It
come celebrate with us!
was back on New Year’s Day, 1995, when our big sister publication, The Sun Runner magazine, began publishing from Twentynine Palms. Back then, 29 was experiencing an artistic renaissance, and that spark lit up the hi-desert. Now the hi-desert is an arts vortex where it sometimes seems like every other resident is a visual artist, performance artist, musician, writer, actor, or some unique combo-creative. As our little corner of the Mojave has grown and changed, The Sun Runner grew and changed too, covering environmental issues that threatened (and still threaten) our desert; desert treasures— human and otherwise—from Dick Dale (We love Dick & Lana!) to Marta Becket, Jacques-Andre Istel, and Leonard Knight; destinations, history, fiction and poetry, and, of course, art. Some people, especially with all the new folks migrating to the hi-desert these days, don’t know how much of a role The Sun Runner has played in our area over the past decade or so. The magazine, along with our visitor guides produced for the Joshua Tree Gateway Communities (the third edition is on its way!), visitor maps, our regional television travel series, Southwest Stories (in production for its third season on KVCR PBS TV, broadcast to 5.7 million households across southern California), and, beginning just about one year ago, this newspaper, has played a pivotal role in promoting travel, desert events, and awareness of issues. On Saturday, January 7, 2017, we’ll be gathering at Yokozuna in Yucca Valley to celebrate the 22nd birthday of the magazine. The folks at Yokozuna are making a special dinner for the occasion (actually, there are three dinner options, including a vegetarian option to choose from) that will highlight their Asian fusion cuisine. We’ll screen three local episodes of Southwest Stories (for those who didn’t get to see them earlier on KVCR), and we’ll share news about what’s in the works for 2017. And we’ll have some entertainment, and a surprise or two. You might want to bring your dancing shoes because my wife, Delphine, and I, will play you a little Greek music, and it’s rather catchy (no breaking plates!). Opa! If you’re already a fan of The Sun Runner and our independent desert journalism, or you’d like to get to know more and maybe even become part of the whole storytelling and reporting experience, we hope you’ll join us as we celebrate our first 22 years and look to the future. It’s been a heck of a ride so far, and there’s more to come! We’ll even have all 22 years worth of magazines on display so you can browse our history (and perhaps, your own), during the celebration. The dinner celebration is $25 per person, and you can make your reservations and choose which dinner option you would prefer, on our website at www.jttortoisetelegraph.com or at www.sunrunnersw.com. We do need your reservations by January 2, 2017 so Yokozuna can prepare for our arrival. Oh, and please come with a story, a poem, a song, or anecdote you’d enjoy sharing, or just come for a good time, great food, and pretty decent company. We love a party, and we’d love to see you, and it seems like a gathering with friends is a good way to begin our 23rd year. Thank you for your support for the past 22 years, and we’ll see you January 7, if not before. – SB Have a hi-desert photo or story you’d like to share with our readers? Send it to us at: tortoisetelegraph@gmail. The ol’ Tortoise would love to hear from you!
Stay in touch with the Tortoise! www.jttortoisetelegraph.com
In this issue:
celebrate 22 years of the sun runner magazine & the start of the second year of the joshua tree tortoise telegraph with a special event january 7
Yokozuna: gochiso sama deshita, neh?
artist snake jagger continues his true life story in the third installment of becoming snake jagger
Ted Quinn releases 1.11 Plus december’s holiday festivals & events help stop vandalism and theft in our national parks - put the national park service tipline# in your cell phone: 888-653-0009
Keep it real: stand with standing rock 1
Tales from the tortoise
yokozuna gochiso sama deshita
by Steve Brown
D
ining in the hi-desert can be a little out of the ordinary sometimes. For years, one of my favorite restaurants, Yokozuna, on the highway in the east end of Yucca Valley, put out decent Japanese food, with some of the nicest people on the planet waiting on you. While it wasn’t the best Japanese food I’d ever eaten, and the menu never changed, it was consistently good. But it had its issues, and some of those could put people off. My favorite was the fact that you had to walk past windows that let you look into a dusty, unkept room, filled with empty animal cages (there used to be a reptile and bird store there). This led to some degree of speculation as to what had been in the cages and why were they now empty, though the real question was what restaurateur would choose to not either clean the room out, or at least put up some curtains to keep us from wondering. Over time, Yokozuna lost its pep. The kimono-clad servers vanished, replaced by an overworked guy who appeared clinically depressed. The place seemed to be run down and struggling, and then one day, it closed and I thought that was it. Sure, now we had other choices for Japanese food and sushi in the hi-desert, and pretty good choices at that. But I wondered what, if anything, would ever reappear at Yokozuna. Then, this past year, it was apparent Yokozuna was reopening under new ownership, and word started coming in that the owners were real nice but some people didn’t know what to make of the food. It was different from what they were used to and included a lot of Filipino offerings, which are a little exotic compared to what is usually served in the hi-desert. We have chefs in our family, so we understand that creating great food, an attractive presentation, an enticing menu, and a memorable experience is an art form all its own. For a while, I would drive by and think about going for lunch or dinner, but didn’t get around to it. Finally, I headed out to try lunch at the new Yokozuna, so my wife and I went to sample the offerings of the new owners. What followed was one of the best meals we’ve ever had in the hi-desert, and the food has been consistently superb since then, with a menu that never seems to get old. I decided it would be fun to learn more about the owners, the people behind the new Yokozuna: Leo Hice and Naomi Wheeler. Our interview began with a small bowl of the best miso soup I’ve had since my travels in Japan. TT: What makes this miso so good? NW: The base, green onion, seaweed, and the tofu. The base is a red miso paste and you can’t buy it locally. TT: Naomi, tell us about your life. NW: I was born in Okinawa. My dad is Japanese, and my mom is Filipino. When I was young I was in Japan. We moved to the Philippines for my high school time. That’s where I finished my high school and college career there. I helped my family run a restaurant in the Philippines. I like to work. I like to cook. I like to feed people. I enjoy it. I like to taste any kind of food. I’ve been in the medical field all my life. That’s what I graduated from college, and came to the United States and worked as a nurse. Since then I’ve never really worked any kind of job but nursing, and I did a job selling nursing uniforms, which I did for 14 years. Nursing I’ve done for over 20 years. TT: How about you Leo? LH: Born in Michigan. Moved out to LA as a very young child, with my parents. Been in LA since 1960 until 2013 when I retired. Decided to move to Palm Springs, didn’t like it, too hot, too humid, too many people. It reminded me too much of Los Angeles. At that point we decided we were going to move up to the hi-desert. We decided to buy a house in Joshua Tree and retire. I was sitting in retirement for about three years until this place came up for sale. Naomi and I used to come here back when it was owned by the former owners, the Japanese family. We enjoyed coming here. Then they closed. It was closed for two years. We were driving by one day and saw the for sale sign and we turned around and went back, dialed up the phone number and made an appointment to see the listing agent and he pretty much said, make an offer. We put together an offer, made it, and they accepted it, and now we own it. A lot of work has been done here. We had to basically gut this place. Nothing had been done for 20 years. Yokozuna has a heck of a history. The legacy of this place is amazing. It’s probably one of the oldest restaurants in the Morongo Basin. For 20 years the Minami family ran it. Then it dwindled down to the last of the Minamis, and Dennis, he couldn’t really wear all of the hats. So he sold it to us. Naomi had some really good ideas. We can cook Japanese, but let’s bring Asian fusion to the Morongo Basin. Something new that nobody else has done. So she said, I’ll
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make Filipino food and Japanese. There are six Japanese restaurants up here, but there is only one Filipino restaurant, and the next one is over 50 miles away. We’re really the only Filipino game in town, so we have to set a standard and we have to set it high. I grew up in LA, and I was child slave labor. Busboy, floor mopper, dishwasher, I did it all. My parents had two Japanese restaurants, one was in the San Fernando Valley, the other was down in Hollywood. I’m no stranger to the Japanese side, but I’ll tell you what, I’m lost on the Filipino side. I spent 10 years in Japan. I was a Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine. That’s a fact. I would go work full time in the military, then after I’d get off I’d go into town and work for free in the sushi bars. They never paid me but some of the world’s best sushi masters are in Japan, so I probably truly learned from some of the world’s best sushi and sashimi masters. Their culinary skills are phenomenal. But there are certain things they didn’t teach me because I was a lily white boy. Naomi has opened my eyes and broadened my horizons. She was born there and grew up there, so she learned the things they wouldn’t let out as secrets that were probably thousands of years old in Japan. These were secrets that were never disclosed to outsiders, and I was an outsider. TT: You’re also a doctor? LH: Yes. I taught at USC Medical Center. I used the USC hospital, which also has the contract for LA County, as a training center. That’s invaluable training. You can’t get that anywhere else. Being in between the Bloods, the Crips, the Asian Boys, and the 15th Street Gang, and probably half of the Yakuza, the Russian Mafia, the Jewish Mafia, all of them, it’s a melting pot there. A lot of turf wars. Or disrespect to each other. Probably 75 percent of what came through the emergency room doors there were gunshot wounds, stab wounds, or drug overdoses. A surgeon’s like a sculptor or a carpenter, like many trades in life. They all can look at their work and say, ‘I did that.’ They used to call me Doctor Dude Man, Doctor Homes, stuff like that. I’d see some of these youngsters coming back in and I’d look at sutures I’d done prior and say, that’s my work. What are you doing back here? No, don’t answer—something stupid. They’d tell me it’s all about respect. Respect is a whole different thing in life, not fighting for a piece of dirt. I did that in the military. We fought for dirt. And that was stupid. I was special forces, black ops, in Vietnam. Went a lot of places we never were, on the wrong side of the DMZ. No commander or politician would admit to it. We couldn’t be there technically. We had one mission and it was pretty straightforward: capture or kill. You didn’t get a whole lot of options. If you can’t take them and bring them back and turn them over to the CIA for questioning or whatever they were going to do to them, we don’t want to know, my mission is complete, if I can’t bring them, you line them up in the cross hairs. It’s war. War’s a sad thing. There are other ways to solve your problems. Everybody that served in the military has PTSD. Some just have it worse than others. All of us do. I’m pretty good with it. But I think there’s been a time or two I’ve woken up in the middle of the night, [looking at Naomi] woke you up, yelling, ‘Incoming, take cover, get the 50 cal out, that kind of thing. Leo and Naomi met through the health care profession, he a doctor, she an RN working in both postpartum and in the ER, he in Los Angeles, she in San Diego. He had been married twice before, she, once. They both had children, though Leo lost his stepson at age 21 in a tragic car accident. LH: You never get over it. A part of you dies. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Never a day goes by I don’t think about him. 14 years, it still hurts. Ultimately, Leo’s retirement wasn’t planned, but was rather the result of a hemorrhagic stroke. LH: It took everything from me. I ended up in a coma for several weeks. When I came out of that coma, I needed both physical therapy and occupational therapy. I learned to talk again. I was on a cane, I had paralysis on the left side. I basically had to learn to walk again. It took about a year. But after several years of retirement in the hi-desert, Leo is as loquacious as they come, enjoying his time with customers at the restaurant. And he’s dug into the history
of the Yokozuna building as well. LH: Back in the sixties, this place was built as a motel. Then in the seventies, probably toward mid to late seventies, it became a Chinese restaurant, Happy something or other. After it ceased to exist as a motel it became a Chinese American restaurant. In my understanding the reason it stopped being a Chinese restaurant was he fell off a ladder out front and broke his back. That ended that. The Cherry Blossom came in for a few years, and then the Minamis acquired the business. That was probably somewhere in the midnineties and became Yokozuna. Naomi and I bought it in April, 2015. We took the rest of the year and we gutted it. Inside and out, we really started from scratch. We didn’t really get this place running until the beginning of 2016. We’re not even a full year yet. We’ve expanded quite a bit since then. Naomi picked the plum wine color and decided she wanted black as the trim. We were going to go with beige, but thought the white would go better with black. It came together very nicely. She did all the stencils. She did all that. We have the biggest restaurant in the whole Morongo Basin {the kitchen alone is 1,000 square feet] and as soon as we open the door to the Asian beer and wine garden, we’re going to pick up another 50 seats. We’re looking at between 250 and 300 seats in this restaurant and that doesn’t include the tea terrace in the back. We haven’t got that approval yet. TT: What is your philosophy with this place? NW: I think it’s authentic, Asian fusion you cannot find anywhere. It’s very unique. Home style. LH: She does make everything from scratch. That beef teriyaki’s been cooking since 8 or so this morning. It’ll be ready tonight. She makes all the sauces, salad dressings, and the Filipino ketchup, the banana ketchup. People when we opened thought we were giving them ketchup. They even put that on Yelp. Serving ketchup with our lumpia.
It’s not ketchup and you’ll have a chance to taste it for yourself when we hold The Sun Runner magazine’s 22nd birthday celebration at Yokozuna, Saturday, January 7, 2017. You can get all the information and make your reservations at www.jttortoisetelegraph. com, www.sunrunnersw.com, and on our Facebook pages for our publications. Cost for a full dinner with dessert is $25, with a pork, chicken, and vegetarian option available. There will be entertainment, news about what to expect from The Sun Runner and Joshua Tree Tortoise Telegraph in 2017, and some surprises. Please join us!
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Tales from the tortoise
becoming snake jagger By Snake Jagger by way of introduction
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he desert produces some fascinating creative spirits, and often, they have stories as interesting and varied as themselves and their work. Whenever possible, we like to share those stories with our readers to give you a deeper look down the tortoise hole, into the minds and souls of our friends and hi-desert neighbors. I’ve known Snake Jagger for quite a few years now, and his artwork has been featured on the cover of our sister publication, The Sun Runner. He’s featured in our Morongo Valley episode of our TV series, Southwest Stories, doing lip-ups and talking about Frank Sinatra and his Dad, lip synching competively, and being a pirate, something we share (it’s a long story). Snake is a uniquely talented desert artist with a penchant for creating desert scenes of orderly, sometimes raked, desert landscapes, with the occasional UFO, doorway, or even a rake, included. It’s what he calls whimsical surrealism, and the name fits. He has a playful painting style that is a perfect match for his personality. But don’t just listen to me. Read Snake’s story in his own words. I’ve done minimal editing because I like to let people tell their story their way. He’s working on a book, so the Tortoise Telegraph is serializing his story in this, and upcoming, issues. It’s a great way to get to know Snake, and it’s a hell of a ride. You can also peruse Snake’s online gallery and shop online at www. snakejagger.com. And yes, that’s one of his works in our masthead. – Steve Brown
Chapter 5
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hen I was in high school, I met my two first loves. Evie was the first, in the 10th grade. You never forget your first, or second first love, for that matter.
I met her in summer school, sort of. She sat in front of me in one of my two classes and I was so freaking shy that it took almost a month before I could work up the nerve to offer her a Certs, which I kept in my pocket. Almost daily she would sit on a bench after school waiting for her parents to pick her up. After a month of offering her Certs, I finally worked up the nerve to go sit next to her and talk for a little while. Finally when summer school was over I invited her to come with me and my friend Bobby, to have a soda at Thrifty’s, which was on her way home. But even on the last day of school, and the last time I would see her until school started again, I didn’t have the nerve to ask her for her phone number. Thankfully Bobby did. It took some begging on my part, and he finally gave me her number. I called her and we stayed on the phone for the rest of the summer, talking way into the night. And back then, rotary phones only had so much cord, so I would bring it out on our front porch at night and we would talk for hours. Evie lived in Laurel Canyon, up on Green Valley. They had a beautiful home there. One of my early memories was when Evie and I had played hooky, so we could stay home. My mom worked at the Century Plaza hotel, so I was home alone. I took off that day, caught a bus to Fairfax and Sunset Blvd. Then hitchhiked to Lookout Mountain and walked the rest of the way to her house. This was going to be one of our first intimate encounters. Well, while I was there, her father came home from work for a lunch break. It was totally unexpected and I was definitely not supposed to be there. I quickly hid under her desk in her room, with the chair pulled in front of me, so I wouldn’t be seen. I was scared to death that this would probably be my last day on earth. I hunkered down, scrunched up under that desk. Finally, after a TWO HOUR lunch break, and after he peeked into her room, but didn’t see me, he left for work. While there, I found something to scratch my name and date into the wood of her desk, so if anything happened to me, there would be some sort of evidence that I was there. I was pretty nervous, I can tell you that. Talk about a close call! Thankfully I lived to tell the story. Another day in my life I will never forget. The things you’ll do for love.
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My second first love, was a girl named Debbie. She had her own Toyota
Corola that her parents gave her. Evie and I had broken up during the summer months, before I started the 11th grade. I met Debbie through a group of friends at Fairfax. Like Evie’s parents, Deb’s parents didn’t really cotton to me. I was sure it was because they found out I was half black. Debbie told me that’s how her parents felt. I resented that a lot! Having her own vehicle opened up new possibilities for Debbie and I. No more being driven to a movie or a dinner date by your parents, ( all the while trying to mess around as much as you could in the back seat without mom seeing ). We could go wherever we wanted and have little adventures. We fogged up the windows on many a night in that little car. That was another good year in high school, and it was about the time that I was starting to change in ways that were affected by the music I listened to and the way things were in the world. Hippies ruled back then. And I was slowly becoming one. My favorite bands in those days were as follows: Jimi Hendrix, he was the God of rock music, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Cream, Jethro Tull, Blood Sweat and Tears, Yes, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Crosby Stills and Nash, The Doors, and believe it or not, The Monkey’s. My brothers and I sported Beatles haircuts, or we tried, having curly hair didn’t help. I was in my early teens when some neighbor girls, Tammy, Farah, and Bridgette, all talked me into stopping the wetting of my hair with water so I could try to comb it to look like Kelly Robinson, of I Spy, who was one of my favorite TV spies and let it be "natural" the way it was meant to be.
I am forever grateful to those girls for setting me straight.
In my last year of high school, I finally broke down and tried marijuana. Before that I was strongly against any kind of drugs or cigarettes. But I caved when my fellow worker, Eddie, tempted me to have a few puffs with him as we sat on the roof of the Century Plaza hotel. That day changed everything for me. All of a sudden, getting high became the reason for going to school. Meeting up with friends and going to the park and hanging out with the hippies was the rule of the day. One very disturbing thing happened during my last year at Fairfax High. I remember this like it happened yesterday. One day I hooked up with a girl named Judy. She had the same last name as me, and the freaky thing was that her adopted father had the same name as my father, but he was a white guy. She took me home to her house and proceeded to have her way with me. I enjoyed that very much, but two days later she wanted to get together again. And for some reason I just wasn’t into it that day. During the time we were together she had mentioned how she hated her adopted mother with a purple passion. I tried to discourage that kind of talk from her. She waited for me for a long time to come out of the school, while I watched from an upstairs window until she finally left. Well, a couple days after I had stood her up, the news was circulating all over the school. Judy had killed her mother with a hammer and an axe. Shocked. I mean really shocked! Who knows what could have or have not happened had I followed through and went home with her that day. Maybe I could have prevented that, or worse maybe I was the reason she snapped. I’ll never know. To this day, she is another person who I would like to know about and how she turned out. I’m sorry if any of you are offended by this story. It’s just one of the strange things that happened in my life. Believe me, there’s more strangeness to come.
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Ted Quinn’s 1.11: Timeless, Hi-Desert, Universal
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Photo by Sylva Hattington.
ed Quinn’s latest album references the day after David Bowie’s departure from the planet with its title. You can discern Bowie’s influence, but it’s one voice amid many, all woven together in a rich, silken tapestry, crafted not only by Ted, but the talented crew that performed and produced the album. While a Coachella Valley writer heralded Ted’s “return,” for those of us up here in the hi-desert, Ted never left. Ted’s been the musical mayor of Joshua Tree for a very long time now, and his re-election has never been in doubt. To properly listen to this album, you probably should put the cassette (yep, it comes on cassette and vinyl, not CD, which is too cold and sterile of a medium) in a boom box and park down some dusty road to nowhere and crank it while the shadows of a winter day deepen and the day fades. Let it echo. It’s the music of the veil, which as we know, is threadbare and whispily thin out here. We’re not going to tell you what songs are best, pick your own, and the list of talent who joined Ted is too long to name them all, though one special treat is the inclusion of Sage, Ted’s 11 year old son, on drums. Larry Copcar sent us his thoughts on the album as well, noting, “Can’t put my finger on how to describe Teddy’s voice, but I suspect he likes it that way. Seriously melodic guitar work over layers of post psychedelic psychedelia. There are lots of sweet chord changes that keep you hanging on where some guys might have been tempted to go weird for weird’s sake. Lyrically interesting and cliché free with some great sing alongs, I imagine, from ladies in flowing dresses under a starry sky. “A great record for folks who waited for the Pink Floyd meets John Lennon music that never came. Until now. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.” I think Ted’s music, the arrangements, and the collaborations by the musicians on the album transcend cool—a fitting tribute to a post-Bowie musical world, filled with influence and originality, ghosts and spirit. – Steve Brown
Editor/Publisher/telegraph operator: Steve Brown Assistant to the editor: Juliet, the cat Photos by: Steve Brown, chris brewster, Sylva Hattington Distribution: by tortoise, of coursus Submit story ideas, photos for consideration, dining/shopping/lodging/favorite places and event photos to: tortoisetelegraph@gmail.com advertising inquiries: tortoisetelegraph@gmail.com or 760-820-1222 (voice or text) see the advertising page at www.jttortoisetelegraph.com for pricing and specs. distribution inquiries: tortoisetelegraph@gmail.com join the tortoise telegraph online at: www.jttortoisetelegraph.com, on facebook at: www.facebook.com/jttortoisetelegraph on instagram at: www.instagram.com/jttortoisetelegraph join the sun runner, the journal of the real desert, online at: www.sunrunnersw.com on facebook at: www.facebook.com/TheSunRunner join southwest stories with steve brown online at: www.southweststories.us on facebook at: www.facebook.com/RealDesert
Get your smile on at: www.sunrunnersmiles.com
thanks for joining us!
Keep it real! 6
Hi-Desert Happenings Holiday Events Play Santa with us! Each year, the Basin Wide Foundation hosts its “Adopt a Child” program, matching local “adopters” with kids in our local Child Protective Services program. These kids often spend the holidays in temporary homes or foster care, and now we can all play Santa and make this holiday season a little brighter for them! Each gift runs around $40, so you can always PayPal that amount to us at publisher@sunrunnersw.com and we’ll donate the gift in your name. Or you can simply donate by PayPal whatever amount you want and we’ll get as many gifts for as many kids as possible, so if you have $5, or $10 to spare, you can be part of the Christmas magic! Please use publisher@sunrunnersw.com as the PayPal email address, and note “I want to play Santa!” with your donation. We’ll list all our donors in the next issue, along with an update (you can note to remain anonymous if you’d like, and we won’t list the amount given—we want everyone to feel free to join in). We have to have all donations in by December 14, and you can also donate through www.sunrunnersw.com or www.jttortoisetelegraph.com, or through our Facebook pages. We thank you, and Santa thanks you! Send a letter to Santa! Santa’s elves are picking up your letters to Santa. You can drop off letters to Santa at the special mailbox at the Yucca Valley Community Center. The elves will make sure Santa writes back. Must enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope. Letters are accepted through December 2. Letters may also be mailed to: Santa Claus, c/o: Town of Yucca Valley 57090 29 Palms Hwy, Yucca Valley, CA 92284. An Evening with Santa December 2, 6-8 p.m. Featuring a performance by the Twentynine Palms High School Select Choir, spaghetti, face painting, silent auction, photos with Santa, and an “opportunity drawing.” Tickets are $5 presale, $6 at the door. Presale tickets are available from the TPHS Select Choir and Music Boosters, or the 29 Palms Chamber of Commerce. Oasis Elementary School Multipurpose Room, El Paseo Drive between Split Rock Avenue and Mesquite Springs Road, 29 Palms. (760)367-3445. Visit with Santa & Holiday Craft Faire 10 a.m.-3 p.m., December 3. Festive arts projects and pictures with Santa at the Hi-Desert Nature Museum, handmade gifts at the Community Center. All ages welcome, free. Yucca Valley Community Center and the Hi-Desert Nature Museum. Christmas Tree Lighting and Santa Soroptimist International of 29 Palms, Rotary, and Kiwanis will serve refreshments, music and singing by Spirit & Truth Center Church of 29 Palms, Christmas tree lighting followed by arrival of Santa on a fire truck from the 29 Palms Fire Station. Santa will pass out treats for the children and will be available for family photos by the Christmas tree. Free admission. December 6, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., Veterans Park, between the library and city hall, 6136 Adobe Road, 29 Palms. Sounds of the Season Concert The Town of Yucca Valley and the Hi-Desert Chorus present the Sounds of the Season, a holiday concert. The Yucca Valley High School Select Choir, directed by Bill Barrett and accompanied by Clyde Grabski, will join the Hi-Desert Chorus for this performance. December 10 and 11, 2:30 p.m., all ages welcome. Yucca Room, Yucca Valley Community Center. 19th annual Light Parade Parade runs on Santa Fe west from Bannock Trail, ending at Inca Trail. 5:30 p.m., December 10. Santa and a free puppet show will be available after the parade at the HiDesert Water District offices from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. For more information: (760)365-1988 or www.yvrotary.org. Theatres Theatre 29 A Christmas Story, through December 17. 73637 Sullivan Road, Twentynine Palms Tickets and information are available at www.theatre29. org, or call (760)361-4151. Hi-Desert Cultural Center A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens’holiday classic adapted by Doris Baizley and directed by Howard Shangraw. December 2-11. The Joshua Tree Philharmonic presents The Polar Express and Christmas Holiday Festival of Music, featuring music from The Grinch, Babes in Toyland, Mannheim Steamroller, Home Alone, and many timeless jazz and holiday classics, conducted by Maestro Jarrod Radnich, December 16-18. 61231 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree www.hidesertculturalcenter.org or (760)366-3777.
St. Joseph’s Players Kitchen Witches. Comedy about two TV cooking show hosts, directed by Abe Daniels. Through December 4. St. Joseph of Arimathea Church, 56312 Onaga Trail, Yucca Valley. www.facebook.com/StJoePlayers or (760)362-9319. Art 29 Palms Art Gallery Robert Miramontes, Joshua Tree After Dark, the Mini Show, and guild members, November 30 – January 8, 2017. Reception: December 4, noon – 3 p.m. Paint Out Mondays, every Monday, 9 a.m.-noon. 74055 Cottonwood Drive, Twentynine Palms (760)367-7819, www.29palmsartgallery.com 29 Palms Inn Desert artists on exhibit in the restaurant. 73950 Inn Avenue, Twentynine Palms (760)367-3505, www.29palmsinn.com 29 Palms Visitor Center & Art Gallery Tough As Nails: Women Pioneers, through December 30. 73484 29 Palms Hwy., Twentynine Palms Gallery 62 December exhibit: Winter Light, curated by Hiroko Momii. 61607 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree www.gallery62.org JTAG (Joshua Tree Art Gallery) Retrospect, Working Forward/Looking Back, through December 3. Convergence, opens December 10. 61607 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree (760)366-3636, www.joshuatreeartgallery.com Hi-Desert Nature Museum National Park Service Centennial Exhibit through December 17. YuccaValley Community Center, 57116 29 Palms Hwy.,Yucca Valley, (760)369-7212, www.hidesertnaturemuseum.org 2 Guys Pies Paint & Wine, December 11, 5-7:30 p.m., $45. 56969 Yucca Trail, Suite A, Yucca Valley. (760)418-5075 Music 29 Palms Inn 73950 Inn Avenue, Twentynine Palms (760)367-3505, www.29palmsinn.com Live music nightly. Usually scheduled: Beverly Derby & Bill Church, Saturdays; Bob Garcia, Sundays; The Luminators, Mondays; Daniel Horn, Wednesdays; Bobby Furgo and company, Thursdays. The Wonder People usually play first Friday monthly. Pappy & Harriets Pioneertown Palace 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown (760)365-5956, www.pappyandharriets.com Upcoming: Mojave Lords, December 3, Creosote Serenaders, December 8, Mariachi El Bronx, December 16, Bronx, December 17. Regularly scheduled: Open mic on Mondays with guest hosts, The Shadow Mountain Band opening for other acts most Saturdays, The Sunday Band, most Sundays. For complete calendar: www. pappyandharriets.com. Joshua Tree Saloon 61835 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree, (760)366-2250, www.thejoshuatreesaloon.com Open Jam Tuesdays with Ted Quinn, karaoke Wednesday and Friday nights with Troy, live music Saturday nights, Punk Rock Thursday, second Thursdays. Beatnik Lounge Songwriters in the Round, featuring Alice Austin, Tony Marsico, and Rick Shelley, December 13, 5 p.m. 61597 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree. (760)475-4860 Hi-Desert Living Sky’s the Limit Observatory & Nature Center Desert night sky watching events most Saturdays. Events may be changed due to weather. Free. 9697 Utah Trail, 29 Palms (outside the north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park). (760)401-3004, www.skysthelimit29.org. Joshua Tree Retreat Center/Institute of Mentalphysics 59700 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree, (760)365-8371 Intro to Tibetan Spiritual Breath. Tuesdays, 6:30-8 p.m., Lotus Meditation Building. Donation: $5. Improves subtle energies of the body by understanding breath and the natural relationship to healing. Rainbow Stew 55509 29 Palms Hwy., Old Town Yucca Valley For event schedule, see: www.rainbowstew4u.com Want to be included in our calendar listings? Send your event info to us at: publisher@sunrunnersw.com.
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