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La Jolla News Nuggets: Grammys for Music Society performers; youth poetry contest; egg hunts; more

Caroline Shaw, who is scheduled to perform in several La Jolla Music Society SummerFest concerts, won a Grammy on April 3.
Caroline Shaw, who is scheduled to perform in several La Jolla Music Society SummerFest concerts, won a Grammy Award on April 3.
(Courtesy of La Jolla Music Society)
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Grammys go to La Jolla Music Society performers

The April 3 Grammy Awards ceremony saw honors given to performers who have recently appeared or are scheduled to appear in La Jolla via the La Jolla Music Society.

Caroline Shaw, who won for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for “Shaw: Narrow Sea,” will perform in several concerts during the Music Society’s SummerFest and in a “Takeover @ The JAI” at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, Aug. 24.

Anthony Roth Costanzo, who will perform at The Conrad on Thursday, Aug. 18, won a Grammy for Best Opera Recording as part of an ensemble with conductor Karen Kamensek; opera singers J’Nai Bridges, Zachary James and Dísella Lárusdóttir; producer David Frost; and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

Béla Fleck, who performed “My Bluegrass Heart” earlier in the LJMS season, won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.

Subscription packages are on sale for SummerFest. To learn more, visit ljms.org.

La Jolla/Riford Library presents youth poetry contest

The La Jolla/Riford Library is presenting a poetry contest for children in kindergarten through 12th grade through Tuesday, April 19.

Contestants can submit their poetry to youth services librarian Katia Graham at grahamk@sandiego.gov. Entries must include the writer’s name, age, grade level, email address and phone number.

Winners will be announced Tuesday, April 26. Prizes include a $25 gift certificate to Warwick’s bookstore and a journal. Winning poetry will be featured on the library’s and Warwick’s social media accounts.

Eggs-cellent Easter events coming this month

San Diego County is hopping with Easter egg hunts and other festivities, including some in and near La Jolla.

Birch Aquarium at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography will host a celebration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 9-10 and April 16-17 featuring an exploration of the diversity of eggs in the ocean and how ocean animals take care of their eggs. Participants can create an egg-themed craft and go on an “underwater” egg hunt. The “Eggstravaganza” is included with the admission price of $24.95 for adults and $19.95 for children ages 3-17. Reservations are required at aquarium.ucsd.edu.

The Standley Park Spring Egg Hunt will be from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 9, at 3585 Governor Drive, University City. The event will feature different times for different age groups up to age 10, along with art activities. Bring your own basket. Visit sandiego.gov/park-and-recreation/centers/recctr/standley.

The La Jolla Open Aire Market will host its Spring Fling from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, April 10, at the intersection of Girard Avenue and Genter Street on the La Jolla Elementary School grounds. The event will include a visit from the Easter Bunny, a market photo scavenger hunt, face painting, crafts, live music and more. Free. Visit lajollamarket.com.

The La Jolla Recreation Center will host a Spring Egg Hunt at 11 a.m. Sunday, April 10, at 615 Prospect St. Hunts will start at various times according to age. The event also will include food, games and photos with the Easter Bunny for purchase. Free admission; bring your own basket. Call (858) 552-1658.

Kiwanis Club of La Jolla donates to Gillispie School

Wendy Matalon and Debbie Rodriguez
Wendy Matalon (left), a member of the La Jolla Kiwanis Foundation, presents Debbie Rodriguez, advancement director at the Gillipsie School in La Jolla, with a check for $6,000.
(Courtesy of Kiwanis Club of La Jolla)

Wendy Matalon, a member of the La Jolla Kiwanis Foundation, presented Debbie Rodriguez, advancement director at the Gillipsie School in La Jolla, a check for $6,000 for the school’s scholarship program.

The presentation occurred at the April 1 Kiwanis Club of La Jolla meeting.

UCSD gets $1.4 million grant for malaria research

UC San Diego scientists received a $1.4 million Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant to study new genetic technologies intended to curb mosquito populations and fight the spread of malaria.

The grant also will allow researchers to mitigate hazards associated with using gene-editing systems in the wild, according to UCSD.

Ethan Bier, a UC San Diego distinguished professor of developmental biology and science director for the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, and his colleagues at UCSD and elsewhere are working on next-generation gene drive systems based on CRISPR, a technology used for editing genes.

When deployed, the technologies could spread through mosquito populations in one season — immunizing mosquitoes against malarial parasites or acting as genetic insecticides — and decreasing the insects’ numbers.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that infects more than 200 million people globally every year and causes more than 600,000 deaths, mostly in young children living in sub-Saharan Africa.

Creek to Bay Cleanup coming April 23

I Love A Clean San Diego is set to hold the 20th Creek to Bay Cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 23, the day after Earth Day.

This year, Creek to Bay returns to in-person group cleanups at nearly 75 sites around San Diego County. Organizers expect more than 5,000 volunteers of all ages to participate.

La Jolla’s Creek to Bay cleanup effort will pick up litter on the La Jolla Bike Path. Volunteers will meet at the entrance to the Fay Avenue Extension Bike Path at 409 La Canada. A self-led individual cleanup is an option, with details online.

In 2021, volunteers reported removing nearly 30,000 pounds of litter from streets, parks, canyons and beaches. This year, I Love A Clean San Diego hopes to see that number jump closer to pre-pandemic levels of 100,000 pounds.

Learn more at creektobay.org.

NASA astronaut to give UCSD graduation speech

Jessica Meir, a UC San Diego graduate who was part of the first all-female team of spacewalkers as a NASA astronaut, has been chosen to give the university’s main commencement address on Saturday, June 11, at the RIMAC Arena on campus.

Meir, who might travel to the moon this decade during NASA’s Project Artemis, will attend what’s likely to be the largest graduation in the school’s nearly 62-year history. Enrollment neared 43,000 last fall, and upward of 11,000 students could get degrees.

La Jolla Institute for Immunology benefits from fundraising effort

Swing for a Cure, a fundraising effort by the Bernardo Heights Country Club in Rancho Bernardo, raised about $50,500 during March for the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, a nonprofit biomedical research organization.

Swing for the Cure Executive Director Julie Stone and Managing Director Carole Tessicini conducted a variety of moneymaking activities in March, capped by a golf tournament March 20 in which more than 110 members participated. Many of them bought memorial tee signs dedicated to friends and families affected by cancer. Activities also included silent and live auctions of items donated by club members and local businesses.

— Compiled by La Jolla staff

Updates

1:30 p.m. April 6, 2022: This article was updated with information about the La Jolla Open Aire Market’s Spring Fling and the La Jolla Recreation Center’s Spring Egg Hunt.