5 Things You Need to Know About Watsonville: April 25

Welcome back from Easter weekend. To help you get back up to speed, here are some news tidbits.

Civic leaders Mas and Marcia Hashimoto will be the grand marshals for the 2011 Fourth of July parade in Watsonville. The longtime Watsonville residents, known for their leadership within the Japanese-American community, stopped by on Wednesday to see the 2011 Chyrsler Sebring convertible they will be riding in.

Doug Mattos, senior administrative analyst for the city, said there's still time for groups to enter the parade. Bands, horse groups and car clubs are especially popular.

Firefighters extinguished the Apple Growers fire during the weekend, and crews are working to overhaul what's left of the 80-year-old cold storage facility. That's good progress, except the three-day blaze killed hundreds of fish in the Watsonville Slough, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.

On a lighter note, National Blueberry Pie Day is Thursday. Watsonville-based Driscoll's will celebrate with cookbook author and Bon Appetit contributing editor Dede Wilson. Wilson will host a live chat on the Driscoll’s Facebook page.

All Pajaro Valley Unified School District schools are on spring break this week. The school board meeting also is canceled, so that frees up your Wednesday night. The board meets next May 4 at 7 p.m.

The Watsonville Police Activities League was honored with a resolution from the state Senate earlier this month. The honor was presented by a staffer from Sen. Sam Blakeslee's office during PAL's third-annual golf tournament on April 8. PAL is a crime-prevention program that relies on educational, athletic and other recreational activities to cement the bond among police officers, recreation leaders, and youth and parents. PAL has been in the Watsonville community since 1999 and works with hundreds of youth every year.