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Around Town: Historic warbirds to salute veterans and health workers with flyover on Memorial Day

Daily Pilot - 5/22/2020

May 21--It 's a bird, it 's a plane, it 's -- oh, wait, it really is a plane. Eighteen historic warbirds, to be exact.

On Memorial Day, the warbirds will take flight again over Orange and Los Angeles counties and the Inland Empire to salute not only veterans, but the health workers responding to the COVID- 19 pandemic.

Commemorative Air Force Inland Empire Wing operations manager Bill Prosser told City News Service that the organization thought of the idea after seeing the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels ' fly- bys. The Thunderbirds previously flew over parts of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Ventura and Riverside counties on May 15 as part of a two- week- long campaign called "America Strong " by the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, and the Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, as a show of national solidarity in parts of the country that were hit hardest by COVID- 19.

Monday 's flight will be called "Memorial Day : Operation Social Strong " and will fly over 19 designated locations, starting at noon :

-- Loma Linda University Medical Center -- Riverside National Cemetery -- Anaheim -- St. Joseph Hospital, Tustin -- John Wayne International Airport -- Pacific View Memorial Park, Corona Del Mar -- Newport Beach -- Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital -- The Queen Mary -- USS Iowa Memorial -- Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes -- Zamperini Airport, Torrance -- Los Angeles International Airport -- Santa Monica Airport -- Los Angeles National Cemetery -- UCLA Medical Center -- USC Medical Center -- City of Hope Hospital -- Chino Municipal Airport John Wayne Cancer Foundation partners with TropicSport during Skin Cancer Awareness month Teaming up for May 's Skin Cancer Awareness month, Newport Beach- based John Wayne Cancer Foundation and eco- friendly sunscreen maker TropicSport are passing out free mineral face sticks to educate youth about the dangers of sun exposure and skin cancer.

"Block the Blaze " is an annual campaign that helps educate nearly 25, 000 junior lifeguards and reaches another 50, 000 students in school presentations throughout the nation.

Youth learn five sun safe tips designed to help safeguard against skin cancer -- apply sunscreen, put on a hat, wear sunglasses, cover with clothing and seek shade.

To help enforce the lesson, program participants receive a co- branded SPF 30 water resistant, non- toxic face stick along with a JWCF "Block the Blaze " trucker hat to help block the sun 's rays while they 're out and about.

While in- person programming and presentations, typically run in mid- June, may be altered due to the coronavirus pandemic, organizers say they plan to take advantage of recent beach reopenings to help spread the word.

To learn more, visit johnwayne.org /blocktheblaze Friendship Shelter to host virtual town hall event The Friendship Shelter, which runs the Alternative Sleeping Location shelter on Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach, will be holding a virtual town hall on June 1 to discuss how the COVID- 19 pandemic has affected the organization, its staff and clients.

Since the statewide stay- at- home orders were implemented, the shelter has adopted what the organization describes as "significant changes " to meet current federal, state and local agencies. The virtual town hall is scheduled to begin at 4 :30 p.m.

The organization plans to discuss its experiences working with homeless men and women during the pandemic. Community members are encouraged to send their questions in by email or to RSVP at office @friendshipshelter.org. A link will be shared to all RSVPs as the date comes closer.

"Housing and health are interconnected, and in this time we are seeing that connection more clearly. There are some significant differences in how our clients in shelter versus housing are coping with our current situation, " said Dawn Price, executive director at Friendship Shelter, in a statement. "We 're happy to have this opportunity to meet virtually to answer questions, share some of our recent learning and talk about what 's next for us."

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