Enjoy great food, live music and fireworks at the 38th celebration of Red, White and Boom! Hosted by the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce and presented by Vision Community Management, the Red, White and Boom Fireworks Festival is professionally produced by HDE Agency and will be at the Ahwatukee Country Club, 12432 S. 48th St. from 4 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3.

Whether you’re a parent or caregiver, we all want the best for our kids. Part of that is making sure they have the reading skills to succeed in school and in life.

Forget the tie. Think bespoke booze for Father’s Day, specifically a beverage tailor-made to suit the hobbies father knows best.

It’s only been a week since the 1-cent sales tax went off the books, but area economists and businesses do not expect to see much if any increase in retail sales in the foreseeable future due in part to consumers having little idea the increase ended.

State senators voted Wednesday to ensure that if you like to hang your clothes out on the line you have a choice of new homes to buy.

Phoenix International Raceway recently announced that tickets are on the sale for the AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased by visiting Phoenix Raceway.com or calling (866) 408-7223.


Most of the ads for “After Earth” have neglected to mention that M. Night Shyamalan co-wrote and directed the film. Movie studios finally seem to be realizing that having Shyamalan’s name plastered above the title will no longer sell tickets. If anything, it will have audiences fleeing from the theater in revulsion. Whenever it looks like Shyamalan can’t embarrass himself any further, he always comes out with a new film that’s even more atrocious than the last. At least with his previous debacle, “The Last Airbender,” Shyamalan hit ground zero. There’s no way he could possibly make a film even more poorly written, effortlessly acted, and bleakly directed, right?


An Ahwatukee Foothills salon is teaming up with local designers to empower women and raise money for domestic violence victims with the first ever Brave Wings Fashion Show on June 22.
The fashion show will take place at The Venue Scottsdale, 7117 E., 3rd Ave., beginning at 7 p.m. on the 22nd. It will feature six designers including the founders of the show, Mabel Cortez and Jenesis Laforcarde. 
The two Arizona designers say they decided to start Brave Wings to give back to the community. They plan to host a fashion show annually to benefit a different charity each year. This year they selected Sojourner Center because their clothing lines both fit with a theme of empowering women.
Cortez’s line, Mabella Chic, focuses on strong independent women.
“I’ve been around strong women my whole life,” she said. “Coming from a strong women family, for me, it was about empowering women in the sense of making them feel good with fashion. I want to present women in a fashionable way so they can feel good about themselves.”
Laforcarde’s T-shirt line is about self respect for women.
“I decided to do a T-shirt line because of my generation,” she said. “I’m only 19 and I see my friends being dependent on their boyfriends and not supporting themselves. I wanted to create a T-shirt line about being confident, independent and doing your own thing. Whatever you want to do, you can do it, as long as you put your mind to it.”
Saskia Salon will be sponsoring the hair at the event. Saskia Salon opened in Ahwatukee at 4647 E. Chandler Blvd., two years ago. Since then Saskia Almasan, the salon’s owner, said the business has become steady and she has been able to hire a few new employees and keep the focus on customer service. Her goal is to keep growing organically. Networking with the fashion industry and local charities helps that growth.
“When you feel blessed it’s automatic to feel like you want to give back,” she said. “As a business owner you start with nothing and a dream. You’ve got to find people of like mindedness to grow that… Any time we can join with wonderful people trying to make our own city better, that’s huge. We touch lives on a daily basis in the chair. I think it goes from your chair to your community, then your city. If we keep going like that then maybe we can change the world.”


In three weeks Ahwatukee Kiwanis was able to pull the community together and provide Christmas gifts to 47 boys in six group foster homes across the Valley in 2012. 

Festival of Lights (FOL) committee members are inviting the adults of Ahwatukee Foothills to come party this weekend at the 18th Annual Festival of Lights Wine and Beer Tasting.
Hundreds of people attend the event each year. This year’s festivities will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. tomorrow, June 1, at the Foothills Golf Club, 2201 E. Clubhouse Drive. The Festival of Lights Charity Golf Tournament will be earlier in the day on Saturday at the Foothills Golf Club. The shotgun scramble tees off at 7:30 a.m. The cost is $100 for individuals with discounts for a foursome. That price includes a round of golf, a cart, a buffet lunch, range balls, a goody bag and entrance into multiple drawings. Golfers can register at Safeway or through the Festival of Lights website, www.folaz.org.
Money raised from both events will benefit the community’s Festival of Lights, Ahwatukee Kiwanis and the YMCA’s Outreach Program for Ahwatukee Seniors (YOPAS).
Tickets for the wine tasting can be purchased for $40 in advance at www.folaz.org, or for $50 at the door on Saturday night. There are also additional discounts for large groups who purchase tickets in advance.
Guests will have a chance to sample more than 50 varieties of wine and beer along with food from local restaurants. Dr. Ron and the Painkillers will provide live music throughout the night.
The silent auction this year is excellent, said Linda Jochim, a FOL committee member. There will be more than 120 items up for auction including several different spa packages, vacation getaways, tickets to sporting events and even a three-day Harley rental. Of course, the silent auction will also include gift cards to local restaurants and lots of sports memorabilia. Jochim said donors to the silent auction have been more than generous this year and it should make for some great bargains for those who bid.
Every year from Thanksgiving to New Years night thousands of strands of lights span Chandler Boulevard. The tradition has continued through the support of the Ahwatukee Foothills community. Each year the kick-off party is filled with events and activities for kids and families to enjoy while the wine and beer tasting in the summer is a celebration for the adults.
To sign up, or to find out more information, visit www.folaz.org.


Most of the ads for “After Earth” have neglected to mention that M. Night Shyamalan co-wrote and directed the film. Movie studios finally seem to be realizing that having Shyamalan’s name plastered above the title will no longer sell tickets.

New York -- U.S. airlines collected more than $6 billion in baggage and reservation change fees from passengers last year — the highest amount since the fees became common five years ago.

Goodbye, awkward dates and ugly dresses; the Children’s Museum of Phoenix prom is all about having fun with friends.

Recently, I had a meaningful and slightly curious experience.

Indie-folk artist Jay Nash will be performing in the Valley’s very own The Rhythm Room this Wednesday May 22, with fellow performer David Ramirez.

In an effort to help wounded service members, Ahwatukee residents Agnes Oblas and Peggy Coomans are hosting a seven-hour knit-a-thon this weekend.

Team Phoenix, a youth basketball program in Ahwatukee Foothills, will have a Family Fun Movie Night and Raffle Fundraiser on Friday at the AMC Ahwatukee 24, 4915 E. Ray Road.

Urban AZ’s first Spoken Word Showcase brings together a range of poetic performers, along with R&B artists Dwele and Bilal with a band, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18 at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix.

Students and staff at Kyrene Altadeña Middle School are hosting a fundraiser dinner for their beloved choir teacher this week.

It’s no secret that Arizona offers some of the best and most luxurious AAA Four and Five Diamond resorts in the country. However, many travelers don’t realize that many of these properties also feature kid camps that aim to please even the pickiest pint-sized traveler. This provides mom and dad with a guilt-free way to indulge in some much-needed couple time, while allowing kids to make friends and create memories of their own.

Using their talents for hilarious, family-friendly improvisational comedy, Jef and Shurlin Rawls of Mesa hope to lift spirits while lightening the load for a family in their neighborhood with an event they are calling a “FUN-draiser.”

Beer fans can get a lift to this weekend’s big brew party.

Pop open a cold one at this annual beer festival celebrating American-made craft brews. More than 60 national and local breweries serve up their best drafts at the Scottsdale Civic Center, where festival-goers can enjoy live music, food, beer games and a beer garden. This is a 21-and-older event.

Jerome; Willcox; Mormon Lake

A variety show of singing, dancing, acting and comedy will be hosted at Mountain View Lutheran Church in Ahwatukee today, May 10.