Halloween fun and more

Halloween can be fun, not only for kids, but adults, too. Canoa Estates resident Virginia Lyon decorates her house and yard for many special occasions such as Easter, July 4th and of course, Halloween.

With the help of her friend Joe Burkard, she has on display 40 jack-o-lanterns, six ghosts, five witches, three skeletons, three black cats, three scarecrows, one owl and one giant spider.

Where does she store all these things when Halloween is over? “In the garage storage cupboards, guest closet, next to the washer and dryer, master bedroom closet and under my bed,” she says.

There’s no doubt what Green Valley resident Bob Berry will be up to on Monday evening. He’ll be watching the TV documentary “The 1930s: The Civilian Conservation Corps,” airing on PBS, at 7 p.m.

Berry was among the former CCC workers interviewed by Robert Stone Productions for this segment on one of the boldest, most popular New Deal experiments initiated in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the following decade, the CCC put more than 3 million young men to work in the nation’s forests and parks planting trees, building flood barriers, fighting fires and maintaining roads and trails.

Berry spent two years with the CCC, from 1938 to 1940, first at a Park Service camp in Daingerfield, Texas, then a Forest Service camp in Linden, Texas, and finally a Department of Grazing camp in Duncan, Ariz.

The CCC will be the second of a five-part American Experience series on “The 1930s.” Others are “The Crash of 1929,” “Hoover Dam,” “Surviving the Dust Bowl,” and “Seabiscuit.”

The next “Keyboard Classics and Comments” with Ann-Marie Schaffer will feature two women composers overshadowed by their husband and brother respectively: Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn. Both women were fine composers in their own right but, unfortunately, lived in an era when women composers were rarely published.

Schaffer’s talk, with accompanying music, will be Monday at 10 a.m. in the Parish Hall of St. Francis-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, 600 La Canada Dr.

The event is free and open to the public, thanks to the generosity of St. Francis Church. Call Ann-Marie Schaffer at 625-1609 for more info.

P.E.O. Chapter FB is hosting a luncheon with games and loads of prizes on Saturday, Nov. 7, at La Posada.

If interested, call DiAnn Bresina at 393-0310 or Bettie Thayer at 648-7952 before Monday. All proceeds go to P.E.O. projects.

The P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) has grown from a tiny membership of seven to almost a quarter of a million members in chapters in the United States and Canada. The P.E.O. Sisterhood is passionate about its mission: promoting educational opportunities for women.

Are you interested in attending exhilarating live Tucson Symphony Orchestra performances in the company of neighbors with a similar interest in music? What if the offer included the opportunity to be present at six performances per year, including round-trip bus transportation and specially planned dinners?

If this appeals to you, then think about joining the Friends and Admirers of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, a local Green Valley-area TSO support group.

For six pre-selected concerts, one each month from November though April, FATSO provides round-trip transportation from a local parking lot to the restaurant of choice, dropping members off at the Tucson Music Hall, and serving refreshments on the return trip.

FATSO also supports the arts in the community by donating annually to the TSO. There are no monthly meetings, just sign up and attend the dinner-concerts!

This year, there is the added excitement of a newly appointed concertmaster, Aaron Boyd. Boyd was chosen from a field of highly accomplished musicians. George Hanson has said of him, “Aaron stood out for his world-class playing, intelligence, musicanship and leadership. He will be a tremendous asset to TSO and to Tucson.”

The group begins its annual six-concert TSO series on Friday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m., in Tucson Music Hall with TSO Pops presenting Patriotic Pops, A Veterans Day Salute.

FATSO annual dues are $35 per person. Becoming a FATSO member entitles you to attend the dinner-concerts at a price of $65 per person per event. For more information, call membership directors, Bill and Jane Bryant, 520-207-2277.

Thanks to FATSO member Margaret Terrell for this story.

rford@gvnews.com