Inside pocket Aug 2014 by Inside Publications

INSIDE

I N S I D E P U B L I C A T I O N S . C O M

AUG 2014

S T R E E T

S A C R A M E N T O

C A

9 5 8 1 6

POSTAL CUSTOMER ******ECRWSS******

PRSRT STD US Postage PA I D Permit # 1826 Sacramento CA

G E T

3 1 0 4

POCKET GREENHAVEN SOUTH POCKET

I N T O

T H E

N E I G H B O R H O O D

pending

FABULOUS SOUTH LAND PARK HILLS Mid-century contemporary with fabulous updates. Fantastic Àoor plan, spacious rooms and a great layout makes it perfect for entertaining. 3 bedrooms 2½ baths, new kitchen opens to family room; a huge skylight ¿lls it with light. Wood Àoors, beautiful lighting, great detailing! Tons of storage space. $575,000 SHEILA VAN NOY 505-5395

SACRAMENTO RIVER ACCESS Amazing remodeled home that backs up to the Sacramento River. Hard to ¿nd single story, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3-car gar and lovely pool. Remodeled top to bottom … kitchen, granite counters, gas cooktop, baths, stamped color cement patio, lanai for indoor/outdoor living & more! Lot extends to water. $585,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555

SPACIOUS DUTRA BEND Comfortable 4 bedroom 3 bath Dutra Bend home with over 2600 square feet of living space. Kitchen family room combination looks out on easy care backyard with deck and spa. One remote downstairs bedroom and bath. Big master suite and master bathroom upstairs. 3-car garage. $525,000 PAULA SWAYNE 425-9715

WATERFRONT SPECTACULAR Waterfront! Spectacular single story 4 bedroom 2½ bath home that backs up to the Sacramento River! Brand new roof, re¿nished wood Àoors. Built-in pool and steps leading to levee to walk along the river. Upgrades include: Remodeled kitchen and baths, ¿replace insert, shutters and sunroom. $485,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555

CLASSIC POCKET HOME Don’t miss this three bedroom, three bath home located on a large lot in the Pocket area. Over 2280 sq ft with of¿ce that could possibly be converted to a fourth bedroom. Very spacious formal living/dining area combo. Kitchen looks over large family room with ¿replace. Walk in Jacuzzi tub. $379,500 LIBBY NEIL 539-5881

WALK TO GARCIA BEND PARK Play tennis, enjoy the playground, walk along the Sacramento River or launch a boat; walk to the Promenade Center to shop and dine! Single story 4 bedroom 2 bath home is freshly painted. Laminate and tile Àoors, separate living and family room with brick ¿replace. Kitchen island! $320,000 CONNIE LANDSBERG 761-0411

QUALITY S LAND PARK Wonderful location meets wonderful home! 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and 1500 square feet this home has it all. Original owner took great care of this home and it shows! You’ll love the hardwood Àoors under carpet, ¿replace, slate hallway, large kitchen, indoor laundry room. $315,000 KELLIE SWAYNE 206-1458

WONDERFUL S LAND PARK Sharp 3 bedroom features new roof, Àoors, granite counters and master bath remodel. Nice location close-in, with easy access to both 99 and I-5. Screened-in Florida room for relaxing with those Delta breezes. Family room / kitchen / dining area, and generous sized living room with ¿replace. $365,000 MIKE PUENTE 395-4727

NEWLY REMODELED Gorgeous 3 bedroom 2½ bath home, with brand new roof, gorgeous kitchen with awesome granite counters, stunning baths, quality wood laminate Àoors. Close to downtown, bike trails, parks, Sacramento River, shopping, great schools. Fabulous Greenhaven/Pocket neighborhood. $320,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555

for current home listings, please visit:

DUNNIGANREALTORS.COM 916.484.2030 916.454.5753 Dunnigan is a different kind of Realtor.

POCKET AUG n 14

COVER ARTIST Judy Lew Loose With experience comes greater clarity and awareness in knowing my emotions. My paintings speak of feelings that are layered by multiple, intense colors. I seek to transcend the moment, capturing the beauty I see to share with you. I received my BFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute, New York.

Visit lewloosewatercolors.com EAST SACRAMENTO

L A N D PA R K

ARDEN

POCKET

LOCAL AUG 2014

PUBLISHER Cecily Hastings publisher@insidepublications.com 3104 O St. #120, Sac. CA 95816 (Mail Only) 916-441-7026 (Information Line) EDITOR PRODUCTION DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHY AD COORDINATOR ACCOUNTING EDITORIAL POLICY

VOL. 1 • ISSUE 7 5 6 8 10 12 14 16 20 22 24 28 32 34 36 38 40 42 46

Marybeth Bizjak mbbizjak@aol.com M.J. McFarland Cindy Fuller, Daniel Nardinelli Linda Smolek, Aniko Kiezel Michele Mazzera, Julie Foster Jim Hastings, Daniel Nardinelli 916-443-5087 Commentary reflects the views of the writers and does not necessarily reflect those of Inside Publications. Inside Publications is delivered for free to more than 65,000 households in Sacramento. Printing and distribution costs are paid entirely by advertising revenue. We spotlight selected advertisers, but all other stories are determined solely by our editorial staff and are not influenced by advertising. No portion may be reproduced mechanically or electronically without written permission of the publisher. All ad designs & editorial—©

SUBMISSIONS Submit cover art to publisher@insidepublications.com. Submit editorial contributions to mbbizjak@aol.com. SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions at $20 per year guarantees 3rd class mailing. Send check with name & address of recipient and specify publication edition.

Publisher's Desk Pocket Beat Pocket Life Inside City Hall Meet Your Neighbor Pedal Mettle Shoptalk Building Our Future City Beat Life in the City Home Insight Sports Authority Spirit Matters Getting There Garden Jabber Artist Spotlight River City Previews Restaurant Insider

VISIT INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM CONTACT OUR ADVERTISING TEAM

Ann Tracy

Duffy Kelly

East Sacramento

Arden - Pocket - Native Advertising

Central City - Land Park

Michael Boyd

798-2136

224-1604

341-9755

Cecily Hastings Publisher - Select Accounts

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Summit welcomes Dr. Scott Tanaka, who completed a hand and upper extremity fellowship at the renowned Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center, ranked among the top programs in the nation.

Your care is in

good hands

Dr. Tanaka leads Summitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hand and Upper Extremity Center.

Introducing hand and upper extremity care at Summit. Summit Orthopedic Specialists now offers comprehensive care for problems and injuries of the hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder. Our team provides expertise in upper extremity injuries, neuromuscular disorders, congenital deformities, microsurgical techniques, arthroscopy, and joint replacement and reconstruction. From conservative, non-surgical treatments to state-of-the-art surgical procedures, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll help you return to your daily activities as quickly as possible. Scott Tanaka, M.D.

Hand and upper extremity care at Summit. Contact us to learn more.

CARMICHAEL: 6403 Coyle Avenue, Suite 170 (916) 965-4000

POCKET AUG n 14

GRASS VALLEY: 150 Glasson Way Suite, 150B (530) 272-7593

www.mysummitortho.com

The Next Big Thing? NEXTDOOR HAS POWER TO TRANSFORM NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORKS

were happening all over the country,” says Jena Swafford, the Sacramento police department’s social media coordinator. “Our department quickly understood the benefits of directly communicating with our citizens in ways never before possible.”

BY CECILY HASTINGS PUBLISHER’S DESK

ocial media networks easily connect you with the world and help you to keep in touch with friends and family nearby or even a world away. But they also are proving helpful in connecting you to your immediate neighbors and neighborhood. Nextdoor (nextdoor.com) is a free social media site that was launched nationwide in 2011 and is now in every state and hundreds of thousands of neighborhoods. The hyperlocal site focuses almost exclusively on connecting neighbors. In fact, some people call it “Facebook for neighborhoods.” Like an online bulletin board, Nextdoor allows members to post information on neighborhood safety and crime, lost and found items, garage sales, events and projects. It also helps members buy and sell things and get references on local businesses. Now, the site is being used to fight crime. “About 18 months ago, a citizen let our department know it was a very effective tool and that partnerships between the Nextdoor site and police

Each neighborhood has a “lead”: a member who agrees to help keep the website running smoothly by organizing information and removing inappropriate posts. Last summer, the police department held community meetings on the partnership in all eight of the city’s council districts. I attended one in my East Sac neighborhood to learn more. I joined Nextdoor in 2011 but never really engaged with it. My initial registration brought about a flurry of emails that either seemed disconnected from my neighborhood or were too commercially oriented for me. I already get a lot of email and just couldn’t handle any more “connections.” But when the police department partnered with Nextdoor, I decided to give it another try. More recently, I learned how to manage the settings so I view safety and crime information exclusively.

Most Sacramento neighborhoods are now established on the site. Each neighborhood has a “lead”: a member who agrees to help keep the website running smoothly by organizing information and removing inappropriate posts. In East Sacramento, real estate agent Ed Gatejen serves as the lead. When members have information to share, they post it to the site. The private nature of Nextdoor assures that people from outside the neighborhood can’t browse the network. Users can see detailed information only about people in their own neighborhood. They can opt to display their home address or just the name of the street where they live. Nextdoor also lets users tweak how many email updates they get and how often they receive them. You can opt out of email, choosing only to read the website posts. Another useful feature is an urgent alert system that sends text messages to people in the case of emergencies. According to the site’s mission statement, Nextdoor challenges members to hold themselves, and each other, to the highest standard of neighborly behavior. This includes treating others with respect, giving others the benefit of the doubt, focusing on issues and not engaging in personal attacks. The city’s police department partnership brought huge growth to the Sacramento site. According to Swafford, the site now has more than 20,000 users citywide, up from just 1,500 a year ago. And 86 percent of Sacramento’s neighborhoods are now represented on Nextdoor.

The partnership helps Sacramento police do their work. The department utilizes a geographic model of policing, in which officers take ownership of specific geographical areas, getting to know both the crime patterns and the residents of the community. “Nextdoor has worked extremely well for officers in their sectors to communicate directly with the neighbors,” says Swafford. “But it is important to understand that officers do not monitor the neighborhood site. Instead, neighbors send personal messages directly to the officers, or the officers respond to a post.”

“Nextdoor has worked extremely well for officers in their sectors to communicate directly with the neighbors, but it is important to understand that officers do not monitor the neighborhood site. ” Swafford says residents should not use Nextdoor to report crimes in progress. Instead, they should use 911 or the nonemergency police line. The site is also not the place to officially report a crime that has taken place. PUBLISHER page 7

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Don’t Fence Me Out BOUNDARY-BUILDING RESIDENTS DON’T HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON

BY R.E. GRASWICH

POCKET BEAT

esidents of the Chicory Bend and Rivershore culde-sacs have invented three arguments to explain why they built illegal gates and fences to block public access along the Sacramento River parkway levee. Surprisingly, the residents are refusing to meet with me. I learned their arguments from Nextdoor Pocket, a neighborhood social network website. None of their three arguments is valid—not by a mile. But let’s review them for future reference. (Also, at my request, city manager John Shirey’s office is reviewing the situation. I’ll let you know the results.) The first argument covers the justification for the illegal fences. The residents say undesirable people, mostly teenagers, were parking cars on Chicory Bend and Rivershore and leaving trash while hiking up to the levee. The second argument involves permission to build the fences. Chicory Bend and Rivershore residents claim they checked with the police and fire departments and

POCKET AUG n 14

Gary Buzzini has been been upset about the fences since they went up in 2010

unnamed city officials, all of whom supposedly green-lighted the fences. The third argument is directed at me and retired Cal Fire chief Gary Buzzini, who has been upset about the fences since they went up in 2010. Chicory Bend and Rivershore residents say we shouldn’t be sticking our noses in their business. We should leave well enough alone. Let’s start with the undesirable teens, cars and trash argument. Assume for a moment that the city allowed residents to gate off public parkways when traffic and litter became a nuisance. How long would it take before private, restricted-access fences and gates blossomed on streets

around Land Park, Curtis Park, McKinley Park and others? Fence contractors would work around the clock. Nobody likes strange cars and trash in front of their homes. But if Chicory Bend and Rivershore residents can solve their parking and trash problems with gates and fences on public parkland, so can other residents. The city would have to authorize the same remedy to dozens of neighborhoods—everybody in town with a park and teens nearby. And there’s this question: When Chicory Bend and Rivershore residents bought their homes, did they not notice the levee and river

parkway at the end of their street? Did they not comprehend that people might enjoy accessing the river? Apparently, the river was a big surprise to Chicory Bend and Rivershore folks. Next, we move to the question of authorization. Chicory Bend and Rivershore residents claim they had permission from various city officials to erect the gates and fences. Unfortunately for them, the city charter does not allow individual city officials to give away public property. The city council is the only entity that can give or lease public land—and it takes a five-vote majority to do it.

For your Real Estate Needs…Select a Scharosch Greenhaven Residents since 1975 REALTORS® over 30 years – Expect Outstanding Service Jerry Scharosch

916 719-5122 jscharosch@cbnorcal.com www.topseller-sacramento.com CaBRE# 00330532

Cathy Scharosch

916 801-9613 cscharosch@cbnorcal.com www.CathyScharosch4Homes.com CaBRE # 00586371 ©2014 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC . An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing opportunity. Each Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Ofﬁce is owned by a Subsidiary of NRT LLC CaBRE# 01908304

I’ve checked city archives, and there’s no evidence that the city council ever voted to let Chicory Bend and Rivershore folks take Sacramento River park property for private use. (Only the residents have keys to those gates.)

When Chicory Bend and Rivershore residents bought their homes, did they not notice the levee and river parkway at the end of their street? Did they not comprehend that people might enjoy accessing the river? And there are at least two documents in city archives that demonstrate why the fences are illegal and must be removed. (Warning: If you are a Chicory Bend or Rivershore resident, you should probably stop reading now.) The first document is called “Chicory Bend—Approval of Final Subdivision Map and Agreement.” It’s dated Nov. 10, 1987, and was approved by the city council. Page 5 of the agreement shows a map with a line pointing precisely to where the gates and fences were built in 2010. The words next to the

line say, “Public Recreational Use Easement.” You don’t have to be a land-use attorney to know what that means: The public has access to the levee from Chicory Bend and Rivershore. The second document is called the City of Sacramento General Plan 2030. Approved in 2009, it destroys even the thought of private gates and fences along Chicory Bend and Rivershore. In “River Recreation” section 2.4.2, the general plan says, “The City shall work with regional partners, state agencies, private land owners, and developers to manage, preserve, and enhance the Sacramento and American River Parkways to increase public access for active and passive recreation.” The fences and gates spit in the face of the general plan. The final argument, the one telling me and Chief Buzzini to mind our own business? That’s something I’m OK with. Before the chief began raising questions about the illegal fences on Chicory Bend and Rivershore, life on those cul-de-sacs was sweet. The residents blocked public access to the river. They installed private gates for themselves. It was a cozy little setup. But guess what? You can’t go around stealing public property, even if you live on Chicory Bend and Rivershore. The residents got busted. Now stop whining. If you can’t do the time, don’t commit the crime. R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com n

Your Neighborhood Dentist Dr. Novan Nguyen

NEW PATIENT SUMMER SPECIAL

- General Dentistry - Cosmetic Treatments

$99 includes Comprehensive ays, -R Examination, X and Cleaning*

- Preventative Treatments - Orthodontic Treatment

tment, g course of trea ry Upon completin e a complimenta iv ce re l il w ts n patie hitening kit! 2-week home w

- Implant Services - Denture Services

ivitis

*absence of ging

Experienced & friendly staff Fluent in Vietnamese, Spanish, Cantonese, and Mandarin Delivering quality, gentle care! Dr. Novan Nguyen 7600 Greenhaven Drive, Bldg. B, Ste. 301 916.422.3991 Info@novandental.com PUBLISHER FROM page 5 That information should be filed on the police department’s website, sacpd.org “Nextdoor is specifically the place to share your crime information with your neighbors and neighborhood officers,” says Swafford. Information gleaned from the site can be used to help solve crimes.

Others just don’t want to spend more time online no matter what the benefit. Though Nextdoor is currently free of advertisements, the site plans a directory of local businesses that could link to user recommendations. When that day comes, the site will compete for advertising dollars with our publications. I am not exactly thrilled by that possibility. But if the

site makes our neighborhoods safer, I see it as a benefit for the community. Social media is not for everybody. Even with built-in features that protect privacy, a number of folks I know just don’t want to share their personal information. Others— including me at times—tire of dealing with the inevitable difficulties open public forums tend to bring. Several people I know do not like how the lead of their Nextdoor site operates. Others just don’t want to spend more time online no matter what the benefit. Many of Sacramento’s neighborhoods already have fairly strong networks. Nextdoor has the power to take this even further. And in helping to make our communities safer, the site brings the greatest networking potential for the future. Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com n

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Hottest Shots IT’S A BUSY SUMMER FOR LOCAL GIRLS FAST-PITCH TEAM

BY SHANE SINGH POCKET LIFE

e have a phenomenal girls fast-pitch softball team in our midst: the Pocket Girls Softball Hot Shots. Made up of girls younger than 12, the Hot Shots are sweeping through the summer tournament circuit. Head coach Harold Amberson says, “We have 15 girls on the All Star roster with 14 available because we had a girl fracture her wrist. The girls are from schools throughout the Greenhaven-Pocket area.” The Hot Shots played a busy schedule of All Star tournaments in June and July. To help keep costs down for team families, the Hot Shots asked for community support. Not surprisingly, the response has been amazing. “We had a car wash to start the fundraising with the Pocket Under-10 All Stars at our home field, Caroline Wenzel. The car wash was very successful. We raised almost $1,200,” Amberson says. “We also had a Papa Murphy’s out-to-dinner night. When families buy pizzas and mention the All Star team, we get 20 percent of what is made that evening. We made another $50.”

POCKET AUG n 14

Coach Marcos Pineda and the John F. Kennedy High School baseball team won its first Metro League championship in two decades

The Hot Shots’ sponsors include many of the leading retailers and service providers in our community, including Cook Realty, Meena Chan Lee, Greenhaven Family Practice, Round Table Pizza (Florin and Riverside), Best Speed Baseball and Grocery Outlet. Thanks to the fundraising, the All Star program is very affordable. The only cost to team families has been around $31 for the jersey and socks. Helping Amberson are Rob Holt, Danny Campos and Bruce Kaminski. The Hot Shots are seeking sponsors for future tournaments. If you’d like to help, call Amberson at 216-2523.

TRACK ON TRACK The heavy earth-moving equipment at John F. Kennedy High School has been impossible to miss these summer days. We checked with JFK principal Chad Sweitzer for a progress report. “The stadium is currently on track to be completed by the end of August,” he says. “This will entail the all-weather Astroturf field and track. The bleachers are still in the approval process, so we will begin with temporary bleachers, then have the final set in after the fall. The restroom, snack bar and ticket building won’t be completed until October.” The project is leading a charmed life. Unlike other construction zones, where anything that can go wrong does go wrong, the Kennedy stadium has been blissfully trouble free. (No jinx here!) Sweitzer says, “Amazingly, there haven’t been any major delays to date. There was a worry about the groundwater, but it wasn’t as big as an issue as planned for.” The first event at the new Kennedy stadium will be a Cougars football game on Sept. 6. Summer workouts for the team, which start Aug. 11, will be held at temporary locations. “They won’t be able to practice on the field until September,” Sweitzer says. The new community stadium is the result of bond measures passed by voters in November 2012. It’s great to know local youth will have a first-class athletic facility in our own backyards.

STREETS OF DISREPAIR Neighbor Crystal McMurtry previously advised us of the thirdworld street pavement conditions on Sao Jorge Way and nearby streets. She enlisted the constituent services of outgoing councilmember Darrell Fong, who advises that while our aged streets should be resurfaced, budget constraints mean they will merely be patched up and returned to duty. In an email, city senior engineer Gregory Smith says he’s inspected the site. Maintenance crews are scheduled to perform repairs over the next four months. “After this work is complete, the streets in this neighborhood should have an extended pavement

life and an improved ride comfort,” he says in an email. “Unfortunately, after this work is complete, the streets will probably have a more uneven appearance. The new pavement used for the repairs will be darker in color than the existing older oxidized pavement. Over time, the dark colors will fade and the streets should have a more uniform look.” All of which makes us wonder if the city’s patch work will make our streets worse before they get better. Never one to sidestep the bumpy roads of bureaucracy, Crystal says, “Did you know the city tore up Curtis Park for a big water-main project in the last year or so? I drive through the neighborhood every day on my way home, and the streets that were dug up are already repaired, not a full slurry but definitely not a shoddy patch job. It makes one wonder why Curtis Park and not our neighborhood.” We’ll keep an eye out on this project and hope for the best. With new representation for PocketGreenhaven arriving at city hall in November, maybe more satisfactory resolutions are around the corner.

POCKET PARADE WINNERS The largest Fourth of July parade trophy went to Sacramento Youth Band. (Please read to the bottom of this item to understand why.) Other trophies went to Sacramento Urgent Care, Bill LaRock, Greenhaven Lutheran Church and Merryhill School. The youth band received the largest trophy for an excellent reason: More than 100 band members marched in the parade. We thank committee chairs Linda Pohl and Kathy Garcia for their work on this annual event.

LIVE MUSIC WEDNESDAYS An interesting music group has taken up residence at Pocket Bistro. Ken Koenig and Friends has been entertaining regulars and newcomers alike in our neighborhood gathering place. Koenig and his friend Tony

Rodriguez play both original and cover songs. They sometimes serenade the crowd to pick up extra tips. Koenig says, “I play pretty much throughout Sacramento, El Dorado Hills, Lincoln, Roseville and lots of wineries, restaurants and pubs.” The group covers a wide musical swath, playing oldies, rock, country, blues and original music. If you want quality live entertainment without having to drive to downtown, check out Ken Koenig and Friends on Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. at Pocket Bistro. For more information, go to kenkoenig. com

BAT TO BATON Vinnie Catricala is back in the news. Last summer, the Seattle Mariners traded the former Minor League Player of the Year to the Oakland A’s minor-league organization. But trying to make the leap to Major League Baseball lost its appeal for Catricala. Now our hero, a former Pocket Little League, Jesuit High School and University of Hawaii star, has come full circle. At the end of his season with the A’s farm team in Midland, Texas, Catricala decided to retire from professional baseball and become a cop. In June, he graduated from the Sacramento Police Department Academy. His girlfriend, Maria Palacios, pinned his badge on him. “I absolutely supported Vinnie when he came to me back in September and advised me that he was joining the police academy,” says his mother, local real estate agent Renee Catricala. “I am not worried about his law enforcement career. I am very comfortable about it. My son has a good head on his shoulders, and this is his calling.” Catricala left for college in Oahu right after graduating from high school, so his mother is happy that he has returned home. “Vinnie was gone since he was 17 to college and then the minor leagues. I was very pleased to finally get reacquainted with my son as an adult since he lived with me while he completed the academy. I

have not seen Vinnie this happy in a long time.” We know that Catricala will work hard to keep his hometown safe.

SOCCER HELP TO ETHIOPIA We are fortunate to have a number of phenomenal young people in our neighborhood. We caught up with one of them, high school senior Meghan Larson, who’s headed for Ethiopia to deliver soccer equipment and help promote the beautiful game in that impoverished country. “I first heard about this trip to Ethiopia through my high school, C.K. McClatchy,” she says. “There is a trip to a different country in Africa every two years, and one of my teachers is a group leader for most of the trips. My older sister’s friend went on the trip to Rwanda two years ago. I talked to her about her experiences and I was hooked. This trip is an amazing opportunity for me to travel and to completely immerse myself in a culture different than my own. I took a class on African culture several years ago, but being in the country will be very different than hearing about it in a classroom.”

This trip is an amazing opportunity for me to travel and to completely immerse myself in a culture different than my own. Larson is traveling through an organization called AfriPeace. Most of the trip has been scheduled by Sacramento State professor Ernest Uwazie. The home-base leader, Nate Starace, teaches at McClatchy, and one of group’s team leaders, Jeremy Predko, also works for the Sacramento City Unified School District. Larson has attended area schools all of her young life, starting at POCKET LIFE page 11

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Police and Pension Reform BURDEN OF NEW CONTRIBUTIONS ERASED BY PAY HIKES

(Sergeants will get 7 percent raises.) The new contract’s near-term impact on the city’s general fund budget: a savings of $1.25 million in the current fiscal year and $2.24 million in 2014-2015, shifting to a net cost of $300,000 in 2016-2017 and $1.59 million in 2017-2018.

BY CRAIG POWELL INSIDE CITY HALL

fter three long years of informal and formal bargaining, mediation, more formal bargaining and, finally, a binding determination by an arbitrator, the city has a new labor contract with the Sacramento Police Officers Association. City police will finally join all other major city bargaining unions and be required to contribute the full employee’s share into the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (9 percent of their salaries)— and then some. In addition, city cops will be required to pony up another 3 percent of their salary to pension contributions—replacing a portion of the city’s existing contribution to cop pensions— for a total contribution by cops of 12 percent of their salary. In contrast, members of the next highest contributing city union, the firefighters, contribute 9.2 percent of their salaries to pensions. To ease the pain of such a major reduction in take-home pay, the arbitrator awarded the police salary hikes, starting next year, of 3 percent in each of the next 3 years, totaling 9.3 percent once fully implemented.

POCKET AUG n 14

City police will finally join all other major city bargaining unions and be required to contribute the full employee’s share into the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (9 percent of their salaries)—and then some. The arbitrator’s decision caps off a three-year effort by city manager John Shirey to require all city employees to contribute 100 percent of the employee’s share of their pensions. Until Shirey’s initiative, most nonpublic-safety city employees paid between 3 and 4 percent of their salaries to their pensions, while police, firefighters and city managers paid zip toward pensions. Shirey kicked off his campaign to require full contributions by setting a good personal example: He insisted that his own employment agreement require

him to make a full 7 percent pension contribution. (Of course, that’s a little easier when you are making $258,000 per year.) Next, he required all nonrepresented city employees, including all city managers, to pony up. Then, as each city union contract expired, he insisted that each contract require workers to make full contributions. This was easier with the nonpublicsafety unions, which were being asked to kick up their pension contributions from 3 or 4 percent to 7 percent. But it was a tougher ask of the police and fire unions, which had been paying nothing toward their pensions, with the city picking up the city’s share as well as the workers’ share of 9 percent for cops and 9.2 percent for firefighters. His task was made a great deal tougher by a controversial city charter provision that requires labor disputes between the city and its public safety unions to be resolved through binding arbitration. In negotiating agreements with all other city unions, the city, if it reaches an impasse, can unilaterally impose its “last, best and final” offer on a union. But with binding arbitration, a third-party arbitrator sets the terms of a disputed contract, which commonly results in higher awards to unions than would otherwise be the case. So Shirey held the negotiating hammer over the city’s nonpublic-safety unions and used it to force them to make their full pension contributions, but he had to take a different tack with police and fire unions. He struck a deal with the firefighters union that required firefighters to increase their pension contribution up to 9.2 percent in steps

over two years in exchange for salary hikes. At the same time Shirey was pressing employees to pony up their full share of pension contributions, he was also trying to eliminate the city’s retiree health care benefit for new hires (which may do little to reduce the city’s massive $470 million outstanding liability for such costs but keeps it from getting much worse). He successfully pressed every union into dropping the retiree health benefit for new hires—except for the firefighters, who resisted. (SPOA agreed last year to drop the benefit for new hires in exchange for the city’s lifting a hiring freeze on new police officers.) Firefighters had more to lose: Firefighters get actual health insurance coverage in retirement, while all other city employees are given a much more modest $300 to $350 monthly retiree health care allowance. So when the time came to press city firefighters to pay their full pension contribution, Shirey cut a deal with them that gave them offsetting salary hikes and also allowed new firefighters to continue to receive health care coverage in retirement. But a deal with the SPOA proved elusive. Traditionally, the city has had an easier time coming to terms with city police than, say, with city firefighters. In 2009, when the Great Recession was slamming the city budget and the city was pressing unions to agree to salary concessions in the middle of multiyear labor contracts (a tough sell), the SPOA agreed to defer scheduled salary hikes in order to avoid police layoffs. That deal set the tone of labor negotiations

with other city unions that year. All city unions agreed that year to open up their contracts and accept salary concessions with the exception of Local 39, the city’s largest union, which elected to take layoffs of its members instead (which is why we lost so many park workers during the recession).

“Sacramento has some of the highest hiring standards in the state ... It will be increasingly difficult for us to hire recruits who will continue to meet our high standards when we’ll be offering net pay that is the lowest of all police forces in our region except one.” When the city’s tax revenues failed to turn around and, instead, continued to fall, the city went back to the SPOA and asked for a further deferral of salary hikes and other concessions to avoid police layoffs. But the SPOA refused to accept further concessions and accepted, instead, major police layoffs from which the city is only now starting to recover. Then, in 2012, Gov. Brown decided to dip his toe into pension reform and signed into law the Public Employees Pension Reform Act, which gives local governments the power to require current employees to start coughing up one-half of the “normal” costs of their pensions starting in Jan. 1, 2018. Based on actuarial numbers, the present annual normal cost of a Sacramento police pension comes in at 24.5 percent of police salaries. So the police have had something of a legal gun to their heads: Whether they agree to it or not, beginning in 2018, the city can invoke PEPRA to compel SPOA members to contribute

12 percent of their salaries to their pensions. The SPOA has seen the handwriting on the wall for some time. SPOA president Dustin Smith reports that all the informal and formal contract offers the union has made to the city over the past three years have included offers to pay between 9 percent and 12 percent of police salaries to their pensions. The stumbling block has been SPOA’s insistence that the city give its members salary hikes to wholly or substantially offset their big new pension contributions. The arbitrator settled that issue for the parties last month. What’s the fallout from the new SPOA contract? The contract gives the city some fiscal breathing room, particularly as it faces a serious “fiscal cliff” in 2018 when the Measure U one-half-cent sales tax expires, the city’s contributions to CalPERS continue to ramp up and the full (and uncertain) effect of the new arena bonds kicks in. The city will also face an uncertain echo effect from the 9.3 percent aggregate salary hike that it will be paying to city police under the new contract. The salary hikes will increase the “pensionable pay” of each police officer, which in turn will increase the annual pension payout that each retired police officer will receive. (An officer’s payout is typically based on the average pensionable pay in the last three years of employment.) So if the average pay of a senior police officer in his last three years as a cop increases from $120,000 to $131,160 due to the 9.3 percent pay raises, and assuming he retires after 30 years of service at 52 with a standard police pension equal to 90 percent of his pensionable pay, his annual pension payout will increase from $108,000 to 118,044 for life. That $10,000 hike in annual pension payouts he will receive for, say, 35 years would add up to $350,000 in additional pension payouts. Based on a discount rate of 5 percent, that would add $163,742 to the city’s current pension liabilities.

CITY HALL page 13

POCKET LIFE FROM page 9 Leonardo da Vinci, then moving to Genevieve Didion in third grade. She went to Sutter Middle School and was selected for the Humanity and International Studies Program at McClatchy. She became interested in soccer at a young age. “I’ve played Greenhaven Soccer since I was a U-6 player,” she says. “I switched teams when I was about 10, but I came back to play with the Sacramento Soccer Alliance for the last four years. I also played for Inter Rage Soccer Academy for one season, but decided I liked the Greenhaven experience more. I also played Land Park Select soccer for one season before it combined into SSA. I enjoy playing soccer with Greenhaven the most, though.” Given the attention focused on soccer thanks to the recent World Cup, we asked Larson for her analysis. “My favorite player on the men’s national team is Kyle Beckerman. I really enjoy watching him play because he has a playing style similar to mine. Although he is not as fast as other players, he has really good ball control and is generally a strong player. He proves that even slow players like me can still play very successfully with the right foot skills.” Larson wants to thank the community for providing support for her trip. “My group has had tremendous support through many different community organizations and families. So many people have stepped forward to donate their time and money to getting us supplies we can give away in various parts of Ethiopia. Personally, I have to thank organizations and people such as Doug MacRae of Sacramento Soccer Alliance, Joshua Clark of Greenhaven Soccer, Maya Kitt of Kombat Soccer and Wayne Novoa of Soccer Doctors for donations of new and used soccer equipment. I am so grateful for all of the equipment I received.” We admire Larson’s efforts to promote the sport in Africa. She is very mature and already planning for a career. “After college, I plan to go to graduate school and hope to work as a child psychologist,” she says.

“We can’t imagine spending our

best years anywhere but home.”

CALL TODAY!

Our Life. Our Memories. Our Home. Live Well at Home with Home Care Assistance! • NEW! Home Care Assistance is the only home care agency to train care partners in mental stimulation. We help clients delay symptoms of cognitive decline by engaging them in research-based, enjoyable cognitive activities. • Home Care Assistance’s unique Balanced Care Method™ promotes healthy mind, body and spirit. • Home Care Assistance is the only senior care company with a Home Care University to train and develop care partner employees.

916-706-0169

5363 H Street, Suite A Sacramento, CA 95819 HomeCareAssistanceSacramento.com

“Or I might join the Peace Corps!” Readers can follow the trip via blog posts. “Everyone in my group will also be posting on a blog throughout our trip,” Larson says. Find the blog at ethiopiatrip2014.wordpress.com Shane Singh can be reached at shane@shanesingh.com

MORE ON KENNEDY Shane Singh’s article on Kennedy High (“Hardball Champs,” July) mentioning former coach Don Moak was excellent. I just wanted to remind you not to forget about Don Nannini, the very first baseball coach at Kennedy High. Don led Kennedy to five Metro League championships (when the league was a powerhouse) and was named Coach of the Year twice by The Sacramento Bee. He also coached the North team in four Optimist games. Several of Don’s players were drafted, with Greg Vaughn and Butch Metzger being the most notable. Keep up the great work, Shane! Jay Olsen n

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Car Talk SHE KEEPS THIS MUSEUM RUNNING LIKE A FINELY TUNED AUTO

BY SENA CHRISTIAN

the driving force behind many new and improved programs. “Karen was hired at a time when the museum was in transition and turmoil. She brought calm and steady leadership,” Felderstein says. “She instituted strict financial controls and immediately began using standard practices for running a nonprofit … She deals with problems immediately with a collaborative leadership style.”

MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS

isitors to California Automobile Museum in Sacramento bring with them recollections of good times spent driving around in cars. It’s this memory-evoking quality that makes Karen McClaflin love her job as the facility’s executive director. McClaflin recalls a woman who dragged her curmudgeonly dad into the museum on Father’s Day. Seeing the classic cars made him come alive with stories he had never told before. Only a few weeks later, the man passed away. “That just tugs at my heartstrings so much,” McClaflin says. “Cars are part of everyone’s lives. That sets our museum apart from the fine arts or even trains. We all have a relationship with cars.” In nearly eight years of running the nonprofit automobile museum on Front Street in Old Sacramento, McClaflin has been involved in hiring a curator, increasing the organization’s budget and doubling admissions. “I’m addicted to nonprofits, and I don’t see myself ever leaving,” McClaflin says. Born and raised in Crescent City, Ore., McClaflin moved to Sacramento about a decade ago, after her children had grown into young adults. She and her partner purchased a 1940s house in Land Park, which they are restoring in midcentury style. On weekends, they enjoy going on long walks around their neighborhood and riding their cruiser bikes to the park. Before joining the museum, McClaflin worked for about 14

POCKET AUG n 14

The 72,000-square-foot California Automobile Museum has more than 150 vehicles, which are mostly privately owned and range from early-1900s models to alternativeenergy prototypes for the 21st century. Karen McClaflin, executive director of the California Automobile Museum, in her favorite car, an all-aluminum1966 Shelby Cobra

years as executive director for Pregnancy Care Center of Crescent City and two years as executive director for the ALS Association of Sacramento. Wanting to try something else, she became a private investigator, doing surveillance reports on workers’ compensation claims. When McClaflin felt ready to return to nonprofits, she veered away

from social services and went to work for the automobile museum. At the time, she didn’t know the difference between a Ford and a Chevy, she says. But she knew about administration, fundraising, marketing, public relations and mending fences. David Felderstein, who joined the museum’s board in 2008, credits McClaflin with improving the museum’s reputation and serving as

He calls her the glue that holds the museum together—a statement echoed by car enthusiast and board president Jon Hensler. “(Karen) is happy and likable but also smart and hardworking,” says Hensler. “She has the respect of the staff and the large number of volunteers that we have, including our diverse board. She is easy to get along with, but also willing to stand up for what she believes in.”

Beautiful Courtland!

Welcome to Pear Orchard Paradise!

Magni¿cent sprawling ranch home, approx 4,380 sf on 7 acre pear orchard, 5 bed, 4 bath, glistening pool, income property, 780 sf guest house, country living only 20 mins from downtown Sacramento! $880,000

Land Park

3846 Bartley Drive, Sacramento, CA 95822. Renovated 2001, 3 Bed/2 Bath, 2041 sq. ft. $595,000

Call Terry Mulligan 768-3796 The 72,000-square-foot California Automobile Museum has more than 150 vehicles, which are mostly privately owned and range from early1900s models to alternative-energy prototypes for the 21st century. Interested in Model Ts? The museum has some, along with racing cars, Volkswagen bugs and McClaflin’s favorite vehicle in the collection: a rare, all-aluminum, silver Shelby Cobra. The museum traces its roots back to 1987 with the opening of Towe Ford Museum. Many of those Fords were eventually auctioned off, so the museum began housing other types of cars and was renamed in 2009. The museum also grew to offer an extensive research library and classes for children and adults. Its biggest revenue stream is selling donated or consigned cars and taking a cut of the proceeds. The museum recently received a $1 million donation from the Snider family. The money will likely be used to buy the city-owned land on which the museum sits. The organization

will raise funds to pay for building improvements and construction of a 6,000-square-foot restoration shop. When not at the museum, McClaflin can be found reading a book on a beach, attending St. Francis Catholic Church in Midtown or shopping for shoes to add to her large collection. Once she hit 100 pairs, she stopped counting and implemented a rule that for every new pair bought, an older one gets tossed. A shoe collection is less expensive than one of cars, but McClaflin did once buy a vintage 1984 Fiat, which ended up in the mechanic’s shop quite a bit. “I was maxing out my AAA towing privileges,” she says, smiling. “Now I’m saving up to buy a new Fiat that will maybe be a little more reliable.” California Automobile Museum is at 2200 Front St. For more information, go to calautomuseum. org. Sena Christian can be reached at sena.c.christian@gmail.com. n

CITY HALL FROM page 11 The normal annual pension cost attributable to an $11,160 increase in salary, at 24 percent, would amount to $2,678 per year, half of which, under the new contract and PEPRA, will likely be borne by the police officer and the other half borne by the city. Smith believes that the echo effect of the new SPOA contract on the city’s pension liabilities will be modest. It is unfortunate that the city has not publicly released its internal calculation of the anticipated increase in its pension liabilities and normal cost as a result of the 9.3 percent salary hike. I have asked pension specialist Marcia Fritz to calculate the likely hike in the city’s pension liabilities from the new contract and will report on her findings in a future column. The first I heard of the arbitrator’s decision was from an Eye on Sacramento board member who had spoken with a neighbor who happened to be an SPOA member. The officer

was in shock over the looming 12 percent reduction in her take-home pay and worried about its effect on her family. Smith said the impact will be particularly hard on single-parent households. He’s also worried about the impact of the new contract on police recruiting. “Sacramento has some of the highest hiring standards in the state, some of the highest education standards and the most stringent background standards. Well over 90 percent of applicants are rejected. It will be increasingly difficult for us to hire recruits who will continue to meet our high standards when we’ll be offering net pay that is the lowest of all police forces in our region except one,” Smith said. When I asked him about the impact of the contract on morale within the police department, Smith said, “Many are feeling underappreciated by city government, but they know that the community still appreciates us.” He added, “Morale will remain strong because police officers are not CITY HALL page 15

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Pedal Mettle INSPIRED BICYCLIST FOUNDS MOONLIGHT RIDE FUNDRAISER

BY DUFFY KELLY

“I can ride my bike 80, 90, 100 miles, but I have trouble walking three blocks.” The power cycling has been so inspiring to Slagle that he dreamed up a nighttime bike ride fundraiser for Point West Rotary. It’s called Lunar Lunacy.

MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR

rden’s Point West Rotarian Tom Slagle had always been in good shape. He golfed regularly with his wife of 45 years. He bicycled and chased after his two daughters. He racked up thousands of miles running on trails and in races over the course of four decades. But when Slagle was in his mid50s, while running he noticed his body wouldn’t do what his mind told it to. Running became so difficult he had to quit.

“I can ride my bike 80, 90, 100 miles, but I have trouble walking three blocks.”

“Many physically or visually impaired people don’t know how life-changing, how healing, riding a bicycle can be.” Doctors ruled out bad hips and things such as pinched nerves, and said there was nothing structurally wrong with him. But over the course of about five years, walking also became so challenging that Slagle limped with every step. More medical testing revealed the problem. He had multiple sclerosis. There was no cure. His body would continue to deteriorate. “It was a difficult time for me,” he said. “I was out of shape and I wasn’t

POCKET AUG n 14

Tom Slagle

exercising. I gained about 15 pounds and was not in the physical condition that I was used to.” He was also forced to give up his furniture wholesale business that he had spent 35 years building to be the largest of its kind in the state. One day, however, his daughter suggested a bike ride. “I’ve got MS, I can’t go on a bike ride,” Slagle said to her. But she

insisted. That one ride changed the rest of his life. “Walking is a very difficult thing,” he said. “There’s a lot of process in walking, but on a bicycle you basically pedal. It’s so much easier than even walking. All at once I stared riding and increased my distance. I lost 15 pounds and today my heart rate is in the 50s or 60s. My health is excellent other than I have MS. For me, it’s been a life-changer.

The Aug. 9 event will begin at 10 p.m. under a full moon in downtown Sacramento. Participants can choose to ride either a 5-mile loop, a 17-mile loop or be a virtual sponsor. Proceeds will help people such as Slagle overcome physical limitations. The Society of the Blind partnered with him and Point West Rotary to host the event. Many physically or visually impaired people don’t know how life-changing, how healing, riding a bicycle can be. “My symptoms will continue to get worse,” Slagle said. “But the best thing I can do is what I’m doing right now. Being healthy, being happy and living life like every day is a celebration.” If you would like to participate as a rider, volunteer or virtual sponsor, find more information and registration materials at lunarlunacyride.com n

In the 95831…

623 Coriander Wy – $285,000 Just Listed! 3 bdrm 2.5 bath 2-story charmer with kitchen open to the family rm, separate living rm, formal dining rm. Nice size backyard. Updated roof. New carpet & interior paint in July 2014. More! Great Pocket area locale near Charter Pointe Park, bike path and shopping at Bel Air Promenade. 244 Delta Oaks Wy – $299,900 Attractive 3 bdrm 2.5 bath halfplex home w/3-car garage on a great street & within the Didion school boundaries.* Kitchen w/granite tile counters & gas cook top. Living rm with fireplace. Master suite with balcony. Hall bath with jetted tub. Inside laundry room. New roof in June 2014. Updated heat & air. More!

at the W ELLS FARGO PAVILION WELLS

442 Bunkhouse Wy – $292,500 Cul-de-sac location in Grangers Dairy & within the Didion school boundaries.* 3 bdrm 2 bath 1-story halfplex home. Updated carpeting, interior & exterior paint. Updated tile flooring in baths. Living room with fireplace. Master suite w/sliding door to the backyard. Inside laundry room. 2-car garage. More! 708 Lake Front Dr – Now $675,000! Elegant & spacious 5 bdrm 3bath + master retreat featuring 2 bd & full bath downstairs, large updated kitchen with breakfast area, formal living & dining rooms, family room, huge master suite with fireplace & large retreat. Tile roof. 3-car garage. Many updates & upgrades. Lake access. Apx 4,065 sf*

AUGUS ST T 5 - 10 10 AUGUST CalBRE# 00692245

*Per public records or other sources, but not verified by Agent or Broker; all interested persons to verify.

CITY HALL FROM page 13

95831 Sales Closed May 21 - June 16, 2014

After six years of false starts, the strong-mayor measure will be decided by city voters this November. Unlike earlier iterations (this is Version 4.0), the latest version has not yet received the degree of media attention that prior versions received. In an effort to rectify the situation, Eye on Sacramento will prepare and publish a study of the measure. Look for a recap of the EOS study in these pages in October or sign up for updates at eyeonsacramento.org Craig Powell is a local attorney, businessman, community activist and president of Eye on Sacramento, a civic watchdog and policy group. He can be reached at craig@ eyeonsacramento.org or 718-3030. n

Neighborhood Real Estate Sales

motivated by money but by a desire to serve the community.”

STRONG-MAYOR INITIATIVE

With true love, love anything is possible, possible even miracles in this journey to the mystical Scottish Highlands village of Brigadoon. A long-time favorite of Music Circus audiences, it’s an enchanting tale featuring a soaring score by Lerner and Loewe creators of Camelot and My Fair Lady.

430 DEER RIVER WAY 6850 STEAMBOAT 2 PRINCEVILLE CIR 7835 RIVER ESTATES DR 56 LAKESHORE CIR 7496 SUMMERWIND WAY 422 BUNKHOUSE WAY 832 KLEIN WAY 1360 47TH AVE 7798 PARK RIVER OAK CR 7371 DURFEE WAY 569 CORK RIVER 37 SPRINGBROOK CIR 1177 FAY CIR 6241 RIVERSIDE BLVD #201* 7341 BARR WAY* 15 WATERFRONT CT* 737 EL MACERO WAY* 40 ESTUARY CT* 14 RIPPLE CT* 508 ROUNDTREE CT* 6875 CLAIBORNE WAY* 6150 RIVERTON WAY* 6705 FREEHAVEN DR* 6457 S. LAND PARK DR* 1107 ROUNDTREE CT* 403 ROUNDTREE CT* 7448 DELTAWIND DRIVE* 1157 MONTE VISTA WAY* 7720 OAKSHORE DR* 440 RIVERGATE WAY* 881 ROYAL GREEN AVE* 6819 COACHLITE WAY*

$450,000 $269,500 $285,000 $295,000 $392,000 $271,500 $289,500 $297,500 $400,000 $212,000 $270,000 $347,000 $430,000 $450,000 $118,000 $330,000 $281,000 $345,000 $240,000 $350,000 $107,900 $202,500 $433,000 $494,500 $499,000 $115,000 $120,000 $228,000 $502,500 $439,000 $293,000 $320,000 $399,000

*Home listed in error as a sale closed May 1-20, 2014 last month

AUGUST T 19 - 24 The multiple Tony-winning musical comedy that inspired the hit movie The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. With the melodic genius g of Jerry Herman and the bawdy humor of Harvey Fierstein, it’s everything you’d want in a Broadway musical…and nothing you’d expect. Associated Press Preesss called the show “riotously funny and emotionally emotional ally ly y affecting. It could not be more timely and enjoyable.”

W ELLS F ARGO P AVILION B OX O FFICE 1419 H S TREET , S ACRAMENTO

(916) 557-1999 GROUPS OF

12+

(916) 557-1198

SACRAMENTOMUSICCIRCUS.COM INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

All in the Family GREBITUS & SONS JEWELERS THRIVES WITH THIRD GENERATION OWNERSHIP

BY JESSICA LASKEY SHOPTALK

or Ted Grebitus, his business is all in the family. He owns and operates Grebitus & Sons Jewelers, a fine-jewelry, watch and gift shop that his grandfather started in 1926. Today, Grebitus oversees three retail locations: on L Street downtown, in Lyon Village off Fair Oaks Boulevard, and, new last year, at the Palladio shopping center in Folsom. But it all started nearly 88 years ago with a small shop and his grandparents’ dream. “My grandfather, Edwin A. Grebitus Sr., founded the business not far from our current downtown location,” Grebitus says. “He knew if he got the finest materials he possibly could, people would hear about it and come to the store. He specialized in watches and jewelry and my grandmother knew a lot about bridal products, like silver flatware, so they started a gift department to dovetail with the jewelry. They worked very hard to make connections in the community to grow the business as much as they could.” Their growth also was due to Grebitus Sr.’s dedication to quality merchandise. He would regularly travel by train to New York to pick up new products and forge the working relationships that his grandson continues to this day. “It’s 80 years later and I still work with people my grandfather dealt with back there” on the East Coast, Grebitus says proudly. “It’s an honorable business. People work together for generations, and we work hard to maintain those relationships.”

POCKET AUG n 14

After serving in World War II, Grebitus’s father, Ed Grebitus Jr., joined the family firm and expanded its expertise to include certified gemologists on staff and continued compliance with the high standards of the American Gem Society (which his son describes as “like the American Bar Association for jewelers”). When Grebitus was born, it didn’t take long for him to learn the retail ropes. “Like a lot of family businesses, we were exposed to it as young kids,” Grebitus recalls. “We helped out at special events, did light office work and learned the many aspects of the business.”

Grebitus’s love of people goes a long way toward keeping the well-established enterprise going strong, as does his keen eye for artistic integrity, something he had even as a kid. In addition to accruing this entrepreneurial acumen, the thirdgeneration owner also met many of the people whom he would one day count as clients. “People come in who dealt with my grandparents and my parents,” Grebitus says. “It’s so rewarding to have grown up knowing them, and now I’m old enough that I’m seeing

Ted Grebitus owns and operates Grebitus & Sons Jewelers, a fine-jewelry, watch and gift shop that his grandfather started in 1926

their kids come in. It’s a reality check—in a good way.” Grebitus’s love of people goes a long way toward keeping the wellestablished enterprise going strong, as does his keen eye for artistic integrity, something he had even as a kid. “I was always artistically inclined,” he says. “I did art in high school and college, but I ended up being a business major. It was always in the back of my mind that I would like to join the business, but I had to make sure it was really what I wanted. If you have a passion for something, it’s that much easier to communicate to your customer.” It didn’t take long for Grebitus to figure out that he really did want to follow in his forebears’ footsteps. The trick was to make sure the legacy his relatives left him continued with the

same level of quality that had made Grebitus a regional household name. “Lots of things have changed over the years in retail,” Grebitus says, “but our customers expect the same quality they’ve always known, so we work hard to maintain that level of business. We’re one of the oldest stores in the country that carries certain legendary brands, like Rolex watches, Mikimoto pearls and Baccarat and Waterford crystal, under one roof. You can find things here you can’t get anywhere else.” Though Grebitus has hung three shingles in different areas of town, you can still catch him behind the counter at any given location. He makes a point to travel among stores to meet with customers and help out his staff if they need him. Perhaps he gets this work ethic from his father, who, at almost 88 years old, still

Esther Son is the proprietor of Estelle’s Patisserie on K Street

serves on the Grebitus board despite having retired 10 years ago. Guess it just runs in the family. If you’re looking for one-of-a-kind gems to dress up your wrist or your home, visit Grebitus & Sons Fine Jewelers at Palladio at Broadstone in Folsom (330 Palladio Parkway, Suite 2025); Lyon Village (2580 Fair Oaks Blvd.); or downtown at 1003 L St. Visit grebitus.com for more information.

SWEET TASTE OF SUCCESS Esther Son is the first person to admit that she has more than just a hankering for sweet things; it’s almost an obsession. “I have a severe, almost addictive passion for sweetness,” she admits. But lest you think she’s confessing at some sort of Sugar Addicts Anonymous meeting, know this: There’s no one else you’d rather have at the head of a bakery than someone like Son. She’s the proprietor of Estelle’s Patisserie on K Street and Estelle’s Cupcakes (formerly on J

Street, now enjoying a new outpost at Roseville Galleria). “My ultimate goal has always been to open a French bakery,” Son says. (Hence the business name Estelle’s, a French version of her first name, Esther.) “Ever since high school, I’ve had an enormous amount of interest in baking and pastries and dessert. But I wanted to start off with something less overwhelming (than a full French bakery), and I have a fascination for cupcakes. So I started with Estelle’s Cupcakes to practice.” Being the creative dessert diva she is, however, Son’s cupcakes are not your traditional run-of-the-mill mounds of sugary frosting atop a tasteless cake bottom. Unlike a “regular” cupcake, Son’s morsels are modeled after Italian cakes with meringue instead of buttercream. Her cupcakes were an instant hit, which gave her confidence and capital to make her dream of running a patisserie a reality. “As soon as I opened Estelle’s Cupcakes in 2008, I started researching” for the bakery, Son says. “Everything was planned; nothing

fell into my lap. I wanted to have an in-depth knowledge of the basics and traditions of French baking. I didn’t go to culinary school, but I studied everything I could: recipes, color, design, the economics of running a business. I knew what kind of people to hire and who to work with, and I knew what type of food and pastries we were going to have.” Now open for two years, Estelle’s Patisserie is a huge hit, drawing hungry crowds from all over downtown who drop in for a sandwich, made on bread Son bakes in-house and even sells wholesale to area restaurants, or a decadent dessert. “When I first signed the lease almost three years ago, everyone thought I was taking a really big risk,” Son recalls. “At the time, K Street didn’t seem promising. Downtown was a ghost town. But I sensed potential. The Capitol is right there, which means there’s a lot of walking traffic from state workers. With all of those people working there, I thought, ‘As long as I do a good job, they’ll come.’ If people took

some time to taste it and feel it, I knew I could capture their hearts.” And capture them she did, with a combination of perseverance, business savvy and good old-fashioned sweets. Estelle’s Patisserie specializes in all the French dessert delicacies you can imagine, and then some: croissants, danish, muffins, cookies, macarons, tarts, éclairs, brioche, mousse, cakes, pain (that’s French for bread) and a concoction Son calls “croixnuts”— donuts made of brioche dough. (They’re as amazing as they sound. There’s a line out the door every Sunday morning, and, as Son says, “When they’re gone, they’re gone.”) With such sweet success, Son is all but resting on her laurels. In fact, now that Estelle’s has seemed to hit its stride, she’s hoping to stretch even further. “We’re still growing, maturing and improving,” Son says. “We’re always working on our customer service, our menu items, expanding our catering and wholesale business. We’re still a baby for a bakery. We’ll probably do some serious growing until we’re about 5 years old.” SHOP TALK page 18

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

SHOP TALK FROM page 17 But what about growing pains? “I’m so excited to wake up and do work. There’s so much to do!” Son says. “It’s really rewarding to get stuff done and grow an inch more. That’s the good thing about a new business: You’re never at a plateau.” The sugar high probably helps, too. Is your stomach growling yet? Sample some sweets at Estelle’s Patisserie at 901 K St., ogle online at estellespatisserie.com, or call 5511500.

A HERRFELDT HELPING HAND The fact that her last name sounds almost like “heartfelt” is particularly appropriate when you consider what she does for a living. Kathy Herrfeldt is the owner and operator of Home Care Assistance Sacramento, a company that provides high-quality care to the elderly in the comfort of their own homes. “We call it ‘aging in place,’ ” Herrfeldt says. “We allow people to live independently wherever they choose, whether that’s in their own house or in an assisted living community, and continue their independent lifestyle.” Herrfeldt and her team achieve this delicate balance by offering the best care they can, which includes assessing a house for potential pitfalls and remedying any problems that arise. “I’ll walk through a house and look for throw rugs that someone can trip

Kathy Herrfeldt of Home Care Assistance chats with a potential client

on, especially people who’ve just had hip replacement,” Herrfeldt says. “I’ll look for bars in bathrooms and showers with glass doors and make recommendations for how to make the environment safer. Part of being safe is having someone come in and check things out. People come to me and tell me, ‘Kathy, I need help.’ ” Lending a helping hand is what Herrfeldt does best, but she’s quick to point out that she doesn’t do it alone. “I refer to our caregivers as Care Partners,” she says. “They truly are

Page's Since 1969 FOUNTAINS & WATER GARDENS Best Selection • Great Prices Hundreds of Fountains & Water Gardens in Stock New: Pump Replacement Service

(916) 331-7205 5331 KOHLER ROAD, SACRAMENTO, CA 95841

HWY 80 TO MADISON EAST, LEFT ON AUBURN, LEFT ON KOEHLER

9 am - 5 pm - Closed Wednesday www.pagesfountains.com

POCKET AUG n 14

my partners in this business. There are no shortages of care givers. However, a true Care Partner is hard to find. “Many candidates feel that they’re qualified because they’ve taken care of their grandmother for two years. There’s so much more that is required to be a good Care Partner. Of the 75 people we interview, I hire one—maybe. I recruit people from the Sac State nursing program, other colleges, St. John’s Shelter for women who are trying to get back on their feet. All of my employees are paid a decent wage and have opportunities to develop their skills and to grow professionally.” Herrfeldt is particularly proud of her staff considering how many companies can offer “in-home care services” without the necessary skills. “The state of California doesn’t require a home healthcare provider to have a license—you can just slap a sticker on your car,” Herrfeldt says. “These groups have no license, no workers’ compensation insurance, no training—it’s scary. I spend a lot of

time telling people the questions to ask before they hire anyone so they know what they’re getting into.” What clients are getting from Herrfeldt is more than just excellent care; they’re getting someone who has made staying on the cutting edge her priority even before she got into home care. Herrfeldt is a certified Project Manager Professional who has worked in information technology, international software marketing and, most recently, in developing technology specifically for the senior community with Care Innovations, an Intel and GE company headquartered in Roseville. “There is a big effort among the IT companies to introduce technology into the senior market,” Herrfeldt says. “The demand (for senior care) will outpace the resources, and the only way to bridge the gap is through technology. “With my background in this area, I continue to research technology options that will allow people to stay safe and comfortable in their homes. I act as a kind of consultant to help people get connected. How great would it be for a grandparent to actually see their grandkids rather than talking on the phone? Well, setting up Skype is simple, inexpensive and easy."

“Many seniors live in isolation and we want to provide resources that will make their world a little brighter.” Whether it’s through technology, her Care Partners or her meticulous attention to detail, Herrfeldt is putting the heartfelt care back in “home care.” Do you have an aging loved one who needs assistance? Contact Herrfeldt at 706-0169 or go to homecareassistancesacramento.com. Home Care Assistance is at 5363 H St., Suite A. n

A brand new campus to take us through the next 50 years!

“I am proud to be a part of the creation of this new school, not just for my children, but for the Sacramento community as well.” Nate Sebok, Brookﬁeld Parent and School Architect, Associate at Mogavero Notestine Associates

RENDERING COURTESY MOGAVERO NOTESTINE ASSOCIATES

BROOKFIELD S

SINCE 1962

PRESCHOOL — 8TH GRADE

N E W FAC I L I T I E S , N OW I N C L U D I N G A P R E S C H O O L Q

Convenient new preschool, ages 2-5

SCHOOL OPENS SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

High-tech classrooms, computer labs, and science labs

Spacious play areas and regulation soccer ﬁeld

REGISTERING NOW FOR THE 2014-2015 SCHOOL YEAR

N E W A D D R E S S , S A M E O U T S TA N D I N G E D U C AT I O N Q

6115 Riverside Blvd (at 43rd Avenue, right off Highway 5) Call today to schedule a sneak-peek tour of our beautiful new campus.

Questions? We’d love to answer them. BrookﬁeldSchool.org | 916.442.1255

Limited financial assistance is available to outstanding applicants. Brookfield School is not religiously affiliated.

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Do-Over for Oak Park BROADWAY TRIANGLE COULD BE CATALYST FOR HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD

BY SENA CHRISTIAN

project also aims to bring jobs to the community. Boyd, who serves as president of Oak Park Neighborhood Association, says the Broadway Triangle project will give people another reason to venture to the north part of the neighborhood, which has seen an upsurge in activity in the past few years. “

BUILDING OUR FUTURE

hen Michael Boyd saw the architecture of the Fourth Avenue Lofts in Oak Park, he knew immediately he wanted to leave Land Park and buy a unit in this historic neighborhood. “I’ve lived in two dozen communities in my life. Oak Park is by far the friendliest I’ve been involved with,” says Boyd, who moved into his loft in 2007.

“It’s just not the place people think it is. I hope people in other communities will give us a fresh look.”

Vrilakas says he hopes the project will bring activity to the core of Oak Park’s business district with shops, restaurants, new residents and a pedestrian-friendly design. Now, Boyd is excited for another Oak Park project by Sacramento architect Ron Vrilakas: the $12 million Broadway Triangle development, a mixed-use infill project at 35th Street and Broadway. Once complete, the development will include 29 residential units, averaging 1,300 square feet each, and 9,000 square feet of commercial, retail space and restaurant space.

POCKET AUG n 14

The Broadway Triangle development is a mixed-use infill project at 35th Street and Broadway in Oak Park

“I have long appreciated the history and historic architecture in Oak Park,” says Vrilakas. “As an architect with a focus on urban placemaking, I have looked for opportunities to work in Oak Park and add to its story, help it evolve its commercial center and

emerge as the destination it deserves to be.” Vrilakas says he hopes the project will bring activity to the core of Oak Park’s business district with shops, restaurants, new residents and a pedestrian-friendly design. The

I don’t remember any project with this much potential to bring a new spark of life to the community,” says Boyd, who has worked and played in Oak Park on and off for 40 years. “It brings a place for the community to get together and it gives us a better vision of ourselves.” Vrilakas engaged with residents early in the process, in part through presentations at neighborhood association meetings, where he talked about his dreams and goals for the area. He asked the residents what they wanted to see. “He’s set the bar and the standard very high for developers who want to build in Oak Park,” says Boyd. Oak Park resident Dustin Littrell, an architect, believes Broadway Triangle will be a catalyst project for the neighborhood. He and his wife moved to Vrilakas’ Fourth Avenue

Oriental Rug Bazaar We bring the world to your feet

^JFWX TK J]UJWNJSHJ >L HSZV KV WYVMLZZPVUHS JSLHUPUN YLWHPYZ HUK HWWYHPZHSZ

/ :[ :HJYHTLU[V 916-731-4444

Broadway Triangle development features brick-clad townhomes

Lofts in 2007, and they recently moved a few blocks away into a Craftsman-style house.

“We see the area as a great place to live, a fantastic value, very walkable, as well as an amazing and engaged neighborhood and business association.” “There was a point in time, as we were growing our family, that we were prepared to move to a neighborhood like Curtis Park or Land Park, if our finances allowed for it,” Littrell says. “But we have since changed our tune and see the area as a great place to live, a fantastic value,

very walkable, as well as an amazing and engaged neighborhood and business association.” Established in 1889, Oak Park thrived throughout the first half of the 20th century, before an interstate freeway expansion in the 1960s subdivided the neighborhood and split it off from other parts of the city. As revitalization projects continue, those leading the effort are ever-cognizant of the G-word: gentrification. That’s one of the reasons the Broadway Triangle housing units will be sold at market rate, which is made possible with the help of $8 million in redevelopment money from the city of Sacramento. “The idea is to elevate everyone with new projects like this, not to push anyone out or limit who can move here,” says Littrell. “(Oak Park) is safe, family friendly, diverse, honest and all-inclusive. We love it.” But the Triangle development construction isn’t the only thing

Sacramento architect Ron Vrilakas

happening to revitalize this neighborhood. Arthur Henry’s Supper Club & Ruby Room opened less than a year ago in an abandoned, dilapidated building on Broadway. Oak Park

Brewing Company is scheduled to open this summer. In May, work began on a $3 million renovation of BUILDING page 27

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Reinventing the Wheel HE TURNS OLD BIKE WHEELS INTO ILLUMINATING WORKS OF FUNCTIONAL ART

BY R.E. GRASWICH CITY BEAT

artin Swanson figured no object could be more beautiful than a perfectly aligned bicycle wheel, spinning true on its hub, without a sparrow’s breath of wobble or shimmy. Then, in a philosophical leap that bridged an electrical circuit deep inside his heart, Swanson realized that warped bike rims and bent spokes could be beautiful, too. Especially if they were fashioned into home furnishings. For this inspiration, he had some help. “It was the strangest thing,” Swanson says. “I was working on a bicycle wheel with a bunch of greasy parts sitting on the floor at home, like always, right next to where my wife was working at her desk. I went to start picking up my stuff, and she shouts, ‘Wait! Don’t touch anything!’” From that matrimonial warning shot was born a remarkably unique, highly creative Sacramento company, Straight Gauge Studios, which takes bent bicycle wheel rims and old spokes and turns them into highconcept custom lighting fixtures. In that “don’t touch anything” instant, Swanson’s wife, Genesis Duncan, saw the symmetrical

POCKET AUG n 14

Martin Swanson turns bent bicycle wheel rims and old spokes into high-concept custom lighting fixtures

patterns of gently curved spokes and beheld a new design form. Her husband, who already loved the mysteries of crossing patterns, Westwood rims and tire tubes, slipped into the draft almost immediately. Today, Swanson, a professional bicycle mechanic and wheel builder extraordinaire, has added about 150 lighting fixtures to his portfolio. His creative illuminations are bringing vintage sparkle to grand homes and

fine addresses. At least three of his rim-and-spoke lights can be seen in the front window of Hot Italian, the cycle-themed pizza bistro at 16th and Q streets. “They’re gorgeous,” says Andrea Lepore, co-founder of Hot Italian. One recent morning, Lepore showed up for work and found Swanson and a writer peeking through the restaurant’s windows, admiring light fixtures

made from bike parts. “Martin’s work is brilliant,” Lepore says. It helps that Swanson hates to throw things away. At any moment, about 60 bent bicycle rims can be found around his home studio in Midtown, plus countless spokes and other assorted bike parts. When it comes to bicycles, Swanson figures he can always find a use for a component that’s ridden its last mile. “When you repair a wheel, some guys will just cut the spokes off and remove them,” he says. “Those half spokes, I’ll pick them up and save them for something. I’ve always been that way. Now that I’m building lights, saving old stuff has become a good thing.” Flanges, hub shells, nipples, seat posts, saddle rails: He throws nothing away. Not content to create from the horde of leftovers and remnants found at his workshop, Swanson scours garage sales and used bike stores. Of special interest to Swanson are remaindered chunks of children’s bikes. “An old child’s bike opens up a whole new set of options when it comes to designing lights,” he says. “With adult bikes, you’ll notice that spokes come in basically two colors: silver or black. There are many more options with children’s bikes: pink, green, yellow. The same goes for rims, which come in sizes and colors that can be really cool for lights.” The problem with children’s bikes—at least from Swanson’s standpoint—is they rarely find their way to bike shops for repairs. Kids ride them, outgrow them, pass them down to siblings or friends or throw CITY BEAT page 27

Another reason to have the right living trust: Your little brother, Floyd... • Jimmy Carter was president the last time he filed a tax return. • His “career” involves illegal farming activities in the El Dorado National Forrest. • He changes wives more often than he changes the oil in his truck. • He’s pretty sure he can beat the market by investing more time at his favorite casino. • You’re pretty sure he has a child or two whom he’s never met. Could he get control of your property if you don’t plan? Call me or visit www.wyattlegal.com. Protect yourself and your assets from the “Floyd” in your life.

law office of brian d.wyatt ,PC

Sick, Injured & Orphaned Wildlife

trusts & estates probate special needs planning

3406 American River Drive Suite B Sacramento, CA 95864 273-9040

What to Plant? Where to Plant? When to Plant?

Urgently Need Your Help! Wildlife Care Association is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of local wildlife. We take in more than 6,000 orphaned and injured wild animals each year. Due to the downturn in the economy we are in desperate need of your financial help. There are no other options for wildlife in Sacramento.

We solve problems, renew old gardens or create a garden oasis just for you. We are a father daughter team with 40 years experience in the nursery business and garden design. Our experience makes us uniquely qualified to help your garden thrive.

OUR DOORS WILL CLOSE IN AUGUST IF WE DO NOT GET FUNDING! Our main source of income is donations from the public. Thank you for your donation by Mail, PayPal on our website, Facebook or by dropping off at our facility from 10 - 6 at 5211 Patrol Road, McClellan, CA 95652. By Mail: Wildlife Care Association, P.O. Box 680, North Highlands, CA 95660

wildlifecareassociation.com/donate

$200 for 2 Hour Consultation (drawing and notes included)

Visit TheGardenTutors.com or Call 606-6029 INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Country Club LOCAL GROUP AIMS TO CONNECT SONGWRITERS WITH NASHVILLE

BY JESSICA LASKEY LIFE IN THE CITY

o you think you have what it takes to be the next country music star? Or are you interested in learning what it takes to make it in country’s cultural capital, Nashville? Then don’t miss the monthly meetings of Nashville Songwriters Association International, whose Northern California chapter meets at Sierra 2 Center for the Arts & Community on the second Wednesday of the month. The next meeting is set for Wednesday, Aug. 13, at 6:30 p.m. NSAI was founded in 1967 to help both aspiring and professional country music songwriters connect to each other across the country— no matter how far they are from Nashville. The organization has 5,000 members (including big names like Brad Paisley and Garth Brooks), and 500 of those work and write right here in Sacramento. Each NSAI meeting aims to help amateur songwriters hone their craft. Members can share their songs-inprogress and get group feedback. Visiting pros like Dan Hodges (a prominent music publisher who recently got a song placed on the new Rascal Flatts CD) and Dan Couch (who wrote a No. 1 hit for Kip

POCKET AUG n 14

Moore) are scheduled to talk to the group in September and October. No artistic nonprofit is complete without a few success stories, right? Take Sacramento resident Ted Bazarnik, a retired 70-year-old who sold a song to a Curb Music publishing executive for consideration for a major country music star. (They don’t like to share names, natch.) And the dynamic duo of Gibson & Gray recently traveled to Nashville to perform a few of their original songs at the legendary Bluebird Cafe thanks to connections made at a local chapter meeting. Are you next? Sierra 2 Center for the Arts & Community is at 2791 24th St. For more information on NSAI, go to nashvillesongwriters.com

A FEAST FOR EYES AND EARS It’s that time of year again: time to celebrate the warmth of the weather and your fellow Curtis Park neighbors at the eighth annual Curtis Fest on Sunday, Aug. 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at William Curtis Park. Fifty artists will be on hand selling fine art, photography and crafts. There will be food trucks, live music and entertainment for kids, including a petting zoo and a visit from the Happily Ever After Fairy. Interested in manning a booth of your own? The deadline to reserve a 10-by-10foot space is Aug. 8. Contact Sierra 2 Center events coordinator Faith Johnstone at faith@sierra2.org to submit an application. Stick around when the sun goes down for Music in the Park from 6 to 8 p.m. when live bands will perform.

If you're interested in finding out more about what it takes to make it as a country music star, don’t miss the monthly meetings of Nashville Songwriters Association International at Sierra 2 Center

Both events are free and family friendly. William Curtis Park is at 3349 West Curtis Drive. For more information, call 4523005 or visit sierra2.org

Park Volunteer Corps, 3053 Freeport Blvd. #231, Sacramento, CA 95818. Have any questions? Contact lead coordinator Craig Powell at 718-3030 or email him at ckpinsacto@aol.com

CORPS D’ESPRIT

IS THAT A BANANA?

Though the temps are climbing, William Land Park still needs some TLC, so put on that SPF and lend a hand at the next Land Park Volunteer Corps workday on Saturday, Aug. 2, from 8 to 11 a.m. (an hour earlier than usual to beat the heat). You’ll enjoy a light breakfast from Espresso Metro, get down and dirty keeping Land Park clean and clipped for all to enjoy, then tuck into lunch provided by a generous anonymous sponsor. Meet up at Base Camp at 3901 Land Park Drive. As always, donations are greatly appreciated. Mail your check to Land

The fifth annual Sacramento Banana Festival is coming to town on Saturday, Aug. 9, and Sunday, Aug. 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at William Land Park. What is the Sacramento Banana Festival, you ask? It’s a two-day, family-friendly extravaganza of all things banana-tastic: banana cuisine prepared by top chefs, a banana split eating contest, dancing, live entertainment on three different stages, a fashion show, rides for kids, youth art exhibits and educational information about how bananas are

SUMMER SAFARIS

used in various cultures around the world. The $5 general admission fee and proceeds from the festival benefit several local charities, including National Academic Youth Corps, which provides art and educational programs for more than 15,000 local kids and adults in the Sacramento area. For more information, call 3209573 or go to sacbananafestival.com

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE There’s lots to enjoy about the summer months in Sacramento, and most of them involve outdoor entertainment. Fairytale Town will present a plethora of performances this month for kids from tiny to teenaged. First up is Puppet Art Theater Company’s performance of “Three Billy Goats Gruff” on Saturday Aug. 2, and Sunday, Aug. 3, at 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. This classic tale of how the grass is always greener on the other side—even for three goats—will have little ones laughing their sandals off. Tickets are $2 for nonmembers with paid park admission and $1 for members. If you have manic music lovers at home, don’t miss the Cat & the Fiddle Music Festival on Sat. Aug. 9, and Sunday, Aug. 10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This series of daytime concerts will include performances by The Poodlums, The Hoots and Musical Charis on Saturday and Mister Cooper, Musical Robot and Kepi Ghoulie on Sunday on the Mother Goose Stage. The concert is free with paid park admission. Want to give your tykes a campout they’ll never forget? Why not take them on a Family Campout on Friday, Aug. 15, starting at 5:30 p.m.? This awesome overnight adventure will include a theater performance, art activities, a scavenger hunt, bedtime stories, a sing-along and breakfast the next day. For more information, call 808-7462. Missing the beach but hours away? Check out Fairytale Town Troupers’ performance of “Beach Party Princess” on Aug. 23, 24, 30 and 31

Jackie Greene will perform at Fairytale Town on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 8 p.m.

at 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. on the Mother Goose Stage. This original comedy revue will include music, magic, audience participation and, of course, plenty of princesses. Performances are free with paid park admission. For the adults who need some entertainment, too, don’t miss Jackie Greene Live on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 8 p.m. Local favorite Greene will return for his sixth annual benefit concert on the Mother Goose Stage to raise funds for Fairytale Town park improvement and educational programs. For tickets and more information, call 808-7462. Still looking for something to do with the kids until school starts later this month? They’ll love the remaining Fairytale Town Summer FunCamps: Farmer Brown’s Junior

Farmers (ages 4-6) Aug. 11-15 will introduce campers to the daily tasks required to care for Fairytale Town’s friendly flock of farm animals; Little Artists (ages 6-12) Aug. 4-8 will introduce budding artists to the concepts of colors, drawing, sand art and patterns; Young Picassos (ages 6-12) Aug. 4-8 will explore various media like watercolor, print and clay and lead campers through the making of 3-D works of art with found objects; and Write Now (ages 6-12) Aug. 11-15 will teach aspiring authors various storytelling skills—fiction, nonfiction, poetry and prose—that will have them penning like pros. For more information on all Fairytale Town events, call 808-7462 or go to fairytaletown.org

Beat the heat with some delicious dairy at the Sacramento Zoo’s 30th annual Ice Cream Safari on Saturday, Aug. 16, from 4 to 8 p.m. Celebrate summer—and tasty treats—with all-you-can-eat Baskin Robbins Ice Cream and Coca-Cola beverages plus entertainment, live music, face painting, a raffle, food (hot dogs and burgers) and more. If you buy your tickets before Aug. 13, they cost $17 for adults, $13 for kids 11 and younger. After that, tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for kids. Were you hoping to get one last sleepover in before the summer ends? Why not doze off to the squeaks and screeches and roars of zoo denizens at the Family Overnight Safari on Saturday, Aug. 2, or Friday, Aug. 8? Safaris start at 5:30 p.m. and end at 9 a.m. the following day. Check out after-hours animal behavior, enjoy entertainment and two meals—dinner and breakfast—on a night that the kids won’t stop talking about anytime soon. While you’re at there, make sure you wander by the snow leopard exhibit to meet the zoo’s newest resident: 1-year-old Misha, who is currently adjusting to the sights and sounds of her new home in the hopes that she and resident male Blizzard will one day get to meet each other. Want to contribute to Misha’s care? Become a Zoo Parent at the $80 level and you’ll not only help the zoo, you’ll also get a snuggly plush snow leopard to cuddle—since you can’t very well do that with the real Misha. The Sacramento Zoo is at 3930 W. Land Park Drive. For more information on all zoo events, call 808-5888 or go to saczoo. org

BROOKFIELD PICNIC When school resumes Sept. 8 for Brookfield School this fall, owner Jon Sittner will be celebrating the grand opening of the new school facilities at 6115 Riverside Drive. The new $7 million school will allow for 300 students, pre-school through the 8th grade, twice as CITY LIFE page 26

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

When it’s time for a little more help, we’re here to assist. NEW! Assisted living units at ACC Greenhaven Terrace NOW OPEN! At ACC Greenhaven Terrace, you’ll ﬁnd an ideal home for your loved ones that offers 24-hour supervision tailored to each resident’s needs. Call for a tour and let us assist you today!

Move-in Specials!

• •

Only 8 units available.

• • •

Friendly, experienced staff Quality care & ﬂexible plans 24-hour assistance Care supervision by LVN Meals prepared by chef on-site

• • •

Great location Feels like home Independent living also available

Florin Rd.

Greenhaven Dr.

senior living your way

Corporate Way

r. eD dg bri nd i W

1180 Corporate Way Sacramento, CA 95831 (916) 395-0210 • www.accgt.org

S. Land Park Dr.

License #347005257

LIFE IN THE CITY FROM page 24 many as the school was able to accommodate at its former location behind the Sacramento Zoo. Families are invited to a "Buddy Picnic," Aug. 10, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at William Land Park. Tours and information about the new campus and school offerings are available by calling 442-1255.

WINING AND DINING Thirsty? Don’t miss Casa Garden Restaurant’s upcoming Wine Social lunch on Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 11:30 a.m. featuring the reds and whites of Scott Harvey Wines. Casa Garden will pair each wine with hors d’oeuvres, an entree of chicken en filo or sesame Thai beef salad and a latte mocha torte for dessert. Proceeds from the meal benefit Sacramento Children’s Home. Reservations are required. Call 452-2809. Casa Garden Restaurant is at 2760 Sutterville Road.

Young Actors Stage presents "The Music Man, Jr." Aug. 8-10 at 24th Street Theatre

POCKET AUG n 14

RIGHT HERE IN RIVER CITY “You’ve got trouble, my friend … Right here in River City … With a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool!” (Don’t get me started.) See the talented tykes of Young Actors Stage bring “The Music Man, Jr.” (based on Meredith Wilson’s timeless musical) to life Aug. 8-10 at 24th Street Theatre. Directed by Liorah Singerman, the production is a product of a program that focuses on teaching aspiring young actors professionalism and theater skills in a fun performance setting. Performances are Friday, Aug. 8, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 9, at 1, 4 and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Aug. 10, at 1 and 4 p.m. 24th Street Theatre is at 2791 24th St. For tickets and more information, go to youngactorsstage.com

Is Montessori Right For Your Child? Choosing a Montessori program is one of the most important parenting decisions you will make and it’s normal to have a lot of questions. Is my child ready for Montessori? What will she learn? And, just what exactly is Montessori anyway? My name is Pamela Lynn and I am proud to lead the oldest accredited Montessori school in Northern California. Since 1975, our school has provided an authentic Montessori program for thousands of young children, just like yours. I wrote an e-book that summarizes advice I give to friends and family when they start the search for a Montessori school. It includes specific things to look for, questions to ask and other valuable tidbits that I have learned over the past 39 years. It will be a big help in your search!

Download your FREE Ebook

Ebook.BergamoSchools/Inside B E RG A M O M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L S

WILL WALK FOR ICE CREAM Do you love ice cream? Do you also like staying fit? The two don’t need to be mutually exclusive. Join the Sacramento Walking Sticks—a walking club with more than 500 members—on their annual Vic’s to Gunther’s Ice Cream Walk on Wednesday, Aug. 6, at 6 p.m. or Thursday, Aug. 7, at 9 a.m. Both the night and morning walks will offer loops of 5k (3.1 miles) or 10k (6.2 miles) that include a tour of the surrounding neighborhoods and, of course, visits to both iconic ice cream parlors. The stroll is plenty shady, and all dogs, strollers, wheelchairs, scooters and wagons are welcome. Feel like taking a break or want to let the tykes let off some steam at a park you’re passing? Participants can follow their own pace and will receive written walking directions and a map at the outset. The club is a proud proponent of “volkswalking,” or going at your own pace, as part of its commitment to being the largest volkssport club in the country.

You don’t need to be a member to participate. The walks begin at Vic’s Ice Cream at 3199 Riverside Blvd. and end at Gunther’s Ice Cream at 2801 Franklin Blvd. For more information, contact Sacramento Walking Sticks president Barbara Nuss at 283-4650 or nussb@ surewest.net Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com n

CITY BEAT page 22 them away. There’s another elusive reality with kids’ bikes, says Swanson: “Adults are big and heavy and they break bike wheels. Kids aren’t heavy. They don’t break their wheels.” Swanson’s eyes light up when he finds an old kid’s bike to cut to pieces. His bright eyes reveal the flash of inspiration that will cause the wheels to turn and the lights to burn. The marriage of lighting design and bicycle repair has made for a perfect balance within Swanson, the balance of mechanical tune-ups perfectly

Sac / Elk Grove (916) 399-1900 Davis / Woodland (530) 662-1900

BergamoSchools.com

applied, of artistic applications with parts that have become exhausted. The artist has his limits. He doesn’t do electrical wiring on his lighting creations. A friend trained in electronics hooks up the wires, white to white, black to black, green to ground. Then there’s the marketing part. Here’s where husband and wife make serious collaborations. Duncan is a graphics designer, a specialist in type fonts. She likes things clean and simple. She’s in charge of Swanson’s promotional website images and marketing. “I’ve told her I won’t sell out or lose my creative soul,” Swanson says. “But she has a great eye. And where I like these complicated patterns, she’s always reminding me of the KISS rule: Keep It Simple, Stupid.” From a simple kiss and the detritus of a broken wheel, the team of Swanson and Duncan is lighting a path to success. Martin Swanson sells his light fixtures at Hot Italian, Delta Workshop, Beatnik Studios and through his website, straightgauge.com. n

BUILDING OUR FUTURE FROM page 21 the 125-year-old McClatchy Park, which includes a jogging trail, tennis courts and a new playground. Efforts are also being made to attract residents and visitors alike, such as with the annual 35th Street Fair in May, organized by Oak Park Business Association, and Gather, a new monthly event with food trucks and live music. This year also marks the fifth season of the Oak Park Farmers Market, which runs through October. Boyd says there are many reasons for people to come into Oak Park, and even more will exist once the Broadway Triangle development is complete—if only people can get past their preconceived notions about the neighborhood. “It’s just not the place people think it is,” he says. “I hope people in other communities will give us a fresh look.” Sena Christian can be reached at sena.c.christian@gmail.com. n

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

A House Reborn BIGGER WASN’T NECESSARILY BETTER FOR THIS CAPE COD COTTAGE

BY JULIE FOSTER HOME INSIGHT

“We were committed to not creating a McMansion in East Sacramento.”

isa and Scott Setzer loved the style and size of their East Sac home. But after living there for more than two decades, they felt it was time for some changes.

POCKET AUG n 14

Built in 1934, the house needed an overall updating, and the layout wasn’t particularly functional. But the couple didn’t want to overbuild

for the neighborhood, and they felt it was important to maintain the considerable curb appeal of their charming, Cape Cod-style home.

“We were committed to not creating a McMansion in East Sacramento,” says Lisa Setzer. HOME page 30

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Remodeling literally began at the front steps of the house with new supersized slate steppingstones leading to an enlarged and much-used front porch.

HOME FROM page 28 Working with architect Dennis Greenbaum and builder TMS Construction, they achieved their goals—and then some. The revamped house will be featured on the Urban Renaissance Home Tour in September. Proceeds from the tour (previously known as the East Sacramento Home Remodeling Tour) will benefit the McKinley Park Renewal Fund. The couple rejected their architect’s first set of plans because it envisioned a space that was too big for the couple. “We don’t need big,” says Setzer. “We had a responsibility as homeowners to be responsible to our neighbors.” Once they settled on a design, the couple received a building permit on June 1, 2013. Construction took six months. They felt the timeline was entirely reasonable given the scope of the work, which required gutting the house down to the studs. With the addition of a new garage and guest quarters, they now have 3,500 square feet of living space. Remodeling literally began at the front steps of the house with new supersized slate steppingstones leading to an enlarged and much-used front porch. The dining room also needed enlarging. According to Setzer, it always felt too small when guests came over. Pushing out one wall just a bit eliminated the issue. Vaulting the ceiling added to the sense of spaciousness.

POCKET AUG n 14

The house possessed a feature common to many older homes in East Sacramento: a steep, narrow staircase. The couple eliminated the “death staircase” and replaced it with a new, wider and less precipitous one to provide a safer route to the master bedroom. Replacing all the windows resulted in something Setzer hadn’t anticipated: a deafeningly quiet interior. Eliminating one interior wall and a hallway altered the house’s traffic pattern and opened up the first floor. The change created enough space for another bedroom and bath. The couple added a laundry room and turned the office/den into a spacious guest room. Setzer chose a simple palette of classic black and white with a few accent colors for the home’s interior. “It’s not that I love white so much,” she says. “But I was traumatized by all the decisions that needed to be made. So when it came to the paint color, I couldn’t come up with one.” Installing six sets of French doors in the family room allowed for easy access to the backyard. Once dominated by a very large pool, the backyard has become much more useful for the couple, who enjoy entertaining. “Getting rid of the pool was a feat,” says Setzer. The original garage was falling down. So the couple built a new structure with a ground-floor garage topped with spiffy second-story guest

quarters featuring a full kitchen, a loft and two built-in twin beds that resemble train berths. The bathroom boasts quartzite countertops and basket-weave tile in the shower. A balcony off the guest quarters provides a bird’s-eye view of the new backyard entertainment area. With an indoor/outdoor TV, barbecue, outdoor fireplace, sink, refrigerator, icemaker, smaller pool and full stereo system, guests can relax and enjoy the numerous amenities. The Setzers moved out of the house during the remodel. Relocating for a short time helped lower the couple’s stress levels, she says. “Whatever we spent in rent, it was worth it.” Setzer notes that working with an architect and general contractor they

felt comfortable with was essential to their project’s success. “In our house, there is not one spot that we can’t use,” she says. “It has been an epic journey.” The Urban Renaissance Home Tour, featuring five remodeled homes in East Sacramento, takes place on Sunday, Sept. 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $20 if purchased before Sept. 1, $25 on or after Sept. 1, $30 on the day of the tour. For more information, go to sacurbanhometour. com If you know of a home you think should be featured in Inside Publications, contact Julie Foster at foster.julie91@yahoo.com n

Homeowner Lisa Setzer with the family's furry friends

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Unstoried History IT TAKES SOME DIGGING TO LEARN THE SECRETS OF LAND PARK GOLF COURSE

circa 1970, looked promising but contained only scrapbooks of women’s club activities from recent decades. What we needed were papers yellowed by time, referencing mashies and niblicks. We needed to know who built Land Park Golf Course, what it cost the city, and why they stopped at nine holes. Recollections of older players proved as circumspect as a hole-inone without witnesses. The original clubhouse was a good example. An elder golfer recalled it stood on the site now occupied by Funderland Amusement Park. The Isidro book indicates the clubhouse stood where Fairytale Town rises today.

BY R.E. GRASWICH SPORTS AUTHORITY

urrounded by trees, homes and businesses and blessed with maturity, William Land Park Golf Course would seem an iconic monument that needs no introduction. But dig a little deeper and learn something else: While everybody has heard of Land Park Golf Course, nobody really knows much about it. This includes people who play there, work there and love the place. Take Robert Seney, event coordinator at the golf course. Seney spends his days at Sacramento’s original public golf links. He begins his mornings with a cup of coffee from Mulligan’s Cafe, next to the practice green. He can often be found seated behind the counter in the pro shop, booking events and greeting customers. Despite his admiration for Land Park Golf Course, Seney realized his historical knowledge could be transcribed onto the face of a 9-iron with room to spare. He found a 2005 book called “Sacramento’s Land Park,” by Jocelyn Munroe Isidro, which makes brief mention of the golf course. The book, with a tantalizing reference to the original clubhouse,

POCKET AUG n 14

City hall was efficient in 1923. The city council approved $150 per month for golf planning on May 10, and the heroic sum of $10,000 was set aside for construction. Robert Seney

launched Seney on a mission to learn more. “It’s such an interesting place,” Seney says. “In my research, I realized the club was turning 90 this year, so I started asking some of the older players about it.” Land Park reflects the city’s history. Surrounded by farmland in the 1920s, the golf course has kept pace and stayed relevant over the

decades. It’s home to The First Tee, where children learn the game. This spring, Land Park introduced foot golf, where rounds are played with a soccer ball. The course is as vibrant today as it was 90 years ago. Not long ago, I wandered into the pro shop and asked if there were any historical documents lying about to put the golf course into perspective. There was nothing. A file cabinet,

Local newspaper archives weren’t much help. The Sacramento Bee published a timeline that claimed Land Park Golf Course opened in 1929—a divot in Seney’s belief that the club turned 90 years old in 2014. In the Sacramento Room of the public library, we discovered an aerial photograph of Land Park from 1925. The shutter snapped as the

ESKATON INDEPENDENT LIVING with SERVICES

ld /Bui

ign s e D s e c i Serv

For All of Your Kitchen, Bath and Whole-House Remodeling Needs .com

s chen djkit

ork sign W All De ouse. d In-H te le p Com terior ed In ﬁ ti r e C Staff er on n ig s De

nto’s rame ds c a S o ng Ser vi eighborho n t oldes 81 19 since e in-hom e e r f or a D&J Call f tion with a lt consu

ense

rs lic acto 4 4 5 9 8 2

contr

Paint & Sip with local artist Patris Miller August 18th Call for details!

Live here ... Live at your own pace 7

.257

925 916.

pilot banked south over Freeport Boulevard. College Avenue is newly paved but not leafy. In the photo, today’s massive trees are shrubs. There’s a cluster of five new homes surrounded by empty lots and farms. In the distance: Land Park Golf Course, fairway Nos. 7 and 8 ready for action. Electronic archives at city hall held our buried treasure. Within those files rests the story of Land Park Golf Course. The first reference came at a city council meeting on Jan. 4, 1923, when the city manager was asked to report on acreage required for an 18hole course at Land Park. One week later, Neil Petrie appeared before the council, representing 200 golfers and “urging construction.” L.C. Upson offered $1,000 to hire an architect. (Thank you, Mr. Upson!) City hall was efficient in 1923. The city council approved $150 per month for golf planning on May 10, and the heroic sum of $10,000 was set aside for construction. On Dec. 27, the council was told, “The golf course is now practically complete and will be ready for use in the early spring.”

People are friendly at Eskaton Monroe Lodge. Maybe it’s the lively environment or the set-yourown-pace lifestyle. Land Park Golf Course opened without a clubhouse. Councilman John H. Miller invited his colleagues “to attend the opening ceremonies of the William Land Park Golf Course, May 25, 1924, at the hour of 8 o’clock, A.M.” Builder F.A. Holdener finished the clubhouse four months later and billed the city $8,264.68. It cost 25 cents to play nine holes, 75 cents for twice around on Sunday. Talk of adding a second nine continued until March 1946, when Walter Strand of the Sacramento Golf Commission withdrew an expansion plan “in view of the many protests.” Among the many were Crocker PTA, Land Park District Improvement Association, Legion Post 392 and the Camellia Society. By July 1958, with the expansion of the city zoo and Fairytale Town, opportunity arrived for a new clubhouse. Paul Christman won the bid for $34,497. His handy work is what you see today. R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com n

Friendships blossom at our picturesque lodge, where you can join in on the recreation and excursions, spend time on the putting green or in the garden, or meet friends over tasty meals in our dining room. Surrounded by three acres of trees and minutes from downtown Sacramento, Eskaton Monroe Lodge is a country-like retreat with city advantages. Convenient services keep life easy (and fun). Eskaton Monroe Lodge is your answer to living the fullest, most independent life possible. Enjoy nibbles and pours Monday, August 18 while creating a masterpiece of your own with the guidance of a renowned local artist. FREE FOR THE FIRST TEN TO RESPOND! Call 916-264-9001 today.

Eskaton Monroe Lodge Independent Living with Services 3225 Freeport Boulevard | Sacramento, CA 95818

916-264-9001 A California Nonproﬁt Corporation

eskaton.org

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Final Orders AFTER THE MILITARY, WHAT’S NEXT?

sent me. My song would sound like

After Becky excused herself to the bathroom to do her hair and makeup,

this:

I pulled a suitcase from under the bed I’ve been TDY to Denver, Montgomery, Baltimore, San Antonio, Okeechobee, San Diego, Barking Sands, Cocoa Beach, Brownsville, Topeka, Reno, New Orleans, Baghdad, Istanbul, Panama City,

BY NORRIS BURKES

Riyadh, Zurich, Frankfurt. A few months ago, I received one

SPIRIT MATTERS

the Air Force uniform, I ask for this moment of personal

indulgence. It’s a moment that has me humming the Hank Snow song “I’ve Been Everywhere,” made famous by Johnny Cash. I can’t rhyme quite as well as Snow, but if I were to have written the song, it would be about the military assignments where my temporary duty (TDY) orders have

the destination of my choosing. But like previous orders, I still needed just the right time and place to break the news to my wife, Becky. That perfect moment came last month during a Holland America cruise from Montreal to Boston. It began somewhere between Quebec City and Halifax, Nova Scotia, as my wife and I returned to our stateroom

covertly brought on board. I quickly

military sent me to nice hotels

dressed and left the room.

for schools and conferences. More

Thirty minutes later, like a kid on

and prayed for me to come home

stateroom door. When she opened the

safely from places like Saudi Arabia,

door, I surprised her with the smiling

Panama and Iraq.

face of her chaplain man wearing the

for us to follow.” I then read the

officer, the Mess Dress uniform.

words she’s waited to hear for at least 10 years. “Chaplain Lt. Col. Norris Burkes is

“Chaplain Lt. Col. Norris Burkes is relieved from his current assignment and assigned to the retired reserve list effective 1 Sept. 2014.”

916-648-8455

Cont. Lic. #874165

Neighborhood References • Since 1984

POCKET AUG n 14

relieved from his current assignment and assigned to the retired reserve list effective 1 Sept. 2014.” Tears welled in her eyes. We both choked up over the news of my pending retirement. The photographer paused, wondering if he should capture such a serious moment. “You’re really, really done?” she asked. “Yes, sweetheart. We’re really, really done.”

night.

Exterior Lighting Pruning Plantings & Sod Full Landscaping

“Now I have one last set of orders

formal eveningwear of the military

to dress for the ship’s formal dining

• • • •

than that, though, you’ve waited

a date, I returned to knock on our

I walked her to a special dining

• Drought Tolerant Landscapes • Consultations • Sprinklers & Drainage

“Becky, during the past 28 years, you’ve remained home while the

previous orders that sent me into s I finish my 28th year in

started my rehearsed speech.

that contained the special tuxedo I’d

last set of military orders. Unlike harm’s way, my latest orders allowed

piece of paper from my pocket and

Epilogue: Like most military

room, where an extraordinary French

retirees, I’ve replaced one suit with

menu was being served. In the fading

another. Last month, I started as

sunlight, the maitre d’ seated us at

a full-time chaplain at St. Joseph’s

a window table decorated with roses

Medical Center in Stockton. My

I’d ordered. After he uncorked a

responsibilities now include the

champagne bottle, he left me with a

cardiac, pediatric, maternity and

very bewildered wife.

neonatal units.

As I had prearranged, the ship’s photographer arrived and started taking pictures. Becky was more than bemused, but she returned her attention toward me as I pulled a

Norris Burkes is a chaplain, syndicated columnist, national speaker and author of the book “No Small Miracles.” He can be reached at ask@TheChaplain.net n

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Fly Me Away GETTING TO THE AIRPORT MAY BE THE HARDEST PART OF YOUR TRAVELS

BY WALT SEIFERT GETTING THERE

he longest journey starts with a single step. After that first step, the longest journey for Sacramentans usually involves getting to the airport before heading off into the wild blue yonder.

An airport spokesperson says 1.5 million cars used the airport parking lots in its last fiscal year, and 22,000 passengers arrived by cab between May 2013 and May 2014.

last fiscal year, 22,000 passengers arrived by cab between May 2013 and May 2014, and SuperShuttle made nearly 59,000 trips leaving the airport in 2013. In addition, some 500 van, limo and car service companies had permits to do business at the airport. Yolobus did not provide data on passengers using its airport service. Ideally, getting to an airport should be fast, reliable, low stress and inexpensive. Transportation to the terminals should be secure in In 2012, nearly 9 million passengers terms of personal safety and that of used Sacramento International your possessions, including your car Airport. Exactly how many arrived if you drive. Transit options should and departed by car, taxi, van, bus be easy to get to and use (for you or bike is not known. An airport and your luggage), not require too spokesperson says 1.5 million cars many transfers and provide frequent used the airport parking lots in its

POCKET AUG n 14

service during the hours of aircraft departures and arrivals. Sacramento does well on getting to the airport by private car, taxi or van in terms of reliability and time on the road. The airport is not so close to the central city that traffic congestion is often an issue. It’s not so far from downtown that driving time is excessive. At the airport, there are three parking options. The “economy” parking lot can be hot, dusty and far away. The airport’s website warns it may take a whopping 45 minutes from the time you park to get to a terminal via shuttle bus. Walking instead of waiting for a shuttle is not an option from the economy lot. There is no pedestrian connection

to the terminals. The “daily” lot just south of the parking garage has more frequent shuttle service. Daily parking in the garage is connected by sky bridges to the two terminals. A close-in “hourly” parking lot for Terminal B charges $29 a day. If you don’t want to pay for parking, you can bum a ride from a friend or family member. That means two round trips to the airport instead of just one. It also means being dropped off or picked up directly at a terminal—no shuttles or walking required. Motorists often ignore operating costs, but they add up. If you have a friend supplying airport transportation, you might want to take him or her out for a dinner or

two. It’s your call on taking advantage of relatives. There are also cabs and vans. The airport has a contract with the Sacramento Independent Taxi Owners Association for on-demand taxi service. SuperShuttle is the exclusive provider of on-demand van service. Other taxi companies or van services with an airport permit may drop off passengers. Any permitted taxi or van can pick up passengers at the airport if passengers have made arrangements with them. Shared car services Lyft, Uber and UberX compete with taxis, some say unfairly, and offer varying levels of service. In June, the California Public Utilities Commission warned transportation network companies that they would be shut down if they continued to drop off or pick up riders at any California airport without permission. It’s not clear how this would be enforced. Sacramento is poor in offering transit options to the airport. Regional Transit does not provide bus or light rail service. Rail directly to terminals is convenient and unaffected by traffic. Many major cities in Europe have direct rail connections to their airports. Travelers to London’s Heathrow airport (admittedly far larger than Sacramento’s) can choose from three different rail connections! In the United States, transit rail service to airports is limited to Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. Philadelphia has a heavy-rail connection. A $484 million BART-operated people-mover link to Oakland International Airport and a Dallas/Fort Worth airport light rail extension are slated to open this year. Sacramento is one of a few U.S. cities with an airport rail connection planned. RT’s light-rail Green Line extension is probably a decade or more away. The capital costs for rail are typically huge, but there are offsets such as traffic reduction and less air pollution. According to an American Public Transportation Association study, rail links to airports result in local economic

benefits including higher hotel occupancy and room rates.

According to an American Public Transportation Association study, rail links to airports result in local economic benefits including higher hotel occupancy and room rates.

Rae Ann Whitten, DDS General and Cosmetic Dentistry As a dentist, I have the ability to improve people’s lives by improving the health and beauty of their smile.

A good place to find great dentists. • Children & Adults • Cosmetic Dentistry

I think few Sacramentans know that Yolobus provides service to the airport from stops along L Street downtown. The trip takes less than 20 minutes, and the bus stops at both airport terminals. The service is cheap but not totally customer friendly. All luggage must be carried aboard the bus in one trip. Luggage has to be stowed in between seats since there is no rack. The fare is only $2. Exact change is required. If you miss the bus, you must wait an hour until the next one. (Note: Downtown arena construction will affect Yolobus stops on L Street. Check with Yolobus for more information.) It seems odd the bus doesn’t stop at the Sacramento Valley train station where there would be direct connections to Capitol Corridor heavy rail and Regional Transit light rail. However, light-rail lines on K Street are only a block away from the L Street bus route. While biking to the airport is not practical for most, quite a few airports, such as Chicago’s O’Hare, provide information on their websites about biking. Sacramento International does not. Deciding on what’s the best way to get to the airport means weighing costs, time, reliability, stress, security and convenience. How do you want to start your big trip? Walt Seifert is a bicyclist, driver and transportation writer. He can be reached at bikeguy@surewest.net n

• Dental Implants Always accepting new patients.

44-SMILE or visit us at

www.sutterterracedental.com

3001 P St. Sacramento, CA

ESTIMATED COSTS OF GETTING TO THE AIRPORT FROM DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO Yolobus $2 ($1 for seniors and people 18 and younger) SuperShuttle $13 (shared shuttle—7 passengers max) $39 (Execucar sedan—4 passengers max) $52 (nonstop van—7 passengers max) Taxis and transportation network companies $33 taxi (senior, military and promotional discounts may apply) $30 Lyft Estimated driving costs (based on 50-mile round trip) $20-$50 (depends on car size and annual miles driven) Airport parking $10/day economy lot $12/day daily lot $17 day daily parking in garage $29/day hourly lot Getting a ride (based on two 50-mile round trips) $40-$100 (depends on car size and annual miles driven)

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

The Virtue of Patience GARDENERS MUST SLOW DOWN BEFORE THEY CAN EXPECT TO SMELL THE ROSES

BY ANITA CLEVENGER GARDEN JABBER

early 10 years ago, I decided to plant clematis in my garden to mix with climbing roses. I loved the purple star-shaped flowers on the oldfashioned ‘Jackmanii’ that my grandmother grew over an archway in her Ohio farmhouse garden. I planted a few varieties and waited. And waited. And waited. They grew a little, produced a flower or two, and that was it. Was it my pruning, watering or feeding? Nothing seemed to help. Clematis was yet another gardening disappointment. A few years ago, one clematis exploded into bloom, covering a back wall with big, purple-blue stars. The repeat-blooming ‘Lasurstern’ had finally matured. It’s gotten bigger and better every year since. It just needed time. I recently shared my clematis story with some gardeners from around the world, and they agreed that you have to be patient with many plants. Clematis usually take at least two or three years to bloom well, they said. Wisteria can take years longer. One of them told of a pot where he’d planted a rare clematis. It died, so he set it aside and forgot about it. Six years later, it started to grow. Others said they routinely wait for at least two

POCKET AUG n 14

years for certain types of seeds, such as roses, to germinate. I was amazed at their patience. They were amazed that I was so impatient. We Americans live in a world of instant gratification. Television shows and garden magazines demonstrate how to create immediate curb appeal by planting too many big plants too close together. In our mobile society, we may move before a plant is mature enough to bloom, bear fruit or provide shade. If we stay put, we may quickly dig out a plant that doesn’t live up to our expectations. How about slowing down and taking our time? Shade trees require the most patience. A Greek proverb says, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.” It’s tempting to buy the biggest tree possible or to choose species that will grow quickly. Many studies have shown, however, that trees in smaller containers will develop better root systems and grow to match larger plants in just a few years. Fast-growing trees often are short-lived, with weak branches and poor structure. With shade trees, choose little plants with healthy root systems, plant them well and care for them properly. They are a gift to future generations. Flowering trees such as magnolias may take many years to bloom. Their natural habitat is woodland, where they first grow up into the light before spreading out and blooming. Fruit trees can take two, five or more years to bear well. Nut trees may take even longer. If you want fruit in a year or two, citrus is your best bet. Rose lovers say that it takes three years for a rose to demonstrate what

it will do. The first year it sleeps. The next year it creeps, and the third it leaps. In old-fashioned and modern shrub varieties, there is often a gawky adolescent stage with one or two strong new canes poking out at strange angles. Resist the temptation to lop them off. I’ve heard it said that the plant can be “all knees and elbows” until the rest of the plant catches up. If a flowering plant doesn’t bloom the first year that you plant its seeds, that may be just how nature intended it. Biennial plants such as most hollyhocks, foxglove, forget-me-nots and Sweet William will grow foliage one year, then bloom, set seed and die the next. They generally spread so many seeds that they return in following years, but the original plants just live for two years. Plants bought in a nursery may have been forced into flower by generous use of chemicals and perfect greenhouse growing conditions. In your garden, they may take years to bloom again. Don’t take it personally.

Peonies and camellias are examples of two types of plants that take time to settle in. Patience is not the same thing as neglect. Many essential gardening tasks are urgent. Plants need water, pest control and the right amount of sunlight and drainage. Trees must be staked until they are able to stand on their own and carefully pruned so that they develop a good structure. If you own mature trees, shrubs or vines, treasure them. It took a long time for them to grow to their present size. New plantings just won’t provide as much shade and presence. Consult an arborist about tree care, and read about how best to rejuvenate shrubs over several years of careful pruning. It may be tempting to whack things back, but remember: Patience is a virtue. Anita Clevenger is a Sacramento County Lifetime Master Gardener. For answers to gardening questions, call 875-6913 or go to ucanr.edu/sites/ sacmg n

Have You Had Your Garage Door Serviced? Maybe you should

P r oceeds Proceeds d s to t o Benefit Bene f i t Youth You t h Prog Programs P r og r a m s of of

SSociety ocie t y ffor or tthe he BBlind lind & OOther ther SSacramento acramen to CChildren’s hildren’s CCharities har i t ies EVENT PRICING Early Bird ADULTS $40 UNDER 17 $20 After July 31st ADULTS $50 UNDER 17 $30

WHEN WHAT WHERE EXPECT WHO

August 9th: 8 pm, first riders out at 10 pm 5 mi or 17 mi loop; FUN ride Combo of City Streets & Bike Trails West Capitol Steps Great fun, great food and a wonderful time Food Trucks and Music & Activities before the ride! All ages welcome

UNABLE TO JOIN THE MOONLIT RIDE? SPONSOR A SFTB CLIENT! For more info and to register www.lunarlunacyride.com

916-542-8844

Garage door opener is the ONLY thing saving this car

Roller belongs in track Rollers broken clean off

Does your door only partially open? Do you have to push the opener button more than once to get the door open all the way? Do you have to muscle the door open manually?

GARAGE

DOOR CENTER Sacramento

28 yrs experience

Those are RED FLAGS that you need a professional to service your garage door.

Call 452-5802 Sales | Service | Install

Lic #764789

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Vital Space VISION BECOMES REALITY AT PATRIS STUDIO AND GALLERY IN OAK PARK

BY DEBRA BELT ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

atris arrives early at the 2nd Avenue studio and gallery bearing her name. Nearly two hours before the first class of the day begins, she is there sweeping the floor. As a painter who teaches, hangs the shows, schedules classes and workshops, organizes painting sessions and keeps the space tidy, Patris has carved a vibrant niche in Oak Park by asking a simple question. “I just started visualizing and asking what if?” she says. “What if I had a space in Oak Park to house an art school, studio, gallery and event space? I saw the potential.” Patris, dressed in a magenta windbreaker and a pale blue turtleneck that is almost the same color as her eyes, sits down at a table in the studio. The space is lively and organized, but without any fussiness. The work of 10 different artists hangs on the walls, a mix of landscapes, city views, portraits and still-life paintings. The studio has more than a dozen easels and taborets arranged in a loose half circle, ready for artists to go to work. The studio and gallery opened a year and a half ago. “Getting things going the first year was a little rough, but people are becoming familiar with the quality teachers and studio we have here,” she says. “The hardest thing has been not rushing, persevering and keeping positive that we will thrive.” Perseverance is key in Patris’ case. The path to her current success at age 51 was no shortcut. Born near Glacier Park in Montana as Patti

POCKET AUG n 14

Artist and teacher Patris offers workshops and painting sessions at her Oak Park studio

Miller, she describes her youth as troubled. Once out of high school, she considered art school but opted to go to Crown College in Minnesota. She hoped to benefit from the structured environment. Graduating with a degree in communications and cross-cultural studies, she moved to Minneapolis to work and pay off student loans. “I was living all alone in Minneapolis and it was 20 below,” she says. When her aunt invited her to come to California in 1986, she jumped on the offer. In Sacramento,

she earned a master’s in English language development and a teaching credential. While working as a language development specialist, she and her husband bought a condemned house in Oak Park in 1996, and she got involved in neighborhood improvement projects. She appreciated the neighborhood’s old buildings, mature trees and bohemian vibe. Her love of Oak Park and dormant desire to make art merged when she began to contemplate her life’s purpose after the death of her

mother. She enrolled in art classes at Sacramento City College in 1998, studying with Fred Dalkey and Frank Zamora. To confirm her identity as an artist, she changed her name to Patris and worked fervently. She painted what she saw in the neighborhood: alleyways, rooftops, homes, buildings and stately palm trees with long blue shadows. She discovered local drawing groups around town and eventually began running sessions and workshops at S12 studio and gallery in Midtown.

SIDEWALK SALE Friday & Saturday, August 15 & 16 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Bed Bath & Beyond • Trader Joe’s Anderson Bros. Pharmacy • Capital Confections Eyeglass Charlies • Massage Heights . . . and more! Corner of Fulton & Marconi Avenues, Sacramento

w w w. s h o p t ow n a n d c o u n t r y. c o m After leaving S12, she started looking at buildings in Oak Park, asking, “What if?”

“In our lives, we run around a lot and are bombarded with a number of outside factors,” she says. “When a person has the chance to create and tap into art, that nourishes something within. It’s rewarding.” When she found the circa 1915 building at the corner of 35th Street and 2nd Avenue, she knew it was the place. “It was like the final puzzle piece fitting into place,” she says.

She rents the space from Terre Johnson and Michael Luna. Johnson is the executive director of Oak Park Business Association and Stockton Boulevard Partnership. “They get the vision,” Patris says. The studio is around the corner from the Broadway Triangle, a housing and retail development under construction that is anticipated to further revitalize the stretch of Broadway near Old Soul coffee and the historic Guild Theater. Patris says the workshops and painting sessions at the studio bring new people into the neighborhood. “We have artists coming from the Bay Area, El Dorado Hills, Placerville and Napa.” Ultimately, the studio offers a destination for creative focus and fulfillment. “In our lives, we run around a lot and are bombarded with a number of outside factors,” she says. “When a person has the chance to create and tap into art, that nourishes something within. It’s rewarding.” For more information about Patris and Patris Studio and Art Gallery, go to artist-patris.com. n

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Portrait of Perseverance EXHIBIT AND FUNDRAISER SPOTLIGHTS TALENT OF PAINTER WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

By Jessica Laskey RIVER CITY PREVIEWS

hether you’re an art lover or a supporter of worthy causes, or both, you won’t want to miss the retrospective of Sacramento artist Ray Franklin at Gallery 2110 from Aug. 6 through Sept. 6. The exhibit will feature 20 drawings and paintings chronologically from throughout Franklin’s life, which began in 1948. The son of prominent Bay Area artist Raymond Howell, Franklin was born to be creative, but he remained self-taught until he graduated from Sacramento High School. Due to hallucinatory episodes that came on after graduation, Franklin was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, which led to his treatment and hospitalization at De Witt State Hospital until 1981. Once released, Franklin enrolled in Short Center South, a fine arts program in Sacramento for adults with developmental disabilities, where he paints and draws to this day. Franklin’s evocative work ranges from abstract to technical—he draws cityscapes of Sacramento,

POCKET AUG n 14

The Ray Franklin retrospecticve is on exhibit at Gallery 2110 from Aug. 6 through Sept. 6

San Francisco and Oakland from his photographic memory—to portraiture in various media (pen, pen and ink over watercolor and acrylic). If you’d like to help a cause that helps people such as Franklin remain artistic and productive, don’t miss the silent auction at the gallery from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7 that will benefit the Developmental Disabilities Service Organization. For more information on the event, go to ddso.org.

Meet the remarkable artist in person at the Second Saturday reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 9. Gallery 2110 is at 2110 K St. For more information, call 476-5500 or go to gallery2110.com

THE ‘CAGE’ BIRDS SING IN Let the Sacramento Music Circus production of “Brigadoon” transport you to a faraway land that only

appears once every hundred years (though thank goodness they revive it more often than that) Aug. 5-10 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion. The mythical, miraculous village appears in the Scottish Highlands just long enough each century to teach its characters, and audiences, about love and enchantment, with songs by the dynamic duo Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (who also wrote “Camelot” and “My Fair Lady”). Looking for something with a little more … je ne sais quoi? Don’t

The 16th annual Race for the Arts is Saturday, Aug. 23 in William Land Park

miss the raunchy, rowdy, bawdy and sweet production of “La Cage Aux Folles” Aug. 19-24. The hilarious show, which won Tony Awards both the year it premiered and the year it was revived on Broadway, is full of colorful characters with hearts of gold, dazzling dancing and plenty of lavish costumes to have you seeing sequins. The Wells Fargo Pavilion is at 1419 H St. For tickets and more information, call 557-1999 or go to californiamusicaltheatre.com

THE CROCKER AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ As usual, Crocker Art Museum promises to “wow” this month with exciting exhibitions and events that are sure to grab your attention. First up is the Courtyard Classic Film Series screening of “Stormy Weather” at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7 (seating begins at 7 p.m.). The 1943 film features legendary performers Lena Horne, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller in lead roles that

S I X T E E N T H

RACE

for the

were rare for African American performers to land at the time. The film also features unforgettable musical numbers such as Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” Horne’s rendition of “Stormy Weather,” and the Nicholas Brothers’ mind-blowing tap dancing in “Jumping Jive.” The screening will take place in the museum’s E. Kendell Davis Courtyard. Bring a chair or a blanket, buy some food and settle in for an evening of entertainment under the stars. Tickets are $5 for museum members, $6 for students/youths, and $8 for nonmembers and include admission to the museum the day of the event. For fans of Tien Hsieh, good news: Hsieh’s back at the Crocker for another Classical Concert on piano at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 10. The program will exclusively feature the work of Franz Liszt as an accompaniment to the artwork of Irving Norman on display in the museum’s permanent collection. Tickets are $6 for museum members,

A N N U A L

ARTS

SATURDAY

AUGUST 23

William Land Park Sacramento

$10 for students/youths, and $12 for nonmembers. Wanna get inked? Check out Art Mix/Ink from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 14 and see just how powerful ink can be, whether it’s on paper, on skin or in print. The evening will include live tattoo demonstrations by local artists and tattoo shops, a culinary demonstration by Squid Ink, a Zine-it workshop presented by Third Space and Phonoselect Records and stations where you can create a postcard on an antique letterpress (with Delta Workshop) and burlesque life drawings (with Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School). Drink specials are under $5 all night and admission is free for museum members, $10 for nonmembers, and college students receive a $2 discount. Are the kids ready to hit the books again? (More importantly, are you ready for them to be out of the house again?) The Crocker’s Back-to-School Celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17 is the place to be PREVIEWS page 40

Wells Fargo KCRA 3 KFBK KQCA My58 The Sacramento Bee Progressive Raley's & Bel Air Sactown Magazine Trumpette Applebee's

Associated Sound California Family Fitness Capital Public Radio

5K & Kids Fun Runs

Comstock's Business

Arts Festival Entertainment Food

Radio Disney - Sacramento

w w w. r a c e f o r t h e a r t s . c o m

Chapeau Graphics Hobrecht Lighting Inside Publications Pavilions Riverview Media Photography Sacramento Convention & Visitor Bureau Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Sacramento Parent Starbucks Sharon Pickard Yelp

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

PREVIEWS FROM page 39 for parents, teachers and students of all kinds. The event will include a performance by Calidanza Dance Company, a SketchCrawl through the galleries, a preview of new Tour + Art Workshop themes, a visit to the Art Ark, Homeschool Day discovery stations, and a lecture for parents and teachers on effective discipline strategies from Kim John Payne, author of “Simplicity Parenting.” Museum admission is free this day thanks to “Pay What You Wish Sunday.” Getting jazzed for more jazz? Jazz in the Courtyard will present Marcus Shelby, an award-winning composer, arranger, educator and bassist who is nationally recognized for his commitment to using music to narrate the rich history of African Americans, and his quartet at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 21. Tickets are $6 for museum members, $10 for students/youths, and $12 for nonmembers. Crocker Art Museum is at 216 O St. For more information on all

The Susan B. Anthony 5K is the best women’s race in California. Lace up your shoes and participate at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 9 at Glen Hall Park.

Crocker events, call 808-1182 or go to crockerartmuseum.org

ART FOR THE HEART Run for your heart in more ways than one at the 16th annual Race for the Arts 5K & Fun Runs on Saturday, Aug. 23 in William Land Park.

Friends Needed!

Please help support library materials & programs at Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library

Friends Memberships Start at $10/Year

This yearly event allows runners— or walkers, or lollygaggers—to raise money for their favorite local nonprofit visual, performing, cultural or literary arts organizations and/or school music, drama or literary art programs through pledges (through pledges aren’t required to participate in the race). Once you’ve broken a sweat in the morning (the 5K Run/Walk is at 8:30 a.m., the Kids’ Fun Runs start at 9:30 a.m.), check out the Race for the Arts Festival that will be bursting with more than 40 interactive booths, food, entertainment and fun. Check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s octopus puppet display, lend a hand (and a brushstroke) to the interactive mural, groove to performances by Voices of California (a 50-man a capella chorus), clap for Woodcreek High School’s Dance Team, browse the Sacramento County Library Bookmobile, grab a bite from some of Sacramento’s favorite food trucks, and lots, lots more. For registration and more information, go to raceforthearts.com

COOL AND COLLECTED

Visit saclibfriends.org

VISIT saclibfriends.org 44

POCKET AUG n 14

Ever wondered what kind of art artists collect? You’ll get a chance to find out on Aug. 7 through Sept. 6 when the extensive sculpture collections of Wayne and Betty Jean Thiebaud and Matt and Maria Bult are on display at Alex Bult Gallery in midtown.

The exhibition will feature ceramic, wood, metal, plaster and bronze works from Native American, African, Oceanic, Mexican and contemporary artists including Manuel Neri, Mark Di Suvero, John Chamberlain, Frederic Remington, William Wiley and Robert Mallary, as well as works by Tony Berlant, Maria Bult, Tio Giambruni and Wayne Thiebaud. Meet the collectors themselves at the preview reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 7 or at the Second Saturday reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 9. Alex Bult Gallery is at 1114 21st St. For more information, call 476-5540 or go to alexbultgallery.com

YOU GO, GIRL! Susan B. Anthony played a pivotal role in the women’s suffrage movement, so it seems only appropriate that the race named after her, the Susan B. Anthony 5K, is the best women’s race in California. Lace up your shoes and participate at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 9 at Glen Hall Park (next to the American River. Founded in 1976, the race is small (fewer than 1,000 runners) so that participants get plenty of space to park, warm up and use the PortaPotty without fighting long lines. The course is USATF-certified and boasts a shady, flat topography that attracts some of Northern California’s top competitive women runners. It’s a nice bonus that the course winds through River Park, so you’ll have a

2014 Lasher Polo Classic

Visit our boutique showroom today!

Benefiting the Sacramento SPCA

( )L[[LY 4H[[YLZZ

Naturally

Chamberlain Ranch | Wilton, Calif. September ď&#x2122;&#x2026;ď&#x2122;&#x160;, ď&#x2122;&#x2026;ď&#x2122;&#x192;ď&#x2122;&#x201E;ď&#x2122;&#x2021; | noonâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;ď&#x2122;&#x2021; p.m.

TICKETS $35 | $85 | $165 â&#x153;Ś TABLES from $850 â&#x153;Ś Sponsorship opportunities INFO (916) 504-2802 | events@sspca.org | www.sspca.org

Deeper Sleep By Design â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘

Authentic European style mattress systems Natural and organic mattresses, bedding and pillows Inquisitive, non-commissioned sales environment No gimmicks, sensible pricing European components offer mattress longevity, stability, and contour.

Chip & Jill

EUROPEAN E U R O P E A N SLEEP S L E E P DESIGN DESIGN 6606 Folsom Auburn Rd. Folsom, CA. 95630 916-989-8909 Personally ďŹ t for each individual

lovely landscape to look at while you jog. Do you have little ones in tow? They can have a ball at 8 a.m. before the big race at the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Half-Miler (named after another pioneering leader of the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rights movement). Kids can go it alone or be accompanied by a parent and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll receive a ribbon and a treat upon completion of the course. Then they can head to the jump house while Mom runs the SBA 5K. Registration opens at 6:30 a.m. The race is followed by an awards ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Glen Hall Park is at 5415 Sandburg Drive. For more information, visit the Buffalo Chips Running Club website (the group that sponsors the run) at buffalochips.com/ sba5k

THE POWER OF 10 See something one-of-a-kind here in Sacramento that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d have to travel thousands of miles to see otherwise: the Suzuki Piano Basics

International 10-Piano Concert (straight from Matsumoto, Japan) will perform at 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 16 at the Community Center Theater. Performers range in age from 4 to early 20s, but age is not what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll notice: Instead, feast your ears on a concert that features a series of 10 performers each playing the same piece of music on their own individual grand piano. Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t picture it? Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have to see it, and hear it, to believe it. But buy your tickets soonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sacramento is the only city in the world to host this concert outside of Matsumoto, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now or (probably) never. The Community Center Theater is at 1301 L St. For tickets and more information, call 801-5181 or go to sacramentoconventioncenter.com Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Please email items for consideration by the first of the month, at least one month in advance of the event. n

www.sleepdesign.com

Frank Fatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

2013 Recipient, James Beard Foundation America's Classics Award

ď&#x2122;&#x160;ď&#x2122;&#x2C6;th Anniversary â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Dinner Special* $27.95 per person APPETIZER

Chinese Chicken Salad

with pickled cucumber, almonds, and a sesame soy vinaigrette ENTRĂ&#x2030;ES

Frankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Style New York Steak

NY steak smothered in sautĂŠed onions and oyster sauce

Honey Walnut Prawns Our award-winning recipe.

Chicken and Vegetable Stir-fry in spicy garlic sauce

Young Shew Fried Rice

With barbecued pork, Chinese sausage, lettuce, and shrimp DESSERT

Fatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Famous Banana Cream Pie Two person minimum. No substitutions please. May not be combined with ?LW MRFCP BGQAMSLR "MCQ LMR GLAJSBC R?V MP EP?RSGRW -ĂŹCP CVNGPCQ 1CNRCK@CP

Summer Hours: Closed Sundays only, 'til September 7th 806 L Street, Sacramento 916-442-7092 www.frankfats.com

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

’Cueing Up GET IN LINE FOR THESE LOCAL BARBECUE STANDOUTS

TANK HOUSE BBQ AND BAR

BY GREG SABIN RESTAURANT INSIDER

alifornia is known internationally as one of the great dining destinations in the United States. From the originators of farm-to-fork dining like Berkeley’s Alice Waters to wine-country innovators like Thomas Keller, from the sweeping variety of international foods to the homegrown concept of “California cuisine,” from Petaluma chickens to Monterey sand dabs, there is no lack of world-class food culture in the Golden State. Yet one of the most American of culinary traditions has never really taken root here. While it may be popular, iconic even, in places like Texas, Memphis, Kansas City and the Carolinas, barbecue has never been something that Californians were particularly good at. Sure, there’s that whole Santa Maria barbecue thing popular on the Central Coast, but any barbecue purist will tell you that Santa Maria style involves grilling, which is just outdoor cooking. Barbecue, traditional American barbecue, is something completely different. It involves smoke, and lots of it. Ask a Texan and she’ll tell you that unless your meat is smoked, it ain’t barbecue. So it’s a brave restaurateur who opens a barbecue restaurant in California. That bravery should be lauded. Here are a few establishments worth checking out. Tank House BBQ and Bar in Midtown

POCKET AUG n 14

Located in the belly of Midtown, Tank House BBQ and Bar has upped the scene quite a bit when it comes to barbecue on the grid. In the year it’s been open, the frequently belching outdoor smoker and packed patio of revelers have drawn plenty of eyes to Tank’s conspicuous location at 20th and J. Put in your order at the bar, pub style, then grab a seat at the bar, at a cozy table in the eclectically decorated dining room or out at one of the communal tables on the patio. Menu choices include smoked brisket, ribs and turkey with sides of greens, mac and cheese, tater tots and slaw. The bar is well stocked with local brews and premium booze, and the service is saucy. Unlike most barbecue joints, this one serves weekend brunch, doling out pancakes, mimosas and a drool-worthy brisket hash. A few specialties on the menu include “dirty” mac and cheese, featuring the already-good mac with a generous mix-in of smoked chicken; the smoked turkey sandwich; and the absolutely guilt-inducing “dirty” tots: tater tots topped with pulled pork then topped with cheese sauce. If you’re looking for a party with good food and good drinks, this is the place. However, if you’re not looking to tie one on and raise four sheets to the wind, best clear out by 10 p.m. on weekends as Tank House tends to cater to a particularly soused crowd. Tank House BBQ and Bar is at 1925 J St; 431-7199; tankhousebbq. com

French-inspired pastries, cakes and breads handcrafted on-site every morning by artisan bakers and chefs!

FRIDAYS Doughnut Day

Baby back ribs from Tank House BBQ and Bar in Midtown

Croixnut Day (ﬂavor changes every week)

(reservation required) Located on the corner of 9th & K in downtown Sacramento M-F 7-6, Sat 8-6, Sun 8-4 | 551-1500 | info@estellspatisserie.com

STE B O

N RA ST AU RE IL Y M FA D N A LL SE

It should say a lot that when we wanted to get food for my wife’s birthday party, we went straight to Mo Mo’s. The Tahoe Park favorite has been serving up some darn good meat for almost four years out of a little strip mall on Broadway and 57th Street. When you see the smoker outside, you’ll know you’ve come to the right place. If you’re lucky, there’ll be no line, but be prepared to wait a few minutes to get your order filled. The highlights of the menu are, without a doubt, the hot links and the ribs. They are standout meats and deserve their own spotlight. Heck, they might deserve their own sitcom. Finally, don’t leave without a bundt cake from Spirit of Jazz Cakes. These little rounds of joy are the perfect tasty treats to finish off any meaty meal. Mo Mo’s Meat Market is at 5776 Broadway; 452-0202

MO MO’S MEAT MARKET

Greg Sabin can be reached at gregsabin@hotmail.com n

$25/PERSON Set menu includes: tea sandwiches, assorted pastries, macaroon, tarts and choice of organic tea

AUGUS L T) L A (

Every now and then, you walk into a new restaurant and think that everything is a little too perfect to be authentic, that the place is too spotless, that the decorations too safe, that the menus too well printed for there to be any room left for the food. Fahrenheit 250 BBQ is one of those rare cases where all the little things, from decor to floor polish, seem to be taken care of with chainlike precision without putting a dent in the menu. Each dish on the menu is crafted well, with some true standouts. The ribs are some of the best I’ve tasted in California. The corn and crawfish fritters are tiny dollops of ecstasy, easily overlooked on the apps menu, but once eaten not easily forgotten. Some of the sides are otherworldly, including an absolutely ridiculous serving of green beans, buttery and crunchy. They’re enough to make any fussy child eat his vegetables. The grits are a thing of beauty, rough milled and dense, chock-full of more butter and cheese than is probably legal. And unlike almost any other barbecue joint I’ve been to, this one has a pretty decent selection for vegetarian and vegan diners. With options like a smoked vegan meatloaf

SUNDAY

sandwich, there’s something on the menu for everyone. Fahrenheit 250 is at 7042 Folsom Blvd.; 476-4508, fahrenheitbbq.com

FAHRENHEIT 250

FRENCH TEA SERVICE

LUNCH, DINNER & HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS WWW. ELLA DINING ROOM AND BAR.COM 1131 K STREET DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO 916.443.3772 WWW. ELLA DINING ROOM AND BAR.COM 1131 K STREET DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO 916.443.3772

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

WE’RE YOUR NEIGHBOR!

GREENHAVEN/POCKET

Cul-de-Sac location in Grangers Dairy. 3 bed, 2 bth, 1 story ½ plex. Upd carpeting, int & ext paint. Upd tile Àooring in baths. Living rm w/¿replace. Mster ste w/sliding door to patio. Inside laundry rm. 2 car garage. More! $292,500 BILL BONNER 916-320-1888

POCKET AREA

Near Charter Pointe Park, bike path & shopping at Bel Air Promenade. 3 bed 2.5 bth w/kitchen open to family rm, sep living rm, formal dining rm. Nic size backyard. Upd roof. New carpet & int. paint in July 2014. More! $285,000 BILL BONNER 916-320-1888

CLASSIC OLD LAND PARK

3 bed, 2 bath home with a large open Àoorplan. Hardwood Àoors throughout, corian countertops, custom cabinetry and remodeled master suite. All this within a short walk to land park and the river! $595,000 TERRY MULLIGAN 916-768-3796

POCKET AREA

Attractive 3 bed 2.5 bth ½ plex w/3 car garage on a great street! Kitchen w/granite tile counters & gas cook top. Living rm w/¿replace. Master ste w/balcony. Hall bath w/ jetted tub. Inside laundry room. New roof 6/2014 $299,900 BILL BONNER 916-320-1888

SOUTH LAND PARK HILLS

3 bed, 2.5 bath single story home. Stunning wood Àoors, dual pane windows, 2 remodeled baths, oversized garage and a sparkling pool all on a large lot. From curbside to inside, this home is a must see! $399,000 DAWN O’CONNER-ROWE 916-799-4835

GATED RIVERLAKE

3 bed, 2 bth, single family home within the gates of Cobble Shores. Open Àoorplan w/lge ¿replace & hearth of marble tile, skylights in baths, master w/sep shower & jetted tub, new metal roof, sunroom addition, swimming pool & much more! $479,900 NICK LAPLACA 916-764-7500

RIVERLAKE

Elegant 5 bed 3 bth + mstr retreat w/2 bed & full bath down, large upd kitchen w/breakfast area. Both formal living & dining rms, family room. Huge master ste w/large retreat. Upd tile roof, 3 car garage. Access to private lake. $675,000 BILL BONNER 916-320-1888

CLASSIC OLD LAND PARK

Location, tradition & potential abound in this single story 4 bed, 2 bath, 2 car detached garage home of 1941sf. Blomberg dual pane windows, newer HVAC & water heater, copper plumbing and so much more! $539,950 NICK LAPLACA 916-764-7500

PRESTIGIOUS GRANITE BAY

Stunning 5 bed, 5 bath home behind the gates of Granite Bay Hills. Entertainers kitchen, separate living and family rooms, bonus room with wetbar, downstairs bed & bath, 4 car garage, pool/spa & so much more! $1,099,000 JOLEEN DUNNIGAN 916-717-3559

A real estate company is like a home. The great ones have a strong foundation. Our agents come with a network of experience and are backed by the most admired name in the world.

Visit bhhsdunnigan.com

Good to Know.™

916-422-3756

©2014 BHH AfÀliates, LLC. An independently owned and operated franchisee of BHH AfÀliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Houseing Opportunity.