hey’re not the Globetrotters, but the Harlem Ambassadors will bring some basketball magic to locals soon – as well as funds for the Villa Park Rotary.

For the first time, the Rotary is hosting a game between the Harlem Ambassadors, a Globetrotter -like team made up of co-ed college students, and residents on May 1 in the Villa Park High School gym.

Ticket proceeds will go to the club’s fund for community projects like scholarships, leadership camps and grad-night fees.

After being approached by the Ambassadors, the club prepared to host the event.

“We don’t know how much money we’ll make, but we thought it would be a fun thing to bring to the community,” said Jay Applebaum, past president of the club.

The game will offer Lade Majic, a player from the University of Missouri who played professionally in Israel and who performs basketball stunts and a comedy act that incorporates the audience.

The first and third quarter will be a real game between the pros and locals like high school faculty and coaches. The second and fourth will be a comedy act where the audience can participate, Applebaum  said.

The Villa Park principal, Ed Howard, will also be refereeing the game.

The Ambassadors have played more than 200 shows and focus on fundraising for local nonprofit groups like Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis clubs. The group also performs for those in the military and their families, according to its Web site.

Tickets for students and seniors are $8 pre-sale and $10 at the door. General admission is $10, and $12 at the door. Kids under four are free.

For information and tickets contact Applebaum at jay.appleabaum@gmail.com.

– Amber Gonzales

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Villa Park city attorneys are corresponding with the state Attorney General’s Office for approval to transfer assets from the local TV access corporation to the city, ultimately leading to dissolving the nonprofit group.

The assets held by Villa Park Cable Access TV are provided by the city, through taxpayer money, but transferring the money back to the city is taking longer than usual.

“This is an especially unusual case, because it’s all funded from the city,” said City Manager Lori Sassoon.

Generally, nonprofit funds are transferred to other nonprofit organizations. But the IRS allows the transfer to a city as well, according to Sassoon.

The switchover will save $40,000-plus, according to the city.

Since replacing the corporation’s board of directors with the City Council last month, several changes have been made.

“We have cut operating costs from about $2,300 per month to about $750 per month by staff assuming many responsibilities and by working with our fantastic student volunteers,” Sassoon wrote in an e-mail. “Our next step will be to make an investment in replacement equipment that is fully-functional and reliable.”

Any aspects of programming for viewers – local cable subscribers – will remain the same.

Sassoon does not know how long the process will take or when the Attorney General’s Office will give approval.

– Amber Gonzales

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Students from Villa Park High School edit video for the shows they produce for VPTV

The Villa Park City Council has voted to dissolve the nonprofit corporation that controlled the city’s local community-access TV, pending the state Attorney General Office’s  approval.

The council needs to get approval to pass the corporation’s assets, mostly taxpayer money, to the city itself.

The council, which replaced the board of directors for the corporation with itself at a special Jan. 26 meeting, is restructuring the project to “contain long-term costs and address technical issues,” according to a report by City Manager Lori Sassoon.

The recent vote to dissolve the corporation was taken on Feb. 23.

“The word change does not connote good or bad, it only connotes change,” said Linda Bartrom, chemistry and media teacher at Villa Park High School.

Students at the high school provide two shows each week that air on the channel.

About $40,000-$50,000 a year will be saved by not having to pay cable franchises, consultation fees – which cost about $2,000 a month – and stipends, according to Sassoon.

Although these are big changes, Sassoon assures that cable subscribers will not see any change in the Channel 3 programming.

VPTV normally airs City Council meetings, water district meetings, coverage of local events like parades and holiday celebrations, local features, NOVA science shows, Meet the Mayor and high school sports and TV shows.

There have been disputes about the dissolution of the corporation by the original board of directors. Read the rest of this entry »

The Villa Park Rotary awarded $4,000 in grants to 12 teachers from five different Villa Park schools after club reviewers rated requests.

Last year, the Rotary Club also awarded $4,000.

“Teachers indicated that over 1,600 students would be touched by a combination of these projects this year and many more in the coming years,” said Jay Applebaum, past president of the club.

The Rotary Club received 22 grant requests this year.

Each of the requests was evaluated by a team from the club including Jill Kuli, Bob and Fran Kreisberg, Eddie Nash, Greg Mills and Linda Olsen.

“If the projects were not seriously compromised, then consideration was also given to reducing the grant amounts requested to provide the opportunity to reach more students with our funds,” Applebaum said.

Cerro Villa Middle School received the most money — $1,610. The largest of those individual grants was $500, which went to the “Battle of the Books” project requested by Cerro Villa English teacher Elizabeth Fisher.

Serrano Elementary School received $1,100 with $500 going to the “Fit and Fab. 5^th Graders” project requested by Victoria Schmuhl at Serrano.

Villa Park High School was awarded $890, and $400 went to Villa Park elementary.

Other projects that were granted money include “Colonial Day” at Serrano Elementary, “Orchestral Instruments” at Cerro Villa, “Weather Station” at Villa Park Elementary and “Mastering Math Standards” at Villa Park High School.

– Amber Gonzales

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St. Joseph Hospital HealthyU Program and the Villa park Community Services Foundation will host “Evaluating Your Heart and Vascular Wellness” — a lecture on heart and vascular wellness.

The lecture will be on Thursday, Feb. 18, from 11 a.m. to noon at 17855 Santiago Blvd. The event is free and open to the public.

Sue Henke, R.N., BSN, and Deanna Carlson, R.N., BSHS, from St. Joseph Hospital Heart and Vascular Center will speak about  the heart’s health and ways to improve the heart and vascular wellness.

Refreshments will be served. To register for this event, call St. Joseph Hospital Community Education at 714-771-8913 or register online at www.sjo.org/calendar.

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The Villa Park Community Services Foundation, a volunteer organization that raises funds for annual activities,  is conducting a survey on the level of interest in a park or community center in the city.

The 11-question survey is  is the first step in the study process to gather public opinion.

“The primary intent of the survey is to determine if the residents support any kind of community area, whether it is a park or community center,” said Keith Martin,  who is heading up the exploratory committee to gauge interest in a park.

Martin said the Foundation has sent out 600 surveys, with the survey continuing for another two or three months.

“We would like to get 50 percent of the community,” Martin said. “We would like 300 back at this point.”

The city received a $4,000 grant and the foundation added another $1,000 in October to explore the feasibility of a park.

If the foundation does not get a great response from the surveys, Martin said he would not look at that as a sign that the 6,200 residents aren’t interested in a park.

“I don’t think it is a lack of interest in the park, it is probably fear of surveys,” Martin said. “We did another survey a year ago on another subject. We sent it to the same group of people and we had 47 responses.”

City Manager Lori Sassoon said she expects the information-gathering process to be finished by the end of the year. The City Council would then make a decision on whether or not to push forward.

To take the survey, click here.

To see how cities across the country compare concerning the amount of park space, click here.

Follow the Orange City Watch blog on Twitter at http://twitter.com/orangecitywatch.

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