Looking for Something to Do? Free Events Feb. 22 to 28

Here are my top picks of events for adults, teens and children scheduled from Feb. 22 to 28.

All events are free, so take a look -- and don't you dare tell me there's nothing to do in Pasadena!

Renovation of our beloved La Casita del Arroyo will begin with a kickoff celebration Saturday, Feb. 22, at 9 a.m. Thanks to a partnership of the La Casita Foundation and the City of Pasadena, renovations of the 1932 community meeting house designed by Myron Hunt will include restoration of the historic paneling recycled from the bicycle velodrome.

Petrea Burchard, Roberta Martinez, Elizabeth Pomeroy, Gerda Govine Ituarte and Renée Morgan-Hampton will be among the local authors at the Love Our Authors event Saturday, Feb. 22, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Pasadena Central Library. And they're just the ones I know personally! There will be other local authors joining them onstage to discuss their books that cover a whole realm of genres including history, fiction, cooking, poetry, children and more. They'll also answer questions and sign their books. And...wait for it...Random Acts of Music will be there, too! This event is part of the Celebrating 130 Years of Reading in Pasadena series.

Engage your body from fingers to toes building adobe huts Saturday, Feb. 22, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Side Street Projects as part of the Sculpting Social Landscapes public art series.

Celebrate the birthday of our nation's first president Saturday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m. in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Pasadena Central Library. The Blair High School JROTC will be in period costumes and the film "The Life of George Washington" produced by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association will be shown. 

You don't have to be a member of the Pasadena Senior Center to learn about Gaetano Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor there Monday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m. An LA Opera community educator will discuss this classic opera about family honor, betrayal and madness. 

Although Johnny Cash is gone now, his music will always be with us. Oscar Garza, news editor at KPCC Radio, will talk with Robert Hilburn, music critic and author of the book "Johnny Cash: The Life" Monday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Crawford Family Forum at Southern California Public Radio. The event is free but RSVPs are required.

An instructor from Armory Center for the Arts will help children explore the world of art while painting, working with clay and creating collages Tuesday, Feb. 25, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at La Pintoresca Branch Library. The art class takes place every Tuesday.

The "4 Hands, 4 Feet and a Diva!" concert Sunday, Feb. 23, at 5 p.m. at All Saints Church will feature music composed by Hildegard von Bingen, Calvin Hampton, Henry Purcell and more. 

Get an update on the Robinson Park renovation project and provide your input Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 6 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Center. A steering committee, which meets the fourth Tuesday of every month, serves as a focal point for community outreach, input and direction into the redesign and renovation of the Robinson Park Recreation Center.

Have you always wanted to travel to Italy but were concerned about crowds, language barriers and simply not knowing how to get around? "Italy 101" Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. at Distant Lands will help you learn how to plan a great itinerary, find special places to stay, discover the less crowded corners of Italy, manage the practicalities of money, security and more.

Pasadena Presbyterian Church presents cellist Han Bin Yoon for the popular Music at Noon weekly concert Wednesday, Feb. 26, from 12:10 to 12:40 p.m.

"Your Water: The Big Picture" is the title of a public meeting Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the Pasadena Convention Center. A panel of experts from the Metropolitan Water District, Natural Resources Defense Council and the water engineering firm CDM Smith will share insights into the water supply challenges facing our state and local efforts that may be able to ensure long-term sustainability. You'll also build your own water conservation kit and enter a raffle to win a rain barrel.

See "The Notebook" (2005, PG-13) Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. at Pasadena Central Library. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner and Gena Rowlands and as the same couple in the early 1940s and the present day.

Storyteller Marilyn La Grone-Amaral will pair archetypal paintings with anecdotal stories Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. at Pasadena Central Library. The daughter of a combat pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen, she learned from her father about form, color, movement and how to hone her inner vision.

Members of the Pasadena Conservatory of Music faculty will perform in concert Friday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. Brian Barany on guitar, Nic Gerpe on piano, Mary Kelly on viola, Kimberly Lamb on oboe, Patric Rosalez on piano and T.J. Troy on percussion will perform works by Béla Bartók, Benjamin Britten, Manuel de Falla and others composers.

Be sure to read "Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore," the novel selected for this year's One City, One Story community reading celebration. Book discussions, film series, expert speakers and more begin in March!


Many thanks to La Casita Foundation, Wikipedia, mbell1975, State University of New York, The House of Colors, Theological German, Pasadena Independent, Traveler's Journal, Biola University Conservatory of Music, Pasadena Water and Power, Fanpop, Maybe I'm Addicted, Marilyn La Grone-Amaral and Street Pianos for the photos.