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Academic Stars Center Director, Leigh Duggan (right) and two students at the Center’s Grand Opening last week. (Photo: Vane)

The Academic Stars Learning Center held its Grand Opening on Aug. 9. The Center is located at 101 Old Mammoth Road, Suite B. Academic Stars provides tutoring and homework help for grades K-12.

Mammoth Mountain, CA – Fifty low-income children from Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Diego will visit Mammoth Mountain as part of After-School All-Stars (ASAS), an organization founded by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Arriving at Mammoth on April 23, the children will enjoy two days of skiing, snowboarding and other activities on the slopes of Mammoth Mountain.

As an added bonus, Mammoth Mountain will donate $5 to ASAS for every paid lift ticket sold during the weekend of April 24-25. Mammoth Mountain is also offering a package for the weekend that includes lodging, two days of lift tickets, tickets to the ASAS banquet on April 24 and a $100 donation to ASAS for every package sold. Details are available at www.MammothMountain.com/ASAS.

Attendees will be treated to all of the things that make springtime in Mammoth great: skiing and snowboarding, sunshine and crowd-free slopes. The kids will also be treated to lodging, ground transportation around Mammoth, rental equipment, group ski and snowboard lessons, gondola rides and group meals courtesy of Mammoth Mountain. Horizon Air is also donating air transportation for 10 San Diego children to fly to Mammoth.

The children can also look forward to a special banquet and career panel featuring Mammoth Mountain employees of all levels as guest speakers. Professionals in hospitality, food service, marketing, hotel management and other areas will discuss their career paths and what their jobs entail.

“We are so grateful to Rusty and Mammoth for creating a life-changing experience for these children,” said Ben Paul, President and CEO of After-School All-Stars.  “For many of these children, this trip will be the first time they leave their neighborhoods, first time they sleep in a hotel, first time they see snow, not to mention the first time they ski or ride Mammoth’s world-class slopes.”

Founded by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, After-School All-Stars was created to provide children with after school programs that are fun for kids and also keep them safe and help them achieve success in school and life.  The After-School All-Stars program serves 80,000 youth annually through after school and summer programs in 13 cities across the country.

In addition to improved self esteem and personal, social and academic skills, children who participate in after-school programs are three times less likely to skip classes or experiment with marijuana or other drugs.  These children are also less likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or engage in sexual activity.  To learn more, visit www.as-as.org.

A satellite uplink will be made available on April 25 with video footage from the events of the weekend. If you would like information or coordinates for the satellite uplink, please contact Daniel Hansen at dhansen@mammoth-mtn.com. -MMSA Press Release

A smooth Vito puts the moves on partner Chelsie Hightower … talk about cha cha cha! (Photo courtesy ABC/Adam Larkey)

Louie Vito dukes it out with Donny Osmond

By The 40 oz. KIllah

I don’t know what you were doing Monday night, but if you missed the premiere of ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars,” you missed a moment in television history. There it was, a professional snowboarder waltzing his way into the hearts of millions of American viewers. A contestant who is also linked to our Mammoth area; Pro Snowboarder Louie Vito.
Louie, like many pros, comes to Mammoth for early-season training to prepare for the upcoming season. I’ve known Louie since he was a kid competing on the USASA amateur circuit. But forget about all that right now. We need to talk dancing. And if one thing is for certain, if Ballroom Dancing ever becomes an Olympic sport, Louie will have the upper hand on any professional snow athlete. Cha cha cha.
As far as the male contestants he’s competing with on the show, Louie is going to have to overcome the decades of popularity of Donny Osmond and the polished moves of Aaron Carter. That said, knowing Louie’s tenacious drive to win, I think he’ll send Donny packing his bags to the wax museum and sneak up behind Aaron, not only stealing his moves, but stealing his girl as well. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d seen Louie with more than one girl on his arm.
Which brings me to Louie’s partner, Chelsie Hightower. Grrrrrrrrrrr. Who let that little leopard out of her cage? I was thinking to myself as I watch the show, “Louie, forget the Waltz. Forget the Foxtrot. Propose dude, propose.” At the end of his performance I was totally stoked on how well he did. And I was also impressed with how well he held himself on camera.
Something else also dawned on me as I was watching the show. Louie will always be an alumni of Season 9 with the other contestants, for Life. And what does that mean? Connections. Big time connections. Let’s take a look at some of the possibilities for Louie in the future.
He’ll never have to worry about pool supplies or replacement water wings thanks to Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer, and new friend, Natalie Coughlin. He’ll be hanging in the Dallas Cowboys VIP suites sipping champagne and scarfing down brats watching the game with buddy and Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. If he ever gets confused and needs some advice on clearing his head, a call to new friend Macy Gray could do the trick, or maybe not.
If he decides to start a business, new big sister Kathy Ireland will be there for business advice and father figure Tom DeLay could provide the connections for raising the dough. (Just don’t ask questions as to where the money came from).
I can also see him chilling out over at the Osborne’s crib sipping a latte with Kelly and getting tattoo advice from Ozzie.
And lastly, UFC champion Chuck Liddell will be his new bodyguard, ready to beat the crap of anybody that takes a swipe at Louie’s size again.
Louie is taller than most men and I’m betting he’s going to kick ass on this show.
Stay tuned for next week’s episode!
FYI … Louie is still alive on “DWTS,” making it through to the next round. He (and Chelsie) avoided the ax that fell on fellow competitors Ashley Hamilton and Macy Gray.