The Town of Yucca Valley Community Services Department will host a Health Fair on Saturday, February 18th, at the Yucca Valley Community Center from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The fair, which is free and open to the public, will feature information booths by local healthcare providers, lifestyle and wellness guidance, information on healthy behaviors, and important safety demonstrations.

A variety of health-related businesses and area non-profit organizations will be represented at the event and will be available to provide expert advice and information on health and wellness topics. Exhibitors include health care professionals, nutrition and weight loss specialists, health insurance advisors, and more.

During the event, attendees will have the opportunity to register for Town of Yucca Valley health and fitness classes including two new additions, the Yucca Valley Walking Club and Get Fit Club, as well as a variety of sports and dance programs for all ages.

For more information about the community Health Fair contact the Yucca Valley Community Services Department, Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or call (760) 369-7211.

By Ethelle Lord

In 1995 I was widowed. My husband had coronary disease and was near death when I was introduced to Pycnogenol®. After taking only two capsules, he was able to stay awake all day, do minor manual task such as a little painting of the walls, picking up in the yard, etc. Before taking Pycnogenol®
(http://www.emedicinehealth.com/pycnogenol/vitamins-supplements.htm), he was only getting up to eat and then had to lay down on the couch
during the day and go to bed rather early at night. So this experience came to mind when recently I noticed Alzheimer’s was robbing my husband physically and emotionally, unable to even express himself. My husband’s Alzheimer’s condition is rather advanced as he was diagnosed in 2003. I decided to purchase Pycnogenol® for my husband to boost his vascular system (whatever is left of it after Alzheimer’s). I wanted to see if Pycnogenol® could improve his general quality of life in the nursing center. Once my husband became established in a dementia unit in a nursing center after a year and a half, he exhibited several alarming behavioral changes such as sleeping almost all day and night, having numerous complaints about physical pain, an inability to hold the telephone properly to converse with me or other relatives and friends, and his speech became incomprehensible most of the time.

After only two months of taking Pycnogenol®, he is up at least several hours a day in the morning and in the afternoon. His bedtime has been extended at least an extra hour which allows him to socialize with others in the center. He was able to watch the Super Bowl from beginning to end this year which he had not done for several years. Surprisingly he is able to have a conversation on the telephone and does not hesitate when responding to questions. The numerous physical complaints have disappeared. It is as if he has been given a second wind.

The combination of the behavioral changes and general well-being in my husband has been not only surprising, but remarkable. It seems to me that introducing a powerful antioxidant for a person with dementia may in fact be worth investigating further. Now our visits are even more enjoyable than they have ever been for the couple of years. I take Pycnogenol® daily to boost my energy because as a part-time family caregiver now that my husband is in a nursing center, my energy is still not where it needs to be. The steady demands of providing care for him for 10 years was physically and emotionally depleting. I also sleep better at night and enjoy a much fuller life as a result of having the new found energy. I am highly recommending Pycnogenol® as
a supplement for caregivers and individuals with Alzheimer’s. As always, everyone should consult with their physician before adding any
supplement to their diet.

     Dezart Performs, the Palm Springs-based theatrical group, best known for its season of professional stage readings and its Annual Play Reading Festival every April, held a highly successful fund raiser last Saturday, at the Palm Springs Women’s Club.

     The gala evening began with a VIP Reception of friends and supporters of Dezart with Joyce Bulifant, guest artist of the evening, and her husband actor/composer Roger Perry. Movie, stage and TV actress Bulifant, performed the first public presentation of her one-woman show “A Personal Tribute: Remembering Helen Hayes With Love”.  It is a beautifully rendered and lovingly performed homage to her former mother-in-law Helen Hayes (Joyce was married to Helen’s son James MacArthur)

  Helen Hayes was often referred to as the “First Lady of the American theatre”.  She was an American icon and a very private person.  She led a privileged theatrical life with legendary American writer Charles MacArthur.

     The first question one should ask is how does one pierce the veil of celebrity and beyond, yet still render the subject warm, caring, and human?  Bulifant’s insight into the woman, who later became her mother-in-law, is full of humor, fond memories, and yes, a bit of irony, but always full of love.

      It’s not merely a theatrical performance.   Dezart’s audience last Saturday, was treated to a very personal, creative, engrossing, and thoroughly entertaining memory piece, infused with private correspondence, family photos, honesty, fairness and delivered with grace (warts and all, at times) by Ms. Bulifant.   Personal theatre pieces are always a challenge to produce.  How much and what kind of events and anecdotes to include or not to include, are always dicey decisions that must be made.  Together, with her husband Roger (who composed the music selections bridging the narrative portions), Bulifant made the right choices in sharing with the audience a compelling and entertaining evening of her life lived with an American icon – Helen Hayes.

     The delicious dinner catered by Brushfire Grill, provided the more than 80 attendees a variety of canapés during the reception, as well as several entrees as the main course; followed by desserts and beverages.  Pianist/producer/performer Derrik Lewis and Bassist Tibor Lesko, provided the gala reception and dinner invitees smooth and easy listening musical accompaniment. The “silent auction” items generated plenty of spirited bidding and the raffle prizes announced during the dinner, served to heighten and ramp up the excitement of the evening’s main entertainment moment – the personal tribute, memories, and anecdotes by Joyce Bulifant, the loving daughter-in-law of Helen Hayes.

     Dezart Performs presents its Fourth Annual Play Reading Series April 20, 21, 27, and 28, 2012 at 7:30 pm at the Palm Springs Women’s Club.  For tickets and information call 760-322-0179.

On a happy day,  Valentine’s Day, the Desert Hot Springs Planning Commission, introduced its new members to the public. Joining the team, and promising to make it a better city is the young and vital Michael Burke and Jack Becker with his vast experience in the building field. Both are residents of Desert Hot Springs; Burke has lived his whole life in DHS. Jack Becker comes from Palm Springs and is the husband of Dr. Lorainne Becker one of the Directors of the Cabot’s Museum.

The five Planning Commissioners Steve Saboota, the brand-new elected Chair and John Gerardi; now Vice-Chair, Anthony Colarossi, Commissioner; Michael Burke, Commissioner and Jack Becker, Commissioner had to be newly sworn-in by City Clerk  Jerryl Soriano. Congratulations!

Regularly scheduled meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 P.M. at the Carl May Center, 11-711 West Drive in Desert Hot Springs.

Statement of Rick Daniels, Desert Hot Springs City Manager in Response to Media Questions About the Recently Released Union Survey

Desert Hot Springs, California (February 14, 2012) – Rather than engage in a respectful and healthy dialogue, it appears that certain members of the union are attempting to wage a battle in the media in place of and instead of using the established and neutral protocols to properly air and consider workplace grievances of differences as called for in the recently adopted labor agreement.

The good and decent citizens of DHS have twice voted overwhelmingly to expand and empower their Police Department in their pursuit to protect and serve this community; a Department whose members are respected and supported in the community for what they do. The City Council has provided every available tool and technology at the disposal of the Police to protect this community. Public Safety is this community’s number one priority and we continue to work to reduce crime and improve the quality of life for our residents.

I can only conclude that this is an attempt to politically corrupt and create dissension from within the Department by misleading the public on what was portrayed to be an employee survey for discussing ways to improve the Department. I have great confidence in our Police Officers, command staff, and particularly Chief Patrick Williams.

Chief Williams has raised the bar as to the standards of performance excellence that is to be expected in the DHS PD in terms of honesty, humility, and proper behavior in the conduct of police work. Change has been tough for some as this organization continues to evolve towards what this community expects and to which it is entitled.

Every February 14, across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint, and where did these traditions come from? Find out about the history of this centuries-old holiday, from ancient Roman rituals to the customs of Victorian England.

The Legend of St. Valentine
The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and–most importantly–romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Origins of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival in February
While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270–others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Valentine’s Day: A Day of Romance
Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”–at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

Typical Valentine’s Day Greetings
In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.

Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap.” Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.