboration is essential to real change.”

This summer, the Task Force for African American Student Achievement will host a Parent Learning Institute to educate mothers, fathers, and guardians, so they can become better advocates for children. The institute will also focus on empowering parents and caregivers to participate in the decision-making process at the school, District, and community level.

Task force members will have a booth at the April 5 Day of King Celebration at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, located at 1250 Medical Center Drive in San Bernardino. The parent survey will be available during the event.

Superintendent Dr. Dale Marsden, who has long supported authentic parent engagement, welcomes the task force’s help.

“We have already begun a productive dialogue that I believe will be beneficial to the task force, the District, and, most importantly, our students,” Marsden said. “Educating students and ensuring their future success is the work of our entire community.”

For more information about the work of the new task force, please call COPE at (909) 915-1776.

In recognition of Women’s History Month, Assemblymember Cheryl R. Brown (D-San Bernardino) honored groundbreaking women from the 47th Assembly District at her annual Women of Distinction event on Saturday, March 29, at the Sierra Lakes Country Club in Fontana. The 2014 honorees were (L to R): City Clerk Eileen Gomez, City of Colton; Jasmine Hall, a member of the board of directors at the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (pictured is her daughter accepting the award on her behalf); Sally McGuire, a business owner and president of the Grand Terrace Chamber of Commerce; Marge Mendoza-Ware, a longtime school board member of the Colton Joint Unified School District (CJUSD); the Honorable Grace Vargas, City of Rialto; and Vicki Lee, a homeless student liaison at the San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD)

SAN BERNARDINO, CA – In recognition of Women’s History Month, Assemblymember Cheryl R. Brown (D-San Bernardino) honored groundbreaking women from the 47th Assembly District at her annual Women of Distinction event on Saturday, March 29, at the Sierra Lakes Country Club in Fontana.

The recognition event was attended by the honorees and their family members and included special guest appearances from Supervisor Janice Rutherford, chair of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors; Mayor Acquanetta Warren, City of Fontana; and Mayor Carey Davis, City of San Bernardino.

The 2014 honorees were: City Clerk Eileen Gomez, City of Colton; the Honorable Grace Vargas, former mayor of the City of Rialto; Jasmine Hall, a member of the board of directors at the Inland Empire Utilities Agency; Vicki Lee, a homeless student liaison at the San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD); Sally McGuire, a business owner and president of the Grand Terrace Chamber of Commerce; and Marge Mendoza-Ware, a resident of Bloomington and longtime school board member of the Colton Joint Unified School District (CJUSD).

City Clerk Eileen Gomez, a long time Colton resident, was first elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. As the Colton city clerk, she provides quality public service to her constituents by accurately recording and maintaining the proceedings of the Colton City Council and providing accessibility to official records. As a community leader, she serves as a board member for various community service oriented groups such as the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio, the Inland Empire Scholarship Fund, Youth for C.H.A.N.G.E., and Seeds of Hope, Inc., based in Colton.

Honorable Grace Vargas made history when she became Rialto’s first female mayor in 2000. She was later re-elected in 2004 and 2008. Born in Yuma, Arizona, Ms. Vargas moved to California in 1959 as a 22 year old single mother of seven children. While residing with her sister in the city of Fontana, she joined the California Employment Training Act (CETA) program, which became a major turning point in her life. She landed a job as a clerk for the City of Rialto and that position led her to several other promotions within the city’s administration. She was first elected to the Rialto City Council in 1998 before her election as Rialto’s first female mayor in 2000.

Jasmine Hall, a resident of Fontana, was recently appointed to serve as a member of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency board of directors in 2013. She was employed at Southern California Edison (SCE) for over 27 years as a business and utilities analyst. During her tenure at SCE, she promoted energy conservation initiatives to businesses and community members in the Inland Empire. She has also served on various boards and commissions including the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) Commission, the California Association of Sanitation Agencies and the Association of California Water Agencies.

Vicki Lee, a native of San Bernardino, serves as a mentor to at-risk youth as the homeless liaison for the SBCUSD. Prior to this position, she worked with homeless youth and young adults as an evening manager at the Covenant House California for ten years. Ms. Lee is the coordinator of “Our Children Sing,” an annual program that’s held in San Bernardino around September 11. The program seeks to promote peace, unity and commemorate those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Ms. Lee is also an active member at her church, New Hope Missionary Baptist, where she serves as the director of the Drama Ministry.

Sally McGuire, a longtime Grand Terrace resident, currently serves as president of the Grand Terrace Chamber of Commerce. After 25 years of working at General Electric (GE) as a sales executive, Ms. McGuire decided to become a certified senior advisor and open her own business, Helping Hands Companion Care, to provide non-medical in-home support services to seniors. As a community leader, Ms. McGuire is greatly involved in the Grand Terrace Woman’s Club, the Foundation of Grand Terrace and the CJUSD Community Cabinet focusing on students’ mental and physical health.

Marge Mendoza-Ware, a Bloomington resident, is one of the longest serving school board members of the CJUSD. Her most notable accomplishment during her fifteen year tenure includes organizing the ROTC programs for the area high schools. Ms. Mendoza-Ware also worked in various leadership positions at the County of San Bernardino, Harvey Mudd College, the Claremont Colleges, and Bright Beginnings Preschool. As an active community member, she founded the Bloomington After School Program, which provides tutoring assistance to students. She also served on the CJUSD Health Advisory Committee, the Bloomington Save Our Youth, the Bloomington Municipal Advisory Committee, the Bloomington Woman’s Club, and the Republican Women Federated.

For more information, contact Ashley Jones at (909) 381-3238.

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

When life fails to meet your expectations, you should expect God to do the unexpected. We become discouraged when life, people and God don’t meet our expectations. We believe that we live in a cause-and-effect world. We believe things are supposed to turn out a certain way. We believe that if we continue to do “A”, eventually it will result in “B” but life doesn’t work that way.

It is in these times that we need to expect God to do the unexpected. We have nothing to lose by expecting God to do the unexpected in our lives. God is always ready to do his greatest work at precisely the moment we begin to think things are hopeless. The moment Moses reached the end of his rope, God stepped in and said, “Don’t worry, I have everything under control. I am going to let Aaron be your spokesman and when I get through, Pharaoh will think you are God.” God’s power is far beyond anything we can comprehend, so why shouldn’t we expect God to do the unimaginable?

God wants your faith to grow through experience. Experience comes in following God one day at a time. We walk by faith and not by sight. God seldom gave extensive details on the front end. When God calls us He doesn’t give us all the details up front. God told Abraham to get out of his country. God’s call wasn’t that specific. Abraham didn’t know where he was going. God simply called him out of his country into a land that God would later show him. He didn’t know the details up front. Initially, the important thing was just to get out. The important thing was to take that first step. Without that step things remain the same. Actually it is much easier to just take one step at a time than it is to know everything beforehand. How many of us would have taken the road to where we are now if we had known about the obstacles in our path beforehand? I don’t think I would have been doing what I do for 15 years if I had known the hardships beforehand.

When you step out one step at a time it allows God to fill your life with His presence. It allows God to work through you to the accomplishing of His will. It will be God at work in you. Moses finally realized God was all he needed. God is all you need. When you follow one step at a time you will find yourself in the center of God’s will for your life. When you follow one step at a time into the will of God you will become more confident with each step.

We Must Believe in God’s Wisdom. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how young you are, there is one lesson we all must learn in life. God can’t do the unexpected with our lives until we do what He says. Even if doing what He says doesn’t make things work as we expect them to. Even if doing what He says doesn’t seem to make sense. Moses realized that when he did what God told him to do things worked “just as the Lord had said.” If we do exactly what the Lord says, things will always work out just as the Lord has said. This is the first great step we all must take in faith. Yes, it is scary to stop trusting in yourself and start believing and following God’s will. However, it is the only way to live beyond what is expected. (Scripture Ref: Exodus 6:28-7:5; James 5:13-18; 1 Corinthians 1:24-29; Ephesians 3:20-21)