Avila Beach Life • January 2024

LOCAL NEWS ... BEACH VIEWS • JANUARY 2024

AVILABEACHLIFENEWS .COM

2024 Happy New Year!

“As the old year closes its chapter, embrace the new one with open arms & a heart full of hope. Happy New Year, filled with endless possibilities!”

Best in Show

Tinsley

WELCOME RICK ROWE | PAGE 3

SANTA’S DOGGIE PARADE | PAGE 4

PET OF THE MONTH | PAGE 5

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ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

2 | Avila Beach Life — JANUARY 2024

Publishers

Hayley & Nicholas Mattson editor@13starsmedia.com

Copy editor Michael Chaldu

community writer Camille DeVaul

LAYOUT DEsIGN Evan Rodda

Ad Design Jen Rodman

Ad Consultant Dana McGraw

Administrator

Cami Martin office@13starsmedia.com

Contributors Mary Foppiano Betty Hartig Ian Parkinson Rick Rowe John Salisbury Contact Us 805.466.2585

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Welcome 2024!

A

s we embark on this new year, it is a time for reflection, renewal, and anticipation.

The start of another year is like turning the page of a book, offering us a blank canvas upon which to paint our hopes, dreams, and aspirations. It is an opportunity to reset our goals, make positive changes, and embrace the possibilities that lie ahead.

One of the most valuable investments we can make in the coming year is in our health – not just our physical health, but also our mental and spiritual well-being. In today’s fast-paced world, it is easy to neglect these aspects of our lives. However, a healthy mind, body, and spirit are the foundation upon which we can build a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Let us resolve to prioritize self-care, practice mindfulness, and nurture our inner selves in the year ahead.

Living on the Central Coast offers a unique and picturesque backdrop for our journey into 2024. The natural beauty that surrounds us — from the rolling hills to the pristine beaches — reminds us of the importance of connecting with nature and finding moments of serenity

“As the new year dawns, may your dreams take flight, your hopes soar high, and your journey be filled with joy, adventure, and endless possibilities.

Happy New Year!”

amidst our busy lives. Take time to explore the scenic trails, savor the breathtaking sunsets, and revel in the tranquility of this remarkable region.

Beyond the stunning landscapes, it is the sense of community that truly defines the Central Coast. We are fortunate to be part of a vibrant and close-knit community that cares for one another. In the coming year, let us continue to foster these connections, support our neighbors, and work together to make our corner of the world an even better place. As we embark on this journey into the unknown, I offer a blessing for the new year. May it bring you joy and laughter, may it provide you with the strength to overcome challenges, and may it be filled with love, kindness,

and meaningful connections. May you find fulfillment in your pursuits, and may your dreams become reality.

So, let us welcome 2024 with open hearts and open minds. May it be a year of growth, resilience, and discovery. May we find the balance between nurturing our health and nurturing our relationships. And may the Central Coast continue to be our cherished home, a place of beauty, community, and inspiration.

Here’s to a wonderful year ahead, filled with boundless opportunities and endless blessings.

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JANUARY 2024 — Avila Beach Life | 3

Making Communities Better Through Print™

Foundation News and Views

Rick Rowe

I

avila beach foundation

am thrilled to be embarking on my new role as the executive director of the Avila Beach Community Foundation. The opportunity to lead and serve this vibrant community is a great honor.

I look forward to working with everyone to enhance and preserve our wonderful Central Coast paradise.

My wife, Stephanie, and I moved to Avila Beach in 2006 from the Bay Area

to be closer to Stephanie’s parents. We enjoyed living in Avila for over eight years and currently live in San Luis Obispo. I am a retired elementary school educator and finished my teaching career in Santa Maria in 2022. Prior to being an educator, I held various positions in the semiconductor equipment sector employed at Applied Materials and other Silicon Valley companies. While living in Avila, I was active in the community, serving on multiple boards, including the Avila Beach Community Services District, Avila Beach Civic Association, and the Avila Beach Community Foundation. I had the pleasure of serving as president of the foundation, so it is wonderful to return to such a great organization in my new role.

I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to Rick Cohen for his exceptional leadership and guidance during his 15 years as executive director

of the Avila Beach Community Foundation. His commitment to the community’s well-being has been an inspiration to all.

His vision has laid a strong foundation for our collective success, and I am honored to continue building upon it as we work together toward our shared goals. Wishing Rick a joyous retirement, filled with many new adventures.

Additionally, I want to announce the retirement of another outstanding board member, Richard Zacky. We thank him for his extraordinary decade of leadership and dedication to the Avila Beach community.

We are immensely grateful for the wisdom, expertise, and guidance he has shared with the foundation. We thank Richard for his invaluable contributions and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

Now for the best news of the month, the Avila Beach Community Foundation Board of Trustees met on December 5 to

determine grant awards to be distributed for the coming year. For this annual round of funding in 2024, we awarded a grand total of $54,200 to our community partners.

Grants were awarded to: Avila Beach Civic Association, NatureTrack, Cancer Well-Fit Program at the Avila Bay Club, Central Coast Aquarium, KCBX Public Radio, Noor Foundation of San Luis Obispo, Operation Surf, People’s Self Help Housing at Lachen Tara in Avila Beach, Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers, Port San Luis Harbor District Doggy Waste Bags, Surfrider Foundation, Avila Beach Free Trolley, Avila Beach Life News Publication and Friends of the Avila Pier.

In the coming months, I will plan to spotlight each of these organizations to recognize all that they contribute to our wonderful community.

Wishing each of you a New Year filled with peace, joy and good health in 2024.

Stress-Less Investing = A Simpler Life!

I know the headline on this note is about the same as December’s and there’s a reason. I have been using “stress-less” investment concepts* for clients and myself now for about two years and I couldn’t be happier with them. Instead of having to worry about whether I am making the right decisions for you (or myself), stressless” investments allow one to sit back and gain if stock markets go up, and either eliminate or reduce worry about them if they go down. ** As I type this note (12.18.23), the stock markets have been on an historical run the past 7 weeks, with 26 positive days and only 9 negative ones.^ That ratio is “unbelievable” and is reminiscent of the best days of the 1999 bubble. Will it continue? Seems hard to imagine it could. But, who am I to put a lid on unbridled optimism that the Federal Reserve will do what they’ve achieved 1 out of 10 times since 1960, which is to raise interest rates as much as they have without something “breaking” and a recession to follow.*^ Regardless of the recent market action, I believe the next 5-7 years are going to be challenging in the stock and bond markets due to the excesses of the past few years. We all know “there’s no free lunch” and, eventually, the bill is paid. Give yourself a New Year’s present and de-stress your investments so you are covered. To learn more, please visit our website, come to one of our Roundtable Dinner, and/or call for a 15 minute no obligation, no fee discussion. Best wishes for a great new year. *https://tacticaladvisoryservices.com/structured-outcomes; **Based on the claims paying ability of the insuring company. **Buffered accounts may provide up to 20% protection from index declines while also allowing for 100% participation in the index chosen. Please refer to a product prospectus for specific information on costs, crediting methods, current rates, limitations, and buffer protections. **Fixed Index-linked investments provide for gains that are capped while eliminating the potential for stock market loss. They are not securities.

Please refer to product disclosures for specific information on crediting methods, current rates, limitations, and other important information. ^Source: Yahoo Finance *^Fed Reserve Bank of NY, Nat Bur of Econ Research

A New Paradigm. A New Way of Investing.

Thomas B. Paine Paine Financial Services

www.PaineFinancialServices.com 6627-A Bay Laurel Place (Avila Village) Avila Beach, CA 93424 (805) 473-6679

Rules Based Investing for all stock market conditions Advisory Services and Securities offered through Centaurus Financial, Inc. member FINRA and SIPC, a registered broker/dealer and registered investment advisor.

Paine Financial Services, Jackson National Life, and Centaurus Financial Inc. are not affiliated.

Supervisory branch office: 1186 E. Grand Ave., Arroyo Grande, CA 93420; (805) 473-6670

Join Us For a Roundtable Dinner Please join me and a special guest at our next Roundtable event in late January for an excellent dinner and beverage on us while we discuss current stock/bond/real estate markets and avoiding taxes. Questions and comments welcome. Some possible topics: • The new paradigm of high interest rates.

• Structured accounts and how they eliminate or reduce stock market risk.

• Critical questions to ask one’s advisor, even if the advisor is you.

• Ideas to reduce taxes and avoid taxation when selling rentals.

• How I invest my and my clients’ money now.

Will be a conversation, not a seminar.

Reservations are Required.

Private event exclusive to 8 guests.

Investing not allowed at this event. Only for those with investable assets over $250,000.

Certain Investments require one to be an accredited investor.

We reserve the right to refuse attendance.

4 | Avila Beach Life — JANUARY 2024

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A View From the Beach Mary Foppiano

Avila Beach Civic Association

Hi All …The holidays really came early this year … or at least they seemed to come early. Over the past few weeks, the Avila Beach Civic Association hosted its annual Holiday Potluck and, of course, an event that is near and dear to my heart, our annual Santa’s Doggie Parade with 71 participants! I have attached a number of pictures so that you can all enjoy our parade whether or not you were able to attend. Each year, the costumes are better and better … and be sure to see our own Bill and Linda Price with their grandkids Presley and Weston and Bessie, their sweet pup, as Best in Show winners (photo by Lisa Wilkerson)! The other winners include: • Best Costume: Lucy, Lily, and Bella with Jodi Shubin • Best Dog/Owner Look Alike: Honey, Daisy, and Murphy with Andee and Avery Watson • Best Holiday Theme: Luna, Blackie, Jackie, and Ellie with Rian DeWalt and friends • Funniest Costume: Jack and Jasper with Janelle Langerman

• In addition, Karen Blue donated another terrific basket to help us raise funds for the Community Center.

We were very fortunate this year with the many volunteers we had for our two events including: Potluck Dinner volunteers included Giulia Padoan, Kate Kirchenbauer, Boden Ford, Ben Bruno, Richard Dodder, Savannah King, Amir Rodriquez, Julianna Nijmeh, Anna Jewell, Jeri LaMarca, Norma Rosales, Board President Robin WeedBrown, Board Member John Janowicz, Mary Janowicz, and Cheryl Stepaniak who cooked our delicious turkeys.

Santa’s Doggie Parade volunteers included Emma Swadley, Calla Lily Dobbs, Despina Sfiris, Sarah Coles, Sydney Bertoni, Acacia Truong, Acira Mehta, Cali Bernard, Kendall Pederson, Madeline Miouk, Calleigh McPartlin, Kiersten Low, and our judges Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg, Board President Robin Weed-Brown, and Jeri LaMarca.

We are in the process of planning our calendar for 2024 and would welcome your sugges-

tions and assistance. You can help us by becoming a member, purchasing a Healing Garden Commemorative Paver, renting the Community Center for your special event, enrolling in the Ralphs Community Rewards Program to benefit the ABCA, and/or becoming a volunteer to help with our events or maintaining the Community Center.

We have the first edition of the Central Coast Senior Resource Guide from the Area Agency on Aging for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. These guides answer any and all questions you may have on aging services and can be picked up in our office.

In addition, with the increase in COVID, I want to remind you that the San Luis Obispo Public Health Department gave us 100 COVID-19 test kits for distribution to members of our community. If you are interested in picking up any of these test kits, please let me know so you can pick them up in our office.

On behalf of all of us at the Avila Beach Civic Association, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season and new year!

JANUARY 2024 — Avila Beach Life | 5

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Sixth annual State of the Sheriff’s Office

By IAN PARKINSON San Luis Obispo County Sheriff

Before I begin this column, I want to first wish ever yone a ver y happy, safe, and prosperous 2024! That ’s how I typically start my first column of the new year. And so, I thought, why change it up this year. Especially since it seems that the only constant this past year was change. It has been a very eventful year to say the least. And while people often fear change. I embrace it. It causes us to think differently and act accordingly.

And so, with that in mind, I present to you my sixth annual State of the Sheriff ’s Office.

It seems like the calendar had just turned to January 2023, when our area was hit by a torrential downpour of rain in a short amount of time causing all kinds of problems. And it seemed to continue. Day after day. The rain made creeks turn into fast-moving rivers.

And rivers turn into angry and raging

waters. A 5-year-old boy was swept away by floodwaters near San Miguel.

The Sheriff ’s Office, along with first responder agencies from all over the state, conducted many searches for him, but sadly to no avail. We had several other rescue and recover y missions during those storms as well. In addition, the storms created a number of issues for the county from damaged crops to flooding which led to San Luis Obispo County being declared a federal disaster area.

On March 10, 2023, a judge in Monterey Count y sentenced Paul Flores to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of Kristin Smart. During the sentencing, the judge called Flores “a cancer to society.” Thus ends a 27-year long saga of finding justice for Kristin. Flores was the last person to be seen with Kristin as they walked back to the Cal Poly dorms from an off-campus party in 1996. Paul Flores and his father, Ruben, were arrested and

of the

T

By MARY FOPPIANO

insley is an 8-month-old Mini Hippo. Her mother is a Mini Flowered Shar Pei and her father is a Cocker Spaniel. She made her big trip by air from Tennessee to Los Angeles in July with her breeder, where Karen Blue picked her up. She now resides in her new home in Avila Beach with her big sister, Zoey. She has completed her puppy classes and Spunky Sprouts at Woods Humane.

She is quite an active puppy with her mornings consisting of her Zoomies, a walk, and sunbathing on the deck viewing the peacock, turkeys, and deer. She is a cuddler and also loves her Grandma Gail so much who says that Tinsley is the sweetest fur baby!

NEXT MONTH’S PET OF THE MONTH

Please send your pictures and a short paragraph about your pet to avilabeachcc@gmail.com Thanks, and introduce us to your furry friend next month!

to the finish line. We also redesigned our website slosheriff.org with you in mind to include new features and make navigating easier to do. We also held our popular Sheriff ’s Family Day which showcases all the units and divisions at the Sheriff ’s Office and this year saw record attendance. And finally, we had one of my favorite events at the Sheriff ’s Office, the 34th annual Christmas Bicycle Giveaway where we hand out bicycles to kids in need in the County.

S o, I think it onl y fitting and appropriate to finish this column like the way I started it, with my words from last year’s column. I’m extremely grateful to the men and women of the Sheriff ’s Office who day in and day out, provide safety and security to all who live in San Luis Obispo County. And I am thankful to you, the community, for making the place we call home a better place to live. So, here’s to a new year.

Be good. And be good to one another.

Community Spotlight

FURRY SPOTLIGHT

Month

charged in April 2021 in connection with the disappearance of Kristin. In July 2022, the trial began for both men.

And then On October 18, 2022, after a three-month trial, the jury unanimously reached a verdict. W hile Paul was convicted of murdering Kristin, Ruben was acquitted of charges that he helped his son hide Kristin’s body. However, this is not the end of this case. Kristin’s remains have never been found. And the Sheriff ’s Office will continue to stay on this case until Kristin can be returned to her family.

This year, we also had our fair share of stories that didn’t necessarily make it on the evening news. For instance, we held a memorial for two of our retired K9’s Jacco and Gonzo who were cherished members of the S her iff ’s Office family. We said goodbye to one of our longtime detectives Clint Cole who retired from the Sheriff ’s Office after 32 years in law enforcement and was instrumental in getting the Smart case

By MARY FOPPIANO For Avila Beach Life

L

inda Almaguer was born in Santa Barbara and lived two blocks from the ocean, which she said was her playground growing up. She moved to San Luis Obispo in 1991, where she was a mail carrier for 24 years and is now retired.

Linda has five beautiful children who are all married and has 10 grandchildren.

She is fortunate that four of her five children live on the central Coast and one lives in Goleta, for which she feels blessed.

She has always loved the outdoors whether working or playing and the ocean has always been her happy place.

She met Betty Woody one day when Betty was gardening in the little pocket patches which enhance downtown Avila.

She asked Betty if she could help and has been picking up trash on the beach, pulling weeds, and gardening around Avila, including the welcome sign at the corner of Avila Beach Drive and San Miguel Street.

Linda is a very humble and caring person who is thankful for her blessings and wants to give back, which gives her great joy. She loves living in Avila Beach and wants to continue being a contributing part of our community. In addition to all that she does in Avila, she also is a volunteer at her church, Calvery Chapel Linda Almaguer in Arroyo Grande.

Each day, Linda and her friends walk With Max our dog that has no leash along the beach and sit down to visit. One Set out to walk on Avila Beach of the very impressive memories that she Mondays and Fridays find us there has shared with her friends was captured Come sun or mist we do not care

by Jean Nanney in her book entitled “A Our fellowship is rich & strong Love Affaire, Poetic Reflections on God, The love we share makes us ‘belong’ Life, and Nature”.

We chat in pairs or groups of three “Ode to the Lollygaggers” was written And stop to pray to meet a need about Linda and her friends as follows: Meet lovely folk along the shore Susie, Andi, Jean & Sue And then regroup to chat some more Amy Lynne and a Linda or two We lollygag to left, then right

And toss the ball for Max delight The gentle waves flow to our feet The Voice of God, the One we meet At ten we have to leave the shore To drink a Chai and talk some more This bond of friendship is so strong Our faith in Christ makes us belong And so many lollygagging friends May this sweet time never end A time to share and praise the Lord To walk in beauty evermore

6 | Avila Beach Life — JANUARY 2024

Making Communities Better Through Print™

The black-crowned night heron hides in trees or shrubs along the Bob Jones Trail and is an expert at fishing. Photo by Betty Hartig

Black-crowned night herons

By BETTY HARTIG For Avila Beach Life

L

ocals as well as tourists consider Avila Beach to be a piece of paradise. Residents have a stake in the well-being of the community, proudly making the small neighborhood their home as visitors flock to our beach. However, a big part of Avila’s population are birds. An array of avians comfortably settle in Avila Beach. Their numbers are far greater than the human population.

A prime location to observe birds is by the San Luis Creek. Conveniently, the Bob Jones Pathway and the creek nicely meander side by side into Avila.

Trail users eyes and ears easily sense more winged wonders than can be counted on fingers and toes. An interesting inhabitant that lives along the banks of the creek that frequents the eastern section of the Bob Jones Trail is the black-crowned night heron.

To catch a glimpse of this creature, you must scan carefully through the undergrowth as it is most often hidden in trees or shrubs. The black-crowned night heron roosts by the edges of aquatic environments.

The stocky bird is an expert at fishing. Therefore,

the area is a desirable place to inhabit.

Black-crowned herons have a compact structure.

Tucking a stubby thick neck as well as head into its body creates a hunchbacked look. A black cap contrasts with a pale grey belly, grey wings, and white face. Its tail is relatively short as are their yellowish legs. Two or three long white plumes extend from the back of their head. These feathers serve a purpose during courtship displays by proudly being hoisted to entice a mate. True to their name the bird is most active at night. As the sun begins setting you can hear the loud croaking squawk sound from the night heron. During the day it rests stooped, motionless, concealed by vegetation at the water’s edge. Evening, dusk, early morning, are the best times to see night herons flying around foraging for a meal. Large, red light gathering eyes, allow night herons to hunt in near darkness and beyond. Most often they stand still like a statue adjacent to water quickly striking prey. Night herons main food source are small fish including minnows and herrings, but they also dine on toads, crayfish, mice, dragon flies, plants, and algae. Intelligently, sometimes they drop insects or other small objects on the surface of the water to

attract fish, making them a rare tool-using species.

In addition, night herons possess the ability to dive feetfirst, headfirst, swim, or float on the surface.

A word of caution: Young night herons can be aggressive by regurgitating or defecating on human intruders, which is a rather unpleasant gesture. Nature has creative ways of protecting itself. Immatures are brown with large white spots on wings, a yellow and black bill, whereas an adult beak is all black. Young herons are susceptible to being taken by prey such as hawks. Eggs and nestlings are vulnerable to predators, especially raccoons. Chicks cannot fly until they are 6 weeks old, forcing them to forage through vegetation on foot at night. Black-crowned night herons often nest in groups with other species like egrets. An unusual fact is a breeding black-crowned night heron does not distinguish between their own offspring and nestlings from other parents. All are well cared for.

In general, wildlife find Avila’s surroundings to be more than satisfying. Furthermore, humans have the benefit of ringside seats for viewing a multitude of magnificent birds. Bring your binoculars and head out to gaze at our fine-feathered friends.

JANUARY 2024 — Avila Beach Life | 7

Making Communities Better Through Print™

GRAPEVINE Vintage of a lifetime

John Salisbury contributor

“IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN DRINKING WINE EVERY DAY OR BEING SKINNY, WOULD YOU CHOOSE RED OR WHITE?” - ANONYMOUS

W

ith all its trials and tribulations, this year’s crop could likely go down as a “Vintage of a Lifetime.” After the record rainfall this year and a relatively cool summer, one of the coldest in the last dozen years, many varietals stayed on the vines for up to a month longer than usual. This allowed the fruit to “hang” on the vines and gain complexity, smooth tastes, and lower sugars because of the lack of sunshine and heat, resulting in lower alcohol. The cool, wet winter flushed out the accumulated salts from the last several years of drought and put the vines to sleep without stress. It also helped the growers that there were very few water delivery restrictions, so, for the first time in a while, the vines had all the irrigation water they needed to thrive.

However, the wet winter did not make it easy for the growers. Heavy May Grey, June

Gloom, No-sky July, and Fogest made for little sunshine this summer, and it bunched up the normal scattered-out delivery of winegrapes by varietals resulting in a late heavy delivery of grapes varietals on top of each other. This led to tank shortages, which would have been empty after a week or two of fermentation, ready for the next varietal’s turn. It also screwed up the harvest labor for the need of availability of more crews to pick the grapes almost all at once instead of a long steady late summer/fall pick.

Now, with the time and a half overtime payroll for farm workers, most growers do not want to work on Saturdays but were forced to pick on weekends and longer days and nights because the wineries demanded so. That made for an unbudgeted expense to the harvest. By the way, checking with my past vineyard foremen, they don’t like the overtime requirement because they work as much as 20 hours a week less, resulting in a smaller monthly income.

Also, farmers, during the growing season, needed to cut overtime costs and had to hire more workers at forty hours to do the job.

Farming is not a five-day 9-to-5 job!

The wet, persistent, foggy growing season brought on a historic Powdery Mildew problem, causing the growers to spray much more often than usual to control the problem. Fortunately, they are not the caustic fungicides used in the past. They are much safer, and many are organic in nature, such as organic mineral oil we had used for years, the same oil you put on a baby’s butt, which smothers the mildew pores.

The same is true for control of the frequent problem of mealy bugs and aphids with open pores on their backs, unlike hard-back ladybugs and the like, which also are smothered by the oil. I am sure some of you had to use

Neems or other safe oils for your plants this summer for mildew control. The local Sauvignon Blanc crop was a disaster because of its thin skin and the heavy mildew hit. Pinot Noir, also with thin skin, had its problems to boot.

Cabernet Sauvignon’s thick skin makes itself almost bulletproof. It was a blessing that with a cool, wet year, there were no usual big forest fires that would have tainted the grapes with smoke this year, like in 2020 and later.

The yields will come in as an average crop year with excellent quality but large compared to the last three short years. It is estimated that the crop globally is down considerably, as much as 10 percent. You would think this would be a good thing for the American wine industry, but even with the previous light crop years here, there is too much worldwide wine in the bottle or in bulk because of the slowdown in drinking wine. There is a shift in demographics because the younger generations are not so interested in wine and drinking in general versus my generation’s war babies, and the following boomers, who are the main wine-buying generations and dying off. Distributor sales to stores are down 7 percent this year, and direct-to-consumer winery sales are down 8 percent as of August this year.

At the end of harvest, there were extra tons left on the vine because wineries had enough, even when growers offered just to be paid harvest costs because they would have to be picked anyway or have rotting grape disease problems in the vineyards that would overwinter and cause problems next year. It is estimated that maybe 14 percent of the crop was rejected for quality (mildew and rot), waiting too long for a delivery time, grown without a contract — which is not a good idea, and grow-

ers completed their contracted tonnage, and the wineries didn’t want any more. Worldwide, it is a different story. Italy, France, and Spain had a long heat wave and other problems cutting wine deliveries. Argentina is a mess, where some vineyards have been abandoned because of a tough market and high inflation. Australia is in a trade war fight with its biggest customer, China. Italy is the biggest wine producer, followed by France, then Spain, the USA is fourth, Australia is fifth, Chile is sixth, and Argentina is seventh. The USA export business is still good for more expensive high-quality wines, but it is flat because Australia, Chile, and others are dumping wine on the markets as low as $2 per gallon to help solve their woes.

Compounding problems include high-interest rates, the aforementioned time-and-ahalf overtime wages, the severe scarcity of labor (where are all these new arrivals crossing the border who are potential farm workers, many with agriculture backgrounds — guessing they don’t need to work with living off the government and our tax dollars?), rising vineyard costs for replanting and construction of wineries and farm buildings financing is up 30 percent, lower winegrape prices, all leading to lower profit margins, saying there is a profit, for wineries and growers. Then there is the changing climate, making places like Napa Valley potentially becoming too hot, like the Central Valley, to grow quality grapes, to be offset with new expensive plantings in cooler areas once too cold for grapes. A good thing for consumers because of the oversupply is that much of this year’s great quality will end up in wine under $20/bottle, getting “more bang for the buck,” with whites showing up in stores around this time next year.

Submit upcoming events to: office@13starsmedia.com

JANUARY Calendar of Events

JANUARY 1

POLAR BEAR PLUNGE AVILA BEACH PIER 12 p.m.

The 12th annual Avila Beach Polar Bear Plunge is a celebration of fitness, nature, a New Year, camaraderie, and still having dessert.

POLAR BEAR DIP CAYUCOS PIER 12 p.m.

Take the plunge at their 44th Annual Carlin Soule Memorial Polar Bear Dip. Join them late morning for festivities that include music, dancing, prizes, and participant certificates.

JANUARY 22-28

JANUARY 8

BIG FISH LITTLE FISH CENTRAL COAST AQUARIUM 50 SAN JUAN STREET, AVILA BEACH 10-11:30am

Big Fish Little Fish is a monthly event during the school year designed just for preschoolers and their guardians to explore the aquarium. Suitable for ages 2 through 5, with younger children welcome to observe. This program offers hands-on animal encounters with creatures like sea stars and sea urchins, story time, sing-a-longs, games, and crafts.

SLO CAL OPEN PISMO BEACH PIER

relevant to our environment. January features local legend John Lindsey, meteorologist.

Daily

Join us Join us January 22-28, 2024 for the World Surf League event at Pismo Beach Pier.

FEBRUARY EVENTS

JANUARY 30

BIG FISH LITTLE FISH CENTRAL COAST AQUARIUM 50 SAN JUAN STREET, AVILA BEACH

SCIENCE AFTER DARK CENTRAL COAST AQUARIUM 50 SAN JUAN STREET, AVILA BEACH 6-8pm

Science After Dark is BACK! Starting in January, the last Tuesday of each month will feature a guest lecturer presenting on a variety of topics

FEBRUARY 5

10-11:30am

Big Fish Little Fish is a monthly event during the school year designed just for preschoolers and their guardians to explore the aquarium. Suitable for ages 2 through 5, with younger children welcome to observe. This

program offers hands-on animal encounters with creatures like sea stars and sea urchins, story time, sing-a-longs, games, and crafts.

FEBRUARY 22-25

BLENDFEST ON THE COAST SAN SIMEON AND CAMBRIA Daily

Experience a taste of Paso Robles Wine Country on the beautiful California coast. Paso Robles BlendFest on the Coast will take place Feb. 22-25 in San Simeon and Cambria with a selection of exciting events.

8 | Avila Beach Life — JANUARY 2024

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Call Taylor North

Today! 805.595.7900 BRE#01936978

NEW LISTINGS PRESENTED BY TAYLOR NORTH WITH SAN LUIS BAY REALTY

sold

NEW LUXURY CUSTOM HOME 2737 BARCELONA, SHELL BEACH $2,995,000 2552 SQFT. 3 BEDS, 2.5 BATHS, FLEX ROOM, HAWAIIAN INSPIRED COVERED PATIO OCEAN VIEW, CUSTOM HOME, GATED LOCATION.

2940 CLUB MOSS LANE $2,090,000 3 BEDS, 2.5 BATHS | 2397 SQFT

SHOWING BY APPOINTMENT OR WALK IN TRAFFIC AT OUR OFFICE LOCATION

RESORT STYLE LIVING IN KINGFISHER CANYON NEW LUXURY SEMI CUSTOM HOMES. 9 NEW HOMES REMAIN

BRAND NEW LUXURY HOME 5448 SHOOTING STAR LANE, LOT 224 $3,489,000 2,672 SQUARE FEET, OCEAN VIEW, ELEVATOR, OVERSIZED GARAGE

SanLuisBayRealty@gmail.com

6613 Bay laurel place, Suite A ‧ avila beach, ca 93424