Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/3059
HILTON'S JOE BERGER GREETS THE PRESIDENT AND FIRST LADY Hilton Hotels Americas VP Joe Berger and his wife Beth greet President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner held at Hilton Washington in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, May 9, 2009. For more than 30 years, Hilton Washington has hosted the prestigious annual event which draws luminaries from politics, busi- ness, media, and Hollywood to raise money for journalism scholarships at educational institutions across the coun- try. Other notables at the hotel attending the dinner included actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Colin Firth, Owen Wilson, Kevin Bacon and Natalie Portman; comedians Whoopi Goldberg, Mike Myers, Denis Leary and Chris Rock; tel- evision news media Barbara Walters, Brian Williams, George Stephanopoulos and Bill O'Reilly; and politicos RNC Chairman Michael Steele, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, Congressman John Lewis who marched on Washington with Dr. King in 1963, and more. MID-LOS ANGELES' LEIMERT PARK GETS A NEW MUSIC CENTER Opening June of 2009 The Mid-City Music Center will be opening its brand- new Music Series at the The Gallery with two Gala Inaugural Concerts the weekend of Friday, June 19 at 8PM and Sunday, June 21 at 3PM. The Gallery, an inti- mate concert venue, is located within Leimert Park's Lucy Florence Cultural Complex at 3351 W. 43rd Street, Los Angeles. The event will begin with a Piano Recital, follow with an Inaugural Ceremony, and end with a Champagne- Hors d'oeuvres Reception. Leimert Park/Village is emerging as one of Los Angeles' premier cultural and commercial centers. More festivals are held in Leimert Park and its village than in any other community in Los Angeles, and the region is home to many businesses. In its heyday, Leimert Park was much like Harlem's golden era: jazz clubs, art galleries, and museums proliferated, Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles lived in the neighborhood, and numerous cele- brated poets and musicians frequented both the village and the park. Leimert Park remains the cultural heartbeat of African-Americans' Los Angeles. It is also home to Asian retirees, Caucasians, and increasing numbers of Latinos. The park hosts numerous news conferences: many con- vening either at the Lucy Florence Coffeehouse on West 43rd Street or in triangular Leimert Plaza Park; these events occur amidst a backdrop of fountains, fully occu- pied benches, and on some weekends, drummers. The city has ambitious plans for the park, and several revitalization projects have been earmarked. These include (I) maintaining the character of the village, and adding business-owner booths, (II) diversifying and increasing the capacity of businesses, (III) increasing foot traffic, (IV) diversifying the patrons, (V) establishing Leimert Park as a tourist destination, (VI) making the area more multi-use oriented and multi-cultural, (VII) encouraging poets, artists, and musicians already within the community while attracting others from outside, (VIII) establishing artist-housing – also useful for securi- ty measures, (IX) developing theatrical productions for various groups – youths and adults, (X) establishing an Black Meetings & Tourism June/July 2009: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 12 IN THE NEWS