Soprano Dale Franzen, Director of The Broad Stage, performance during the Santa Monica College Associates 27th Annual Membership Celebration on Thursday, September 11, 2008. After a 20-year career as a professional opera singer (lyric soprano), Dale's career transitioned into a leadership role in arts education. While teaching voice at Santa Monica College, she designed its Opera Workshop program, and organized many successful master classes featuring leading opera stars and theater directors. For the last six years Dale has held the position of Director of the Madison Project of Santa Monica College, a $40 million dollar visual and performing arts center that broke ground in 2005. and will celebrate its gran opening on Saturday, September 20, 2008. She created the Madison Project Performance Series for Santa Monica College, which presents high-level performing arts and educational outreach programs to the college and surrounding community, serving over 10,000 attendees annually. Its mission is to promote multi-ethnic, diverse young artists, as well as established artists, in all facets of the performing arts. In addition, its focus is to promote international cultural understanding. This highly acclaimed series has honored Valery Gergiev, of the Kirov Opera, as well as legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne. Through The Performance Series, she has produced such performances by Jeffery Kahane and soloists from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, world artist singer Lila Downs, soloists from the Kirov Opera, the Rosetti String Quartet and African musician Prince Diabaté, among many others. She is also responsible for creating the Madison Project’s “Youth Opera Camp” (a partnership with Los Angeles Opera, under the direction of Placido Domingo), now in it’s fifth year. The camp is designed to introduce community and underserved youth to the world of opera. In addition, collaborating under the guidance of renowned actor Dustin Hoffman, the Madison Project plans to have a professional theater company in residence. Her community work includes coordinating events and benefit performances, with a variety of advocacy groups working for the environment, children's fair housing, cancer education, holocaust education, and the development and promotion of educational arts programs for children and young adults. In her spare time she likes to study hula, sing Irish ballads and eat dark chocolate. She is married, has three children and lives in Los Angeles.

(1) Allan Young, President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica welcomes guests during the groundbreaking ceremony  in honor of the new Clubhouse at John Adams Middle School on September 11, 2008.  "This is a historic day for Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica, as we begin work on the second largest facility on the Westside," said Allan Young,  "As someone who grew up in Boys & Girls Clubs, I know the value this Clubhouse will have on its members and their families -- providing a safe environment for kids to learn in, have fun in and grow in." (2) Shoveling left to right: Tim Cuneo, Intern Superintendent of Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District; Timothy J. Jackman, Chief of the Santa Monica Police Department; Allan Young, President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica; Craig Mordoh, Chairman of the Board of Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica and Dr. William Crookston, Past President, Rotary Club, shovel dirt during the groundbreaking ceremony at John Adams Middle School. With an anticipated completion date of June 2009, the Clubhouse continues Boys & Girls Clubs 64-year tradition of enabling all young people, especially those who need help the most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens. Currently Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica operates a satellite afterschool program at John Adams Middle School; however the new Clubhouse will enable the program to expand from one small classroom serving approximately 300 children annually to a 5,563 square foot facility equipped to support all of the school's 1,100 students. The Clubhouse will provide services to students six days a week, 12 months a year -- before and after school, during lunch and during vacation and summer holidays. Members will flourish academically and socially as they participate in nationally-renowned programs in the following areas: the arts, athletics, drug/alcohol and pregnancy prevention, education, the environment, leadership development, career preparation, social recreation and technology. The Club was founded in 1946 and since that time approximately 150,000 local youth have benefited. Today there are approximately 7,000 young people involved in Club programs. They come from all over Los Angeles County, largely from Santa Monica, Venice, West Los Angeles and Inglewood. Members pay a $10 annual fee for access to all Club amenities and programs that span across education, leadership, recreation and more.  Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica operates with the objective to serve children from all backgrounds, regardless of economic circumstances -- ensuring that youth ages 7-18 have a safe and nurturing environment to develop socially, succeed in school, stay physically active and prepare for positive futures. To learn more, please visit http://www.smbgc.org.

Santa Monica Mayor Herb Katz (right) and Ben Franz-Knight, Santa Monica Pier Executive Director, activates the timer which commenced the official countdown to the Santa Monica Pier's Centennial on Tuesday, September 9, 2008.  The countdown clock began ticking down, towards the Centennial Celebration for  the world-famous Santa Monica Pier. The pleasure pier, seen in hundreds of movies and enjoyed by millions of visitors each year, turns 100 years old on September 9, 2009.  Community leaders, local personalities, and centennial celebration organizers gathered  to begin the historic countdown.  The kickoff included a sneak peek at the upcoming years’ activities and a ride on the futuristic “Sand Tram”, a revolutionary new mode of transportation on the beach that will make destinations along Santa Monica’s beach more accessible from the parking lots and coastal access points. The prototype Sand Tram, a 60-foot-long beach trolley capable of carrying 100-plus passengers, typifies the Centennial’s theme of “100 years in the past, 100 years in the future.”  The natural gas powered vehicle will travel on the sand and transport beachgoers between the parking lots, the Pier, and the new Annenberg Beach House; restoring popular beachfront transportation once provided by electric trams until the 1960s.