February 2013 Journal Plus

LYNNE CALL AHAN | RUSSELL GENET | CHESTER TE ASS | JACK HOUSE PIANO

Journal FEBRUARY 2013

PLUS

MAGAZINE OF THE CENTRAL CENTRA COAST

UNIQUE PROGRAMS AT SLO HIGH SCHOOL

805-543-2172 San Luis Obispo

www.farrellsmyth.com

www.zinvineyard.com

805-904-6616 Arroyo Grande

www.2047SanLuisDrive.com

Larry D. Smyth

Jennifer Hamilton Relocation Director

Owner/Broker

Gentleman’s Ranch 3.76 acres with vineyard and fully insulated 4900+ square foot steel shop with living quarters.

Dry farming Zinfandel grapes. Electric gate + alarm system Linda Aiello-Madison with cameras. Great opportunity for a car collector, or Broker-Associate nicely located for potential tasting room. $1,275,000 www.347Branch.com

Fabulous location! 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in a wellestablished neighborhood. Approx. 2017 sqft, two car garage. Mature tree lined street. Always a high demand area. Don’t miss this one! $749,000 www.461KerwinStreet.com

Annette Mullen

Ken Arritt

REALTOR®

Broker-Associate

Twila Arritt

Broker-Associate

Excellent income property or owner occupant. Roomy 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA main house, 1450 Sq Ft with distinctive arched French Doors. Coved ceilings in LR and DR, cool retro kitchen with two built in china cabinets, and vintage Roper Range. Duplex is two 1 BD 1 BA units with a service porch and private yard for each unit. Plenty of onsite parking. Original wood floors in each unit as well. Excellent rental history. $749,500

Cambria Panoramic Ocean and Marine Terrace Views! Clean & Move-in ready. 3 Br’s 3 Bath 1738 SF, Nice sized living room, Den with Fireplace, Sunroom. Wrap around deck. Windows all across the front–Expansive Ocean View! Large Corner Lot. Fenced. 2 Car Garage. Close to walking trails, tide pools and just a couple of blocks to the ocean. Priced to sell at $495,000

www.1740LosBerros.com

www.1052Peach.com

REALTOR®

Patricia Garrison REALTOR®

Mary Rosenthal REALTOR®

Janet Shaner

Pamela Bliss

REALTOR®

Broker-Associate

Theresa Carroll

Vicky Hall

REALTOR®

Country farm life close to town. Versatile 3 acres with charming 3 bedroom home + hobby/craft room and tool shed. Greenhouse. Apple, pear, citrus, and walnut trees. Circular drive with plenty of room for RV Storage. Creek on rear of property.

Easy access to US101. $469,000

Fantastic location and income with this delightful 1 bedroom 1 bath 1926 home, single car garage/ storage. Also a separate rental 2 bedroom, 1 bath unit in the back. Close to the government center and easy access to highway. Mixed zoning with lots of potential. $459,500

Conveniently located in the heart of SLO & the Village of Arroyo Grande 21 Santa Rosa Street, Suite 100, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 110 E. Branch Street, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420

Chris Stanley REALTOR®

Christine Williams REALTOR®

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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 SLO HIGH SCHOOL AG PROGRAMS

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 Keith Malcomson

8

14

LYNNE CALLAHAN

CAROL KERSTEN

ADVERTISING Jan Owens CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Susan Stewart, Natasha Dalton, Joseph Carotenuti, Dr. Julian Crocker, Sarah Hedger, Maggie Cox, Deborah Cash, Muara Johnston, Will Jones, Gordon Fuglie, Richard Bauman, Marilyn Darnell and Taylor Coffman.

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 Jodi Evans

PEOPLE 8 10 12 14

LYNNE CALLAHAN RUSSELL GENET SLO HIGH SCHOOL AG PROGRAMS CAROL KERSTEN

HOME & OUTDOOR 16 18 20 22 23 24 26 28

DAM BREAK JACK HOUSE PIANO GEORGE WASHINGTON SLO SYMPHONY CONCERT

COMMUNITY 30 32 34 36 41

HISTORY: Hearstian Calendar HISTORY: Chester James Teass—part 2 HOSPICE CORNER / CROSSWORD PUZZLE PALM STREET–SLO Councilman, Carpenter COMMUNITY SHORT TAKES

BUSINESS

37 DOWNTOWN SLO What’s Happening 42 THE BULLETIN BOARD 46 EYE ON BUSINESS

MUSEUM OF ART FEBRUARY EVENT FOOD / AT THE MARKET SLO ART SCENE Richard Phipps OUR SCHOOLS–Dr. Julian Crocker

F E B R U A R Y

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A proud tradition of serving our community for over 26 years

SAN LUIS OBISPO – 2 Bedrooms plus a den (possible 3rd bedroom) and two full bath adorable doll house just blocks to Cal Poly yet on a quiet street. Original hardwood floors though most of the home, private and quiet backyard, new exterior paint, nice views and more! This is a must-see home! $489,000 #3078

PISMO BEACH – Great beach condo, excellent condition & low maintenance. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, view deck, slate fireplace & stainless steel appliances. Located just 2 blocks from the sand and water! Truly a must see! $475,000 #3020

ATASCADERO – Move in ready! This home

features large family and living rooms, each with a fireplace. Floor to ceiling windows offer spectacular north views overlooking a brand new deck and huge backyard. Three large bedrooms, two baths that have been beautifully updated, new paint and flooring throughout the home. Amazing views from most rooms, and easy access to the back of property. $399,000 #3077

First Time on the Market Since 1932!

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The longest singlefamily-owned-property in one of SLO’s best neighborhoods can finally be yours! A hidden pocket nestled less than a mile from both downtown and Cal Poly, this area has been called Banana Hill (for its sunny and mild microclimate) and Professor’s Row (as it was the go-to for the university’s early staff). The home itself is a true example of Spanish Revival style, retaining many of the original charming details including a wide picture window, hardwood floors, fireplace, decorative nooks, and doors with glass knobs. A generously-sized lot offers space to play and park, a majestic oak tree, and a tranquil view. Seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fine-tune this classic into your forever-home, or invest in a prime location property. $499,000 #3082

Desirable Anholm District Neighborhood SAN LUIS OBISPO – Great location! Charming

bungalow with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.

Newer carpet and paint, original hardwood floors. Comfortable family room with built-in shelving and sliding door to backyard. The lot is approximately 7500 s.f. that backs up to a seasonal creek. Short distance to downtown and loads of potential! $699,000 #3079

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Located in the heart of Edna Valley. Rare opportunity to build on level ground with views of surrounding mountains and valley. Bordered by Villa Creek in an area acclaimed for its world class vineyards. This property is one of 4 parcels being offered. Water distribution to be supplied by 1 main residential well. Adjacent land for sale. $299,000 #3080

SHANDON – 4 lots. Seller has reduced the price. Located in prime area, this is a highly visible parcel on the corner located in the middle of Downtown Shandon. Investment potential! $125,000 #3086

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Prime Location! Two homes on an approx. 7500 sq ft lot. The front home is single level, 2 bedroom, 2 bath with many upgrades: new windows, newer appliances, A/C, custom closets and built-in desk area. The back home features 3 bedrooms and 2 baths plus detached bonus room. Impeccably maintained, landscaped and fenced private backyards. Offstreet parking 4-5 cars plus garages. Property offers many options. $725,000 #3087

For more information on these and other Real Estate Group of SLO listings call us at

805.541.2888

962 Mill Street • San Luis Obispo, California 93401 • www.RealEstateGroup.com

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The Magazine of Downtown San Luis Obispo

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From the publisher

O

ur cover story this month showcases San Luis Obispo High School’s Agriculture Department, and the teachers who make it one of the best in the country. For example, just one of its many programs—the Parliamentary Procedure Team—won the division title at a national competition last year.

That team presented a program to our Kiwanis Club recently, and I saw first-hand how impressive this group of students is. Former SLO High principal, Will Jones, loves to write about the talented teens at the high school. You’ll enjoy his story inside.

This month, we also feature Lynne Callahan. Lynne is the wife of former SLO City Fire Chief, John Callahan, who died from a heart attack two years ago. She has created a new nonprofit foundation in his name: The John W. Callahan Heart Safe Project, which promotes the use of AED heart defibrillators. On February 16th, Lynne and the SLO City Firefighters, in collaboration with the YMCA, will host the 6th Annual Firefighters Ball. Funds raised at this event will go toward purchasing defibrillators and placing them in convenient locations to be used in a moment’s notice to save a life.

We have devoted much of this issue to history. Taylor Coffman walks us through the timeline for Hearst’s famous hilltop home. Richard Bauman writes about two historical events: the mysterious “flood” of 1928 and the real “truth” about Washington’s cherry tree. Marilyn Darnell gives us the historical lowdown on the unusual square grand piano inside the Jack House. And Joe Carotenuti gives us part two of the story behind the historic Teass House.

Plenty of great reading again this month.

City ____________________________ State ________ Zip ______________ Return to: Journal Plus 654 Osos St. San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805-546-0609

Steve Owens

COMING UP AT THE

PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Suspension 2/1-2/3 & 2/7-2/9 • 8 p.m.

ERTH Dinosaur Petting Zoo 2/14 • 7 p.m.

Alex & Faye Spanos Theatre Presented by Orchesis

Christopher Cohan Center

Avner the Eccentric 2/1 • 8 p.m.

The Vagina Monologues 2/15 & 2/16 • 8 p.m.

2/17 • 3 p.m.

Pavilion

Presented by Cal Poly Arts

Presented by Cal Poly Arts

Pavilion • Presented by The Gender Equity Center

Symphony Classics: Scheherazade 2/2 • 8 p.m.

Russian National Orchestra 2/16 • 8 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

Christopher Cohan Center

Jackson Browne 2/4 • 7:30 p.m.

MET Live in HD: Rigoletto 2/17 • 2 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

Christopher Cohan Center

St. Olaf Choir 2/6 • 7:30 p.m.

Paco Peña Flamenco Vivo!

2/18 • 7:30 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

Christopher Cohan Center

Presented by SLO Symphony

Presented by Otter Productions

Presented by St. Olaf College

Presented by Cal Poly Arts

Presented by Opera SLO & CPA

Presented by Cal Poly Arts

Sleeping Beauty 2/8 • 8 p.m.

CP Choirs Winter Concert: Water Works 2/23 • 8 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center Presented by Cal Poly Arts

Christopher Cohan Center

A Night at the Mission 2/9 • 8 p.m.

MET Live in HD: Un Ballo in Maschera 2/24 • 2 p.m.

Old Mission Church Presented by CP Music Dept.

Presented by Opera SLO & Cal Poly Arts

Cocktails With Larry Miller 2/9 • 8 p.m.

African Children's Choir 2/26 • 7:30 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

Presented by Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

Presented by Cal Poly Music Dept.

Christopher Cohan Center Presented by Cal Poly Arts

Garrison Keillor 2/13 • 7:30 p.m.

Menopause, The Musical 2/28 • 7:30 p.m.

Christopher Cohan Center

Christopher Cohan Center

Presented by Cal Poly Arts

Presented by Cal Poly Arts

WWW.PACSLO.ORG | 805-756-4TIX

PEOPLE Lynne Callahan 8

just a heart-beat away the john W. Callahan heart safe project

By Susan Stewart

T

wo days after Valentine’s Day, and two and a half years after losing her beloved Valentine to a sudden and massive heart attack, Lynne Callahan will hold the first major fundraiser for the nonprofit she founded in her husband’s name. The John W. Callahan Heart Safe Project (JWCHSP) will be the sole beneficiary of all the proceeds from this event, the 6th Annual Firefighters Ball, to be held on Saturday February 16, 2013 at the Embassy Suites Ballroom in San Luis Obispo. Your attendance could, and probably will, save lives.

In August of 2010, during a city league softball game at Santa Rosa Park, the unthinkable happened. SLO City Fire Chief, John W. Callahan, collapsed on the field and died from what was later determined to be Sudden Cardiac Arrest. A strong man, who had previously served 32 years on the Los Angeles Fire Department, had earned his pilot’s license, and climbed Mount Whitney, Callahan took the top position in San Luis Obispo in 2005, quickly earning the affection and respect of all who knew and worked with him. He was 61 years old. And he had just “passed” a recent treadmill test.

Wondering with the rest of the community how such a strong man could have died so suddenly, his widow, Lynne G. Callahan, herself a trained emergency room nurse, got busy. Within a year, she had formed supportive alliances with Jenifer Rhynes, CEO of the YMCA and Natalie Schaefer, then-CEO of the local chapter of the American Red Cross, among others. As a way for Lynne to redirect her grief, and to stay on as an active member of the Red Cross Reserve Corps, Schaefer suggested that Lynne might work toward placing Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) into active use in the business community.

Statistics show that nearly 60% of all cardiac arrests take place out of the hospital setting; and that 95% of victims die before they reach advanced care in the emergency department. Their chances of survival are reduced by 7 to 10 percent for every minute that passes without CPR, and without access to an AED within two minutes. It’s estimated that early access to an AED could save 40,000 lives per year in the United States.

Fire Chief, John W. Callahan

John at the top of Mt. Whitney F E B R U A R Y

John on the day of his first solo flight

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Science, Downtown Association, SLO Fire Department, Five Cities Fire Authority, Paso Robles Fire Department, EMS, and iii Design.

But most of all, Lynne is grateful for the ongoing support from Charlie Hines (current SLO Fire Chief) and the entire San Luis Obispo Fire Department. “I consider them all family. … There are no words,” she continued.

“The whole community has lifted me up in ways I can’t even describe.” Lynne expressed a special word of thanks to Natalie Schaefer, (Community Relations at PG&E) for her unwavering determination, support, and help in getting the JWCHSP off the ground. To Captain Tom Hughey, Five Cities Fire Authority, “He watched my back!” she said. And finally to her children and grandchildren, saying, “They are my greatest supporters!”

The SLO Chamber receives AED from the JWCHSP at a ribbon cutting ceremony

John and Lynne Callahan

Due to the complexities of placing AEDs, Lynne admits the learning curve was steep at first. California’s Title 22 requirements make it necessary to find a company willing to oversee the process and ensure these requirements are met through a program called Public Access Defibrillation, or PAD. Lynne’s newly formed nonprofit joined Cardiac Science, a company that provides that oversight at cost.

With a generous grant from PG&E, a resolution from the County Board of Supervisors, and the four AEDs donated to the project

by Sierra Vista and French Hospitals, the JWCHSP has placed the first four AEDs at KSBY-TV, Tartaglia Realty, SLO Chamber of Commerce, and Avila Port Lighthouse.

“I don’t spend time mourning the fact that an AED was not available to save John’s life that day,” said Lynne. “Rather I concentrate on what we as a community can do to make sure that others’ lives can be saved in his name.”

Meetings began in May of 2011 and soon The John W. Callahan Heart Safe Project had received its nonprofit status. The YMCA acts as its fiscal agent, and is a partner in its first fundraiser. With the donation of four AEDs given in John’s memory by Sierra Vista and French Hospitals, the project was off the ground. Its goals are: “…to establish awareness, education, and immediate access to AEDs throughout our community so that San Luis Obispo is a Heart Safe County and City.” To which Lynne adds “… to increase the number of people who are AED and CPR-certified; and to make sure that as many AEDs as possible are installed in businesses and facilities across the county.”

Lynne said there are too many people to thank one by one for the support and key roles they have played in the founding of the JWCHSP. “Now I have this phenomenal committee,” she said, comprised of representatives from French Hospital, Sierra Vista, San Luis Ambulance, Red Cross, PG&E, Cardiac

Jodi Larson, wife of SLO Firefighter Jody Larson, has been one of Lynne’s right hand supporters in getting the Firefighters Ball organized and working tirelessly with Linda Fox and Ehron Baskin.

“Lynne is determined to carry on the legacy of her late husband and his dedication to public service,” said Jodi. “She is passionate about serving this community and helping others. I know John would be very proud of her.”

Retired San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deb Linden has purchased the first table at the Ball, which will include cocktails, dinner, a silent auction, a live auction, and afterdinner dancing to the sounds of Unfinished Business, a rocking ‘60s cover band. For a truly grand time, and to support this project and help save lives, purchase tickets by logging on to www.callahanheartsafeproject. org, or by calling 441-8500. Businesses and recreational facilities can order AEDs at the same site. Your decision to learn CPR, become AED-certified, request an AED for your workplace, or attend the 6th Annual Firefighter Ball could very well save a life. It’s your choice, and it’s only a heartbeat away.

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F E B R U A R Y

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PEOPLE

russ genet you should catch him, if you can

By Natasha Dalton

“In our lives, we’re many people.” George Saunders It would’ve been interesting to see Mrs. Van Schutt’s face, when she first learned that her former student Russ Genet had become the President of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific; or, perhaps, her reaction to the PBS special about his ground-breaking inventions.

Truth be told, Russ Genet—a rocket scientist, a world-class astronomer and an inspirational teacher, among other things—began his life rather inauspiciously: he dropped out of school at seventeen. Russ is dyslexic, and in the late 1940s, when he was in Mrs. Van Schutt’s class at the Dutch Reform Christian School in Redlands, California, this learning disability wasn’t well understood. Dyslexia makes it hard for a person to connect the sound of the word to its appearance in print, causing difficulties with reading, writing and even math.

All Mrs. Van Schutt knew at that time was that her new fifth-grader was a lousy speller, and she wanted to change that. During recess,

when the rest of the kids were playing, Russ had to write on the board every word he had spelled incorrectly. Not just once—25 times! Misspell it again—re-write it fifty times. Then he had to repeat the drill at home. Of course, it was no use. The teacher blamed Russ’s ‘lazy mind,’ but even as a child Russ knew that his mind wasn’t lazy at all. People with dyslexia learn differently and eventually (and with the help of a word processor!) Russ overcame his spelling problem.

At least reading was never an issue for him. Russ figured it out on his own when, as a boy, he was visiting his grandparents: leafing through their collection of the National Geographic he simply memorized the look of many words—similarly to the way the students of Mandarin memorize the shapes of the characters in that language.

Being labeled ‘lazy’ never helped anyone to learn, so returning to the little school in Yucaipa, where his family lived, was a good solution for Russ. It had another benefit, too. In Yucaipa Russ met a teacher, who’d soon become his mentor and friend. It was David Poore, who appreciated his young student’s quick and curious mind, and encouraged him to read above his grade level—kick-starting Russ’s life-long quest for the deeper understanding of life. “Most people have the good sense not to worry about such things; they’re busy making a living,” Russ laughs. Not him: his analytical mind was brimming with questions that needed to be answered.

Russ’s mom, a religious and well-educated lady who majored in Math and Physics, gladly took Russ to the library in Redlands. Even today Russ remembers the sense of awe he felt near the floor-to-ceiling-high stacks of library books: “I’m walking through the library, and it comes to me that all of humanity’s accumulated knowledge is there in those books. And all I have to do is dig it out.”

And he began digging. He first read history and philosophy; then moved onto astronomy, chemistry and biology. Before long he was building rockets and bombs in the basement and learning electronics.

But at school things didn’t go as well. Failing to keep up his grades after catching pneumonia, Russ dropped out of school and joined the Air Force. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for his commanders to recognize Russ’s intelligence and technical aptitude and send him to study electrical engineering—at which he excelled. From that time on, Russ has always been involved in doing research.

Russ with a 10-inch Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope F E B R U A R Y

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For a while he worked on ballistic missiles, then turned to “serious science.” “Scientists were always my heroes,” Russ says. In science

PEOPLE hand!” he chuckles. A decade later, when he relinquished his directorship, the Fairborn Observatory in Arizona boasted eight fully automated telescopes!

Russ’s work put him in the ranks of the most prominent astronomers in the world, opening many doors, including those to the Board of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, which elected him its 51st President.

In sports they say that the best time to quit is when you’re at the top, and in the ’90s Russ did just that. He retired from both the Air Force and the Fairborn Observatory, sold his house, bought a trailer and—free from all obligations!—did nothing more than travel from the high country of Arizona to the beaches of New Zealand and back.

Airman Russ

“you can either prove it or not. There’s nothing wishy-washy about it.”

While serving at an air base in Ohio and simultaneously attending graduate school, he built his first telescope and a photometer. “It was easy,” he says convincingly.

However, the mathematical calculations weren’t always easy: because of dyslexia Russ often wrote numbers incorrectly. But it was the blessed ’80s—the time of computers and the internet’s arrival—and the problem got resolved when Russ bought one of the first Radio Shack TRS 80s. He loved it that the computer freed him from the daily humdrum, and began to ponder its other potential uses: “Maybe I can use the interface of the computer to record the numbers directly?” he thought. “Maybe I can make it change the filters?” Then it occurred to him that the machine could actually take over the control of the telescope! Since astronomers work at night, “the idea was that maybe then you can sleep?!” Russ laughs.

In 1983, he and another amateur astronomer, Lewis Boyd, turned a new page in astronomical research by building the world’s first microcomputer-controlled telescope. The Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution were thrilled by the possibilities it promised, and offered Genet and Boyd a mountain-top site in Arizona for their robotic observatory.

They obliged, and Russ, who was still technically in the Air Force, moved to Arizona. “It was a hobby that got way out of

This care-free life was enjoyable enough, but eventually he began to wonder, “I’m retired now, what am I going to do?” The answer he came up with was twofold: he decided to reconnect with his old Yucaipa friend Richard and his sister Cheryl, and restart—in a serious way—the research on the origins, structure and meaning of the world he began as a kid.

11

cialists in various fields of knowledge and then following up with them while writing the books.

It was when Russ was working on his first book that Carl Sagan’s Cosmos came out. “Oh, Carl, you’re making it common knowledge,” he sighed. “I worked for years to learn this!’”

Today, many years later, Russ continues learning, teaching and writing. His books attempt to cover the latest scientific findings in a systematic and comprehensive way. He studies through arranging conferences, which help him absorb lots of information in a short period of time. “I organized at least three dozen conferences already, and many more workshops,” Russ says. In fact, he is at a conference right now, working on his new book on double stars, the future of life and intelligence in the cosmos.

In Catch Me If You Can the protagonist tries on different roles in life. Russ really likes this movie. “I’m not that extreme,” he chuckles, “but I love to try new things.”

More info: www.orionobservatory.org

Both of these plans worked out splendidly.

Russ and his childhood sweetheart Cheryl have been married for eleven years now.

They live in a quiet place out in the country, where on any given day they’re more likely to see deer than people. Cheryl’s brother lives right next door.

When they lived in Yucaipa, “maybe in the whole valley there were 2000 people,” Russ remembers. Nowadays, Yucaipa’s orchards have been replaced by new houses. But on the back roads of Santa Margarita “it’s a lot like it was when we were growing up: a few bears, lots of wild turkeys,” Russ marvels.

Russ, who’d been married before, seems to have found what he’d been looking for. “My previous marriages were good,” he says, “but this one is great.”

Picking up where he left off in his research of the world’s wisdom, he immersed himself in studies of physical anthropology, cultural evolution and the world’s religions.

The results of these studies are summarized in his books. In his attempt to give an unbiased portrait of where mainstream science is today, Russ did what he calls “campus raiding:” driving to the universities for interviews with the leading spe-

Russ and Cheryl’s wedding, 2001 F E B R U A R Y

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PEOPLE power team: 12

The San Luis Obispo high School agriculture department

By Will Jones

I

magine a public high school where students from diverse backgrounds can complete all of their graduation and college admission requirements while also virtually majoring in agriculture and agriculture related subjects like horticulture, veterinary science and farm mechanics. In addition, by participating in an extracurricular program, they can learn invaluable public speaking and leadership skills, and compete with great success against their peers in regional, statewide and national competitions, all with the enthusiastic support of the school district, the school administration, generous parents and local colleges and universities.

Thanks to the vision, talent and dedication of three teachers, this opportunity isn’t a figment of anyone’s imagination. It’s a reality at San Luis Obispo High School. With relentless effort over more than a decade, Cal Poly graduates Jodi Evans, Anna Bates and Patrick Smith have developed one of the most successful agriculture and Future Farmers of America programs in California.

Jodi Evans, mother of two young sons, grew up in Bakersfield and graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in animal science and a

Teachers - Jodi Evans, Patrick Smith, Leslie O’Connor (Principal) and Anna Bates

concentration in agricultural (Ag) business. She has been teaching at SLOHS since 2000. With a Master’s degree in Ag Education, she is the department chair (or head paper pusher, as she describes it) and specializes in Ag biology, animal science and floral design, among other electives. As an FFA advisor, she coaches students for prepared public speaking and marketing plan competitions. Working with 4H students while at Cal Poly led to her interest in teaching. “I really enjoy combining agriculture with education, and I want my students to see my passion for agriculture through education, to see the importance of it which combines classroom experience with competition.”

According to Jodi, one misconception is that all of the students in the program are “Aggies.” “Most of our kids are not farming kids; they’re from all walks of life. They know they’re accepted here and there’s something for everybody.” Jodi believes students are attracted to the program because they develop good thinking skills while also learning practical hands-on skills that allow them to put their thinking into action. “Students learn how to weld, do plumbing and electrical work, plant and graft trees.” And they learn these skills while studying state approved, standards based, Ag Integrated Science and Ag Biology, at both the college preparatory and honors levels. The honors program is one of only five in the entire state.

Anna Bates is also a mother of two young sons, both under four—a whole other article, she said—and, like Jodi, has a Master’s degree in Ag education. She has been at SLOHS since 2002. From Orange County, she started Cal Poly as a pre-vet student. Anna discovered her interest in working with teenagers through being a resident assistant in the dorms, working with early arrivals through Cal Poly’s Week of Welcome (WOW). “A counselor asked me if I would be interested in teaching high school science and animal science. I’m not from an agricultural background and I got excited because I didn’t know that possibility existed.”

Her pre-vet experience prepared her to teach a variety of science classes.

“I can use all of the fun, interesting things I learned in my animal science major to get kids interested in all of the things we do.”

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opportunities to better my public speaking skills and to develop my leadership techniques. It’s truly an amazing program and our teachers invest their passion in the personal growth of their students.”

Of all their commitments, possibly the most impressive of all is the home visits the SLOHS agriculture teachers schedule with every freshman in their program, over 700 hundred in the last few years. Parent and current Aggie Backer president, Kevin Lewis, greatly appreciates the Ag teachers and the program they run.

Anna has learned that what she does is a lifestyle, not just a career. Her work includes classroom instruction in a wide variety of subjects (as many as four different subjects each trimester), with a concentration in Ag Integrated Science, and coaching teams for competitions in parliamentary procedure, agricultural issues and veterinary skills. In October, Anna’s Novice Parliamentary Procedure team represented California and won the national championship at the 2012 FFA National Convention in Indianapolis.

Like her colleagues, her work continues into the summer, helping students to prepare their animals for exhibit at the County Fair. She is grateful for the Aggie Backers, an organization of parents and local professionals in agriculture who help raise funds for field trips, competitions, transportation, scholarships, and who assist with fundraisers like drive-thru barbeques.

Patrick Smith is the newest member of the department. Close to completing his

Master’s degree, and recently the father of a brand new baby boy, he is in his third year at SLOHS. A horticulture major, his concentration was in landscape design and installation. He planned on going into industry, but instead enrolled in the Cal Poly credential program. Patrick teaches integrated science and biology, mechanics, and horticulture science, while also coaching a farm power team (tractors and their operation), impromptu public speaking (students are given a topic and have one minute to prepare a twominute speech), and a job interview team.

“The hours these teachers put in outside of class are incredible. They spend so much time with their students that they truly are not only teachers but mentors and counselors. My daughters have learned and developed incredible leadership, speaking and organizational skills leading to outstanding opportunities and experiences. Community support has been so generous and supportive, not just financially, but of time, property and equipment. It truly is a community effort.”

Awards won by the students and their teachers, at every imaginable level, are too numerous to mention. Everyone can be proud of the San Luis Obispo High School Agriculture Department and FFA chapter.

We are here for you.

Patrick agreed with Jodi that “Public speaking builds confidence and leadership skills, and it helps promote a positive public image for agriculture. Several of our students, like recent graduate Joel Rydell, are pursuing roles in Washington dealing with politics and agriculture.”

Chapter President Benjamin Peterson, a junior, said “FFA has given me countless

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PEOPLE

Meet

carol kersten

MAking music matter—for 40 years

By Susan Stewart

“The thinking about it is the worst,” said Carol Kersten, describing the ritual Polar Bear Swim that she and a dozen students take every morning during a musical summer camp at Shaver Lake—a ritual that’s been taking place for some 25 years now. “After that, playing music for seven or eight hours is easy!”

Really? Well, for Carol Kersten—recent recipient of the American String Teachers Association Award for Distinguished Service to the Community—the Shaver Lake summer camp is just one of the many musical contributions she’s been making in a teaching career that now spans 40 years. So yes, in the big scheme of things, in a day that’s filled with teaching violin to private students and a night that’s taken up with long rehearsals, playing music for hours on end is well, typical, if not exactly easy.

Born and raised in Sacramento, California, Carol was the only child of what she describes as “a very traditional family.”

Her father worked as a bookbinder and later became president of the Printers and Bookbinders Union. Her mother stayed at home until Carol went to high school, when she began working at various jobs, including being a cook at a Girl Scout Camp.

“As an only child, I got lots of attention and was probably quite spoiled,” said Carol.

The violin entered Carol’s young life through her father, who played violin and guitar and loved to tell stories about playing in a Navy dance orchestra during World War II. Soon, Carol was involved in her school’s music program and was invited to play chamber music in the home of an early and inspiring teacher.

Carol attended Cal State Sacramento and the University of Oregon, meeting many outstanding teachers along the way. Elisabeth Mills, a pioneer in the Suzuki method in this country, was one of these. She not only invited Carol into her home to observe her teaching methods, but also took her to Japan in 1974 to study with the famed Sinichi Suzuki in Matsumoto.

When Carol’s husband Tim finished his PhD, he accepted a position at Cal Poly teaching Economics, and that’s what brought the couple to this area. Carol and Tim have a son, Jeff, now 31. Jeff has recently returned to the Central Coast and is a computer game software engineer. Jeff is also a talented bassist who studied with Ken Hustad, and played in the Youth Symphony.

When the Kerstens later built their home in Los Osos, Carol’s husband insisted she have her own studio away from the house. “It couldn’t be that he was tired of listening to hours of violin playing after 20 years, could it?” she smiles.

She immediately began teaching private students, and soon after moving here, Carol met Botso Koreshelli. She was invited to teach and coach right alongside the beloved founder of the Youth Symphony during those early days.

She also helped organize summer orchestra camps and chamber music groups, including the Junior Strings (now called Academy String Orchestra) in 1979. Today, the group boasts 50 members and includes violinists, violists, cellists, and basses. In 1991, the Academy String Orchestra had grown so large and successful that Carol formed yet another group, and Preparatory Strings was born.

“I am very proud to have been the founder of these two groups,” she said. “The most meaningful aspect of what I do is [guiding] the process of students learning to play together and make music—from the first awkward rehearsals to the end of the year when we soar at the final concert at the PAC,” she explained.

Over the years, Carol has taken the Youth Symphony on tour, with the European tour being the most memorable. “Nancy Nagano and Pam Dassenko fearlessly led us for an unforgettable adventure through Germany and Switzerland that we still talk about today,” she said.

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Today, Carol Kersten is busier than ever. She plays for the San Luis Obispo Symphony, is a member of the Larkspur and Monarch Quartets, and is currently “… working out some violin lines to go on a CD that a former student-turned-sound-engineer is writing and producing.” All this in addition to conducting

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the Youth Symphony and teaching the continuous stream of students through her studio.

“I am now teaching the children of the children I taught years ago,” she said. “And because of Facebook and the fact that San Luis is a small community, I get to keep in touch with many of my former students—which I love!”

Carol said she was both surprised and honored to hear of the prestigious award so recently presented to her for her many years of teaching.

“I especially want to thank the San Luis Obispo Youth Symphony and their lovely musical acknowledgment of the award,” she said.

Carol has many favorite composers, “… often the one I am currently playing,” she said. And she is happiest playing chamber music or Baroque or Classical pieces. But it is “the joy of discovering something new about the music,” said Carol, that brings her the biggest thrill of all. “Or hearing a student playing something correctly that at first seemed impossible, and then seeing ‘that look’ on their face.”

Carol Kersten and members of the Youth Symphony during a sound check at the PAC

No, playing music for hours on end is not easy. But for Carol Kersten, it’s a way of life she wouldn’t trade for anything. “It hardly seems like 40 years!” she said.

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History

Disaster in San Francisquito canyon

By Richard Bauman

I

n the faint pre-dawn light of March 13, 1928, the lookout on a U. S. Navy cruiser ten miles at sea spotted an immense debris field. Within the silt-filled brown smear was everything from building rooftops to railroad ties to animal carcasses to uprooted trees. The rubble was obviously from a flood, but what caused the flood? There hadn’t been any storms.

At that moment few people knew the St. Francis dam in northwest Los Angeles County had ruptured at two minutes before midnight on the 12th. The 12-billion gallons of water in its reservoir started surging toward the Pacific Ocean fifty miles away destroying nearly everything in its path.

March 12, 2013 marks the 85th anniversary of the then second worst disaster in California history. At the time only the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 surpassed it.

The 205-feet high dam that stretched more than 500 feet across San Francisquito Canyon was designed by William Mulholland, and contained a year’s worth of water for Los Angeles.

When the dam crumbled, a 70- to 125-feet high wall of water roared through San Francisquito Canyon at an estimated speed of 18 mph.

It pushed and tumbled chunks of concrete the size of large houses as much as three-quarters of a mile downstream.

A bronze plaque is placed on the Dam site.

the Pacific Ocean. As the wall of water rolled on it decimated Castaic Junction, Piru, Fillmore and Santa Paula and eventually became a dynamic 2.5-mile wide body of water.

It tore across ranches, killing animals and ripping up groves of fruit and walnut trees. Oil and natural gas pipelines were unearthed and telephone and electric lines were downed. As the raging water neared the coast it took out a stretch of U.S. 101 between Oxnard and Ventura.

Some of the rushing water’s first victims were about a mile and a half downstream at Los Angeles Municipal Power Plant No. 2. The twostory reinforced concrete building contained two 100-ton dynamos.

Close by were the homes of 65 persons. Most were plant employees and their families.

Most of Santa Paula’s 1500 residents, 38 miles below the dam, heeded the warning about the oncoming water spread by the town’s two telephone operators and a couple California Highway Patrolmen. Most residents had scurried to the surrounding hills by the time the water, then about 25-feet deep, swept away their town, their homes and surrounding lands.

Minutes after the dam gave way, they were swallowed up by the wall of water as it destroyed the powerhouse. The only thing left at the site was the power plant’s two dynamos.

The actual number of people killed in the disaster is unknown. It’s estimated that at least 450 people, and perhaps as many as onethousand people perished in its waters.

The floodwaters emptied out of San Francisquito Canyon and into the Santa Clara River valley. The normally thin stream ran westward to

Why had the St. Francis Dam disintegrated? California’s Governor, C. C. Young was determined to find out. He pulled together four

The original power plant #2 was destroyed and rebuilt and is still in operation today.

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This is what’s left of a section of the Dam’s wall.

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Though Mulholland was blamed and accepted responsibility for the dam’s failure, some modern day scientists see things differently.

A 1992 examination of the disaster concluded that, given the geological knowledge of the time, Mulholland was in fact innocent of criminal negligence—that the break was caused by anchoring of the dam’s eastern edge to an ancient landslide impossible to detect in the 1920s.

Today geologists know that building a dam on the types of rock formations similar to that found in San Francisquito Canyon would require special design considerations. In the 1920s, however, two of the world’s leading geologists, John C. Branner of Stanford University and Carl E. Grunsky, thought the location and design were acceptable.

A view of the San Francisquito Canyon today.

distinguished consulting engineers and two professors of geology to investigate the disaster.

At a coroner’s inquest in Los Angeles, 72-year-old William Mulholland, the chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, took total responsibility for the dam’s design and location. His reputation shattered, he retired a few months after the disaster.

Though the St. Francis Dam was never rebuilt, Power Plant No. 2 was restored in the same location and is still in service today. On the property is a plaque memorializing the St. Francis Dam disaster.

Large chunks of weathered concrete with protruding pieces of rebar still litter San Francisquito Canyon. Some can be seen from a turnout on San Francisquito Canyon Road that overlooks the valley. They are mute reminders of the wall of water that surged through the canyon on that March night 85 years ago.

During the inquest, residents living near the dam claimed they had heard strange noises coming from it. A family of Navajo Indians left the area in February, predicting the dam was going to fail.

Gov. Young’s investigators determined it was the location, and not the dam’s design that had been at fault. Tests of the dam’s materials proved they were capable of resisting forces “much beyond any stresses to which it would have been subjected under normal conditions.”

They also agreed that “… such a dam properly built upon a firm and unyielding foundation would be safe and permanent … except perhaps faulting and earthquake shocks …. Unfortunately in this case the foundation under the entire dam left very much to be desired.”

The terrain in San Francisquito Canyon where the dam was located consisted of an insubstantial mica schist on the east side and an even less substantial reddish conglomerate on the west. The two rock formations met under the dam and along a “dead” earthquake fault, a natural place for seepage.

“Even when dry (it) was of decidedly inferior strength and … when wet, became so soft that most of it lost almost all rock characteristics … the ultimate failure of this dam was inevitable, unless water could have been kept from reaching the foundation,” said the experts. They concluded that “Either a blowout under, or a settling of the concrete at this place, or both, occurred, quickly followed by the collapse of large sections of the dam.”

The governor’s commission’s main recommendation was that all dams in California, from planning through actual operation should be the under the supervision of state authorities. Thus laws were enacted to meet the experts’ recommendations and to prohibit a single individual from being the final authority on the safety of any dam of significance.

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the mysterious jack family piano

The Jack House Piano

By Marilyn Darnell

F

or years, mystery has swirled around the magnificent square grand piano of the historic Jack House.

Details of how it traveled and the possibility that blood is the stain under its top have long been the subjects of stories.

The Jack’s square grand piano by Steinway & Sons of New York was crafted of Brazilian Rosewood in the Civil War Era. Captain Robert Jack, R.E. Jack’s father, originally brought the piano as a gift for his granddaughter Gertrude Marie aboard one of Commodore Sewell’s wooden ships from Bath, Maine. The ship may have been the Roanoke, the largest wooden ship built in 1892 by Arthur Sewell & Co. of Bath, ME. Their entering San Francisco Bay caused quite a stir because Capt. Jack agreed to make harbor without ordering a pilot boat; the Commodore agreed to pay the $1,000 fine. Their reception was so grand that the money was returned days later.

In 1964 Howard Vail Jack, the last descendant to own the Jack House, was interviewed by women of the San Luis Obispo Historical Society.

HJ: In the early ’90s Captain Sewell, the owner of the biggest line of wooden ships in the world from Bath, Maine decided he would like to bring one of his biggest windjambers to the Pacific coast and they would make the trip around the horn and they would sail the ship in San Francisco Bay. So they started on their trip around the horn and I guess from all the accounts, it must have been a very memorable voyage cause they were in such rough water most of the trip. They finally arrived off San Francisco Bay and Captain Sewell said to Captain Jack, “Captain Jack, why don’t you go in and make harbor without the formality of ordering a pilot boat?” Captain Jack said, “I will Com-

modore, if you will pay the fine.” Captain Sewell nodded and said, “I’ll pay the fine.” So they went into San Francisco Bay without the formality of a pilot or a pilot boat and they piped their sails down as they approached and rounded into condition with very little canvas on the ship. They made a perfect landing, and as soon as they were tied up, they were promptly fined by the city of San Francisco $1000.00, (laughter) for having the temerity to make such a landing.

Three days later, after Capt. Sewell and Capt. Jack had met the inhabitants of San Francisco, they were tendered a big public banquet. And the mayor of San Francisco promptly at this banquet amidst a lot of bowing and scraping and returned the fine of $1,000 as a present to Mr. Sewell.

W: Was this piano on board his ship?

HJ: This Steinway piano here at the ranch was on board Capt. Sewell’s ship that he brought out to San Francisco.

W: Do you remember the name of that particular ship?

HJ: I don’t remember the name of the ship but it is supposed to be the largest full rigged ship that was ever brought to California.

W: About what time was that, what year?

HJ: It was in the early ’90s, I would probably say along around ’92 or ’93.

W: And this Captain Jack you mentioned, what relation was he to you?

HJ: He was my grandfather.

W: Your grandfather. Then what happened to the piano?

HJ: The piano was placed at our home in San Luis Obispo, for awhile. My sister Gertrude was studying piano at that time and she liked this type of Steinway very much. So it was a welcome gift from my grandfather.

Howard went on to say that the piano was taken to their ranch in Cholame at some point, but in 1898 his Uncle Fred took it to the Klondike to place the

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Chuck Crotzer’s sketch of the Jack House Piano

piano in the large gambling hall of the passenger ship he built named the Polar Star.

Probably the most famous pianist to play the Jack family piano was Jan Ignacy Paderewski, the Premier of Poland. He did his American Tour 1895-1896. For years he made his home in Paso Robles and he loved to go to the Jack Ranch and play for all the ears that would listen; even the cowboys were called in to give audience.

It was on one of Paderewski’s visits that he and the Steinway representative with him found two of the keys of the Jack piano did not sound. The representative put his head in the center of the piano and got stuck. “So Dr. Paderewski got him by the feet and I got him by the knees and we raised him to a level position, where he was finally able to extricate his head. But he came out carrying two little pieces of brown felt that he removed from these keys that did not work.”

The two piano experts said they had never seen felt that color before and that’s when Howard recalled the rest of Uncle Fred’s story.

HJ: And then one of the patrons of the gambling hall went berserk one night and from the top of the piano began shooting at the other guests, or passengers. The ship’s officer who was the Deputy Sheriff shot this man off with a rifle, off the top of the piano and he fell on the piano top and his blood ran down through the hinged lid and saturated two of the felt hammers in the piano.

This piano was the only thing saved off the ship.

On October 28, 1906 Mr. Watkins, manager of the Jack Ranch in Cholame wrote to Mr. R.E. Jack “Will see about sending the piano down … for Mrs. Jack.” Then on November 8 Mr. Watkins wrote “Piano is loaded and ready to start in the morning.”

Thanks to the Jack House, the History Center, Special Collections & University Archives at Cal Poly and the internet light has been shed on the mysterious Jack family piano.

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San Luis Obispo. New Listing. This home has been remodeled over the past few years and now boasts a wonderful kitchen with all new cabinetry, appliances, and counter tops. The hardwood floors have recently been refinished and compliment the changes. New windows were installed, the floor plan was opened up, interior & exterior paint and finally the landscape was changed. It’s in a great neighborhood within approximately half mile to downtown San Luis. Backs up to a park and almost at the end of a cul-de sac street www.535EllenWay.com Asking $475,000.

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History

george Washington and parson weems

By Richard Bauman

D

id George Washington really chop down his father’s favorite cherry tree? Or, was it just a tale from the imagination of Mason Locke Weems? The answer to both questions is “Maybe.”

Weems, commonly known as Parson Weems, was the author Life of Washington, the first biography of George Washington. In it he gave America one of its earliest heroes. It was definitely a best seller.

Weems revered Washington as a leader: both as a general and as the nation’s first president. He also saw Washington as someone whose virtues and values were worth emulating. He especially wanted the nation’s youth to embrace Washington’s values. He believed youngsters needed adults to look up to and to imitate. There was no one better than Washington in Weems’ eyes.

Historian David D. Van Tassel notes, “Weems did a great service … (for) his country …. He created a national symbol and model hero for a democracy.”

William Flory, a Weems biographer wrote: “The essential message of the book (Life of Washington) is … Washington rose to become a great hero because in his private life he was a great and good man.”

The first edition of Life of Washington was just 80 pages. It was published anonymously in 1800, only a couple of months after Washington’s death in December 1799. It was a collection of stories and personal recollections about Washington’s life. The public devoured it.

By the time the sixth and essentially the last revision of the book was published in 1808, Weems had added numerous stories, and revised earlier versions of stories so the book had grown to more than 200 pages. He wanted to further revise Life of Washington, telling

Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home on the Potomac River.

its publisher, Matthew Carey, “The book is not half finished. I have some noble anecdotes to add to it.” Carey, however, wasn’t interested.

Weems couldn’t force the issue though, because a few years earlier he had sold his rights to the book to Carey for $1000.

Over the years, many of Weems’ stories were plagiarized and altered by others. Thus, some stories judged misleading or outright lies, and attributed to Weems, weren’t his doing.

For example, the preposterous story that Washington threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River. Weems never penned that story. Still, it’s ascribed to him.

What Weems actually wrote was a story entitled, “George Throws a Stone.” It appeared in the first edition of Life of Washington, and quotes Washington’s childhood friend, Lewis Willis as saying he saw George often throw a stone across the Rappahannock River near the lower ferry at Fredericksburg. The story concluded with Willis saying, “It would be no easy matter to find a man now-a-days, who could do it.”

At the point where Washington would have thrown a stone across the Rappahannock, it was a few hundred feet wide—a far cry from the much wider Potomac. Also, he couldn’t have tossed a silver dollar across anything, because silver dollars didn’t exist at the time.

AUTHOR, PHYSICIAN, PREACHER, SALESMAN Weems was quite a versatile fellow. Not only was he an author, he was also a traveling bookseller, a medical doctor, and an Episcopal clergyman.

He studied for the ministry in England. In 1784, Weems was one of the first Episcopal deacons ordained for service in America. In 1791 he started selling books, which he considered a part of his ministry.

Weems traveled the east coast of the United States peddling books door-to-door in small towns. In the late 1700s only wealthy families owned books.

Poorer families might have an old Bible, but rarely more. Weems convinced Matthew Carey there was a market for small, inexpensive books.

It was his foremost goal that every home have books suitable for adults and children to read. He was at least partially responsible for introducing inexpensive books that nearly anyone could afford.

Washington and his guests would sit on the veranda and watch the boats on the river pass by.

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The books Carey produced and Weems sold were leather bound, and about the size of today’s paper-

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A garden akin to this was Washington’s “little garden.”

The Potomac River, as seen from Washington’s veranda

back books. Typically on the first page of each book was an advertisement promoting “Popular and cheap books, particularly suited for family libraries.” The next several pages described available books.

As Weems traveled and sold Carey’s books, he collected anecdotes to use in his own book about Washington. He claimed the stories he used were told to him by people who either witnessed the events, or heard about them from persons with firsthand knowledge.

Undoubtedly some of the stories were distortions of actual events, and others fanciful imaginations of the storytellers.

It’s easy to think Weems just wanted to make a quick fortune with his biography of Washington, but his early life shows he was basically an unselfish individual.

tree in his father’s garden. It just happened to be his father’s favorite tree.

When Mr. Washington asked who had chopped down the tree, George supposedly said, “I can’t tell a lie, Pa.” Over the years, in later versions of Life of Washington, it was changed to: “Father, I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my hatchet.” After George confesses, his father gives him a big hug, rather than a whipping, because he told the truth.

Nearly everybody has heard that story from a parent, teacher or in a church sermon. And the reason adults still tell it to children is to emphasize that it is always best to tell the truth.

Despite the criticism heaped on him for fabricating that story, there’s evidence that story didn’t originate with Weems.

Born near Herring Bay, Maryland, in October 1759, he was the youngest of 19 children. When his father died in 1779, Weems was in England studying medicine. He inherited part of the family estate, and several slaves. He returned home long enough to convert his inheritance to cash and to free his slaves. Then he return to his studies in England.

For one thing, the cherry tree story was well known in the late 1700s, long before Weems first used it in his book. In fact, a German beer mug, dated 1776, and authenticated as having been made that year, depicts a youngster with a hatchet alongside a tree that has been chopped down. The initials, G.W., are prominently shown above the damaged tree.

Life of Washington was the most popular biography of our first president. Its popularity carried well into the 20th century. And the one story in it that has influenced more lives is the Cherry Tree story.

Of course, this doesn’t prove that Washington did or didn’t chop down a cherry tree. As one historian says, “The cherry tree incident could have happened to any small boy let loose with a hatchet. The unforgivable offense, in critics’ eyes, was to moralize about it.”

At the same time, that tale has brought immense criticism to Weems. In the eyes of many people it discredited his entire work.

As you probably know, the story goes that George’s father gave him a hatchet. He got carried away, and chopped down a cherry

It’s ironic, though, that not long after Washington’s death, according to William Flory, “Weems’ own son cut down a favorite rose bush in his garden. The child confessed the deed—and was soundly whipped by Weems.”

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Slo symphony presents

scheherazade rimsky-korsakov’s classic re-telling of 1001 Arabian nights will feature concertmistress pam dassenko

By Patty Thayer

Pam Dassenko photo by Karen McClain

J

oin the San Luis Obispo Symphony for 1,001 tales of music, mystery and more. On Saturday, February 2 at 8 pm, Maestro Nowak has planned an amazing evening with the orchestra at the Christopher Cohan Center in San Luis Obispo featuring Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s colorful and exotic Scheherazade and Mozart’s Great G minor Symphony. Concertmistress Pam Dassenko will be featured in the classic re-telling of 1,001 Arabian Nights, embodying the character of the Sultana Scheherazade whose storytelling skills saved her life. Mozart’s romantic Symphony No.40 will round out this romantic night of classics with the Central Coast’s favorite orchestra, the San Luis Obispo Symphony. Tickets for Scheherazade range from $20-$75 and are available by calling the Performing Arts Center’s ticket office at (805) 756-4TIX (4849) or online at slosymphony.com. A No Ties Allowed! FREE Dress Rehearsal is open to the public, including young children, at 1 pm.

Please Note: Earlier releases included Soprano Ava Pine on the program for this concert but Ms. Pine has unfortunately canceled this San Luis Obispo appearance.

This concert is sponsored by Aaron A. & Lyn C. Baker and Joe & Peggy Little.

Further details about this concert and about all of the concerts and programs of the San Luis Obispo Symphony are available at www. slosymphony.com or by calling (805) 543-3533.

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slo museum of art

It started with a red thread Central Coast Craftmakers at the Museum of art

By Muara Johnston

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“

t Started with a Red Thread,” a new exhibit of the Central Craftmakers artwork will be on display in the Museum of Art’s McMeen Gallery, February 3–26, 2013. A single red thread may have inspired this new exhibit, but the real genesis of this installation started forty years ago, when a group of artists began to meet weekly to share ideas, talk about life and art, critique work, offer suggestions and encourage each other in their creative endeavors and pursuits. This group of multi-media artists became the Central Coast Craftmakers, an affiliate of the Museum of Art. They do not have a leader or a single art form.

The members work in oil, acrylics, watercolor, pastel, fiber, paper and metal.

In 2010, Kate Froman shared a new art piece she was working on.

She had created a small jacket, using torn pages from the book Little Women sewn together with undulating strands of red thread. “I’m calling it Book Jacket,” she shares. From that inspiration, an intriguing “Quilt” by Cle Longden

A reception to meet the artists will take place on Friday, February 3, from 6-9 pm in conjunction with Art After Dark.

The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and exhibiting the visual arts. Located at 1010 Broad Street, on the west end of Mission Plaza. Hours are 11-5 daily, closed on Tuesdays. Free admission.

”Book Jacket” by Kate Froman

idea for a new exhibit began to take shape. Meeting weekly, the group began a deliberate process of sharing techniques, ideas and materials.

A chronological list of names was determined by drawing from a hat.

The first artist on the list was to create an artwork inspired by Kate’s Book Jacket. Each subsequent artist was to use the artwork created before her for inspiration. The process moved through the group like a visual version of the game Telephone.

The eleven artworks in the exhibit are as diverse as the members of the group. M’Lou Mayo, Beryl Reichenberg, Deb Spatafore, Cle Longden, Meryl Perloff, Gini Griffin, Kathy Friend, Gina Hafemeister, and Roberta Foster. The women have challenged each other to express the unique talents they possess within the context of commonality.

Inspiring one another, they discovered a new respect for each other.

The result is the four-decade old group is stronger and more vibrant.

And to think … it all started with a red thread.

”EmaQuilt” by Meryl Perloff F E B R U A R Y

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HOME/OUTDOOR

at the market

Winter green salad with fresh garlic, olives, and feta

By Sarah Hedger

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he lovely month of February is upon us. It is a shoulder month so to speak, almost out of Winter, and nearly into Spring. One day we feel the coolness of Winter and the next we feel the warmth of Spring. Fortunately, the spirit of Valentine’s Day, good snow in the mountains, and the anticipation of Spring being just around the corner, keeps spirits high. Our local Farmer’s Markets, which used to just represent farmers’ grown goods, is lately reflecting more and more artisan producers and all things wonderful they create. I don’t really care to think much about what has caused the increase in artisans, all I can say is that I feel lucky to be able to witness the wonderful creations being cooked up around the county. Whether it is local jams or artisan cheeses, they are a wonderful sampling of the amazing talent (and creativity) artisan producers are bringing to the table. February produce present at the markets includes all things citrus, dark greens, including kale, chard, and spinach, with the latter part of February beginning to reflect the

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tip of Spring just around the corner with the likes of beets, carrots, and spring/green onions.

This month’s recipe, Winter Green Salad with Fresh Garlic, Olives, and Feta, takes inspiration straight from the garden. I’ll just come out and say that I am a recent convert to kale. And, not just liking the stuff, but absolutely loving all that it is, in dare I say, its raw state. This salad was the beginning of that love affair as it took an ingredient that I used to think was so-so in its cooked state, and takes it to the ‘off the hook’ status in its raw state. There are so few ingredients in this salad, yet they all play off each other in an incredibly complimentary way. The garlic dressing is quite literally massaged into the kale, breaking down the kale a bit, while enabling it to absorb the acid in the dressing, resulting in tender, delicious greens. Needless to say, the nutritional value of a salad at this caliber is outstanding as well. Kale and dark greens are some of the healthiest vegetables around, with high amounts of calcium, beta carotene, Vitamins C and K, as well as other potent antioxidants, even healthier in their raw state. While we hear often of garlic and its medicinal properties, garlic has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal benefits. What does this equate to? I guess it is really what we make of it, but I will attest to have had raw garlic kick the stuffing out of an oncoming cold, resulting in near-immediate results. Granted, there is a chance the garlic breath alone will scare germs away, and, possibly people who claim to be your friends.

But, I reckon if we sit down and enjoy this salad together, we will all have the same garlic breath, hopefully less noticeable than if we were alone. And, on that note, I wish you a fantastic February, sharing good health and good food with your loved ones. And, in honor of my mom, I suggest finishing with a bit of good dark chocolate which will also help in both the antioxidant category (and the garlic breath).

winter green salad with fresh garlic, olives, and feta FOR THE SALAD: 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled 2 tsp flake (or kosher) salt 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or juice of a half a lemon) or cider vinegar (lemon juice is preferable but if you have no good lemons on hand, the cider vinegar is a great option) 4-5 T good olive oil 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper 4 cups of hearty dark greens (some combination of kale, swiss chard, beet greens, spinach, arugula, etc.), washed and broken up into bite size pieces) 1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and torn in half 2 ounces (60g) feta- (preferably ewe’s milk), crumbled into peasized pieces *Optional- ¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds Place garlic cloves on a cutting board and mince. Add salt to the minced garlic and slowly begin using more the side of the knife, mashing as you mince. The salt will help to break down the garlic into a smooth paste. Place garlic paste in a large bowl. Whisk in remaining dressing ingredients (lemon juice or vinegar, olive oil, and pepper). Add dark greens and massage to mix. Yes, you read correctly, your hands are the best salad mixers in the world as they don’t damage the greens, they are gentle, yet firm, so use them! Fold in olives and cheese and mix well (keep using your hands). Enjoy (and feel good)! *Note this salad is great with cooked brown rice, quinoa, pasta, and/ or hard boiled eggs added to the mix. *Feel free to email me at sarah@seasonalalchemist.com if you have any food-related questions and find this recipe (as well as other versions) at www.seasonalalchemist.com

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HOME/OUTDOOR slo county art scene

richard Phipps: Driven to Abstraction

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By Gordon Fuglie

very modernist artist has a story like this one as told by Los Osos painter Richard Phipps. Early in his career he was in La Jolla preparing for a visit from a museum director, who agreed to view his work. With his paintings arrayed around a studio, Phipps awaited his guest. At last, the director flounced through the door, seized a chair, sat down, and leaning forward, riveted his gaze onto the artist. “So, what are your ISSUES?” the director demanded, ignoring the paintings around him. Not missing a beat, Phipps politely announced it was time to go get some lunch.

Alas, the encounter between works of art and their viewers suffers when the latter shows up nursing other agendas.

A native Californian, Phipps moved from Santa Barbara County to Los Osos in 1988 following a career that traversed the east and west coasts, Mexico and Europe. His 40-plus year vocation spans the most fertile and dynamic period in California art. As a student Phipps studied classical figure drawing with the pioneering LA expressionist Rico LeBrun in 1959. After a stint in the US Army, Phipps graduated from UCSB with a BA in Art, and in 1968, was awarded the MFA. He went on to teach at UCSB and Santa Barbara City College. After

moving to Los Osos, he taught periodically at Cal Poly and continues to teach at Cuesta College where he is renowned for his expertise in technique and materials—essential for aspiring artists.

By the 1970s, and despite his skill in figurative and representational art, Phipps increasingly turned to carefully crafted, brightly hued, symbolic abstract compositions, a practice he continues. This approach allowed the artist the freedom to take an idea and improvise upon it (sometimes lasting years as he visits, departs and returns to his paintings until “a truce is declared,” as he likes to say), akin to jazz music. The resultant painting is a colorful field of exploration and discovery, a luminous terrain where one may track the movement of color and form, reckoning with, as he likes to say, “the difference between the way things are perceived and the way they are known.”

Blue Moon II from 2012 exemplifies this approach. The painting reminded me of a visit to Phipps’s home/studio and the view out the second floor window onto a row of large evergreens and the ocean beyond. Phipps, however, prefers to be mum about the “exact meaning” or content of his works because he believes that shuts down the viewer’s inquiry. He wants to linger, enjoying “surprise sightings” in our encounter with the painting. I see in Blue Moon II a nocturnal landscape, largely achieved in a cool palette. The composition is balanced by the moon—with its orange halo—and a stylized “tree,” a blue form defined by undulating striations: a rectangle contrasting with a sphere. For many painters this alone would suffice. Phipps, however, overlays the landscape with a flow of yellow-green ribbons that pulse across the foreground. These include a snaky “alpha ribbon” with a repeat pattern of yellow and burgundy. The ribbons may evoke the rhythm of life or the rise and fall of symphonic music, with a solo instrument (the “alpha ribbon”) driving the main theme.

Romero Burn 1971 from 2011/12 recalls a personal trauma some 40 years ago. Phipps once lived near the scrub hills and canyons of Montecito. In a dry hot October following 131 rainless days, an arsonis threw a firebomb into the brush near Romero Canyon. Towards evening the rising “sundowner winds” whipped the fire into a conflagration, eventually torching 14,000 acres, killing four fire fighters. That night Phipps and artist friends struggled desperately to save their homes from the

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surrounding inferno. Happily, they succeeded, though he still recalls the episode with dread.

To evoke the incendiary juggernaut, Phipps rendered the night sky of Romero Burn in a wall of radiant Cadmium, the most intensive (and costly) red available to painters. Against the sky the zig-zag skein of yellows and oranges suggest lightning spawned by the wind-blown fires. The lower half addresses the land. The scumbled gray and sickly yellow call to mind the burnt hills and smoke left in the fire’s wake.

Red dots and floating black and white squares evoke cinder and ash. The row of verticals reminds us of burnt trees. No photographs could have captured the force of the fire’s devastation like Phipps’s suggestive painting.

The artist welcomes close readings of his paintings. “I want them to be seen as open texts, works that contain a variety of possible interpretations,” Phipps insists. “I like animated perception that overrides the frozen moment of resolution. I strive for an ongoing life and action in the work that prompts contemplative thought.”

Blue Moon

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The Blue Mass at

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Bishop Richard Garcia presiding

on Monday, February 11, at 11:00 am

2013

Honoring

Public Safety Personnel and Families

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K IN

For information on Richard Phipps and his art: www.richardphippsartist.com, and trphipps@sbcglobal.net.

Public safety personnel will begin assembly in Mission Plaza at 10 am.

BBQ Tri-tip lunch served in the Mission courtyard immediately following mass.

AL SLO RNATION INTE M FIL IVAL T AST FES CO

Community members are cordially invited to join us in this spiritual celebration honoring both our active and retired public safety personnel.

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COMMUNITY

Our Schools Safe schools— what we can do

By Dr. Julian Crocker, County Superintendent of Schools “This is our first task, caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.”

—President Barack Obama Newtown Connecticut Prayer Vigil, December, 16, 2012

Fortunately our local schools have good working relationships with local police departments and the County Sheriff’s department.

Create Inclusive Schools We should strive to make all students feel a part of the school. We know that a characteristic of current or former students who become shooters is that they feel alienated from the school and isolated from other students. Often they have been the victims of bullying. We in schools have a responsibility to attend to students on the margins and do what we can to make them feel valued. We need to have aggressive anti-bullying programs in place. I’ve seen the positive power that a single adult, often a teacher, can have on a student who otherwise feels shunned. Having a variety of school activities and groups that appeal to a wide range of students also works. Finally, we need to support a robust system for mental health assistance without stigma for those students in need. It is particularly important that students with mental health needs be identified and receive professional assistance early in their school career.

Confronted with the horror at Sandy Hook Elementary School, we want to do something. Do something to make our schools safe. Do something to let the parents and teachers at Sandy Hook know that we care for them. Do something to let our own children know that they are safe. Do something to insure that this will not happen here or anywhere again.

Build A Safe School Climate

Teachers, school administrators and parents are all struggling as we think about what to do. It certainly did not get easier as we witnessed the memorials and funerals for those 20 first graders and their principal and teachers. And then there is the school shooting incident closer to us last month in Taft. Just do something.

A safe school climate is not limited to protection from an intruder.

It also includes responses to natural disasters such as earthquakes, clear and consistent expectations for student behavior including consequences for exhibiting unsafe behavior, having sufficient adult supervision to intervene in unsafe or threatening situations for students and school bus safety.

Here are three things we in schools can do.

Review Our School Safety Plans All schools in California are required to have a School Safety Plan that should include steps to protect students from violent intruders.

These plans are required to be updated and reviewed each year and this review should happen with the entire school staff in light of Newtown. Revisions should be made if needed and appropriate training offered to staff with particular attention to new staff members.

Local law enforcement agencies should be called upon for assistance with this review. Some of our local schools have conducted drills in cooperation with law enforcement and emergency responders that simulate emergency situations including reaction to an active shooter.

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We need to redouble our efforts to develop a total school climate of respect for all students and teachers. This action is not just for our protection, but for the well-being of our students. Our job in schools is to partner with families to raise children who feel safe in school and out. The President said it well on December 16th in Newtown.

Students cannot learn if they feel threatened or at risk of danger, but threats can come from sources much closer than a lone gunman.

These threats include being told you are different; feeling like you cannot compete fairly; not knowing where to turn for help; being bullied while others stand by. Parents and those who care for children have great influence on whether a child feels vulnerable or not and this is where we need to put our efforts. Adults are in charge of school climate. There are many examples of respectful and caring schools in our county.

We need to spend at least as much effort inside our schools to have students feel safe as we do trying to protect them from outside threats.

SAN LUIS O B I S P O SYMP HON Y MICHAEL NOWAK, MUSIC DIRECTOR

Just tell ’em Beethoven sent ya . . .

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Take a spin on the roulette wheel, grab a flask at the bar, remember the secret password and bring your wallets, ‘cause we got the goods!

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COMMUNITY

History

the hearstian calendar

By Taylor Coffman

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OUR GUIDES AT HEARST CASTLE quickly learn that 28 is the magic number. That’s how many years figured in William Randolph Hearst’s creation of his Enchanted Hill at San Simeon, 1919 to 1947. And yet there were times of inactivity in that eventful stretch, especially during World War II. Overall, though, that’s how long Hearst pursued his grandiose dream. He died in 1951. Come June 1958, Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument opened to a spellbound public.

Ironically, the first half of that 28-year period is better known in many ways than the second half, despite being closer to the present.

That’s partly because Hearst and his architect, Julia Morgan, corresponded frequently in the early, formative phase. A trove of their messages has been at the Cal Poly Library, Special Collections, since 1980. That rare material has rewritten the history of San Simeon on a large scale. But the Hearst-Morgan correspondence starts running thin in the late 1920s. There’s even less of it to reconstruct the 1930s.

Across town at the History Center of San Luis Obispo County, the George Loorz Papers account for the years 1932 through 1937. Nonetheless, that still leaves the last part of Hearst’s 28-year performance in need of fuller coverage, from 1938 through 1947. Fortunately, there’s much to be told beyond what the Morgan Collection and the Loorz Papers disclose. The files of William R. Hearst III in San Francisco—comprising thousands of vintage items—are among the best means of filling the gaps.

Part of the historian’s job is to summarize effectively. In doing so, accuracy is always of the utmost importance. In Hearst’s case, especially through the second half of those 28 years, the challenge of “getting it right” never ends. In short, certain myths and misportrayals have proved enduring. Thus the highlights that follow.

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Cremation Care

A rare photo of William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies in Europe, 1936

The second-half stretch, beginning in 1934, included a trip to Europe made by Mr. Hearst, Marion Davies, and their entourage—the group of movie people and various other notables known as “the folks.”

Upon returning late in 1934, the Hearst party hunkered down at San Simeon for a long stay, lasting until March 1935. That summer, the party spent much of its time at Wyntoon instead, San Simeon’s counterpart in northern California, a sylvan retreat on the McCloud River near Mt. Shasta.

Then in 1936 Hearst faced a state tax burden that caused him to remain outside California for six months straight. He, Miss Davies, and the folks made another trip to Europe, this one being their final sojourn overseas. They weren’t back at San Simeon again until early 1937. The oft-told story of his depleted finances, which largely stymied his building efforts, is set in that late-Depression year, 1937, and the few years immediately afterward. Meanwhile, in 1938 and 1939, the party divided its time mostly between San Simeon and Wyntoon.

In February 1940 a terrible flood engulfed Wyntoon. Hearst and Marion (as they’re now widely known: his last name and her first name) spent the early part of that year at San Simeon. They’d wanted to rely

A Retirement Facil COMMUNITY 31

more on Wyntoon by then, even with its winter snows. But the big flood intervened. By the summer of 1940 they were finally able to move north from San Simeon. They spent the remainder of the year at Wyntoon, the place that was becoming their preferred address regardless of the season.

In the winter of 1941, not having been to Europe since 1936 and with financial woes having cramped their style of late, Hearst et al. paid a month-long visit to Mexico. Upon their return they were briefly at San Simeon in April 1941. By the time of his birthday on April 29, always a major event, they were back at Wyntoon for what, with brief exceptions (quick trips to San Francisco and Los Angeles), would become a greatly extended stay. This means they were at Wyntoon on Sunday, December 7, 1941—not at San Simeon, as has long been mistakenly thought. Pearl Harbor reinforced their earlier choice of Wyntoon as a new home base, both for financial reasons (San Simeon was ruinously expensive to operate) and now, under wartime conditions, for obvious security reasons. As Marion told Bing Crosby later in 1941, “Please come and stay with us in a haven of safety. The Japs don’t know this place.”

Despite the wartime conditions, Hearst and Marion made three trips to their Beach House in Santa Monica early in 1942. Then in December that year, they went to Mexico again. Julia Morgan traveled with them: Hearst had plans for building on his huge Babicora Ranch in Chihuahua. Upon returning from Mexico, the party remained in the Los Angeles area from January through May 1943. And then it was back to Wyntoon, which would remain a full-time residence until late in 1944.

A fire broke out at Wyntoon in August 1944.

It ruined the building called The Gables, leaving the party without a dining room. After three months of improvising, a frustrated Hearst decided to move back to San Simeon, where he hadn’t been since the spring of 1941. Although the war was still raging, the coast was no longer vulnerable. Thus began his final two and a half years on the Enchanted Hill, a period in which he resumed building as of 1945 but also during which his movements can be hard to trace. At least we know he never went back to Wyntoon once he left there in November 1944.

The man turned 84 in April 1947. His health would soon force him to relocate permanently to Beverly Hills. Old-timers said he bid San Simeon a sad farewell in May 1947.

which he led what longtime editor, John However, records that surfaced later indicate Even though thehisprospect of moving m Porter, calls “the Coffman revolution.” His July was the date, two months further down future, you owe it to yourself to learn h current book projects include Hearst and the timeline. carefree inbyyour ownHearst home for man St. Louis,living inspired the former William Randolph Hearst had truly gone items in the Saint Louis Art Museum. He’s full circle. Twenty-eight years prior, almost also working on a regional California book, to the month, he and Julia Morgan had conMalibu 90265. Comments or questions are vened on that remote coastal hilltop for the welcome at taylorcoffman@aol.com; see also first time, poised toIt’s launch whatof would a fact lifesoon that asthewe get older, Pristine is fully author’s online posting about the Hearstbecome a great American epic.

Davies Beach House in Santa Monica, at some day-to-day tasks become too licensed and insu www.coffmanbooks.com. much handle All of our worke NOTE: Taylor Coffman wasto a guide at on our own. That Hearst Castle fromdoesn’t 1972 to 1983, during mean you have to move away are carefully scre

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COMMUNITY

history—part 2

the house that chester built

By Joseph A. Carotenuti

J

ust when—if ever—does the thought to “move on” enter into a person’s life? When is it time to shed the past, survey possible futures and enter the passageway into the unknown? While circumstances may force such a move, deliberation requires more effort.

A widower at 46, Chester James Teass was financially secure with a prominent medical career and memories of his pioneer years as a rural physician with innovative medical abilities. Looking forward, Teass decided it was time to set up shop in a small developing community with its new hospital and clientele. Obviously, differences in climate between San Francisco and San Luis Obispo was alluring, but Teass moved to start anew and not just for the weather. If local records don’t dwell on his medical achievements, his legacy remains in architecture and the home he built on the corner of Palm and Osos Streets.

The story continues.

Once resettled, Teass championed a teenager, Dorothy Johnson, to help with daily chores and as a companion for his wife as his daughter had remained in San Francisco. Years later, Dorothy recalled her services for the “very kind man” who helped her enter nursing school and obtain employment at General Hospital. Undoubtedly in appreciation, her son was named Chester. She recalled the doctor’s interests were more than medical. While not a Catholic, Teass was an avid supporter of restoration efforts for the Mission. A devastating fire in 1920 required a series of repairs and renovations that would not be completed until the late 1940s when Sir Harry Downey of Carmel mission fame applied his knowledge and skills to returning the fifth mission to a semblance of its earlier self.

Part of the initial efforts was the annual Fiesta de los Flores (Festival of Flowers) begun in 1925 by the pastor, Fr. Daniel J. Keenan (1925-1929).

The Teass House

The first La Fiesta Queen, Eva Andre, flanked by her Princesses

Teass also had a close association with the parish as the first Fiesta queen, Eva Andre, worked for him and whose uncle, George, was married to Fr. Keenan’s sister. Furthermore, Teass contributed his services to the nuns and resident students at the Immaculate Heart Academy without charge.

The view from his new home included the Georgian designed County Offices and Courthouse and the substantial Andrews Banking Building.

As if to provide a visual contrast to the immense Victorian homes nearby and the more modest dwellings of most other residents, his home was to be simple in its elegance, tasteful in its accents and dignified as befitting one of the earliest surgeons to perform an open heart surgery.

Reached from Palm Street, patients entered the reception room with its ornate hand-painted ceiling. Additionally, business and private offices, two examination rooms and a small surgery completed the medical floor. The residence above was reached from Osos Street and included a spacious living room, large master bedroom/bath and sitting room, a dining room and kitchen with a breakfast area. Over the two-car garage below (now offices), a large bedroom/bath was used by the young Johnson.

Possibly inspired by his trip to Italy with his family years earlier, he employed architect James C. Simms who was associated with Edmund Abrams. Contrary to city records, the two young men were local residents—and not from Santa Barbara—who seem to have affiliated for at least three projects in the County seat. At the time of permit issuance, the cost of construction was estimated to be $18,000, while final costs were recorded as $24,000.

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COMMUNITY Suspecting cancer, Teass sought treatment in 1939. Unfortunately, while attempting a biopsy his esophagus was accidentally perforated (mediastinitis). He died on the operating table at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Los Angeles on December 23. His final illness was reported as having a rapid onset and progress.

When he was laid to rest “scores of mourners” attended the services at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) officiated by a priest who had served with Teass during his brief stint in the military.

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ist,” and “a perfect raconteur” while stories from his mining experience typified his life.

Maud lived in the house until 1945 when she sold it to Douglas and Helen Carpenter for $30,000 and moved south. Today, it is leased as a commercial building but competently maintained to reflect its original intent.

Most all those who remember Teass have also “moved on” from life. At his death, the man was well remembered but fortunately today, we remember the house that Chester built.

Notices of his death in professional and popular publications were both personal and laudatory: an “indefatigable worker,” “kindly heart,” “impulsive manner,” “generous spirit,” “great loyalty to friends,” “distinctly an individual-

Thank you to Sydni Thumond-Hamill and Dean Miller for their valuable assistance.

Contact: jacarotenuti@gmail.com

Chester James Teass

Simms graduated from the University of California in 1914 and by 1917 had placed a small ad as “Architect” in the San Luis Obispo Telegram. Edmund Abrams graduated from the University of Southern California in 1926. While these men never established a formal firm, they did collaborate and shared an Honorable Mention prize money for a home design contest in Glendale (Los Angeles) in 1927 just two years before the doctor employed them to design his home and office. Their professional friendship would continue forward in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Their fortuitous association here would result in the building of two other notable homes: the Maino House (1926) at 1424 Mill Street and the Avila House (1929) at 1443 Osos Street.

Exactly when Teass arrived in San Luis Obispo is not certain, but in 1927 he transferred his license from San Francisco and was reported as chief of staff for the new County Hospital. Completed in front of the cottages that had served County residents for many years, the newspaper assured its readers the enormous expense ($280,000) provided a facility that was “modern in every detail (and had) all modern equipment.” In the next years, Teass joined the County Medical Society and was president in 1935. His wife, Maud, a nurse, also joined the Women’s Auxiliary of the California Medical Society serving in various offices.

Unfortunately, he had a mere ten years to enjoy his medical prominence as well as a prominent home.

Sunday February 3, 2013

Noon to 3 pm

$10 DONATION Tickets are available at the door.

Donations accepted.

All proceeds go to the Scholarship Fund which has given over 300 scholarships to needy students since 1968.

Arrangements assisted by: Founders’ Bank Elks Lodge Springfield Baptist Church St. Luke’s Baptist Church San Luis Sourdough SLO Journal

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COMMUNITY

Hospice corner Hospice volunteers: the power of simple presence

By Steve Willey “What, exactly, do Hospice volunteers do?”

It’s a question familiar to anyone who has volunteered for Hospice.

And, while the question is a good one, it’s important to note the way it is often asked. All too frequently, there can be a mild anxiousness behind the question, as if the asker is a little afraid of what the answer might be. But if you have never volunteered with Hospice, nor known anyone who has, you may be surprised by the answer.

First of all, there are many different ways to give of your time in support of Hospice patients, their families, friends and caregivers.

There always seems to be a need for volunteers to come into the office and assist with mailings and the filing of documents. The office volunteers play an important role as part of the team that supports our patients, helping the office run smoothly so they are able to have the best care possible.

As Hospices must raise funds in their communities to help cover the cost of care, the volunteers who turn out to support our events are highly valued as well. Whether helping to collect items for a silent auction or arriving early to help set up (or coming late to help clean up—we value that the most!), volunteers are an integral part of our fundraising efforts. Here at Hospice Partners, we also have our wonderful Hospice Partners Hope Chest where gently used items of all kinds find new homes while helping to support our services. The Hope Chest is always in need of able-bodied (the work can be physical!) individuals with about four hours a week to spare and who enjoy a retail environment.

For most, the idea of volunteering for Hospice calls to mind directly supporting the patient and the caregiver or family. This is what calls many folks to volunteering and is, indeed, a meaningful way to give of time and (most of all) presence. By way of support, Hospice Partners offers interested individuals a comprehensive, five-week training that provides the essential information one needs to begin volunteering and many opportunities for personal growth. Throughout the year there are regular meetings for support and continuing education.

Volunteers have been a vital part of the Hospice philosophy since the beginning and remain an integral part of the team.

But the gift that volunteers bring to our Hospice patients and families that is most highly valued is the gift of their presence. The simple act of being present at this challenging time is often the most important thing volunteers can do. This presence can take the form of a little caregiver relief, some errands run or some soup heated up on the stove. It can also take the form of a hand held or an empathetic ear.

Often the simple presence of an experienced volunteer in the room can help to calm an anxious caregiver or family member. Even a weekly telephone call can reassure a family that there is someone “out there” supporting them. In offering just a few hours a week of simply being present with no agenda other than, “How may I be of support,” volunteers truly represent the Hospice spirit.

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COMMUNITY

This monthly Hospice Corner is sponsored

by Hospice Partners of the Central Coast.

Steve Willey is the Volunteer Coordinator at Hospice Partners. For more information on volunteering for Hospice or to learn about upcoming trainings, please contact the Volunteer Department of Hospice Partners, call (805) 782-8608 or email swilley@wilshirehcs.org.

35

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37. Clever 39. Used to indicate compliance over radio 40. It hovers 41. Red Cross supply 43. Like something that can’t fit anymore 44. Stay clear 46. *Ernest Hemingway’s nickname 47. Blue-green 48. *Split by a wall 50. Like Dr. Evil’s tiny self 52. Hog heaven?

53. Openmouthed astonishment 55. Recipe amount 57. *Salk’s discovery 61. Sea dog 65. “_____ Last Night,” movie 66. *Shock and ___ 68. Wide open 69. One who “_____ it like it is” 70. 100 lbs.

71. Attach to, as in a journalist 72. Editor’s mark 73. Lamb’s mother

74. Plural of lysis DOWN 1. Those in a play 2. Purim’s month 3. *French Sudan after 1960 4. Correct 5. Heaviest known metal 6. Showing stupidity 7. *Its discovery had a huge impact on crime investigation 8. *Ma Bell, e.g.

9. Equivalent to hands on clock?

10. Eagle’s talons, e.g.

11. Long forearm bone 12. Textile worker 15. ______ talk 20. A despicable person, pl.

22. *Hemingway’s “The ___ Man and the Sea” 24. Sometimes done to an argument 25. Betty Ford Center, e.g.

26. Type of nectar

27. Sorrow 29. Like a billionaire’s pockets 31. Received on special occasions 32. They can be Super or Krazy 33. Enthusiastic approval 34. *First cloned mammal 36. Potting need 38. South American Indian people 42. Kind of ray 45. 20 on a human body 49. *A Bobbsey twin 51. *Newly-founded state, 1948 54. *Gerald Holtom’s sign 56. Unusually small individual 57. Giant kettles 58. Lend a hand 59. *First African-American to host a TV show 60. *Branch Davidians or Heaven’s Gate, e.g.

61. “Out” usually follows it 62. Captures 63. D’Artagnan’s weapon of choice 64. *Bolsheviks 67. *A huge web

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palm street perspective

new year/new term/new opportunities

By SLO City Councilman, Dan Carpenter

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e can all breathe a sigh of relief now that the elections and installations of 2012 are complete and behind us. I’m honored and humbled to have been elected by the residents of this community to continue my service on the City Council. We have much work ahead and I anxiously expect the next four years of my term will be as challenging and rewarding as the last two.

As February rolls around, we are well into our two-year budget and goal-setting process having just completed the Community Forum on January 8th, and the Goal-Setting Workshop on January 26th. This process will culminate in June with the anticipated adoption of the budget for 2013-15. Matching priorities with resources is always a challenge while focusing on maintaining the exceptional programs and services our community cherishes. While we’ve had success in the past at maintaining these extraordinary levels, we must remain cautious as other economic uncertainties linger with the State and Federal budgets.

I expect our focus during this budget cycle will be to reinvest in our streets, bridges, technology, vehicles and facilities. In recent years we’ve neglected the minimum needs of these capital improvement projects as we’ve dedicated our limited resources to maintaining essential services. Now more than ever we

must ramp up our commitment in these areas to avoid a major disruption in service from a catastrophic event.

February also brings interviews for our 15 Advisory Bodies. This Council will be very busy the first two weeks of February interviewing prospective volunteers. We look forward to discussing the various opportunities with the many residents who will apply to be a part of this support process.

As a Councilperson, we rely heavily on the research, expertise, advice and recommendations from these very important committees and commissions.

The diversity and needs of our homeless population continues to be the most important issue facing the City as we start off 2013. We will continue to support organizations that provide services to those residents in need, with emphasis on those who are willing and able to transition into permanent housing. We are currently analyzing our Safe Shelter Program in hopes of providing alternatives to those who prefer unconventional housing. The challenge will be to find a balance in providing critical services to those in need while at the same time maintaining the health and safety of our residential and commercial neighborhoods. This Council is dedicated

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to finding the best combination of solutions to serve this diverse population while continuing to maintain the quality of life our residents expect. With almost 2000 homeless residents in our community this will not be an easy task.

Finally, our updates on the Land Use and Circulation Elements continue with our Task Force and Staff hard at work identifying the challenges and potential solutions to these very important segments of our General Plan. The General Plan is our City’s blueprint for the future.

It represents the community’s vision of goals to help direct decision-making.

Even though we have targeted these two specific elements in our update, the entire General Plan will be looked at as these two elements do affect others aspects of the General Plan.

I look forward to seeing many of you these next four years as I walk the streets of our beautiful City. Please continue to share your thoughts and ideas in person or you may contact me at 805-431-3174 or dcarpent@slocity.org.

Downtown

Around

The Magazine of Downtown San Luis Obispo

Inside:

February 2013

W hat ’s U p Downtown B usiness Spo tlights

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A r o u n d

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ight off the “bat,” exciting news! The Giants Trophy Tour will be coming to the Thursday Night Market on Thursday, February 14—sweet!

Two years ago, after the San Francisco Giants snagged the World Series Championship in 2010, we were honored to host the dazzling award and its entourage offering visitors the opportunity to view and have photos taken with the 20-pound Tiffany treasure.

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adorned with twenty-four karat gold vermeilapplied stitches representing those on a baseball.

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Deborah Cash, CMSM, Executive Director

ow, returning on the heels of winning yet another world series championship— with SF beating the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in the 10th inning to complete the sweep—the trophy will be on display between 6:00 and 8:00 PM at Higuera and Nipomo streets where fans can get an up-close look at what’s officially named “The Commissioner’s Trophy.” Handcrafted by master artisans at Tiffany and Co. in New Jersey, the trophy features thirty pennants representing the teams in the American and National Baseball Leagues encircling a dome base etched with latitude/longitude lines symbolizing the globe and

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nce you’ve gotten a good look and perhaps your photo taken, make it 2 for 2 by impressing your sweetie with a visit to “Sweetheart Night” on Garden Street afterward.

Festivities include flowers, a photo booth, romantic music and dancing for those so inclined.

ur Thursday night event is one of the few street fair markets in the state open year ‘round; as a nod to its success, the Thursday Night Promotions farmers’ market will be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

A subcommittee is enthusiastically planning special events geared for the entire community including Main Stage concerts, and fun and games throughout the summer. We are extremely proud of the market, particularly given that communities from around the globe (Scotland, France, Japan) have inquired about it; we’ve coached dozens of towns that

On the Cover: Awwww…Bring your valentine to the market on Thursday, February 14 for an on-street treat, “Sweetheart

Night” at farmers’ market located at the Garden Street intersection. Romantically-themed live music, roses, photo booth and complimentary “bubbly” (non alcoholic sparking cider) await those who want to enjoy both the hustle and bustle of the market and then take a break to celebrate the occasion. Seating provided. Photo by Deborah Cash

Hey all you San Francisco Giants Fans...

The World Series Championship Trophy is on Tour and is coming to town When:

Thursday, February 14 (Valentines Day) 6 - 8 PM

Where:

Higuera at Nipomo Street, Thursday Night Promotions Farmers’ Market

What:

View the trophy on display, photo opportunities available

Info:

Contact (805) 541 - 0286 (Downtown Association Office)

Trophy info and route: sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/fan_forum/trophy_tour.jsp

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now boast their own version of what we call the “World Famous” farmers market. We hope you are able to join us for all of the above activities this year; for information on these and weekly market goings on, check out the 2013 slate of events at www.DowntownSLO.com.

maintenance to signage and awnings.

It takes a lot of effort (and money) to maintain our beautiful buildings, streetscape and public areas. The Beautification Awards breakfast will be held March 8 and is open to the public.

For more information, call Brent at 5410286.

n other fronts, the Downtown Association is under way with its Beautification Awards program, now celebrating 25 years of honoring Downtown businesses for their efforts in creating a hands-down beautiful Downtown. Each year, Awards chair Marshall Ochylski hands out nearly two dozen prizes including the coveted Mayor’s Award and also the Chairman’s Award and Executive Director’s Award.

Honorees say they are grateful to be acknowledged for their contributions and investment no matter what size or cost. Projects range from large scale new construction to tenant improvements such as remodeling to

lso, I would like to inform readers of “The Blue Mass” in Mission Plaza on February 11. Sponsored by the Diocese of Monterey, this event honors Public Safety Personnel and their families with an assembly at 10 AM followed by a BBQ tri tip lunch after the mass. Bishop Richard Garcia will preside over the celebration to salute both active and retired public safety personnel. Call Deacon Chuck Roeder at 781-8220 ext 32.

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Marshall Ochylski, chair of the Beautification Awards Committee and also a die-hard Giant’s fan, poses with the World Series trophy in 2011 (for the 2010 series). It returns this year on February 14. Photo by Deborah Cash

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y guess is we’ll be batting a thousand this coming year, with activities and programs bound to please all who visit, shop, eat and play… around Downtown.

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B u s i n e s s

S p o t l i g h t s For a dessert to pick you up in the afternoon, cinnamon roll cookies, double chocolate cherry cookies, s’mores and other treats are plentiful.

Breaking Bread Bakery

Mark (L) and Glenna (R) Evans, co-owners 1074 Higuera Street 805-783-1074 Search on Facebook: Breaking Bread Bakery

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eaving the software industry behind in New Hampshire, the Evans returned to California in search of a whole new t Breaking Bread Bakery, great taste is not atmosphere and career change. “There’s an sacrificed at the cost of nutrition. Breads, instant gratification when I see the smiles on muffins and lunch items can be savored without my customers’ faces. You don’t get this out of a crumb of guilt since co-owners Mark and the corporate environment,” Mark said. The Glenna Evans make their bakery goods fresh husband-and wife team knew they wanted to locate their with delightfully healthy ingredients on a daily basis. Baking business in San Luis Obispo as soon as they experienced the Bread opens bright and early at 7:00 am serving fresh muffins, vibrant Downtown and wonderful community. They were breakfast burritos and specials such as quiche, strata, or frittatas thrilled when a spot opened up on Higuera as they dreamed – all made on site in view of the customer. At lunchtime, of owning and operating their bakery on the California the Evans prepare sandwiches, salads, soups, and daily hot coast. After establishing their restaurant, the Evans hope to lunch specials such as stuffed pizza, risotto, baked macaroni wholesale their breads to stores and restaurants in the area. and cheese and more. Especially interesting is a variety of By: Amanda Margozzi bruschettas that are offered with slices of their fresh bread.

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Creeky Tiki

Ryan Hernandez, head chef 782 Higuera Street 805-544-2200 www.CreekyTiki.com

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reeky Tiki underwent a mini makeover this past summer with the help of new head chef, Ryan Hernandez. The locally owned restaurant has eliminated the Mexican theme on its menu and now primarily features Polynesian dishes that you cannot find anywhere else in Downtown. “I gave the food a tiki twist. It’s my goal to freak some people out by how unordinary the dishes are,” Hernandez said. Signature meals include Tuna On Fire, which includes seared ahi tuna over white rice, caprese burgers and braised pork belly sandwiches. If Hernandez’s reinvented menu isn’t enough of a reason to stop by, you can catch him on Saturday nights playing drums along with head bar tender Jordan Traub in the tiki “family” band Cali Connection at the Creeky Tiki.

By: Amanda Margozzi

Takken’s Shoes

Cris (L) and Marc (R) Takken, co-owners 668 Marsh Street 805-543-6662 www.Takkens.com

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eturning to their SLO town roots, brothers and coowners Cris and Marc Takken have re-acquired Takken’s of San Luis Obispo. Their grandfather, Harry Takken, founded the business in 1937 and the business has since has grown to 24 locations throughout the state. In 1995, The SLO location was sold to the Takken brother’s Aunt and Uncle, Martin and Ellen Henry. Upon their retirement, and because of their roots in the community, Cris and Marc saw the opportunity to get re-involved in the SLO business community. “Marc and I were both raised in the shoe business, have worked all over the state, and wanted to return to San Luis Obispo because of our love of community,” said Cris. The brothers are remodeling the store location and over the next few months will be dramatically increasing product selection to appeal to a broader customer base.

By: Amanda Margozzi Collegiate ranking for USAT; Collegiate Southwest Regional Championships for mountain biking and top 10 Collegiate National for mountain biking; Second Place finisher in Race Across the West (RAW) and 2012 winner of the USAC 24Hour mountain biking championship. All of their athletes have reached or exceeded their goals.

Black Bicicletta Athletekture and Design

Phil Reimer (pictured) and Bobbi Calero Reimer, co-owners & coaches 1075 Court Street, Suite 202 www.MountainJoule.com 805.459.5003 or 928.202.8002

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lack Bicicletta Athletekture and Design is an indoor training, biomechanical fit studio, and coaching resource for cyclists, runners and triathletes. The studio name “Bicicletta” is Italian for cycling and is intended to capture cycling’s European heritage. “Athletekture” is defined as the art and science of creating training programs for successful athletic performance.

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oaches Phil Reimer and Bobbi Calero Reimer are passionate about coaching and have a wide variety of experience with novice and elite athletes, individuals and teams. Their accomplishments include Collegiate Southwest Regional Championships for Duathlon and top 30 National

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he studio, which has a new location in Downtown San Luis Obispo, will provide the same state-of-the art bike fits and power training environment that was provided at the original studio in Flagstaff, Arizona. Master certified bike fitter Phil Reimer can help you optimize the interface between you and your bike.

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lack Bicicletta is committed to your success and will provide you with the most professional personal coaching to ensure that you meet or exceed your goals. And while goals are important, we like to remember to enjoy the journey.

Contact Black Bicicletta to begin your journey to success. Ciao!

By: Phil Reimer

THE BULLETIN BOARD

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gordon snyder’s new book

Local writer, Gordon Snyder has written another book. His current book, I’m Traveling As Fast As I Can, is a mixture of humorous stories and descriptive vignettes of special places and experiences while traveling around the world. He hopes you’ll enjoy this one as much as his others. Snyder’s other books include: Sigourney’s Quest, The Separatist, The Hypnotist, and Venice Lost. They can be ordered through the book stores or online through Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

The new one is not available on kindle yet, but should be shortly. Also, Bucket of Books in Atascadero just stocked it, and it will be in Coalesce in Morro Bay soon.

2013 mid-state fair theme announced “start spreading the news”

The California Mid-State Fair announced the theme for the 2013 fair, “Start Spreading the News,” featuring Paso Pete and crew celebrating the world of communications and publications. From experiencing the early days of news print to today’s world of viral media, there will be new exhibits and competitions for the fairgoer to enjoy. Fair officials collaborated with Cal Poly’s Advanced Fair Management class on creating an innovative concept that would be successful in not only marketing, but program and exhibition concepts as well.

“We are excited to have Paso Pete take a more literal trip that allows the staff to be creative in new and innovative manners,” noted Vivian Robertson, CEO. “In today’s ever-changing world of communications, our goal is to inspire everyone to join in the fun during our annual fair “by spreading the news.” I am extremely grateful to the Cal Poly students for the original conception.” The Cal Poly Fair Management Program is part of the Agribusiness Department and began in 1965.

For more information or results for the 2013 California Mid-State Fair, please visit our website at www.midstatefair.com. The California Mid-State Fair will run July 17 – July 28, 2013.

34th annual library book sale

The SLO Friends of the Library will be presenting their highly-anticipated 34th Annual Book Sale, February 28 – March 2, 2013. The sale takes place at the SLO Veterans Memorial Building, 801 Grand Avenue. Dates and times will be as follows: Thursday, February 28th, from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.

(Members only, with memberships sold at the door). Friday, March 1st, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday, March 2nd 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. There will be a large selection of items this year, including approximately 8,000 audiovisual items. More than 20,000 books will be available, with an especially large inventory of children’s, art, cooking, health, history, and literature books. Books will be sold at $1 per inch. CDs and DVDs will be $1. VHS tapes, audio tapes and books on tape will be 50 cents. An excellent selection of Special Price Books will be available, which are rare or unusual titles of interest to the collector or specialist. Proceeds from the sale will go toward materials and improvements for the SLO Library. Keys to the success of the sale are the large number of volunteers (over 100 are needed) and the large number of donations from the community. Those interested in donating materials or volunteering may contact Paul Murphy at 544-3033.

pancakes for miracle network

Batter up, breakfast lovers! IHOP®, one of America’s most popular family-friendly restaurants, known for “everything you love about breakfast,” will once again invite guests to enjoy free pancakes during National Pancake Day on February 5th, while celebrating Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ 30th Anniversary. On this day, the restaurant chain hopes to raise $3 million as the first national fundraising campaign to kick off the 2013 fundraising year for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. During National Pancake Day, the company’s largest philanthropic event of the year, more than 1,500 IHOP restaurants across the country will invite guests to enjoy a complimentary stack of IHOP’s signature delicious buttermilk pancakes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Guests will be encouraged to make a voluntary contribution to the local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital or other local charities. One hundred percent of the donations will help local charities provide vital equipment, life-saving procedures and critical care for sick and injured children.

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(805) 593-1400 (805) 593-1401 fax (805) 593-1413 direct (805) 235-1043 cell

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42

puma aquatic team raises $9000 for cancer center

The Boys & Girls PUMA Aquatic Team recently raised $9,000 for the Hearst Cancer Resource Center (HCRC) at their fifth annual swim meet at Arroyo Grande High School. More than 300 swimmers from the Central Coast, Central Valley, and Southern California participated in the event. Over the past five years, the PUMA Aquatic Team has donated $49,000 to the HCRC. The meet raised funds through local sponsorships, entry fees, a silent auction and concession stand sales. The HCRC provides free supportive and educational services necessary for cancer patients to understand their disease, tolerate treatment, and maintain dignity and quality of life throughout all aspects of their cancer experience.

The HCRC collaborates with the community and physician partners to bring San Luis Obispo County a comprehensive epicenter of oncology knowledge and empowerment. For more information on the Hearst Cancer Resource Center, visit www. supportfrenchhospital.org. For more information on Puma Aquatics, please visit www.pumaswim.org.

atascadero to celebrate 100-years of history

This month the City of Atascadero is hosting the Atascadero and Joe Schwartz Centennial Special Event. Celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the founding of its Colony, Atascadero will reflect on how our founding father E. G. Lewis wanted the Colony of Atascadero to be California’s first master planned, sustainable and progressive community. At the same time one of Atascadero’s most famous citizens Joe Schwartz, is also turning 100 (pictured above).

Joe Schwartz is an internationally recognized and published Folk Photographer whose documentation of the “have-nots” of America from the 1930s to the 1980s will become the first and permanent exhibit of the Smithsonian Institution’s 19th and final museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture. This distinction will forever link Atascadero to Washington, DC via this one-half billion-dollar museum scheduled for completion in 2015.

To celebrate Atascadero’s history and both momentous centennials, the City of Atascadero will host several days of special events from

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February 12th-15th. The events will include a proclamation at the February 12th City Council meeting, a display with approximately 50 pieces of Joe’s photography in City Hall, two special receptions and a movie fundraiser at Galaxy Movie Theaters. For more detailed information, please log on to our website at http://www. joeschwartzatascaderocentennial.org/ or call (805) 461-5000.

SVMC installs new slate of officers

Phillip Kissel, M.D., a San Luis Obispo-based neurosurgeon, has been elected Chief of Staff at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center (SVMC) for 2013. He assumes the leadership of the nearly 400-member medical staff at San Luis Obispo County’s largest hospital from James Hannah, M.D. Dr. Kissel is board certified in neurosurgery and joined the Sierra Vista medical staff in 1989. William Sogaard, M.D., a hospitalist, was elected vice chief of staff and Ross Michel, M.D., medical director of the Sierra Vista’s Intensive Care Unit, will serve as secretary/treasurer.

von’s foundation donates $2500 to big brothers

The Von’s Foundation and their employees awarded a grant of $2,500 to Big Brothers Big Sisters to support the agency’s volunteer engagement and youth mentoring activities. Big Brothers Big Sisters

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Executive Director, Anna Boyd Bucy said “The Vons Foundation is helping local families by improving the odds that participating children will perform better in school, avoid violence and illegal activities, and have stronger relationships with their parents and others.” Carlos Illingworth, Chair of the Vons Foundation, said “We believe it is important to give back in the communities where we operate stores.” In the photo above from left to right are Anna BoydBucy, executive director, Hal Sweasey, board president, and Monique Carlton, board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters receiving a check from John Nightingale, San Luis Obispo store manager for Vons. For more information on volunteering or contributing to Big Brothers Big Sisters, call 781-3226, or log onto www.slobigs.org.

hospice volunteers needed

Hospice Partners of the Central Coast is looking for individuals to be Hospice In-Home Volunteers in your area. The twentyhour volunteer training program begins onFrank Thursday, February 7, 2013 (from 1:00 to 5:00 pm) and continues on each subsequent Thursday, ending on March 7. Though the training will be held in San Luis Obispo, volunteers are needed in all areas of SLO County and especially in North Santa Barbara County. Spanishspeaking volunteers are also needed. Hospice in-home volunteers provide support and companionship for Hospice patients and their families. This training affords you with an opportunity for personal growth while equipping you with the skills you will need for a meaningful volunteer experience. Volunteers are also needed for office assistance, mailings and fundraising events—minimal training necessary. Hospice Partners of the Central Coast offers a comprehensive In-Home Hospice program to terminally ill individuals and their families: including visits from nurses, social workers, spiritual counselors, home health aides, dietitians, grief and bereavement counselors and volunteers. The goal is to provide all the things that terminally ill patients and their families need most: freedom from pain, emotional and spiritual support and the ability to control the direction of their own care. To sign up or for more information, please call Steve Willey, Volunteer Manager, 782-8608 or 782-8617 ext.113.

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Director, Mathews Elijah, who was recognized for 20 years of service to the agency and Marianne Kennedy, Executive Director, was recognized for 26 years of service. The agency and its Board of Directors would like to again thank the local community for its consistent and ongoing dedication and support throughout the organization’s 34 years of successful operation. In addition to emergency shelter, case management and counseling services, the agency has expanded by offering the county’s only free temporary restraining order (TRO) clinic staffed by pro bono attorneys, California Emergency Management Agency funded Child Abuse Treatment Program and 10 units of agency owned Transitional housing. To find out more about available services, please visit www.wspslo.org or like us on Facebook. To contact the agency’s 24/7 crisis line, please call (805) 781-6400.

new Dignity health human resources v.p.

Women’s Shelter honorees, Marianne Kennedy and Mathews Elijah.

Women’s shelter honors employees/volunteers The Women’s Shelter Program of SLO County recently held a staff and volunteer recognition event recognizing over 85 current staff and volunteers for their dedicated service to the agency. Beth Raub, Danijela Dornan, Mary Cooper, Liz Ochoa, Erika Saunders, Shona Pruitt and Laurie Fiant were recognized for over 10 years of service. Matt Lackie and Penny Chamousis were recognized for over 15 years of service. Pictured above is the agency’s Clinical

D ressing Windows in San Luis Obispo for over 39 Years

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Dignity Health Central Coast, which includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, French Hospital Medical Center and Marian Regional Medical Center is pleased to welcome Jay King to the role of Vice President of Human Resources. Mr. King has more than 30 years of experience in human resources and operations management for health care organizations and nonprofits. In his role, King will be a key member of the Dignity Health Central Coast Management Team, overseeing Human Resources, Education, and Employee Health and Workman’s Compensation. King comes to the Central Coast from Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield where he was the Vice President of Human Resources.

free senior healthcare 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.

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also purchased by CCFC to fill in the needed areas not covered.

CCFC purchased an iPad for the an autistic child, purchased $500 worth of books that were distributed to 5 different agencies in the county, purchased 65 winter jackets and distributed to the Abused Children Treatment Services, Women’s Shelter of SLO, South County Youth Coalition and the Homeless Shelter.

central coast funds for children Central Coast Funds for Children (CCFC) recently installed their 2013 officers (pictured above from l to r): Treasurer Susan Murray, Grant Review Chair Leslie Rodman, Recording Secretary Marsha Braun, Vice-President Debbie Craven, President Ricki Pace, Parliamentarian Patti Hempenius, Corresponding Secretary Paula Tolbert and Fund Raising Chair Claudia Grant (absent).

Central Coast Funds for Children raises funds all year through various fundraisers and donations, then distributes approximately 95% of these funds raised through grant requests. These requests must be from non-profit organizations working for children in need, under the age of 18 and residing in San Luis Obispo County.

Since 1994, CCFC has awarded more than $1.2 million to over 85 different local agencies. For more information or if you would like to donate to CCFC, please view the under construction website at: centralcoastfundsforchildren.org.

Leslie Rodman and Ricki Pace purchasing jackets at Old Navy, SLO distributed to the Abused Children Treatment Services

CCFC’s Annual December Meeting/Luncheon was held at the SLO Country Club where members and trustees enjoyed their holiday social and heard of the many 2012 accomplishments. The most rewarding accomplishment was raising and fulfilling all grant requests to other non-profit organizations helping children in San Luis Obispo County totaling $80,800. December brought smiles to every child at the Child Development Resource Center by each member purchasing new shoes and socks for them. CCFC partnered with KJUG Radio and Golden 1 Credit Union on DJ’s for PJ’s in Paso Robles. Over 500 pairs of pajamas were collected from the community and distributed to local agencies. Pajamas were

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COMMUNITY

eye on Business When santa maria meets arroyo grande

By Maggie Cox, Barnett Cox & Associates Union Oil workers in the 1950s

N

early sixty years ago, Union Oil Company built an oil refinery in a rural area adjacent to the ocean between Arroyo Grande and Guadalupe. The refinery was needed to process the vast amounts of crude oil coming from the Santa Maria Valley as well as the Central Valley. Because most of the crude originated in Santa Maria oil fields, the facility was named the “Santa Maria Refinery.” Operations at the refinery continue today.

I want to write this month’s column about the refinery for several reasons. First of all, I think it’s interesting to highlight an industrial use in San Luis Obispo County that has provided jobs (now for two generations) for local residents. I think it’s interesting that the facility has operated seven days a week, 24 hours a day for 57 years, and I think it’s interesting that there is an oil operation in our county that goes about its business with profound regard for both safety and the environment and with philanthropic support for local education and environmental interests.

But more than anything, I think it’s just important to know the refinery is here. I know about it first-hand because I’ve been involved with the refinery for years, through owners including Unocal, Tosco, Phillips Petroleum, Conoco Phillips and now Phillips 66. I continue to be surprised by longtime locals who are surprised to hear there’s a refinery out on the mesa. I think that’s a tribute to the people who operate the facility and commit themselves to being good neighbors.

I’ll give you the short version: the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery, located in Arroyo Grande, processes 44,500 barrels of crude oil a day. This refinery is actually a mid-step player in the refining process. Crude oil arrives by underground pipe to the facility, is processed to a semi-refined state and then shipped on, also via pipeline, to a much larger refinery in Rodeo in the SF Bay Area. Rodeo finishes the refining process and sells the finished products as ready-to-use fuel.

The local refinery is an economic engine, providing more than 200 jobs (about 133 employees and 90 contractors) and all the multiplier effects those jobs produce. A building project under way on the property is employing a dozen Central Coast companies as subcontractors. The refinery partners with the Dunes Center, State Department of Parks and Recreation and the Land Conservancy of SLO County in providing stewardship to the land surrounding the facility. And the refinery has been repeatedly recognized for safety achievements, including being one of three refineries nationwide (and the only California operation) to achieve the highest safety honor given by the industry’s lead trade association.

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Union Oil workers today

Operations like the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery are easy to overlook in our business community. They’re not on the main thoroughfare or much in the news, but they have shaped the community over the years. They continue to have a profound influence on the local economy and in turn the quality of life on the Central Coast. There are other businesses out there with similar stories to tell, and I’d love to hear them. Feel free to contact me at mcox@barnettcox.com.

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