Chandler Beat

Chandler’s Hamilton Library will be closed for renovations Friday through Wednesday, Aug. 5.
The library, located on the Hamilton High School campus at 3700 S. Arizona Ave., will reopen Thursday, Aug. 6,  for normal operating hours: 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Residents are encouraged to use the Downtown Library at 22 S. Delaware St., which is 5 miles north on Arizona Avenue.
For library hours or more information visit www.chandlerlibrary.org.

This news came into the Tribune today:

Honored at the lunch were: Becky Jackson, executive director of the Desert Southwest Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; Camille Casteel, superintendent of the Chandler Unified School District; Maria Hesse, president of Chandler Gilbert Community College; and resident and community activist Mary Lou Fulton, whose award was accepted by her granddaughter, Wendy Nichols Umbrianna.

The Chandler Education Foundation on Friday honored four community leaders at a Celebrate Our Great Women high tea at the Castle at Ashley Manor Friday afternoon. Honored were Becky Jackson, executive director of the Desert Southwest Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; Camille Casteel, superintendent of the Chandler Unified School District; Maria Hesse, president of Chandler Gilbert Community College; and resident and community activist Mary Lou Fulton, whose award was accepted by her granddaughter, Wendy Nichols Umbrianna.

The purpose of Celebrating Our Great Women was to provide a unique opportunity for women in our community to come together in support of education and women*s heart health. In addition, the event supported high school seniors receiving scholarships and other CEF programs. The honor was held on National Wear Red Day, when Americans nationwide take women’s health to heart by wearing red to show their support for women’s heart disease awareness.

During the annual Christmas at San Marcos, sponsored by the Chandler CARE Center, nearly 700 families received some assistance. This year, the organizers adopted a “back-to-basics” program, with homes to help at least 500 families. In previous years, about 130 families were adopted. With donations from dozens of private and public groups, turkeys were given to every family, basic food supplies like flour were dispersed and children received much needed socks and sweatshirts, said Chandler CARE Center director Susan Horan.

The event started at 9 a.m., but people started lining up at 3 a.m., with 200 in line by about 5 a.m. In all 3,571 individuals from 688 families received assistance. More than 99 percent of them reside in Chandler.

Turkeys were donated by the Chandler Unified School District office, the Chandler Fire Department, Willis Junior High School, the Perry High School Football Team, and the Chandler High School Modazz Dance Group.

Horan said special thanks go to Toyota Financial Services, who donated 20 pounds of groceries to the first 500 families in line, and to the Chandler Fire Department and the Sun Lakes Fire Department, who donated approximately 2,000 new toys.

Doug Freeman was the event’s wonderful bilingual Santa Claus again this year and saw a continuous stream of children from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. “without a break,” Horan said.

“He was as warm and gracious to the last child in line as he was to the first. Many thanks for helping us again, Doug! You are the best Santa these children will ever know.”

This came into the Tribune today:

On Oct. 2 the Chandler Center for the Arts held its sixth annual Endowment Concert starring Terry Fator along with a silent auction prior to the concert. The event raised more than $39,000 for Center’s Endowment Fund.

“We are deeply grateful to everyone who supported this event. Funds raised will go into our endowment fund in order to generate long-term support for the Center’s programs and services,” said Katrina Mueller, general manager, Chandler Center for the Arts.

While the Chandler Center for the Arts is a City of Chandler and Chandler Unified School District building, its artistic and outreach programs are privately supported. The Chandler Center for the Arts receives no direct appropriations for artistic programming. Its appropriations must be applied only to the maintenance and operation of the actual building. Ticket sales and other earned income cover only part of the Center’s programming expenses, which means it must rely on donations in order to deliver quality arts programs at an affordable cost to the public.

ICAN’s fifth annual Festival of Trees will be held Friday, Dec. 5 at the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort in downtown Chandler. ICAN needs the support of this community to provide free, quality programs to youth. Community members looking to impact a youth this holiday are welcome to join ICAN at the fifth annual Festival of Trees.

 Tickets to this event can be purchased for $75 and are available on the web at the following link. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the ICAN facility or by phone by calling (480) 821-4207. ICAN is at 201 S. Washington, in downtown Chandler.