Start Your Story Workshop Expanded to 40 Participants

(Vehicle in left hand portion of the photo) Photo credit: Jim Torian, Facebook

Jill Feltovich leads weekly Monday morning sessions sponsored by the Borrego Valley Endowment Fund Residents looking for a gentle way to start the week can join free tai chi classes at Christmas Circle Community Park, led by certified senior instructor Jill Feltovich. Sessions began October 19 and meet Mondays from 9 to 10 a.m., weather permitting. Often described as “meditation in motion,” tai chi is a Chinese practice of slow, flowing movements paired with steady breathing and focus. Its low-impact nature makes it welcoming for people of all fitness levels, and regular practice is widely recognized for helping with balance, strength, flexibility and a sense of calm. Feltovich teaches Yang style tai chi, the most widely practiced form, known for its smooth, graceful movements. Classes also include tai chi bang, which uses a short wooden stick to guide stretching, twisting and coordination exercises that help loosen the joints and build strength through the upper body. Feltovich brings 16 years of tai chi experience to the park. She is a certified senior instructor and a disciple of Master Jesse Tsao, and she shares her practice with the community at no cost. The open-air setting of Christmas Circle, with mountain views and morning desert light, offers an ideal backdrop for the practice. Sessions are free, and donations are welcome. The program is sponsored by the Borrego Valley Endowment Fund. 

Community invited to create traditional Día de los Muertos decorations Thursday, October 22

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 .