Your advent event calendar: 24 days of holiday happenings around the Peninsula

From lion dances to calligraphy lessons, here’s how you can mark the Year of the Rabbit. Lunar New Year has arrived and Peninsula cities, libraries and local groups are hosting a variety of events marking the advent of Year of the Rabbit. From music and dance performances to hands-on crafts, here’s a sampling of a variety of ways to celebrate the new year.

Take advantage of San Mateo County’s new free college program and learn about the history of video games, interior design or magic and witchcraft. For the first time, the San Mateo Community College District has waived the tuition and enrollment costs for all of its classes this spring as part of a new pilot program for county residents. The district includes three community colleges: Cañada College in Redwood City, College of San Mateo and Skyline College in San Bruno. Classes start Jan. 17.

Friends of the Palo Alto Library hosts its High Value Sale this weekend. A week before the Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL) are due to hold their next book sale, volunteers at the group’s headquarters at Cubberley Community Center are sorting and arranging the contents of banker’s boxes and library carts, stocking neatly labeled shelves with books on travel, art, cooking, graphic novels, tomes on religion, politics, history and a large selection of fiction.

Dave Sands’ podcast delves into how restaurateurs got their start. Dave Sands has tried a number of career paths since becoming a professional chef after graduating from the City College of San Francisco’s Hotel and Restaurant Program. The San Francisco native and Redwood City resident spent five years...

Little has changed at the beloved family-run diner since it opened in 1959. Its customers and owners wouldn’t have it any other way. Songs from The Shangri-Las and Brenda Lee rotate through Millbrae Pancake House’s playlist. The upbeat ‘60s-era music greets you soon after you step out of your car and pulls you inside, where you imagine people conversing with words like “jalopy” and “groovy.” Yes, the popular all-day breakfast spot is dated, but places like this offer a respite from a world that can feel like it’s spinning out of control.

We compiled a list of the organizations and businesses raising funds for the victims of the Jan. 23 shootings, as well as memorial events and local mental health resources. The Coastside community and the wider Bay Area are stepping up to support families of victims of the Jan. 23 shootings that killed seven farmworkers and wounded another in Half Moon Bay, as well as the farmworker community as a whole. At the same time, many are still trying to process the horrific events of that day. Below you’ll find a running list of fundraisers as well as other useful resources. Please send additional recommendations to [email protected]