The Peace Tower stands illuminated against the dawn sky as city lights twinkle below and the sun prepares to rise over the mountains. The historic landmark offers sweeping views of Riverside in the golden pre-dawn glow. (Luke López) Have a photo that captures the spirit of Riverside? Share it with us and help celebrate the beauty of our community!
Sunday Gazette: December 21, 2025
Hello Riverside, and Happy Sunday! Today marks Yule, the winter solstice and the longest night of the year. From here on out, the days start getting longer again.
For thousands of years, people have celebrated this turning point with candles, fires, and gatherings with loved ones. It's a nice reminder that even in the darkest part of winter, we're already on our way back to spring.
However you're spending your Sunday, we hope it's a good one!
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Frank Miller's Christmas Pageant Brought Mission Inn Family Together
For 20 years, the inn's founder staged an annual Nativity production blending California mission history with the Christmas story.
Photo of Pageant in the Mission Inn Cloister Music Room. (Courtesy of the Mission Inn Foundation)
Frank Miller of the Mission Inn started a Christmas tradition in 1915. In the Cloister Music Room, Miller, his family, and staff from the Inn performed a Christmas Pageant. With Miller's love of the romanticized stories of the California Missions (upon which the very architecture of the Mission Inn was based), he developed a play in which Nativity scenes from the life of St. Francis, and as he perceived Father Serra, were performed to tell the Christmas story to the Native Americans at the California Missions.
On Christmas Eve in 1915, the curtain went up at 8:30 p.m. for the Miller family, employees and guests of the Inn, and special guests who held song service cards. Frank Miller, who often wore the brown robe of a Franciscan monk, played Father Serra. Miller performed as Father Serra every year from 1915 through 1934. He died on June 17, 1935. The last performance seems to have been in 1935, several months after Miller's death.
Family Promise director asks Riverside neighbors to extend holiday spirit of giving into every season.
Family Promise of Riverside volunteers celebrate after supporting the organization's emergency shelter program. "The work that we do is community," Family Promise posted on social media. "We are so grateful to this amazing group of individuals who came together to support our emergency shelter program. When we all give what we can we all have what we need!" (Courtesy of Family Promise of Riverside/Facebook)
Dear precious neighbor,
I absolutely love this time of year! I love the nostalgia of particular songs playing in every grocery store, mall and waiting room (yes that was me singing a little off-key in the produce aisle). I love the visual delights of pines and lights and glittery orbs. I love all of the trappings of the holiday season but I submit to you, dear neighbor, that those are mere signals for our hearts and hands to orchestrate the real magic. The intentional connections to one another and our community, I believe, are the real charm enchanting the season. It is the sweet nod of a fellow driver on the road allowing you over into a lane on the busy 91 Freeway. It is the "happy holidays" greeting as a fellow shopper holds the door a little longer to ease your entry into your favorite coffee shop. And even more, there are the brightly wrapped boxes and trees donned with snowflakes asking for gifts for those in our community that have less. I think what makes the season most magical is our focus on one another. We happily shine a light on the seniors in our community that need a little company, or the children in our community that may not have a special present under the tree. This time of year we search for those opportunities to give and share and connect with others that might not have as lavish a celebration as we have.
Holiday Window Painters See Business Boom After Gazette Feature
Raincross Window Painting picks up first business client and returns to childhood school.
Ariel poses with her Charlie Brown and Snoopy design at Trubliss Fitness, Raincross Window Painting's first business client since The Raincross Gazette featured the trio last month. (Courtesy of Raincross Window Painting)
Three Riverside City College students turned childhood friendship into a booming window-painting business after The Raincross Gazette featured their work last month.
Why it matters: Jewell, Ariel and Felicity are bringing hand-painted holiday art to Riverside storefronts and homes — offering an alternative to mass-produced decorations while supporting local artists.
What's new: Since the article ran, they've completed their first business commission at Trubliss Fitness and painted a residential window near George Washington Elementary School, where the three artists first met as children.
Driving the news: Snoopy designs dominate requests. Multiple clients have asked for Charlie Brown characters, with Snoopy and Woodstock atop the decorated doghouse as the most popular piece.
What they're saying: "Seeing businesses trust us with their storefronts has been really exciting," Jewell said.
Their dream canvas: The Mission Inn. "It would be a dream location for us, especially during the holidays," Jewell said. "We'd love to bring some seasonal window art that makes it feel even more festive and magical."
The bottom line: These Poly High graduates are turning neighborhood windows into local art galleries, one hand-painted Snoopy at a time.
This week, we shift our attention from the record of past transactions to the relentless marker of the future: the watch. I’m talking about the timepiece we This week, we move from the ephemeral chill of the ice cube to a potent, proof of purchase: the receipt. This small slip of paper (or more likely these days, text or email) is an artifact of consumerism; one noticeably less plentiful than before. We are often given a choice to skip the paper receipt, a small eco-conscious act that also manages to erase the physical trace of our daily transactions.
Do we need receipts less? Absolutely. Our apps record every transaction. You don’t have to buy something to generate a record, just looking or talking about objects is enough in our digital age! Paper proof is downright archaic when it comes to modern commerce. All this makes one thing clear: receipts are in need of a new purpose. Where better to find a new purpose than through artistic expression?
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