Each week, Arts Orange County and Culture OC deliver you this look at the stories and events happening in our arts and cultural community.

Honky Tonk Angels

It's the final weekend to see country music classics get the jukebox musical treatment at the Laguna Playhouse MORE

Fritz Coleman is Weathering Age with Laughter

When Fritz Coleman retired in 2020 after 40 years as lead weather person for KNBC-TV’s local newscast, he’d more than earned the chance to step away from the public eye and relax. But instead, he’s stayed nearly as busy as he was forecasting three times a day, five days a week.

While his daily reach may no longer match the days when Channel 4 news drew hundreds of thousands of viewers – and his vocabulary may have seen a decline in references to inversion layers and high and low pressure systems – Coleman has branched out online with a weekly pop-culture-themed podcast, and he’s deepened his commitment to the craft that opened the door to his Emmy-winning career: stand-up comedy.

Coleman, who lives in Toluca Lake, brings his act to Orange County this weekend: Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Lake Forest Performing Arts Center, and Sunday, Aug. 17 at the Lake Forest Sun and Sail Club.

Stricklands Ice Cream Returns as an O.C. Mainstay

When his kids were young, Neil Liu would take them to Stricklands Ice Cream in Irvine and it soon became a family tradition. When the shop closed in 2018, Liu was heartbroken.

The former C-suite IT executive always joked with the former owner about selling the business to him. Opening a franchise was always a retirement dream of his. Last year, Liu brought the Strickland brand back to Orange County with a new location in Costa Mesa.

“I like that it was the total opposite of what I was doing,” said owner-operator Liu, 59, of Irvine. “My wife said, ‘Why do you want to make the ice cream? Just buy it.” And I was like, ‘That’s the fun part!’”

Urth Caffé: Is It Worth the Hype?

REVIEW: Here’s the tea: The service is unorthodox, the lines can be long, but the food is fantastic.

Each week, we recommend a variety of events and experiences from the listings at SparkOC.com, our free website for Orange County's arts and cultural community.

Opening Reception: Margaret Garcia - "Rostros, Lugares y Momentos"

Celebrate the opening of a new exhibition of the works of one of Los Angeles's most iconic mural artists at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton MORE

Westminster Free Concerts

The 50s and 60s sounds of The Dreamboats are this week's musical offering at the Westminster Civic Center's summer entertainment lineup MORE

Great Park Live: Tropical Nights

The opportunities for food, music, and children's play activities will all share the vibes of the islands at this week's family festival in Irvine's Great Park MORE

Soul Flow Thursdays

Give your inner visual artists a nurturing space to emerge as The Soulland Lab in Orange provides the painting materials and a visual and sonic environment specifically designed to soothe, relax, and inspire MORE