by Andrew Alonzo | calendar@claremont-courier.com

Friday, March 31

• Improve your tap-dancing skills at the Joslyn Center, 660 N. Mountain Ave., with a free 12:30 p.m. beginner’s course. Register by calling (909) 399-5488.

• An interactive Alice in Wonderland exhibit, “Books come alive: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” will be hosted by the Claremont Forum and Claremont Gallery today and April 1 from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Claremont Packing House atrium, 586 W. First St. ShamaMamahs will perform at 6 p.m. today, and attendees can meet Alice April 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Call (909) 626-3066 for info.

Saturday, April 1

• Various egg hunts and spring celebrations— for children and adults —  will held in the cities of La Verne, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, San Dimas, and Upland today. Details are here.

• Pilgrim Place, 625 Mayflower Rd., Claremont, will hold its first first Saturday sale of the post-pandemic era. Furniture, books and home goods and coffee and donuts will be for sale from 9 to 11 a.m. Proceeds will go to Pilgrim Place’s resident health and support program. For more details call (909) 399-5500.

• Claremont resident and Special Olympics coach Janine Williams is seeking college student volunteers to spend time with Special Olympics athletes from 9 to 10:30 a.m. each Saturday at Claremont High School, 1601 N. Indian Hill Blvd. Bring a water bottle, athletic shoes and run or walk the track with athletes 16 to 40 years old. Equipment is provided. Call (909) 518-1496 for details.

• California Botanic Garden’s annual poetry festival, Garden of Verses, returns today to 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont. Along the mesa garden paths, activities such as poetry readings and create your own poem stations will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event is free with garden admission. Then “Flower hour,” a 21+ ticketed event featuring music from ShamaMamahs and poetry readings by former winners of Claremont Graduate University’s Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Prize, takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets, $20 for members and $25 for non-members, must be purchased at calbg.org. For more information call (909) 625-8767.

• Opening receptions for “From a gift to a collection: Igal and Diane Silber,” and, “Waiting in silence (through the long years),” take place from 4 to 6 p.m. at the American Museum of Ceramic Art, 399 N Garey Ave., Pomona. Reserve free tickets at amoca.org/events. For details call (909) 865-3146.

• Enjoy local artwork during the free and open to the public Claremont Art Walk, held the first Saturday of every month between 6 and 9 p.m. Details about this month’s walk appear here. Email claremontartwalkinfo@gmail.com for more info.

Sunday, April 2

• Local high school students from Project ARTstART lead children through fun art activities at the Claremont Lewis Museum of Art, 200 W. First St., every first Sunday, which is also free family day, at noon. The museum is open until 4 p.m. For more details visit clmoa.org.

• Zzaj plays a free concert from 2 to 5 p.m. at College Center, 665 E. Foothill Blvd., Claremont. To view the monthly lineup of shows or for more information, visit jazzatcollegecenter.com.

• Pianist Aron Kallay will perform works by Scriabin, Messiaen and Alvin Curran, and new music from Rajna Swaminathan and Dante De Silva at the Shanahan Center’s Drinkward Recital Hall, 320 E. Foothill Blvd., Claremont, from 7 to 8 p.m. Audience members must provide proof of vaccination and be asymptomatic. Visit arts.hmc.edu for more information.

Monday, April 3

• Starting today, Claremont Pooch Dog Park, 100 S. College Ave., will close for temporary maintenance until Monday, May 3. For details, visitci.claremont.ca.us.

• The Pomona Pride Center, 386 S. Thomas St., hosts reading rainbow, a book club by and for the LGBTQ community, every first and third Monday from 5 to 6:30 p.m.⁠ April’s selected reading is “Some Girls Do,” by American author Jennifer Dungan. For details visit pomonapridecenter.org or call (909) 326-0482.

• Elizabeth Farfán-Santos, medical anthropologist, and author, will discuss her 2022 book, “Undocumented Motherhood: Conversations on Love, Trauma, and Border Crossing,” during her free and open to the public 6:45 p.m. talk at Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum, 385 E. Eighth St. For more information visit cmc.edu/athenaeum or call (909) 621-8244.

Tuesday, April 4

• A free journaling nature course takes place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Joslyn Center, 660 N. Mountain Ave., Claremont. The class helps seniors learn to write nature entries, apply scientific data, and draw to log the great outdoors. Call (909) 399-5488 for information.

• Los Angeles-based writer Jean Chen Ho, author of “Fiona and Jane”, is this week’s guest at the free and open to the public Scripps Presents @noon series, at the Hampton Room, 1030 Columbia Ave., Claremont. For details or to RSVP, search “Jean Chen Ho” at eventbrite.com or visit scrippscollege.edu/events.

• The Claremont Chamber of Commerce’s monthly noon lunch and learn session will take place at Endless Fitness, 1420 N. Claremont Blvd., suite #200D, Claremont. This week’s topic is work life balance with Darlene Berg. The meeting is free for chamber members. Non-members are $10. Register at business.claremontchamber.org/events.

• The Claremont Planning Commission meets at 7 p.m. at the council chambers, 225 W. Second St., Claremont. Agendas are posted online and at city hall the Thursday before the meeting. Visit ci.claremont.ca.usfor meeting details or Zoom info.

Wednesday, April 5

• Pitzer College’s Gold Student Center, 1052 Pitzer Service Rd., Claremont, hosts blood and power red drives between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. today. Power red transfusions refer to the transference of a concentrated dose of red cells and typically take about an hour. Register online at redcrossblood.org or call (909) 607-7492 with any questions.

• Children 1 to 12 are invited to a free event, color Mainiero Square with chalk, at the corner of D and Third streets in La Verne, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. to win prizes from the City of La Verne. Chalk will be provided. Participants must preregister before Tuesday, April 4 at La Verne City Hall, 3660 D St., or by calling (909) 596-8700.

• Seniors can get free help preparing their taxes at the Service Center for Independent Life, 107 S. Spring St., Claremont, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants should bring valid identification, W-2 or IRS form 1099-MISC documents, banking and tax-deductible information, and original copies of social security card(s) for those listed on documents, as copies will not be accepted. For more information call (909) 621-6722.

• On the first and third Wednesdays of the month, Heart Heroes hold free and open to the public hands-on cardiopulmonary resuscitation trainings from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Pomona Public Library, 625 S. Garey Ave. For more info visit pomonaca.gov or call (909) 802-2650.

Thursday, April 6

• This month’s Claremont Chamber of Commerce walk begins at 8 a.m. at California Botanic Garden, 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont. Admission is $5 for chamber members and free for CalBG members and children under 3. Non-member prices vary. Attendees must register by Tuesday, April 4. For details visit business.claremontchamber.org.

• The Joslyn Center, 660 N. Mountain Ave., Claremont, holds a free puzzle exchange group from 10 a.m. to noon on the first Thursday of each month. Call (909) 399-5488 for info.

• Children ages 4 to 12 can learn how to grow salad ingredients such as lettuce and tomatoes with San Bernardino County Master Gardener Janeen Williams at Magnolia Recreation Center, 651 W. 15th St., Upland, from 4 to 5 p.m. The course is $6 per child. To register, visit uplandca.gov. 

• “Native Gardens,” a comedy by Karen Zacarías, opens at Ophelia’s Jump Productions, 2009 Porterfield Way, suite H, Upland, at 8 p.m. tonight. The show will run through Sunday, May 7. General admission is $35. College students with I.D. are $25. Thursdays are “pay what you can/pay it forward” days with a $15 minimum. For showtimes and tickets, visit opheliasjump.org or call (909) 734-6565.

Friday, April 7

• Scripps College’s free and open to the public Friday Noon Concert at Balch Auditorium, 1030 Columbia Ave., Claremont, kicks off at 12:15 p.m. with Pomona College student pianist Gayle Blankenburg playing music by Florent Schmitt. Doors open at noon. Call (909) 607-3266 for details.

• The Claremont Senior Computer Club holds a free technology assistance lab at the Joslyn Center, 660 N. Mountain Ave., from 1 to 4:30 p.m. on the first Friday of each month. The lab is open to seniors wanting help with their laptops, tablets, phones, or other devices. Computers are also available. For details visit ci.claremont.ca.us.

• The war and existentialism book club meets the first Friday of each month from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Joslyn Center, 660 N. Mountain Ave., Claremont. April’s book is “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini. Attendance is free but preregistration is required by calling (909) 399-5488.

Saturday, April 8

• The City of Claremont’s spring celebration runs from 8 to 11 a.m. at Memorial Park, 840 N. Indian Hill Blvd. The Kiwanis Club of Claremont kicks things off with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. At 9 a.m. the first inclusive egg hunt begins, followed by the traditional egg hunt for children ages 3 to 12 at 10:45 a.m. Golden eggs with tickets for special prizes will be scattered throughout the hunts. For details, visit ci.claremont.ca.us or call (909) 399-5490.

• On the second Saturday of the month, the Friends of the Pomona Public Library hold a noon to 4 p.m. book sale at Pomona Public Library, 625 S. Garey Ave. For details email friendspomonalibrary@gmail.com.

• The public is invited to the free Pomona Art Walk at the Pomona Arts Colony, near 100 W. Second St., from 5 to 9 p.m. It includes a community market in the Shaun Diamond Plaza, on the corner of west Second and Thomas streets, with crafts, jewelry, candles, clothing, and food. Visit downtownpomona.org for details.

• A free and open to the public Scripps College faculty recital will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Balch Auditorium, 1030 N. Columbia Ave., Claremont. Performers of “New Voices” include Anne Dorothy Harley, Joo Bean, Alastair Edmonstone, Sean Harvey, Yll Kah Hoe, and Young Tseng Wong. For details call (909) 607-3266.