The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 21

2004:04:29:15:01:59 SATURDAY Inland Valley Humane American Dog Walk to raise funds for local animal shelters begins with a pancake breakfast, live music, family photos and pet contests at 8 a.m. and the Dog Walk begins at 11 a.m. at Bonelli Regional Park, San Dimas. For more information, call 623-9777, ext. 608 or 686, also at www.ivhsspca.org FRIDAY Concert showcases innovative andgraceful dances by faculty, students and world-renowned artists at 8 p.m.

on the Main Stage, Seaver Theatre Complex, Pomona College, 300 E. Bonita Claremont. The cost is $10; $5 for seniors, students, staff and faculty of the Claremont Colleges. For more information, call 621-8525. SUNDAY A display of furniture and art from Sam collection will end today at Millard Sheet Gallery, 1101 W.

McKinley Pomona. "Master Woodworker Sam Maloof: One Half Century of Woodworking and Design" is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Parking is at Gate 1at McKinley Avenue.

For information, call 865-4560. 72 HOURS Claremont-Upland B1 hanging in her home. admire the Dasler said. has always given of himself and most importantly he gives himself to his paintings. He loves his work.

He Denise Carson Claremont-Upland Voice or nearly a century, Milford Zornes sketched and mixed watercolors to paint his of vivid encounters with nature, war and diverse cultures around the world. The active and modest 96-year-old Claremont resident who once traded his watercolors for dental work has seen his paintings become what is considered in his lifetime. One of them was chosen by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to hang in the White House. Saturday, local artists, aficionados, students and friends will gather to pay tribute to lifelong contribution to the arts at reception and demonstration entitled Zornes, An Artist at at the Fairplex in Pomona.

Having once taught at Pomona College and Otis Art Institute, Zornes said he has had no formal education in art and considers himself a painter as opposed to an artist. to a great extent comes from grass he said. and training leads more to an appreciation of arts and away from actually doing His workshops and demonstrations are heavily focused on just Vivian Speier, co-chairman of event, was so inspired when she first witnessed Zornes give his unique demonstration at Mount San Antonio College last year that she invited him to perform again at the Fairplex. explained every paint brush stroke made on every area of the said Speier, ways and means chairman of Fairplex Friends. was alarge painting of mountains and everybody just sat in awe of what he was doing.

It was so gorgeous, I wanted to take up Zornes said he came to Claremont when his father bought a grove in the area in the early 1920s, and although he has lived elsewhere occasionally during the last seven decades, he calls Claremont home. Today a nationally recognized artist, many in the community know him because of his mural that decorates the Claremont Post Office. Some are lucky enough to have a Zornes of their own. Local collector Francis Dasler said she has three Zornes paintings loves sharing While Zornes is considered legally blind due to a condition known as macular degeneration, he said he will continue to paint. He is planning his next artistic adventure to paint the medieval towns of Eastern Europe.

you have to follow your he said. if it means sacrificing security. Being an artist is amatter of opinion, luck and hope that you produce something that might be considered fine Saturday, Zornes will demonstrate how to plan and paint a watercolor composition of a Western adobe, much like the one FDR picked for the White House. work of art speaks to generations beyond which it was Zornes said. Reflecting on his life in art FILE PHOTOS Milford Zornes, 96, of Claremont, talks about his art.

Zornes will give a live demonstration at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Millard Sheets Gallery at Fairplex in Pomona. Renowned watercolorist whose work once hung in the White House has show at Fairplex and will share some old tricks. Mount San Antonio exhibit of Milford work will focus on his international paintings. IF YOU GO 8 WHAT: Milford Zornes, An Artist at watercolor demonstration and reception at Millard Sheets Gallery, 1101 W.

McKinley Pomona. 8 WHEN: 3 p.m. Saturday. 8 COST: $25 includes art demonstration, hors wine and door-prize drawing. 8 INFO: For more information call 510-5606.

The following column originally appeared Oct. 10, 2001, in the Glendale News-Press. mother bought a new car a few months ago. one of those sporty economy models that gets great gas mileage and can go from zero to 60 in 10 seconds. But this is just theory, because yet to see the thing move.

Mom insists she takes the car to work and back a round trip of about four miles but most of the time it sits in the driveway and looks new. I asked her why she refuses to drive it more, and she said because so new and beautiful that afraid to jinx it. just too good to be she says. The car is the first my owned with air conditioning, although you know it because she still turned it on. The past month brought us some of the hottest days of the year, but she preferred to sweat right through them, telling me that heard once that air conditioning wastes gas.

want to get stranded out she says. But the real reason reluctant to drive her new car and refuses to try this remarkable new invention called air conditioning is because she simply do new very well. My mother has a thing about technology. She is disdainful of gadgetry with a lot of moving parts, and anything electronic flat-out concerns her. She loves the look of her new car, loves the idea of having a new car, but would just as soon not bother with all those fancy new buttons, thingamajigs and whatchamacallits.

For some reason, technological innovation ended in my world sometime around the just late enough to allow for the high-speed blender. Getting her to accept a microwave oven in her home required years of negotiations it until the that she finally broke down and allowed one in the house. For almost a year after, she let anyone be in the same room with it when it was on, insisting it would give us brain tumors. It took my siblings and I even longer to talk her into getting an answering machine. do I need an answering machine for? If they call back, I want to talk to them It until her catering business really took off that she finally broke down and got a machine.

The very first greeting she recorded on it went like this: Davey! my number? Mira, payaso if I knew the number I ask you for it! Oh thousand Beep. completely given up on getting Mom to accept a cellphone. She sees such gizmos as annoying symbols of a rude and impatient society. the rush? Why they wait they get home? Me, I like to sit down, relax, have a cup of coffee. Then make my phone She has a VCR in her living room, but she uses it only during family gatherings, to watch a movie after all had dinner.

This is because she insists the only way the VCR will work is if my nephew Andrew operates it. Andrew, she insists, is the only Sit down, relax, have acup of coffee DAVID SILVA I started as a typical vacation for Doug Thomson just a few peaceful days of fishing and hiking at Lake Hemet, something he and his family often enjoyed during the 1970s. But something happened during this particular outing some three decades ago. What might have appeared to be a rather minor event at the time ended up having a huge effect on life and indirectly led to similar experiences for many other people. was a music store near there that had dulcimers in the said Thomson, director of this 25th annual Claremont Spring Folk Festival.

had played guitar for years and thought it would be fun to get involved in something The Alta Loma resident had never seen or heard anything like the small string instrument, which is part of the zither family and also known as the lap dulcimer, mountain dulcimer or Kentucky dulcimer. But it instantly became arequired piece of camping gear for the family outings. The full, sweet sound provided by one or two melody strings picked simultaneously with two or more droner strings created perfect harmony with the setting, as Thomson spent his evenings creating melodies outdoors. got a real tranquil, real peaceful said Thomson, who described the sound as a cross between a guitar and mandolin. fit right in with the Thomson started attending various dulcimer festivals around the country.

In 1979, Thomson and Dorothy Chase, who owned of the Folk Music Center in Claremont (the business is now owned by her daughter, Emily), decided to hold such an event right here. The Claremont Spring Folk Festival returns this weekend in Larkin Park. Through the workshops and demonstrations, Thomson has helped introduce many people to the fretted dulcimer and provided an outlet for experienced players. According to Thomson, many people react like he did when introduced to the instrument. There is, he said, especially when you show how easy it is to play.

Many people think they play anything they realize they can play this. a really exciting way to get them into Workshops for the fretted dulcimer are scheduled throughout the weekend and will be led by many of the concert performers. Also at noon May 1, a demonstration featuring Thomson and several performers will take place. While the vast slate of workshops also features conventional folk instruments such as the guitar, banjo, ukulele and fiddle, some of the more popular sessions highlight more obscure instruments like the fretted dulcimer and others from around the world. IN THE SPOTLIGHT He fret about this dulcimer CHUCK SCHILKEN.