Residents are invited to join Mission Viejo’s “chain reaction” of caring, compassion or kindness by writing their messages on paper chains to link during the City’s Links of Character Linking Celebration on April 25.
The Links of Character event is part of the City’s two-day Arts Alive Festival April 24-25 along the Village Green at Oso Viejo Park, 24932 Veterans Way. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are expected to take part in the Links of Character event, which is inspired by Rachel’s Challenge. The challenge is a highly acclaimed educational program inspired by the life, death and living legacy of Rachel Scott, the first student killed in the Columbine shootings in 1999. Shortly after her tragic death, Rachel’s family found an essay she wrote challenging the reader to show kindness and compassion to others and spark a chain reaction.
The City’s Community of Character Committee has helped several schools, groups, organizations and individuals to embrace Rachel’s Challenge and participate in the April 25 event by carrying their “paper chains” down Oso Creek Trail for the 3 p.m. linking ceremony at Arts Alive-Main Festival Stage.
The public is invited to take part in the festivities and can obtain paper links at City Hall, the Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center and the Arts Alive Festival. For more information and paper links before the event, call Tammy Descoteaux at 949-470-8433 or Leslie McDonald at 949-470-8412.
Arts Alive is the City of Mission Viejo’s annual intergenerational Spring Arts Festival April 24-25. The festival features a bevy of cultural, artistic and environmental activities and entertainment including the 12th Annual Fun with Chalk street painting festival; Green Expo; Rachel’s Challenge and Links of Character; Artes de la Vida; and the Oso Creek Sense of Place Trail Flag Project. The event is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free shuttle service will be available from the Civic Center at 220 Civic Center. Festival parking will be available at Newhart Middle School, the community center and along Veterans Way.
For more information about each spectacular component of the festival, visit www.cityofmissionviejo.org/artsalivefestival.
