A fire on February 23rd at 3712 Meier Street left a home badly damaged and a family in chaos, and you can help. The Estigarrivia-Albertini family were awoken in the night by the fire and had trouble escaping the flames because the bars on one room’s windows were bolted in place and in another room a safety latch on the bars didn’t work as it was supposed to. Jose, Maria and their daughter Luna all suffered burns and smoke inhalation, Jose having been affected the worst.

Maria and Luna have by now been released from the hospital, and it’s hoped Luna will start back to school soon. Maria is still receiving treatments at the burn center, but unfortunately, Jose’s condition is still critical and he remains heavily sedated in the burn center.

The family has a website to track their recovery and the plans for fund-raisers, since all their possessions were lost in the fire, so please visit FriendsOfLuna.com to get more information.

A benefit garage sale has been planned for March 27th, for which they are accepting donated items to sell, and if you’d like to participate in that, please contact Jennifer Hemsley (jennifer_hemsley (at) yahoo (dot) com).

I am indebted to Reverend Elizabeth Oakes for providing me with this family’s story to share here. It’s heart-breaking and I want to do all I can to help them with their recovery. Please join me. And please make sure your own homes are safe.

Big Fun with coffee and baked goods at the Grind this am. Thanks to all of you who came out, and here’s the visual for those who missed it:

Mar Vista Mom has teamed up with the founders of Open Mar Vista/Open Neighborhoods, James Brennan and John Ayers, to create The OPEN Daily, a daily email Essential Guide to the Westside. Free subscription, free listings (and paid advertising as well), the OPEN Daily is designed to promote local businesses, offer updates from Westside schools, and keep you informed about community action items. We’ll also feature local bloggers and great deals and giveaways. Check it out: TheOPENDaily.com.

Click here to submit your free listings.

Oh, and if you’re on the Westside on Tuesday, February 23rd at 8:30am, stop by the Venice Grind, 12224 Venice Blvd. 90066, for a free cup of coffee on us! Yvonne’s Gluten-Free Goodies, too! Come on by!

Hosted by the West LA Democratic Club, Ted Lieu will moderate this forum presenting all the candidates vying for his seat in the State Assembly. All candidates listed on the Club’s site.

Not happening in Mar Vista, although it’s close by, and we are located in the 53rd District. So if you’d care to see all the candidates hoping for your votes in the primary in June, here’s your chance to see them all in one place.

7pm – 9:15pm (doors open at 6:30) at the Venice Center for Peace with Justice and The Arts, 2210 Lincoln Blvd @Victoria, Venice 90291. Free street and lot parking.

Mark your calendars and get ready to see green! The 2nd annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase will take place on Sunday, April 25th all over Mar Vista. Hosted and organized by the Mar Vista Community Council Green Committee, the Green Garden Showcase is a chance for homeowners to display their drought-tolerant, California native, eco-friendly landscaping. If you’d like your home’s green garden to be on this year’s tour, please contact Sherri Akers at Sherri (at) MarVista (dot) org. Or just stop by the Green Committee’s booth at the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market on Sundays and they’ll help you get signed up.

*Photo courtesy of Sherri Akers

This Saturday and Sunday from 10am – 2pm, up at the field at the top of Grand View, if you want to play Little League this season. Check out the North Venice Little League website for all the details.

Tomorrow morning at the Farmer’s Market, Jennifer Taggert of The Smart Mama will be in the Green Booth with her lead-testing ray-gun. OK, it’s not a ray gun, but it kind of looks like one, and she’ll be using it to test for lead in toys, so bring in any suspect items your kids may have received over the holidays and find out if they contain lead. It should be very instructive.

The E-Calendar is a list of things happening in Mar Vista that comes right to your email inbox. The Mar Vista Community Council provides the info as a free service — and all kinds of events are listed, from the LAPD’s Santa Sleigh stops to the Green Committee meetings. Take a moment to sign up: From the MVCC’s Home page, click on Email Notification System. After you enter your pertinent info, you’ll begin receiving this helpful information right away.

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of meeting the Coffee Breakers, a bowling team of amazing ladies who’ve been bowling together every Monday morning for probably the last 25 years — but who can keep track? It may be even longer.  (L to R: Dot Frey, the newest member, Melinda Newman, Lila Smith, Shirley Ruess, Ruth Shiro, Lorraine Zieve, and Emily Greenberg.) By the way, there are league bowling teams going at it 7 days a week at the Mar Vista Lanes. And here I thought it was just a great place to eat and to have a kids’ birthday bowling party (which it is — both). Learn something new every day.

The AMF Mar Vista Lanes, 12125 Venice Blvd., 90066 (310) 391-5288 Open Sun – Thurs 9am – 11pm, Frida and Sat 9am – 1am.

It’s true! Santa came to town! He and his sleigh, pulled by a very accommodating LAPD Pacific Division SUV, and with a police escort to boot, stopped several places all over town this week. It’s a show of community spirit on the LAPD’s part, and it’s a heart-warming event for the kids — and kids-at-heart. There are even elves. This year’s most requested items, according to Santa? Computers and video game consoles. I guess we have a very high-tech group of kids here in Mar Vista.

Thanks, Pacific Division! Bye, Santa! See you next year.