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Tickets are $35 if purchased by March 1, and $40 after. For tickets and information, contact Heidi at yvhsab@gmail.com or HeidiHastings@att.net. All types of families are welcome including single adults with or without children. Families may also host multiple students, as long as they can provide appropriate accommodations. For information on becoming a host family, contact Fia Parker, housing director, at 925-876-0080 or fparker@dvc.edu. Applications are available at www.concordchamber.com or from the chamber office at 2280 Diamond Blvd., Suite 200, Concord. Applications must be submitted to the chamber office by 4 p.m. March 28.

Each presentation by Smith, who also wrote “Playland at the Beach: The Early Years,” will moccasin creme summer | soft leather | flats | artisans | carik | cosplay |medieval slipper | driving shoe | ballet flat | lady be followed by signings of purchased copies, Signed copies will also be available on Nov, 3, although the author will not attend that day, Admission of $10 children and seniors, $15 general admission, includes the author event and access to Playland games and exhibits, Details: www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org or 510-592-3002, The publicity from host group Friends of 5 Creeks is intriguing: “What if you could hear with your ankles, shed your skin to get smaller, squeeze seven kinds of silk from millions of tiny built-in spigots, or release a balloon from your hind end and sail 30,000 feet above the earth? What if you had to carry a hundred or so of your offspring around on your back?”..

Castro Valley Fall Festival. The two-day festival features more than 150 booths of fine arts, crafts, local wines and food plus community groups and nonprofit organizations. The 45th annual fest’s theme this year is “Back to the Boulevard,” bringing the event back to its early roots along Castro Valley Boulevard after being displaced during streetscape work. Deets: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sept. 9-10; Castro Valley Blvd. (at Redwood Road), Castro Valley; free admission; www.edenareachamber.com/fall-festival.

Oaktoberfest: Saturday, Oct, 3, A home-brew beer competition will join the dozens of breweries pouring at this annual fall fest in Oakland’s Dimond district, Root biergarten, games for kids, German fare, music, 11 a.m, to 6 p.m, at MacArthur Boulevard and Fruitvale Avenue, Free admission to moccasin creme summer | soft leather | flats | artisans | carik | cosplay |medieval slipper | driving shoe | ballet flat | lady street fair; food, beer extra, www.oaktoberfest.org, Peninsula Oktoberfest: Saturday, Oct, 3, Hiller Aviation Museum again hosts the Peninsula Oktoberfest, Live music (Alpiners, Elks Band), German beer, food trucks, plus Kuchen Kultur German desserts, 11 a.m, to 5 p.m, outside the museum at 601 Skyway Road, San Carlos, Museum admission required ($10-$15); food, beer extra, www.hiller.org..

The show kicked off in bizarrely amusing fashion, as a recording of the instantly recognizable “Star Wars” theme was triumphantly blasted out of the speakers and two folks took the stage wearing storm trooper masks and waving “Team DNCE” flags. Then four more people dressed in “Star Wars” garb hit the stage, battling each other with light sabers. Finally, a Darth Vader helmet was removed from one, revealing Joe Jonas, the singer who first found widespread fame as one third of the Disney-approved band The Jonas Brothers.