Mark Votapek, assistant professor of cello at the University of Arizona, is an accomplished cellist with a distinguished resume. A graduate of Indiana University’s prestigious Jacobs School of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music, Votapek has served as associate principal cellist with the St. Louis Symphony, principal cellist with the Honolulu, Oregon and…

Donald Godbey of Hemet was “very impressed” to meet the “talking hairy beast” that staffed the Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce booth at this year’s Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival. The Idyll-Beast, a.k.a. David Jerome, hosted the Idyllwild booth for the entire Date Festival, which set record breaking attendance marks this year. The Idyllwild Chamber Booth was virtually near pandemonium with the availability of the popular Visitor Guides and multiple photo-ops for families and school groups with Idyll-Beast, according to Jerome. “Idyllwild is the only resort community represented at the fair this year,” the Beast reported.

New York filmmaker Gary King, one of two Idyllwild CinemaFest 2013 honorees, spent five years in the corporate world of Silicon Valley before deciding to build a career doing what had always been his passion — storytelling, writing and making movies. He ditched the West Coast technology hub and moved with his wife to the…