Austria

Molly Shore On the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the Temple Beth Emet Players will recreate a radio broadcast of the battle for this year's Days of Remembrance of the Holocaust. The radio drama, "The Eternal Light," originally broadcast in 1961, dramatized the 1943 uprising. "We feel it's important for people to remember what happened during the Holocaust so that something like this can never happen again," organizer Sylvia Sutton said.

Ryan Naccarato is taking the family tradition of building model airplanes to new heights. A third-year student at UC Davis, he competed in the Red Bull Paper Wings competition in Austria in April and won third place in the aerobatics category with his paper airplanes. The 19-year-old learned all about aeronautics from hanging around his dad’s hobby shop, Tony and Addie Hobby Lobby, a Burbank mainstay for 60 years. His father, Tony Naccarato Jr., took over the business from his father and mother.

Darleene Barrientos Taking a trip to Austria is exciting enough, but for several California Dance Arts ballet students, the journey will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Nine students from the La Canada Flintridge-based academy, along with owner and director Erin Holt, will fly to Austria Friday for the Salzburg International Ballet Academy Summer Intensive. The workshop is July 11 to Aug. 6. The thought of learning directly from ballet giants like Peter Breuer, principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, the London Festival Ballet and the Munich Ballet; Yehuda Maor, former teacher of the Royal Ballet of London; and Maya Plisetskaya, an international ballet star, is cause for more than just a little anxiety and excitement for 17-year-old dancer Gioel Enriquez.

Almost 70 years after Kristallnacht — the anti-Jewish riots in Germany on Nov. 9, 1938, that are largely regarded as the start of the Holocaust — stories of Holocaust survivors are among the most important windows into a horrifying chapter of world history. And three Holocaust survivors who now live in Burbank — Ruth Marks, 83, Suzanne Goldsmith, 76, and Walter Goldsmith, 80 — were part of a candle-lighting ceremony in Council Chambers on Tuesday, commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Week, April 15-24.

LaVon Ruth Becht LaVon Ruth Becht, 79, died May 31, 2004, in Burbank. She was born Nov. 18, 1924, in Walnut, Iowa, and was a Burbank resident for 55 years. She is survived by her daughter, Randee Becht Borggrebe; brother, Stan Lorenzen; sisters, Ardelle Lorenzen and Janet Eslick; and two grandchildren. Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at First United Methodist Church, 700 N. Glenoaks Blvd. Franklyn Earl Wheeler Franklyn Earl Wheeler, 87, died May 28, 2004, in Burbank.

Laura Sturza BURBANK -- Holocaust Memorial Day, observed at events throughout the city, commemorates lives lost during the Holocaust, and honors its survivors. "It's particularly important in the aftermath of Sept. 11 when we see what hatred and bigotry can do," organizer Sylvia Sutton said. An interfaith service, led by rabbis and ministers from area synagogues and churches, is set for Tuesday. Gunther Katz, a child survivor of the Holocaust and a 2002 Olympic Torch Bearer will speak.

HILLSIDE DISTRICT ? For 20-year-old poet-actress Masiela Lusha, writing and performing are two things that she prefers to separate along strict lines. "I am a poet, period, and I am an actress, period," said Lusha, who played Carmen in the ABC prime-time series "The George Lopez Show." "I don't like to blend the two because it dilutes the importance of one to the other. I don't want to have a hobby of writing, or a hobby of acting. Both are my careers." Lusha's writing career reaches a milestone today with the release of her second collection of poems, called "Drinking the Moon."

Poetry is Masiela Lusha's passion. The 25-year-old actress played Carmen Lopez on "The George Lopez Show. " Now, the Burbank resident is hoping to inspire young children to become comfortable with writing poetry, a gift she said was passed on to her by a teacher. Lusha has two books of poetry to her credit — "Inner Thoughts," written at age 12, and "Drinking the Moon," completed at age 16. Her third book is titled "Boopity Boop! Writes Her First Poem" and tells the story of a 6-year-old girl who is encouraged by her mother to write a poem.

BURBANK CENTENARIAN CELEBRATES 100 Maria Finance , a resident of Burbank for more than 30 years, celebrated her 100th birthday July 15 with members of her family and friends at the Castaway Restaurant. Four generations of the Finance family were present, including her son Charles Finance , a resident of North Hollywood; grandson Charles Finance , his wife, Lynda , and their daughter Hannah Finance, who flew in from Seattle for the occasion; granddaughter Shelley Spranza and her husband, John , who made the trip from Sacramento.

When 5-year-old Matthew Fernandez's leukemia diagnosis because public in April, Michele Ramos knew she had to do more than just help the family with groceries. “You cannot help but look your children in the eyes and wonder if this could have been them,” Ramos said. “We're very, very lucky to have two healthy children.” Ramos, a native of Austria who has lived in Burbank for 14 years, recalled the message she received from Matthew's mom, Ana Fernandez. “I remember getting this phone call on April 3,” Ramos said.

Ryan Naccarato is taking the family tradition of building model airplanes to new heights. A third-year student at UC Davis, he competed in the Red Bull Paper Wings competition in Austria in April and won third place in the aerobatics category with his paper airplanes. The 19-year-old learned all about aeronautics from hanging around his dad’s hobby shop, Tony and Addie Hobby Lobby, a Burbank mainstay for 60 years. His father, Tony Naccarato Jr., took over the business from his father and mother.

Molly Shore On the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the Temple Beth Emet Players will recreate a radio broadcast of the battle for this year's Days of Remembrance of the Holocaust. The radio drama, "The Eternal Light," originally broadcast in 1961, dramatized the 1943 uprising. "We feel it's important for people to remember what happened during the Holocaust so that something like this can never happen again," organizer Sylvia Sutton said.