December 2015 Journal Plus

JOHN H A MP S E Y | A NDR E A MIL L E R | K E N S CH WA R T Z HONOR E D | A NDR E W RUBIN

JournalPLUS DECEMBER 2015

MAGA ZINE OF THE CENTRAL COAST

VOCAL ARTS ENSEMBLE

805-543-2172

805-904-6616

21 Santa Rosa St. #100, San Luis Obispo

110 E. Branch Street, Arroyo Grande

w w w.FA R R E LL S M Y T H.c om www.1275MontecitoRidge.com

www.3425Johnson.com

Spectacular Ocean & Panorama Views. Infinite custom quality estate on 5 acres in gated community of Montecito Ridge Estates between San Luis Obispo/Edna Valley and east Arroyo Grande. $1,875,000 Also available: 8 lots ranging from 5 - 10 acres. Starting at $349,000.

Nice home on the sunny side of town. Four Bedroom, Fireplace, two car garage in a convenient location. Homes in this subdivision are in demand. $599,000

www.68LosVerdes.com

In Demand - Los Verdes Park I. Three bedroom, two bath free standing unit with a fireplace and two car garage, across the street from the tennis courts. Other amenities include a year round swimming pool, newly upgraded gym and over three acres of open space with a playground. All this priced at $469,000

Santa Maria

Three bedroom, Two bath, Two-story Home. Spacious Open Floor Plan with Large Kitchen & indoor laundry room. Master Suite located on lower level. Master Bath features double sink & vanity, large tub, Large Walk-In Closet. Close to Park, Shopping, Restaurants. $455,900

Santa Margarita

www.4686hartnellroad.com

Great Family home with back deck, open concept. Master and Guest bedrooms have attached full bathrooms. Short distance to downtown shops, restaurants and freeway. $440,000

Do not miss out on this Orcutt beauty! 4 bedroom, 2 bath move-in ready home located in the gated community of South Point. Formal living room with fireplace, separate family room, breakfast nook and separate formal dining room. Large corner lot, lush mature landscaping and a over-sized finished garage. This home is ready for its next owner! $395,000

CONTENTS

Journal PLUS MAGAZINE OF THE CENTRAL COAST

The People, Community, and Business of Our Beautiful Central Coast ADDRESS

654 Osos Street San Luis Obispo California 93401

12

ANDREA MILLER

PHONE 805.546.0609 E-MAIL slojournal@fix.net WEBSITE www.slojournal.com

EDITOR & PUBLISHER Steve Owens ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Erin Mott GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dora Mountain COPY EDITOR Susan Stewart PHOTOGRAPHER Tom Meinhold DISTRIBUTION Jan Owens, Kyle Owens, Jim Parsons, Gary Story

8

10

JOHN HAMPSEY

MARY CIESINSKI

ADVERTISING Steve Owens CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Susan Stewart, Natasha Dalton, Joseph Carotenuti, Dr. James Brescia, Sarah Hedger, Maggie Cox, Will Jones, Deborah Cash, Heather Young, Don Morris, Rebecca LeDuc, Anna Meyrick, Mary Syrett, Ray Cauwet and John Ashbaugh.

Mail subscriptions are available at $20 per year. Back issues are $2 each. Inquires concerning advertising or other information made by writing to Steve Owens, JOURNAL PLUS MAGAZINE, 654 Osos Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. You can call us at 546-0609, our fax line is 546-8827, and our e-mail is slojournal@fix.net. View the entire magazine on our website at www.slojournal.com JOURNAL PLUS MAGAZINE is a free monthly distributed to over 600 locations throughout the Central Coast and is also available online at slojournal.com Editorial submissions are welcome but are published at the discretion of the publisher. Submissions will be returned if accompanied by a stamped self addressed envelope. No material published in the magazine can be reproduced without written permission.

Opinions expressed in the byline articles are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the JOURNAL PLUS MAGAZINE. COVER PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARY BLYTHE

PEOPLE 7 8 10 12 14 16

GIVING BACK THIS HOLIDAY SEASON JOHN HAMPSEY MARY CIESINSKI ANDREA MILLER ANDREW RUBIN DAN FOSTER

HOME & OUTDOOR 18 20 22 23 24

CHRISTMAS TREES AND MORE DAY TRIP: WATTS TOWERS CENTRAL COAST’S GREATEST ATHLETES

COMMUNITY 26 28 30 32 34 36 42

SLO COUNTY ART SCENE VOCAL ARTS ENSEMBLE KEN SCHWARTZ HONORED HISTORY: Walter Murray – part 3 OUR SCHOOLS – Dr. James Brescia PALM STREET – Councilman Ashbaugh COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

BUSINESS

37 DOWNTOWN SLO What’s Happening 46 EYE ON BUSINESS

GIVE MORE FOR LESS THIS HOLIDAY FOOD / AT THE MARKET

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

COMING UP AT THE

PERFORMING ARTS CENTER THE TEN TENORS: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

LOS OSOS MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND CONCERT

December 1 | 7:30 p.m.

December 14 | 7:00 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

Christopher Cohan Center

Presented by Cal Poly Arts

Presented by Los Osos Middle School

CAL POLY FALL JAZZ CONCERT December 4 | 8:00 p.m.

MORRO BAY HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR CONCERT

Alex & Faye Spanos Theatre

December 15 | 7:00 p.m.

Presented by Cal Poly Music Department

Christopher Cohan Center Presented by Morro Bay High School

CAL POLY CHOIRS’ ‘A CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION’

MORRO BAY HIGH SCHOOL BAND CONCERT

December 5 | 8:00 p.m.

December 16 | 7:00 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

Christopher Cohan Center

Presented by Cal Poly Music Department

Presented by Morro Bay High School

BANDFEST 2015!

CUESTA MASTER CHORALE SING-ALONG MESSIAH

December 6 | 8:00 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

December 19 | 8:00 p.m.

Presented by Cal Poly Music Department

Christopher Cohan Center Presented by Cuesta Master Chorale

THE NUTCRACKER December 11, 12 | 7:00 p.m.

December 13 | 2:00 p.m.

FORBES PIPE ORGAN HOLIDAY SING-ALONG December 20 | 3:00 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

Christopher Cohan Center

Presented by Civic Ballet San Luis Obispo

Presented by Performing Arts Center Outreach Services

STUDIO @ RYAN’S AMERICAN DANCE

NEW YEAR’S EVE POPS

December 12 | 7:00 p.m.

December 13 | 2:00 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

December 31 | 7:30 p.m.

Presented by San Luis Obispo Symphony

Alex & Faye Spanos Theatre Presented by Studio @ Ryan’s American Dance

WWW.PACSLO.ORG | 805-756-4TIX (4849)

From the publisher

L

ast month I attended the special dedication ceremony honoring Ken Schwartz (pictured) for his efforts many years ago to create the Mission Plaza we have today.

A plaque was placed at the entrance of the plaza giving him the long overdue recognition.

Our historian, Joe Carotenuti attended the event as well and writes about it on page 30.

One of our favorite groups on the Central Coast is the Vocal Arts Ensemble. There is no better way to get in the holiday spirit than to attend one of their upcoming concerts. Gary Lamprecht continues to do a magnificent job leading this organization that has performed world wide. Susan Stewart gets us all caught up with the group in this month’s cover story.

We also feature five people that are making a difference, a couple of holiday related stories, upcoming arts events and so much more.

Reach thousands of potential customers by placing your ad in the Journal Plus.

Journal PLUS

This month our four generations gather together to celebrate the holidays, and there is always plenty of love, laughter, and memories to share. There is nothing quite like four generations of family...partying together. We hope your holiday season is rich with the traditions you cherish.

And as always, enjoy the magazine.

MAGAZINE OF THE CENTRAL COAST

Call 546-0609 for Advertising Information

Steve Owens

COMMUNITY

giving back

7

Ways to Give Back This HOliday Season

By Statepoint Media

W

hen making this year’s holiday gift list, consider how you might also give back to your local community. The holiday season is the perfect time of year to do this, when volunteer and donation opportunities increase. Here are a few ideas to give back in your community:

The Gift of Literacy Only one-third of all students entering high school are proficient in reading, according to a National Assessment of Education Progress report. Brighten children’s smiles this holiday season while also giving them an opportunity to succeed at school and beyond. The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation has given new toys to children in need for more than 60 years. The organization also extends its reach through a partnership with The UPS Store through the Toys for Tots Literacy Program, which provides economically disadvantaged children an opportunity to succeed in school and beyond. Donations can be made at The UPS Store locations nationwide or online at toysfortots.org/literacy.

One-hundred percent of all proceeds go to support local children and literacy programs. Your donations go even further thanks to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, which is able to purchase books at a deep discount. To find a participating location near you and make a donation that will help ensure families everywhere have access to books, visit theupsstore.com.

(c) WavebreakMediaMicro - Fotolia.com

goodies in bags as thank you gifts to your children’s teachers, coaches and others in your community who have served or been kind to your family all year.

Volunteer Your Time

One of the best ways to give back is by donating your valuable HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY time. Make a trip to a local nursing home and spend time with

Bake Sale

residents who may not have family or anyone else to visit them this season. Additionally, soup kitchens are often in need of extra hands during the holidays. Ask your local organizations about volunteer opportunities.

Let our family take care of your family.

When you’re busy making trays of cookies for your big holiday party, consider making an extra batch or two, and encouraging friends and neighbors to do the same. With your combined efforts, you can host a bake sale, which can be a lucrative and enjoyable way to raise money for your favorite charity.

JUST LIKE HOME

If you don’t have time to organize an event like this, you can still give back through your baking. Wrap packs of cookies or other

While holiday wish lists are often full of fun gadgets, clothes and toys, there are still many in your community lacking more basic necessities. This season, think beyond your personal wants and do your best to give back.

Peace on Earth

Let our family take care of your family.

JUST LIKE HOME

Rehabilitation Therapy · Medicare, Medical, HMOs Short Term Rehabilitation · Long Term Care

805.922.6657 www.CountryOaksCareCenter.com 830 East Chapel Street, Santa Maria

Country Oaks C A R E CEN T ER

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

8

PEOPLE

john hampsey cal poly english professor and author

By Will Jones Under the gray-white sky, the president waved, even though I was the only one there, his four fingers pointing upward and his wife in her brown dress smiling but not waving —from Kaufman’s Hill, by John Hampsey.

Early in his evocative memoir, Kaufman’s Hill, John Hampsey, Cal Poly English Professor and San Luis Obispo resident, recalls an unforgettable moment from his childhood. “I am really seeing the president, October 12, 1962. Eight years old. His parade car traveling from Wheeling, West Virginia, right past the edge of where I live, inside the slow-down seconds.”

After two readings, one dynamic book club conversation, and a rousing two hour interview with John, it strikes me that the power

PING TSAO MD COSMETIC & PLASTIC SURGERY

Dedicated to the right procedure for each unique individual.

Eyelid, Neck & Face Lifts Breast Augmentation Breast Reconstruction Abdominoplasty Liposuction Skin Care Artful Fillers

Call today and set up a complimentary conversation about our services.

35 YEARS IN YOUR COMMUNITY, BOARD CERTIFIED, PRIOR-CHAIRMAN OF FRENCH HOSPITAL

1035 Peach Street, San Luis Obispo | 543-9377 | www.plasticsurgeryslo.com D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

of his book comes from his ability to take us “inside the slow-down seconds” of his youth, which, regardless of our age, allows us to relive our own youth in insightful ways that we haven’t relived it before. By taking us “past the edge of where I live,” he takes us deeper, and more knowingly, into our own lives.

Kaufman’s Hill is a bucolic open space in Mt. Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Hampsey grew up, and where many of his childhood experiences took place. The book is set between 1961 and 1968, when John is ages seven to fourteen. It recounts his interactions with neighborhood bullies like the Creelys; his fearless and adventurous friend, Taddy Keegan; his sad, withdrawn father; his saintly Aunt Patsy; and young women like Marla Hawkins who roil his adolescent innocence, curiosity and fear.

The story is told in John’s youthful voice, which grows in sophistication and insight as he ages, one of the book’s most remarkable characteristics. Most of the action occurs away from the observation and supervision of adults, reminiscent of a time when children had nearly boundless freedom on hot summer days, after school, and in the magical twilight hours between dinner and darkness.

John doesn’t just prosaically present characters and experiences. He energizes them in a way that feels more like fiction than memoir or autobiography. He tells a compelling story, and in his slow-down way creates a defined space in which we can live and react based on our own personal experiences, as if we have opened a time capsule and have all the time we need to examine each artifact of the past from our present perspective.

But more than anything it is John’s precise, exquisite language that sets his memoir apart. When I asked him if there were passages that came closest to a mood he was trying to capture, he offered this example at the end of a chapter about a disastrous inner tube trip down a local creek:

PEOPLE and if it weren’t for the group I wouldn’t have started with a six page story in a young voice.

They read it and said it was the best thing I’d written. It was far enough in the past that it didn’t feel like it was about me, which I didn’t want. I wanted to capture the experience of a seven-year-old boy. I wrote it consciously in the shape of a novel. It reads like a novel even though everything in it is true.”

About halfway through writing the book, after a conversation with his sister who questioned who would want to read it beyond friends and family, John knew he wanted to appeal to a broader audience. “What can I do to speak to people interested in the fifties and early sixties, to people interested in childhood and coming-of-age stories? So sexual awareness, religious issues, a depressed, removed father, race relations, I became more aware that they could draw people in. My responsibility was to make it fresh.”

“Because Sundays really are the saddest days, which I kept forgetting until Sunday came again. And Sunday evenings the worst of all. Because Sundays were meant for family. But the need for family never seemed like enough, since there was always something that family couldn’t touch, but which I touched when I drank the creek water which still touched me through the darkening air.”

John has been teaching literature and writing for thirty-eight years, since he was a graduate student working on his Ph.D. at Boston College. “The first time I walked into a classroom something came out of me I didn’t know was there. It was like meeting an actor who is really shy in real life but then you see them on stage and their personality changes.”

After teaching at Boston University for five years and MIT for one, John came to Cal Poly in 1989. His areas are British Romanticism and Classical Greece. He’s won the University Distinguished Teacher Award.

He’s published many essays and stories, a book on Western thought titled Paranoia and Contentment: A Personal Essay on Western Thought, and he’s working on a novel, Soda Lake, an “existential mystery” partially set in the Carissa Plains. John credits a high school English teacher for igniting his passion for literature and writing, and names writers like Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner as influences on Kaufman’s Hill.

“When I wrote the first chapter it was a total whim. I was mesmerized all my life by these early memories. I was in a writer’s group,

While I could identify with all of the types of people John describes and interacts with in his book, the most poignant identification was with his father, who died in 1975 when John was only twenty-one. A lawyer who provided well for his family but clearly had bigger, unfulfilled dreams, John’s father lived in a silent world reminiscent of many men of that generation who I remember from my youth, including my own father. Here is a passage from “The Mayfair,” a chapter where the reader learns more about his father’s dreams and failures.

9

My father died in 1999 and my mother in 2009. But in our conversation John and I agreed that no matter how long our parents have been gone our relationship with them is still dynamic, still growing and changing as we grow older, a fact brought home to me once again by reading John’s excellent memoir.

After very positive reviews and a successful book tour, Kaufman’s Hill is now in its second hardback printing, John is working on an audio version, and a screenplay has been written. John acknowledged how much he has learned from the entire experience and how it has given him added confidence in his writing. He praised his writing group and his wife and daughter for their support.

We closed our conversation by discussing the scene where John sees John Kennedy passing by “like in a funeral parade.” When I pointed out that phrase, John said, “I meant to say write procession and I just changed that in the audio version.” I said, “I think you should leave it as is. It better reflects your eight-year-old voice.” “You’re right,” he said, “I’m going to correct it on the tape.”

Over two hundred beautiful pages, John Hampsey gets it right. Read Kaufman’s Hill.

I’m certain you’ll agree.

Learn more about John and Kaufman’s Hill at http://www.johnchampsey.com/

“We made it safely back home in our old black Oldsmobile after taking Father Sanders across the city. And my father never said a word to me. In the driveway, he turned off the engine and headlights. And then, for some reason, his body just seemed to stop, as if the winding key inside him had run down…I felt afraid—not of my father, but of something beyond him that seemed to make him powerless in a way I had never seen before.”

It took a long time for John to write and publish Kaufman’s Hill. Although it reads like fiction, all of the experiences described happened to him, and for a long time he was sensitive about how explicitly to describe those experiences and how his family would be affected, particularly his mother.

“When she died in 2004 I felt liberated to be more detailed and specific, to delve into embarrassing, tough stuff, like my father’s drinking and depression. It felt good to be honest, but ironically it couldn’t happen until after my mother’s death.

She saw the book and I had her blessing, but I honored her one request by changing all the names.”

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

10

PEOPLE

mary ciesinski

ecoslo’s new executive director

By Heather Young

E

COSLO has a new executive director, Mary Ciesinski, who started work in June.

Ciesinski most recently lived in the Bay Area until just before she started work for ECOSLO. She had lived in SLO previously, moving there for an internship with Expert Exchange. Her now husband, Dale Stoker, who had been her college boyfriend, moved to SLO to be closer to her.

“We met my first day of college and were college sweethearts,” Ciesinski said. Four years ago, Dale got a job at Stanford. They returned to SLO over the summer when he accepted a position at Cal Poly as an employer development specialist in the career service department. They married on June 1, 2013. Dale was originally from New York, Ciesinski from California. They met at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., where she got a Bachelor of Science in business administration with a concentration in marketing.

“During my college time, however, I developed my love in the nonprofit sector,” Ciesinski said, adding that she ran the student fundraiser in college. “I love seeing the effects of it on a nonprofit.”

Though her first jobs after college were for businesses, she felt drawn to nonprofits.

ECOSLO, Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo, was formed in 1972 by local environmentalists. At the time, ECOSLO was the second recycling center in California.

Through the years ECOSLO has evolved from a community recycling center to organizing and implementing county-wide events and programs: SLO Stewards, community service program, ECOSummit, Coastal Cleanup, tsunami cleanup and e-waste program.

As the newest executive director of ECOSLO, Ciesinski said she’s looking at all the programs and services the organization offers.

“I’m looking at all the programs and services and work that we do in the community,” Ciesinski said.

“Looking at things with an outsider’s perspective, given that I [didn’t] have a relationship with the organization.”

Mary and ECOSLO’s co-founder, Bill Deenen D E C E M B E R

2015

She added that she’s working to get a Journal PLUS

sense of ECOSLO history, and where the organization should go in the future. She’s evaluating what the nonprofit is doing and what is needed.

“My goal is build up a five year-strategic plan,” Ciesinski said, adding that she’s wanted to create the model of what ECOSLO will look like in the community for the organization’s 45th anniversary. “ECOSLO has been that kind of hub with other environmental groups, which is really a place that we need to go—support other organizations and support the community.”

She said that she believes the nonprofit community is stronger together.

“I believe it helps the community better when we’re working together and we’re unified,” she said.

One program ECOSLO offers is supporting local cleanup efforts; it organizes the local coastal cleanup help each September. Recently, it has organized cleanups at Lake Lopez. Over five weeks, Ciesinski said, volunteers collected more than 1,500 pounds of debris in the lake. She said that the historic low for the lake has allowed volunteers to collect things that haven’t been accessible, or even visible, in the past.

Another program that Ciesinski said will be more developed is the docentled hikes. The hikes are led by volunteers on SLO City trails once a week.

“It’s such a great educational opportunity for residents to learn about SLO open spaces,” Ciesinski said. “You’ll learn so much more about

PEOPLE

11

with two other nonprofits: Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County and Central Coast Grown. The location has three offices and a conference room the nonprofits share.

“It’s great. It’s actually really great. And to be in the know in what’s going on for them,” Ciesinski said. “Between the three of us, it’s a pretty busy space. It seems to be working for all three organizations.”

The program is funded in part by grants and in part by its members and fundraisers.

“Your ECOSLO membership contributes to our ability to advocate for the environment and helps us run current programs to protect and preserve the natural environment here in SLO County,” Ciesinski said. “Programs such as SLO Stewards docent-led hikes, lake and coastal cleanups, as well as some e-waste recycling.”

Dale and Mary on their wedding day in Avila Beach.

the area than you previously knew.”

The nonprofit has had numerous locations around San Luis Obispo, the most recent is at 246 S. Higuera St. The office is shared

Members start at $20 for students and seniors $40, for individuals and $60 for families.

The office is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those interested or enrolled in the Community Service Work Program, should stop by between 10 a.m.

G ive t h i s yea r ’s

ECOSLO’s Lopez Lake Clean-up program

and 1 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.

ECOSLO’s mailing address is P.O. Box 1014, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406. For more information, call 805-544-1777, email info@ ecoslo.org or go to www.ecoslo.org.

tech gifts!

NEW! iPad Pro

SALE! only $349

Products you love | People you trust Next to Target · SLO (805) 781-6227 macsuperstore.com D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

12

PEOPLE

andrea miller

bringing an endless supply of energy, talent and dedication to the people and town she loves

By Deborah Cash

Andrea and daughter, Alaina.

“Like 99 per cent of ‘everyone who lives here,’ I went to Cal Poly and then wanted to stay in SLO,” said Andrea Miller, sole proprietor of Spike’s Pub, who’s also an instructor at Cal Poly and mom of four-year-old daughter, Alaina. Miller, born in Camarillo, lived in Ventura and later attended boarding school in St. Louis, Missouri. She said she wanted to return to California for college.

“And, my dad was a Cal Poly grad so that helped with the decision.”

Miller said she was inspired to obtain her BS degree in Forestry and Natural Resources (2001) from her love of the outdoors and nature.

“When we were little, my dad took us camping and we’d tent and hike.” Memories of her family on those outings stuck with her. “This was the closest to the ‘outdoors’ that I could get!” During her undergraduate period, required courses opened her eyes to other possibilities such as studying the environmental aspect of planning that she enjoyed. “I took every GIS class I could,” she said upon her subsequent entry into the Masters Degree Program of City and Regional Planning in 2004. Her thesis entailed a mapping project covering zoning D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

for farming and a soils report for the Williamson Act that was later incorporated in the county’s GIS system. “I got to read legal descripAndrea participating in the SLO Triathlon.

PEOPLE

Andrea in front of her downtown SLO business.

tions about the policies and how things are applied which I found exciting because my mind thinks spatially,” she said.

She landed her first job during grad school with the County as a Mapping and Geographic Systems Specialist 3. She laughed, “As soon as I got my first ‘big girl’ paycheck, I took my parents out to dinner!”

Knowing she was here to stay, she bought a condo. “My parents went ahead and gave me my wedding money,” she said. “I never got married but it was the best gift I could have gotten.” At 23, with a steady job and a mortgage, she then started wondering what else was ‘out there.’ Miller said she was asked to teach at Cal Poly and jumped at the chance, taking a position in the Natural Resources Department teaching Ecology and GIS for four years, though she still continued with her county position. Somewhere in there, she also served for four years on the City of SLO Planning Commission.

Those who know Miller know her energy is boundless. Working two jobs didn’t deter her from buying in as a partner in a local restaurant/pub. “I heard Spike’s was for sale,” she said. “My business partner and I took over in 2006. I continued full time with the county but also worked at Spike’s, mainly on the business side and left the operation to my partner.” She eventually left her county job—though she soon found she had plenty of private clients who were willing to pay for

13

her GIS services. “I had a lot of opportunities. I consulted, taught and waited tables,” she said. “It was an exciting and fun time.”

One project she enjoyed was the Chevron Tank Farm mapping that included developing an overlay of vegetation, topography and streams of the area.

When Miller announced last year that she would be training for the 2015 SLO Triathlon, some were rather unfazed, being rather used to her amazing energy level and not at all surprised that she would undertake yet another personal commitment. Others were wondering how she does it all.

In 2009, she took over full ownership of Spike’s. The following year, she ran unsuccessfully for City Council though she had waged a strong campaign. “I lost to good people in a hard race,” she said. About this same time, she channeled energy toward the SLO Downtown Association promotions committee. Her leadership ability, dedication and commitment were highly lauded and she became board president in 2011 and later, chair of the Food, Beverage and Services Committee. “Since my business was downtown,” she said, “I wanted to be involved. I figured it would be like throwing all my eggs in this basket.” She noted there was “a lot of craziness around the issue of alcohol downtown. I figured being involved at this level would be a way to make a difference.” She was, in fact, in step with her colleagues in the food and beverage industry who believed that issues with alcohol service in downtown had a “real” side and a “perception” side.

They joined forces to reduce or eliminate problems where they existed and to educate patrons and the public about those programs. She practices what she preaches and is proud of her establishment and its commitment to community causes. “We want to be involved,” she says of her team at Spike’s.

“We are constantly sponsoring and donating.

Anything beer related, we try to be involved with.” Miller sited their recent in-house fundraiser, Save the Cans. “It was very successful,” she said. “We packaged craft beers served at Spike’s into cans and made about $2,500, donating a dollar of each can to the local chapter of Making Strides, affiliated with the American Cancer Society.”

“I had always been a runner,” she said.

“My mom said I ran before I walked. In my freshman year, I ran cross country at state.”

Deciding to “switch it up,” Miller said she trained for the “Tri” though she didn’t really like swimming and she had to borrow a bike.

“My goal was to finish,” she said, “I’ll beat my time (2 hours, 7 minutes) next year!” She did add she’ll probably have to figure out the bike part, “I spent 15 miles in the same gear.”

Miller acknowledges she’s grateful to have an incredibly supportive and loving family. Her parents, Don and Cindy Miller still live in St. Louis, MO, though they visit regularly as her dad conducts business locally. Sister Amanda lives in North Carolina with daughter Trystan, 13, and son Landon, 9; brother Don and wife Maria live in New York. Grandma Elsie, who’s 97, also lives in St. Louis.

Enjoying a lunch “break” recently, Miller seemed relaxed and excited about upcoming events and life in general. “But, if I had to pick,” she said, “the most important things in my life right now are Alaina and Spike’s. I’m very lucky.”

Note: Somewhere in there Miller has also found time to return to teaching at Cal Poly!

As mentioned, not one to take a break, Miller gave birth to daughter Alaina during this time. Inseparable (the two have attended many a meeting together!), Andrea said she’s never been happier. “She’s brought so much joy to our family,” she remarked of the little tow-headed girl who resembles her mom almost exactly. Miller said Alaina’s ‘grown up’ at Spike’s. “She sits in the first booth—she’s the cutest little thing, a little blonde girl with her Play-Doh. She knows all the regulars.”

Alaina has made it her job to deliver water to customers but balks, however, when it’s time to leave proclaiming, “I want to stay at Spike’s!” But then she remembers her cat “Celery” is waiting at home, so off they go.

D E C E M B E R

Young Andrea

2015

Journal PLUS

14

PEOPLE

andrew rubin classy debut

By Natasha Dalton

“Your music’s right.” “Everybody Loves You,” —Jon Anderson

instruments, but it wasn’t until I was twelve years old that I first picked up the guitar and something clicked. Over the years, playing the guitar evolved from a simple pleasure to an all-consuming passion.

The recent SLO Chamber Orchestra performance in Los Osos was a big success, which in itself isn’t unusual. But it was a step away from the ordinary for this orchestra to take on a piece composed by a local rock musician. The audience loved it and gave an enthusiastic welcome to the 20-year-old composer, Andrew Rubin, when he appeared on stage alongside Jon Anderson—the famous lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes.

Who are your influences in music? What kind of music do you play?

We spoke with Andrew Rubin about his life, his music and his plans for the future. Here’s what he said:

Hello, Andrew. Please tell our readers a little bit about your family and your musical roots.

My mom’s name is Teresa. She is a school teacher who plays piano.

My dad, Leigh Rubin, is an artist and creator of the comic strip Rubes.

My parents love music, and, when my brothers and I were growing up, our parents encouraged us to learn to play musical instruments: one of my brothers, Jeremy, played drums and another brother, Ryan, played excellent classical piano. But because of the big age gap (they’re in their late 20s) we never did get around to playing music with each other much.

I took drum lessons when I was six years old from Steve Hilstein. (Years later, I ended up working for Steve when I became a music instructor at Music Motive.) I had started and stopped lessons and tried out different D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

Growing up, I heard all kinds of different music playing around the house and I remember liking it, but I did not have the same appreciation for it I do now. When I started [playing], I was inspired by a lot of the older bands: Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd—so for a long time I considered myself a rock guitarist. Eventually, I branched out and started exploring other genres: Pop, Jazz, Electronica, Classical. I love playing them all. If you had to pin me down to one, I suppose I’m still a rocker at heart.

And you have a band…

For the last three years, I worked with a great band called The Spaces Between. We were a progressive rock trio, with myself on guitar, my best friend Noah Colton on bass (and vocals), and a very talented Liam Smith playing drums. We made a lot of exciting original music together, had lots of crazy adventures, from playing our first show at the SLO Down Pub in Arroyo Grande to The Roxy in Hollywood. I think we learned a lot more about ourselves as people than [about] music during our time as a band. Recently, Liam decided to leave the band. Though I’m not sure what our next incarnation of a band will be yet, Noah and I have and always will continue to write and play together.

My girlfriend Anya Moiseyeva is a wonderfully talented vocalist, and we have a lot of fun singing together and playing as a duo at wineries,

PEOPLE

15

restaurants, and events up and down the Central Coast. It started as a fun side project, just playing cover tunes. Somewhere down the road, we’d like to try writing original music as well.

nothing happened, and for about two years it just sat on a shelf. Fast forward, and now I’m 20. I began looking at our old recordings and I thought: “Wow, this was really cool. Why did I put it away?”

How did you get invited to play in Hollywood?

I worked eight hours a day on the score, enthralled with the idea of performing it. Then, as fate would have it, visiting an art gallery, I ran into my friend Bob Liepman—the president of the SLO Chamber Orchestra. I sent him my piece and everything fell into place. “Guitar Concerto” was premiered on October 25th—with me performing guitar with the orchestra.

There was a period of time, around the summer of 2013, when promoters in LA would offer us slots at places like The Whisky, The Viper Room, and The Roxy. There was an aura of nervous excitement that came with this opportunity for our three-piece band from a small town to play on the Sunset Strip. The best memories are the friendships we formed with the other bands we met: We met some really cool musicians, great people.

And how did you meet Jon Anderson?

I met Jon at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande when I was 14. A mutual friend introduced us and he looked at me and said, “Hey, you look like a musician! What do you play?” I told him I played guitar and he said “Great! Here’s my email address, send me some of your songs and I’ll sing them.” I couldn’t believe it. I sent him some videos of my playing and he invited me over to his home. He was always very kind, generous, always encouraging. We kept in touch throughout the years and he gradually became a mentor figure in my life.

What made you turn to classical music?

When I was sixteen, I emailed Jon a video of me performing “Classical Gas,” by Mason Williams. He thought it was wonderful that I was now playing classical music and invited me over. He told me: “if you can play in that style, why not start writing in it?” We sat in his home studio and he showed me Rodrigo’s “Concierto De Aranjuez.” Then he turned to me and said: “Now you’ve got to write your guitar concerto!”

We began writing Guitar Concerto together, sketching out the whole piece on two guitars. One day, while he was on a tour, I was listening to the piece and I thought: “I wonder what would happen if I tried orchestrating it myself?” Using my keyboard, I started layering other instruments: Andrew and Jon Anderson harp, then strings, then woodwinds.

It was a very gradual, intuitive process. The next time I saw Jon, I showed him [the piece]—and he couldn’t believe it. He said I had a natural gift for orchestration and arranging, and recommended me to a great teacher and orchestrator, Stefan Podell.

When [this piece] was finished, we tried submitting it to an orchestra and

What were your feelings after the concert?

I’m happy to report that it was a great success. It couldn’t have gone better. There was an overwhelmingly positive response from the orchestra members and audience. We held their fixed attention for the entire 15-minute performance. As I took the stage, my nervousness left me and was replaced by a strong sense of confidence. I played my heart out; we received a standing ovation at the end. I was touched.

People were throwing some wild compliments at me, comparing me to Segovia or John Williams, none of which I take seriously, but their positivity definitely encourages me to keep doing what I do. It was one of the most memorable performances of my career.

Music aficionados, pay attention: Andrew Rubin is currently working on his next composition, which very well might become yet another exciting project worth checking out. For our part, we just have to wish Andrew inspiration and a lot of good luck.

Itchy E ? Stufy Nose? yes d emPower! e e n u Yo ur energy use uce yo d e r Imp d ity an rove y our home's air qual

Utility incentives exceeding $6,500 Low interest, unsecured loans FREE home energy consultation Qualified contractors

Upgrade Today!

Website: emPowerSBC.org Phone: (805) 781-5982 Email: empower@co.slo.ca.us This Program is funded by California utility ratepayers and administered by Southern California Gas Company, Southern California Edison Company and Pacific Gas & Electric under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

16

PEOPLE

danny foster

sharing his love of family and horror movies with the community

By Heather Young

D

anny Foster, 35, loves his family—wife, Amy, and sons, Kyle, 6, and Riley, 3—and scary movies.

He’s putting the two together for the third time with a free showing of “Monster Squad” at Galaxy Theatres in Atascadero on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.

Dan, Kyle and Amy Foster

Not only is he hosting this event, but he’s paying for the cost of Galaxy Theatres out of his own pocket so families can share this experience with their children for free. He’s looking to privately crowd fund the event. He’s offering a $50 sponsorship package that includes two exclusively signed prints from his co-host, Ryan Lambert, who played a hero in the film. Foster has lined up sponsors for giveaways during the event from NECA, Cheap Thrills, Fright-Rags and Cherry Blossom Tattoo.

“We want to pack the theater for our special guests and for the experience as well,” Foster said. “There’s nothing like enjoying a great movie with a packed house.”

He added that he also knows there are people who might not be able to afford a couple of movie tickets, especially with Christmas only three weeks later.

“So I’m pulling my strings, calling in favors, working a bunch of overtime,` wheeling and dealing to open the doors of a movie theater for one show where the price of admission is covered,” said Foster, who works at Atascadero State Hospital. His wife is a massage therapist and owns Complete Escape in Atascadero. “It’s not just the movie, it’s the special guest, it’s the fun extras. It’s the memories made, it’s the love shared.”

Now, some of the movies Foster has shown are too violent for young children, so the children attend the pre-movie event and then go home before the movie actually starts. The last event was a cigar and ice cream social with Dan Yeager, the actor who played Leatherface in

Texas Chainsaw 3D, before showing the movie at Atascadero VFW on Dec. 5, 2014. “[I hope the ideas of] ‘hey, I shared ice cream with Leatherface’ debunked any nightmare-ish thoughts later on in life when they watch the movies and have to hide under the covers,” Foster said.

The first movie he showed was Jaws on an inflatable screen at Kennedy Club Fitness in Atascadero on the last day of summer in September 2013. He said it’s as much about the ambience and atmosphere as it is about the actors making the movie.

“I have allowed reign-sharing with my oldest son to help me pick out a family-friendly monster movie that is multi-generational. It had to be something both my crowd remembered and his crowd would love,” Foster said. “We agreed on Monster Squad, [which is] my third favorite movie ever. It’s very much a Goonies meets Ghostbusters kind of film. A monsters vs. kids roller coaster of a ride that has stood the test of time since its inception in 1987.”

Foster said that the movie is special to him, and it was made even more special when he was able to share it with his son.

Foster with Leatherface 2014: From left, Brian Campbell (wrestler Sledge), Danny Foster, Lyle Foster, Bret Wagner (Texas Chainsaw Massacre Remake) Amy Foster, Riley Foster, Dan Yeager (Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw 3D) and Jason Turner (wrestler JD Horror).

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

“Just seeing the excitement of getting to watch a ‘safe’ monster movie with my son made the 90-minute moment priceless,” Foster said. “It was a definite reliving of my youth, feeling like I was 7 years old all over again—watching the film and enjoying all the twists, turns and monsters with my son. Once the movie was over, my son looked up at me and asked ‘Can we watch that again?’”

He said he knew he was on to something and wanted to share that experience with other parent-child groups.

PEOPLE

17

Foster said they are “holiday parents,” going all out for each and every holiday, especially Halloween.

“Amy and I have always had fun with Halloween but it really took off with having kids,” Foster said. “Having kids was a total game changer, it gave me a chance to really delve into the absolute amazing-ness of every holiday especially Halloween.”

Their two sons were also born on holidays— New Year’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. Foster’s love of Halloween and scary movies started when he was 11 and he was hanging out with a few of his parents’ friends’ children, who were all older than he. That night, the group decided to watch Freddy’s Dead: the Final Nightmare.

Dan and Amy Foster

“There is an absolute plethora of ways children have that type of concrete bond over something with their parental units,” Foster said. “If I can help this movie be one of those reasons in that relationship, in even just one parent/kid link, then I know I’m on the right path.”

Foster graduated from North County Christian School in Atascadero in 1999 and his wife, Amy graduated from Atascadero High School in 2001. The couple met in 2001 when Foster worked at Video Palace and Amy at Grocery Discount Center. They married in September 2006 in San Luis Obispo at Fremont Theatre. Foster proposed to Amy on the “Jaws” part of the tram ride at Universal Studios.

“Needless to say, I was petrified,” Foster admitted. “Alas, what once was scary slowly turned into a fun fascination by ninth grade.

I had figured out that there were far scarier things out in the world than the horror movies that I was checking out. Horror movies now give me a nostalgic feeling and bring me a sense of solidarity. In a world of change, which is constant, it’s always nice to have something familiar follow you, kind of like comfort food but for the senses besides taste.”

The Foster family on Halloween.

conventions, theme parks, even all the fun nature kind of stuff, the beach, butterfly dunes and elephant seal point, camping,” Foster said.

His love of horror movies, as well as music, his family, figures, records, laserdiscs, props and more cover every inch of his movie room in different forms. Foster said it’s loosely based on a visual walk through his mind—there are no empty spaces and it’s a little cluttered. His favorite band is KISS and has been since he was 14. He said what he likes to do in his free time is anything he can do with his family.

“We go on all kinds of adventures, book signings, monster truck rallies, concerts, filming locations and horror and comic

NEWCOMER OR NEW HOMEOWNER? Get your free welcome packet!

Liz Hiatt Owner centralcoastwelcome@gmail.com

It includes maps, civic info, coupons from cafes, groceries, wineries, auto hardware, garden, medical, dental, etc.

Call your greeter or go to centralcoastwelcome.com SLO / Avila / 5 Cities: Jan Rouse 458-2394 or 209-405-1111 • Morro Bay / Cayucos / Los Osos / Cambria: Annie Clapp 878-8876 • North County: Sandy Hexberg 235-1529 •

A FREE SERVICE TO NEWCOMERS

805 Aerovista #103, San Luis Obispo

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

18

HOME/OUTDOOR

christmas trees and more

By Mary Syrett

C

hristmas trees have long been a part of the holiday tradition. That tradition brings families together and unites them around the tree in celebration of renewal. The meaning of the holidays rests in considerable part with tradition and family. What better way to convey that meaning than with a traditional Christmas tree?

History Evergreens have been associated with seasonal celebrations since ancient times. They were used as symbols by various nationalities and religious groups, including Egyptians, Romans, Druids, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Spaniards and Slovaks. Yule log traditions contributed to the cultural customs of gift giving and of decorating a log or tree.

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the wintertime. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce or fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors. In many countries, people believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts and illness.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day of the year falls on December 21st and is known, of course, as the winter solstice. Many ancient peoples believed that the sun was divine and that winter came every year because the sun deity had grown weak. They celebrated the spring solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would regain strength. Evergreen boughs reminded them of the green plants that would grow again once the sun god was strong.

The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god named Ra. After the spring solstice, when Ra began to recover from sickness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm branches that symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.

Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia.

The Romans believed the solstice meant that farms and orchards would soon again be green. To mark the occasion, they decorated temples with evergreen boughs.

In Northern Europe, the Druids decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The Vikings in Scandinavia believed that evergreens were a special symbolic plant of the sun god.

Thus, when families today bring home their Christmas tree, they are following a tradition that stretches back over a thousand years.

“Bringing in the Yule log” was a ritual that began in Great Britain and then spread across Europe, eventually reaching North America. On Christmas Eve, the central trunk of a huge tree was dragged from the forest. Every member of the family helped with the job by pulling on the ropes. When the log was finally brought into the house, it was thrown into the fireplace, where it burned continually during the Christmas season.

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

As the Yule log tradition spread throughout Europe, it acquired many distinctive customs and names. In Ireland, it was called “bloc Na Nodleg,” or Christmas block. In Spain, children followed the log as it was dragged through the village, beating it with sticks to drive out evil spirits. People who lived along the way rewarded those children with nuts and chocolates.

Christmas Tree Facts • Christmas trees have been sold commercially in the United States since 1850. California, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia are the top Christmas tree producing states.

• The best selling trees are Scotch pine, Douglas fir, Noble fir, Fraser fir, Virginia pine, Balsam fir and white pine.

• President Calvin Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn in 1923. In 1979, the National Christmas Tree on that lawn was not lit except for the top ornament.

This was done to honor the American hostages then being held in Iran.

• The first decorated Christmas tree appeared in Riga, Latvia in 1510.

• Using candles to light a Christmas tree dates to the middle of the 17th century.

• Thomas Edison’s assistant, Edward Johnson, developed the idea of using electric lights to decorate Christmas trees.

Christmas Traditions Caroling may not be as popular today as it once was. Perhaps it’s because too many people live in the suburbs, where neighborhoods are not as close as they once were. But singing among family members still tops the list of traditions for many people.

What holiday season would be complete without greeting cards? The first Christmas card appeared in London in 1843; cards became popular in America around 1875. Today many families send holiday greeting cards to friends across the United States and around the world.

Christmas shopping season officially begins the day after Thanksgiving. To some folks, it’s the most enjoyable part of the season. True, Internet shopping has changed the face of holiday shopping. But no matter how popular Internet shopping becomes, nothing can com-

HOME/OUTDOOR pare to an old-fashioned holiday shopping trip to see the lights, hear the bells, and feel the excitement of the holiday season.

Each holiday season, stockings hanging from a mantle can be found throughout many homes. Stockings may include gags, such as a piece of coal, or small gifts, such as candy.

The brilliant colors of Christmas lights on and in a home are enough to warm the heart of even the sourest Grinch. Just don’t pull a “Clark Griswold,” with apologies to Chevy Chase.

So, soon after you get your tree home, saw an inch off the bottom of the trunk to open a fresh cut. Then immediately place the tree in a bucket of water and keep the fresh cut wet throughout the holiday season. This will prevent sap from hardening in the cut and helps keep the tree watered.

To keep needles from losing too much water too fast, keep the tree away from heat. Look for a cool corner away from

19

drafts. All this care should keep your Christmas tree looking fresh throughout the holiday season.

Enjoy the holiday season and please, dispose of your tree by taking it to a facility especially intended for that purpose. And forever remember, Christmas traditions, including greenery, have their roots extending far back in antiquity. What goes around . . .

There is no better symbol of holiday cheer than the Christmas tree. Trees all around are decked out in lights and ornaments, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive and leave presents for family members.

Christmas tree lots will be open on many street corners and in shopping malls.

Discriminating shoppers enjoy having a Christmas tree brighten up the home for a few weeks rather than a few days. This makes sound economic sense because if you pay a premium price for a tree, why not s-t-r-e-t-c-h out your enjoyment of it?

Your selection of the type of Christmas tree can mean the difference between a short or long season of Yuletide greenery. Many kinds of evergreens lay claim to being Christmas trees, but some do a better job of it than others.

The Fraser fir is a great-looking holiday season specimen, and if kept abundantly watered, retains its needles for weeks. Likewise the white pine. It has hardly any scent, making it a good choice for people who are allergic to fragrant Frasers.

Always test a tree before buying. Unless you purchase what you are certain is a freshly cut tree, you may encounter problems long before Santa gets stuck trying to slide down the chimney. How to conduct a freshness test?

Grab a branch and run it between your fingers. Do needles fall into your hand? No? So far, so good. Now, pick the tree up a foot off the ground and drop it on its trunk. If you see a shower of needles, look elsewhere.

When you find a fresh, well-proportioned tree, get it home fast and take steps to ensure that it stays that way. Above all, what we’re talking about is water. Plenty of water.

Sap oozes from the trunk as soon as it is cut, and as sap hardens, it seals the cut. This is a healing action, but it does greatly restrict the tree’s ability to absorb water.

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

20

HOME/OUTDOOR

watts towers “one Man’s towering dream”

By Ray Cauwet

T

here are many tourist attractions in the Los Angeles area, but one stands out for being the most unusual. It’s called the Watts Towers.

Located in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, the towers are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural structures, including one tower that reaches a height of 99 feet.

What makes the towers unique is that they were built by one man, Simon Rodia, from 1921 to 1955. He accomplished this feat in his spare time, working on evenings and weekends. Otherwise, he was employed on construction projects. The towers are the largest folk art structure in the world constructed by one individual.

Sabato (Simon) Rodia was born in Ribottoli, Italy in 1879 and immigrated to the United States when he was 14. He joined his older brother working in the coal mines in Pennsylvania. Following his brother’s death in a mining accident in 1900, he moved to Seattle.

For the next 20 years, he wandered around the West Coast, working as a quarryman, cement mason, tile layer, miner, logger and in construction. He finally settled in Watts in 1921. He bought a small triangular shaped lot and began to construct his masterpiece. He called it, “Nuesto Pueblo,” which translates as “Our Town” in Italian.

When Rodia was growing up in Italy, there were certain Roman Catholic saints’ feast days in which huge tower-like floats, called gigli, were borne through the streets on the shoulders of worshipers in an act of religious fervor. No one knows whether distant memories of those towers helped shape the astounding undertaking he began many years later. It’s possible.

Rodia was a master of many trades and used this knowledge on the towers project. Initially, he built a series of large garden ornaments, including a fountain, a bird bath, some benches and a 140-foot wall.

He then concentrated on the towers.

He had some novel construction methods. Instead of using traditional external scaffolding for the towers, he incorporated the scaffolding

The Watts Towers feature four spiralling towers and sculptures embellished with colorful decorations. One tower reaches a height of 99 feet.

into the skeletal frameworks of the towers themselves, so that each ring and strut formed a new standing place to build the next ring above. He used no rivets, bolts or welds to make the internal armatures. Instead, he would shape metal pipes and rods by bending them between the rails of a nearby train track. He then would assemble them on the structure, wrap the joints in chicken wire, encase the wire in cement of his own design, and finish it with mortar and embedded mosaics. He continued this process until he reached the top.

The towers and the structures beneath were decorated with a wide range of items, including mosaics, sea shells, stones, tiles, broken pottery, green Ginger Ale bottles, 7-Up bottles, mirror pieces, linoleum and cooking utensils.

The decorations were applied by embedding the shards and objects into the drying mortar. It’s estimated he used 100,000 fragments for the decorations.

It was a point of pride for him that he constructed the towers without any help. That included collecting all the shells, broken bits of pottery, bottles, etc. He used to walk for miles along railroad tracks and roads in search of treasures. He did, however, accept some contributions from neighborhood children.

When asked why he built the towers, Rodia responded, “I had it in mind to do something, something big and I did.”

The 140 foot wall displays a variety of mosaics, sea shells, tiles and more.

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

In 1954, when he was nearly 80, Simon Rodia suddenly quit building the towers. He deeded the site to a neighbor, walked off, and moved to Martinez, Calif. to be near his sister. He died quietly in 1965.

HOME/OUTDOOR

21

Controversy ensued and the city conceded to a lateral stress test. They said, “If the Watts Towers, built by one man using novel construction methods, could withstand 10,000 pounds of stress. The towers would be spared.” On October 10, 1959, 1,000 supporters held their breath and watched Rodia’s structure weather, without any signs of strain, the equivalent of 76-miles-per hour sustained winds. The demolition order was revoked. One year later, the towers were open to the public.

In 1978, the land was deeded to the State of California and the structure underwent extensive repair. In 1985, the towers were named a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

Today, they are overseen by the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

The towers employ novel construction methods, such as using no rivets, welds or bolts for the internal structure.

For the next few decades, the future of the towers was in flux. It was bought and sold. It wasn’t being maintained and was in a state of disrepair. In 1957, the City of Los Angeles declared it “an unauthorized public hazard, built without a rational plan.”

Guided tours of the towers are offered ThursdaysSaturdays, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sundays, 12:30 to 3 p.m. Cost is $7 and $3, ages 13-17 and 62 plus.

The towers are located at 1727 East 107th St., Los Angeles. They are a little difficult to find.

I suggest taking the 110 Freeway south from downtown Los Angeles to Century Blvd.

Turn left on Century, turn right on Central Ave. and then go one block to 103rd St. Turn left on 103rd to Graham and turn right. Take

The complex has 13 sculptures.

Graham to 107th St. Turn left and you’re there. For information, call (213) 847-4646.

Visitors to the Watts Towers can’t help but marvel at Rodia’s masterpiece. Whether you’re looking at the four spiraling towers, the exquisitely decorated 140-foot wall or any of the 12 other sculptures, it is a sight worth seeing.

INC

STAL WORK CONSTRUCTION + DESIGN

LIC 948012 | PO BOX 391 SAN LUIS OBISPO CA 93406 805.542.0033 WWW.STALWORK.COM MAIL@STALWORK.COM

COMMERCIAL + RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPES + MAINTENANCE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

22

HOME/OUTDOOR

the greatest athletes on the central coast

By Dr. Don Morris

Editor’s note: The reader response to the question “Who are the Greatest Athletes in the history of the Central Coast?” has been overwhelming. More than 100 nominations have been received from readers from Ventura to Salinas and almost all the high schools and various sports were represented. (Many of the nominations were about central coast men and women athletes who have gone on to compete professionally in sports like Olympic events, football, baseball, track and field, golf, boxing, ultimate fighting, tennis, kick boxing, basketball, rodeo, race-car drivers, etc). So far the following athletes have been featured: Ed Brown, Stephanie Brown Trafton, Chuck Liddell, Loren Roberts, Steve Patterson, Gene Rambo, Robin Ventura, Jordan Hasay, Chuck Estrada, Mike Larrabee, Ron Capps, Jamie Martin, Rusty Kuntz, Randall Cunningham, Jim Lonborg, Kami Craig, John Rudometkin, Ivan Huff, Chelsea Johnson and Michael Louis Bratz. Please send nominations to Dr. Morris at dmmorris@calpoly.edu.

scott mcclain

frank david minini

F

ootball player Frank David Minini attended Paso Robles High School in the early 1940s and was nominated as one of the greatest athletes in the history of the Central Coast by long time sports expert Bill Cattaneo.

Minini was a half-back and a blocking back and in the early 1940s was big for high school football at 6’ 1” and 209 pounds. He went on to play for San Jose State College and in 1947 he was drafted in the NFL’s third round and was the 23rd pick by the Chicago Bears. He played professional football for the Bears in 1947 and in 1948 he went to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Minini passed away at the age of 83, in 2005.

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

S

cott McClain attended Atascadero H.S. and was a versatile athlete. He played quarterback for Atascadero High School. He signed a National Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Southern California before being drafted by baseball’s Baltimore Orioles. As a major leaguer he played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Chicago Cubs, and the San Francisco Giants. He also played in the Pacific League in Japan for the Seibu Lions and then in the Central League for the Hiroshima Toyo Corp.

He became the oldest position player in Major League history to hit his first career home run. McClain spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons with the Fresno Grizzlies, Triple-A affiliate of the Giants. Later in 2010, Hiroshima added Scott McClain as a US-based scout.

HOME/OUTDOOR

23

cal poly choirs to present

“a christmas celebration”

By The Cal Poly Music Department

event parking is sponsored by the PAC. Tickets are sold at the Cal Poly Ticket Office between noon and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To order by phone, call SLO-4TIX (756-4849).

The Music Department offers a 10 percent discount to patrons who buy season tickets to four of its events through the Cal Poly Ticket Office; a 15 percent discount is given on tickets to five or more events.

The holiday concert is sponsored by Cal Poly’s Music Department, College of Liberal Arts, and Instructionally Related Activities program. For more information, call the Music Department at 805-756-2406.

T

he Cal Poly Choirs will present their annual holiday spectacular, “A Christmas Celebration,” at 8 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5, in Harman Hall of the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.

Under the direction of music Professor Thomas Davies, PolyPhonics, the University Singers, and the Cal Poly Early Music Ensemble will perform holiday favorites and new works.

The Cal Poly Brass Ensemble, conducted by Christopher J. Woodruff, will add to the festive performances. Staff members Susan Azaret Davies and Paul Woodring will accompany the choirs and perform solo works for piano and organ.

Repertoire will include celebratory works of the season, including William Mathais’ “A Babe is Born,” Samuel Barber’s “Twelfth Night,” John Gardner’s “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day,” Norman Dello Joio’s “The Holy Infant’s Lullaby,” and Moses Hogan’s “Glory, Glory, Glory to the Newborn King.”

A composition by Cal Poly music major Corey Hable, titled “O magnum mysterium,” will be premiered as a highlight of the evening.

The always-popular “Christmas Cameos” and the choirs’ traditional “Silent Night” arranged by Malcolm Sargent will round out the program. Audience members will have the opportunity to participate in a carol sing-along.

Tickets to the concert are $14 and $18 for the public and $9 and $14 for students. Pricing includes all Performing Arts Center fees, and D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

24

HOME/OUTDOOR

at the market

Ribollita, with pumpkin and kale

By Sarah Hedger

D

ecember is here which means all kinds of Winter produce and goodness are found at our local farmers’ markets. Everything from winter squash and kale to apples and the beginnings of citrus give us options galore.

Other treats to be found this time of year are pomegranates as well as good dark greens to round out the healthy produce choices.

One of my favorite things about Winter is enjoying hearty, warming soups. I love how soups can be an amazing meal in one—often with simple ingredients and one pot, which means very few dishes (which is a very good thing in my book)! This month’s recipe is one of my favorite soups, Ribol-

D E C E M B E R

2015

lita. Ribollita essentially means “leftover,” or recooked ... so think of it as a great way to clean out your fridge of produce that may be on its last days, making it useful instead of wasteful! Ribollita is similar to minestrone however it often has more vegetables, no pasta, and with some form of legume (this one has de Puy lentils), and a light tomato base. The roast pumpkin in this soup is a great addition as it makes the soup hearty and slightly sweet. The secret I’ve learned to making good soups, is in the initial step when the base ingredients, often called a mirepoix (onions, carrots, and celery make up a traditional mirepoix), are sauteed in olive oil. I thought for the longest time this step was good to do over high heat, carmelizing and browning the

Journal PLUS

vegetables, to give it more of a toasty/ roasted flavor. Turns out, it’s even better when done a little slower, over low heat, as the vegetables kind of melt into one another, without a browned flavor, distracting from the individual flavors of the seasonal vegetables. Mirepoix itself can be used with a variety of vegetables, from the traditional ones, to garlic and leeks and onion, for a green mirepoix, which is a great base for cauliflower soup or a Winter green soup. The other stellar ingredient in this soup is kale. While kale has gotten a lot of good press lately, it has always been one of my favorite ingredients to enjoy in Winter. Aside from the numerous health benefits that it claims, it adds a beautiful hearty, earthiness, that is a great flavor

ribollita with pumpkin and kale Serves 4-6 hearty bowls of soup For the Soup: 1 cup le puy green lentils (regular brown lentils work as well) 2 bay leaves 2 T olive oil 1 onion, finely diced 3-4 garlic cloves, minced 1 large carrot, finely diced 1 T fresh rosemary and thyme, minced 1 tsp sea salt 1 red bell pepper, charred and most of the black skin removed, diced 1 or 2 zucchini, finely chopped *optional – small pinch of dried red chili peppers 1 cup tomato sauce or canned tomatoes 1 litre chicken stock (preferably homemade) or water 2 cups roasted butternut squash (easiest way is to roast whole at 350 for an hour, then peel and chop) 1 large handful kale, de stemmed and chopped fine A small handful of fresh herbs such as basil, parsley, rosemary, or thyme, finely chopped 1 T good quality chardonnay vinegar (balsamic would work as well) Salt and fresh ground black pepper Parmesan or pecorino, grated or shaved on top addition to so many things. I add it to a number of things when it is in season, from straight up and raw into smoothies with apples and mint, to sauteed with breakfast eggs, to bulking up soups of any kind ... there are endless ways to enjoy it in its glory! It is also best in Winter, when it gets slightly sweet from the cold weather months, when it grows at its best. Kale comes in a number of different varieties, cavalo nero and curly kale being most well known, as well as dinosaur kale and red russian kale, which are becoming more well known. It is a great buy as it lasts for a very long time in the refrigerator, and even freezes well, which is a rarity amongst leafy greens! So, there is my ode to kale, via Ribollita soup. So much goodness in every bite, there is a good chance it will become one of your favorites this Winter as well. Enjoy!

Reach thousands of potential customers by placing your ad in the Journal Plus.

Journal PLUS MAGAZINE OF THE CENTRAL COAST

slojournal.com for Advertising Information

Place the lentils in a small pan with bay leaves and cover with water. Bring to boil and cook for 15-20 mins, or until semisoft. Drain and set aside.

Place a large, heavy duty pot, over low heat and add olive oil, onion, garlic, carrots, rosemary, thyme, and 1 tsp sea salt.

Cook for 10 minutes, until soft and translucent, then add roasted red pepper, zucchini, and tomato sauce. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until sauce is thickened and reduced by half. Add chicken stock/water, butternut squash, lentils and simmer for a few more minutes. Add the kale and zucchini, cooking for another 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in chardonnay vinegar, tasting for seasoning (adding more salt if needed). When ready to serve, stir in remaining fresh herbs, black pepper, and top each bowl with freshly grated parmesan or pecornino. Best served some warmed, crisp bread to dip. Enjoy!

26

COMMUNITY

Paso Art Scene

anna meyrick “I make mosaics”

By Anna Meyrick “My name is Anna and I make the mosaics.” That is how I greet people when they come into my studio. It sounds like something you would say at a 12 step program, yet it is fitting. Making mosaics for a living is not a sane activity. It is not something I chose, but something that chose me.

I was born and raised in rural Oregon. I was taught to hunt, fish and work outside from a very young age. After work time was over, I liked to retreat into my bedroom to make art and read.

I did not really fit in at my public schools, so in the middle of my junior year I transferred all my credits to the community college and took college classes to earn my high school diploma.

I set my sights on becoming an Art Therapist, so I earned a BA in Psychology and a BA in Arts & Letters. I needed to volunteer in order to get into the Art Therapy graduate program, so I started teaching art at a private high school for at-risk youth, an “Alternative School.” I was hooked; I loved working with this population, as I could totally relate to them and their feelings of not fitting in. The school hired me full time after I graduated, and I began to design

curriculum that tied art to other subjects like math, science, history and English.

In 2001, my mother saw some local celebrity making big mosaic flowerpots. She thought it looked fun, so she talked someone into giving her a bunch of stained glass. She tried it and did not like the process so she gave me all her glass. I was always looking for new projects for my students so I invited a friend of mine who was working on making mosaics and we taught the students how to mosaic a flower pot. That day, I took some glass home with me and started breaking it up with a hammer and creating mosaics with the shards. It was very therapeutic for me, especially after working with the teens all day and absorbing their trauma and difficult lives.

After a year or so of working with a hammer, I figured out there were other more precise tools I could use. That completely changed everything! Now I could cut the glass to the shape and size I wanted—what a concept! I have since found a saw for glass and a grinder, both amazing additions to my tool set!

In 2006 as I was traveling all summer away from my studio, I started to think how I could use images, drawings and paintings under glass. I was already making, showing and selling oil paintings with collage elements worked in, and now I wanted to do that under the glass. I started to experiment with different glues until I figured out what worked and what did not. It was trial and error. Now I know a million ways NOT to build a mosaic. I eventually perfected a technique and then started selling my mosaics at galleries in Oregon.

I continued teaching at-risk youth for over 15 years, and in 2013 it was time for me to be done with that chapter and start a new adventure. My kids were grown, my health was bad and I decided to move with my partner to Templeton, CA. He grew up in this area.

One of the first places he took me was to “Studios on the Park” in Paso Robles. I instantly fell in love with the place and it made my transition here so much more pleasant.

I began teaching classes at Studios almost immediately and started renting a studio

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

there in November 2014. I teach an art class every Thursday afternoon at Studios on the Park from 4-5:15pm for ages 5-adult. I offer a mosaic workshop; just contact me if you are interested and we will schedule.

My mosaics are influenced by my love for the outdoors, my interest in world history, cultures, science, religion and symbols. I love the colors I can find in glass, I like the texture of the beads and found objects that I use.

I love the process of creating a mosaic. I often start out with a complete painting, and I make my own custom ceramic pieces if the mosaic “calls for it.”

Art, like life, is all a process. Mosaics chose me, but for me it fits. Sometimes the work is hard, or I think it is crazy that I glue small pieces down all day long to create a bigger image. But it is also how I have approached my life. I add what I need, create what I don’t yet see, and make my life how I want it to be.

I feel Anais Nin best sums up how I feel about mosaics and my life in general. She said, “There are very few human beings, who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.”

“My name is Anna and I make the mosaics.”

SLO art Scene

COMMUNITY

27

SLo museum of art presents international juried encaustic exhibit

By Rebecca LeDuc

T

he San Luis Obispo Museum of Art in collaboration with International Encaustic Artists (IEA) presents Another Way of Keeping a Diary, an international juried exhibition of encaustic paintings. The exhibition, inspired by Picasso’s statement that “painting is another way of keeping a diary,” will be on view to January 31, 2016.

The word encaustic means to burn in. The artist melts and combines wax, resin, and pigment paints with molten wax, then fuses each layer with heat. The technique is an ancient one, developed by Greeks to seal their ships. Eventually the functional process of painting with wax and resin became an art medium, and many examples of wellpreserved encaustic Egyptian mummy casing portraits survive today and can be found in museums around the globe. Diego Rivera and Jasper Johns are two well-known modern day encaustic artists.

After falling out of favor, encaustic painting has gained much momentum and popularity in the past 15 years. Founded in 2005, International Encaustic Artists is the oldest and largest professional membership organization for encaustic art. Members hail from all over the globe; Another Way of Keeping a Diary includes the work of members from the U.S., Canada, and Germany.

David Limrite, formerly based in LA and recently relocated to Atascadero, is the juror for the exhibition. Mr. Limrite received a degree in fine art from San Diego State University and a degree in illustration from Art Center College of Design. He spent 7 years as the Director of Education for the Brentwood Art Center in Los Angeles in addition to working as a freelance illustrator, a staff artist for a newspaper, a muralist, and an avid educator and art mentor. Mr. Limrite’s drawings and paintings were exhibited at SLOMA in 2014 as part of a joint exhibition entitled Art of the Figure: Sinuous Marks by David Limrite and Michael Hannon.

The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, dedicated to the education, presentation and preservation of the visual arts on the

“The Nest” by Sylvia Torres

Central Coast, is located at 1010 Broad Street, on the west end of Mission Plaza. Hours are 11am – 5pm daily. Closed Tuesdays from Labor Day through Thanksgiving and from January 1st through July 4th. Free admission, donations appreciated. For more info visit SLOMA.org.

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

28

COMMUNITY

cover story

vocal arts ensemble ending the year and starting the party

By Susan Stewart

Best. Party. Ever.

Warm lighting. Tantalizing appetizers. Glittering gowns. Sparkling champagne. And the icing on the cake? The glorious sounds of an award-winning, internationally famous choir—live and in-person— right in your own living room.

tinued. “For many newer, younger members, sponsorship means a lot.”

“Concerts do not make much of a profit,” said Sarah Maggelet, the choir’s Executive Director. “They just help us break even.” Its donors and fundraisers that keep the choir afloat.

Established nearly four decades ago by two-time Teacher of the Year, Gary Lamprecht, the Vocal Arts Ensemble has been racking up awards both here and abroad ever since, heralding the seasons with regular concerts throughout the year, and providing us with what has become a winter holiday tradition: Christmas concerts always held at the start of the season. This year, “The Joyous Sounds of Christmas” shows are slated for the first week in December. (visit www.vocalarts. org for days, times, places and prices. You can purchase tickets online or by calling 541-6797). Coming right on the heels of its two-week European tour this summer, these concerts feature inspiring voices, acclaimed direction, and a spectacular repertoire.

“Even our singers pay dues to be members, so donors can choose a choir member to sponsor for the year,” Maggelet con-

The summer tour began in France on July 14, with an appearance at the Aveyron Choral Festival near Toulouse, followed by a competition at the

As the Vocal Arts Ensemble prepares to turn 40 next year, it continues to tour, compete, and perform, not just in the fabulous concert halls of Europe, but now in your very own home. Home concerts are just one of several ways the choir raises money.

Gary Lamprecht D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

Barbara Hoff

COMMUNITY Provence Festival. But it was in Italy, at the 2015 Florence International Choral Competition on July 24 that the VAE made its mark. Going by the name “California Vocal Arts Ensemble,” the choir took two top prizes: 2nd place in the Adult Mixed Choir category and 2nd place in the Folk Music category. (A Philippine choir from Santo Tomas University took 1st place—the same choir, interestingly, that took 1st place at the 2009 International Choral Festival held here in San Luis Obispo at the PAC.) “Making music at festivals around the world has been so awe-inspiring, so meaningful,” said Lamprecht, who launched the California International Choral Festival here in San Luis Obispo. For that and a lifetime of awardwinning direction, Lamprecht was given the prestigious Swan Award for Lifetime Achievement in Choral Music in 2012. Named for the “Dean of American Choral Directors” Dr. Howard S. Swan, this award is presented annually by the American Choral Directors Association in California.

Now some 46 singers strong, the Vocal Arts Ensemble is all-volunteer, and requires a vocal audition for new members. Singers pay annual dues, as well as their own travel expenses on tour. Members range in age from 28 to 70, and the genders are equally represented. Music selections run the full gamut from classical to contemporary, sacred to secular, medieval to modern.

VAE performing in Florence, Italy

Key players (besides Lamprecht and the singers, that is) are Barbara Hoff, beloved accompanist and former principal keyboardist with the SLO Symphony; and Sarah Maggelet, now entering her fourth season as executive director.

“I do almost every-

29

VAE performing in France

thing but sing,” Sarah smiles. “Well, I sing in the shower,” she adds, “but not with the group.”

While many members have been with the group for many years, the VAE has recently attracted a number of talented younger singers. In fact, two of them surprised their fellow members on tour this summer when Andy French proposed marriage to Jessica Gilder (who accepted, by the way).

Also new this year are two additional holiday concert dates: One to be held in a more intimate setting at Trilogy in Nipomo on December 3; the other is the Forbes Pipe Organ Holiday Concert at the PAC on December 20, with the Central Coast Children’s Choir and organist Paul Woodring. The group will perform their usual dates at United Methodist Church on December 5, and at Mission San Luis Obispo on December 6. (visit www.vocalarts.org for details) At press time, the concert list included 12 selections, the most ambitious of which is living American composer Morten Lauridsen’s “Ave Maria.” This soaring original forms the centerpiece of this year’s concert. “It’s the hardest piece in the program,” says Lamprecht, “but it has all of our hearts.”

Other selections include a reggae-esque piece by Shaw, called “Jamaican Noel”; “A Welsh Lullaby”; “What Child is This?” and the always moving processional, “Adeimus.”

This December, The Vocal Arts Ensemble will help us to close out the year in style, in Christmas concerts from one end of the county to the other. And for a generous few, they’ll help us ring in the new one too, making music in living rooms just like yours.

To support these dedicated musicians, visit www.vocalarts.org or call 541-6797. Let’s get this party started!

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

30

COMMUNITY

ken schwartz honored father of the plaza

By Joe Carotenuti

What is the center of San Luis Obispo?

The answer, of course, is both its historic Mission and the more recent Mission Plaza. As the small valley is filled with expanding construction and people and, inevitably, congestion, the center will continue to refresh and inspire one of the state’s oldest communities.

While the history of the Mission is familiar to the inquisitive, the Plaza continues to need to be imbedded in the community’s history.

So, who’s responsible for it? The answer includes many residents and, especially, Ken Schwartz.

In a rare tribute to civic pride and history on October 21, 2015, a plaque at the Chorro Street entrance to Mission Plaza was dedicated to the former Mayor and Councilman. The articulate former professor is the first to acknowledge the plaque also honors the untiring efforts of legions of residents whose tenacity led to our enjoying this stunning civic centerpiece. Facing often contentious (his characterization: “bareknuckle”) opposition, Ken held high the banner and his extraordinary vision persevered to its conclusion … almost, as he has more to contribute.

The plaque honoring Ken Schwartz as you enter SLO Mission Plaza.

Here’s the story.

The Plaza’s ancestry started in 1772 when the first crude hut called Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was dedicated on September first by Franciscan friar, Junipero Serra. Then simply open space at the site that never changed, as the Mission grew so did the need to accommodate the many processions and events attending life in any sacred outpost. Indeed, remnants of a mission plaza are found today in front of the one in San Juan Bautista. Unknown at the time, San Luis Obispo was the first, and only, municipality to return this space to the community.

Briefly, the modern saga traces itself back some 75 years. At the time, the City of about 14,000 was graced by some architecturally superior buildings and homes but downtown had little to recommend it as city

Traditional Funeral Services Memorial Services

Ken Schwartz honored with a plaque entering Mission Plaza.

planning was either unknown or little appreciated. In the late 1940s, junior college art teacher, Margaret Maxwell, challenged her students to develop artistic suggestions to revitalize the downtown area. The modest assignment resulted in various student renderings displayed in local stores including one to create a plaza. The concept drew interest, both positive and otherwise.

Located next to San Luis Cemetery

Next, an enthusiastic Soroptimists Club approached the City Council requesting the officials pursue the development of the area in front of the Mission as public space. Composed of downtown merchants, the Council was not overwhelmed with the request. Among other issues, closing Monterey Street in front of the Mission eliminated critically needed parking spaces in the downtown area. More parking, not less, was paramount.

FD 374

Fortuitously, one key event was the demolition of a building. Known at the time as the Mission Garage located on the corner of Chorro and

2890 S. Higuera, San Luis Obispo

543-6871

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

Cremation Care

COMMUNITY

31

Monterey Streets, the aged building was razed in August of 1954. To the surprise of many, the San Luis Creek was visible from the streets.

Not the carefully monitored waterway of today, of course, but a dirty, often weed and junk filled space behind buildings. Once the City’s main sewer line, it had become a community eyesore, a liquid dump. There were no laws that protected the creek; the stream was owned by the bordering landowners and refuse was frequently disposed out-the-back of businesses. A key culprit was a butcher shop that straddled the Creek.

Overgrown with weeds and a convenient spot for litter, it was not a civic asset. Concurrent with the movement for a new plaza fortunately,San Luis Creek became another center of attention, but the main battleground was a street. To close or not to close. The fate of Monterey Street in front of the Mission became an increasingly strident debate.

In what became an even tougher, acrimonious community drama, the prime real estate was seen as a commercial opportunity while Ken Schwartz (who arrived in San Luis Obispo in 1952 as an architecture instructor at Cal Poly) and others saw it as a cultural and community amenity transcending any need to cater to economic imperatives. As so often happens in unplanned communities—and San Luis Obispo had little formal planning in the mid-twentieth century—the future plaza also required the purchase and removal of structures with the promised reward of “open space.” Especially to the City fathers, the community was surrounded by plenty of open space and didn’t need any more in the heart of the downtown shopping area.

Ken Schwartz honored with a plaque entering Mission Plaza.

Speakers included: Katie Lichtig, Dan Carpenter, Pierre Rademaker, Lou Tedone and Jan Marx.

Despite growing community interest, at best, pleas for the Plaza elicited a tepid City Council response. The Architectural Engineering Department at Cal Poly agreed to assist and produced an award-winning ($75) design by student James A. Zisch. His 1955 rendering proposed the closing of Monterey Street as well as the Broad Street “dogleg” which rounds the corner in front of the then City Library. The student design was a mild opening salvo in what might aptly be called the Battle of the Plaza.

Over the next 15 years—15 long years—the battle raged amid City Council agendas, studies, designs, letters to the editor, and inevitably to a showdown between the electorate and those elected. In between, Ken was appointed to the Planning Commission in 1959 only to be denied reappointment eight years later. Nonetheless, he was not reticent in lending his expertise and support to what was considered by some a radical transformation of the downtown. Finally, if this was going to be a political tug-of-war, then he was ready to jump into the middle of the fray. Those elected should never forget the electorate has the final word.

From a college classroom to City Hall, Ken Schwartz ran for mayor and retained that office from 1969 to 1979. Generating other official support, finally, after years of debate, plans, drawings, proposals, counter-proposals and often high civic drama, the Plaza was dedicated on November 22, 1970 with a closed Monterey Street.

At the dedication of the three flagpoles that also celebrated the beginning of the City’s bicentennial year on July 4, 1971, Mayor Schwartz remarked that the Plaza development was in its initial phase. “It will mellow with age,” he said. Indeed, from its modest start in 1970 there

SLO Mayor, Jan Marx helping Ken unveil the new plaque honoring his efforts in creating Mission Plaza.

have been physical and artistic additions as a gift from nature and the creativeness and generosity of individual contributions. In a ten year commemorative celebration, September 16, 1979 was proclaimed “Kenneth E. Schwartz Day” by the City of San Luis Obispo.

While no longer an elected representative after again serving as a council member from 1998 to 2004 and considered by most residents as the “Father of the Mission Plaza,” Ken has not lost any of his enthusiasm for an expanded Plaza. The closing of the Broad Street “dogleg,” he explains, will enhance the unique combination of the Creek, historic Mission, the Carnegie Library building, the Art Museum, and Children’s Museum in a stunning “synergistic” relationship. While major restraints are always cost and parking, the solution is in a reaffirmation of Ken’s vision. All else will follow.

The Plaza as the core of the City emphasizes no community—including San Luis Obispo—can live in the past, but neither should the past be buried beneath the pressing needs of the present. Each in its own way must blend to encourage a vital environment for all. “The Plaza is a people place,” the plaque reads quoting Ken Schwartz, “and that is what cities are all about…people.” The Plaza’s most refreshing message for us today is to honor those who brought it to us and our obligations to those yet to come.

Ken Schwartz [...] and others saw it as a cultural and community amenity transcending any need to cater to economic imperatives.

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

32

COMMUNITY

history

walter murray part 3

By Joe Carotenuti

I

f Walter Murray had anticipated his new home in the coastal valley would replicate his fond memories of Santa Barbara, he quickly became disillusioned and then incensed by what one traveler referred to as a “rusty” village. With the discovery of gold, California was propelled into an axis of territory dictated by San Francisco and the el dorado fields surrounding Sacramento. Wealth blessed a few but for most prospectors, the bone-weary effort had little reward. Those who survived went home or found new lives, and, for too many, decided the gun was mightier than the pick-axe and the law.

Murray was familiar with the efforts of the San Francisco Vigilance Committee in 1851 born in response to the violence. It provided some respite until 1855 became an astonishingly murderous year. Recounted in Milton Gould’s A Cast of Hawks, the number of homicides in just the first 10 months of the year in the Bay City was recorded at 489. Another local, Charles H. Johnson, was personally aware of the violence synonymous with the times. He was employed by the Monterey Customs House when the Collector of Customs was murdered and Johnson soon relocated to the central coast.

An intelligent and, by this time, prominent newspaperman in Sonoma, Murray may have sensed the growing mayhem as by October 1853, he arrived in San Luis Obispo.

His story continues.

According to his letters from this time, he did not have permanent plans to remain in the County Seat. He needed to earn a living as his family continued to grow. By the 1870 Federal Census, besides his wife, there were nine children to support, one reportedly fathered by her late husband and born in 1853.

In an 1857 letter to his sister, Walter recapitulated his financial condition. The grist mill, he wrote, realized “5 or 6 dollars per day profit” and with his brother, Alexander, maintained a “small mercantile & liquor business…” that produced a profit of “a dollar or two.”

Alexander had joined his brother in 1854 and quickly was appointed postmaster, a position he held until his death 15 years later. From teaching, Walter’s salary was “$100 per month cash.” Lastly, his bud-

ding law practice earned “over $300 dollars.” Obviously, the 31 year old Murray had little spare time. Still seeking additional income, he wrote he was thinking of running for sheriff. Possibly the salary of between one and two thousand dollars a year (much was earned through the collection of various fees) was sufficient to forget the first sheriff resigned because he considered the job too dangerous.

Walter decided against the sheriff’s dangerous job even though his finances were adversely affected by his move to San Luis Obispo. He wrote his sister the following year that he had arrived in the town with “about nine thousand dollars” but currently had “maybe $6000.”

The growing family and economic struggles undoubtedly led to declaring “San Luis Obispo is very distasteful to me.”

His granddaughter reported he quickly became a Justice of the Peace.

He would be a popular choice as he not only was bi-lingual but maintained his interest in the law. This resulted in his being admitted to the local bar on September 5, 1854. Vaguely mentioned in the records as to the legal acumen required, Murray was successful in an examination held in “open court” and signed his oath of office two days later.

The Murray Adobe in SLO Mission Plaza D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

There was a shift in expectations as within a year, he became embroiled in local politics and contested his defeat for the State Assem-

A Retirement COMMUNITY Facil 33

was envisioned as a pledge of loyalty to bring The openness of crime and bravado of the Even though the prospect of moving m peace to the community. The signers are a guilty escalated culminating in a plot to future, you owe to learn h veritable Who’s Whoitofto theyourself leading citizens. murder Murray and others in his own home.

Culprits fired through windows of the house carefree living in your own home for man While the specifics of the Vigilantes will need near the Cuesta Pass. Fortunately, the bullets to wait for another article, Walter’s vision found no human target. The attempted asfor peace was soon realized and both he and sassination and continued criminal depravity other residents were free to pursue a more proved to be the spark needed to ignite the In the last major chapter of his tinderbox of municipal outrage.

Murray It’s a fact of life that asproductive we getlife. older, Pristine is fully life, the Englishman still needed to seek his composed the Vigilance Pledge stating all some day-to-day become tooalong the central licensed fame and fortune coast. and insu “would stand together and will by all means tasks much toand handle on our own. That All of our worke whatsoever, discover the truth punish the Contact: jacarotenuti@gmail.com guilty.” Courage even “to the danger of life” doesn’t mean you have to move away are carefully scre

You Don’t Have to Move

Feel Safe and

from the comfort of your home. and pass a crimi • Pristine Home Services is aHousekeeping local background che Personal Care company that helps San Luis Obispo and drug test, gi • Yard Maintenance • Handyman County residents avoid the high cost when someone f Servingof moving All oftoSan Luis Obispo County a retirement facility. in your home.

•

“She helps me w

Charles Johnson

bly to a candidate from Santa Barbara. Murray claimed the man failed to satisfy a six month’s residency requirement and hadn’t even received a majority of votes! Politicians’ fondness in creating their own sense of fairness, the legislature in Sacramento decided to seat his opponent anyway.

Nonetheless, events closer to home propelled Walter into one of his two most notable achievements: the founding of the second newspaper in the community, the Tribune, and the more spectacular formation of the Vigilance Committee. Both will be treated in more detail in separate articles.

The violence in California and along the central coast was a pall over any progress as success could bring some wealth and that wealth then became the target for thugs. Walter knew first-hand the depravity of some as he defended their cases in court. It was futile looking for the governmental assistance to address the growing viciousness of crime. Undoubtedly aware of the lengths San Francisco went to curb the community’s lawlessness, Murray penned a series of extensive articles to the San Francisco Bulletin. He was not simply voicing his personal observation but supplying a background to the formation, indeed the imperative, of launching a Vigilance Committee. Furthermore, with no local newspaper, Murray knew that special editions—steamer editions—of the Bay City paper would be read locally. Some ten years later, Murray was writing for his own newspaper.

Enjoy Affordable Living personal care. S Home Services Specialist All of our services can be provided

She should be c daily, weekly, or on an as-needed basis. very reasonable From housekeeping You to handyman services and plumbing to preparingyou meals.need There is no task too large or pay for only the services dows!” R. Watso too small for Pristineand Homewe Services.

All of our those services can be providedatdaily, weekly, or on an as-needed provide services a price basis. You pay for only the services you need and we provide those services at a price you can“They afford. took the you can afford. what I wanted.

“Pristine takes “Pristine goeswhat I a exactly Convenient One-call Service care of all my above and reasonable. I w Our personal needs to care live services include beyond to amy friend.” C. in my homeerrands, meal preparaexpectations shopping, daily independently and non-medical so IBefore can live you ma tion, transportation and they do a in the comfort care. Our housekeeping services keep could affect yo fine job.” of my home.” your kitchen and the rest of your home andBaker standard o –Billie Jones –Jay spotless. We even do windows and to read these t laundry. Our yard maintenance crews Before you make any decisions that could affect your future happiness and standard of living, take every s “What know how to take care of your favorite the time to read these two FREE reports: about living i rose bushes and keep the grass neatly “What every senior needs to know about living in a retirement facility.” mowed. Our handyman services are “Four critical “Four critical questions to ask a service provider...before you let anyone work in or near your home.” provided by specialists in plumbing, service provid We invite you to call Pristine rightwork, now so that we can sendrepairs you these two FREE reports by mail. electrical painting, and anyone work safety rail installation.

CALL FOR RATES We invite you t now so that w two FREE repo

(805) 54 Ca

We Bring Assisted Living Home You Whatever you need...give us atocall 805-543-4663 www.pristinehomeservices.net 710 FIERO LANE, UNIT 16 SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 93401

H O U S E K E E P I N G · YA R D M A I N T E N A N C E · H A N D Y M A N S E R V I C E S · P E R S O N A L C A R E D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

34

COMMUNITY

our schools

the separation of church and state in our schools

By James J. Brescia, Ed.D. County Superintendent of Schools “The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.”—James Madison During the American holiday season, tax-payer funded schools often face the “December Dilemma” or end up between “a rock and a hard place.” This happens during the holiday season because the issue of religious expression in public schools can become more visible. Questions about the use of religious icons, sacred music, and certain decorations in the classroom places the matter of “separation of church and state” before faculty, staff, administration, and community members.

Legal experts advise that when public schools hold holiday celebrations, they should make every effort to accommodate diverse faiths during the holiday season. Students cannot be forced to participate in any event that offends his or her beliefs, and public school officials should make every effort to accommodate diverse faiths during the holiday season. Legal experts recommend accommodations such as including different customs, various songs, and varied traditional foods at parties or other in-school events. However, assemblies dominated by religious music may raise constitutional concerns.

The United States Supreme Court has determined that schools may celebrate the holidays and create displays as long as they so do within “the context of the Christmas Season” and the religious component of their display does not dominate, but simply represents one element of a holiday that has obtained secular status in our society. Lynch v. Donnelly, 465.U.S. 668, 679, and 691 (1984). Under this ruling, a Christmas tree would be appropriate while a cross or a nativity scene would not be appropriate. Crosses and nativity scenes are religious symbols that have not gained the same secular status in our society as a Christmas tree. Religious icons present a constitutional dilemma when visible in public displays.

Balancing the legal conditions, past practices, and community expectations can present a challenge for even the most experienced school officials. The government should make every effort to acknowledge appropriate recognition of religion in American society and avoid encouraging any particular religious beliefs. Through personal experiences as a student in the Santa Clara Unified School District and as a public school employee, I have observed that the public can be confused about how to deal with religion in our government schools. Opinions can become very polarized with minimal dialogue about positive and legal compromise. Constitutional scholars and the courts have published reports and briefs on the matter with recommendations that can assist our actions.

A portion of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Within these few words are contained two very powerful concepts, separated by only a comma.

On the one hand is the prohibition against the state (i.e. government) establishing or supporting religious belief or practice called the “establishment” clause. On the other hand is the “free exercise” clause that guarantees the religious freedom of American citizens, including students in public schools. Some general guidelines recommended by legal and civil liberties advisors will guide us in allowing these two equally important freedoms to coexist in our schools.

1. Religion is a very personal matter, and individual students are free to express their religious beliefs in school as long as it does not interfere with other students, or with the instructional program.

2. Religion is too important in our history and heritage for us to keep it out of our schools when addressed within the context of the instructional program. We can study about religion without promoting or supporting a particular religious viewpoint in school.

3. Students are a captive audience. The law requires school attendance, and schools need to be sensitive to practices that may offend students whose families hold religious beliefs that are not shared by the majority. Students must not be made to feel like an outsider based on religious preferences.

4. Songs, symbols, and practices, which clearly have a religious purpose, are not appropriate as stand-alone activities in public schools.

It is possible for schools to address these, but as part of a specific instructional curriculum with purpose. There are some accepted legal “tests” to guide us in this area. Schools should include a study of a variety of holidays and religious traditions throughout the year and not just during the month of December.

5. Schools should remember that even though symbols such as Santa Claus and trees have become very commercialized, some non-Christian parents and students may interpret these as religious.

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

COMMUNITY

The best solution is for schools to remember our educational role and to provide secular instruction about religious traditions without advocating any particular religion.

35

DECEMBER CROSSWORD SOLUTIONS ON PAGE 43

6. It is very appropriate for our public schools to teach values such as respect, honesty, caring, hard work and responsibility. Just because public schools may not promote religion, does not mean we avoid promoting the traditional core values of our American society.

7. Finally, when a question about religion in schools does surface, it is often an ideal “teaching opportunity” to have students explore the meaning of the First Amendment to our Constitution. Controversial issues can serve as excellent debate topics in our classrooms if appropriately moderated. The “December Dilemma” is usually handled in our schools without problems. However, we need to remember when government and religion occupy the same room, the space between “a rock and a hard place” can become very narrow.

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”—Aristotle References Available on Request © StatePoint Media

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD THEME: FAMOUS ATHLETES ACROSS 1. Hassan Rouhani’s language 6. Filling station filler 9. “____! In the Name of Love” 13. Like closed curtains 14. Paleontologist’s estimate 15. Unit of electrical energy 16. Bitter 17. Between generations?

18. Harbor city of Ancient Rome 19. *Tennis great 21. Kind of can 23. *Golfer Trevino 24. Hefty competitor 25. Island strings 28. Queen of Carthage 30. Mexican ranch 35. Salty septet 37. Chow 39. In no manner

40. Up it in poker 41. Polynesian dance, pl.

43. Like a broken horse 44. Kelly Clarkson and Phillip Phillips 46. Hindu Mr. 47. Julia Roberts’ Brockovich 48. Dairy choice 50. NCAA tourney position 52. “Owner of a Lonely Heart” band 53. Affirmative 55. Indigo extract 57. *1968 Olympic figure skater 61. *Bruce no more 64. Bad car 65. ____ Tzu 67. Be of use 69. Wine ripening 70. Caribou kin 71. Dots and dashes code 72. A ____ ____ move 73. *Result of first Lewis-Holyfield title fight 74. Like Tin Man after being helped

DOWN 1. Health and Human Services org.

2. Parentheses, e.g.

3. Hard to find 4. Top of a DQ cone 5. Truly 6. Lady singer 7. Eastern title 8. Part of a calyx 9. Average 10. Sounds of reproof 11. Medley 12. Church sound 15. *Bull and Wizard 20. Black Beauty’s cry 22. *Mike Tyson bit one 24. Hungarian stew 25. *Fastest man on Earth 26. Japanese sword fighting 27. To ____ ____ a table 29. Clobber 31. Do, re or mi 32. Characterized by great caution

33. Friend, slang 34. *Credited for crushing Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy 36. Narcissist’s love 38. *a.k.a. The Sultan of Swat 42. Napped leather 45. “I’m just ____...”

49. X 51. Electrical current generator 54. End of a shoelace 56. Concluding portion of a poem or essay 57. Old Glory 58. Children’s construction block 59. What exhaust pipes do 60. Opposite of stereo 61. Jester’s remark 62. *____ “The Pearl” Monroe 63. Do like phoenix 66. *He floated like a butterfly?

68. Light-emitting diode

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

36

COMMUNITY

palm street perspective the “creative economy” in slo: It’s all around town and focused downtown

By SLO City Vice Mayor, John Ashbaugh

I

was pleased to join dozens of leading local artists and arts advocates for the second annual “Creative Economy” Forum on Monday, October 26 at the PAC. This event is sponsored by Arts Obispo, a Countywide organization that partners with the State Arts Council to promote the visual, performing, and literary arts in San Luis Obispo. The Creative Economy Forum provided a key networking opportunity for several representatives of arts organizations and advocates for the arts.

SLOMA Mission Plaza rendering

The “creative economy” is an amazingly large piece of the state’s economic output—far more than is commonly believed: According to an analysis by the Otis College of Art and Design, the arts provide about 10% of the State’s economy, estimated at $294 billion in direct, indirect and induced spending. One of every ten jobs in California depends on the arts, almost 1.5 million jobs statewide.

Recent State legislation (Assembly Bill 189) provides for the State Arts Council to designate “cultural districts,” which are defined as “a geographical area certified pursuant to [the bill] with a concentration of cultural facilities, creative enterprises, or arts venues.” Such districts are to be nominated by local communities, and will be certified by the Arts Council beginning in mid-2016. The Arts Council will be adopting a set of rules and an application process within a few months.

Keynote speaker for the Forum was the Director of the California Arts Council in Sacramento, Craig Watson. Mr. Watson explained that the idea of the AB 189 program is to bring “heat” to a defined, walkable neighborhood that “attracts artists, creative entrepreneurs, and cultural enterprises; encourages economic development and supports entrepreneurship in the creative community; encourages the preservation and reuse of historic buildings and other artistic and culturally significant structures; fosters local cultural development; provides a focal point for celebrating and strengthening the unique cultural identity of the community; and promotes opportunity without generating displacement or expanding inequality.”

At an afternoon workshop, I joined Mr. Watson and about 20 others in exploring the possibilities for a San Luis Obispo Cultural District. This City’s Mission Plaza—together with its proposed expansion through the Broad Street/Monterey Street intersection—represents a great opportunity for a potential Cultural District. This two-block area already contains several historic buildings as well as four sites specifically devoted to “artistic and culturally significant structures,” i.e. Old Mission and its Museum and Gift Shop; SLO Museum of Art (SLOMA, now proposed for expansion); the History Center of SLO County (also considering a possible expansion); and the Children’s Museum (recently expanded).

The City is working on designs for a new parking structure nearby with about 400 spaces, and part of the site on Monterey Street, across from the D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

Children’s Museum is reserved for a theater site. SLO Little Theater is considering the possibility of relocating from its current site to this location.

A State-certified Cultural District would reinforce fund-raising efforts of all the organizations planning new or expanded arts/cultural facilities in close proximity to Mission Plaza, which already serves as “a focal point for celebrating and strengthening the unique cultural identity of the community.”

Some workshop participants suggested that a designated Cultural District should also be extended north of Chorro Street to embrace the new Chinatown project, which will offer many new and renovated retail spaces as well as residential units in the upper floors. These spaces and units might be able to attract artists and/or galleries. In fact, the Blackstone Hotel at the northwest corner of Chorro and Monterey has just been leased by the developers (Copeland Properties) to Cal Poly for live-work spaces to be occupied by their “Hot House” students, who will bring a new burst of youthful creativity and innovative energy to the downtown.

Any Cultural District in downtown San Luis Obispo should attempt to include living space for working artists. Although few people reside within these downtown blocks at present, the City has been working with developers in this zone to provide additional housing in the downtown. A “Cultural District” must promote the availability of housing targeted to working artists, musicians, actors, writers, and others involved in the creative economy.

A Cultural District could also include two downtown movie theaters that have artistic/historic significance: Jim Dee’s Palm Theater, the only remaining “art house” theater in the City; and the Fremont Theater between Osos and Santa Rosa. Thus, a Cultural District might be envisioned to span an area as large as five blocks along Monterey Street and Mission Plaza.

The City of San Luis Obispo is already engaging many downtown stakeholders in our proposed update to the Downtown Concept Plan.

Additionally, we’re engaged with several arts and cultural organizations in this area as we prepare plans for our Mission Plaza extension. These include Old Mission Church, SLOMA, History Center, Little Theater, and Children’s Museum). Many possibilities are available; all of them suggest that we should respond to and promote the State’s new initiative under AB 189 to designate a San Luis Obispo Cultural District.

Downtown

Around

The Magazine of Downtown San Luis Obispo

December 2015

Inside: W hat ’s U p Mee t O ur Far mers' Marke t Vendors Downtown B usiness Spo tlight

W h a t ’ s

U p

A r o u n d

D o w n t o w n

?

T

economically vibrant. In the last year alone, by his month marks the 40 th anniversary of the my best approximation, 3,635 hours of volunteer San Luis Obispo Downtown Association, and time went into this small portion of our town. For with four decades of history in SLO County, our perspective, that is the equivalent of hiring one office has achieved many great things. In that span full time employee to work for 70 hours per week of time we have had many dedicated leaders to all year long. In short, I owe a massive thank you thank for shaping the future of our Downtown. to our supporters.

Folks like last year’s Holiday Parade Marshal Robert Horch, my predecessor Deborah Cash hose numbers beg the question, “Why do and this year’s Holiday Parade Marshal Pierre Dominic Tartaglia, people give so much to the Downtown Rademaker, just to name a few. Contributions from Executive Director Association’s mission to foster an economically the leadership of this organization have not only vibrant Downtown?”

The answer to that question is put our community on the map but they have secured a unique to most people but the common thread among place in history where San Luis Obispo is sure to be held volunteers is that they enjoy being a part of a community in high esteem. that grows from their contribution. Universally speaking, people find inherent value in doing work in which they revious leaders have given our community concerts, can see physical change as a direct result of their input. markets, public spaces and art that are all free Down here, that means a Design Committee member for anybody to attend and enjoy. I honestly do see will see artwork on the sidewalks or a Promotions those things as gifts from the efforts of individuals that Committee member can watch thousands of people collectively have worked to carry this organization dancing to a concert. Through their contribution of time forward. Our committee members, volunteers, interns and they have created obvious memories but what about those our Board of Directors have dedicated countless hours contributions that don’t manifest in a physical event? and resources over the past 40 years to do whatever is necessary to keep our Downtown beautiful and

T

P

On the Cover: A little girl taking a whirl on the Classic Carousel in Mission Plaza last year. Those young and young at heart can ride the carousel after visiting Santa’s House in Mission Plaza from December 1-27. Photo by Mukta Naran

REIS FAMILY M O RT U A R I E S

& C R E M AT O RY

Over 55 Years of Service to SLO County by the founder and family.

Funeral & Cremation Services Pre-Funding with Cost Guaranteed Veterans Discounts / Military Honors 4 Locations: SLO, Cayucos, Cambria and Arroyo Grande

805-544-7400 W W W. R E I S FA M I LY M O RT U A RY. N E T FD 949 CR 128 FD 880 FD 1800

W h a t ’ s

U p

A r o u n d

I

’m talking about the work of our volunteers who are currently working to draft a vision plan for all of Downtown and the groups before them. In 2016, the Downtown Association has tasked itself with taking a serious look at what our neighborhood may look like in the next 20 years and likely the physical product of many hours to come will be a document at the end of the year.

At first glance a document is rather plain but the content that will be contained within its covers will certainly set a precedent for what our membership hopes to see for

D o w n t o w n

?

the future economy of this community. The plan will be a starting point that will undoubtedly be referenced for years to come to ensure another 40 years of prosperity.

M

any traditions revere this time of the year as a season of giving and in that spirit I would like to thank our past and current staff, supporters and the countless volunteers who have given this community a tremendous gift, Downtown SLO. I wish you all peace, love and happiness this holiday season.

Meet Our Featured Downtown SLO Farmers' Market Participants of the Month Featured Farmer:

Julia's Juices 960 W Grand Ave Grover Beach, CA 93433 (805) 481-4100 www.JuliasJuices.com

J

ulia sells her produce unlike any other at the Downtown SLO Farmers' Market. She doesn't turn her berries into a sweet jam, or bake her apples into a warm pie. Instead, Julia grows her organic fruits and vegetables and has

been combining and juicing various flavors on her Grover Beach farm since 2012.

O

n Julia's farm, workdays start before the sun rises at 5 AM and can last until as late as 10 PM. Throughout the

1773 Frambuesa Drive, San Luis Obispo

Continued on next page

$995,000

First time on the market! This custom built home is situated on over 1/4 acre lot at the top of the cul-de-sac on Frambuesa Drive. There’s room for the whole family with over 4,000 square feet of living space. This spacious home features 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a formal living room, dining room, family room, 3-car garage, and RV parking. Take in the beautiful views from one of the upper patios or enjoy some peace and quiet in the fully landscaped backyard. See the attached features list for more information and view the virtual tour at: http://www.tourfactory.com/1363891

Erin Mott Broker/Owner BRE# 01448769 ph: 805.234.1946 erin@mpsrealty.com

W h a t ’ s

U p

A r o u n d

D o w n t o w n

Featured Vendor:

Continued from previous page year, her most consistent crops include spinach, beets, carrots, and kale, but her menu includes juices infused with fresh berries, apples and other sweet fruits.

W

hether she's found in her Grover beach café, or at the Downtown SLO Farmers' Market, Julia ensures satisfaction by growing her produce locally with no pesticides. "The fact that we see everything grow, from the seed all the way to the juice, is the best part," she says. While the job can be labor-intensive, hearing customers say "thank you" as they walk away with a smile and a cup full of fresh juice makes the hard work worth it.

G. Brothers Smokehouse 885 Foothill Blvd.

San Luis Obispo, CA (805) 544-6465 www.GBrothersinSLO.com

G.

Brothers Smokehouse features something extra special—they've been cooking up a variety of delectable kettle corn for almost a decade. Try any one of their six different flavors, like blueberry or strawberry (even zebra!), by visiting their booth

by Court Street or just outside The Network at the Downtown SLO Farmers’ Market!

F

ind Julia's Juices on the east end of the Downtown SLO Farmers' Market, between Morro and Osos streets, visit her storefront café in Grover Beach or check her out online at www.JuliasJuices.com.

D o w n t o w n Janet San Juan 774 Marsh Street, Suite 120 (805) 268-9642 Email: jsjhairdesign@aol.com Instagram: @jsjhairdesign Facebook.com/JanetSanJuanPHD Twitter: @jsjhairdesign

F

or Janet San Juan, the decision to start JSJ Hair Design in Downtown San Luis Obispo was the perfect transition for her between fine art and hairdressing. Located at 774 Marsh Street, her workspace is open, artsy and welcoming with her own artwork hanging on the walls.

SJ Hair Design opened in July and Janet loves catering to the SLO community. She sets herself apart from other hairdressers and salons because she plans enough time aside to focus on each client.

“I

T

o see where you can find either our Vendor or Featured Farmer of the Month, use our interactive Market Map on our website at www.DowntownSLO.com

B u s i n e s s

JSJ Hair Design

J

?

S p o t l i g h t

J

anet is very artistic and it is present when she is working on her client’s hair. She likes to be creative without compromising the integrity of her client’s hair; she always makes sure that they are getting what they want. Her space is a place to express herself with hair and art.

“I

t’s nice because I get to connect with so many different personalities and different people, and on my downtime I can work on my paintings,” said Janet.

I

f you are looking for a place to relax, vent and get your hair done, book with Janet. She loves building connections with all of her clients and making them feel comfortable with telling her exactly what they want done. It is the perfect way to get time to yourself without any interruptions.

t is a fast paced business, and usually you are just running through clients but here I wanted it to be

By Rachel Furtado private and about one client, so I will set aside that time for them,” said Janet. “I take more time to get to know what they really want.”

For more information on Downtown Association events, programs and activities, or to sign up for our weekly Deliver-E newsletter, visit www.DowntownSLO.com

THE BULLETIN BOARD

42

donate new coats for christmas

Saturday, December 12th at the Literacy Council’s office, 995 Palm Street, SLO County Library, from 10am to 3:30pm. A $25 enrollment fee is required at your first session. For more information or to sign up, please call 541-4219 or visit our website at www.sloliteracy.org.

local books: “The Nine sisters” by tony hertz

For the past 18 years, the SLO community has generously provided our County’s homeless with a wonderful home-cooked Christmas Day dinner, live entertainment and much needed winter care packages containing brand new sleeping bags, hooded sweatshirts, winter jackets, socks, underwear and toiletries. For as little as $25 you can provide a warm, winter jacket that will help make a tremendous difference in helping someone through our cold, wet winters. Donations to the Coats for Christmas Day program can be made by going to the United Way of San Luis Obispo County website at www.unitedwayslo.org. Checks can be mailed to PO Box 14309, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406. Please write “Coats for Christmas Day” on the memo line.

pg&e donates to cuesta college

Cuesta College Photography Teacher, Tony Hertz, has published a new photography book titled “The Nine Sisters.” It’s a black and white photography book of the Nine Sisters volcanic peaks in San Luis Obispo County.

It comes in two versions: A 13x11 Deluxe Large Landscape Format hardbound image wrap edition produced with 100# Premium Lustre paper and a 10x8 Standard Format hardbound and softcover edition. The Deluxe edition is a true coffee table collectible book. You can view and purchase the book on Tony Hertz website: http://tonyhertz.com/books

celebrate “hannukah downtown”

The JCC-Federation of SLO is pleased to host the annual Hannukah Downtown celebration starting on Sunday, December 6 at 5pm through Sunday, December 13. The first night includes a FREE community party in the Plaza following the candle lighting ceremony outside the Old Mission. Candle lighting continues through the eight nights of Hannukah until December 13. All nights begin at 5pm, except Saturday night at 6pm. Each night is sponsored by different area Jewish organizations. The JCC-Federation thanks the residents of SLO County and the Mission SLO de Tolosa for their continued support in this ecumenical event. For more information log onto www.jccslo.com/hannukah Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) recently presented Cuesta College with more than $40,000 in incentives for making energyefficient upgrades. These upgrades included the installation of new, energy-saving LED lighting at the SLO and north county campuses.

Pictured left to right: Cuesta College Superintendent/President Dr. Gil Stork, PG&E Customer Relationship Manager Tom Lorish, and Terry Reece, Cuesta College Director of Facilities Services, Planning and Capital Projects.

literacy council needs tutors

The Literacy Council for SLO County has a countywide need for tutors, crucially in North and South Counties. Our 2-part, Tutor Training Workshop will take place on Saturday, December 5th and

Libraries receive $10,100, funding three projects

The Foundation for SLO County Public Libraries awarded a total of $10,100 from the Barbara Baltimore Library Endowment to fund three projects in the 2014-2015 fiscal year. “Barbara Baltimore’s generous endowment to support County libraries is the gift that just keeps on giving,” says Foundation president Susan Poteet. This year the Cayucos Library received a grant to purchase two Chromebooks for Cayucos Elementary School students to use. The Library also purchased patio furniture to provide outside seating in the children’s, teens’ and adults’ areas. The Nipomo Library received Baltimore grant funds to purchase two Chromebooks and an AWE After School Edge computer. The Edge computer, designed for elementary school

INDUSTRIAL • COMMERCIAL • RESIDENTIAL

D ressing Windows in San Luis Obispo for over 39 Years

Alan “Himself” D E C E M B E R

alan’s draperies 544-9405 alansdrapery@gmail.com 2015

Journal PLUS

We have your breaker or fuse – Hundreds in stock!

Reasonable Rates!

Senior discounts!

One hour emergency service!

License #673180

San Luis Obispo 541-3036

Appliance circuits • Troubleshooting • Service upgrades • Rewiring • Smoke detectors • 220 volt circuits • Computer circuits

Santa Maria 928-4949

Santa Barbara 963-2066

children ages 6-12, is used for exploration, remediation, enrichment and homework assistance. The Santa Margarita Library received funds to purchase a self check-out station, allowing librarian Debra Leal more time to offer one-on-one assistance to library patrons. According to Leal, the self- check station “has also provided greater privacy and empowerment for our patrons.”

photographs by robert kennedy at sloma

The SLO Museum of Art presents Symphony in Sandstone, photographs

by Central Coast artist Robert Kennedy. His images of slot canyon formations of the Navajo Reservation near Page, Arizona will be on view at the Museum through December 31st. Robert Kennedy has been a professional photographer and instructor of photography at the college level for over fifty years. He has published in LIFE, National Geographic, Sunset, and many other publications. His work has been exhibited in galleries as well as at the Heard Museum of American Indian Art and History in Phoenix, Arizona. The SLO Museum of Art,

C rossword S O L U T I O N S

THE BULLETIN BOARD

43

dedicated to the education, presentation and preservation of the visual arts on the Central Coast, is located at 1010 Broad Street, on the west end of Mission Plaza. Hours are 11am – 5pm daily. Closed Tuesdays from Labor Day through Thanksgiving and January 1st through July 4th. Free admission, donations appreciated. For more info visit SLOMA.org.

cuesta welding team places 1st

Five Cuesta College welding students took home first place recently at the 2015 Welders Without Borders: Welding Thunder, a portable welding competition designed to allow instructors and students to work together and showcase their skills in a fun and competitive manner. Four college teams from Arizona and California and four high school teams competed; Cuesta College was represented by one team consisting of three men and two women.

san luis sourdough donates to bb/bs

San Luis Sourdough and Bimbo Bakeries USA made a $4,000 donation through their ‘Sembrandos Juntos’ program in support of the agency’s youth mentoring programs. Bimbo Bakeries USA commented, “BBU is committed to preserving and giving back to the communities in which we live and serve and strives to be a good neighbor through volunteer efforts, donations and overall community development. Translated literally as “Sowing Together,” it inspires how we create our products and how we work at BBU.” In the above photo, from left to right, Marshall Kruse, Chris Rawitzer and Jaime Juarez, along with employees from the San Luis Sourdough plant present a check to Big Brothers Big Sisters board members and executive director Anna Boyd-Bucy.

Reach thousands of potential customers by placing your ad in the Journal Plus.

Journal PLUS MAGAZINE OF THE CENTRAL COAST

slojournal.com for Advertising Information D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

44

THE BULLETIN BOARD Located on the FHMC campus adjacent the hospital, the threestory, 18,000 square foot facility includes two classrooms, a conference room, boardroom, and two advanced learning facilities: The Institute for Health Education and Research, and the James R. Flanagan Simulation Learning Center. The Pavilion also includes an educational auditorium that can accommodate 175 people with a standing room capacity of 298. Every aspect of the pavilion is outfitted with state-of-the-art technology and features to advance health care education for our community and staff.

local books

phillips 66 refinery donates $2500 to ymca

Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery recently donated $2,500 to San Luis Obispo County YMCA. The funds will be used in Southern SLO Co. for events and programs including after school care, camps, and sports for children. Pictured (left to right): Kristen Kopp, Bill Schroll, and Marcus Beal from Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery, Monica Grant, CEO, SLO Co. YMCA and Rachel Penny, Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery.

copeland health education pavilion opens

From Czernowitz to the German Order of Merit is a memoir of cultural history and autobiography written by Cal Poly Professor Emeritus Bianca Rosenthal. Focusing on the everyday life in Czernowitz of the 1930s, this is an eye-witness account of the author’s childhood, teenage years and young adulthood. The author manages to capture decisive events of the 20th century in individual chapters, each covering one year along with vignettes of daily life.

After an adventurous escape from the Russians, the author remained in defeated West Germany until 1951 when she came to the United States. The book is available on amazon.com.

2015 ingrid reti literary award application open

French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), held a ribbon cutting ceremony opening the innovative Copeland Health Education Pavilion. “We are proud to be able to introduce this highly advanced health care research and education facility to the members of our community,” says FHMC President and CEO Alan Iftiniuk.

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

The Ingrid Reti Literary Award, a program of ARTS Obispo, was established in memory of writer and teacher Ingrid Reti in an effort to continue her work mentoring San Luis Obispo County writers. Each year the award focuses on a specific literary genre, rotating between poetry, playwriting, short stories, novels and screenwriting. For 2015, the Ingrid Reti Literary Award will be given for short story. There is $1,000 available for the year. It may be given to one recipient or split between multiple recipients depending on the merit of the submissions. The award is granted based on the quality of applicant’s artistic work and creative expression addressing a sense of place, natural and/or cultural.

This award program is open to all San Luis Obispo County writers 18 years of age and older. Additional information and guidelines for applying can be found at artsobispo.org/ingrid-reti-literaryaward or by contacting Lori Lerian at programs@artsobispo.org, (805) 544-9251. Applications are also available at the ARTS Obispo office, 1123 Mill Street, San Luis Obispo. The application deadline is Monday, January 4, 2016 and the winner(s) will be announced in March 2016.

THE BULLETIN BOARD

45

slochtf.org. Pictured: Gary Tanner, EVP/COO (middle) and Jay Beck, SVP/Branch Manager (right) from Founders Community Bank present check to Jerry Rioux, HTF Executive Director (left).

visit slo’s new director of travel trade

founders bank invests $250,000 in HTF

Founders Community Bank has invested $250,000 in the Housing Trust Fund’s revolving loan fund. “Founders Community Bank is pleased to support the Housing Trust Fund’s efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing in our community,” said Tom Sherman, President and CEO. The investment was made under the COIN program, which provides a 20% state tax credit in exchange for a 0% interest rate. This was the bank’s first investment in the HTF and also its first COIN investment. “Founder’s confidence in us is gratifying,” added Jerry Rioux, the HTF’s Executive Director. “Their funds will help us to finance affordable housing in SLO County.” The HTF is a nonprofit corporation that was created in 2003 to increase the supply of affordable housing throughout SLO County. Rather than directly develop or own housing, the HTF provides financing and technical assistance to help developers and housing sponsors produce and preserve housing that working families, seniors on fixed incomes and persons with disabilities can afford to rent or buy.

Since making its first loan in 2005, the HTF has loaned over $17 million to help create or preserve well over 600 units of affordable housing. Money is currently available for new loans. The HTF does not lend to individual home owners or home buyers. Additional information on the Housing Trust Fund is available online at www.

Visit SLO County, the non-profit, destination marketing organization for SLO County, has announced the hiring of a new Director of Travel Trade, Michael Wambolt. With more than 15 years of hospitality experience, Wambolt will be instrumental in serving the initiatives set forth by the Tourism Marketing District to expand tourism, and create a unified marketing and travel trade approach in the County. His role will expand County participation in tradeshows, sales missions and tour operator familiarization tours (FAM’s). He will additionally develop business through pursuit of corporate and leisure meetings/conference groups, and through lead generation.

free senior health care screening

Screening for adults and seniors is available throughout San Luis Obispo County. Free services include: screening for high blood pressure, weight and pulse. Finger prick screening tests for: high cholesterol, anemia and blood sugar. Counseling and referrals as needed. Please call 544-2484 ext. 1 for dates, times and locations.

help our local veterans

VA clinic in San Luis is asking for volunteers to serve our Veterans as shuttle drivers. To help pay tribute and express your appreciation for their service, learn about volunteering at your local VA clinic. For more information contact your local VA volunteer representative Mr. Larry Foster at 805-354-6004 or send an email to Lawrence.Foster@va.gov

San Luis Obispo’s Best Kept Secret Power Carts Senior Discount (55) • 10 Play C ards • Tournaments Welcome • •

252 Higuera Street San Luis Obispo (805) 541-TIRE

Tee Times on our website: lagunalakegolfcourse.org or call 805-781-7309

11175 Los Osos Valley Road, SLO

A reverse mortgage could help stay in your own home.

Call today to learn more about this government-insured program for accessing your home’s equity.

Bob Gayle Reverse Mortgage Consultant 805/772-3658

NMLS License 582948 CA BRE Broker License 466813

Borrower must maintain property as primary residence and remain current on property taxes and insurance.

Reverse Mortgage Professionals is an Aegean Financial Company, CA BRE #1478751, NMLS #157935

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

46

COMMUNITY

eye on business standing ovation for ron regier

By Maggie Cox, Barnett Cox & Associates

I

’ve written in the past about the Performing Arts Center (PAC) and all it has meant to our community. The PAC is a point-of-pride icon; an economic driver and a place where magic happens over and over again. It’s hard to remember a time (just a few fast decades ago) when the PAC was not part of our local landscape.

Ron Regier has been at the helm from the very beginning. He was named managing director before the doors officially opened to the public and he has been a force of nature for the PAC in the 20+ years’ since. Ron’s retirement at the end of this year truly marks the end of an era. He was feted earlier this fall at a gala hosted by the Foundation for the Performing Arts Center, and the depth of his efforts—for the PAC and the community in general—became very clear in remarks offered that evening.

I met Ron and his wife Doreen in 1987. They had just arrived in SLO for Ron’s new job managing Cal Poly Arts. Doreen was expecting their son Jack. We became friends early on and have been ever since.

Ron jumped into his new job and on top of securing performances, created “Cal Poly Art Salute,” a rousing success of a fundraiser

that both raised money and energized a community in support of arts programming.

He continued to make strides, showing a dual talent: he was as expert in managing an organization and facility as he was in inspiring people to be part of it all. He thought big, he worked like a maniac and everywhere he went, people wanted to be part of his efforts.

Ron’s focus was not limited to the PAC. He has given time and talent to literally dozens of local causes and organizations.

He’s a former president of Rotary Club of SLO de Tolosa. He helped lead the Youth Sports Association that was a powerhouse in the eventual development of the Damon Garcia sports fields. He was deeply involved in Cal Ripken Baseball (Hall of Fame inductee) and SLO Babe Ruth Baseball (board president).

And as if his day job and family-focused volunteer work weren’t challenging enough, he stepped up further for the betterment of San Luis Obispo. He was a five year member of the Architectural Review Commission, has served the Parks & Recreation Commission member since 2008 and is liaison to the SLO Bike Committee. Ron has been recognized with the California Parks & Recreation Dis-

POWER TO GET THE JOB DONE

CA License # 274276

D E C E M B E R

2015

Journal PLUS

ThomaElectric.com (805) 543-3850

trict’s Section 8 Community Service Award and the Robert H. Janssen Award for contributions to youth sports.

What’s most noteworthy to me about Ron is the amazing standard he sets for himself. His personal bar is continually raised higher, and it is done so with humility.

Compliment him on success and he immediately points out the support and handson help he has received through the years from Doreen and Jack. Ron is the real deal.

Many of you reading this know him, and know just what I’m talking about. If you haven’t had the honor of meeting Ron, you undoubtedly still know him—from the fabulousness of the PAC to the many local projects that have a Ron Regier touch on them.

Year end is coming up quickly and one thing I know for sure: Ron is leaving the PAC in great shape. Files are organized, how-to-do-it binders are ready, staff is prepared and volunteers have been thanked. That’s just how he rolls. And while he and Doreen are off to new adventures, his community service will no doubt continue.

Ron and Doreen are a gift to us all. I can’t resist the urge to note the appropriateness of Ron’s timing, exiting the PAC at the end of the holiday season. I want to wish Ron and Doreen much happiness in retirement, and extend my best wishes to Journal Plus readers for great holidays and a terrific start to 2016.

There is much to celebrate.

Happy Holidays FROM THE STAFF AT

JournalPLUS MAGA ZINE OF THE CENTRAL COAST

Help when you make the most important financial decisions of your life.

Bill Mott

MORTGAGE ADVISOR

bmott@opesadvisors.com (805) 250-2405 DRE 01359516 | NMLS 341086

PREFERRED LENDER FOR:

OpesAdvisors.com Opes Advisors is licensed by the CA Bureau of Real Estate 01458652, Oregon ML-4902, Washington CL-1178435 and NMLS 235584. Equal Opportunity Lender. Opes Advisors is a registered investment advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Š 2014 Opes Advisors, Inc. All rights reserved.