Disney under the Stars

Grandkids James and Rebecca sang and danced in a production of “Disney Under the Stars” in Highland, Indiana. The evening weather was perfect, and they both shined, especially in introducing a couple acts. Dave and Angie were in charge of the sound system, and Marianne Brush brought her dog and several friends to opening night. Sitting behind us and recognizing me was State Representative Linda C. Lawson, a former Hammond policewoman who took a class of mine 12 years ago. I told her my new Shavings contained two photos of her returning from Illinois after the Democratic delegation of lawmakers stayed away for six weeks in order to defeat various anti-union measures being pushed by Republicans. Linda told me she kept a journal during her stay in Illinois, and I expressed keen interest in seeing it and maybe starting a Linda Lawson Archives collection. I mailed her volume 31 as well as my Nineties issues, “Shards and Midden Heaps,” which includes an account of Linda’s first year as a legislator as well as an article she did about Meg Renslow, who was teaching at Hammond Eggers in 1998 but is now with IUN’s Education division. Small world.

John Fraire thanked me for getting him in touch with historian Richard Santillan. They are both interested in Mexican-American baseball teams. Coincidentally, I was walking across campus and ran into Joseph Flores, who heads the Upward Bound program at Purdue Cal. I happened to have a copy of volume 41 and gave it to him after learning that he has been working on a family history for over 15 years.

Old high school classmate Pat Zollo posted on Facebook a hatchet job video someone put together on Snopes.com about a Tacoma housing project called Salishan. It claimed it was set up by the Social Security administration for illegal immigrants, who get subsidies totaling $2,600 plus all sorts of other benefits. A site called The News Tribune rebutted the falsehoods, mentioning that it was built with Hope VI HUD funds, that 97 percent of residents are citizens, and that people with refugee status get at most about a thousand dollars in subsidies a month.