Letters to the Editor 2-20-14

Relay kickoff
Editor: For more information about the American Cancer Society Relay for Life event, we encourage survivors and caregivers whose lives have been touched by cancer to attend Relay for Life of Windsor’s kick off Saturday, Feb. 22 beginning at 10 a.m. adjacent to Lupe’s Restaurant, 710 McClelland Drive, Windsor.
Jill Sullivan
Windsor
Jazz on the Menu
Editor: I am writing to encourage your readers to participate in Jazz on the Menu next Wednesday evening, Feb. 26 by dining at one of the fifteen downtown restaurants that will feature live jazz. The diners and the restaurants will be supporting the Healdsburg Jazz Festival’s music education programs in our local schools.
After 36 years as a public school teacher and administrator, I joined the festival board of directors in 2011 to help coordinate education programs. Since then it’s been my privilege to schedule and attend the Operation Jazz Band and Black History Month assemblies and performances and to act as a liaison to the schools.
In all my years as an educator, I have never seen finer music enrichment and appreciation programs than the ones Jessica Felix and Healdsburg Jazz offer our students. Professional musicians, led by outstanding musician/educators Babatunde Lea and Marcus Shelby, present lively, engaging and exciting sessions to hundreds of K-6 students each year. The kids see how jazz is made and learn about the history of the music and the people who have created it. They experience the music directly, they meet the musicians, and they make music with them. And they love it!
Healdsburg Jazz is inspiring and informing future musicians and music lovers by presenting these free programs to the schools. We deeply appreciate the support of the community members and restaurant owners who are helping us raise the funds we need to bring them back year after year – by joining us for Jazz on the Menu.
Randy Coleman
Healdsburg Jazz