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 Shopping
for the holidays? Think Fresno State.
It’s not a major shopping mall, but
California State University, Fresno offers a variety of holiday gift
ideas that ranges from Bulldog sports paraphernalia to delicious food
and beverages from the student-operated campus farm.
Whether it’s a license plate frame
proclaiming loyalty to your alma mater, a jar of Fresno State’s first
bottling of honey or tickets to lectures, dramas, top-flight touring
groups or sports, the campus is waiting for shoppers.
And shoppers will enjoy the spectacular
setting: the campus is a recognized arboretum with seasonal displays of
naturally beautiful trees and other plantings.
The places to shop on – and just off – the
campus are:
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The Bulldog Shop (Barstow and Cedar
avenues, north of Bulldog Stadium)
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Kennel Bookstore (center of campus)
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Save Mart Center (Chestnut and Shaw
avenues)
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Fresno State Farm Market (Chestnut and
Barstow avenues)
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The Bulldog Ticket Office for athletic
events (1600 E. Bulldog Lane)
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Theatre Box Office (Speech Arts
Building)
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University Student Union (center of
campus)
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Ornamental Horticulture unit (3150 E.
Barstow Ave.)
There are many Fresno State items available
this Christmas season; we’re providing just a sample. Please check
venues for times and days they’re open.
 Taste
of Fresno State
The Farm Market’s usual student-produced food and wine offerings are
supplemented with ready-to-give baskets of Fresno State agricultural
products ($20-$65) and plenty of other products wrapped for convenient
giving or stocking stuffing.
For anyone who just has to be among the very
first to try something new, there’s Fresno State Orchards Estate Reserve
Olive Oil ($14.95), the university’s debut pressing; pistachios ($4.99 a
pound packaged, $4.29 in bulk); and honey ($5.95).
The Farm Market has the largest selection of
Fresno State wines from the only on-campus commercial winery in the U.S.
The new is 2006 Nouveau-style red, white and rosé ($6.95). And the
award-wining Fresno State Winery is gearing up for its new winter wine
releases soon to be announced (watch www.FresnoStateNews.com for
details).
This is also the perfect time to purchase a
Fresno State Winemaster’s Weekend Package to attend all the events March
2-3, 2007, at the Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite. The star attractions are
Fresno State wines and other student-made food products prepared by
world-class chefs. The weekend also includes wine tastings and workshops
that help you pair wines and food. Purchases prior to Dec. 31 are
discounted, with a two-night package that includes a room for two and
all food and wine events ($620) and a one-night package that includes
the five-course gala dinner March 3 ($395). Details:
http://www.tenayalodge.com/packages.aspx.
Also available at the Farm Market:
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Strawberry, marionberry, apricot and
mango jam ($4-$4.25 a bottle), apple butter ($4) and chocolate,
strawberry, pineapple and cherry syrup for ice cream or pancakes
($4).
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Almonds in 2- and 8-ounce packages
($1.50 and $4.50) in garlic and onion, barbecue and jalapeño
flavors, roasted and salted and plain; coated in chocolate, yogurt
or butterscotch ($1.95 and $6.75).
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Chocolate, yogurt and butterscotch
raisins ($1.29 and $3.49).
1.5-pound containers or plain raisins made from Autumn Royal, Summer
Royal,
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Ruby Seedless, Golden Flame and Sweet
Scarlet grapes ($4).
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Smoked hams ($2.29/pound).
Farm Market details: 559.278.4511
Gifts of wisdom
For the intellectually curious on gift lists, tickets to the
winter-spring University Lecture Series are entrees to discussions of
ethics, economics, “Lemony Snicket” and health care in the Third World.
First is New York Times ethicist Randy Cohen on Jan. 30, followed by
“Freakonomics” author Stephen J. Dubner on Feb. 27, “Lemony Snicket”
creator Daniel Handler on March 27 and Dr. Bernard Kouchner, a founder
of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Doctors Without Borders, on April 10.
Tickets ($10 general, $6 for Fresno State faculty, staff, Alumni
Association members, seniors and students) are available from the
University Student Union Information Office. Details: 559.278.2078.
 Theater
and dance tickets, too
Fresno State can satisfy the theatrically inclined with tickets for
three spring semester campus productions. “The Little Foxes,” a classic
melodrama written by Lillian Hellman, will be staged at March 2-4 and
6-10. Portable Dance Troupe’s annual presentation of innovative, diverse
works is scheduled March 23-25 and 27-31. The season ends May 4-6 and
8-12 with “Macbeth,” directed by Dr. Edward EmanuEl. Tickets are $13-$15
per event and available at the Theatre Box Office. Details: call
559.278.2216; online
www.cusfresno.edu/Theatre
A big night out
Events in the Save Mart Center at Fresno State might be just the
ticket. The Save Mart Center Box Office can hook up gift-givers with
tickets to see Justin Timberlake (Jan. 17), the Harlem Globetrotters
(Jan. 18), professional bull riding (Jan. 19), The Who (Feb. 25) or WWE
Raw (Feb. 26). And those are in addition to Fresno State men's and
women's basketball and Fresno Falcons hockey. Details: call
559.347.3400; online
www.savemartcenter.com
 Kennel
Bookstore offers variety
If you can’t decide what to give – or put on your own wish list –
that says “Fresno State,” spend some quality time in the Kennel
Bookstore, where choices range from chrome license-plate frames ($8.99)
to Jansport Impulse backpacks with paw prints ($30.99).
The choice for most-unusual might well be
the bottle opener that plays the “Fresno State Fight Song” ($6.99). But
a close runner-up is the snarling Bulldog designed as a golf club head
cover ($23.99).
Gift recipients can stay warm with blankets
($27.99) and scarves ($10.99), plus a Bulldog coffee mug ($8.99).
Already warm is the sweater-adorned Bulldog plush toy ($14.99).
To show off Bulldog pride, there’s a Bulldog
pennant ($12.50), acrylic drink tumblers ($11.99), backboard set
($16.99) and a reversible wipe-off planner ($10.99).
The Kennel Bookstore also sells clothing
from toddler-age up and offers an imprinting service, too. There are
scores of other items, too, including pens, pencils, art supplies,
books, computers and even medical scrubs.
The bookstore plans an open house sale
Friday, Dec. 1, and Saturday, Dec. 2, with big discounts inside and a
tent with other gifts just outside. Details: call 559.278.4062; online
www.kennelbookstore.com
 Books
worth a read
Books by Fresno State faculty, students and alumni provide a little
something for everyone to read. Here are just a few:
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“The End of California” (Alfred
Knopf; 2006), the latest novel by Mississippi native and Fresno
State creative writing professor Steve Yarbrough set in his home
state, but with a Fresno State back story. It is on the Kansas City
Star’s 100 Most Notable Books of 2006.
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“Stuff on My Cat” (Chronicle
Books, 2006), is graphic design student Mario Garza’s compilation of
photos of cats lying still while adorned with many different things
(whipped cream, overalls, Godzilla, etc.). There’s other “Stuff on
My Cat” merchandise, too.
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“Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual
Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians” (Basic Books;
2006), co-authored by English professor Dr. Lillian Faderman with
Stuart Timmons.
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“The Messenger” (Putnam Adult;
2006), the latest from prolific thriller author Daniel Silva, a
Fresno State alumnus, which is one of the Kansas City Star’s 100
Most Notable Books of 2006.
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“Spears of God” (Del Rye/Random
House; 2006), a thriller by former English faculty member Howard
Hendrix about trying to control meteorites that may unlock secrets
about human evolution.
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“Breath: Poems” (Knopf Reprint;
2006), a collection by Philip Levine, a professor emeritus of
English, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1995 and has
won two National Book Awards.
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“Here, Bullet” (Alice James;
2005), poems by alumnus Brian Turner about the war in Iraq from the
perspective of an Army infantryman. Turner won several awards for
the book and recently was awarded a Lana Foundation Fellowship as
one of the nation’s most promising writers.
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“The Guinness Book of Me” (Simon
& Schuster; 2005), an autobiographical work by Dr. Steven Church, an
assistant professor of English that recently won the Colorado Book
Award in Creative Nonfiction.
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“Like Our Mountains: A History of
Armenians in Canada” (McGill-Queen's University Press; 2005),
history professor Dr. Isabel Kaprelian-Churchill’s detailed look at
Armenian immigrants in Canada. It won a Certificate of Merit in
Regional History from the Canadian Historical Association.
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“and the shadows took him” (Atria
Books, Simon and Schuster; 2004), the debut novel by Fresno State
alumnus Daniel Chacon, the English Department’s fall Distinguished
Writer in Residence.
 For
Bulldog fans of all ages
If you’ve got a Fresno State athletics fan on your shopping list,
there’s no shortage of Bulldog gear, with the biggest selection,
appropriately, at the Bulldog Shop.
Check out the blankets, clothing for men,
women and children, hats and beanie winter caps, ties, special alumni
gear and glassware. Popular each holiday season are gift cards that
allow people to get the Bulldog gear they want most.
There will be weekly featured savings
throughout the shopping season and the Bulldog Shop at the Save Mart
Center will be open before, during and after men‘s and women‘s
basketball games.
Details: 559.431-3647. To order online,
visit
GoBulldogs.com.
Music for the new year
Haydn, Beethoven and Mussorgsky wrote music for all seasons and tickets
to pianist Vladimir Felstman’s interpretations of their works are a
perfect gift for any music lover. Felstman plays at 3 p.m. Jan. 21 as
part of the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concert Series presented in
the Fresno State Concert Hall. Details: call 559.278.2337; e-mail
andreas_werz@csufresno.edu
Gifts that grow
In addition to its normal selection of plants, Fresno State
Horticulture sells everything from traditional pointsettias ($6.50 or $5
in lots of 10 or more) to its “California Christmas tree,” a ficus
Benjamina sold decorated ($15) or not ($10). There are a limited number
of 3-foot Giant Sequoias in decorative 12-inch pots for $15 (decorated)
or $10. The floral lab offers fresh-cut wreaths and floral arrangements
for sale and also rents by calling 559.278.7627. Details: 559.278.2952
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