Borrego Springs Community Sponsor Group – Seeking New Members

October 27 session will help beginning and experienced writers develop stories from their own lives Author and writing instructor Suzanne Roberts will present “Writing Your Life: A Generative Memoir Workshop” at the Borrego Springs Library on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The program offers an opportunity for writers to begin a memoir or return to a project already underway. According to the workshop announcement, participants will work through a series of writing prompts designed to help them start, develop or revise their memoirs. Instruction will address overcoming writing blocks, using specific details and sensory imagery, and building scenes. Both beginners and experienced writers are welcome. Roberts’s visit comes shortly after the October 1 publication of her newest book, 52 Writing Prompts: Inspiration for the Creative Writer, from the University of Nebraska Press. Drawing on more than 30 years of teaching creative writing, the book combines discussions of writing techniques with exercises designed to take about 20 minutes. Its themes include memory, family, relationships, grief, and the natural world, with additional guidance on revision and publishing. Her own work includes memoir, travel writing, essays and poetry. Almost Somewhere: Twenty-Eight Days on the John Muir Trail recounts a 1993 backpacking trip with two other women through California’s Sierra Nevada. The memoir won the 2012 National Outdoor Book Award in Outdoor Literature, bringing recognition to a story that explores friendship and personal growth alongside the challenges of the trail. Roberts is also the author of Bad Tourist: Misadventures in Love and Travel and Animal Bodies: On Death, Desire, and Other Difficulties. The latter was longlisted for the 2023 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. She has also published four poetry collections. Based in South Lake Tahoe, Roberts holds a doctorate in literature and the environment from the University of Nevada, Reno, and teaches in the university’s low-residency Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing at Lake Tahoe. The Borrego Springs Library is located at 2580 Country Club Road. For information about attending the workshop, call 760-767-5761. More information about Roberts and her books is available at suzanneroberts.net. 

13th year of festival flyovers features T-34 Mentor aircraft soaring over Borrego Springs Before the first parade entry rolled down Palm Canyon Drive on Saturday, October 17, the crowd along the route was already looking up. The 60th Annual Borrego Days Desert Festival opened with the familiar rumble of aircraft overhead as a formation flyover swept across the desert valley. The flyover was organized by Showboss Productions , a San Diego-based aviation event company led by Christopher “Oz” Van Stelle, who shared that this year's performance marked approximately 13 years of flying for Borrego Days. The aircraft featured in this year's flyover were T-34 Mentors , military training aircraft originally developed in the late 1940s and used to train generations of U.S. military pilots. For Van Stelle and his team, returning to Borrego Springs has become a cherished tradition. "It was a pleasure to fly over Borrego Days again!" Van Stelle said. "As for the experience, it's always a highlight for us. We flew T-34 Mentors and there's no better backdrop for these aircraft than the desert landscape. This was our 13th year, I believe, flying for Borrego Days and the community support has always been overwhelming. We are fortunate and blessed." Showboss Productions specializes in precision aviation events, including formation flyovers, aerial demonstrations, drone light shows, helicopter VIP arrivals and air show production. The company coordinates flight formations, pilots, regulatory approvals and timing to deliver aircraft overhead at precisely the right moment. Its work has included flyovers for the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, San Diego FC and San Diego Wave FC at Snapdragon Stadium, the USS Midway Museum, and LEGOLAND California. Other events have included Fourth of July celebrations, community parades and air shows across the country. Showboss also performs Missing Man formations to honor veterans and others during memorial ceremonies, including tributes at Fort Rosecrans, Miramar and Riverside National Cemeteries. Depending on the event, Showboss formations feature everything from vintage military aircraft and civilian aerobatic planes to former military jets. For Borrego Days, the flyover is a natural fit for a community with a longstanding connection to aviation and the surrounding desert landscape. The two-day festival, hosted by the Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce at Christmas Circle Community Park, celebrated its 60th year with the Saturday parade, Shine & Show vehicle show, live music, children's activities, food vendors and community booths. And for the pilots who have returned year after year, the enthusiasm from Borrego Springs residents remains one of the highlights of the experience. Learn more about Showboss Productions at showbossproductions.com .

Lama Tashi Norbu returns to Borrego Springs for four days of Tibetan art, teachings and traditions.

Families and volunteers worked into the early morning to bring the organization’s parade float to life

The Miss Borrego Springs 2026–27 Court stops by the Borrego Art Institute booth during Borrego Days.

Grand Marshal of the festival’s 60th annual celebration Martha Deichler waved to the crowd along Palm Canyon Drive on Saturday, October 17, as Grand Marshal of the 60th Annual Borrego Days Desert Festival, with the San Ysidro Mountains providing a scenic backdrop. A longtime local educator and community advocate, Deichler previously served as Borrego Springs Elementary School principal and superintendent of the Borrego Springs Unified School District. She now leads the Borrego Springs Community Resource Center as executive director, helping residents access food, transportation, educational opportunities and other essential services. Her place in this year’s parade celebrated a familiar face whose work has touched families throughout the valley.

Stephen Early, Trisha Richter, Amanda Ochoa and Elaine Alfaro joined residents and visitors at the KPBS booth at Christmas Circle.

Supervisor Jim Desmond waves to the crowd at the 60th annual Borrego Days parade on Saturday, October 17.