Hi neighbors —
School’s back — Capo started Tuesday, Saddleback Valley yesterday — and every summer concert series in all three towns has wrapped. Look at the city calendars this weekend and RSM’s is empty, Ladera’s has nothing until September, and Mission Viejo is quietly carrying the whole thing.
Except Friday night. Football season opens tonight, and three of our teams kick off at 7. Here’s where everyone actually is.
📅 This weekend
FRIDAY
🏈 Opening night. Three local teams at 7 p.m. — and only one is playing on its own field.
Mission Viejo vs. Chaparral — Mission Viejo High School Stadium, 25025 Chrisanta Dr. Phone tickets only: $13.60 general, $7 student/child, $6 for kids 5–10 with an adult.
Santa Margarita vs. Jones (Orlando, FL) — a home game played at Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Pkwy, not the RSM campus. $13.60 adult, $6 senior, $4 kids 5–14, plus a parking fee. No outside food or drink, and no refillable bottles — sealed plastic water only.
Tesoro vs. El Toro — also listed as a Tesoro home game, but the ticket page has it at Dana Hills High School Stadium in Dana Point, 33333 Golden Lantern. $11 general, $6 student or senior. Check before you drive.
Trabuco Hills is away at Norte Vista in Riverside. Capistrano Valley opened last week and is off.
🎸 Live music in the Atrium — Oso Creek Golf Course, 27601 Casta del Sol, 6–8 p.m. The Battles (formerly the 5150’s) on classic rock. Free, open to anyone, no reservations — first come, first served. Cocktails and a menu for purchase. Leave the dog home.
💍 Second Time Around — the Senior Leadership Committee’s jewelry and accessories sale at the Murray Center, 24932 Veterans Way, 1–5 p.m. Free to walk in, more than 10,000 items, cash or card. Small purses only, no backpacks. Proceeds go back into Mission Viejo senior services.
SATURDAY
🥒 Mission Viejo Farmers Market & Crafts — 9 a.m.–1 p.m., 25282 Marguerite Pkwy.
🏓 Paddle for the Battle — fourth annual, at the Felipe Tennis & Recreation Center, 27161 Nogal.
Adaptive divisions 10–1, mixed doubles 1–3, women’s 4–6:30, men’s 7–9:30.
Watching is free. Playing takes registration — $100 a team, $40 for the adaptive divisions — and all of it goes to the American Cancer Society.
💍 Second Time Around, day two — 9 a.m.–2 p.m., with new inventory put out.
🧱 LEGO Lounge — Mission Viejo Library, 100 Civic Center, 3:30–4:30 p.m. An hour of free play in the Friends Storytime Room.
🎤 The Band Perry at Lake Mission Viejo — 7 p.m., North Beach. Usual lake rule: members and their invited guests only, no public ticket. If you’re not a member, you need someone who is.
SUNDAY
🥬 Ladera Ranch Farmers Market — 9 a.m.–1 p.m., 28275 Avendale, in the Founders Park and Avendale Clubhouse lots. Fifty-plus vendors, every Sunday, all year.
And Rancho Santa Margarita has nothing at all on the city calendar. Take the win.
🍴 Open & shut
Wholesome Choice is taking the old Orchard Supply. The international grocer people currently drive to Irvine and Laguna Niguel for is going into 24021 Marguerite Pkwy. September is the word going around, but that’s from a retail report rather than the company — don’t plan a shopping trip around it yet.
24 Hour Fitness is taking the old buybuy BABY. About 36,000 square feet at 25322 El Paseo, in the Best Buy center. No opening date announced.
Still waiting: The Goldfinch in RSM, 22312-A El Paseo, is still just “Coming Soon” on its own site.
💬 Around town
Concerts are done. Here’s what’s next, and who can actually get in:
Sept. 11 — Patriot Day Commemoration, Civic Center Plaza, 22112 El Paseo, RSM. Free and open to everyone; the city hasn’t posted a time yet.
Sept. 18 — Aloha Night Swim at Terramor Aquatic Park, Ladera. Residents only, ticketed, capped at 250.
Sept. 19 — Ladera Ranch Clean-up Day, 9–11 a.m.
Sept. 26 — Ladera Pride Community Celebration, Covenant Hills Village Clubhouse, 3–7 p.m. Run with LARCS, and this one’s open to everybody — not residents-only.
💎 One good thing
The Nature Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo. Most people assume the whole thing sits behind the Ranch gate. Plenty of it does — Tuesday open access on Chiquita Ridge, the mud kitchen mornings, the toddler naturalist walks are all resident-only. But a real slice of the calendar is open to anyone who reserves:
Thu., Aug. 27 — partial lunar eclipse viewing, 7:30–9:30 p.m., $10–$15, ages 8 and up
Sat., Aug. 29 — volunteer orientation, 9–10:30 a.m., free, 18 and up
Tue., Sept. 1 — Reading with Reptiles, 9 a.m., free, built for 3-to-5-year-olds
Wed., Sept. 9 — a tarantula talk, free. We won’t oversell it. You already know if it’s for you.
Everything needs a reservation, and the good ones fill.
Reply and tell us: what’s the one thing you’re glad is back now that school’s in?
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— OSO 🐻