This summer, Steel Magnolias \u2014 and a plethora of other groups \u2014 have been enjoying one of Long Beach\u2019s most treasured traditions:<\/p>\n
The Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Department\u2019s Summer Concert Series \u2014 featuring the Long Beach Municipal Band.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese free concerts are a wonderful gift to our community, bringing neighbors together to enjoy outstanding music in our beautiful parks,\u201d said Steel Magnolias President Sue De Rosa.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey also provide the perfect opportunity for Steel Magnolias to introduce our organization to the community,\u201d she added, \u201cand to share our mission of supporting children served by the Stramski Children\u2019s Developmental Center at Miller Children\u2019s & Women\u2019s Hospital Long Beach.\u201d<\/p>\n
To do so, De Rosa said, the Steel Magnolias are trying to attend shows at a different park every week.<\/p>\n
(The author of this column is a founder of Steel Magnolias, though she didn\u2019t join the organization at the concerts.)<\/p>\n
They were joined recently by the Steel Magnolias Auxiliary, known as the Magnolia Blooms, an all-volunteer group within the organization that focuses on supporting the Stramski Children\u2019s Developmental Center.<\/p>\n
The first stop of the Magnolias was Los Cerritos Park on July 8, where the Magnolia Blooms created a spectacular gathering space beneath the Steel Magnolias canopy. Members relaxed together, enjoyed another outstanding Municipal Band performance \u2014 the theme this week was \u00a0\u201cThe Music Behind the Magic,\u201d featuring Disney music \u2014 and visited with concertgoers throughout the evening.<\/p>\n
The following week, on July 16, the Steel Magnolias gathered at Conductor Larry Curtis Concert Park (at Marine Stadium) for another beautiful evening of music and fellowship; this week\u2019s theme was \u201cSongs for the One You Love.\u201d Once again, members enjoyed connecting with one another while introducing visitors to Steel Magnolias and the mission.<\/p>\n
The final Long Beach Municipal Band summer concert will be at Marine Stadium on Thursday, July 30, with the theme being \u201cLegends of Vinyl: The Bands That Defined An Era,\u201d featuring music from the 1960s and \u201970s.<\/p>\n
President Sue De Rosa concluded, \u201cCome enjoy the music,\u201d De Rosa said, \u201cand discover how you can make a difference with Steel Magnolias.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve ever wondered what Steel Magnolias is all about,\u201d she added, \u201cthis is a wonderful opportunity to meet our members, learn about the children we support through the Stramski Children\u2019s Developmental Center, and discover how you can become part of an organization that combines friendship, fun, and meaningful service to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seen at the Scene: President Sue De Rosa, Renae Waestman-Furlow (who initiated the Blooms Auxiliary), Stephanie Davis, Tyler Luckey, Christy Luckey, Karen Smitheran, Helen Mendoza, Christy Beranek, Sarah Kirk, Stephanie Everson, Tobin Kirk, and Jacquie Ferneau, Marianne Gastelum, Debbie Martin-McMullin, Sherry Loos, and Maryam Odabae, as well as past Steel Magnolia Presidents Theresa Brunella, Denise Dahlhausen and Bobbie Fesler.<\/p>\n
News of Social events with charitable purposes may be sent to Shirley Wild at spwild@verizon.net. Please include a contact phone number. Send high-resolution jpeg photos, by attachment, to spwild@verizon.net and include group name and identification of individuals from left. Call Shirley at 562-594-9468 for more information.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This summer, Steel Magnolias \u2014 and a plethora of other groups \u2014 have been enjoying one of Long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,23,131,133,132,137,648],"class_list":["post-412856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-local-news","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-shirley-wild-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}