THURSDAYS, beginning Aug. 18 Victory Gardens San Diego will offer an eight-week “Gardening 101” garden education course at Christ Lutheran Church, located at 4761 Cass St. in Pacific Beach. The course will include designing and building a community garden on church property. The class will meet on Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., beginning Aug. 18. The course is open to the community. The cost for the eight-week course is $50. Victory Gardens San Diego is a nonprofit organization that helps people start growing their own food. To learn more about the group, visit www.victory-gardenssandiego.com. For more information about the course and to register, call (858) 483-2300. SUNDAY, Aug. 21 Car enthusiasts will get another chance to visit the Charger Steve Wild Rides & Classic Car Showdown event when it returns to Pacific Beach on Aug. 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event includes magicians, comics, singers, dancers and some of San Diego’s premiere automotive creations, including the Magicar antique nitro-burning dragster and the flame-throwing Wild Thang. For more information, visit www.chargersteve.com. SUNDAY, Aug. 21 Open Door Books will host a San Diego Artisans Exhibit. The event will showcase three San Diego artisans. Available for purchase will be a wide range of photographs and one-of-a-kind creations for every taste, with prices for every pocket book. The event will also include refreshments, snacks and music by local musicians. Featured will be the works of photographer Lisa Salus, Fair Trade advocate Lee Quinn and novel jewelry designer Sari Graham. The free event takes place from noon to 3 p.m. at Open Door Books, 4761 Cass St. For more information, call (858) 270-8642, or visit www.opendoorbks.com. SATURDAY, Aug. 27 Paula Paige Mowbray, the new director of music at Christ Lutheran Church in Pacific Beach, and her band Resurrection will host a two-concert benefit event for the victims of the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The concert will feature soul-searching music from Bach to bluegrass in two concerts at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Mowbray is a singer, organist and conductor who first performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Leonard Bernstein at the age of 22. She can sing and play in virtually every genre of music. The concerts take place at Christ Lutheran Church, 4761 Cass St. For reservations, call Open Door Books at (858) 270-8642. Group discounts are available. WEDNESDAY, Sept. 28 The Pacific Beach Town Council will host its 31st annual Police and Emergency Services Appreciation Night (P.A.E.S.A.N.) to honor and thank firefighters, police officers, lifeguards, paramedics and park rangers for their protection and service to the community. The barbeque dinner, which takes place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Crown Point Shores, is $5 per person. For more information, visit www.pbtowncouncil.org.
