veterans remembered at universal citywalk

On Friday May 24, the Veteran’s Network, comprised of veteran’s and spouses connected with NBC Universal, gathered at 9:15 a.m to welcome the army reserve battalion color guard in a 30 minute ceremony in front of AMC citywalk. In addition for the first time, the ceremony included the sworn oath of enlistment for 11 young men and women who have completed their training and will be serving on the frontlines of national security.

Watch the 20 minute video in remembrance of veterans this Memorial Day.

Veterans tribute

KLove Fan Awards in Nashville TN

Presented at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville TN, Matthew West and Mandisa hosted the first ever televised KLove Fan awards.  The awards were filmed on Sunday night and aired at 8 eastern on Trinity Broadcast Networks on Thursday, May 31, 2018.

The first award handed out of the night as to Mercy Me who took group/duo of the year as well as  Song and Artist of the Year.  In addition the movie inspired by their number one song I Can Only Imagine took the award for Film/TV impact of the year. 

In addition to the awards, Matthew West performed his song, All In/ Just As I Am as special tribute to one of the greatest/well known evangelists who past away earlier this year at 99, Billy Graham. 

All the awards given out are below chosen by fans nationwide and tallied prior to the ceremony.

  1. group/duo of the year- MercyMe
  2. breakout single award- Cory Ashbury- Reckless Love
  3. Male Artist of the Year-  TobyMac
  4. Female Artist of the Year- Lauren Daigle
  5. Film/TV Impact- “I can Only Imagine”
  6. Worship Song Of The Year- Reckless Love- Cory Asbury
  7. Song of the year- Even If- MercyMe
  8. Artist of the year- MercyMe

Remembering Veterans in Canoga Park

28 Years of Patriotism in Canoga Park

Holiday Cheer in Solvang, California

This year’s Julefest on December 2, 2016.  It’s theme, “Celebrating Together”, was co-hosted by Tracy Farhang, executive director of the Solvang Conference and Visitors Bureau and Alan Satchwell, worship leader at the Santa Inez Valley Presbyterian Church.  They welcomed hundreds of visitors and residents to the iconic Hans Christian Anderson Park for a night of hot chocolate, pictures with Santa and performances by local musicians and dancers who entertained as they waited for the tree to be lit in the center of the park.

The Grand marshals for this year’s festivities were the Neilson Family, a familiar whose heritage goes back 105 years as being one of the founding settlers in the Danish Village.

Music Performance included ballet and tap dancing courtesy of the Fossmall dancers, musical performances by the Santa Ines Valley Jazz Band as well as the Valley Wind Ensemble and an extra special performance by World renown Violinist Maurice Skahill and resident pianist, Leta Wright.  Watch the video for a sample of the performances below.

And the fun didn’t stop because Santa’s village was open all weekend Dec 2-4 and is open select weekends up to Christmas free of charge, as well as the annual Winterfest Parade which commenced Saturday Dec 3, 2016 around the edge of the Danish Village of Solvang.

Solvang is known worldwide as the third most popular Christmas destination.

Celebrating 20 years of Books at USC

Hosted once again by the Los Angeles Times on the campus of USC, the LA Times Festival of Books saw thousands of different types of books and art forms this year.  The festival took place on Saturday April 9 and Sunday April 10 and there was a little something for everyone to enjoy from poetry, music as well as a few select cooking demonstrations.

To see more exclusive interviews, including the musical talent on the campus of USC, watch the video below.

“Truth” Questions Everything

The newsroom drama starring Robert Redford, Dennis Quaid and Cate Blanchett is drawing faithful news and movie goers to the theaters with a documentary style movie about the 60 minutes report that put News Anchor Dan Rathers’ and Producer Mary Mapes’ careers in jeopardy as they uncovered what they believed to be the truth about former President George Bush’s military career in the 70’s.  The story follows the investigation and shows the challenges that news reporters face on a daily basis when dealing with tough politics as well as the backlash that comes with the questions that all journalist’s must ask to uncover the truth. Overall, it is a powerful movie about getting to the bottom in order to find the truth and the actor’s did a fantastic job in portraying their counterparts.  Truth came out on October 16, in limited theaters and considering the challenges, it ranked 16 at the box office its opening weekend and currently has earned over 1.15 million in domestic revenues. As good as Redford’s, All The President’s Men, which came out in 1976 and follows the investigation into the Watergate Scandal, Truth is definitely another movie for anyone interested in US History as well as those pursuing a journalism career or currently in the News industry. Truth is still playing at select theaters near you.

Strawberries in Encino

On the second Sunday in June, the California Strawberry Commission brought a miniature version to the city of Encino. Residents could buy, taste and take home their own strawberry plants. In addition to strawberries, the festival had fun bounce houses for kids, arts and crafts and even a cancer education group shared about the 43rd Annual Cancer Convention being held at a local hotel in Universal City on the first week in September.

Watch now and learn more about what the festival had to offer, including tips on how to grow strawberries.

32nd Annual Strawberry Festival in Oxnard

This year’s annual celebration brought the community of Oxnard together for its 32nd year as residents got to see everything Strawberry at the Strawberry Meadows in College Park.  The two day festival took place on May 16 and 17 from 10 o’clock to 6:30 and featured a variety of different strawberry concoctions including chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry drinks and strawberry food.

There was also love music throughout the meadows of the college, arts and crafts for kids, strawberry themed rides and various food demonstrations including the much anticipated Berry Blast Off Recipe contest where the top two or 500 entries, compete in an hour-long competition for the title of best strawberry themed recipe, which includes a trip to a spa and a chance to compete in a national championship in November.

Watch the video below to see more about the recipes that won and the music that entertained crowds or click here to see past years.