Violet Farley: Spelling Bee Champ, Rocker for the Arts, Gymnast, Cartoonist, Volunteer and 'Good Egg'

There are two things you notice when you meet 10-year old Violet Farley – her adorable dimples and enormous smile that lights up the world. Violet is a happy kid and you’ll hear her parents Keythe Farley and Ann Closs-Farley describe her as “a good egg.”

On Saturday, Violet has a very busy day. She and her 8-year old sister Ruby will be driving to Long Beach in the morning for an intense gymnastics competition. By 6 p.m. she’ll be back in Valley Village playing trombone in an all-girl 5th grade band for Colfax Charter Elementary’s Rockin’ for the Arts concert. That night she’ll drive back to Long Beach for another full day of gymnastics competitions. In between, she’ll also be catching up on reading for Colfax’s Readathon competition.

Violet takes intense gymnastics lessons seven hours a week. She plays trombone in the school orchestra. She dances, acts and sings in school and community plays. Violet won the Colfax spelling bee two months ago and went to regionals at . She lost with the word “implement,” but she had a lot of fun training for it. Violet also volunteers for the Turning Pages Foundation a youth-led service organization that mentors younger students, supports homeless shelters and food banks and helps other community services. Violet has a huge circle of friends and if anyone is down, she’s the first to offer them a hug.

Mom Ann is a costume designer and dad Keythe is a voiceover director, so entertainment runs in her blood. The thing about Violet is she makes all these activities seem like what they should be – fun. She’s already working on her own comic strips which she has titled “The Daily Geek” and “Super Spark.”

Her family is the most important thing to her and when Violet has a little free time, her favorite pastimes are playing board or card games, watching movies, or cooking … as long as she’s doing them with her family. Violet enjoys taking care of her fish, hamster and brand new miniature schnauzer named Shaggy. She doesn’t care for Katy Perry or other music favored by her peers. Instead, she’d rather listen to Queen, Weird Al Yankovic and Blondie. In fact, she’s be covering Blondie’s One Way or Another at Rockin’ for the Arts on Saturday. You’ll easily recognize her. Violet’s the one with the adorable dimples and enormous smile.