"If you can talk you can sing, if you can walk you can dance."

>> This past Sunday, Seaside’s Laguna Grande Park was the spot for music, barbecue and testifying. Amid intermittent fog mixed with barbecue smoke, music lovers parked in folding chairs and vendors abutting the grass, the Sunday Blues in the Park began its summer run with headlining singer Kaye Bohler backed by a sturdy band that often drifted into rockabilly. In between songs, Bohler waxed philosophical about her dysfunctional family (“My mom taught me how to steal. If I did it right, she was nice to me.”) and her battles with both her weight and with cancer (“Thank God, through the chemo I had extra fat to lose”).

>> Baktun 12, creators of innovative Salinas theater projects like reAlisal: Your Neighbor’s Story and reAlisal: The Untold Stories of Acosta Plaza, have announced their receipt of a $10,000 Cal Humanities grant for their next theater project,Mi Abuelito Fue Bracero. It’s a chronicle, gathered through interviews and research, of Salinas Valley migrant workers of the Bracero Program. They are looking for community members to interview, volunteer and donate. If any of that sounds like you or someone you know, contact them at 204-8797 or baktuntwelve@gmail.com.

>> The Arts Council for Monterey County announces that a grant from their JUMP StArts initiative (Juveniles Utilizing Massive Potential Starting with Arts) to Linda Pedrazzini Hevern will allow her to expand her art program at theProbation Department Youth Center. The work that comes out of it is displayed at the Government Center and Northridge Mall, among other spots, and is meant to inspire the kids to deeper and higher esteem.

>> The Monterey County Film Commission, charged by the County Board of Supervisors with luring and facilitating film shoots in Monterey County, recently elected new board members: They include Jeff Clark (president), Alan Vasquez (vice president), Ellen Wrona (secretary), Troy Kingshaven (treasurer) and Gloria Gargiulo (chairperson). Steve Ellzey and Mary Ann Leffel are at-large members. This matters because one of their new mandates is to get more board representation from Salinas Valley and South County. Sounds promising. Download an application form at www.FilmMonterey.org.

>> Two cultural events rolling along throughout the summer you should keep an eye and ear open to before they’re gone: CSUMB’s Summer Arts program, till July 26, and the Carmel Bach Festival, through Aug. 2.