ADAMS AVENUE NEWS - KEN-TAL EDITION JUNE 2015

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Vol. 23 No. 6 June 2015

Welcome to the Ken-Tal Edition!

Megan’s Message

BY MEGAN BEAUVAIS

Thank you for reading my first edition of Megan’s Message! I have long awaited the opportunity to put together a local publication that not only serves as a local real estate

resource, but more importantly, serves as a community resource!

Many of you know that I have been a long-standing resident, patron, and supporter in Kensington and Talmadge. I have sold residential real estate here for the last 11 years and have really enjoyed watching the communities evolve into what they are today. As our society moves toward a more entrepreneurial state of mind, I find that more and more of us live and work out of our homes, for ourselves. This, in part, is why I chose to partner with this publication as we are of the same philosophy - choose local first. I make it my daily goal to support local business whenever and wherever possible. I believe that in patronizing our small local businesses, we are supporting our local economy.

My goal whenever selling a home is to help my clients look beyond the brick and mortar (or plaster, as it often is) and really take a look at the lifestyle they are buying in to. Kensington and Talmadge offer such an incredible quality of life and it is such

a pleasure to see my past clients benefitting from all there is to offer. Just the other day, I had a neighbor new to the community of Talmadge come up to me and thank me for educating her family and their agent on the attributes of the community including events, committees, infrastructure, shopping and more. Due to that initial conversation at an open house, we now have another happy Talmadge homeowner.

Spreading the word on how great it is to live and work in Kensington and Talmadge is my number one aim and I intend on delivering! I hope you enjoy this monthly publication and if you should ever have any requests or suggestions, please don’t hesitate contacting me!

KEN/TAL! Get your neighborhood stickers from me! You can find me at Megan Beauvais Real Estate on Facebook! Like my page for up to the minute information on Ken-Tal and beyond!

Art Around Adams was a Huge Success at Ascent Real Estate, Kensington office!

Talmadge, join us on July 4th to celebrate the birth of our country!

Once again, our Kensington office, along with many other Adams Avenue businesses opened our doors to feature local artists! This year we enjoyed hosting Talmadge’s own Bella Hollingworth, along with new artist Isabelle Laug and Roberta O’Connor. Art Around Adams is always a great opportunity to buy local art, support the community and meet the artists! Our office always delivers, too, offering complimentary drinks and snacks and a great resting spot! Hope to see you next year at Art Around Adams!!!

Talmadge, join us on July 4th to celebrate the birth of our country! Come in your best patriotic outfit and parade the dogs, bikes, kids and more!

Come out and be a part of the fun with fellow neighbors and friends. Meet at the Talmadge Traffic Circle (Adams Ave. & 49th St.) on the 4th at 11:00am!

Don’t miss out on this annual summer event. For more information contact Megan Beauvais at (619) 944-2798 or email at Megan.B@cox.net.

Upcoming Events in July July 4 The Big Bay Boom fireworks extrava-

ganza over San Diego Bay, the largest fireworks display in San Diego County Fireworks will begin at 9:00 PM. The fireworks score is simulcast live on THE MIGHTY 1090 AM and MAX FM 105.7. bigbayboom.com

92116-Caliber (Contemporary Classic Rock) University Heights Concert Series at Trolley from 6-8pm.

Barn Park Adams Ave. & Florida St., SD, CA 92116-The Jazz Pigs from 6-8pm.

July 9-12 Comic Con International at the San July 17 & 18 LGBT Pride Parade, Rally and Diego Convention Center. comic-con.org Festival. sdpride.org/ July 11 North Park Bird Park Concerts 28th St. and Thorn St., SD, CA 92104-Danny and July 18 Normal Heights Movie Night at Ward Canyon Park-The Mask. 8pm nhmovies.org/ the Tramp (Rock) from 5:30-7:30pm.

July 9 Talmadge Food Truck Thursday July 9

5-8 pm at Lila@49th- we will have three food trucks to serve you! Skip making dinner this night and meet some neighbors while fundraising for the community! Each food truck donates 10% proceeds to the Talmadge Block Party committee- a win-win!!

July 11& 12 and July18 & 19 The 62nd

Annual Over The Line ombac.org/over-the-line

Tournament.

July 16-September 7

Del Mar Race Season. dmtc.com

July 10 Mission Hills Concert In The Park at July 17 Mission Hills Concert In The Park at

Pioneer Park 1425 Washington Pl., SD, CA Pioneer Park 1425 Washington Pl., SD, CA 92103-HELP! (Beatles Tribute) from 6-8pm.

92103-Hullabaloo (Children’s music) from 6University Heights Concert Series at Trolley 8pm.

Barn Park Adams Ave. & Florida St., SD, CA

July 25 Normal Heights Movie Night at

Adams Park-Paddington. 8pm nhmovies.org North Park Bird Park Concerts 28th St. and Thorn St., SD, CA 92104-Piel (Electronic, Techno) from 5:30-7:30pm.

July 31 Mission Hills Concert In The Park at

Pioneer Park 1425 Washington Pl., SD, CA 92103-Sue Palmer & Her Motel Swing OrchesJuly 18 & 19 Festival of the Bells. mission- tra (Boogie Woogie) from 6-8pm. sandiego.org/ University Heights Concert Series at Trolley July 24 Mission Hills Concert In The Park at Barn Park Adams Ave. & Florida St., SD, CA Pioneer Park 1425 Washington Pl., SD, CA 92116-Billy Lee & The Swamp Thing (Big Band, 92103-Liquid Blue (Club, Electronica, Rock) Swing, Jazz)from 6-8pm. from 6-8pm.

University Heights Concert Series at Trolley Barn Park Adams Ave. & Florida St., SD, CA 92116-Liz Grace & The Swing Thing (Big Band, Swing, Jazz)from 6-8pm.

NEWS

2 | JUNE 2015 | MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP

COMMUNITY NEWS

Sweet Treats Panchita’s Just when you thought life couldn’t get any sweeter in North Park, Panchita’s Kitchen & Bakery recently opened at 32nd and North Park Way. Surprisingly, the shop has a drivethru and a stylish patio, but pan dulce afficianados will want to go inside and gape at the wall of sweet treats.

Yes, there is a meal menu, too, and our sources say the non-sweet items needed tweaking after first opening.

Now, the small kitchen is on a roll, adding its taco and ceviche items to North Park’s growing reputation as the go to hood for great tacos.

Hillcrest Wind Ensemble Performs ‘Hollywood Hits’ The Hillcrest Wind Ensemble pre-

sents its 2015 Cabaret Concert, “Hollywood Hits,” on Friday, June 26, at 8 p.m. in the Mississippi Room at the Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd.

The ensemble will perform movie themes and hit songs from movies spanning seven decades from the 1930s to 1990s. Highlights will include music from “Gone With The Wind,” Joe Schloss at the Little League park.

“Wizard of Oz,” and “The Sound of Music,” and classic themes from “James Bond” and “Star Wars,” to integrity and the importance of physname a few. The evening will feature ical activity.

Because of his devotion to the kids, raffle prizes and a no-host bar.

It’s a fitting venue as many of the May 16 was named Joe Schloss Day by Hollywood stars in the 1940s would the city of San Diego.. A ceremony was come and stay at the Lafayette and held at the North Park Little League.

A World War II Navy veteran, attend events in the ballroom.

Doors will open at 7:30 with com- Schloss has also owned A-B Sporting plimentary hors d’ oeuvres, and con- Goods in North Park for decades and raised his family in the neighborhood. cert at 8 Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 He has vowed to keep coaching baseat the door and are available at sdart- ball for many more years. stix.com and The Windsmith, 3875 Timken Museum Hires General Granada Ave. in North Park.

Under the direction of John Manager The Timken Museum in Balboa Winkelman, the 45-piece ensemble is in its 29th year of performing and is a Park has appointed Megan Pogue as program of the LGBT Center acting its first general manager. Pogue was a as a musical ambassador to the com- vice president of the San Diego Symmunity as a whole. www.hillcrest- phony.

“Megan's strong leadership, comwindensemble.com. mitment to the arts and in-depth North Park Coach Earns Day knowledge of the San Diego commuin His Honor nity provides the opportunity for a North Park Little League Coach Joe new direction for Timken Museum of Schloss, 88, has devoted 60 years of his Art,” said Tim Zinn, president of the life to teaching baseball to local youth. Timken’s board of directors, in a stateHis coaching has positively impacted ment. his players and helped them learn Pogue was with the San Diego Sym-

phony for 11 years, holding the position of vice president of business development.

The Art of Comic-Con Since it first convention in San Diego 45 years ago, Comic-Con has been bringing together comics, movie and science fiction fans and creating a lot of art along the way.

Drawing from Comic-Con’s archives, the San Diego Public Library will partner with Comic-Con International in presenting “The Art of Comic Con” June 20 through Aug. 30 in the Art Gallery on the ninth floor of the San Diego Central Library Downtown.

The exhibition celebrates art as an integral tool in promoting the organization’s mission of creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular art forms.

A reception is planned on opening day from noon to 2 p.m. The exhibition and reception are open to the public and admission is free.

Providing unprecedented access to original art by over 60 comic artists, the exhibition traces the history of Comic-Con through art and provides a sneak peek into the evolving process of creating comic art.

Visitors to the show will have the opportunity to see process drawings in a variety of mediums that were used in souvenir and program books for Comic-Con, WonderCon, and APE, the Alternative Press Expo — artworks that are representative of the comic books and art that Comic-Con International presents to a growing audience.

“The Art of Comic-Con” presents

Justice League by Jim Lee (pencils) and Scott Williams (inks), Alex Sinclair (color).

2011 Souvenir Book 2011 cover. TM & © DC Comics.

select pieces from the organization’s archives, including works by Sergio Aragonés, Howard Chaykin, Cliff Chiang, Michael Cho, Colleen Coover, Rick Geary, Gilbert Hernandez, Jim Lee, Dave McKean, Frank Miller, Marshall Rogers, John Romita Jr., Bill Sienkiewicz, William Stout, Babs Tarr, and others.

The exhibition was developed and jointly organized by Kara West, the Library’s arts and culture exhibition manager and Gary Sassaman, ComicCon International’s director of print and digital media.

Art Institute Showcases Youth & Professional Artists The San Diego Art Institute (SDAI) has opened “What Remains: Debris and Detritus in Fine Art” and “Dare to Reuse,” in Balboa Park. The concept SEE COMMUNITY, Page 3

HEALTH

MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP | JUNE 2015 | 3

Ask Dr. Z What medicines should I bring with me on my summer vacation?

Every suitcase and duffle bag moving to and fro this summer should have a few medical essentials in them. Most apply to both children and adults, but the appropriate children’s versions and doses should apply.

Most important will be all of your prescription medicines from the doctor (including any epi-pens and inhalers), along with a complete written list in your wallet, with a copy in your luggage.

In case one is stolen, you will have a list available for a local doctor to give you new prescriptions to replace what is lost.

Next is an assortment of handy over the counter stuff. Benadryl for allergies, colds and drippy noses, sleep aid, cough suppression, itch, poison ivy, nausea, vomiting and the ever present Montezuma’s revenge. Motrin for pain, headaches, earaches, ankle sprains and swollen bug bites (reduces the swelling). Hydrocortisone 0.1 percent cream (Cortaid or anti-itch cream) for rashes, poison ivy, bug bites including bee stings.

Antibiotic ointment for cuts, sores, wounds, open blisters, boils or as a lubricant for chafing. Pepto-Bismol

COMMUNITY

CONTINUED FROM Page 2

for the exhibition grew from last summer’s “Dare to Reuse” youth art exhibition, a countywide contest for students grades K-12 to create work out of discarded or recycled materials. The exhibition runs through July 12. Tickets are $5. The Art Institute is at 1439 El Prado.

The exhibition was so successful and positively received that SDAI decided to create an exhibition component for adults as well. The resulting program is an exhibition that combines the work of both youth and professional artists in a comprehensive overview, showcasing the work of artists of all ages, skills and backgrounds. More than 80 students across San Diego County will have their work on display alongside 28 San Diego-based artists.

The work for “What Remains: Debris and Detritus in Fine Art” was selected by Bridget Rountree, a renowned San Diego-based artist and recent Creative Catalyst recipient who frequently incorporates found materials into her work. The exhibition is accompanied by several large-scale, site specific installations incorporating discarded materials, as well as the premier of a documentary about the Tijuana River watershed.

Participating artists in “What Remains: Debris and Detritus in Fine Art” include: Luis Alderete, Wick Alexander, Dia Bassett, Jon-Loren Bazan, Brian Benfer, Larry Caveney, Joyce Corum, Gabriela Domville, Rachael Erwin, Carlos Grasso, Iain Gunn, Becky Guttin, Robert Jones,

tablets and Imodium for traveler’s diarrhea if you are traveling out of the country. Afrin nasal spray if you are traveling by air (in case your ears don’t pop, you use the spray in the nose right away and up to a day later).

And if you will be away from doctors on the Appalachian trail or hiking the Grand Canyon, then you will want to get a prescription for an antibiotic to have with you. I recommend Bactrim if you are not allergic to sulfa, Z-pack if you are. They are good for skin infections, bronchitis, bladder infections, sinus infections, and traveler’s diarrhea.

Make sure to have plenty of band aids, too. If you are traveling to another country, check the CDC website to see if you need to go to a travel clinic to get malaria prophylaxis or a yellow fever vaccine, and pack mosquito repellant. Don’t have ice cubes in your drinks when you are in other countries, and drink only bottled water.

Have fun this summer and be prepared!

OW SCR YS IN E IN 7 DA H WIT

4777 Arizona St. University Heights Craftsman 3 BR / 2 BA

3685 Alabama North Park Craftsman 4 BR / 2 ½ BA $789,000 OW SCR YS IN E IN 2 DA H WIT

ON

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Dr. Tara Zandvliet welcomes your questions. Send them to questions@ southparkdoctor.com. She practices at 2991 Kalmia St. Phone: (619) 929-0032.

Kathleen Kane-Murrell, Joshua Krause, Matthew Mahoney, Chris Martino, Meegan Nolan, Jaime Ruiz Otis, Amy Paul, Philip Petrie, Cat Chiu Phillips, Joel Pointon, Bridget Rountree, Zachary Royer Scholz, Jason Sherry, Kate Sikorski, Jane Szabo, and Rob Tobin.

Students in “Dare to Reuse” were selected through a competitive process, and represent students from Fusion Academy, Civic High, Kearney High School of International Business, La Jolla Country Day School, Muirlands Middle School, Taft Middle School, All Hallows Academy, Boone Elementary, Holmes Elementary, Myron B. Green Elementary, Del Sur Elementary, Encanto Elementary, Kate Sessions Elementary, Godfrey G. Berry Elementary, and Grant K-8 School.

Ramona Hacienda 8,200 Interior sq ft 5 BR / 6 BA ON 4+ ACRES

2315 31st St VR price of $698,000 to $749,000

OW SCR YS IN E IN 4 DA H WIT

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1834 29th St. South Park SOLD AT $640,000

2526 Pamo Ave. Burlingame Craftsman Sold at $810,000

Sally Schoeffel

Elizabeth Callaway

CalBRE #00523223

CalBRE #00984247

619.884.0701 Direct

619.820.0151 Direct

North Park Apartment Building Sold

The nine unit apartment building at 3981 Oregon St. has sold for $1.7 million. $1,700,000. The seller was Neeson Family Trust. The buyer was West Coast Apartments LLC. Krista Berger of Sperry Van Ness | Finest City Commercial represented the buyer. John Andre Neeson of CityScape Real Estate represented the seller.

The property in North Park was built in 1966, and consists of six onebedroom, one-bath units and three two-bedroom, two bath units.

WONDERING HOW WE SELL OUR LISTINGS FAST & FOR TOP DOLLAR? CALL US! WE ARE HAPPY TO CHAT & WE ARE VERY FRIENDLY! Decades of Experience • Neighborhood Experts • How may we assist you?

3188 C St. San Diego, California 92102 619/624-2052 telephone 619/624-2055 facsimile ©MMVIII Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. A Realogy Company. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Office is Independently Owned And Operated. CalBRE #01767484

COMMUNITY

4 | JUNE 2015 | MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP

The Benefits of Shopping and Buying Locally When Big Box chains come to town, prepare to pay more taxes soon Supporting an Independent Retailer CampaignIn the smallest towns, bustling cities, and everything in between, citizens lament losing a sense of community and local character.

Meanwhile, national chains and online mega-stores continue gaining market and pushing independent businesses to the margins in many sectors.

This trend is considered symptomatic of our loss of community orientation, but could it also be a primary cause?

And what are the economic costs to our communities as absentee-owned corporations displace locally-owned businesses?

Of course, we usually choose to do business where we perceive the best value for our time and money. But in an age where we’re bombarded with thousands of corporate advertisements daily, perceptions may differ widely from reality. The unrelenting emphasis on cheapness above all other values leads many people to overlook the values independent businesses provide us, both personally and in our communities.

The disappearance of local businesses leaves a social and economic void that is palpable and real — even when it goes unmeasured. And a community’s quality of life changes in ways that macroeconomics is slow to measure, or ignores completely.

Local officials often fall for the seductions and political appeal of national chains and may even use public funds or tax rebates to lure them.

A&B Sporting Goods is a good example of a local business that helps improve its neighborhood. It has anchored the corner of University Avenue and Ohio since 1940, when Joe Schloss’s parents bought it. He started working there in 1946. Joe (pictured) is a North Park Little League coach, devoting 60 years of his life teaching youngsters.

They’re baited with promises of jobs and tax revenue, but they often fail to consider the greater losses that occur when the local business base is undermined.

A chain “superstore” may boast of creating 300 new jobs, but numerous studies indicate they displace as many jobs as they create. And when communities like Barnstable, Mass. studied the fiscal impact of chains, they concluded such development actually costs more

taxpayer dollars to support in safety and services than the community would reap.

In other words, when new big box chains come to town, expect to pay more taxes soon.

But what about all the new sales tax revenue those chains bring? That, too, is largely illusory. Unless an area is growing rapidly, retail spending (especially for mass-produced items found at the chains) is a relatively fixed pie.

For example, the most thorough study of Walmart’s impact on existing retailers (by Dr. Kenneth Stone of Iowa State University) found that 84 percent of Walmart’s sales simply shifted dollars away from existing local (including some chains) retailers.

Economic Value of Independent Businesses

Independent local businesses employ an array of supporting services.

They hire architects, designers, cabinet shops, sign makers and contractors for construction. Local accountants, insurance brokers, computer consultants, attorneys, advertising agencies help run it. Local retailers and distributors also carry a higher percentage of locallyproduced goods than chains, meaning more jobs for local producers.

In contrast, a new chain store typically is a clone of other units, eliminates the need for local planning, and uses a minimum of local goods and services.

A company-owned store’s profits SEE LOCALS, Page 5

INDEPENDENTS WEEK: JULY 1-7 The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) — a national outreach networking hub and resource center for independent business alliances and independent businesses — has declared Saturday, July 1, through Friday, July 7, Independents Week.

The national weeklong promotion serves to educate the public about the importance of shopping at locally owned, independent businesses.

“The annual celebration of our nation’s independence is a perfect time to remind citizens that economic independence and self-determination were founding principles of this country,” said Jennifer Rockne, the director of AMIBA. “It’s a time to reflect on the importance of economic democracy and community self-determination by celebrating our nation’s locally owned independent businesses and the stake each citizen has in shaping their hometown's future.”

AMIBA invites individual businesses and other organizations to join the July celebration. Noting that an Independents Week campaign can be as simple or as elaborate as a local business or group wants to make it, Rockne explained, “We provide templates and how-to’s for activities, buttons, posters, press releases, and even a scavenger hunt game board. Participants can pick and choose among the ideas for what they want to do in their communities -- or they can feel free to create their own ideas. The main thing is to get lots of folks involved and make local and national news.”

More information is available at www.amiba.net

COMMUNITY

MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP | JUNE 2015 | 5

Supporting an Independent Retailer Campaign What exactly is an independent designs, and all kinds of goods that are actually made here in the local area. retailer?

Independent retailers are businesses that are privately owned. They are usually thought of as single-store operations but can be sizable chains. In numbers of stores (but not sales), independents represent a majority of retailers and are the source of much of what is new and different in retail.

Ensuring Choice and Diversity

Retailers sift through competing goods and services to find those appealing to their customers. Though a single local shop may carry a smaller selection than can be found online or at large chains, a multiplicity of independent retailers creates great diversity. When thousands of shops serve the preferences of their customers tastes (and reflect different owner’s interests), market opportunities are created for a wide variety of goods and services. As fewer giant corporations dominate production, distribution and sales, a few executives and buyers choose what reaches customers.

Locally produced goods and services also mean less transportation and less burning of fuel. Essentially, you vote with your pounds to support your own local jobs and public services when you buy local first.

Money flowing round the local economy : How does this work?

This is perhaps the most exciting point in this campaign. Money spent at locally owned independent businesses goes around longer in the local economy. As local business people pay for all kinds of local services, spend their profits and pay taxes locally, this yields two to four times the economic benefit to you, the local resident, as comparable non-local businesses. This means more local income, wealth, and jobs.

Multiple stores have all their money sent back to their head office, so the only money flowing through the local economy is via the staff wages. With a locally owned business, everything flows through the local economy.

Studies: What did they find?

What’s the difference between buyAmerican studies have found that ing from your local multiple store local businesses re-circulate 70 percent or your independent? more money locally than chain stores

The answer is that buying local is really all about local ownership, which is a really important factor in helping to keep regional economies strong.

More and more people understand that supporting independent businesses is essentially voting with your pounds for a healthy local economy.

Why are local independents so important to the local economy?

do, per square foot occupied.

The San Francisco Retail Diversity Study found that just a slight shift in consumer purchasing behavior - diverting just 10 percent of purchases from national chain stores to locally owned businesses - would, each year, create 1,300 new jobs in the city and yield nearly $200 million in incremental economic activity.

If this doesn’t convince you, consider the quality of the shopping experience.

Whilst there’s inherently nothing wrong with the multiple stores in every street across the country, it’s the mix of independent retailers that make the shopping mix interesting.

Independent businesses are more accountable to customers and the local community, they ensure the unique character of an area, they are more likely to support local charities and have greater direct control over the environmental impact of their businesses. Sup- How do we go forward and porting independent businesses creates what do you want to do? local jobs, preserves economic diversity, Retailing is all about image, It’s about safeguards the environment. a vision for our city or town. Its about what makes our locality unique. We need Why is a offering a different shop- to look at the vision for our towns and city centers and the image we are ping experience important? portraying.

There is overwhelming eviHaving a choice in what you buy is dence that local businesses are the key very important. We are all unique indito pumping up local income, wealth, viduals with our own tastes and styles, jobs, and taxes.

The more residents, busiwhich we want to represent. Our streets and city centers are becoming cloned, nesses, and city officials support locally owned businesses, the greater the ecolosing any form of local identity and offering uniformed goods nomic rewards.

The issue of car parking must be propand services. Having a vibrant indepenerly addressed as a priority. Out-of-town dent retail sector preserves choice, style shopping centers benefit from the advanand identity. tage of huge, free parking facilities, and • Retail outlets act as a focal point for this has created an imbalance as the communities to interact • A vibrant retail sector can draw in majority of town centre parking is curvisitors, and thus contribute significantly rently chargeable and hard to find. This factor is often what makes the difference to the economic prosperity of an area • Appropriate signage and decoration in a shopper’s choice of where to go and contribute positively to the wider visual therefore parking availability and pricing environment, which supports other ini- must be a key element in regeneration planning. tiatives.

Why is it important to support local independent retailers?

We are hearing a lot about the benefits of shopping for local foodstuffs. Many of us don’t realize that the purchase of locally produced food puts as much as four to six times more money back into the local economy than imported foodstuffs. That’s astonishing information about consumer power.

The same economic multiplier effect also applies to the price of locally made products, local furniture, local clothing

That sounds interesting, but what can I do?

You can vote with your purse or wallet in favor of locally-owned, independent businesses. Don’t let your street become another statistic — Join our “Thanks for supporting a local Independent retailer” campaign.

Choose Local First!

LOCAL

CONTINUED FROM Page 4

promptly are exported to corporate headquarters. That’s simply good, efficient business for them, but not so good for our communities.

Dollars spent at community-based merchants create a multiplier in the local economy, meaning that from each dollar spent at a local independent merchant, up to 3.5 times as much wealth is generated in the local economy compared to a dollar spent at chain-owned businesses. This “local multiplier effect” means shifting more local purchasing to independent businesses is a key tool for creating more local jobs.

Ensuring Choice and Diversity

Retailers sift through competing goods and services to find those appealing to their customers.

Though a single local shop may carry a smaller selection than can be found online or at large chains, a multiplicity of independent retailers creates great diversity. When thousands of shops serve the preferences of their customers tastes (and reflect different owner’s interests), market opportunities are created for a wide variety of goods and services. As fewer giant corporations dominate production, distribution and sales, a few executives and buyers choose what reaches customers.

Maintaining Community Character

When we’re asked to name our favorite restaurant, cafe, or shop, it’s invariably a unique local business. Your local paper’s “Best of” poll is proof. Those businesses

define our sense of place, but we often forget their survival depends on our patronage.

Local owners, typically having invested much of their life savings in their businesses, have a natural interest in the community's longterm health. Community-based businesses are essential to charitable endeavors; their owners frequently serve on local boards and support numerous causes.

Yes, some chains give back to towns in which they locate, and not all local businesses are exemplary models. However, the overall impacts are clear: locally-owned businesses play a key role in our community that chains rarely do.

Despite the dismal trends, a counterforce is building. More than 85 communities have launched Independent Business Alliances — coalitions of local businesses, nonprofits and concerned citizens uniting to support local entrepreneurs and prevent the loss of community-rooted businesses. (In some communities, chambers and downtown organizations unafraid to promote local ownership can fulfill this role, too.) Working in multiple realms, including group purchasing, joint marketing, public education and

political advocacy, these local alliances have succeeded in a diverse range of communities and are driving major shifts in local culture and spending.

Their success bodes well for a growing Localization Movement that is reawakening people to the value of local self-reliance and cohesive communities. But for long-term progress, a conceptual change also is necessary. We must consciously plan that future with rules encouraging the values we want reflected in our communities. And each time we spend a dollar, we would do well to weigh the full value of our choices, not merely today, but for the future we want for our home towns.

(The author, Jeff Milchen, cofounded the first Independent Business Alliance in 1997 and co-directs the American Independent Business Alliance AMIBA.) Local businesses who would like to participate may contact B.Weber@ChooseLocalFirst.com

6 | JUNE 2015 | MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP

SDSU Director Designs Inamori Pavilion In Park’s Japanese Friendship Garden

ADAMS AVENUE NEWS northparknews.biz/digital MidCityNewspaperGroup.com Serving San Diego’s Premier Mid City Communities Chairman/CEO Bob Page BobPage@sandiegometro.com Publisher Rebeca Page RebecaPage@sandiegometro.com Associate Publisher Brad Weber ReachLocals@ MidCityNewspaperGroup.com

The Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park has undergone a major expansion in anticipation of this year’s Balboa Park Centennial Celebration.

Included in this expansion is a new Inamori Pavilion Building that was designed by Kotaro Nakamura, the interim director of the San Diego State University School of Art and Design.

The building was made possible by a donation from Kazuo Inamori, who is also the founder of the Kyocera Corporation and the International Kyoto Prize.

Nakamura’s vision

Surrounded by a koi pond, the building has been designed in authentic Japanese style called Sukiya and will serve as a multi-purpose room for lectures, exhibitions and weddings. It is a project Nakamura has taken great pride in.

career as an architect. Despite his experience, Nakamura explained that he spent a lot of time studying traditional Japanese architecture so he could design the building to be as authentic as possible.

“There are a lot of Japanese-looking buildings, but there are not too many authentic post and beam structures,” Nakamura said.

Kotaro Nakamura, interim director of the SDSU School of Art and Design.

Authentic Japanese-style architecture

“For the Japanese-American community in San Diego and the San Diego community at large, this will be there many years for people to enjoy and to create a friendship between the two countries,” Nakamura said. “It’s a very meaningful project for me and I was fortunate to be able to contribute to it.”

Nakamura grew up in Japan and came to the SDSU as a graduate student, before embarking on a 30-year

He ensured this building would be authentic by using Alaskan Yellow Cedar for the post and beams that support the structure. While the wood was more expensive, it is traditionally used in Japanese buildings because it is strong Kazuo Inamori, and can withstand the founder of Kyocera elements.

Corporation.

Timken on Vermeer Museum to showcase master artist Johannes Vermeer’s famous ‘Woman in Blue Reading a Letter’ The Timken Museum of Art is exhibiting one of about 36 known paintings by world-class master artist Johannes Vermeer through Sept. 11, 2015. The exhibition, “The Private World of Vermeer,” showcases his masterpiece, “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter.”

Luminous and exquisitely rendered, “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter” (about 1663-1664) is one of Vermeer’s most captivating portrayals of a young woman’s private world.

This generous loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam marks the first appearance of this remarkable painting in San Diego. The Timken’s special installation allows visitors to have an intimate experience with “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter” and highlights one of the most celebrated painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Praised as one of Vermeer’s most beautiful paintings, “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter” demonstrates the

Originally, some people were concerned about the exposed wood looking aged over time, but Nakamura explained that was an important part of Japanese culture.

“Ageing is a part of the aesthetics in Japan,” Nakamura said. “It is a principle called “wabi-sabi” that means accepting the beauty of age and not going against natural order.

The beauty is that we are a part of that time and life is not permanent; we are born and will die but this building will stand.”

More information The Japanese Friendship Garden has been expanded to 11-acres and now also includes a 200 Cherry Tree Grove, a Tea and Herb Garden and a Children’s Garden. It is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

artist’s exceptional command of color, light and perspective. Only about 36 of Vermeer’s paintings are known. He is considered one of the most distinctive and influential masters of the Golden Age. The four-month exhibition also features a variety of events, which include noted scholars on Vermeer.

Many of the events are free to the public and are designed to give guests an enhanced understanding of the Vermeer and other masterpieces in the Timken’s collection: Wednesday, June 24 at 12:30 p.m.

Art in the Afternoon Gallery Talk “The Unseen Window in Vermeer’s “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter” Speaker: Karen Hellman, assistant curator, department of photographs, J. Paul Getty Museum. Admission: Free Although the canvases of Vermeer were created two centuries prior to the invention of photography, their quiet, luminous depictions of interior

scenes have often been related to “photographic” qualities. This presentation discusses a few ways in which photography can offer a new lens through which to view “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter.”

Wednesday, July 1 at 12:30 p.m.

Art in the Afternoon Gallery Talk “Discordant Serenity and the Painting of Vermeer” Speaker: Claudine Dixon, curatorial administrator, prints and drawings, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Admission: Free Vermeer’s “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter” will be discussed in the context of some of the historical and contemporary events surrounding the painting and its fantastic journey from 17th century Delft in the

Netherlands to recent visits to Southern California.

Monday, July 13 at 10 a.m.

Guest Lecture “The Interior Life of Vermeer” Speaker: Amy Walsh, curator of European paintings, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Admission: Free.

Gallery talks feature leading curators, historians, scholars, and artists.

Guests will walk, talk, and explore the Timken collection and special exhibitions. Registration is not required.

For more events and details about “The Private World of Vermeer,” visit the website at www.timkenmuseum.org or call (619) 239-5548.

Editor Manny Cruz Manny@sandiegometro.com Art Director Chris Baker cbaker@sandiegometro.com Marketing/Advertising Kelly Pouliot kellysdnews@gmail.com -----------------------------Writers/Columnists Todd Gloria Bart Mendoza Delle Willett Anna Lee Fleming Sara Wacker Photography Manny Cruz Sande Lollis Letters/Opinion Pieces North Park News encourage letters to the editor and guest editorials. Please address correspondence to Manny@sandiegometro.com or mail to Manny Cruz. Please include a phone number, address and name for verification purposes; no anonymous letters will be printed. We reserve the right to edit letters and editorials for brevity and accuracy.

Story ideas/Press Releases Do you have an idea for an article you would like to see covered in this newspaper? We welcome your ideas, calendar item listings and press releases. For breaking news, please call us at (619) 287-1865.

For all other news items, please email Manny@sandiegometro.com.

ADDRESS PO Box 3679, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 PHONE (858) 461-4484 North Park News distributes copies monthly to residents and businesses of North Park, South Park, Golden Hill and Normal Heights.

The entire contents of North Park News is copyrighted, 2015, by REP Publishing, Inc. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without prior written consent.

All rights reserved.

COMMUNITY

MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP | JUNE 2015 | 7

2016 Community Wall Calendars Mailed Free to Local Residents My Town Community Calendars is pleased to announce the expanded 2016 full-color edition of the highly successful wall calendars will be available to area residents in the communities of North Park, South Park, Normal Heights, Kensington, University Heights and Hillcrest for the first time this December.

The 2016 Community Calendar is a large (12 x 22�) wall calendar that will be mailed free of charge to virtually every household in each neighborhood.

Each My Town Calendar, which is produced annually, includes coupon offers from local businesses, as well as important area phone numbers, websites, community events, holiday listings, and more. The calendars also feature local neighborhood photographs and artwork from area photographers and artists.

My Town Community Calendars have been distributed for years in dozens of communities across the country. Local businesses sponsor the calendars and many offer coupons and special offers throughout the year. A large focus of the calendars will be on promoting local independent businesses and encourages residents to shop and buy from local independent businesses.

In addition to receiving these free calendars in the mail, residents can find additional copies at several businesses and other venues throughout each neighborhood.

My Town Community Calendars are published by locally owned Discover Custom Media in cooperation with the nonprofit community support organization Choose Local First.

Business sponsorship opportunities are limited and are reserved on a first come, first served basis, and more information, including business sponsorship opportunities, please contact ReachLocals@MyTownCalendars.com.

8 | JUNE 2015 | MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP

TRAVEL

A B U C K R A NORTH P TO

AN EVER TH ER SI EA D AN L GA LE IS LE IS N DE ID RB TRAVELING TO THE FO

BY BRAD WEBER

Skyline of 500-year-old Havana is seen from the equally ancient fortress Castillo del Morro. In between is the entrance to Havana Harbor. (Photo: Gary Payne)

V

isiting Cuba seemed such a far off and complicated adventure, but when North Park residents Tom and Phyllis Shess learned of a legal tour to the forbidden island, it was a travel opportunity too good to pass up.

“We chose a tour company that was sanctioned by our government to offer cultural and educational tours to Cuba,” said Phyllis, a retired deputy district attorney.

The couple liked what the tour offered: eight days in Cuba and escorted by two Spanish/English speaking tour guides: one American and one Cuban. Plus, the group was limited to 20 persons, which meant lots of room on the 80-seat Chinese-made tour bus.

As everyone knows, the U.S. has embargoed Cuba since the 1960s and only recently have both sides sat down to discuss normalization of relations. For more than a decade, however, both countries have had in place a travel program allowing U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba as long as they participated in an escorted tour.

Called “people to people tours,” the U.S. Treasury-approved program has opened a small window of travel opportunities for Norte Americanos. Discovery Tours by Gate 1 is one of the tour operators granted a license by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury to provide People to People programs in Cuba.

Still, statistics offered by the tour operators say only three percent of Cuba’s annual tourism is made up of U.S. citizens.

With the possibility that the embargo would be lifted soon (not as of this writing in late May), the couple decided to sign on to a Discovery Tours group “to see Cuba before PBS travel guru Rick Steves,” said Tom with a smile.

With passports in hand, they flew to Miami non-stop from Lindbergh Field on American

Airlines. Gate1 put the group into a Miami hotel to orient all with two lectures: one on trip logistics and one on what to expect. Price of the tour included the tour operator taking care of visas, tips, transfers, logistics, dining and insurance.

The next day, aboard Sun Country, a USA charter 737, the couple landed in Cienfuegos, Cuba. There the modern Hotel Jaqua was used

said Phyllis, “But so was a fantastic lunch at nearby Hostel Enrique, named for a local fisherman who operates a family-style restaurant in his home during the day. Space does not allow a mention of all the terrific meals enjoyed, she said, but at Enrique’s casa, the red snapper was totally fresh from the Caribbean and served with rice, black beans, local vegetables, home-baked bread.

North Parkers Mike, Phyllis and Tom Shess in Cienfuegos.

as the group’s three-night base for trips to nearby Trinidad and Santa Clara.

From Cienfuegos, the group bussed to Havana to stay at the famed Hotel Nacional.

En route they stopped at Playa Giron, a village noted for its recreational diving. It was also the landing beach, where the ill-fated Bay of Pigs anti-Castro invasion took place in the early 1960s.

“Visiting the invasion museum was a must,”

The Gate 1 trip wrapped up with four days in Havana, where the streets are filled with colorful vintage Detroit-made cars. Chevy’s seem to the most popular. Those old cars are everywhere, but word has it only 60,000 still exist. And those colorful, albeit recycled beauties dominate Havana streets, especially on those plentiful sunny weekends in the tropics.

Havana’s 500-year old lineage has made it a

UNESCO world heritage site. The tour walked over the cobblestones of Old Havana to be amazed at the disrepair of so many of the historical buildings, but at the same time in awe of the spirit of accomplishment by restoration architects, who have brought back historic structures from decay with tiny budgets, said Tom. “Of course, we visited old Hispanic forts guarding the entrance to Havana’s port, but some of us escaped the tour to shop at the best cigar store in Havana (located in the Castillo del Morro),” said Tom. Phyllis added that Cubans are very creative when it comes to dining. Zoning or sometimes the lack of it allows for private homes to double as fine restaurants. Tour guides picked the best ones, including Hostal Valencia near Plaza San Francisco, and further West we dined at ArtChef and La Moraleja Restaurant, two of the many splendid paladors (private home restaurants) near our hotel.

“Of course, there was the famed Restaurante Café de Oriente on Plaza San Francisco, which is government run and world class,” said Phyllis. “It’s a jewel worth dining at with prices that were pleasantly low given the classy service and menu offerings (filet mignon, lobster and salmon, for example), priced under $25.”

Tom offered, “On the one free night (on our own) we visited all of the cliché bars of Old Havana: La Floridita, La Bodeguita del Medio (home of the Mojito), Sloppy Joe’s and the Hall of Heroes (Hotel Nacional).

Craft beer from Factoria Cerveza on Plaza Vieja was first rate. “And we ended the evening with cigars and a fine port in Bar Churchill located in a nook off the lobby of the Hotel Nacional (a 1930s edifice akin to San Diego’s La Valencia hotel),” said Tom. And, remember if you’re seeking a tour that gives you lots of free time to go diving or renting a car to tour the island, this current

TRAVEL arrangement is not for you.

The legal tours offered now (they’re the only ones from the U.S.) are escorted and have an agenda. Tom added, “For the most part, what was on our plate were places and people we would have missed if left on our own. And that would have been sad because we met some genuinely nice Cubans in corners of the country that we would have missed.”

“Because the tour operators were so organized,” said Phyllis, “we didn’t mind the lack of freedom to explore on our own. What they showed us was remarkable, especially the art, culture and the special concerts they arranged on our behalf. And, we were shown shopping areas and folk art galleries. We were not deprived of places to spend our money.”

Speaking of money, the Cuban government has two currencies. Most businesses won’t take U.S. dollars. To spend you must convert dollars to the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC).

For that transaction, Fidel takes 13 percent off the top. Convert $100 U.S. and you get back 87 CUC. The other currency is about 5:1 vs.

U.S. dollar, but that is reserved for Cubans only.

When the embargo is eventually lifted and unlimited travel between Cubans and Norteamericanos becomes the norm — Cuba will have to do something about the dualing Pesos, said Tom. But for now, Fidel’s tourist tax is mandatory and exists as one of the realities when visiting the Republic of Cuba, he said.

How poor is Cuba? “That’s a discussion that will be played out in the media for years to come,” said Tom. “The fact is, Cubans earn about $25 per month on top of free medical, dental, education, housing and a free monthly foodstuffs ration card. “But despite the socialistic perks, it will be a footrace between who crumbles first — Castro, the Cuban economy or the infrastructure of the country.”

MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP | JUNE 2015 | 9

With public rehab dollars scarce, some scaffoldings have been up for decades waiting for funds to finish the job. Vines growing here are in Havana near the Capitol building. (Photo: Michael Shess)

Dawn of a new day in Cuba. Sunrise over Cienfuegos Bay in Southern Cuba.(Photo: Phyllis Shess)

(Freelance writer Tom Shess also publishes a daily online magazine called Pillar to Post (www.Tomshess.blogspot.com) and beginning June 1 through June 30 he will post articles, commentary and original photography of Cuba from a recent trip.)

HOW TO GET THERE LEGALLY As Tom and Phyllis learned from researching Cuba, many American-run tour companies have charters to run “average Joe and Jane” tours to Cuba.

The People to People tour agenda included cultural stops such as listening to this modern string combo made up of area music teachers in Cienfuego, Cuba. When this photo was taken they were playing a tender version of ‘Shenendoah,’ a traditional American tune. (Photo: Phyllis Shess)

The packages offered are very complete. Bring your checkbook for about $3,500 per person and have a valid passport (must be good for six months before you arrive in Cuba).

Tour groups offering legal travel to Cuba have been operating for more than a decade. Here are three of the busiest.

• Discovery Tours / Gate1 www.discovery-tours.com (877) 900-9777 • Insight Cuba www.insightcuba.com (800) 450.2822 • Road Scholar www.roadscholar.org

The green flash you see here is a early 1950s Chevrolet zipping along Havana’s iconic Malecon roadway. It may have a Russian diesel engine with North Korean tires and running on Venezuelan gasoline. (Photo: Gary Payne)

This idyllic beach next to the aquamarine Caribbean Sea is the Normandy Beach of Cuba. It is here on this shore the Bay of Pigs Invasion began and ended. Anti-Castro forces were routed in 1961. (Photo: Tom Shess)

10 | JUNE 2015 | MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP

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ART & ENTERTAINMENT Mid-City Little League marks end to successful season.

On Saturday, May 31, Mid-City Little League marked the end of yet another wonderfully successful campaign with closing ceremonies that, by most accounts, were the best in MCLL’s distinguished 66-year history.

Master of ceremonies, President Mark Rowland, followed MCLL’s time-honored tradition of paying tribute to the entire MCLL “family,” without whom some 200 area youths would be denied the opportunity to play America’s pastime. Mr. Rowland thanked parents, league officials, umpires, sponsors, and all other volunteers whose efforts contributed so mightily to MCLL’s banner 2015 spring baseball season. As always, he emphasized the underlying principles by which MCLL has always been guided, namely the promotion of sportsmanship, citizenship, and civic responsibility.

As hundreds of members of the MCLL family looked on, players beamed thousand-watt smiles as they accepted trophies and awards. Proud parents snapped photos as players from T-Ball to Juniors Divisions ran on to the field to share a moment in

the spotlight. With Queen’s “We are the Champions” providing inspiring background music, all players were made to feel like the winners that they are. The festivities once again demonstrated that MCLL takes very seriously its commitment to make every child feel special, as though he or she has a home here. The day provided memories that will undoubtedly last a lifetime, for players and spectators alike.

MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP | JUNE 2015 | 11

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DINING

Mariposa Homemade Ice Cream 15 year Anniversary!

June 27th 1-9 PM, 3450 Adams Avenue. Owners Dick & Anna Van Ransom welcome you to a with a fun filled celebration of 15 years on Adams Avenue featuring: • Live bands (to be announced) playing at Smitty’s Service across the street on Adams Ave. • Rolled back prices to the year 2000! • Fun, Fun, Fun • Bring the kids! • Come and join the party! For more information go to www.mariposaicecream.com and/or www.ChooseLocalFirst.org

ARTS

MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP | JUNE 2015 | 13

The Artist Odyssey San Diegan to launch new global arts network

BY JENNIFER COBURN

When we visit museums and galleries, we are able to view great works by master artists. In attending performance art, we can experience the message and emotion the artist aims to communicate. What is often missing in these exhibitions, though, is the personal story behind the art: what inspired the artists, how they create, and their personal stories.

Chris Fessenden is looking to change that by introducing “The Artist Odyssey,” a global arts network that tells the stories behind the art. The San Diego-based organization, called TAO, is launching a network featuring a series of artist interviews and discussions with photographers, filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and performing artists. They will share their artistic

inspiration and process, delivered through visually rich storytelling that puts the audience in the gallery or studio with the artist.

When The Artist Odyssey launches on Nov. 1, the arts network will deliver premium arts television and support school arts programs. The artist interviews are a lot like “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” but in addition to a conversation on the couch, viewers get to go inside the artists’ studios, see their work, and hear their music. The delivery of programs is by subscription, much like Netflix, for the arts.

The network itself will launch in fall with its flagship show, a series featuring artist interviews and discussions with photographers, filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and performing artists. An additional part of TAO’s mission is to support arts education, so each artist interview will include lessons that can be used by arts educators in the classroom — or anyone at home.

Longtime San Diego resident and UC San Diego alumnus Fessenden says inspiration for The Artist Odyssey stemmed from being around artists.

“I had a great-aunt who was a professional photographer engaged in both photojournalism and fine art photography,” he said. “My parents were both involved in the arts and now our daughter is a budding artist. But the biggest inspiration was being fortunate enough to observe several friends take the journey in the arts, as they grew from novice in their niche through years of struggle and exploration before finally evolving into accomplished and professional artists. Sharing a look into that often-magical journey is our mission.”

TAO has established partnerships with several arts organizations, includ-

ing UCSD ArtPower!, San Diego Visual Arts Network, Vanguard Culture, the Bronx Artist Documentary Project, and the Filmatic Festival, among others, to collaborate on arts events, content, and arts education initiatives.

“Our commitment to documenting artist stories and supporting arts education stems not just from our passion for the arts. The arts can teach people how to interact with others, how to communicate, how to feel good about themselves, and how to become thoughtful, productive members of society,” Fessenden said. “The creativity that the arts foster is vital across so many facets of our society — it’s far too important to neglect.”

CORE TEAM Founder

Chris Fessenden was fortunate to be raised surrounded by the arts. Now, as a parent with a front row seat to both the benefits of arts education and the erosion of school arts programs, he is especially motivated to work for a better future. Chris brings highly relevant media experience as the founder of a video production and distribution company; financial experience from over a decade helping large institutional investors with equity strategies in the technology, media, and consumer sectors; and practical entrepreneurial experience from two prior startups.

Nena Anderson brings a wide variety of creative skills including music, graphic design, directing and producing photo and video shoots. Nena spent years helping guide creative efforts at Redsand and Electra, two

San Diego companies that grew from the garage to being sold. As an Americana artist, Nena has been nominated for 10 San Diego Music Awards in the categories of Jazz, Americana, Acoustic, and New Artist. Her debut album “Beyond The Lights,” released fall 2011, has earned comparisons to early Lucinda Williams, Rickie Lee Jones and Bob Dylan with its accessible and deceptively uncomplicated lyrics and bluesy Alt. Country sound.

Host/Co-Producer

James Brown is an innovative and creative media professional with over SEE ART, Page 14

ARTS & DINING

14 | JUNE 2015 | MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP

ART

CONTINUED FROM Page 13

a decade of digital and broadcast production experience. With a music background that led to working for VH-1 in London, James has supervised numerous international documentary projects as the director, pro-

ducer, and host for Epic Global Media. He has a breadth of experience across all aspects of production — deal negotiation, international production logistics, executing projects from script to screen, directing, editing, and client management.

James is a two-time Emmy nominee in the Pacific Southwest chapter for “Outstanding Achievement in Cul-

tural Programming” and won the 2011 “Award of Excellence” at the Los Angeles Movie Awards in the Documentary Short category.

Director

Silvin Morgan brings a blend of technical expertise, two decades of production experience, and artistic vision to The Artist Odyssey. He

studied film and photography at Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Silvin’s wide breadth of production background includes everything from award-winning short/comedy/horror films, Saturday morning kids’ cartoons, video marketing packages, and independent music videos to public service announcements for the city of San

Alexander Schaffer

Artist Trinh Mai at work.

Marc Ford

Mario Torero at SD Museum of Art

Francisco, feature-length narrative, and documentary films. His experience also includes work on HGTV’s Landscape Smart series and all creative duties for a surfing series on The Water Channel.

CRAFTSMAN

Windows Common to the Arts & Crafts Era

BY MARY ELLEN POLSON | ARTS & CRAFTS HOMES AND THE REVIVAL

Like everything else about style in this post-Victorian period, doublehung and casement windows in Arts & Crafts houses were an unobtrusive yet radical break with tradition. For example, the bilateral symmetry of Victorian doors and windows — which often were grouped in twos, as with side-by-side double doors and two-over-two window sash (doublehung windows with two narrow panes of glass in each sash) — was often abandoned for a less static rhythm of threes. A key example is the Chicago window, an early “picture window” with two narrow lights (panes) flanking a large center light.

This simple change in the math resulted in the transition from tall and vertical (Second Empire, Queen Anne) to ground-hugging and horizontal (the Arts & Crafts Bungalow). You see this geometry and massing in residential architecture ranging from the Japanesque “ultimate bungalows” of Greene and Greene to the thousands of low-slung houses built by developers.

Think of it this way: Rather than the tall, narrower windows seen on Victorian styles like Italianate or Stick, the typical Arts & Crafts window has a three-light upper sash over a singlelight sash. Variations include multiples of three in the top sash: six, nine, or 12 lights. On even modest storey-anda-half bungalows, the living room’s large square or rectangular window is usually flanked by narrow three-overone sash windows. Another variation is a large pane with a transom-like row of fixed, rectangular lights above. Diamond patterns formed by crossed or intersecting muntins are slightly dressier but not uncommon.

Amplifying the effect, double-hung and casement windows are often ganged in rows of three or more under a plain but simple group header — usually a flat, fairly deep, square-edged board—and share a common sill. The

The diamond pattern in the top sash of a vacation cottage likely came from a stock building supply house ca. 1920.

straight yet ample architectural line this creates is unique, a signature element that marks a house as Arts & Crafts. In one configuration, a triple window alludes to the classical Palladian or Venetian window, three parts with hierarchy, but without curves.

Exceptions exist, of course: Some American Foursquare and Prairie School houses have windows grouped in twos and fours. Curves and arches enter the picture in Romantic styles like Spanish and Tudor Revival.

Leaded and stained glass windows are still in use in this period, but in relatively simple styles and configurations. Prairie School architects, who include Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, were the exception, creating geometric, never-before-seen designs. While the motif might be simple—a sunburst or a cat-tail, for instance—their designs were intricate compositions. Tiny bits of glass are fitSEE WINDOWS, Page 16

Pella’s tall narrow lights in tall narrow sashes match period designs for the grouped windows and sidelights of this English cottage.

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CRAFTSMAN

WINDOWS

CONTINUED FROM Page 15

ted into chevrons to compose leaves; diamond shapes interlock and seem to be three-dimensional. It’s an architecture of light. Their tall and narrow windows are grouped together in rows of four to as many as 12, emphasizing the horizontal lines inherent in the style.

Leaded patterns provide decorative relief as well as some screening between indoors and out.

The Good News in New Windows The demand for Arts & Craftsinspired windows for new builds and additions is strong, and contemporary window manufacturers have paid attention. Marvin, for example, has long made wood windows to order and will match historic window sash. The company recently redesigned its sash window to provide a deeper sill with relief, more in character with those on historic buildings. Importantly, the lights (individual panes) are now taller and narrower (not square or horizontal), bringing them closer to period windows.

Another key window detail is the muntin, the narrow bar that separates the glass into divided lights, or panes.

For the most authentic results, copy the depth, width, and moulding profiles of muntins on existing windows when ordering new ones. Whether true muntins that separate individual pieces of glass, or an integrated grid, the muntins are important as they throw shadows that add relief to the façade.

For years, owners have settled for stock configurations, only to notice after the windows are replaced that the house looks dramatically different. Fortunately, computer capabilities now make it easier for a window manufacturer to customize new windows of different sizes to match the proportions of older ones. Some preservationists prefer a slight alteration between the original windows and new ones, as on an addition, to make the record clear in the future.

Custom windows in a new brick Foursquare in Georgia are right out of a period millwork catalog.

Three-over-one sash windows surround the breakfast nook in this new house.

Jeld-Wen’s Craftsman window uses intersecting corners to evoke a period Prairie Style sash; the trimwork, too, is period style.

This restrained but decorative leaded-glass ensemble was discovered in the 1912 house during restoration, and re-installed. The large wood dividers between windows are called mullions.

Come Celebrate Golden Hill and Balboa Park Centennial A blending of the Golden Hill Street Fair and the Balboa Park 1915 Centennial is coming to the neighborhood on Saturday, June 20.

That’s the date for the “Golden Hill Community Balboa Park 1915 Expo Centennial Festival.”

It will be held from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Golden Hill Park on the East Mesa (at the end of 25th Street).

The festival, sponsored by the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corp., will celebrate the rich culture and history of both Balboa Park and Golden Hill in a fun and interactive way for all ages.

The celebration features historical exhibitions, an antique car show, a Westcoaster Historic Beer Garden, a live music stage, food vendors, and more. There will be an Urban Geo Tracking scavenger hunt and mustache contest with prizes for participants.

For children, the Youth and Family Village offers kid-friendly activities such as games, contests, lawn sports, and a talent showcase. Families are encouraged to learn about the history of our neighborhood while enjoying the live music and fresh food.

Main Stage Performance Schedule:

11: 30 a.m. to Noon — SD School of Rock 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. — Euphoria Brass Band 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. — Bill Magee Blues Band 3:45 to 4:30 p.m. — Marz Jukebox 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. — The B-Side Players 6:45 to 8 p.m. — Tribal Theory

FINANCE

MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP | JUNE 2015 | 17

CashCo will also take art, collectibles, and memorabilia if they have certificates of value and authenticity, said owner Moris Adato. (Photo/Delle Willett)

ASSET-BACKED LOANS A NEW WAY OF BORROWING MONEY

BY DELLE WILLETT

Most people don’t like to be in situations where they need to borrow money, and when they do, they often have little choice beyond asking their rich uncle for the 10th time.

And it’s even more challenging if they don’t have the usual assets to borrow against such as a home, auto, savings, investments, securities, and life insurance policies.

Fortunately, a new source of capital is available and gaining in popularity.

As credit tightened after 2008, a number of personal-asset lenders started offering pawn-type loans to individuals and small-business owners.

Usually online, these lenders will take personal luxury assets like gold, diamond jewelry, luxury watches, classic cars, a wine or art collection, motorbikes, Fender guitars, stretches of timberland, super yachts, highspeed aircraft, precious metals/stones, sports memorabilia, antiques, designer purses, accounts receivable and inventory as collateral for a short-term personal or business loan.

Luxury, asset-based loans can be a much-needed source of capital for companies that are rapidly growing, highly leveraged, and in the midst of a turnaround.

Sometimes a company simply needs that fusion of cash to get over a financial hump, prevent growth from faltering, or seriously damage their credit scores.

The transactions are often completed within 24 hours and they don’t require a credit check. The asset secures the loan and there’s no

personal guarantee. If the borrower defaults on the loan, he loses his asset.

Loan amounts range from $1,000 to $2 million at loan rates as low as 2 percent.

With luxury-backed loans borrowers do not have to contend with: • Credit checks • Income verification • Financial reviews • Prepayment penalty Regardless the asset, there’s a few strings attached: • Luxury assets have to be able to be readily shipped to lenders to their secure storage locations.

• The lenders only lend a portion of the asset’s total worth.

• If the borrower cannot repay the loan, he promises to surrender the asset to the lender.

All of the items are generally stored as well as insured in specialist premises and vaults for the entire duration of the loan.

Banks and other financial institutions are focused on banking wealthy families, and are encouraging some of these loans, particularly for art. They don’t provide these luxury-asset loans unless the borrower has several million on deposit.

The same for auction sites, galleries or antique dealers.

U.S. Trust, the private wealth management arm of Bank of America that oversees around $350 billion in assets, says its portfolio for artbacked loans grew 25 percent in both 2012 and 2013. Its loans can

range from $3 million to $56 million in value; and a typical borrower would already have an art collection worth at least $10 million.

A survey of San Diego’s banks did not turn up any bank that offers this lending program, although John Massab, executive vice president and chief credit officer of Torrey Pines Bank, said the bank is willing to look at it.

An alternative to bank loans is online, luxury-asset lenders such as Borro, which is a platform for providing liquidity against high-value goods.

Positioning itself to be the leading luxury-asset lender, Borro offers small business owners, entrepreneurs and high-net worth clients loans from $5,000 to $2 million against assets.

Borro’s online platform allows loans to be provided within 24 hours, with no income or credit checks and at a lower cost than if a client were to sell his or her luxury assets. Loans can be paid back sooner than the loan term without early repayment penalties.

Upon receiving an application, Borro offers appointments at their office and valuation center, home visits, and various premium collection options including same-day couriers. All of these services are fully insured and provided for by Borro, which is based in New York City, with recently opened offices in Los Angeles.

The assets are stored in secure and insured specialist vaults/premises.

Fine art and antiques are stored at fine-art storage specialists and luxury cars are stored in climate-con-

trolled premises. All assets are fully insured while in storage with Borro for the duration of the loan.

The loan term is six months, but the customer has the right to renew the loan by paying off the interest at which point the loan term begins again.

About 60 percent of Borro’s business comes from small business owners who use the service for a liquidity solution. The average loan is $35,000, and it has issued over $150 million in loans since launch.

Borro has loaned close to $20 million against almost 400 cars, the collection including a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, a Ferrari California, a Lamborghini Diablo, an Aston Martin Vanquish and a Rolls-Royce Ghost.

The company loaned $1.2 million

for a signed Claude Monet painting; $226,000 for a Harry Houdini collection; $51,000 for Beatles memorabilia; and $18,000 for Steve McQueen’s vintage motorcycle jacket from the film “Bullit.”

“California is a perfect demographic match for the customers we serve and has enormous growth potential. While the economy is recovering globally, many times banks aren’t as responsive as customers would like so people are looking for alternative funding sources,” said Paul Aitken, CEO of Borro. “We provide a discreet option in the form of loans based on expert asset evaluations on a variety of luxury items.”

Another alternative for small businesses to obtain cash with colSEE LOANS, Page 18

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18 | JUNE 2015 | MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP

LOANS

CONTINUED FROM Page 17

lateral is pawn shops. Ninety-five percent of businesses are small and they need small loans.

Pawn shops offer the customer roughly half of the item’s wholesale value, or about one fourth of what they can re-sell it for in a store.

In recent years, some pawn shops have improved their image, with a newer, cleaner appearance, resulting in a more professional looking shop, often located in a better part of town, with a knowledgeable and professional staff focused on friendly customer service.

A good example of this upgraded breed of pawn shops is CashCo, with three locations in City Heights, Encanto and Escondido.

Owner Moris Adato, 40, has 24 years in the industry, starting from cleaning and polishing jewelry to cleaning floors, setting up merchandise, getting his Gemological Institute of America (GIA) degree, and doing retail/wholesale business importing diamonds.

In business for 13 years as CashCo, Adato currently has 35 employees who help customers from their community: gardeners, small car dealers, at-home businesses, restaurants, caterers and more.

Adato has two gemologists and 14 jewelry experts on staff who have gone through training at GIA. CashCo takes just about everything but firearms; 75 percent to 80 percent of its business is jewelry. Tools, especially welding equipment, can yield high loans. It doesn’t take the big items for lack of room, but Adato is looking at a location with larger storage capacity.

The largest item he’s ever taken in is an industrial floor cleaner. “Big stuff doesn’t necessarily mean big profits. I can get more for a gold chain,” said Adato.

FINANCE CashCo will also take art, collectibles, and memorabilia if they have certificates of value and authenticity.

Everything for sale in the store is also for sale online at the same time. The items that don’t sell are sold to wholesalers.

CashCo’s loans have been as low as $5, but average between $3,000–$5,000, with the largest to date being $60,000. By California law, the interest rate is 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent, depending on how much the customer gets for the item. 80 percent of its customers take out two or more loans a year.

To pay off their loan, legally, the customer has four months plus 10 days in California.

Adato gives 30 days extra because “things happen.” Then the owner has some options: let the item go, pay the interest to get it back, or take out another loan. Ninety percent of the customers either redeem or roll over their loans and eventually take the item back. 10 percent lose the merchandise.

“Our business customers pawn for different reasons: to cover payroll, to buy food and decorations for a catered event, to pay the rent, to buy groceries, to complete the purchase of property, to pay Christmas bonuses,” said Adato.

“Sometimes an initial investment to get a business going is as small as $600.”

Adato, who has helped a lot of businesses get started and still sees them 10 years later.

“Most people who start small businesses just have a dream,” he said. “They don’t have money or credit but they have valuables that can get them the initial capital to make their dream come true. That’s why we are here.”

Everything for sale in the CashCo store, like this jewelry, is also for sale online at the same time.

‘California is a perfect demographic match for the customers we serve and has enormous growth potential.’ says Paul Aitken, CEO of Borro.

MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP | JUNE 2015 | 19

By Bart Mendoza A Rare Appearance by Jose Sinatra It’s safe to say there is no other performer in Southern California quite like Jose Sinatra. Appearing at Java Joe’s on June 24, Sinatra music is a twist on a ’70s-era lounge singer, full of over the top performances, often featuring risqué lyrical reworkings of everything from “MacArthur Park” to Gary Puckett’s immortal “Young Girl.” It’s a mix of both comedic gold and superb musical arrangements. Sinatra has rarely performed in recent years, preferring to host a karaoke night at Winston’s, making this rare appearance a must for anyone who has never experienced the Sinatra magic in person.

Java Joe’s, 3536 Adams Ave. javajoessd.com

Pandoras Return to a ’60s Sound at the Casbah 1980’s garage rock icons the Pandoras reunite for a show at the Casbah on June 26. The all-female band no longer has the late Paula Pierce at the helm, but with key members Kim Shattuck (lead vocals, guitar) and Melanie Vammen (keyboard), Sherri Kaplan (drums) and Karen Blankfield (bass), this promises to be an intense, fun show. With Vammen on board that means a return to the band’s ’60s leanings as opposed to their later, more metal-oriented days. This is a particularly strong bill, with openers the Loons celebrating the release of their new album, “Inside Out your Mind” and appearances from Ron Silva’s new band, The Gargoyles, as well as The Mighty Manfred and the Magnificent. If ’60s garage is your thing, this is the show of the month.

Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd. casbahmusic.com

Rising Star Raelee Nikole Visits Lestat’s Anyone jaded by the singer-songwriter scene would do well to investigate the music of Raelee Nikole, who performs at Lestat’s on June 26. Blessed with a sweet resonant voice tha is best on a moody ballad, Nikole recently released her debut album, “Answers,” but also has an arsenal of great cover tunes in her repertoire including material by Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones and Ray Charles. Matched with a nice guitar picking style that immediately sets her apart from the more typical strummers, Nikole is the real deal and one of the local music community’s brightest rising stars.

Lestat’s, 3343 Adams Ave. lestats.com

Sometimes Julie Tops House of Blues’ Side Stage The House of Blues’ Salvation Alley side stage will be the location for a Listen Local Showcase on June 30. The free show starts at 7 p.m. with sets from up and comers Aubryn, Chad Taggart, Enter The Blue Sky, Sometimes Julie and Love Bomb. According to the Listen Local website, these shows are auditions for bands hoping to open for national acts on the bigger stage, so you can expect top flight performances from all the contenders. All are well worth checking out but Sometimes Julie is the night’s likely standout with well-crafted bluesy rock tunes, highlighted by Monica Sorenson’s whiskey smooth vocals.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave. houseofblues.com/sandiego

Veruca Salt Returns to San Diego at Soda Bar

Rising Star Raelee Nikole Visits Lestat’s

Touring in anticipation of their forthcoming album, Ghost Notes, Chicago-based Veruca Salt returns to San Diego with a show at the Soda Bar on July 8. Formed in 1993, the alt rockwith powerpop-tendencies quartet never topped their debut single, “Seether,” but have continued to gain fans through a slew of excellent singles such as “Volcano Girls” and their latest, “Laughing In The Sugar Bowl,” as well as continued touring. Fans will be happy to note that the new album (and tour) features the band’s original line up, the first time since 1997.

Anyone jaded by the singer-songwriter scene would do well to investigate the music of Raelee Nikole, who performs at Lestat’s on June 26. Blessed with a sweet resonant voice tha is best on a moody ballad, Nikole recently released her debut album, “Answers,” but also has an arsenal of great cover tunes in her repertoire including material by Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones and Ray Charles. Matched with a nice guitar picking style that immediately sets her apart from the more typical strummers, Nikole is the real deal and one of the local music community’s brightest rising stars.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd. www.sodabarmusic.com

Lestat’s, 3343 Adams Ave. lestats.com

20 | JUNE 2015 | MID CITY NEWSPAPER GROUP

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