That Saturday column

By JOHN HUNNEMAN - Staff Writer | Saturday, September 13, 2008 12:23 AM PDT ∞

And the winner is: Last month, I wrote about Murrieta's Jessica Rauch and her efforts to launch the nonprofit group The Generation Project.

The project, which seeks to provide educational opportunities for children in low-income communities, was in a national competition for $10,000 in seed money. The prize money is awarded by the Web site Ideablob.com, and Jessica was hoping folks in her hometown would log on to that Web site and vote for her project.

Rauch was the 2001 class valedictorian at Murrieta Valley High School. She graduated from UC Berkeley with honors and then taught fourth grade for a year in the Bronx as part of Teach for America, a program that takes recent college graduates and places them in teaching positions in low-income areas.

That teaching experience inspired Jessica to undertake her current project.

This week Ideablob.com announced that Rauch, who lives now in Michigan, and The Generation Project were the winners of the $10,000 prize.

The Generation Project ---- www.thegenerationproject.org ---- is unique because it allows donors to show their generosity not just with their checkbook, but by using their own interests and life experiences, Rauch said. For example, instead of money a musician might provide a set of drums or a guitar for children in need.

Congrats to a local graduate already doing big things in the world, and thanks to all of you voted for her project.

Come and get your art: "It's Showtime," the Arts Council of Temecula Valley's annual fundraiser, returns to town on Sunday at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater.

Local painters, musicians, actors, comedians and visual artists will come together for a good cause beginning at 1 p.m.

Attendance at last year's event, held in October, was hampered by the wildfires surrounding the region and did not reach the $1,000 fundraising goal. Organizers are optimistic about meeting the goal this time around.

Tickets are $20 in advance ---- at either the theater box office or online at www.TemeculaTheater.org ---- or $30 art the door. More information about the Arts Council is available at www.artsinthevalley.org.

From our "enough about your darn colon already" department comes one last bit of news that everything went just fine with my colonoscopy. Thanks for asking. I slept through the whole thing, got a clean bill of health at the, um, end, and was told to come back in 10 years.

I could offer up comparisons between the recovery room and a famous scene from the movie "Blazing Saddles" but that would spoil all the fun for those of you who might soon be undergoing the procedure yourself.

Oh, and my doctor asked me to remind you that it is important for women as well as men to consult with their physicians about having a colonoscopy.

Contact columnist John Hunneman at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2603, or hunneman@californian.com.