Another fun event this weekend! If you head over to Plaza Fiesta (off Exit 90 on I-77) on Sunday from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., there will be a large Venezuelan Independence Day party.

Being offered as a free event (but with things for sale), there will be music courtesy of Eta Carina, a band fronted by husband-and-wife team “West” Bolz and Iliana Ramìrez. Also performing are Tambores de San Juan with their Venezuelan drums, Dj Cali, and the Crazy Hour Samba Dancers. Dancing by attendees will be encouraged so bring your dancing shoes! There are also plenty of kids activities as well (and, of course, their giant indoor kids playground).

When you head out to Plaza Fiesta for shopping or playtime, go ahead and leave your valuables at home or take them in with you. But don’t leave them in your car.

A thief broke into a van parked at Fort Mill’s Plaza Fiesta Sunday night, stealing $325 in electronic equipment, $100 cash and a plastic tub of purses worth about $200, according to a York County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

I know I’m guilty of occasionally leaving my MP3 play in plain view in my car when I think I’ll only be gone a few minutes – but a few minutes is all it takes for someone to complete a smash ‘n’ grab.

My favorite story though, is when I lived in the DC area. I drove with a friend of mine to a club. She drove a soft-top Jeep Cherokee with a removable stereo. We were so familiar with the area and felt so safe that we didn’t even think twice about whether to leave the radio or take it in with us. My friend decided she didn’t want to carry around her stereo all night, so we left it.

At the end of the night we came out and got in the Jeep. My friend asked, “What am I sitting on?” It was the tape that had been in her stereo. Someone stole the stereo, but took the time to remove the tape in the player! I guess the thief didn’t like techno.

I’ve been out to Plaza Fiesta a few times in the past couple of months (mainly so that the kids can play on the ginormous play structure in the middle of the place). I’ll admit that I was surprised when I read that the traditional mall only had one empty store while the marketplace was at 70% capacity.

I’ll have to go back over there and check it out. I haven’t been in a month, and when I did go the storefronts were mostly closed up, and the marketplace was sparsely populated as well.

Is this the kind of mall that is only busy on the weekends? I’ve never been on the weekend – maybe that’s the part I’m missing.

Scorpio CompuSchool is collaborating with the Hispanic Contractors Association of the Carolinas to offer free computer classes to the senior citizens of Fort Mill and Charlotte. Scorpio, which is located at the Plaza Fiesta mall off Exit 90 near Carowinds, offers training in such programs as Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint, as well as business courses like Quickbooks. For more information on the schedule for senior classes or for a list of courses offered, contact (803) 831-0226 or email ScorpioInc [at] aol [dot] com.

I would think these classes can be very helpful. My grandfather may have been a whiz with ham radios, but when he passed away we discovered his computer was riddled with dozens of downloaded computer viruses, not knowing any better.

Save a computer, send a senior.

Photo by MassDistraction.