General Interest

The American Association of Retired Persons is offering free driver safety training classes to all Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, National Guard/Reserves or Coast Guard veterans and their spouses.

The classes will be offered each Monday in November at the McAllen Salvation Army facility at 23rd and Pecan. Each class is limited to 15 people and will run from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Veterans will be required to present a proper service I.D. to the instructor at that time.

Call 682-1468 to reserve a spot in the class.

Two endangered Orinoco crocodiles, once housed at the Seaway Serpitarium in Welland, Canada, arrived at their new home at the Gladys Porter Zoo Wednesday morning. According to Cristina Caballero, GPZ public relations coordinator, they had a successful unloading and are doing well as they acclimate into the new exhibit.

Blade, a 14-foot male Orinoco crocodile (largest crocodile to ever set foot at the Gladys Porter Zoo), and Suede, an 11-foot female Orinoco crocodile are now housed in a former American alligator exhibit located adjacent to the flamingo exhibit. The crocodile crates were hoisted into the exhibit via a large crane.

Read more: Rare Orinoco crocs arrive at Gladys Porter Zoo

EDINBURG – Ciclistas Urbanos (CU) will host the first “Spooks and Spokes Ghost Tour of Edinburg.” This will be a night-ride bike tour of haunted sites in Edinburg, including local cemeteries, a haunted school, the jail, the old theater and more. The free ride will take place Saturday, Oct. 22, starting at 7 p.m. at the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce “Depot” located on 602 West University Drive and ends at the Monster Carwash, 2702 W. University Drive, for a “Monster Mash.”

At each haunted site along the tour, a cyclist will share their tale and personal encounter with the unexplainable. Ride length will be 10 miles.

Read more: ‘Spooks and Spokes’ night bike ride is Oct. 22

Dr. Maya Angelou, hailed as a global renaissance woman, is the first speaker Monday, Oct. 24, in the 2011-2012 Distinguished Speakers Series at The University of Texas-Pan American. Her presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Auditorium. The public is invited to hear Angelou, who is renown worldwide as a poet, memoirist, novelist, educator dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker and civil rights activist.

Angelou has written more than 30 best selling books and continues to make frequent appearances on television and in films. Her script for the movie "Georgia, Georgia," the first by an African-American woman ever to be filmed, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Angelou has received a long list of recognitions for her accomplishments, including three Grammy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Arts in 2000. She has received more than 30 honorary degrees and is the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C

The event is free and open to the public but seating is limited. Doors will open at 7 p.m. for UTPA students, faculty and staff with a valid UTPA ID and at 7:20 p.m. for the general public. Those unable to attend can view the presentation live at www.utpa.edu/live. For more information or special accommodations, call 665-7989.

It’s not too early or too late to get tickets for ¡Fandango! 2011, the Museum of South Texas History’s major fundraising event. This year’s event is a tribute to South Padre Island and the role it has played in the region’s history and heritage and will be held Saturday, Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. MOSTH trustees Kellye Ortega and Shelley Richards are serving as co-chairmen for the event.

¡Fandango! will be filled with island flavor with a surf and turf dinner and hues of blue. Cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m. while bidding on the Sand Bucket drawings and blackboard and tabletop auctions. Texas beef and Gulf shrimp with a variety of side dishes will be served when the buffet opens at 7:45 p.m. During the dinner, the Big Tent live auction begins.

Read more: ¡Fandango! fundraiser is Oct. 22

The Upper Valley Art League has planned their Annual Members’ Exhibit 2011 opening reception for Saturday, Oct. 8, from 7-9 p.m. in the Kika de la Garza Fine Arts Building, 921 E. 12th St., Mission.

Themed “Honoring Lifetime Members,” the reception will present an array of artists’ works ranging from photography, paintings, drawings, to sculpture and more in a wide range of medium. There will be art sales throughout the evening.

The free event is open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Call 583-2787 for more information.

The Upper Valley Art League is offering a four-week segment art class, "Composition and Using the Golden Section," with Linda Jean, instructor.

Students will be taught how to understand color and achieve the right color mixed to suit their need. The lessons will also focus on understanding composition and the importance of important positioning the subject, and how the techniques work alone and together. Class members will be encouraged to paint the subject matter which appeals to them, whether it be portraiture, landscape, floral, anything at all.

Read more: UVAL offers art composition series

The Upper Valley Art League will present “Ad Vitam,” an exhibit featuring the artworks of local artist and teacher, Steve Franklin. The exhibit opening will be held Saturday, Sept. 10, with a gallery reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is free and the general public is invited to attend the opening at the Kika De La Garza Fine Arts Center, 921 E.12th St., Mission. The exhibit will close on Saturday, Oct. 4.

Franklin earned his fine arts degree from The University of Texas-Pan American and is presently an art teacher at Nikki Rowe High School in McAllen, where he has taught for the past 17 years. He began as a printmaker in college and viewers can still see strong influences of these roots in his current acrylic on canvas paintings.

Read more: UVAL hosts Franklin exhibit Sept. 10