A central feature of the celebration was the recognition of Division 33’s past presidents and Board members, as well as its “longevity” members, retirees who have maintained CalRTA membership for 20 years or more. The Division now has over 80 such members, with fifteen honored in person at the luncheon, including centenarian Margaret Bagby, Rosemary Sears and Virginia Sisk, all with over three decades of service. Their decades of dedication reflect CalRTA’s enduring mission: safeguarding earned benefits, advocating for fair retirement policies, and uplifting public education throughout California.

Guests enjoyed a catered meal from Emilio’s Mexican Restaurant before being treated to a vibrant performance by West Valley High School’s Ballet Folklórico dancers and Mariachi ensemble under the direction of teachers Oscar Rivas and Maria Leon-Batres. Their colorful presentation added a joyful cultural highlight and underscored the strong connection between retired educators and the students whose futures they continue to support.

Serving Hemet, San Jacinto, Menifee, Romoland, and Nuview, Division 33 remains one of CalRTA’s most active Divisions. In addition to its advocacy work, it provides sixteen $100 teacher grants each year and offers fifteen $1000 scholarships to qualifying local high school graduates.

As Division 33 marks this milestone year, its members reaffirm their dedication to the mission that has guided CalRTA since its inception in 1929: protecting hard-earned pensions and benefits, supporting public education, promoting health care and healthy living and ensuring that the voices of retired educators remain strong across the state.

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   I arrived home to find him waiting for me with my ‘gift.’ I was greeted with, “Happy Anniversary” as he rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal a tattoo on his upper arm which read: Bob & Susan – August 4th 1973. (Our anniversary date.) My first thought was, funny guy, now go wash it off. But looking more closely – it was real – he was now the proud & permanent owner of a genuine tattoo! And he was right – it was mine but I could never have it. Happy Anniversary honey!

   For many people, any mention of people with tattoos conjures up images of rowdy sailors or a Hell’s Angel gang member. As the saying goes, “The world is divided into two kinds of people. Those who have tattoos and those who are afraid of people with tattoo’s.”

   But, our latest generation has pulled the art of tattoo into the mainstream culture. People from all walks of life are becoming a ‘walking canvas’; moms, business people, sports figures, and regular folks – are all jumping into the ‘art world’ of tattoo – only these days it’s called ‘body art.’

   But hello Houston, we have a problem! Leviticus 19:28 seems to prohibit tattooing: “Don’t gash your bodies on behalf of the dead. Don’t tattoo yourselves. I am God.” But I believe another translation gives us a much better look at the true meaning. “You shall not cut yourselves nor put tattoo marks upon yourselves in connection with funeral rites; I am the Lord.” 

   It seems that some pagan cultures had the practice of marking their bodies to remember dead people or to worship their pagan gods. So the tattoo ban came along with other commands as God separated His people from the heathen cultures around them. As one Biblical scholar stated: “It’s asinine to cherry pick one verse out of the law and claim we need to follow it and ignore the rest.” 

   Yet another verse in the Bible seems to reveal a positive reference to tattoos. Isaiah 44:5 tells us that people were writing the name of the Lord on their hands. Essentially they were proclaiming they belonged to God. The popular evangelist Joyce Meyer recently told her audience that she now has two tattoo’s. One – a small cross and another on her ankle – ‘love’ – its purpose is to remind her to always walk in love. Definitely not ‘dead people’ tattoo’s!!

   There is one more verse I want to share that will blow your mind. There was a time when Israel was in great trouble – God was judging them for their rebellion. The Babylonians had come in and destroyed their country and taken many captives. We find God giving them a pep talk in Isaiah 49. He had not forgotten them – things would get better. Here’s how verse 16 reads: “See, I have tattooed your name upon My palm.” God had not forsaken them, He loved them and had put their names on His hands so He could see them often. 

   So – does getting a tattoo send a person to Hell? Far from it. You don’t go to Hell for having a tattoo. You go to Hell for not repenting of your sins and not putting your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. 

   So – please allow me to offer some advice. If you’re going for a tattoo, check twice for typos & spelling errors. Don’t let any of these real ink-mistakes happen to you: Chinese symbols which translated, ‘turkey sandwich.’ Or another ink goof which read – “Thudder only happens when it’s raisin.” Or this bungle – “Nolege is power.” Please use the brain God gave you if you’re going permanent. Just sayin’…

Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you may contact them at dpcitychuch.org

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“Century Celebration” was promoted as a Chamber Mixer by the Hemet San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Greater San Jacinto Chamber of Commerce. It was the first time that the two organizations have joined together for an event.

The festivities began with food from Downtown Deli & Coffee Company, Sweet’s Smokehouse & Grill, and Too Haute to Handle, along with champagne donated by the Greater San Jacinto Valley Chamber.

The emcee for the program was local celebrity Jerome Robinson, lead singer of the 2nd Generation Platters. Along with his signature humor, Jerome shared his perspective as a performer on the great sound and enthusiastic audiences that make HHT a favorite place to play.

Hemet Mayor Karlee Meyer and members of the City Council began the celebration by presenting CEO Susan Carrier with a Key to the City.

Next, dozens of dignitaries came forward to present HHT with Certificates of Recognition from the City of Hemet, the City of San Jacinto, County Supervisor Chuck Washington, District Assemblymen (Districts 42, 67 and 71), State Senator Rosilicie Ochoa-Bogh, and US Congressman Raul Ruiz, as well as from both Chambers of Commerce.

At the end of the program, a surprise announcement was made. Tom Westley of the Press Enterprise came forward to announce that in mid-September, the PE Best of the Inland Empire Awards will include HHT as a top music venue in the Inland Empire.

In her closing remarks, CEO Carrier emphasized the importance of continuing the renovation efforts. “In eight years, we have turned this doomed old building into a thriving community arts center. But there is much to be done to realize the potential here – not only to preserve of one of the oldest movie houses in the country, but to bring quality, affordable entertainment to the valley and revitalize Hemet’s Downtown District. We need the valley community to provide the financial support to make that happen.”

In addition to the program, over 2 dozen gift baskets were raffled off, raising over $800 for the theatre’s Building Fund. A Thomas Kincade print, signed by the artist was live auctioned, raising another $2100.

Following the ceremony, a Tribute to Bread was performed by “Pure Bread” – one of HHT’s tribute bands scheduled to appear next year.

The “Century Celebration” mixer event was only the beginning of a year of special events. Future events include a Hemet Heritage Foundation presentation on the history of the theatre on Monday October 11th, a screening of Michael Tennant’s “Mr. Whittier’s Hemet” about the founding of the town, a Halloween ghost-hunting tour, a Christmas Carol Sing-a-long, and an elegant gala, “Vintage Vegas” (Dec 4). Other special events will continue into next year.

Information on all theatre events is available at www.HistoricHemetTheatre.com or by calling (951) 658-5950. Box Office is open Monday thru Friday, 11am – 5pm.

By: Emily Rand | Contributed

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Like his two most immediate predecessors, President Donald Trump marked the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in a speech at the Pentagon and, like them, still unable to end America’s longest war, in Afghanistan.

Trump’s 9/11 speech on Wednesday came just five days after he called off U.S. talks with the Taliban, abruptly ending nearly a year of hopeful negotiations by a State Department envoy who said he was on the “threshold” of a peace agreement aimed at ending the conflict.

It has been 18 years since al-Qaida hijackers commandeered four U.S. commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the largest attack on American soil.

Like Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, Trump remembered the victims, first responders and U.S. troops who have battled in Afghanistan, where the Taliban hosted al-Qaida leaders as they plotted 9/11.

“For the families who join us, this is your anniversary of personal and permanent loss,” Trump said. “It’s the day that has replayed in your memory a thousand times over. The last kiss. The last phone call. The last time hearing those precious words, ‘I love you.’”

“Then the attack, the anguish of knowing your family member had boarded one of these flights or was working at the World Trade Center or serving right here at the Pentagon,” he said. “You waited. You prayed. You answered that most dreaded call, and your life changed forever.”

Trump said he went to the scene of the downed twin towers and saw the first responders working.

“I went down to ground zero with men who worked for me to try to help in any little way that we could,” Trump said. “We were not alone. So many others were scattered around trying to do the same. They were all trying to help.”

Some of Trump’s statements about his 9/11 experiences cannot be verified, including claims that he sent construction crews to help clear the site, that he had “hundreds” of friends die at ground zero and that he witnessed television coverage of Muslims in the U.S. cheering the destruction.

The moment of silence at the Pentagon is traditionally observed at 9:37 a.m., the time when a plane was flown into the building. But this year, the anniversary was observed 10 minutes late, at 9:47 a.m., with Trump running behind schedule.

In his speech, he had tough words for the Taliban following the end of peace talks.

“If anyone dares to strike our land, we will respond with the full measure of American power and the iron will of the American spirit,” Trump said.

“If, for any reason, they come back to our country, we will go wherever they are and use power the likes of which the United States has never used before, and I’m not even talking about nuclear power,” Trump said without elaborating on what he meant.

Despite Trump’s verbal threats, his envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, has been sitting across the table from Taliban leaders in Doha, Qatar, for months discussing a U.S. troop withdrawal and Taliban guarantees to keep Afghanistan from again becoming a launch pad for global terror attacks.

Those talks came to an abrupt halt last weekend when Trump tweeted that he had canceled a proposed meeting with the Taliban and members of the Afghan government at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

Many Afghans fear his canceling the talks will mean more carnage as the U.S. and Taliban, as well as Afghan forces, step up their offensives and civilians die in the crossfire.

Trump said he canceled the talks after the Taliban detonated a car bomb on Sept. 5 and killed two troops — one American and one Romanian — and 10 civilians in a busy diplomatic area near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

Trump’s continued reference to ending the talks after one American service member was killed has upset many Afghans, who witness near-daily attacks.

As America mourned 9/11, weary Afghans are watching their own toll from the aftermath continue to rise exponentially. The Taliban and U.S. and Afghan forces are all to blame.

For the first time, more Afghan civilians have been killed by international and Afghan forces than by the Taliban and other insurgents, the United Nations said of the first three months of this year, with thousands more wounded by insurgent attacks.

Several hours after Trump left the Pentagon memorial, Bush, who was president during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, visited for a separate, private wreath-laying. Bush was joined by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was in his Pentagon office when the plane hit the building.

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