Welcome to this brand-new digital edition of the Cacti Chronicles! This is part of an evolution of our efforts to improve communications here at CMC, as well as between CMC and the communities we serve. Thanks for joining us!
Cacti Chronicles Print Edition
First up, while we’re planning on sending out a digital edition of the Cacti Chronicles on a monthly basis, that’s not the only way we’re reaching out. To help inform the communities we serve about what CMC offers, and what campus life is like here, we’re producing a bi-annual print edition of the Cacti Chronicles. The deadline for our first print edition will be the end of this semester, with the paper going to print the first week of January. We will be publishing print editions before Spring and Fall semesters. They will be in newspaper tabloid format, inserted into all copies of the Hi-Desert Star and Desert Trail, as well as distributed to high schools, chambers of commerce, ACCE West, and, of course, here on campus.
There will be at least one student feature story in this print edition, hopefully with more student participation in the future. This is also a great place for your news – new course offerings or programs you’re excited about sharing, events, achievements, and more. Just send it to me at my CMC email with Cacti Chronicles in the subject line. This is for all of us, and it’s designed to be distributed during the registration period for the coming semester. We’ll have news from the CMC Foundation, the President’s Office, EOPS, Athletics, and so much more. Please consider yourself invited to participate!
And please note – we’ll be working more with video and audio, as well as digital and print mediums to tell our stories, so if you have a program, course, student work, event, etc. that you want to feature, get in touch. I’ll also be looking for personal stories from staff, faculty, alumni, and students that help humanize and explain the CMC experience and how our community’s college can make a difference in the lives of the people it touches.
CMC Website Calendar News
If you haven’t taken a look at the CMC website’s calendar recently, please do. We’ve decided to put it to use to feature our campus activities, events, home games, and all the necessary deadlines and dates as well. We just began putting this to use, but we should be in full stride by the time we migrate our calendar app to the new website. Now, prospective students, students, visitors, community members, and media, can all find out in a glance what goes on at the CMC campus.
CMC Student Holiday Art News
As part of the college’s annual holiday tradition, holiday cards are sent out from the college to donors, supporters, community leaders, and others. These cards have always been commercially produced holiday greeting cards. But not this year. This year, with the involvement and support of the CMC Foundation, the President’s Office, and Full-Time Art Instructor Chloe Allred, a holiday card art competition was held here at CMC, with half a dozen cards selected for printing and sale through the CMC Foundation and the annual Festival of Wreaths, and a President’s Choice and Foundation’s Choice winners selected.
The two winners received $100 in gift cards and the four others selected for printing received $25 in gift cards, courtesy of the CMC Foundation. The cards are beautiful, desert-themed works of art that are an excellent way to share your support for our student artists. Cards will be available for purchase beginning at this Sunday’s (November 20, 2022) annual Festival of Wreaths, along with select original student artwork that will be available to purchase.
You may have noticed student artwork included in the CMC digital highway sign’s promotions of the Day of the Dead Student Art Show opening, which will be up in the Bagley Room of the Greenleaf Library through November 29. If you haven’t seen the show yet, it is highly recommended (I bought two pieces already).
Fighting Cacti Games Live Stream
Want to catch a Fighting Cacti Men’s or Women’s Basketball game, but can’t be at the Bell Center to see the action in person? Well, now you can watch live streams of home games from Copper Mountain College’s YouTube channel. It’s easy! Just go to @coppermountaincollege on YouTube and look under the LIVE tab. Don’t forget to subscribe to the CMC channel while you’re there!
Upcoming Campus Events
This Sunday’s annual Festival of Wreaths, produced by the CMC Foundation, is a fantastic way to start the holidays. The wreaths coming in this year for the festival are incredible, along with centerpieces (I hear there will be some Mikal Winn’s jewelry as part of the Beauty Bubble submission), and holiday decor, created by local businesses and CMC supporters. There will be appetizers and a taste of the holiday spirit from Joshua Tree Distillers, along with the fabulous dessert auction. There’s a live auction, silent auction, original CMC student art for sale, CMC student holiday cards for sale, and more – and it all benefits CMC students and the college.
The festivities begin at 2 p.m. this Sunday at the Bell Center. Please join us! Tickets are $10 at the door.
Also, just a heads up for upcoming speakers on campus. Chemehuevi tribal elder, cultural leader and activist, Matt Leivas, will be speaking in the Student Activity Center at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, November 30, to cap off Native American Heritage Month. Matt is active in preserving Chemehuevi tribal culture and heritage as well as traditional Salt Songs.
On Friday, December 2, at 2 p.m., Craig Prater will be speaking at the Student Activity Center. Craig was hand-picked by Sonny Bono to launch and head the Palm Springs International Film Festival and went on to head the Bangkok International Film Festival and many others. He has a special story to share from his life’s journey.
I hope you’ll join us for these events.
Thanks for reading!
Steve Brown
stevebrown@cmccd.edu