Time to do some ketchup, so here goes. Someone needs to get over to La Purisima and either show Frank Hain how to spell BchickenC or how to use the spell checker. I have the Monte Carlo Night flyer in front of me and I am seeing chicken spelled as Bchix.C

Maybe he can?t spell, but he sure knows how to head up one heck of a good time. On Saturday, La Purisima Concepcion School is having its annual fundraiser. This is a blast. I?ve been going for the last several years and even though I don?t gamble, I can eat and drink with the best of them. Tickets are ,40 per person and for that you get ribs, Bchix,C steak, two drinks and ,200 in gambling chips. So call 735-3068 for your tickets and trust me, you will have fun.

Another event that you will not want to miss is the Mariachi Concert at the Civic Auditorium Friday, Oct. 24. Look, my grandfather may have loved the Mexican version of country music, but not this boy. This is the music you usually hear as you are dialing through the stations looking for something out of the >60s. However, Mariachi music is not that stuff.

When you watch a Mariachi band, you see an impressive group of men in beautiful uniforms, big sombreros and shiny horns. When those horns are blasting, you not only hear it, you feel it. If you have never experienced a Mariachi band, you don?t know what you are missing. This concert is being put on by the Hispanic Business Committee, chaired by Anna and Mundo Maya, of Servicios Maya. All proceeds will go to the American Dream Foundation, which provides scholarships for our high school students and to other community events. Tickets are ,25 each and you can get them at the Chamber or call Anna at 736-9783.

I had a couple of calls from a couple of friends who did not know that each was going to call me: no kidding. The first call was from Sue Barnacastle who said that Lompoc is starting to look like one big parking lot and that she has >da? solution. Specifically, what she was talking about was all of the cars, boats, motor homes, old trailers and other vehicles that are parked on the streets. In the village we have this same problem: the 20-year-old motor home with blue tarp parked on the grass.

So her solution is that the city post signs (and enforce the policy) as to when vehicles must be moved in order for the street sweeper to clean the street; this is the procedure in other cities. According to Sue, presently the sweeper just goes around the parked vehicle. She figures that if the owner has to move their pride and joy once a week, eventually they will find proper parking. Her last comment was that the community is engaged in all of these projects to beautify the city and if we just did the little things, the town would be lot better off: Cannot argue with that one.

So after I put the phone down, I called Sue?s buddy, Barbara Mecum, who had also left a message. Barbara wanted to speak to me about the drive-in screen on North H, going up the hill. I know we are all used to it, we probably don?t even notice it anymore, but she had a good point. Which is that for one of the entrances to our city, that old, faded structure just does not present a good first impression to our visitors.

She noted how Grefco was cleaned up and a mural was painted on the building as an example of what could possibly be done at our northern entrance. To the best of my knowledge, the screen is private property and they can do what they want, but Barbara does have a good point.

OK, that is all I have for this week. So if you want to get the word out on something or voice an opinion, give me a call. I won?t make any promises, but if I can work you in, I will. Thanks for reading the column.

Benjamin Hernandez is a certified financial planner practitioner and can be reached at 736-6037.

October 14, 2008