AROUND TOWN - Dec. 12, 2008

Free parking downtown

It won’t cost a dime to park in downtown Laguna Beach for the next six months. To help local businesses, the City Council voted Tuesday to allow free parking on a first-come first-serve basis to anyone at the Forest Avenue/Laguna Canyon Lot in spaces numbered 300 to 422, effective immediately through June 1.

The 123 free parking spaces are available to employers, employees, business owners, and tourists alike. The lot is at 635 Laguna Canyon Road.

Green giving event set

Laguna Green and the Juicy Leaf are hosting a green giving event from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, showcasing their products such as bamboo towels, scented soy candles and indoor plant arrangements that only need to be watered once a month.

“The event is meant to be a way to enable people to consider giving ‘green’ gifts this holiday season,” said Pam Sterling, owner of Laguna Green. “We want people to see that being green includes beautiful products that have positive impact on the environment.”

The event will feature complimentary organic food and wine catered by Catherine Dillette-Allum, raw food specialist.

A portion of the proceeds of the event will benefit the Surfrider Foundation of South Orange County.

Laguna Green is at 1025 S. Coast Hwy. For more information, visit www.laguna-green.com or call (949) 340-7727.

City offers Friday Flicks in January

The city of Laguna Beach is sponsoring “Friday Flicks at the Forum,” a free film series at 7 p.m. Jan. 16, 23 and 30 at the Forum Theatre on the Festival of Arts grounds, 650 Laguna Canyon Road.

 Jan. 16: “Born into Brothels,” a documentary about the children of Calcutta prostitutes.

 Jan. 23: “Camille Claudel,” a biography of the French sculptor focusing on her relationship with famed sculptor Auguste Rodin.

 Jan. 30: “Louise Bourgeois: the Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine,” a cinematic journey inside the imagination of an icon of modern art.

For information call (949) 497-0722.

Surfboard Menorah for Hanukkah will be lit

Chabad of Laguna Beach will light a Surfboard Menorah at 2 p.m. Dec. 21, at Main Beach.

The menorah is being constructed of old, damaged and unusable surfboards donated by Laguna Beach friends and congregants. The menorah was designed by Steve Sachse, who shared the idea with contractors Mike Tomkins and Tony Hempen, who volunteered their time to put it together.

“Our Main Beach Hanukkah display needed a new twist after all these years,” said Rabbi Eli Goorevitch of the Chabad Jewish Center. “Why not a surfboard menorah? It’s Laguna Beach.”

The Hanukkah celebration will feature live music with Israeli musicians Jimmy Gamliel and friends, children singing, dancing, arts and crafts, dreidel cookie decorating, face painting, hot latkes and chocolate gelt.

For more information, call (949) 499-0770, or visit www.chabadoflaguna.com

‘Critical Mass’ bike ride planned for Dec. 20

All cyclists are invited to the Laguna Beach Critical Mass Bike ride, planned for 9 a.m. Dec. 20. The rides are every third Saturday.

The goal of Critical Mass is to build safer bicycle access within Laguna Beach, allowing all members of the community to travel safely by bicycle in the city, and to have safe access to regional bicycle/pedestrian/mass public transit networks in surrounding municipalities, according to organizers.

Meet-up is at the corner of Park Avenue and Legion Street. For more information, call (949) 376-9987.