CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP: Enjoy ‘Big Read’ with movie

The Laguna Beach Library will host a screening and discussion of “To Kill A Mockingbird to Celebrate “The Big Read” as part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ 2008 Big Read program. The library will show the classic film “To Kill A Mockingbird,” followed by a discussion on Monday at 6:30 p.m. The discussion will be led by Nancy Keane, Rancho Santa Margarita High School English teacher and life-long devotee of the book.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. Orange County is one of 127 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read from January-June, 2008.

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Curbside plastic bag recycling offered

Waste Management of Orange County is starting a curbside plastic bag recycling program for residents in Laguna Beach.

Residents with curbside recycling service can now place plastic bags in their regular recycling cart. Residents are asked to bundle plastic bags and place them inside another plastic bag, not loose in the cart, to ensure that all the plastic will be caught in the sorting process.

In addition to plastic bags, the following items may also be placed in the curbside recycling cart:

?Glass jars or beverage containers (jelly jars, pickle jars, sauce jars, ice tea bottles)

?Cardboard (frozen food boxes, cereal boxes with liner removed, food boxes, etc.)

?Plastic bottles and jars (labeled with CRV numbers 1-7)

?Detergent containers (laundry soap bottles/boxes, fabric softener bottles/boxes, etc.)

?Aluminum, steel or tin cans (vegetable cans, soup cans, fruit cans)

?Pie tins

?Empty aerosol cans

?Liquor bottles

?Empty tissue boxes

?Empty rolls of paper towels or bath tissue

?Telephone books

?Magazines

?Junk mail

?Newspaper

For more information about local recycling services, log onto www.wmorangecounty.com.

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Cancer Society Relay holds meeting

Residents of Laguna Beach are encouraged to attend a free presentation on the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Laguna Beach, “What is Relay,” at 6 p.m., March 19 at the Laguna Beach Library.

Volunteers are also needed to join the 2008 planning committee for the Relay For Life of Laguna Beach, scheduled for August at El Morro Elementary School. Open positions include but are not limited to event co-chairs, logistics, survivors, team recruitment and community marketing. For more information on Relay For Life, visit www.relayforlife.org.

To RSVP for “What is Relay” or to join the Relay For Life planning committee or sign up as a team captain, contact Ellen Dever at the American Cancer Society at (949) 567-0603, or at ellen.dever@cancer.org.

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Ikebana program at Garden Club

While flower arrangement for many people consists of symmetrically arranging flowering plants in a vase, Japanese Ikebana (literally “flowers kept alive”) is a more complex. Ikebana arose from early Buddhist offerings and grew into an art form with many styles and schools. Special consideration is given to the choice of plant, vase, placement of the branches, and the relationship of those branches with their environment and the chosen vase. Empty spaces, which form a part of the composition, were also dealt with creatively.

On March 14 the Laguna Beach Garden Club presents Sosei Haruko Watabe, a master of ikebana. Over the years, she has traveled back and forth between Japan and the USA, and lectured and taught all levels of ikebana classes in the East. She is a member of the Sogetsu Teachers’ Assn. of Tokyo, a former member of the Ikebana International, and a master flower show judge of the Federated Garden Clubs, Inc.

The meeting will be at the Neighborhood Congregational Church, 340 St. Ann’s Drive, Laguna Beach. The social gathering starts at 9:30 a.m., featuring a plant and garden boutique. The business meeting starts at 10 a.m. followed by the speaker at 10:30 a.m. For more information on the garden club, see the club’s website at www.lagunabeachgarden club.org.

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Two city committees seek members

The City Council is accepting applications for six two-year terms on the Heritage Committee and two two-year terms on the TechComm Committee. Both committees generally meet once a month.

Interviews will be conducted at 6 p.m. March 18 by the City Council at their meeting.

Laguna Beach residents should file an application with the City Clerk by 5 p.m. Wednesday. Applications are at the Clerk’s office or at www.lagunabeachcity.net.