The show on July 10th will be the fifth time that Brad and the band have performed at HHT – and almost certain to be a sellout like the rest!

Anyone who has attended a Tribute Mania concert in the past knows how much fun the tribute performances can be. And, Fortunate Son it is one of the best. In fact, they were one of the first tribute bands to play at HHT and helped build the popularity of the Tribute Mania series.

The lead singer, Brad Ford, founded the band in 1994 and stars as John Fogerty on lead vocals. With his bandmates they travel around the world delighting audiences throughout the United According to their website (FortunateSonTribute.com), they are “the Nation’s “Longest Running” Tribute Show celebrating the music of John Fogerty & Creedence Clearwater Revival.” The Las Vegas Review has proclaimed “FORTUNATE SON is the ultimate CCR Tribute Show!” A critic in Laughlin, named them “the best tribute shows of its kind.” They perform at state and county fairs, casinos, festivals, community concerts, corporate events, and military veteran celebrations.

They play for lots of veteran events because the group has a heart for those who served. The band is a big supporter of the Rolling Thunder organization, an advocacy group educating the public about the accountability for prisoners of war (POWs) and missing in action (MIA) service members of all United States wars.

Meanwhile, plans are coming together for the Celebration of Life for Operations Director Bryan Carrier. Members of Fortunate Son will perform along with band members from several groups who have requested to perform in tribute to Bryan. Information on free tickets to the memorial service and concert can be found on the website, Facebook page or by calling the Box Office.

The remaining shows in the 2021 Tribute Mania Concert Season are Tribute to Elton John, featuring Kenny Metcalf (Jun 26), Tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival, featuring Brad Ford and Fortunate Son (Jul 10), Tribute to Abba, with Abba Fab (Jul 24), Tribute to Santana, with Smooth Sounds of Santana (Aug 7), Tribute to Tina Turner, featuring Debby Holiday (Aug 14), Tribute to Neil Diamond, with Hot August Night (Aug 21), Tribute to Led Zeppelin, with Led Zepagain (Sept 4), Tribute to Bob Seger, with Turn the Page (Sept 18), Tribute to Foreigner. featuring 4NR (Oct 2), Tribute to The Beatles, with Hard Day’s Night (Oct 16), and Tribute to Fleetwood Mac with Mirage (Oct 23).

Tickets for Tribute Mania are $25, general admission. Showtime is 7:00 pm, with doors open at 6:15 pm.

Information on all theatre events is available at www.HistoricHemetTheatre.com or by calling the ticket office, (951) 658-5950. You can subscribe to the HHT email blast by enrolling on the website.

Event tickets are available at the theatre Box Office (Monday thru Friday 11 am to 5pm) or online at www.PurplePass.com. Tickets are also available at the Downtown Deli, 113 N Harvard St and the Harvard Street Music Exchange, 134 S Harvard St.

Emily Rand • Contributor

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NEW YORK (AP) — Moviegoing increasingly looks like it didn’t die during the pandemic. It just went into hibernation.

John Krasinski’s thriller sequel “A Quiet Place Part II” opened over the Memorial Day weekend to a pandemic-best $48.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Including the Monday holiday, the studio forecasts the film will gross $58.5 million in North America. It added another $22 million in ticket sales overseas.

The film’s performance cheered a movie industry that has been punished and transformed by the pandemic. Paramount Pictures’ “A Quiet Place Part II,” which was on the cusp of opening in March 2021 before theaters shut, was the first big film this year — and one of the only larger budget COVID-era releases beside Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” — to open exclusively in theaters.

Chris Aronson, distribution chief for Paramount, called the opening “an unqualified success.”

“It’s a huge sigh of a relief and a sense of optimism for sure,” Aronson said. “Movies, moviegoing, movie theaters aren’t dead. Yes, they’ve been threatened but they’re proving once again that they’re resilient and that people do want to have that communal experience.”

Many studios have trotted out hybrid release plans during the pandemic, debuting films simultaneously in the home. The Walt Disney Co. did that this weekend with its live-action PG-13 Cruella De Vil prequel, “Cruella,” making it available to Disney+ subscribers for $30. In theaters, it grossed $21.3 million, Disney said, and an estimated $26.4 million over the four-day weekend. “Cruella” also added $16.1 million in 29 international territories. Disney didn’t say how much the film made on the company’s streaming platform.

“A Quiet Place II” will also turn to streaming after 45 days in theaters when it becomes available on Paramount+. One clear result of the pandemic is that the theatrical window has shrunk, probably permanently. Three months was once the customary length of a movie’s run in theaters. The year’s previous best debut belonged to Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which opened with $32.2 million, or $48.5 million over its first five days, while simultaneously streaming on HBO Max.

The contrasting release strategies between “A Quiet Place Part II” and “Cruella” offered a test case for Hollywood. How much does a day-and-date release cost a movie like “Cruella” in ticket sales? Is it worth it? Without knowing how much “Cruella” benefitted Disney+, a true comparison isn’t possible. But the strong returns for the theater-only “A Quiet Place Part II” are telling, says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore. He called it a “pivotal weekend” for the movie industry that proved predictions of the movie theater’s demise “flat-out wrong.”

“That ‘Quiet Place Part II’ did so well makes a strong case that a theatrical-first release for a big movie is the way to go,” Dergarabedian said. “This is the best possible news for an industry that’s been dealing with probably the most profoundly challenging chapter in the history of the movie theater.”

The debut of “A Quiet Place Part II” was much watched throughout Hollywood as the kickoff to its delayed summer movie season. After largely sitting out the pandemic, or diverting to streaming platforms, a lineup of blockbusters are again queuing up. On tap are Warner Bros.’ “In the Heights,” Universals’ “F9” and Disney’s “Black Widow.”

Last week, Universal Pictures’ ninth installment in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, “F9,” opened with $162 million in ticket sales in eight international markets, and $135 million in China alone. In its second weekend, “F9,” which opens in North America on June 25, raced toward $230 million worldwide.

“A Quiet Place Part II” had already had its red-carpet premiere in March last year, and spent some of its marketing budget. But it opened remarkably in line with predictions of how many tickets it would sell before the onset of the pandemic. In the intervening months, Paramount sold off many of its films to streamers — “Coming 2 America,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7” — but Krasinski and the studio felt strongly that the hushed intensity of “A Quiet Place Part II” worked best on the big screen.

In an interview ahead of the film’s release, Krasinski said a theatrical release was “non-negotiable.” And Krasinski worked hard to stoke excitement, traveling the country in the week leading up to release to surprise moviegoers. Still, given the circumstances, he had little idea whether audiences would come out.

“As bizarre as the entire year has been is how bizarre whatever opening weekend is,” Krasinski said. “I don’t really know what it is anymore.”

In the end, “A Quiet Place Part II” performed a lot like how the first one did. That 2018 hit, which ultimately grossed $340 million globally on a $17 million budget, launched with $50.2 million in North American ticket sales. Sequels usually do better than the original but “Part II” had far more challenges due to pandemic.

Rich Gelfond, chief executive of IMAX, where “A Quiet Place Part II” earned $4.1 million domestically, called the film “the first domestic release this year to cross the threshold from ‘great opening weekend given the pandemic’ to ‘great opening weekend, period.'”

Memorial Day weekend, usually one of the busiest for theaters, still didn’t look like it normally does at the movies. Total box office exceeded $80 million but that’s about a third of the holiday weekend’s normal business. Last Memorial Day, when nearly all operating theaters were drive-ins, ticket sales amounted to $842,000, according to Comscore.

Many theaters, particularly in New York and Los Angeles, are still operating with social distancing measures. But guidelines are thawing. Last week, the nation’s top theater chains — AMC, Regal, Cinemark — said they would no longer require vaccinated moviegoers to wear face masks.

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I want to thank the Chronicle for providing the opportunity for the Democrats of Hemet-San Jacinto to submit an article for publication for each week’s paper. Some things transcend the daily bickering over political stuff. I spend a little time each week trying to make our submission interesting, timely and informative. It is time well spent. I probably get more out of preparing and writing the article than the readers do from reading it. How we spend our time is indicative of what we value most. How do you respond when someone asks you for your time? I found the following story on the internet a few years ago. I wish I could cite the author but I can’t find them. I hope you take some of your time to read it. I think you will it time well spent.

What Is Most Important

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. He had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was busy working on his future.

Over the phone, his mother told him, “Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday.” Memories flashed through his mind as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

“Jack, did you hear me?”

“Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It’s been so long since I thought of him. I’m sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago,” Jack said.

“Well, he didn’t forget you. Every time I saw him he’d ask how you were doing. He’d reminisce about the many days you spent over ‘his side of the fence’ as he put it,” Mom told him.

“I loved that old house he lived in,” Jack said.

“You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man’s influence in your life,” she said.

“He’s the one who taught me carpentry,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in this business if it weren’t for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important…Mom, I’ll be there for the funeral,” Jack said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. The funeral was small. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away. The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.

Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like going back in time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture….Jack stopped suddenly.

“What’s wrong, Jack?” his Mom asked.

“The box is gone,” he said.

“What box?” Mom asked.

“There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he’d ever tell me was ‘the thing I value most,'” Jack said. It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

“Now I’ll never know what was so valuable to him,” Jack said. “I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom.”

A couple of week later after returning home from work Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. “Signature required on a package”. Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.

“Mr. Harold Belser” it read.

Jack ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack’s hands shook as he read the note inside.

“Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It’s the thing I valued most in my life.” A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover.

Inside he found these words engraved: “Jack, Thanks for your time! Harold Belser.” “The thing he valued most…was…my time.”

Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. “Why?” Janet, his assistant asked.

“I need some time to spend with my son,” he said. “Oh, by the way, Janet…thanks for your time!”

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Throughout the existence of Eva and the Vagabond Tales, many people have expressed gratitude for music that people can relate to. “It is often the hardest music to express on a daily basis, and not too many people want to feel these emotions or connect with that part of themselves, but when they do want to, it is incredibly important that [this kind of music] is available to them.”- Eva Mikhailovna.

During live performances, Mikhailovna is accompanied by a group of musicians who are known as the “Vagabonds”. The Vagabonds consist of accordion, bass, percussion, trumpets, violins, piano, and other various instruments, although more commonly the band can be found playing as a four-piece group.

Currently, Mikhailovna is accompanied by long-time members Alan Arteaga, Jasmine Capitulo (accordion) and Jacob Pflum (percussion). The band continues building its sound from the foundations of old-time music and melancholy story-telling, bending the laws of traditional songwriting and sound. “The main intriguing factor about The Vagabond Tales is the inexplicit chameleon effect of ageless mood,” writes Independent Feedback Blog. The music is continuing to extend its fan base across the United States, while Mikhailovna is writing and arranging more pieces for the future, touring, and performing all around the west coast. “The natural evolution of their sound will be one to look out for because they are one sleeper hit group that can go somewhere.”

MUSIC AT THE CENTER is a fundraiser for The DVAC and its programs. Doors open at 7:30 pm with the concert beginning at 8:00 pm. Please email dvacinfo@gmail.com for sponsorship opportunities.

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Bill agreed that was one clever idea. So when he came down from the holler, he’d crawl under the house and rap on the living room floor. Usually, Grandma would be back in the kitchen or in her bedroom. I lived in the front room, where I slept on the sofa.

 “See who’s at the door, Raymond.”
 “Ain’t nobody at the door.”
 “I  heard a knock.”
 “Nobody knocked, Grandma.  You must be hearing things.”
 “Don’t be sassy and don’t you be up to no tricks.”
 “Grandma, I’m readin’ a book.” I waited a few minutes; I said, “Grandma, I’m going down to the A&P to see if I can make some money carrying groceries.”

 “All right, but don’t you go gettin’ in any trouble.”
 I was out the door to meet Bill without a wagon.
 That arrangement went on for a couple of months, then I got into a disagreement with Grandma and moved back in with my mother.  No more knocking on floors. One morning Bill came by after mom had left for work.  Must have been about seven. 

“What’s up with you? I asked.  “Kinda early ain’t you?
 “What to hop a freight? 
 We both had itchy feet, always wanting to go somewhere we’d never been. Usually, mom paid our way back, but not always.  We were notorious freight train hoppers often climbing onto a boxcar for a short ride and hopping off at the edge of town, then hiking back home through the woods.  

“Sure, Let’s go.” And off we went.
 This time when we were ready to get off, the train picked up speed, and we were both afraid to jump.
 “Jump, Raymond.”
 “You first.”
 “No, you go.”
 “I ain’t about  jump until you do.”

Meanwhile, the train continued to pick up speed. We climbed down to where the cars hooked up. When the train moved a gap appeared in the connection between the cars. As we breezed along, I let my left foot slip down into that open space. That’s where it rested when the train started to slow down. In a flat second my foot might have become mashed potatoes. I barely managed to yank it out before the connection jammed, squashing my tennis shoes. We ended up in the railroad yards at Point Pleasant by the Ohio River, seventy miles from home. Broke, tired and hungry, we went into a service station where the attendant took pity and gave us baloney sandwiches and glasses of milk. I called my mother, long-distance collect.

“Go to the Greyhound station in Point Pleasant.  There will be two one way tickets to Charleston waiting for you.” We didn’t get to go right home, though. The next bus to Charleston wouldn’t be leaving until the next morning. We slept on hardwood benches in the cold waiting room. When our bus arrived in Charleston during noon-hour, Mom was on duty in the lunchroom.

“You look like drowned rats,” she said, slipping us into a back booth.  “When’s the last time you had anything to eat?”
 “A baloney sandwich in Point Pleasant yesterday.” She ordered us hamburgers and fries. “When you’re finished eating, you get yourself home and take a bath. We’ll talk to tomorrow.” She turned to Bill, “Your dad will take care of you.” It surprised me she’d admit she knew us. We looked like tramps, filthy dirty from the coal soot that belched out of the engine’s smokestack, plus which, I had only one tennis shoe.

Mom never whipped me that time, but I wasn’t allowed out of the house for a month except to go to school and believe me when my mother said a month, she counted the days.

Rivers were an integral part of my youth. I had a great love of water and fishing. Bill and I would walk, hike, or hitch a ride to find a fishing spot. Fortunately, West Virginia abounds in Rivers and creeks – where every kind of fishing imaginable is available.  The Elk River is known to have the most species of fish than any other river in the country.  I can still hold my own with a rod and reel, but I was a late bloomer when it came to flapping my water wings.

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The Woman’s Club is located at 710 West Graham Avenue in Lake Elsinore. Come on out to the Women’s Club, on the first Sunday of every month, for these mixed sessions of talented instrumentalists. Dance your feet off, clap your hands and stamp your feet, or listen to some great music. For more information, contact Arlene at 951-674-6968.

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