Acton News IndexBig cats to aid music programs
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Monday, July 11, 2005.
By JIM CROCKETT
Valley Press Staff Writer
A few years ago, the Acton schools relinquished their music programs under district financial pressures. Acton parents, however, had other plans in mind.
In 2003, Sandy Madsen, an experienced music teacher with a child in Acton's Meadowlark School, met with a few parents and other interested locals to discuss alternatives for the children.
"I was the president of the Acton-Agua Dulce Arts Council," she recalled, "so had some experience with the area's parents who were interested in music and the other arts for children. And ever since I grew up in a small Iowa school, music has been a primary love of mine."
She became the spark plug in the group's formation of Acton Schools Music Organization. "We have Sharon Roberts available, a longtime music teacher who has been working at Meadowlark part time. We just had to find a way to hire her full time and buy the equipment she'd need to teach the elementary and above grades, and to produce her annual full-blown musical productions," Madsen said.
Assorted fund-raisers, product sales, bingo evenings and the like followed. But for the upcoming school year, the music organization had to do more.
Enter Tippi Hedren's Shambala Preserve in Acton.
"I've known Tippi quite a while," Madsen said. "She's a delightfully gracious woman who cares about children."
The two came up with this month's "A Musical Safari," combining music, entertainment and much more for a fund-raiser to benefit music boosters and Shambala.
Shambala Preserve will welcome the music organization and the public to an evening "people won't soon forget" from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, July 24, Madsen said. "We'll have wine and beer tastings provided by Agua Dulce Vineyards and Wolfe Creek Brewing.
"There will be a light supper, tours of the facility, plus silent and live auctions. A professional auctioneer will be offering a helicopter ride with the Los Angeles County (sheriff's) deputies in Long Beach; wildlife photos by Shambala's staff photographer, Bill Dow; exquisite dinners; a lunch with Tippi; and a whole lot more," she said.
Also planned is music: violinists, a jazz duo, singers, a guitarist and the "chorus of cats." As Madsen said: "If you've never been around lions and tigers at sunset, you've really missed an exciting experience. Big cats are nocturnal, so they'll be waking up and letting the world know it. It's fantastic."
For those who have never been to Shambala, the animals are securely fenced in, but up close and personal.
Tickets are $100 donation each, but they must be reserved by phoning Madsen at (661) 269-2844 by Friday. Safari attire is encouraged, though guests must wear flat, closed-toed shoes, the better to enjoy the tours and grounds. All guests must be at least 21.
The preserve is at 6867 Soledad Canyon Road, 10 minutes from the center of the village.
"Combining the beauty and thrill of Tippi's amazing animal preserve with the goal of helping music programs for the area's children is a dream of those in ASMO and Tippi," Madsen said. "There won't be many evenings like this one, I promise."