Lots of great kid and family-focused events this weekend – a great chance for everyone to get out and do something together.
First of all, this is the first weekend of Big Sunday’s annual Month of Big Sundays – a full month of volunteer projects available to anyone interested in lending a hand and helping out, all over the city. Some projects in our general area this weekend include Covenant House’s Annual Car Wash Benefit, Bingo ‘n’ Bagels at Canter’s Deli, Home-SAFE’s Annual Fair, and Carthay Environmental Studies School’s Annual Beautification Day. But there are many, many more…so if you don’t see something here that interests you, be sure to check the full list of projects at https://mobs.bigsunday.org/projects/2018-05/ . It’s a great way to give back to the community…and a great way for middle and high school kids to gain the community service hours many schools require at this time of year.
For parents also interested in giving their kids a good financial education, you can join John Lanza, author of The Art of Allowance, for a Saturday morning workshop on teaching kids about money. Worried that you’re raising a spoiled kid? Frustrated by an allowance system that isn’t working?  Lanza has been studying the topic for more than a decade and has developed a framework for improving youth money smarts. In the one-hour workshop, you’ll learn the three core money-smart skills every kid should learn, and you’ll leave ready to start raising money-smart kids as soon as you get home. It all starts at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, at the Keller Williams Realty Larchmont office at 118 N. Larchmont Blvd. The event is free, but please RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/raising-a-money-smart-money-empowered-child-a-parenting-workshop-tickets-45444029315
Later on Saturday, your kids (or you) won’t need any allowance to take advantage of Free Comic Book Day, the annual event to encourage the love of comics in readers of all ages. Comic stores all across the country are participating, including Golden Apple Comics, 7018 W. Melrose Ave. In addition to a free comic for each guest, there will be in-person visits from well-known comic artists and creators, special discounts and more. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
You can also score some great deals – for both kids and adults – this weekend at the monthly Friends of the Library Book Sale, at the John C. Fremont Branch Library, 6121 Melrose Ave., from 12-4 today (Friday) and noon to 5 on Saturday. Most books are priced between $.10 and $1.00, and there will be a special 50% discount on all travel, history and politics books. All proceeds benefit the library and its programs.
Moving from literature to the arts, but still in shopping mode, the Craft and Folk Art Museum is holding its big annual Spring Marketplace this weekend, featuring innovative jewelry, ceramics, art, textiles, housewares, and other beautifully handcrafted items by Los Angeles makers. There will also be a hammered flower printing workshop, and refreshments will be available throughout the day. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon, there will be both food and lots of fun at the Longwood Area Neighborhood Association’s 35th Annual Block Party, taking place from 2-6 p.m. on Edgewood, between Longwood and Kenniston. Highlights will include a bouncy slide, hot dogs, kids’ entertainment, massage, a dog show (and, yes, many of them come in costume!), a dunk tank, and a raffle with great prizes.
On Saturday evening, from 7 to 10 p.m., you’ll find a bit more grown-up fare at the opening party for the “Nature: Human Nature Art+Design Show,” at the Loft at Liz’s gallery, 453 S. La Brea., The show, curated by Katie Nartonis, includes works by artists Jean-Michel Alperin, Garry Knox Bennett, Tripp Carpenter III, Michael Cepress, Sean Deckert, Franco, Jon Huck, Charles Hollis Jones, Chris Jones, Tom Larusen, Steven Linsely, Sam Maloof Woodowrkers, Nicki Marx, Rebecca Niederlander, Philip Miller, Candy Nartonis, Connie Nartonis Thompson, Andy Warhol, and Pamela Weir-Quiton.
Sunday dawns with a great chance to get outside and enjoy some amazing local foliage as the Garden Conservancy offers Open Days tours of six local Hancock Park and Windsor Square gardens (including the garden of our very own Buzz publisher, Patty Lombard). The tour, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., starts at Marlborough School, 250 S. Rossmore Ave. (enter through the Third Street security kiosk), where visitors can check in, get tickets and a tour map, and then see the historic school’s newest garden, completed in 2016 as part of the school’s Arden Project expansion. Admission to each garden is $7, but discounted tickets (six for $35) are also available.
Later on Sunday, head over to the Natural History Museum for a 5 p.m. screening of “Dolores,” a new documentary about civil rights activist Dolores Huerta. Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Huerta tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century—and she’s still going strong today, at age 88. Following the screening, there will be a special Q&A with both Huerta and Barbara Carrasco, the artist of “L.A. History: A Mexican Perspective,” the mural featured in NHMLA’s exhibition, Sin Censura: A Mural Remembers L.A. The event is free with reservations; parking is $12. There will also be food trucks and a cash bar during the event.
Finally on Sunday, starting at 6:30 p.m., another free film screening, this one at the Petersen Museum, which is showing “One Team One Target,” about the the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, known as the world’s biggest motorsports event. More than 200,000 fans set up their camp in the Eifel forest each year and cheer for their heroes in 210 race cars. Lap after lap. Hour after hour. Day and night. From the first test drive to the chequered flag coming down, the film follows the BMW team along their path towards winning the 24-hour race. Light refreshments will be served.
So start your engines everyone…and have a great weekend!
