Font ResizeDenise Noldon will be officially welcomed as the new president of Contra Costa College at a community reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 15 in the library at CCC, 2600 Mission Bell Drive in San Pablo.
The veteran educator was chosen from four finalists in May to becomes the college's 11th president, succeeding longtime CCC administrator McKinley Williams.
The reception is a chance to meet Noldon and learn her vision for the campus, which has an enrollment of more than 8,200 students but has seen state funding become tighter in recent years.
Noldon is new to the San Pablo campus but not to the area. She is a native of the East Bay and graduated from Berkeley High School in 1973.
She earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master's degree in counseling/student development in higher education at CSU Long Beach, and a doctorate in college student personnel administration at the University of Maryland at College Park.
Her career has included more than 20 years as an educator, teaching at Drexel University in Philadelphia and Oregon State University and serving in administrative and counseling positions at Chabot College and Las Positas College.
Before being selected for the Contra Costa College post, she was the vice president of student development and enrollment management at Folsom Lake College in Folsom, Calif.
In a story in the Contra Costa College student newspaper The Advocate, Folsom Lake Dean of
For more details or to RSVP for the reception, contact Melody Hanson at 510-235-7800, ext. 4206.
"GREASE" AUDITIONS: Aspiring actors ages 14 through 26 can try out for roles in the upcoming West County Musicals production of the pop culture rock and roll favorite "Grease."
Auditions will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Pinole Community Playhouse, 601 Tennent Ave.
The musical, focused on the senior class at Rydell High in 1959, features the song "Summer Nights" and other numbers that have become singalong classics.
To try out for the roles of Danny Zuko, Sandy, Kenickie, Doody, Roger, Marty, Rizzo, Sonny, Frenchy or Cha Cha, auditioners should prepare a song in their key and be dressed to dance. An accompanist will be provided, and CDs are acceptable.
Performances will be in October, with Dave Clark directing, Anjee Norgaard doing choreography and Dean Starnes handling musical direction.
For more details, call 510-724-9844.
WEST COUNTY NOTES: Carnival of Stars, that annual extravaganza of belly dance, comic books, art, costumes and clothing, jewelry, art and other live entertainment and exotica, is back at the Richmond Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Somehow they even manage to fit panel discussions into the schedule.
Tickets are $15 at the door or $6 for children under 12.
Details: www.carnivalofstars.com/home.htm.
"It's time to celebrate the incandescent Marilyn Monroe, who left us exactly 50 years ago -- far too early," write the Friends of the Cerrito Theater, the nonprofit group that hosts the classics series.
Details: rialtocinemas.com.
The 24-hour benefit for the American Cancer Society starts at 10 a.m., with a survivor lap at 10:30 a.m. and the luminaria ceremony at 9 p.m. The closing ceremony is at 10 a.m. Aug. 12.
Last weekend, work began on the piers of the elevated track at San Pablo Avenue north of Conlon Avenue. Traffic on San Pablo, as a result, will be reduced from two lanes in each direction to one between Conlon and the city limits at Richmond.
Work, and the lane closures, are expected to continue until January.
According to a notice on Richmond's website, "BART is looking at ways to speed up the work. However, the lanes will be reduced for a period of three to five months."
Contact Chris Treadway at 510-262-2784 or ctreadway@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/christreadway. Stay up-to-date on West Contra Costa news at IBABuzz.com/westcounty.
