Restaurant goers at Urban Mo’s and Baja Betty’s can look forward to seeing their favorite hosts, bartenders, servers, and food runners relocate for their evening shifts on Tuesday March 31, beginning at 5 p.m. and ending at 11 p.m. .

Staff members at Urban Mo’s and Baja Betty’s will be switching teams with Betty’s employees taking over Mo’s, and Mo’s employees will be at the helm at Betty’s. The event is called “The Big Switch.”

“We thought this would be a fun event for our staff as well as the community”, said Chris Shaw, who owns Urban Mo’s and Baja Betty’s. “So many of our employees have such strong followings- we thought it might be fun to switch things up a bit and get the regulars from each restaurant into the other. It’s something we’ve never done before- and everyone is pretty excited about it.”

The Big Switch is more then staff members switching teams – it’s also a fundraiser for the community. Shaw will donate 25 percent of the revenue at each restaurant during the event to The San Diego LGBT Community Center.

“For decades, Chris Shaw has been an unwavering and key supporter of The Center and our larger San Diego LGBT and HIV/AIDS community,” said Delores A. Jacobs, chief executive officer of The Center. “We are incredibly grateful for his ongoing generosity, and deeply appreciate his latest effort to help raise critically needed funds for The Center’s community programs and services.”

“It’s important to support the programs that are cornerstones of our community, especially now,” Shaw said. “We’re excited to be putting together an event that will provide funding for an organization that helps so many LGBT San Diegans on a daily basis.”

The Big Switch will take place on Tuesday, March 31, between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Urban Mo’s is located at 308 University Ave. and Baja Betty’s is located at 1421 University Ave., in Hillcrest.

For more information on The Big Switch, call 619-491-0400 or visit www.urbanmos.com.

The Cesar E. Chavez Commemoration Committee (SDCEC) will present the Cesar E. Chavez Annual Parade on Saturday March 28, uniting the neighborhoods of Sherman Heights, Logan Heights and Barrio Logan. The parade begins at 10 a.m. at 25th and J streets in Sherman Heights, and then heads south on 25th to Cesar E. Chavez Parkway, makes a left on Irving Street followed by a right on Sampson ending at the in Historic Downtown Barrio Logan.

The parade will culminate with a community celebration from noon to 4 p.m., featuring music, community booths, and entertainment. As part of the celebration several pavilions have been set up to provide information and resource on worker rights, immigration, health, and education.

Long time community activist, educator and mentor Gracia Molina de Pick will serve as this years Grand Marshall. Molina de Pick first taught at a National City junior high school, where 70 percent of her students were Hispanic and undereducated; as a faculty member at Mesa College, she founded and wrote the curricula for the first associate’s degree in Chicano/a Studies that appeared in the Plan de Aztlan, the 1970 blueprint for higher education for Mexican Americans; at San Diego State University, she taught Peace Corps recruits and soon became an important voice in the Chicano Movement; and at UC San Diego, Molina de Pick was one of the founders and a faculty member for the university’s Thurgood Marshall College. She is a founder of IMPACT, an early community grassroots organization fighting for the civil rights of Mexican-Americans in San Diego. She served as the Chicana Caucus Chair of the National Women’s Political Caucus and the National Council of La Raza, the first civil rights advocate group for Mexican-American Civil Rights. Molina de Pick was also the national organizer for Chicana participation at the U.N. World Conferences on Women. She is a published author – her latest book, Mujeres en la Historia & Historias de Mujeres, highlights women in Mexican history, covering the indigenous period prior to 1492 through the first half of the 20th century.

For more information on the Cesar E. Chavez Commemoration Committee, the 11th Annual Cesar E. Chavez Breakfast and the 15th Annual Memorial Parade/March, visit www.ssdchavezcommittee.info. In addition to the information listed above you will also find a calendar of San Diego County events commemorating the life and legacy of Cesar E. Chavez.

In an effort to deliver a sweeping message demanding full equality for all people, San Diego LGBT Pride is planning a torch relay that will launch from several points in the county and visit city halls in every incorporated city within the county before concluding simultaneously at City Hall in downtown San Diego – all within a single day’s time.

The target date for the event is Saturday, June 6, which will begin approximately at sunrise and finish around sunset. Committee organizers have begun scoping various forms of transportation for the massive relay, which could include the use of air and sea craft for reaching 18 cities within the county, stretching from South Bay and East County to coastal and inland areas of North County.

Sub-planning committees are currently being organized in each city to generate participation from a wide range of GLBT community members and their families and friends. Multiple torches will be used during the relay to raise awareness of equal rights while also symbolizing the courage, spirit and achievements of the GLBT community, both locally and globally.

“The relay is an opportunity for the Pride organization and our community to take the message of equality and diversity outside the traditional gayborhood,” said Pride’s executive director Ron Ortega deHarte. “Thousands are expected to bear the Equality Torch. Whether we are in El Cajon, Imperial Beach, or Oceanside, we will stand tall and advocate for equal rights and put a face on the GLBT community in every city in San Diego County.”

Supporters from every walk of life and from every corner of San Diego County are encouraged to become a torchbearer in the historic event as well as in its planning. For more information, call 619-297-7683, ext. 107, or e-mail to torch@sdpride.org.

The Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego will proudly kick off its 17th Season of Singing Out with its April concert, “Really Big Songs.” This concert featuring some of the most dynamic music ever written for men’s voices will include selections from the worlds of opera and operetta, the movies, Broadway, and beyond. “Really Big Songs” will be performed on Saturday, April 25, at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday, April 26, at 3 p.m. inside the beautiful Sherwood Auditorium which is part of the Museum of Contemporary

Tickets for “Really Big Songs” are from all Gay Men’s Chorus members and via the GMCSD Web site where audience members can look at a map of the Sherwood Auditorium, select their very own seats, and then purchase their tickets. Seating inside the Sherwood Auditorium is reserved and tickets range from $25-$35 for Saturday evening’s performance and just $20-$30 for the Sunday matinee. The Gay Men’s Chorus has reduced its ticket prices to accommodate even more potential supporters, with discounts still available for seniors, students, military, and groups. For more information about the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego or “Really Big Songs,” call 619-57-GMCSD or visit www.gmcsd.com

The San Diego Men’s Chorus will present its 24th annual spring show on Saturday, May 16, at the Balboa Theatre in Downtown San Diego. The concert, “Blonde Ambition,” will pay homage to history’s most notorious blondes, from Mozart to Madonna. The four dozen men of the chorus will sing selections by Dolly Parton, Olivia Newton-John, Joni Mitchell, and the Dixie Chicks, to name a few. The show will also include selections more generally about hair from some of Broadway’s biggest blockbusters.

Local recording artist Delaney Gibson will join the guys. Delaney has been called one of Southern California’s most gifted up-and-coming artists. Her original music has received critical acclaim, and her versatility in performing everything from Broadway to jazz and artsongs makes her a perfect match for SDMC, according to the group.

This performance will be the last main stage production programmed and conducted by Artistic Director Jerry R. Foust, who has recently been hired as the new Managing Director of the Berkeley Playhouse in the Bay Area.

The show is a one-night-only affair on Saturday, May 16, with the performance time at 8 p.m. The Balboa Theatre is located at 4th & E streets, adjacent to Horton Plaza in Downtown. Tickets are available now at www.sdmc.org, where the chorus charges no fees. Tickets may also be purchased by calling the Balboa Theatre/TicketMaster box office at 619-570-1100.