Junior academy holds its first performance A...

Junior academy holds its first performance

A new summer musical theater camp culminates this Friday and

Saturday with a performance of “Bugsy Malone, Jr.”

The camp, Junior Academy of the Performing Arts, is for students

in the fifth through eighth grade. “I think that era is fun for kids

-- the ‘20s,” said Cathy McGough, vice principal for the Huntington

Beach Adult School, who came up with the idea for the camp. “It’s

going wonderfully. They are just having a ball.”

About 60 students enrolled in the five-week program. Each chose an

area of concentration, fine-tuning their skills in acting, vocals,

technical theater or dance.

The camp is a partnership between the Academy for the Performing

Arts, the Huntington Beach Adult School’s Community Education

Department and Dwyer Middle School.

McGough and Diane Makas-Weber, artistic director of academy,

envisioned a summer and after-school program available to middle

school students, continuing throughout the year. The after-school

program will begin in the fall.

Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on

Saturday. Tickets cost $6 and will be on sale prior to each

performance at Dwyer Auditorium, 1502 Palm Ave., Huntington Beach. To

reserve tickets and for more information, call (714) 847-2873, ext.

218.

City tree count grows by 200

More than 200 trees were planted along Magnolia Avenue, in Drew

Park and at the Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach in June.

Trees were planted in the various locations by Boy Scouts and

residents. For Andy Glass, Van Vu and Morgan Fullmer, the tree

planting projects were a step toward earning their Eagle Scout Badge.

The plantings were a significant step for the Huntington Beach

Tree Society in its goal of reforesting all of the parks in

Huntington Beach. Usually the society has one or two projects going

every month, but in June four projects were completed successfully,

said Jean Nagy, president of the society.

The next big project is to encourage homeowners to plant trees

along the street in front of their houses, Nagy said.

With the city budget problems, the society’s efforts have become

even more important, she said. Funding comes from grants and

donations and Nagy said the society is desperately in need of

donations.