August 2017 Journal Plus Magazine

KURT KUPPER | L AUNDRY ANGEL | WILL & DEVIN JONES | BOB ISENBERG

JournalPLUS AUGUST 2017

MAGAZINE OF THE CENTRAL COAST

BIRD WATCHING ON THE CENTRAL COAST

805-543-2172

805-904-6616

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110 E. Branch Street, Arroyo Grande

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Well-kept single level two bedroom, one bath with street access entry. Private Patio, carport and on site laundry. Complex has well maintained grounds and a pool for your enjoyment. $339,000

Fantastic tucked away location but still close to parks, schools and town.

Built in 2000 this 3 bedroom, 2 bath home features an open concept floorplan. Upgraded kitchen finishes, Gas Fireplace and vaulted ceilings. Drought resistant landscaping and a 2 car garage. $425,000

Move-in Ready in Santa Maria

Arroyo Grande Village Home

Desirable neighborhood on North-East side of town. 3 bedroom, 3 bath home with a spacious master suite, Kitchen with Center Island and separate dining room, Living and Family room with a Fireplace. Finished 2 car garage with storage cabinets. $475,000

Tucked away down a private gated driveway lined with avocado and citrus trees. Beautiful Spanish style 4 bedroom, 2 3/4 bath home. Pristine home completely updated and move in ready with designer touches throughout. $714,900

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This 3 bedroom, 2 bath home is a must see! From the front door to the backyard you won’t be disappointed. Many upgrades throughout and all new appliances. The deck and patio are designed for relaxing and entertaining.

Mature orange and fuyu persimmon trees. $749,000

Beautiful Tuscan Style estate featuring 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. Grand entrance with beautiful flowing rooms. Owners suite privately tucked away on entry level. Custom tile and a gourmet kitchen with many upgrades throughout.

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BlackHorse A Proud Par t of the SLO Communit y - since 1995 -

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Higuera | Broad St. | Foothill | Los Osos Valley Road

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

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UNITED METHODIST CHURCH TURNS 150

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

EDITOR & PUBLISHER Steve Owens ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Erin Mott GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dora Mountain COPY EDITOR Susan Stewart PHOTOGRAPHER Tom Meinhold DISTRIBUTION Jan Owens, Kyle Owens, Jim Parsons, Gary Story ADVERTISING Steve Owens CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Susan Stewart, Joseph Carotenuti, Dr. James Brescia, Sarah Hedger, Maggie Cox, Dominic Tartaglia, Deborah Cash, Heather Young, Dr. Don Morris, Ruth Starr, Will Jones, Andy Pease, Charmaine Coimbra, Curtis Reinhardt and Sherry Shahan 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 BY CLEVE NASH

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CHASE WOMMACK

KURT KUPPER

PEOPLE 8 10 12 16

LAUNDRY ANGEL – CHASE WOMMACK KURT KUPPER FATHER/SON TRIP - WILL & DEVIN JONES BOB ISENBERG

HOME & OUTDOOR 18 20 22 24

SLODOG’S CARING CANINES UNITED METHODIST CHURCH TURNS 150 SLO BIRKENSTOCK TURNS 40 FOOD / AT THE MARKET

COMMUNITY 26 27 28 29 30 32 34 41 42

PASO ART SCENE SLO ART SCENE PALM STREET PERSPECTIVE Andy Pease THEODORE ROOSEVELT MONUMENT HISTORY ON THE “HOOF” Pismo Beach HISTORY: California 1856, part 4 OUR SCHOOLS – Dr. James Brescia GREATEST ATHLETES – Mohinder Gill COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

BUSINESS

36 EYE ON BUSINESS 37 DOWNTOWN SLO What’s Happening

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August Hero Profile

2017

Children’s Bill of Rights #8: As the children and youth of San Luis Obispo County, may we each explore a variety of experiences—in arts, nature, culture and music—that illuminate the world’s natural beauty, richness and human creativity.

AUGUST HERO

Kunchang Lee

PASSION

Empowering youth through dance, music, theater and beyond ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE KUNCHANG

Extraordinary NOMINATED BY

Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation

Kunchang Lee is a champion for children, sharing his own artistic gifts with children and encouraging them to be their true, authentic selves.

For the last 13 years, Kunchang has worked as an instructor with the Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation, a non-profit academy whose mission is to enrich the lives of area youth with free classes in the visual and performing arts. Kunchang teaches guitar, piano and break dancing; he studied under Ralph Grasso, a guitarist/ composer for motion pictures, television and records.

Colleagues say Kunchang is extremely generous with his time and talents, teaching to the whole child— heart, mind, body and soul. He works steadily and softly to help each of his students build self-esteem and a positive self-image. In one case, Kunchang inspired a young dancer, through the spirit of “I can!”, to start teaching the children in her own lowincome apartment complex how to dance, sing and be part of a musical production. Her efforts gave these children a creative outlet, a sense of purpose and a fun, healthy routine.

When another student was disrupting her class, Kunchang’s delicate demeanor helped her learn how to listen and be respectful of others. Under his kind guidance, she discovered what was special about her own self and the arts.

Year after year, Kunchang has proven to be a dedicated youth advocate and a respected role model for students all over northern San Luis Obispo County. His alumni always remember him, and peers and parents alike say that his influence on the community grows with each child whose artistic passion he helps to ignite.

Thank you, Kunchang.

You are a true Hands-On Hero.

Hands-On Heroes is a special recognition of dedicated individuals who believe in and support the Children’s Bill of Rights, an achievable vision that our children grow up with healthy minds, bodies and spirits that enable them to maximize their potential. This program is coordinated by First 5 San Luis Obispo County in collaboration with local organizations that make a difference in the lives of children in our community. To find out more about First 5 and the Children’s Bill of Rights, please visit first5slo.org.

Design: Verdin

Look for more on all of our Hands-On Heroes on COE-TV channel 19!

From the publisher

I’ve got nothing to do today but smile.

– PAUL SIMON –

W

e have two great profiles on people who make a difference this month.

Long time environmentalist, Kurt Kupper isn’t in the news as much as in the previous decades but he still continues to be a force in our community. Deborah Cash caught up with him and gives us an update. Bob Isenberg keeps an eye on the home of a Falcon that resides on Morro Rock.

His telescope is set up regularly for visitors to view the bird close-up. Both stories are good reads.

Will Jones recently took a father/son road trip to Arizona and Utah. They did some camping, hiking, climbing and rafting.

He writes about this fantastic experience with his son. You’ll love the photos.

Finally, Curtis Reinhardt gives us the history and an update on the SLO Methodist Church’s 150th anniversary celebration. Councilwoman, Andy Pease tells us the latest news on the City and we get an update on John Ashbaugh’s quest to place a Theodore Roosevelt Monument in SLO. Roxanne’s Birkenstock store celebrates 40 years in downtown and remains a family run business. All this for your reading pleasure and more.

Enjoy the magazine.

NEW PATIENTS WELCOME Steve Owens

11545 LOS OSOS VALLEY ROAD, SUITE A SAN LUIS OBISPO

( 8 0 5 ) 5 41- 5 8 0 0 RYA N R O S S D D S . C O M

ANNUAL SIREN TEST

SATURDAY AUGUST 26 NOON AND 12:30 PM

The San Luis Obispo County Early Warning System sirens will be tested on Saturday, August 26.

Sirens will sound at noon and again at 12:30 pm for three minutes.

During the tests, no action is required on the part of the public.

Local radio and tv stations will conduct normal programming during the tests. If you hear the sirens at any other time, tune to a local radio or tv station for important emergency information.

When at sea, tune to Marine Channel 16.

Sponsored by the San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services a n d Pa c i f i c G a s a n d E l e c t r i c C o m p a n y . Pa i d f o r b y Pa c i f i c G a s a n d E l e c t r i c C o m p a n y .

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 — IT’S ONLY A TEST Connect with us on Facebook® facebook.com/SLOCountyOES

Follow us on Twitter®@slocountyoes

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PEOPLE

chase wommack Laundry angel

By Sherry Shahan

C

hase Wommack was in second grade when his mom took him to the Food Bank Coalition in Paso Robles, an agency that works to alleviate hunger in San Luis Obispo County.

The Food Bank operates The Summer Food Service Program, providing nutritious breakfast, lunch, and snacks to kids struggling with hunger. During the school year, 16,000 children are part of Free or Reduced Priced Meals programs at school. But during summer break they don’t have access to these meals.

Last summer, Chase volunteered at one of the sites once a week, serving between 50 to 200 lunches in a day. He liked making new friends and helping them.

One day he noticed a man in shabby clothes pushing a shopping cart near his house in Templeton. “Do you think he has soap in his cart?”

Chase asked his mom.

Before she could answer, he said, “Maybe we can we take him home and wash his clothes.”

His mom joked, “What will he wear while his clothes are in the washing machine?”

Chase laughed, too, but he still wanted to help. When they got home he dragged a plastic bin onto the front porch. He printed a sign: PUT DIRTY CLOTHES HERE. Then, he waited. But no one came.

His mom was involved in another project to help people in the community. She’d been collecting slightly used blankets and sleeping bags for Echo Homeless Shelter in Atascadero, a facility with 50 beds that helps individuals and families find housing of their own.

Chase’s plan grew even bigger when he visited the shelter with his mom. He told a volunteer about his idea to wash clothes for people.

She explained Echo’s Laundry Angel program.

Now Chase goes with his mom to the shelter once a week. He takes towels off the drying racks and puts them in plastic bags. Between 4 and 6 sets of sheets go in their own bags. He washes 3 or 4 loads a week.

His mom donates the detergent pods. “Chase puts an extra pod in each load for an extra dose of love,” she said.

Chase told a friend about his project. “I don’t usually like chores, but I saw a homeless guy who looked like he needed a friend. It’s easy to put sheets and towels in the washing machine.”

Chase has started drawing pictures and hiding them in the towels when he folds them. “Everyone likes surprises,” he said.

As his mom put it, “You’re helping the world one load of laundry at a time.”

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A R T T H E R A P Y & PA I N T I N G C L A S S

Strokes for Stroke encourages stroke survivors and their caregivers to participate in rehabilitation through art.

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Designed for all levels of stroke recovery, no previous painting experience required

•

Special focus on techniques that help stimulate brain function & improve hand-eye coordination

•

A tour of the museum & a heart-healthy lunch are included

•

Transportation provided from Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

10 am - 1 pm San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, 1010 Broad Street, SLO

Sierra Vista is proud to have earned these stroke certifications: Certified by The Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center for advanced stroke care

Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Complimentary event. Registration required.

(844) 316-0276

PEOPLE

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kurt kupper

Christine Mulholland and Kurt

“when you see something important, go for it.”

By Deborah Cash

A

s a young boy living in rural Oregon with his mother and three sisters, Kurt Kupper learned some important lessons: make do, can do and take care of others.

“My whole life was instilled with values my mother, Martha Jane, modeled. Anything that’s good about me came from my mother,” he said. The family lived simply, worked hard and, said Kurt, “I was butchering chickens and rabbits by the time I was seven—we all pitched in.” From these childhood elements developed a man with strong feelings about humankind, the environment, community and pursuing what he believed in.

After moving from Oregon to Topanga, CA, and later to San Francisco, Kupper arrived in San Luis Obispo in 1968 to attend Cal Poly with his wife and baby son in tow. Enrolled in the architecture program, Kupper also had an eye on money-making opportunities and it wasn’t long before one landed right in his lap, surprisingly from all places: one of his Cal Poly professors. Seems Kupper answered an ad in the paper for a Rooming House Manager and his instructor R. L. Graves answered the phone. Graves had a boarding house on Santa Barbara Street called the Colonial Hotel. Once hired, Kupper changed the name to “The Establishment” and after completing a few upgrades, he filled the place up with architecture students and established an income stream. Kupper likes to point out that in earlier years, the Colonial Hotel had experienced an earthquake that tilted the building on its foundation. Rather than right the building, the then-owners simply built a façade that was straight up and down and left the leaning structure behind it with “doors that stay open on one side and stay closed on the other. It’s still that way.”

Not long after, Kupper signed up for a lottery to buy a mess hall from Camp San Luis. “They were clearing an area on the base to make room for Cuesta College,” he explained. “The only catch was you had to tear the facility down and haul all the wood away in 45 days.”

A young Kurt and his sisters on their rural Oregon farm A U G U S T

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Kupper, who had “$3,000 in my pocket,” when he arrived in SLO had a plan. He won the bid, bought a $10,000 house in SLO, hired architecture students to tear the mess hall down, hauled the dismantled structure to his newly purchased property in town and then built a unit in the back with the wood. “Both structures are still standing,” he says proudly. “That was a helluva year,” he recalled. “Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated. My second son was born.”

Architecture school progress was sporadic, he says. “I was working, my wife Joanie was home with the kids, Kristopher and Damon.” About this time, Kupper became involved with then-EOC and its Head Start

Kathleen O’Neill, Governor Jerry Brown and Kurt Kupper in Mission Plaza in the late 70s.

Kurt’s sons: (L-R) Kristopher, Steven and Damon

program, serving on the Parent Policy Council. He got his first taste of activism when his committee realized they had a true voice in actually improving policies.

“That ‘Taste of Success,’” he muses.

Moreover, the early ‘60s environmental science book “Silent Spring” had spawned an international interest in ecological awareness. Kupper, who’d known the beauty and simplicity of country living and realizing that the world’s natural systems were at-risk, felt energized to do something about it.

In 1972, he ran for the SLO County Board of Supervisors and he, along with Richard Kresja, were elected to serve. “Kresja and I were the first ‘environmental’ candidates,’” he recalls. “Environment WAS my platform.” Things got dramatic right away. “We’d only been in office a week,” he said, “when the big storm of ’73 hit and there was flooding everywhere. Of course the ‘environmentalists’ were blamed for the flooding.” Though there were definite challenges, Kupper says he very much enjoyed his time as a supervisor, making a difference and working to better the community. “I took peoples’ interests very seriously.”

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“riding all around the west.” The fun-loving couple was crowned King and Queen of Mardi Gras in 1986. “We loved the people, it was a good time,” Kupper said.

During this time, Kupper became involved in the Fair Share Measure A campaign addressing growth management, development, protection of agricultural lands and affordable housing. “I was a spokesperson for this and other causes, supported by hard-working, dedicated, smart people, each contributing what we could for what was sustainable and worthwhile,” he said.

Later on, Kupper, recently single, met Sally Craig with whom he shared his life for the next 26 years. They lived in the country near Atascadero, enjoying a life pretty close to the years of Kupper’s childhood. They decided to sell the farm; Sally moved away to be near her grandchildren and Kupper returned to live in SLO and is taking life easy. While he still cares about people and the world, his activism is dialed down. “I still gripe about things,” he says, “but now I spend my time going to see my family,” which also includes his third son Steven and several grandkids.

Close friend Christine Mulholland said, “Kurt was always good at leading the charge,” noting she’d worked with him on a variety of projects when she was on the board at ECOSLO. Kupper, whose manner is calm and kind said, “Oh, there was always an endless stream of important things to get involved with. I just leaped in and picked up the baton and ran with it.” Definitely his mother’s son.

Kupper, who doggedly and finally obtained his B.S. in Architecture around this time, served three terms and later went on to work on other initiatives and environmental matters and also served as Executive Director of ECOSLO for six years.

Recalling his early years of coming into adulthood, he says he definitely pushed his limits and tried to figure out who he was, as many were wont to do in the ‘60s. “I got a little out of line,” he relates about an escapade that involved climbing the Golden Gate bridge, figuring he would scale his way up and take an elevator down the tower but didn’t realize until too late he needed a key to get into the elevator.

A tired Kupper climbed nearly all the way back down whereupon a CHP officer informed him he was under arrest. “It was important to me to step into the circle and then go beyond what my limit was; I just wanted to make sense of the world,” he says. When he got to Cal Poly, he pushed the boundaries there too. “I chaired the Poly Royal architectural program. We wanted to get people out to our projects in Poly Canyon and it didn’t seem possible. I saw military trucks on the Camp San Luis property adjacent and went to higher ups until we were granted use of the trucks to shuttle visitors up the Canyon. We didn’t know what we couldn’t do, so we just pushed ahead.”

In the mid ‘70s, Kupper married his second wife, Kathleen O’Neill and the two set out on a series of adventures: sailing, farm living and A U G U S T

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father and son road trip

will & devin jones the natural glories of utah

By Will Jones Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry—Jack Kerouac Nine days. The first to pick up my oldest son, Devin, flying in from Boston, in Las Vegas, and then driving to St. George, Utah. The second to get up super early and do some rock climbing, and then a long drive to Bluff, Utah, the jumping off point for four days of rafting on the San Juan River .

Next, a day exploring canyons searching for petroglyphs and Anasazi ruins, a day to drive back to St. George, and, finally, another stop in Vegas to drop Devin off at the airport, and on to San Luis Obispo.

Exhausting? You bet! Exhilarating and unforgettable? Absolutely!

Growing up in Philadelphia in the ‘50s and ‘60s, I tried all the traditional ball sports. I may have been the worst football player ever to wear a uniform. I was OK at baseball and basketball, but never good enough to make the varsity team. Couldn’t hit the curve, hopelessly left-handed on the court.

Luckily, I discovered track in my senior year, which ignited a four decade love of running from being a competitive middle distance runner in my teens to running a couple of marathons in my thirties, finally petering out in my sixties after running the 5K as a member of a relay team in the San Luis Triathlon. I still shuffle up and down San Luis Mountain and Johnson Avenue, but no one would mistake it for running.

The proud father of three sons, I encouraged them to try as many sports as possible, and they covered an impressive range –baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, dirt biking, motocross, skating, surfing– but it was running at which they all excelled, accumulating many individual and team successes at San Luis Obispo High School.

I’ll never forget the day I took Devin to compete in a one-mile Pumpkin Run at Laguna Lake Park when he was in 7th grade. Ball sports

Devin in Tomcat A U G U S T

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Devin and Will Jones

were not working out for him, so I hoped he might have inherited some of my running genes. I told him to go out at a comfortable pace and hold it as long as he could. To his utter astonishment, he finished 3rd overall in 5:23, and his eyes were as big as saucers when he crossed the line. “I’ve found my sport, dad!”

Now thirty-six, married, and the father of two young children, Devin has run the Boston Marathon three times, with a personal record of 2 hours and 42 minutes. While at Cal Poly, he worked at Poly Escapes and was a trip leader for Moving Mountains. He became proficient as a rock climber, backpacker and all-weather mountaineer.

During that time, he reintroduced me to backpacking, which I hadn’t done since the ‘70s, with trips in 2002 and 2003 to the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness and The Devil’s Bathtub and high Sierras above Lake Em-

San Juan Canyon

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The River Rafting Group

erson. Younger brothers Willie and Brady accompanied us on the first trip and Brady on the second. Since then I have backpacked almost every summer, and sometimes twice, usually in the Eastern Sierras, my favorite place on the planet.

In 2015 Devin and I, and an old college friend of mine, did a forty mile loop out of Mammoth Lakes, a couple of months after I summited Mt. Whitney at the end of a sixty mile trip. Since then, thanks to Frank Sainburg, my usual backpacking partner, I have added rock climbing to my list of outdoor activities. Not an easy sport to get into

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A hike from San Juan to Cedar Mesa.

in one’s late 60’s, but the accessibility of many climbing walls and reasonable climbing routes on Bishop Peak makes it ideal for a beginner.

I love the challenge and the opportunity to learn something new.

Earlier in the year, at the invitation of a good friend, John Mansfield, who lives in Colorado, Devin and I and two other San Luis Obispo friends, Rob and Ann Bollay, signed on with the Four Corners Outdoor School to participate in a rafting trip guided by naturalist, author and storyteller, Craig Childs, on the San Juan River in Southeastern Utah. Now it was time for our adventure.

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PEOPLE

Oljeto Canyon Valley of the Gods

On May 30th I picked up Devin in Vegas and we arrived in St. George around five. Before the beginning of the trip I had checked out a climber’s website called Mountain Project and identified a climbing area outside of St. George called Prophesy Wall. After unpacking, we drove out to the site, eighteen miles to the north, past Snow Canyon State Park. A left turn on a dirt road took us two miles to a turnoff and parking area where we could see the wall. It was perfect for us. We hiked closer and used the Mountain Project app to scout a couple of routes and decided which one we wanted to try the next morning.

Up at 5:30, we packed, had a quick breakfast at McDonald’s (the only place open!) and drove to the wall. It was already getting warm, but I chose the wall because it’s shady in the morning, and so it was when we arrived. We hiked to the base of the climb and by 7:15 we started a three pitch 5.9 ascent on a route called Past Lives. The rock was sandstone, but solid, with little wafers that jutted out from the wall that were great hand and foot holds. We could see for miles and we had the wall all to ourselves. Devin led the first two pitches and I led the third, by far the shortest and easiest. A great start to our time together!

By 10:00 we were on the road to Bluff, dipping down into Arizona along the way, driving through the wonders of Monument Valley toward the end. The red sandstone pillars and buttes framed by billowing white clouds and blue skies exceeded the images in my imagination. I began to feel my physical boundaries slip away, as they frequently do when I’m in Big Nature. Not just in it, but of it. That feeling only increased as the week went along.

Outskirts of Zion

Devin at one of our campsites.

We arrived in Bluff around 4:30 and checked into the Recapture Lodge, where our San Luis Obispo friends were staying. Bluff is a funky but charming desert town near the San Juan River, surrounded

by Anasazi archaeological sites. After a healthy dinner at a nice bistro, we went back to Recapture and attended a mercifully short orientation meeting. We organized our gear and hit the sack early, excited about our next adventure.

The next morning we met in the parking lot of Recapture with the entire San Juan River rafting trip crew: twelve paying customers; four guides; Craig Childs, the naturalist, writer and storyteller whose participation in the trip attracted us in the first place; and his two young sons. We piled into a big van and headed down the road 30 A U G U S T

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Natural Bridge

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the people were superb, with a multitude of talents including a wonderful writer of books for elementary school students, a gifted wildlife sculptor, and a woman who called herself a basket weaver, but when I checked out her website, realized is a supremely talented artist/artisan, a basket weaving visionary.

Ascending Past Lives

miles to Mexican Hat, our put in point. After loading the rafts, our mighty armada headed downstream: one paddle boat, three oared boats and two “duckies,” inflatable canoe/ kayak hybrids.

Due to record snows in Colorado, where the San Juan originates, it was muddy, high and swift: 8000 cubic feet per second. We were instantly in a canyon flanked by 1000’ limestone and sandstone cliffs. A sense of awe and wonder kicked in immediately, especially after we learned that we were looking at 30 million years of uplift and erosion.

I’ll take a minute to describe Oljeto Canyon, a side canyon that we explored on the last day. About 50’ to 100’ wide, it swept away from the river in a series of dramatic curves, its sandstone walls towering hundreds of feet above, streaked with desert varnish. The variety of light was otherworldly: red, pink, orange, a spectacular yellow under one huge alcove that seemed to be creating its own light. As I wrote to my friends Betsey Nash and Sandi Sigurdson, I could imagine a philharmonic orchestra playing in that alcove.

Betsey wrote back, “Or a single flute.” It was sublime, in every sense of the word.

Devin and John Mansfield

By the time we left the river in Sand Hills, approaching Lake Powell, I felt like I was meant to live in that environment: the river, desert, canyons...all of it. Devin and I had planned to leave the next day and drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but we were so enthralled by the area that we decided to stay another night and spend a day exploring.

We spent twelve hours descending into canyons in search of petroglyphs and cliff dwellings (found several); driving through the Valley of the Gods (at least as dramatic as Monument Valley and much less visited); hiking through Natural Bridges National Park (more ruins) and concluding our day with an epic experience at Cave Towers, another site of ruins where we experienced the ultimate father/son adventure. I told Devin we were like Sean Connery and Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones. “Junior, look at the ruins beneath that hundred foot cliff!”

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY

On June 6th we drove back to St. George, a winding route that took us through Capitol Reef, the Escalante Grand Staircase, along the borders of Bryce Canyon, and through Zion. Our adventure ended in a Mexican restaurant where we stuffed ourselves on $1 tacos! The next morning we drove to Vegas where Devin caught a plane and I drove home. Nine days, 2000 miles, 56 miles on the river, miles and miles of hiking and a treasure trove of images, memories and adventures to enjoy for the rest of our lives. As a friend, John Magorian, likes to say, “I’m looking forward to the next exciting thing!”

Let our family take care of your family.

JUST LIKE HOME

I could go into great detail about the next four days of paddling, hiking, exploring side canyons, observing bighorn sheep with full curls standing on rocks right behind our camp on the second night, but I’d be typing for hours. Not only was all of the activity incredible, especially the side canyons, but

If you would like more information about the trip, the author, and the artists I reference in the article, you can contact me at willnlf@charter.net.

Celebrating our 27th year!

Let our family take care of your family.

JUST LIKE HOME

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

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Country Oaks C A R E CENTER

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bird watching on the central coast

BOB ISENBERG A Passion for education through observation

By Charmaine Coimbra

S

potting scope zeroed in on a nesting female peregrine falcon, director chairs set up for conversation near the base of Morro Rock, it takes less than 15 minutes before a person asks, “Are you Bob?” or says, “Bob, I brought my family to see the falcons.”

“Welcome back,” Bob Isenberg greets, as he readies to share his personal excitement about the recently hatched chicks on a Morro Rock State Preserve ledge. There, a 5-year-old female peregrine falcon (falco peregrinus) that arrived on the Rock three years ago with an ID tag stamped “23R” that tracks her beginnings at the Moss Landing Power Plant, has taken on a life-partner and set up a new eyrie (a bird of prey’s nest), one never used before, as noted on Isenberg’s website pacificcoastperegrinewatch.org.

23R’s arrival joined the only other nesting peregrine on the Rock — an older female that hasn’t produced viable eggs for the last three years, according to Isenberg.

Dueling Birds

photo by Cleve Nash

“23R” at her Morro Rock nest.

“It’s not a good thing to have two pair on the Rock,” Isenberg said, “because these birds are territorial and usually nest five to eight miles apart.” He went on to explain that space-competing peregrines will fight, possibly causing death to one or more.

Peregrine falcons, like other raptors, including our national symbol the bald eagle, lost significant population from the effects of the pesticide DDT. When falconers discovered soft eggs in nesting sights, an alarm took flight. The Peregrine Fund was formed in 1970 to restore the peregrine from an endangered species to a healthy population.

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Viewing “23R” close-;up.

PEOPLE The effort succeeded and the species was removed from the endangered list in 1999. Peregrines are found on every continent except Antarctica. From deserts to urban centers, the up to three-pound peregrine exhibits masterful aerial capabilities to include a nose dive (a stoop) speed of over 200 mph. “Though it cannot move as fast as when in a nose dive, a peregrine falcon, in horizontal flight, can still rival a cheetah for speed!” writes the Peregrine Fund. Most of their prey, other birds, are caught in flight.

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Five Peregrine Falcon Facts 1) Fastest flying bird in the world. Maximum horizontal speed: 68 mph; Maximum diving speed (hunting stoop): 242 mph.

2) Females are about 20% larger than males.

3) Peregrines mate for life.

4) Both male and female incubate the eggs for about 30 days.

5) Peregrines are the most common bird of prey, found on every continent except Antarctica.

Falconry was once the sport of kings. Domestically, falconry has returned as a means of controlling birds in ripening vineyards.“Recently, some California vineyard managers have been trying a new method to keep hungry birds away, or rather a centuriesold one–falconry. In wine regions from Napa Valley to the Central Coast, a cottage industry of falconers has arisen; many already use trained birds of prey to scare birds away from airports, military installations and other crops,” according to a report from the Organic Consumers Association.

About 20 natural breeding pairs of peregrines nest in San Luis Obispo County. Most local pairs are not migratory because, like us, they like the temperate coastal climate. In colder climates, the peregrine migrates. An Arctic tundra peregrine that winters in South America, for example, racks up over 15,000 migratory miles.

These are just a few of the informational tidbits that Isenberg is happy to share with the many visitors to Morro Rock and Isenberg’s watch station. Now retired, Isenberg’s peregrine watch passion started in his teens. He calls himself a “self-taught naturalist” who started birding as a teen in Southern California. Once he landed in San Luis Obispo County he began his Central Coast peregrine observations. His retirement brings him to the Rock more than ever before.“I love doing this,” he said. And as I observed while visiting his watch point when some German visitors arrived, he shared the words peregrine falcon in German—one of almost 80 other languages he’s collected for this raptor—showcasing his worldwide visitations.

Isenberg has logged well over 77,000 hours into observation.“I enjoy sharing what I know about the birds, the conversations, and writing about the birds,” he said. He keeps several 3-ring binders filled with stories of his observations. Many you can read on his website.

Isenberg, along with his partner Heather O’Connor, turned his devotion of “observation as education” into an educational nonprofit. The nonprofit’s mission statement reads, “The Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch is here to raise money for Cal Poly students in the field of Biology. We are at Morro Rock, Morro Bay, California to educate all who are curious about the fastest animal on Earth. Enjoy these magnificent birds in the field with our powerful spotting scopes, photos and our personal knowledge. The knowledge gained by all visitors gives the awareness of interactions between the birds and the biome so that we can be better stewards of the Earth.”

While peregrines have repopulated, it is still a rare species to observe in its natural setting. So when a visiting family wandered by Isenberg’s spotting scope, their curiosity grew about the species. Each one of the four children peeked through the scope and observed the watchful female peregrine 23R mindfully perched on a Morro Rock ledge as her chicks chirped in the background. Thanks to Isenberg’s passion, four children and their parents learned a little bit more about becoming better stewards of the Earth via Isenberg’s voluntary set up of a spotting scope and a few director’s chairs arranged for conversation at the base of Morro Rock.

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caring canines giving back to the community with love

By Heather Young

C

aring Canines helps others of all ages just by showing up. The group of volunteers and their dogs go to senior care homes, schools and libraries several times a month.

“[It] gives us time to blow off steam and not think about school,” said Josh Packebush, a student at Del Rio Continuation High School in Atascadero. “The dogs give us a lot of love.”

Part of Caring Canines are three teams/programs that serve different parts of the community. The Caring Canine Teams take well-trained dogs to extended care facilities and assisted living communities to visit with the senior residents there. The Reading to Rover Program gives children an opportunity to practice their reading at libraries throughout the county. The third is the College Outreach Program where students and therapy dogs visit with each other, providing a respite for the students from the stress of studying for finals.

All of the dogs that participate in Caring Canines also take part in Reading to Rover. Currently, the group goes to the libraries in Grover Beach and Nipomo, as well as to five schools: Baywood Elementary, Sinsheimer Elementary in San Luis Obispo, Santa Rosa Academic Academy in Atascadero and Winifred Pfiefer and Kermit King schools in Paso Robles.

Claudia Hayner’s dog Hunter has racked up more than 400 hours of therapy work.

“He’s got a very gentle manner and he loves people,” Hayner said. “He needs a job.”

She was training him for search and rescue, but then his knee gave out, so she found another job for him—serving as a therapy dog.

“He’s always been a working dog and this is his favorite job,” Hayner

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said. “Don’t you want a job where you can lay on your back and have somebody pet your tummy?”

Hunter spends two to three times a week volunteering for Reading to Rover, and also goes to Cal Poly, Del Rio Continuation High School, and senior centers.

“You can’t be sad around dogs,” said Alana Raquino, a student at Del Rio Continuation High School said.

Director of Alternative Education at Del Rio Continuation High School Melissa Spivey said she sought out Caring Canines to come to the school.

“The kids are usually wild and crazy [because of what’s going on at the school the day the dogs visit], after the dogs come, we’ve never seen them more calm,” Spivey said.

Caring Canines is a part of Santa Lucia Open Dog Obedience Group, which gives members opportunities to interact with their dogs in a social setting. Not all of the dogs who participate in SLODOG are a part of Caring Canines. In order to become a Caring Canines Team member, there are a number of questions to consider first: • Are you friendly with other people and their pets?

• Do you enjoy interacting with people of all ages?

• Are you in “tune” with the emotional needs of your dog?

• Are you comfortable in a nursing home or medical setting?

Avoid the High Cost o A Retirement F HOME/OUTDOOR 19

1. Canine Good Citizen Test 2. Caring Canines application 3. Caring Canines evaluation

Even though the prospect of m future, you owe it to yourself to carefree living in your own home

4. Caring Canines team-in-training

You Don’t Have to Move

Feel Sa

In addition to Caring Canines, SLODOG also offers opportunities to train dogs for dog sports, as well as giving members time to get It’s a fact of life that as we get older, Pristine together socially.

some day-to-day tasks become too

licensed of ou doesn’t mean you have to move away are caref This year’s showthe willcomfort take place on 30 and Oct. 1 at Santa Maria from ofSept. your home. and pass Elks. The show is a United Kennel Club Obedience and Rally. Over Pristine Home Services is a local backgro the two days, there are four trial shows and Decker said dogs can company that helps San Luis Obispo and dru participate in one or all four.

County residents avoid the high cost when so “We get people from all over the state of California,” Decker said. of ismoving to a aren’t retirement facility. in your h “The rally UKC and there as many shows.”

“We putmuch on a dogto show every year,” SLODOG Secrehandle on our own.Corresponding That All tary Cynthia Decker said.

• Do you have the time and energy to volunteer on a regular basis?

• Has your dog been exposed to multiple social settings with different groups of people?

• Do you have the time to continually train and update your dog’s skill level?

• Are you able to maintain your dog’s appearance as required for all therapy visits?

• Are you willing to keep your dog’s vet records and shots up-to-date?

• Do you have the desire to interact with children and/or adults? (Realize that the people you come in contact with may be in poor health, or need special assistance).

Next, is the assessment of the dog.

• Is your dog friendly and accepting of strangers?

• Does your dog get along with dogs of all sizes and breeds?

• Is your dog calm, able to sit on command, and stay for a long period of time?

• Is your dog comfortable around adults and children? Or prefers one to the other?

• Is your dog able to walk calmly through a crowd?

• Is your dog able to stay focused even with distractions?

• Does your dog enjoy being groomed or petted by a stranger?

• Is your dog confident and carefree?

• Is your dog relaxed even with loud, disruptive noises?

Membership to SLODOG is open to any breed of dog and is $30 per “She he year for the entire household. While the club does not offer training,person All people of ournetwork. services can be provided it does help She sho

Enjoy Affordable Living

daily, weekly, or on an as-needed basis. very re You pay for only the services you need dows!”

For more information on SLODOG how to volunteer with Caring and we provide thoseorservices at a price Canines, go to www.slodog.com.

“They you can afford. what I YARDConvenient MAINTENANCE · HANDYMAN SERVICES · PERSONAL CARE exactly One-call Service reason Our personal care services include to a fri shopping,Services daily errands, meal preparaHome Specialist tion, transportation and non-medical Before From handyman services to plumbing and preparing meals.

There is no task care. Our housekeeping services keep could a too large or too small for Pristine Home Services. All of our services can your kitchen and the rest of your home be provided daily, weekly, or on an as-needed basis. You pay for only the and st spotless. eventhose do services windows and services you need andWe we provide at a price you can afford. to read laundry. Our yard maintenance crews “Wha and beyond my know how “Pristine to takegoes careabove of your favorite abou I can live in the comfort rose bushesexpectations and keepsothe grass neatly of my home.” mowed. Our–Jay handyman services are “Four Baker provided by specialists in plumbing, servi electrical painting, repairs and anyo Serving work, All of San Luis Obispo County safety rail installation.

We inv CALL FOR RATES now so two FR “We can help guide people,” Decker said.

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• Does your dog have good manners even when you’re not in the room?

• Is your dog comfortable in a new, or changing, environment?

Once it has been self-determined that the owner and canine are of a good temperament for the program, the dog would go on to be certified as a therapy dog. In order for that to happen, there are four steps before they can start working with the public.

We Bring Assisted Living Home You Whatever you need...give us atocall

805-543-4663 www.pristinehomeservices.net 710 FIERO LANE, UNIT 16 SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 93401 A U G U S T

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the san luis obispo

united methodist church celebrating its first 150 years of history

By Spencer Morgan, Cal Poly History Intern

N

o one said starting and sustaining a new church in San Luis Obispo would be easy.

Nevertheless the United Methodist Church is now preparing to celebrate its 150th anniversary on September 10, a remarkable testament to the resolve and blessings of its members. The church has faced a good deal of adversity in its 150 years in San Luis Obispo including the ever-present financial challenges of ministry. Taking these events into account, the church has confirmed that man alone cannot construct any plan to conquer the many challenges of the world around them!

One example of such an event occurred during the tenure of Reverend John B. Green (1878-1879). Low on funds, the good pastor proposed a game supper as a means of combatting the young church’s perpetual destitution. Gun in hand, Rev. Green set off into the wild to collect the means to the church’s salvation. In a remarkable episode of what was surely divine providence, he came upon a flock of delectable-looking ducks who took to him more stoically than even their late, great Dodo cousins. Following a brilliant show of short-range marksmanship, the dear reverend learned to his horror that he had dispatched the prized possessions of one John Michael Price, leader of the Committee of Vigilance and criminal killer extraordinaire! Only by true providence, Rev. Green was spared, his budget further bloated — bearing his sin with a hefty fine.

But even in hardship, there is much to celebrate.

Another case of pastoral hardship dates to the tenure of Rev. David Kingman (1938-1942), who documented in an open letter to his congregation the scathing criticisms his preaching had received (which included accusations of being “unAmerican”) from the outer community. Kingman passionately defended himself, proclaiming that the church had “the freest pulpit in town,” advocating strongly for the conscience and conviction of the Church on “local and contemporary

The 1939 Methodist Episcopal Church Congregation on the steps at Pacific and Morro Streets, SLO. A U G U S T

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The United Methodist Church today.

issues” regardless of public agreeability. It is not clear what all this fuss was about, but one may extrapolate from the United Methodist Church’s history of anti-war values and promotion of the prolific world peace movement during the interwar era that the reverend had stood firmly in principle against the United States’ participation in World War II. Moving on to our current century, we find the zenith of glory not in the height of achievement, but in the scourge of intolerance. On Easter Sunday in 2001, an arsonist set fire to the United Methodist Church. Within hours, this act of cruelty had rendered the spiritual home to hundreds of San Luis Obispo Christians uninhabitable, unsalvageable. They were beaten, but not forsaken. The Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church was there that morning to tend to the battered hearts of the congregation, sharing their Easter service graciously with them. Even in hardship there were blessings. As Dottie Andoli put it, as a result of the fire the church experienced a “rebirth” following a period where it was “becoming stagnant.” Through a literal trial by fire, not only did the spirit of the church persist, but when the new church was debuted seven years later on Easter Sunday the congregation had increased from 300 to nearly 400 people!

Above all else, kindness and selflessness have defined the character of the church over the years. Its first pastor, Reverend A.B. Spooner, was tragically lost piloting his boat in Morro Bay during a courageous attempt to guide an overdue vessel home in the midst of a storm in 1877.

During the Second World War, the congregation did not shut down and weep at the failure of its world peace movement. Instead, they began

Church fire on Easter Sunday in 2001.

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The First Pastor, Reverend A.B. Spooner, on his horse.

Current Pastor Rick Uhls

working overtime to provide food, clothes, and ministry to soldiers being shipped off to fight, as well as people struggling in Europe and China.

From the early days of the church in the latter 19th century, it promoted the funding of local education, donated copiously to the Freedman’s Aid and Social Education Society to support former southern slaves, and was an advocate of the temperance movement — one pursuing the abolition of a long-destructive vice of mankind. All this as it struggled annually to pay its own bills and maintain pastors for more than a couple years.

Reflecting now on these 150 years, the United Methodist Church has been through so much American history. From dealing with the aftermath of the Civil War (a conflict that split the greater Methodist Episcopal Church), to World Wars and civil rights — the reach of SLO’s very own church in history has impacted many, many people within the congregation, in the community and in the world beyond. Today

the church continues to extend its charity and love to a diverse pool of recipients, from supporting the homeless to recently hosting a suicide prevention forum for LGBTQ residents. As internal debate regarding the status of LGBTQ persons in the clergy rages on in the United Methodist Church, Pastor Rick Uhls continued the local church’s longstanding tradition of outspokenness when he affirmed the church’s love for the LGBTQ community in an open letter on May 31.

The San Luis Obispo United Methodist Church has played an important part in the area’s historical, spiritual and cultural development during its first 150 years. Its congregation is committed to remaining an important element in the fabric of the local community over the next 150 years! “Celebrating Our Past - Building Our Future” The SLOUMC’s 150th Celebration will take place on Sunday, September 10th at the Church at 1515 Fredericks Street in SLO. Local citizens are invited to join the congregation at a special 10am service featuring dignitaries and celebratory music. Church and Celebration details are available at www.sloumc.com or by calling 805-543-7580

You are invited to attend the SLOUMC’s 150th Anniversary Celebration!

Sunday, September 10th at 1515 Fredericks Street in SLO

Old Garden St. Methodist Church

Join our congregation at a special 10am service featuring dignitaries and celebratory music .

You are also welcome to join us for lunch after the service.

Please RSVP for lunch by calling 805-543-7580.

Church and Celebration details are available at www.sloumc.com or 805-543-7580.

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a family affair: roxanne’s birkenstock store turns 40

By Susan Stewart “I was the only kid in Paso Robles wearing Birkenstock sandals to school,” recalls Kevin Zunich, now all grown up and running the store his mother opened four decades ago.

Last month, Roxanne’s Birkenstock celebrated 40 years in business in its third creekside location in downtown SLO, a store that started in a tiny 288-square-foot space in the Old Creamery. The longevity of this iconic shoe store speaks loudly to the staying power of the Birkenstock brand, which lost its first American distributer, Margot Fraser, just this year. It’s also testament to the tenacity of the Zunich family who, despite the online shopping revolution that began in the ‘90s, has persevered, bringing comfort to the county’s feet for three generations.

Roxanne and John Zunich moved to the Central Coast in 1977 from the San Diego area, the result of a transfer for John, who worked for a well-known bank. He would eventually leave that position to join his wife in the Birkenstock business.

Born the oldest of three children into an entrepreneurial family, Roxanne said her family always had a business, be it a general store or real estate. They were also an active boating family with health and sports at the forefront of their lives.

Roxanne Zunich

Margot Fraser, the brilliant and passionate Birkenstock USA Founder, discovered early on that health conscious consumers (like Roxanne) would be her best customers. So she made her way into the back corners of health food stores all over California. Today the Birkenstock brand is found in the finest retail stores across the country, and on the feet of celebrities and common folk alike. It was on the way to Foods for the Family, one of the first health food stores in San Luis Obispo, that Roxanne and her kids stumbled on the Birkenstock store nearby.

“I tried a pair on and instantly felt the difference,” she remembers.

Soon both her sons, her husband, and her mother were wearing

John, Margot and Roxanne at the ribbon cutting ceremony at 670 Higuera.

Kevin, Roxanne, Alex birkenstock, Susie, Margot Fraser and John.

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Margot Fraser with Roxanne and John at the Phoenix Building location.

Kaila and Kevin

“Birks.” When the small Birkenstock store went up for sale, Roxanne decided to buy it. For the growing Birkenstock brand, that store was the 10th in the country. Since then, the store has moved twice—first, to the Phoenix building just across the street from the Creamery, and second to its current location in the Old Mission Mall just up the street.

Kevin and older brother Mark recall many happy summers helping their mother in the store, rolling up the now-famous “Love Your Feet” posters, and playing in the creek. Kevin would eventually graduate from high school, earn his degree in Business from San Diego State University, and then partner with his parents in the family shoe store, before starting his own family. Mark is now a pilot and captain for a well-known airline.

“My father did the shoe repair for the store,” said Kevin, which is no small endeavor given that the Birkenstock brand is known for its long-lasting quality. John taught his son how to be a cobbler, repairing 100’s of pairs every year, and offering a wide range of customizations and alterations for loyal local customers.

Haitian Children wearing Birkies on their feet.

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Memories from forty years in business are fond and deep, but not always happy.

Take that first Christmas Eve back in 1978, for example. That was the year the creek overflowed its banks and gushed right into the shop, leaving last-minute Christmas shoppers and the whole Zunich family at a loss for words. “We closed the shop, of course,” Roxanne recalls. “But it sure was heartening

seeing all those people willing to get their feet wet to buy a pair of our shoes!”

The second Roxanne’s Birkenstock opened in Fresno in 1979, where John and Roxanne live today. Among their many fans was a movie actor named Richard Keil, who had roles in such James Bond movies as The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonrakers. At 7 feet 2 inches tall, Keil had a hard time finding shoes that fit, and the Zunichs were happy to order a special custom pair from the factory in Germany.

But celebrity sightings are not their warmest memories. Not by a long shot. In 2011, Kevin received a framed photo of three happy Haitian children, all wearing Birkies on their feet. You see, in 2002, Kevin launched the store’s “Gifts from the Sky” program whereby local heroes doing good things for the world receive generous donations from Roxanne’s Birkenstock. Usually it’s shoes in bulk for needy victims of catastrophes—like the homeless (and often shoeless) children following Haiti’s earthquake in 2010. One local woman announced her trip to help the earthquake victims, and Roxanne’s responded. This woman was so grateful that she wanted the Zunich family to see the joy their gift had brought.

To say that Birkenstock sandals has become a way of life for the Zunich family is not an over-statement. Though the store now carries close to 50 other high quality shoe brands from all over the world, it was Birkenstock that started it all. And it was Birks that showed up on the feet of most of the 100 wedding guests at Kevin and Kaila’s wedding held—where else?—on the creek in Downtown SLO. Kevin and Kaila have three children: two girls, Shyloh, 10 and Eliana, 12, and a new baby boy, Koa. All three kids in this third generation spend happy times playing in the creek, like Kevin and Mark before them. Will they take over the business when their parents retire? Too soon to say. But Kevin says it’s time for the family to have its own brand of shoe and he’s busy working with designers. Maybe Shyloh, Eliana, and Koa will soon be the only kids in town wearing them, just as Kevin and Mark were the only kids in town wearing Birkies back in the ‘80s. But if this hard-working, trend-setting family has anything to say about it, that won’t last for long.

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at the market

socca with arugula tomato salad

By Sarah Hedger

A

ugust marks the peak of Summer and with that all things Summer produce are also at their peak.

After August, cooler temperatures begin to sneak in, little by little, giving us small reminders that Fall is nearly around the corner. Just! During August, tomatoes reach their prime as well as the annual abundance of zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, and greens. So many delicious salad greens including arugula/rocket and few things smell more like Summer than fresh basil (if it hasn’t gotten too hot and bolted already!). Avocados are available, as well as melons, peaches and stone fruit, and Summer berries. Also, first season apples begin to appear at the end of the month, which can lead to some amazing berry apple combinations. Few things top a Summer cobbler!

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socca with arugula tomato salad Makes 2 large Socca Salads For Socca: 1 cup garbanzo bean flour 1 cup filtered water ½ tsp cumin Pinch of sea salt 2 T olive oil

This month’s recipe was inspired from a recent trip to the Mediterranean. This is not something I get to say everyday! It was such a treat to explore a new area and its culture and history, via food. Food is a universal language, so to speak, as it tells us stories about the land and the people, as well as the region that produces it. We spent some time in what many refer to as the south of France, being Cannes and Nice, which inspired this month’s recipe as Socca, hails from Nice. It is often served as finger food, when you’ve spent too much time in the sun and an icy cold rose’ is nearby. It is usually cooked in wood fired ovens, similar to a pizza oven, but reproducing it in a regular oven is possible and quick, as it is cooked at very high temperatures. I heard once that trying to make good socca in a regular oven, as opposed to the traditional wood-fired ovens, is like trying to make s’mores in a home oven. Just over the border in Italy, there is a similar version of Socca, called Farinata. Nearly identical at its core, with different toppings that reflect a slightly different culture. Socca is a cross between a flatbread and a savory crepe, but essentially a beautiful, light option to be enjoyed not only as finger food, but also alongside a salad, such as in this month’s recipe. Often times garbanzo beans and their flours, can be hard to digest, thus making the socca batter beforehand, preferably the night before, enables it to become more digestible, and a smoother batter for a remarkably light flatbread. I mix the batter the night before which not only makes it more convenient the next day to cook, but also lends it a slightly fermented flavor.

Getting the temperature right for cooking the socca is key as it prevents the batter from sticking to the pan, as well as creating a crisp skin on the crepe. The oven needs to be real hot, so keeping a close eye on the socca as it cooks is key as a minute too long can make for a dark socca, which would not taste as good! I served the socca with a light salad of arugula, tomatoes and fresh cheese, as tomatoes and arugula are both in season and at their prime. If the tomatoes are super fresh, they are good raw, however they can be sprinkled with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil and put in the oven at the same time as the Socca, so they get slightly roasted and soft. Either way, it is a nice way to enjoy a hot day, topped off with a light meal and a perfectly toasted Socca. Enjoy!

The day before baking, place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk. Place in warm spot, covered overnight. Prior to cooking, give the batter a good whisk, adding enough water until pancake batter consistency. Turn oven onto broiler setting, at 450 degrees. Place a large (10+inch) skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add a good drizzle of olive oil, followed by half the batter, swirling around so it’s evenly distributed in the pan. Place in hot oven and check after 5 minutes. Remove once golden brown. Place on a platter, roughly cutting into strips, and top with salad, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

For the Salad: 2 cups freshly picked arugula 2 cups cherry tomatoes Drizzle of balsamic or chardonnay vinegar 2 T olive oil Pinch of sea salt Fresh ground pepper *Other salad options: 4 ounces thinly sliced Italian prosciutto or other salami or fresh chevre

Mix arugula with vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Quickly roast or grill tomatoes, or, if fresh enough, slice in half and leave fresh.

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Paso art scene

going...going...gone: Art in the age of extinction

By Helen K. Davie

W

hat is the purpose of art? There are many answers to this question but for the following eight artists the answer is this – to bring awareness to the plight of plants and animals amid the increasing pressures of climate change and human encroachment. Opening at 6pm, Saturday, September 2 at Studios on the Park in Paso Robles, “Going…Going…Gone: Art in the Age of Extinction” will showcase the works of these artists, each with their own distinct expressions of the theme.

Concern for the future of our planet motivates Canadian artist Eve Provost Chartrand. Her diverse work expresses ideas and emotions that were formed by the intense and moving encounters she has had and by her profound love of all living beings. “Touched by an image, a character or an event, I collect objects that speak to me or are interesting for their texture, their history, the aesthetic quality of their etymological value. Surrounded by clusters of artifacts, I transform images and build them up; I glue, add layers, stitch, and paint, hoping in the end that my experimentations give birth to creations which call for meditation, silence and reflection.”

Jeweler Debra Jurey of Templeton creates her unique pieces with both fine silver metal clay and off-loom bead weaving. She has chosen to incorporate many animal motifs but especially bees & butterflies because of her deep connection to these complex and remarkable creatures–the pollinators. “I feel a profound responsibility to merge the world of art with conservation and wildlife issues. I hope that my work will bring to light the value Debra Jurey

and beauty of our insects and wildlife and inspire the viewer to take action.”

Also from Templeton, artist, illustrator, and printmaker Helen K Davie is honoring animals that have become extinct within the last 100 years. She is painting a series of 12 icons on panels using egg tempera, the traditional medium for religious icons. “I wanted to create these icons as an equal honoring of all creation – and as a reminder that their extinctions were brought about by human actions. I hope we will learn from our past mistakes and work harder to preserve our irreplaceable fellow passengers on this ark called Earth.”

Santa Barbara printmakers Sara Woodburn and Karen R. Schroeder were already planning their piece before they were invited to be a part of the show. “Our collaboration on this project grew from our individual work using woodcut prints to show habitats, a balance of nature, and climate change. Our large wall hanging for this show is composed of many print panels creating two trees leaning toward each other as if in conversation. They speak of climate change and denial. Parts of the tree invoke loss, endangerment, protection, action, and renewal.”

Ceramicist Paula Teplitz, a former Arroyo Grande resident, was alarmed when she noticed that the red-winged blackbirds had disappeared from her neighborhood. To fill the void in her heart she created a flock of them using papier-mache. “I’ve always felt compelled to make more and more animal representations. My motivation, in part, is that my creations will somehow inspire more love and care for animals that are actually alive. The work in this show contains admiration, desperate sadness and love. Here’s to the power of love. And here’s to my fellow artists who are sending an urgent message.”

Laguna Hills wildlife artist Charity Oetgen paints using traditional techniques and realism in watercolor and oils. She combines her passion for the natural world (more specifically Bonobos and their envi-

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Charity Oetgen

ronment) with her natural creativity and zeal for aiding this species in their plight for survival. Currently, she is helping two non-profit organizations: Friends of Bonobos and Bonobo Conservation Initiative. “I combine my passion for art and conservation to create works that express my experiences and have a positive impact on the environment.”

Joshua Coffy, a self-taught artist living and working in San Francisco, draws inspiration for his mixed-media paintings from the natural world, scientific illustrations, and his love for animals. He has created a sense of symbolism and meaning with many of the images he paints. “Recently, I staged a show focusing on predator/prey relationships to illustrate that this is not good vs. evil, but simply survival. I use animals to illustrate metaphors in my life. With animals, people are free to add in their own story”.

What is the story you will bring to this show? How many stories will you take away? When you experience the work of these artists, keep in your heart and your mind the words of the Senegalese conservationist Baba Dioum, “In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught.”

Studios on the Park is a nonprofit open studios art center located at 1130 Pine Street in Paso Robles, CA 93446. 805-2389800 www.studiosonthepark.org Sara Woodburn

Slo art scene

sharon:

photographs by leon borensztein

By Karen Kile

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eon Borensztein is a renowned photographer whose artwork captures the integral beauty of people in otherwise painful and challenging situations. His photographs are a glimpse into his life as a single father caring for his severely disabled daughter, Sharon, from infancy until age 29. The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art has organized the exhibition Sharon currently on view until August 27, 2017 so that gallery visitors can fully engage with these powerful photographs up close.

As a photographer, Borensztein was instinctually drawn to his daughter as a subject. Born legally blind and autistic, with a seizure disorder, speech delays, and underdeveloped motor skills, Borensztein began to use his camera as a way to document their life.

Photography became Borensztein’s way to relate to the situation and celebrate the present—whether beautiful or excruciating—in the face of an uncertain future.

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The images are raw, at times ambivalent—a father documenting the varied moments in the life of his daughter—and they accurately portray time spent coping with disability. The black and white photographs capture Sharon in beautiful, joyful moments, as well as raw, dark times, and some in between. In one photograph, she smiles rapturously over a birthday cake, eyes wide—in another she dances on the beach, arms lifted towards the warmth of the sun. In another, as a toddler, she lies in a hospital bed, a tangle of wires hanging over her tiny head. Some are more ambiguous—Sharon’s face in close-up, leaning into the camera, her eyes closed; Sharon at a distance, a little older, laughing—in the dark.

In spite of the challenges, Borensztein learns to see Sharon’s disability as a gift that, like his photographs, enable him to see and to appreciate the beautiful moments in his relationship with his daughter. In his book, he writes: …?Disabled people can enrich our lives. They’re like everybody else. The difference doesn’t necessarily have to be something negative. A lot of people don’t have any idea what disability is. Sometimes I think, ‘what if every child might be born a disabled child, but slowly the disabilities would disappear?’ Parents would never take their kids and their accomplishments for granted. I didn’t take anything for granted. Every small step, we celebrated. So I think my wish is for parents to love and appreciate their children.”

SLOMA’s curator Ruta Saliklis explains, “Leon Borensztein’s aesthetically compelling artwork raises awareness of people living with disabilities and creates a fine art interpretation of their experiences.”

The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art also arranged for this exhibition to travel to Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Illinois in March and April 2017.

The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art is located at 1010 Broad Street, on the west end of Mission Plaza in San Luis Obispo, California. It is a 501(c)(3) public benefit nonprofit arts organization dedicated to providing and promoting diverse visual arts experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds through exhibitions, education, creation and collaboration. It preserves the artistic legacy of the California Central Coast in its permanent collection. Since 1967 this organization has been the beacon for the visual arts in its region. In 2017 the Museum of Art launched a capital campaign to raise $15 million for a new home on its present location. More information about the Museum of Art is available online at www.sloma.org .

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palm street perspective the hidden costs of parking cars

By SLO City Councilwoman, Andy Pease

T

he average car spends 95% of its life parked. When we own a car, we need to find parking at each destination whether at home, work, school or errands, so we end up using lots of land for parking. A restaurant on the outskirts of town, for example, might have a parking lot three times the size as the restaurant itself. Starting in the 1930s, zoning codes in the United States started requiring a minimum number of parking spaces for any new home or business. This requirement has helped connect people with jobs and retailers, but it has also led to sprawl which in turn led to more car dependency. As part of the City’s Zoning Ordinance update over the next several months, land-use considerations will necessarily include parking requirements, so it may be time to re-envision our relationship with cars and parking.

Providing parking is expensive, and usually a hidden cost folded into rents, mortgages and taxes. According to the non-profit Transportation Economics Committee, just to maintain an on-street space, a city typically spends $300 - $400 per year. Add to that annualized land and construction cost, and on-street parking could cost from $780 - $1,400 per year. Structures of course cost far more, $2,000 - $2500 per space per year. That’s just for the space, but if we also consider the cost of lost opportunity to use that land for something else—parks,

plazas, housing, bike lanes, small business—then we start asking ourselves if we have an opportunity to find a better balance.

Companies such as GM and Tesla are predicting a significant shift in how cars are owned. As self-driving vehicles become perfected and normalized, they see a future where a fleet of shared autonomous vehicles are on call and ready to shuttle people around. The high utilization of each vehicle will make it convenient and affordable to simply own a share of the fleet without the hassle of storing and maintaining a personal car. Some predict this future could be here in just 10 years.

Even if self-driving cars are not on the verge of universal adoption, there are many people re-thinking their approach to personal transportation. According to AAA, the average annual cost to purchase, insure, maintain and fuel a car is $8,700/year, and that assumes free parking. In contrast, the convenience and affordability of Uber or Lyft, Fun-Ride, car-sharing or even electric bikes, combined with better bike lanes and transit, are tilting the scales for those who decide to forgo car ownership altogether.

Our upcoming zoning updates will need to look more broadly at parking requirements, recognizing the reality of today’s car culture while supporting this exciting shift in car ownership and use.

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theodore roosevelt monument gets boost rossi foundation donates $15,000 to the new slo Public art proposal

Zima’s sculpture will feature a seated Roosevelt, dressed as he was a week after his visit. The piece will present Roosevelt as a charismatic naturalist, sitting among boulders and trees and inviting residents and visitors to join the president as if in a campfire conversation.

John Ashbaugh, who leads the monument committee, said, “We’re very excited about the combination of Roosevelt as a compelling subject, Mitchell Park as a historic site, Paula Zima with her unique artistic vision, and the conversation we are stimulating with an engaged and enthusiastic public.”

Angela Tahti, executive director at ARTS Obispo, added, “We’re pleased to provide fiscal sponsorship for this community project in the city of San Luis Obispo. We have assured The Rossi Foundation, and all those who wish to donate to the project, our commitment to a quality regional asset that will add measurably to the value of the city’s public art collection, a work which echoes an important past occasion and emphasizes contemporary conservation values.”

Those interested in helping the TR Monument Committee by contributing to the project campaign may visit artsobispo.org/ tr-monument and click the “Donate Now” button, or contact ARTS Obispo staff at 805.544.9251.

T

he Rossi Foundation of San Luis Obispo donated $15,000 for the creation of a Theodore Roosevelt monument in the city’s Mitchell Park, ARTS Obispo announced recently. In addition, contributions and pledges from other local donors in the last few weeks have brought the total funds raised to date to $50,000.

The proposed monument will recognize the visit of the 26th U.S. President to San Luis Obispo in 1903, in conjunction with his subsequent three-day camping trip to Yosemite with famed naturalist John Muir.

The monument, which is still subject to review and approval by the city of San Luis Obispo, will be created by artist Paula Zima, a Cal Poly graduate whose previous public art projects include the often-photographed bear and child sculpture at Mission San Luis Obispo, as well as the twin, highly visible bear statues that greet motorists at the gateways to Los Osos.

The cost of the Roosevelt figure is estimated at $150,000, including the bronze forging, related site improvements and installation. ARTS Obispo, the non-profit council that promotes the arts throughout the county, is the fiscal receiver for the project funds.

During his 1903 tour of the West, Roosevelt traveled 14,000 miles through 25 states, and gave more than 250 speeches. On May 9, the president spoke to a crowd estimated at 10,000 in what would eventually become Mitchell Park in San Luis Obispo.

The youngest president ever to occupy the White House, Roosevelt was looking ahead to the 1904 election; he also conveyed a message of conservation. As President, Roosevelt created the U.S. Forest Service and helped protect and conserve more than 260 million acres of public lands, including 150 national forests, five national parks and 18 national monuments.

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HISTORY ON THE HOOF DAY TRIPS INTO THE PAST

Pismo beach

By Joe Carotenuti

Dance Pavilion 1910.

Let’s start.

Pismo Beach 1906

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iterally, the first travelers seeking history on the hoof some 250 years ago weren’t looking for history; they were making it! Starting in San Diego, by horse, mule and on foot, Gaspar de Portola and his men were continuing on their unsuccessful search for the bay at Monterey including traveling along the central coast.

Along the way, the early Spaniards met with local natives, witnessed a new land and unspoiled vistas including today’s Pismo Beach.

The seaside community with its closely packed streets and innumerable tourists bears faint resemblance to its civic ancestor. Nonetheless, sunworshippers from yesterday (amply bundled against the rays) defy time and are seen in the rare image enjoying the waterfront. Their descendants do the same today, wearing considerably less. They might also flock to the Pavilion for “jitney dances.” The late Robert Brown recalls as a child his task was to collect the five-cent tickets before each dance.

With its inviting coastline, there is something to be said for simply driving close to the edge of the central coast and enjoying the everchanging mystic lure of the waves. Walking along the shore as the surf challenges the sand is exploring the very edge of the continental United States. Imagining the watery past (with much buried beneath the surface) is indeed a daytrip into the past.

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Pismo Beach offers just such an opportunity with a pier (seen in the 1937 postcard) allowing wanderers to walk over water (once renovations are completed). The imagination is aided by the mesmerizing ebb and flow of the surf with the sun worshippers paying homage to their god who can give each a painful legacy if sunscreen is not applied liberally.

However, this daytrip also takes you away from the shore over hills and into what was once a secluded–almost abandoned–piece of ground reincarnated as a new gem, the Price Historical Park. Now surrounded by residences, it is a journey into the past made possible by the incredible generosity of strangers to the future.

As with any historical journey, you need to have a general idea of how to find a destination. When you do, you realize that the land hasn’t shifted, only the people and events on it. So, the park grounds have simply waited for its modern use. In fact, the permanent structures have been moved from elsewhere. It is the specter of their former owners who invite you to pay a visit.

For those who are curious about the community, there is no better resource than Effie McDermott’s Pismo Beach. The book is filled with images of the past (many from her personal collection) and represents years of devoted interest and research. Today’s gift–also through the foresight of the city authorities–can never fail to mention this lady’s undying efforts to muster volunteers and funds to enrich all our lives with glimpses into yesterday.

Pismo Beach July 4, 1911.

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Meherin House

Ferris Wheel fun

The newly-opened park maintains two structures worthy of a visit. Built near their golden anniversary, you will quickly learn what has been dubbed the Anniversary House (1893) belonged to the legendary John Michael and Andrea Price. The two-story redwood home was quickly expanded to include another bedroom by adding a new parlor. From a foundation to a roof and everything in between, years of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers painstakingly donated time and funds saving the aged residence as a legacy to us all. The latest addition is the magnificently restored mantel.

Indeed, there could have been three sites to visit. Unfortunately, the third, the Ortega-Price Tri-Gable Adobe burned down some years ago.

From 1769 to 2017, Pismo Beach is yet another treasure in day trips into the past. Next

Effie McDermott

month, we’ll head a little further south to a site recreated for Moses.

Contact: jacarotenuti@gmail.com Visit: www.joefromslo.org

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

Price is one of those pioneers who deserves much more detail, but for today, let’s remember him as the founder of the community. If there were a key to the City, his image would certainly be on it.

There is also another house moved from elsewhere, the home of one of Price’s daughters, Mary Ann and husband, Michael Meherin.

Since 2001, the home seen at delivery also has been an ongoing project for renovation by volunteers banded together as Friends of the Price House who always welcome help (www.pricepark.org).

Bill Mott

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history

Helen hunt Jackson

california 1856 Part 4

By Joe Carotenuti

I

t must have been a lonely…often dangerous… trip traveling with a mule, some sketching material and a few clothes through a new state offering few amenities and no road signs. Often lost, only personal awareness and precautions acted as protection against the road bandits. Food was available primarily through purchase or the kindness of some people in a sparsely populated countryside. Constant vigilance was required to choose wisely a place to sleep. Yet, Henry Miller was determined to provide images of the “cordon” of missions.

In six months, he had managed to fulfill some of his dreams as he entered the last three and one-half months of his odyssey upon entering San Luis Obispo.

The story continues.

Today’s community has little resemblance to what the energetic artist found except for the surrounding hillsides and an old mission “which is metamorphosed into a little town at present of about 150 houses, inhabited principally by natives and Mexicans.” Stopping at the only hotel for a bed and breakfast, he began exploring the nearby mission.

Commenting on its “remarkedly strong” construction of rock and cement, he met a “young and very intelligent American” who will appear again next month. All Miller recorded was the man bemoaning the fact that no “jury could be found to convict a criminal” in the courtroom adjoining the mission, the convento wing.

The artist would have understood the effects of lawlessness as his base of San Francisco had formed a first Vigilance Committee in 1851. The second was formed in May while Miller sketched in the environs of San Juan Bautista.

Indeed, lawlessness became such an issue locally that a Vigilance Committee would be formed in two years to address the deadly menace of crime. Even more detrimental, progress would suffer if the budding community was not safe.

Noting the great orchards had been reduced to olive trees and admiring the sundial in front of the Mission, Miller left the next day after producing a few sketches of his brief visit. Unfortunately, he made few comments in his journal that would help depict the community that still was legislatively considered a town. It would wait another twenty

SLO Mission in the early days.

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years to be considered large enough (3000 population) to be a city. He probably had no requests for private sketches to replenish his traveling treasury and left the next day.

While planning to go to Santa Inez, Miller seems not to have known that the sun sets in the west. Instead of heading south to the nineteenth mission, he lost his way yet again and was directed toward a rancho called “Mapomo” owned by “an old settler named Captain Branch.”

The captain was Francis Ziba Branch and at the time, the “old settler” was 54. By 1856, he was one of the largest land-holders in the area, some of which includes today’s Arroyo Grande.

Continuing west, the man and his mule were rewarded with another mission, La Purisima. “All the mission buildings, with the exception of one, are in ruins,” he lamented. The exception proved to be “remarkedly strong and one of the best preserved” he had seen on his journey. Even that exception would fall into ruin.

By 1882, Helen Hunt Jackson–best known for her novel, Ramona– witnessed the eleventh mission: “The most desolate ruin of all…” in her Glimpses of California and the Missions. In an earlier edition

A view of San Luis in its early years.

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La Purisima

(December 2016), there is a fuller account of the mission’s hectic life.

Today’s State Park surrounds one of the most authentic (albeit recreated) missions.

Miller stayed briefly before heading east to Santa Inez. He wrote of meeting the priest (“an Old Spaniard”) and the schoolmaster dressed in “ragged clothes, horribly dirty.” The school was just a remnant of the one founded many years earlier. Miller stayed only long enough to make a sketch “under the blazing sun.”

On to Missions Santa Barbara, Santa Buenaventura, south to San Fernando, with a month’s stay in Los Angeles, east to San Gabriel, a visit with the Mormons in San Bernardino, south to San Luis Rey and San Diego, a “dull little town,” before returning north to San Juan Capistrano.

There is a sense of weariness in his writing as after months of adventure, he had accumulated an impressive number of sketches while eluding the dangers of the road (whenever he found one) and escaping an agonizing death in a bear trap. Who would believe he stumbled upon the remains of a murder victim and sympathized with his mule when there was no water. Who else could claim meeting an array of people from vaqueros to innkeepers to a Mormon bishop to wealthy dons. All this as he witnessed the grandeur and deterioration of his primary subject.

He simply writes “on the 13th of October I returned to Los Angeles from where I went to San Francisco by the Steamer Seabird.” There is no mention of his faithful mule.

No information has been found of the fate of the artist or his artistic aspirations. Assuredly, if he had compiled a book of sketches in a publication, a copy would have been found to the delight of early California historians. While his fate is but a footnote in the inexhaustible list of “History Mysteries,” the gift of the artist and adventurer has allowed generations of historians to be ever grateful for his sketches, commentaries and, not least of all, his sense of preserving the past for the future.

Contact: jacarotenuti@gmail.com Visit: www.joefromslo.com

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our schools many hands make light work

By James J. Brescia, Ed.D. County Superintendent of Schools “It is not only one person’s work, it’s really a partnership and collaboration during all these years.”—Cristo You have heard the saying “many hands make light work. John Heywood, a fifteenth century English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs, is identified as the author of this saying. This month’s article is a celebration of the current partnerships between the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education and our Rotary Clubs, business partners, and the local community.

Education becomes even more compelling when it includes the entire community. When the members of our local towns pull together for a united cause, our ability to serve is enhanced. The type of change or transformation that occurs when the entire community joins forces is something greater than a small group, or any individual can achieve alone. Communities are diverse, include all ages, different backgrounds, multiple talents, and varied skills. When we work together, mentors arise, young are inspired by the old, the strong assist those less able, and we serve the greater good. Only together, as a community, can we serve beyond our individual means.

Earlier in the year, I wrote about the San Luis Obispo Rotary Clubs joining forces to assist with the renovation of our Rancho El Chorro Outdoor School amphitheater, cabins, and other projects. A conversation that started in a coffee shop with Steve Geil, past president of the Cayucos Seaside Rotary Club eventually involved all three San Luis Obispo Clubs, Morro Bay, Cambria, Los Osos, a club in Orange County, a club in Oregon and even a club in Mexico. Several other Rotary clubs have sent in donations for the renovation of the amphitheater benches and have volunteered time.

The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education operates the Rancho El Chorro Outdoor Educational Campus that is tucked away in the

hills above San Luis Obispo. These 205 protected acres include a nature preserve, a school campus, a one-room school house, incredible learning resources and a regional education conference center. The school provides hands-on learning opportunities for students studying science and ecology in a natural setting. The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education has been providing outdoor education to the community for over 40 years. Nearly 300,000 students and 10,000 adults have enjoyed and benefited from the programs and facilities which were previously part of Camp San Luis Obispo.

When students participate in outdoor education, their understanding of the environment and human communities grow. Stronger environmental attitudes, civic responsibility, and community participation strengthen through outdoor education. These types of schools are one tool in building a solid foundation of stewardship with the next generation. Outdoor education can connect families and the greater community with our schools. Many times when classrooms are outdoors an entry point for involvement in education is presented. The first time my father became more involved with my school in the late 1960s was on an outdoor education field trip. I have many people throughout the county stop me to relay stories about chaperoning on a field trip. Some of the stories have included recollections about sleeping at Rancho El Chorro as a youth. I commend our local, state and other Rotary Clubs for their dedication to our community, our youth, and society.

In a 2007 study conducted by Wheeler and Thumlert, the building of self-sufficiency, self-esteem and leadership skills were just a few of the identified benefits of participating in outdoor education. For many students, outdoor school is the first time they have ever been immersed in natural settings. For others, it is their first time spending the night away from their families. The skills and experiences gained through outdoor schools instill self-confidence, help youth realize their leadership potential and make them more self-sufficient. Outdoor schools also provide older students with volunteer teaching opportunities, helping them become stronger leaders and more college and career ready.

According to teacher assessments of students, children who attended a week-long residential outdoor school program showed statistically significant gains in all eight constructs tested, including self-esteem (9.65%), leadership (7.36%), relationship with peers (11.39%), motivation to learn (4.32%), cooperation (4.95%), conflict resolution (11.73%), problem-solving (20.44%) and behavior in class (3.4%). (Parrish, et al, 2005). In the American Institutes for Research (2005) study of out-

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door programs in four California elementary schools, students who participated in the course showed positive gains in self-esteem, leadership, cooperation, conflict-resolution and students’ relationships with their teachers immediately after the program. Significant differences in collaboration and conflictresolution skills were found between the participating and control groups 6 to 10 weeks later. I could continue providing nearly 100 research reports published over the past decade documenting the value of outdoor education. However, that would most likely be the last article of mine you voluntarily read.

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AUGUST CROSSWORD SOLUTIONS ON PAGE 43

I am proud to serve as your county superintendent of schools, employ such a talented workforce, and work with such communityminded individuals in our local Rotary Clubs.

We invite the entire community to tour Rancho El Chorro and learn about this gem right here in our backyard. Please contact the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education for additional Information.

References Available Upon Request “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough people get what they want.”—Zig Ziglar

© StatePoint Media

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD THEME: SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS

ACROSS 1. Q-tips 6. *”Straight Outta Compton” Cube 9. Twirled 13. Betty Page or Grable 14. Motion of approval 15. Speak up 16. Red-headed orphan 17. Rudolph’s Clarice, e.g.

18. 4:1, e.g.

19. *What Groot and Rocket were guarding 21. *”____ ____: Fury Road” 23. Like some martinis 24. Ditto 25. Perfect summer sandwich?

28. Lover’s strike 30. Dickens’ “The Pickwick ____” 35. Plural of lira 37. Zeal or elegance 39. Reduce pressure

40. Maple, to a botanist 41. Paisleys in paisley fabric, e.g.

43. Deceptive maneuver 44. Committee head 46. Tallest volcano in Europe 47. ____ en scene 48. Bean-shaped organ 50. Chows down 52. Ground cover 53. Movie-____ 55. Mont Blanc, e.g.

57. *Maverick and Goose movie 60. *Sigourney Weaver’s 1986 sequel 63. Isabel Allende’s “Portrait in _____” 64. Driver’s aid 66. Sweater style 68. Fill with optimism 69. Make mistakes 70. Follow 71. USSR to USA during WWII 72. Actor Liotta 73. Shabby and tatty

DOWN 1. Health resort 2. POTUS’ West one 3. Tolstoy’s Karenina 4. ____-a-Bear Workshop 5. Britney of “Baby One More Time” fame 6. *Dr. Jones, to his friends 7. Make a pigeon sound 8. a.k.a. dropsy 9. Canned meat 10. Hummus holder 11. Windows alternative 12. Opposite of paleo15. Trying experience 20. Vascular tissue in plants 22. Unit of electric current 24. Cover with drops 25. *B in “MIB” 26. Chinese fruit 27. Do it lightly?

29. Sunburn soother 31. Make waves

32. Tiny purses 33. *Actress Rene in “Lethal Weapon 3” and 4 34. *Keanu Reeves’ 1994 action thriller 36. Sportscaster Andrews 38. Fashion house founder Ricci 42. Bringing death 45. Bob Marley’s music 49. Texter’s u 51. Woodworker’s woe 54. *Bruce Lee’s “____ the Dragon” 56. Type of feather 57. “____ it like it is” 58. October stone 59. Feel for 60. Bald eagle’s home 61. #60 Down 62. Hare’s tail 63. *Black Pearl’s domain 65. Baseball stat 67. Anthem author

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COMMUNITY but so what? There’s little to be gained in griping about new realities (aside from enjoying a little dose of colleague esprit des corps).

eye on business What employees (may) want

By Maggie Cox, Barnett Cox & Associates

I

wrote recently about Sharon Jordan-Evans, an expert on employee retention and engagement and her counsel to attendees at the Andre, Morris & Buttery Business Symposium. She spoke about what it takes to keep great employees, and encouraged us to think about what might be possible in accommodating flexibility requests, rather than dismissing unorthodox ideas out of hand.

I was reminded of her advice twice since–once when I read a trade industry journal about using student loan payment assistance as an employee benefit, and a second time when a colleague in Eugene commented that she was reaching her limit with employees asking for time off to hike the Pacific Coast Trail.

By way of background: when Sharon spoke at the symposium her presentation included a slide with a list of conceivable employee accommodation requests (based on actual requests). The list had the predictable ones: requests to work a couple of days a week from home; work a flex schedule of 5am2pm, bring a dog to work, a baby to work, take a class while working and so on. The one that gave me pause was a request to take

ten weeks off to build a home. That was an easy “no way” in my mind, until Sharon further discussed it.

She told us the request was one made by her engineer husband early in his career at a large aerospace company. He was young, talented and valued, and his supervisor found a way to say yes to the request, including adding a few weeks at the end of the line due to construction delays. Now in fairness, the company was a large one and it could be that fact made it easier to accommodate an extended absence. But Sharon’s point wasn’t about how it worked or what the impacts were, but that the supervisor made it happen, and her husband then spent 32 years at the company.

The investment was a wise one.

Today’s workplace is far different. Long term employees are harder to come by, and in SLO County, employees in general are a challenge to find and retain. Meanwhile, flex time, casual dress and other accommodations are the ready norm. Times have changed. I think it’s much tougher to be an employer today than it was 20 years ago,

One thing has not changed–we are all only as good as our employees. It may be time to stop begrudging what seem like crazy requests and find a way to try to make them happen. Disclaimer: Sharon asserted, and I concur, that we’re talking about the valued, productive employees here. Fairness is required, but it’s OK to work to keep the good ones.

And as for the student loan employee benefit, I mentioned the article to my grown daughter (who self- funded a master’s degree) and, boy, it struck a chord. She was all for it. I did a little more research and found a recent survey done by Beyond (a job-search firm) reporting 67% of respondents saying they would be more willing to accept a job if a loan repayment assistance program was part of the benefits package.

Interesting, because since the payment would still be considered taxable income, in my mind it’s really just a bigger salary.

But it’s a benefit that has value to employees and, with formal payment in place, can help reduce principal and interest payments and shorten the life of a loan. It’s a benefit that some employers are using to attract–and keep–great talent. One to consider.

Moving on to offering time off to hike the Pacific Coast Trail. Let’s just say I’m glad my office is not in the Pacific Northwest.

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The Magazine of Downtown SLO

August 2017

Inside: Downtown Perspec t ive Far mers' Marke t Vendor P ro f ile Downtown B usiness Spo tlights

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population as well as the environment at large. He usty smells emanated from the dark tunnel in oversees the waters that pass through our city and the underbelly of Downtown SLO as a group ensures that when they are eventually discharged into of SLO City staff and City Council began a tour of the Pacific Ocean at Avila Beach, they are as safe “Deep Dark”. Led by our city’s biologist Freddy Otte, as possible. In recent years he has helped to study the team donned waders and respirator masks as what he calls “orphans” (dog excrement) in local they flicked on flash lights and began the trek up San neighborhoods to see what their impact is on the Luis Creek from Mission Plaza. I was fortunate to be local watershed. Similar work has been conducted one of the individuals on this journey and after 31 in San Luis Creek and the results are staggering. years of wondering what lay beneath our city streets The water flowing out of Deep Dark has 500 times and businesses I found my answer. I had ideas of Dominic Tartaglia, the acceptable limits of Total Daily Load for fecal what we would find on this tour and in some regards Executive Director coliform! my expectations were correct and in others, I was completely surprised. The tour completely changed the way I ources upstream include pigeons nesting in the tunnel and saw the water flowing through Mission Plaza. human waste from transients encamped along the stream.

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ollowing the tour I had to sit down with Freddy and his interns Ali Coblentz and Liya Klingenberg to discuss what we witnessed down there. The image of a hypodermic needle spinning in an eddy of water was just too much to walk away from that tour without questions. For the complete interview you can visit our website and listen to the whole context of our discussion but here is the highlight reel of our sit down in June.

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reddy discovered at roughly the age of 5 years old that he was intrigued by fish and as he grew older felt more and more compelled to not only study them but to protect them.

After obtaining a degree in biology he took positions that eventually enabled him to work hard to protect the local fish

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The same humans that are using hypodermic needles to find a high. The day after the tour I witnessed a man letting his daughter play in the water in a swim suit and two alarms went off for me. One, the water is absolutely not safe for children to be swimming in. Two, that is habitat for endangered Steelhead fish populations. When I asked Freddy what we can do to raise awareness and help protect the water his response was that we need to start talking about the issue of cleaning up our “one water”. Take a listen Freddy Otte, to the complete interview online and City of SLO Biologist

On the Cover: The Young Dubliners heat up last year's Concerts in the Plaza. The Celtic Rock group returns this year on August 18.

This season's full band line-up can be found on www.DowntownSLO.com. Photo by Mukta Naran

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presents

CONCERTS in the PLAZA August 11

Royal Jelly Jive Soul/Rock/Swing/Jazz

Damon Castillo Band Rock/Soul

Sponsor: The Gold Concept

Sponsor: Pacific Western Bank

August 18

August 25

YoungCelticDubliners Rock

Zongo All-Stars Hot, Fun, Afro-Caribbean Dance

Sponsor: SLO Credit Union

Sponsor: Richardson Properties PROUDLY POURING

.com

FREE LIVE MUSIC FROM 5PM-8PM IN MISSION PLAZA , DOWNTOWN SLO NO OUTSIDE ALCOHOL • NO PETS • FOOD AND DRINK AVAILABLE • WWW.DOWNTOWNSLO.COM

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learn more about the one water concept. In short, think twice before touching water that you don’t know is clean and make every effort you can to keep junk out of our water. It is, after

all, one of the greatest assets of our beloved Mission Plaza and Downtown SLO.

Downtown SLO Farmers' Market Vendor Profile

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imenez Family Farm is a valued contributor to the Downtown SLO Farmers’ Market, providing a range of fresh products like pies, quiches, jams, meats and vegetables at two separate stands at The Market. Although the family has owned their farm in Santa Ynez Valley for about sixteen years, they continue to evolve, aiming to “improve the business to the best of [their] abilities.” Marcie and Gustavo Jimenez are the owners, and their two children, Christie and George, dedicate their fair share of work to the family farm and business. Christie cherishes the family-oriented aspect of their business, stating: “We live and breathe our farm.”

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he Jimenez Family consistently grows new products and maintains a commitment to sustainability. About four acres of their land is designated to produce, while three acres are for livestock. Their unique selection of meats like lamb, pork, goat, rabbit, and chicken is one thing that distinguishes them from other farms, as is their wide selection of delicious and fresh pies, sold as Marcie’s Pies in a separate tent at The Market.

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inding The Market a much better work environment than a cubicle in an office, Christie enjoys participating in our Downtown SLO Farmers’ Market because it’s so much fun:

Marcie & Gustavo Jimenez Family Farm

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ou can find Jimenez Family Farms and Marcie’s Pies within close proximity to each other: the pie stand is located in the prepared foods area of The Market, and their fresh meats and produce are located with the other produce vendors in the certified Farmers’ Market section just across the way. In addition to Downtown SLO Farmers’ Market and other farmers’ markets ranging all the way from Los Angeles up to SLO County, Jimenez Family Farm products are available in community supported agriculture (CSA) boxes, which you can get at localharvest.org/csa. Thank you to Jimenez Family Farms and Marcie’s Pies for being a part of the Downtown SLO community and our weekly farmers’ market!

By Phoebe Conrad. Photo courtesy of Marcie's Pies.

Your LOCAL Kitchen Shop is still here to serve you!

SPECIAL PRICING BY MENTIONING THIS AD Forden’s will be moving, but there’s still time to take advantage of popular brands at exceptional prices!

805-543-1090 Mon–Sat 9:30am–5:30pm

her enjoyment is obvious as she reaches out with a “Hi, how are you?” to nearly anyone who passes by Marcie’s Pies on Thursday night. While she admits that running the business is hard work and requires a lot of late nights, early mornings, and time on the weekends, the perks of getting to enjoy their own products as a family and feed good food to the community makes it all worth it.

857 Monterey Street · SLO www.fordens.com

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Mint + Craft Cafe and Mercantile

reveals open-faced egg toasties like The Nordic featuring house cured wild salmon, the Eurasian with Robin Covey (pictured) & pork belly and spicy pickles, and— Shanny Covey, Co-Owners appropriately—The Obispo, featuring 848 Monterey Street applewood bacon, tomato, and avocado. Lunch features sandwiches (805) 632-9191 and salads with a similar global flair, www.MintAndCraft.com as does dinner, with its array of he fifth restaurant in a series of sandwiches and clay pots (think lamb well-known and highly regarded tagine, veggie cassoulet, and duck leg establishments, the long-awaited Mint confit). A dedicated produce purveyor + Craft Café and Mercantile has opened at 848 Monterey visits five farmers’ markets every week to select produce Street for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The “fast casual café for the five restaurants. If the food hasn’t enticed you yet, + artisanal goods mercantile” is the brainchild of Robin perhaps their beautifully-curated array of mercantile goods Covey and Shanny Covey, the business partners behind will: Betsi Ashby serves as merchandiser and has carefully Luna Red and Café Fiero, and who each individually own selected the 300 products from 60 largely local vendors Novo and Robin’s Restaurant, in Cambria, respectively. So that stock the shop. The selection features items that are what makes Mint + Craft so different from its predecessors? “not too unapproachable but exciting and different”, like In addition to the bakery, deli and pastry cases, as well the beeswax wrap and goat milk caramels. Pre-curated gift as coffee and wine to-go, it’s the location: Mint is tucked boxes will be available for holidays, like a “tea momma” away into a tiny 1,300 square foot space and seats 51 gift box with teas, and “hot momma” featuring hot sauces people total. (By comparison, Novo can seat 250, and Luna and spicy goods for Mother’s Day. It is all in the name, Red, 300.) But this has been worked to Mint’s advantage: after all: Mint + Craft was selected to connote “the sense of the café’s niche is grab and go, quick and casual, but freshness and excellence; the sense of handcrafted quality” delicious and high quality fare that folks have come to they aim to provide. Mint + Craft is open seven days a expect from Robin and Shanny. A glance at their menu week from 8am until 9pm. (which was still being finalized at the time of the interview)

By Zoya Dixon

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SLO Safe Ride

Mike Linn (pictured), Trevor Freeman, and Noah Raynor, Co-Owners 1026 Palm Street, Suite 211 (805) 620-7233 www.SLOSafeRide.com

business travel and transportation.

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lready staffed with 26 people, SLO Safe Ride will hire at least five new employees for Obsidian, a conservative estimate given the company’s quick growth and success. As I chatted with Linn, we sat in a super-sleek Mercedes “Land Jet” passenger vehicle that seats hough SLO Safe Ride originated as eight and is outfitted with Wi-Fi, two a “tipsy taxi” service six years ago, TVs, a temperature-controlled wine the company now offers a full scope fridge, closet, and reclining seats: the of transportation options to companies, individuals, and quintessential Obsidian vehicle for executives and business groups up and down the coast of California and beyond. travelers who want to experience the central coast in the Cal Poly grad Mike Linn and his co-founders Noah Raynor lap of luxury. This is in addition to their existing fleet of 13 and Trevor Freeman launched SLO Safe Ride as a service to vehicles, which ranges from smaller more versatile vehicles Downtown patrons, who were often left without sufficient to luxury sedans, passenger vans, and SUVs. As such, transportation after frequenting the bar scene at night. their pricing structure reflects the range of services they Coincidentally, Uber launched just a year later, and SLO provide: you can order a late-night ride via their app and Safe Ride found itself having to pivot and subsequently alter get fourteen of your friends home for a very affordable flat their business plan as a relatively new company. But being fee of $10. SLO Safe Riders get a wristband that offers them flexible has been key to the company’s success: soon SLO discounts on drinks and covers at partnering bars, and all Safe Ride was doing weddings, wine tours, Cal Poly events, drivers are licensed professionals and employees of the and bussing executives to and from meetings in LA and San company. It’s clear that the company’s reputation is well Francisco. With that creative energy and versatility, Mike earned; Mike Linn states that people know that SLO Safe Linn and his colleagues soon found themselves driving Ride is “ready to help out whenever.” an incredible 80,000-100,000 people per year. Now, the company is excited to launch Obsidian Luxury Services,

By Zoya Dixon a sister company to SLO Safe Ride focusing on high-end

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

greatest athletes on the central coast

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mohinder gill

By Dr. Don Morris Editor’s note: “Who are the Greatest Athletes in the history of the Central Coast?” So far the following athletes have been featured: Ed Brown, Stephanie Brown Trafton, Chuck Liddell, Loren Roberts, Steve Patterson, Gene Rambo, Robin Ventura, Jordan Hasay, Chuck Estrada, Mike Larrabee, Ron Capps, Jamie Martin, Rusty Kuntz, Randall Cunningham, Jim Lonborg, Kami Craig, John Rudometkin, Ivan Huff, Chelsea Johnson, Michael Louis Bratz, Frank Minini, Scott McClain, Mel Queen, Napoleon Kaufmann, Katie Hicks, Mark Brunell, Gene Romero, Kenny Heitz, Thornton Starr Lee, Pat Rusco, Rusty Blair, the Lee Family, Dan Conners, John Iribarren, Jeff Powers, The Mott Family, Casey Todd Candaele, Bill Brown, Theo Dunn, Ed Jorgensen, Hamp Pool, Kevin Lucas and Dr. Paul Spangler. Please send nominations to Dr. Morris at dmmorris@calpoly.edu.

the Hall of Fame of India. He founded Mohinder Sports Inc. in 1976. His line of sports products is presently being marketed in the USA, Canada, and Europe.

This August Column honors Cal Poly triple jumper, Mohinder Gill.

and set five NCAA meet records.

Mohinder won the 1971 Division I title ranking as a champion alongside 12 other Olympians. His jump in 1971 at the West Coast Relays was the second longest jump ever on American soil. He held the Cal Poly record and national record for India at the time of his induction into the Cal Poly Athletic Hall of Fame 2 years later.

Mohinder competed for India and led the Indian contingent at the 1972 Olympic Games at Munich.

mohinder gill Mohinder Gill was recognized as one of the premier triple jumpers in the world during his career at Cal Poly from 196871. He won five national championships,

His achievements for India include a Gold and Bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, three Gold and one Silver medal at the Asian Games and Asian Athletic Championships and a Silver medal that he won in the Pre-Olympic Athletic Championships in 1971 at Munich which was the only medal won for Asia. Being a world class triple jumper he was invited to major international invitational competitions in America, Canada, and Europe.

Mohinder received the highest award in sports, the “Arjuna Award” from the President of India in 1970 and was inducted into

805 Aerovista #103, San Luis Obispo

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assistance league accomplishments

The Operation School Bell program had its best year ever.

The chapter clothed 1,900+ students from Kindergarten through 12th grade in all ten school districts in the County with new, school-appropriate clothing at a retail site. In addition to new clothes, each student was provided an age-appropriate book and a dental hygiene kit. Middle and high school students were also given publications to help them prepare for college. Assistance League of SLO County is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation. We are an all-volunteer organization whose members are dedicated to serving families and children through its philanthropic programs. To learn more about Assistance League, please visit www.alslocounty.org.

volunteer for literacy for life

Our 2-part Tutor Training Workshop will take place on Saturday, August 12th and Saturday, August 19th in the conference room at Union Bank, 995 Higuera Street, SLO, from 10am to 3:30pm.

A $25 enrollment fee is required at your first session. For more information or to sign up, please call 805-541-4219 or visit our website at www.literacyforlifeslo.org

ambiance fundraiser for bb/bs

local books – Reading by local author

POISONED! HOW TO RUIN A LIFE by local author Diane N. Diamond will be the subject of a presentation at the SLO City/County Library, 995 Palm Street, August 19, beginning at 2PM. This will include a reading from her engaging crime novel, followed by discussion and book signing. Singing original songs at the event will be Kristen Black, who also represents POISONED’s main character on the cover of Diamond’s book. POISONED! is the story of Rita Charles, a single mother of a preteen son, who hates her job and is resentful of her boss. She can’t quit, however, because she is just scraping by. Complications mount with her romantic involvement with a co-worker which she is trying to hide from her employer. As if she didn’t have enough problems, Rita decides to play a practical joke on her boss. But the joke goes terribly wrong. When violent crimes become rampant in her town, she fears she will be implicated. A fun and witty mystery with plenty of suspense keeps pulling the reader in. The event is FREE and open to the public in the Community Room.

Books will be available for purchase.

Ambiance Boutiques in downtown SLO and Paso Robles held a two-day fundraiser totaling $1,844 for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Their donation helps support the agency’s one-to-one mentoring programs throughout the county. Executive Director Anna BoydBucy said, “Ambiance is making a big difference in the community.

The children who receive a mentor because of their generosity will grow up to be better educated, wealthier and have stronger relationships.” In the attached photo, from left to right, Big Brothers Big Sisters President Christie Clemons, Past President Karen Colombo and Development Director Patty Carpenter accept a check from Ambiance owner Kannyn January and manager Jacui Clark-Charlesworth.

2017 clark center scholarships

The Clark Center for the Performing Arts awarded four Arroyo Grande and one Nipomo High School performing arts students scholarships pursuing higher education in the arts. The more than $10,000 in scholarships were funded through an endowment conceived to recognize young performers, which was made possible through

D ressing Windows in San Luis Obispo for over 39 Years

Alan “Himself” A U G U S T

alan’s draperies 544-9405 alansdrapery@gmail.com 2017

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

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the generous bequests of the Melick and Arlene Mendel estate, the Bernie Kautz Memorial Scholarship Fund as well as the Clark Center Scholarship Fund. Nipomo High School senior, Paige Deeds, received the Bernie Kautz Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $1,000.

Arroyo Grande High senior, Amanda Skillman, received a $2,500 Melick & Arlene Mendel Scholarship. Arroyo Grande High seniors, Michaela Ferrogiaro and Ashur Gharavi, both received a $2,000 scholarship from the Clark Center Scholarship fun and their classmate, Robert Kiner, received a $2,000 Melick & Arlene Mendel Scholarship as well as a $1,000 scholarship from the Clark Center Scholarship Fund.

All of our scholarship winners have expressed their plans to pursue a career in the theatrical arts. This is the 14th year the Clark Center has held its performing arts scholarship competition. For more information on the Scholarship Endowment Fund, contact our Development Director, Wendy-Marie Martin, at (805) 489-4196 x207 or via email at wendy@clarkcenter.org.

sesloc and members donate $9000 to food bank

SESLOC Federal Credit Union and its generous members donated more than $9,100 last month to the SLO Food Bank’s “Lovin’ Lunchbox” program, which provides meals to children during the summer. During the school year, more than 16,000 children in the county participate in the free or reduced price school meals program.

But some families struggle to provide meals during the summer, which is how the Lovin’ Lunchbox program helps. The program offers free meals—up to two healthy meals or snacks per day—to children 18 years and younger, which are distributed at approved sites during the summer months when school is not in session. Over the past six years, SESLOC and its members across six branches have raised $56,529 for the program. Donations raised at the Santa Maria branch will directly benefit the Santa Barbara County Food Bank.

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nightwriters golden quill writing contest

The 27th annual SLO Nightwriters Golden Quill Writing Contest launches this year with new categories, and renowned judges await contestants from across the country, and around the globe. The theme of this year’s contest is Liberation. Each entry must depict this theme, as interpreted by the writer. This year’s categories are: Flash/Short Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction and Poetry. The fee for each category is only $15.00 per entry. Prizes will be awarded to the top three winners in each category. First Place $500.00, Second Place $250.00, Third Place $100.00.

All finalists will receive a Finalist Certificate and be announced at the end of the contest. All criteria are detailed on the contest Webpage at SLONightwritersGoldenQuill.blogspot.com. Entries must be received by midnight on September 15, 2017. Please visit http://SLONWGoldenQuillWritingContest.com/ for all submission guidelines, full contest rules, judges’ profiles and so much more.

taproot charities fundraiser

Bring your friends and family and join Taproot Charities for a day full of grass volleyball, food, music, and more! The tournament is open to everyone of all ages and skill levels. Teams consist of four players and tickets are $25/player. The event will be hosted on Sunday, August 6th from 9-4 at Bethel Park in Templeton.

Your participation will help spread awareness and raise funds to provide an education for impoverished young women in Uganda.

By focusing on their education, we are empowering these young women to become agents of change and leaders in their home and communities. All proceeds will benefit Taproot Charities. For more information go to https://www.taprootcharities.org

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pastel painting by carol timson ball

Molecular & Cellular Biology, Applied Mathematics & Statistics.

Ms. Stinson, who graduated from Templeton High School, will attend the University of California, Berkeley where she plans to major in Chemical Engineering. Ms. Morris and Ms. Stinson each will receive $20,000, which will be disbursed over four years.

kids 14 and under play golf for free

Morro Bay Art Association is proud to present a demonstration of pastel by award winning artist, Carol Timson Ball. Carol is a professional artist who grew up in Leicester, England and earned the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loughborough University College of Art & Design, Leicestershire. Carol works in several art medias and is a member of Pastel Society of the West Coast and Signature Member of Sierra Pastel Society. This demonstration will explore composition, perspective and editing.

Carol will apply color combinations that illuminate her painting, creating a dynamic between light and dark. If you’ve wondered how to create pastel paintings that illuminate light with the use of darks, don’t miss this great opportunity to learn techniques that will help you become a better artist. WHERE: Art Center Morro Bay, 835 Main Street, Morro Bay. WHEN: August 14, 2017, 3pm – 5pm. CONTACT: 805-772-2504 or email: artcenter.morrobay@ gmail.org. COST: Free and open to the public.

iqms announces stem scholarships

IQMS, a leading manufacturing ERP software company, recently announced the 2017 STEM scholarships awarded in partnership with The Community Foundation SLO County (CFSLOCO). The scholarship is available to eligible high school students in San Luis Obispo County and supports students pursuing a baccalaureate degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM).

The scholarships have been awarded to Shaina Morris and Sienna Stinson. Ms. Morris, who graduated from SLO High School, will attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall and intends to major in

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

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

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Kids looking for outdoor activities over summer break now have another fun, family-friendly option: free golf until Labor Day at Laguna Lake Golf Course. The Kids Play Free promotion, offered by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, will also allow adults to spend quality time with their children while getting exercise under the summer sun. The promotion applies to children 14 years and under, and one paying adult is required to join the children on the course. The promotion, valid any time of the day on weekdays, weekends and holidays, does not include cart or equipment rentals.

Tee time reservations are encouraged. The Laguna Lake Golf Course is a 10-hole, executive-length course, offering wellness and entertainment for the entire family. Conveniently located at 11175 Los Osos Valley Road, the course is rated one of the best-maintained layouts on the Central Coast, offering a fun, yet still challenging, round for the beginning and accomplished golfer. The city-owned course also offers lessons, tournaments, a driving range, social clubs and the 11th Hole Grill. For a tee time, which can be made up to seven days in advance, call (805) 781-7309.

capslo receives $10,000 grant

Community Action Partnership of SLO County (CAPSLO) has received a $10,000 grant to provide no-cost screenings and education to low-income adults. The money was awarded to CAPSLO’s Adult Wellness and Prevention Screening program by the Community Foundation of SLO County, a county-wide resource for local charitable giving. The foundation’s Community Needs grant will fund free health screenings for adults at mobile clinics. The funding will also allow wellness clients time with the program nurse, who can answer questions about where to obtain low-cost prescriptions, primary care physicians, laboratory test results, grief counseling and more. CAPSLO’s Adult Wellness program does not require an appointment, and no one is turned away. Services offered include free testing for anemia, cholesterol, blood pressure and more. The Special Needs grants issued by the Community Foundation focus on direct services offered in arts and culture, environment, health, human services, homelessness, seniors and people with disabilities. The grants also encourage community building, cultural inclusion and education.

THE BULLETIN BOARD Celebrating children at the dana adobe

In 2017, we had almost 1800 school children visit to learn from hands-on activities all about the rancho living in Early California History. Schools from all over the Central Coast sign up for field trips that provide instruction on tortilla making, folklorico dance lessons, adobe brick making, vaquero roping lessons, guided nature hikes, nature sketching instruction and much more.

The Dana Adobe Cultural Center also hosts fun family-friendly events throughout the year. We look forward to seeing many more children and their families the rest of the year, as they come out to participate in our family campfires, monthly community event days, concerts at the adobe and museum programs throughout the fall. Attracting over 7,000 annual visitors, the DANA Adobe Cultural Center strives to be a place that provides a way for our children and adults to connect with nature, learn about the past, and enjoy the outdoors. Made possible only with the efforts of our dedicated volunteer docents who greet, teach and guide visitors to the Dana Adobe. Interested in joining the team of volunteers? Join the team! Call 929-5679 for more information on upcoming orientation.

free senior health care screening

Community Action Partnership, Adult Wellness & Prevention Screening offers health screening for adults 18 years and older throughout SLO 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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zehnder named rotarian of the year

The Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa has named Tom Zehnder as 2016-2017 Rotarian of the Year.

Zehnder is a principal at Wallace Group and has been in Rotary since 2002. Rotary de Tolosa’s president Gardner (pictured with Zehnder), chose Zehnder because of his “tireless efforts” in managing many of the Club’s Community Service projects.

Gardner says, “Tom’s commitment to Rotary in general and these projects in particular is amazing. He embodies the Rotary spirit of Service Above Self.” During the past year, Zehnder oversaw the construction of an outdoor amphitheater at the Rancho el Chorro School. He also was a project manager for several other community projects including Damon Garcia Snack Bar, an Airport Viewing Platform, and the Laguna Lake Fitness Course. Through his 15 years in Rotary, Zehnder has also served on the Rotary de Tolosa Board of Directors as Membership Chair and Fall Family Barbecue Chair. His commitment to Rotary shines through in the many positions he has taken and has excelled at over the past year.

local books – Thorn Side Throne Side

Bishop Gabriel Abdelaziz, veteran of forty-six years of ministry and pastor of The Revival Center and founder of Alpha Beth Ministries, has written a new book out just this month!

Thorn Side Throne Side has a byline of “How Do You View the Cross?” He expounds on the title by saying that if we still see Jesus as only the Christ of the Cross, then we are required to work out all of our problems and jump through religious hoops. If we see Christ on the Throne, we see Him as no longer on the Cross. The Cross will be empty and the divine throne occupied.

Christ’s occupation of the throne, as explained in the book’s twelve chapters of biblical truths, will impact your life. Books are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites for $14.95.

All proceeds go to Alpha Beth Ministries and The Revival Center in Paso Robles.

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Jim brabeck honored at retirement

Last month Farm Supply held a retirement party for Jim Brabeck.

Hundreds of people paid their respects to a man who has touched so many lives in this community. There were several VIP speeches and even a fly-by from two jets in his honor. Plenty of photos were taken. The one above is a group of old SLO classmates: Rich Roberts, Jim Brabeck, Pable Pinedo and Bill Zweifel all from the class of 60 and Jack Hoover, class of 61.

rotary clubs rebuild rancho el chorro stage

San Luis Obispo Rotarians and community members gathered for a ribbon cutting at Rancho El Chorro School, to celebrate the completion of a new amphitheater stage at the school. All three Rotary Clubs in SLO (Rotary Club of SLO, Daybreak, and Tolosa) partnered together to rebuild the amphitheater stage at Rancho El Chorro School this Spring. The old stage was falling apart in dis-repair. The new stage is double the size and includes an added acoustic overhang. Rancho El Chorro School is an outdoor education school where kids from several different local and regional school districts come to learn about the outdoors. The kids stay in cabins, have campfires, and take educational courses. The Rotary Club of Cayucos, under the leadership of Steve Geil, had a dream to rebuild this school.

Many Rotary clubs from the region, other states, and even a partner club in Compostela Mexico have pitched in for this school. See page 34 for more on this wonderful story. For more information on how to get involved in this & similar projects, visit: http://www.slorotary.org

hind foundation donates $389,000 to octagon barn

surfing for hope donates to cancer support

Members of the Surfing for Hope (SFH) Foundation recently presented a $2,000 donation from their 6th Annual Longboard Contest and Benefit to the Cancer Support CommunityCalifornia Central Coast (CSC) in recognition of the non-profit organization’s vital community link to cancer support services on the Central Coast. The funds will help support and promote three teen and youth camps this summer: the Pure Stoke Surf Camp (July 15-17), Camp Kesem (Aug 12-17), and Hanging Heart Ranch Horse Camp which was held earlier this month. Since 2012, the foundation has raised more than $200,000 to support and assist cancer patients and their families. Pictured from left: Spillane, D’Acquisto, Allen, and Voglin. To sponsor, donate, or volunteer, see surfingforhope.org.

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The Land Conservancy of SLO County was recently awarded a $389,000 grant from the Hind Foundation in support of the Octagon Barn Center effort. The funds are specified for the completion of the Center’s Milking Parlor building renovation, which is now underway and will be complete by September of this year. The Hind Foundation is committed to funding community-based projects and programs that encourage people to work together to build an enduring legacy for future generations, and has been a long-time supporter of The Land Conservancy’s work. The Octagon Barn Center, and the Milking Parlor structure in particular, fit well within the Hind Foundation’s focus on historical landmark restoration and land conservation. The completed Milking Parlor will honor our county’s rich agricultural legacy while bringing the community together in a restored and functional educational event space.

THE BULLETIN BOARD cal poly students design special surfboard

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that would allow Jared to lie on the board without having his neck fully f lexed back. They placed a handle on the front that Jared could hold, and two blue skids on the back to keep his legs in place. “They came up with a solution based on Jared’s disabilities and abilities,” said Springer, “They factored in the type of board, size, the waves, positioning and how best to support his body.” Recently, the group took Jared out to the ocean to test the new surf board. They helped him onto the board, pushed him into the ocean and away he rode on his first wave. The surf board worked.

hospitals collect cereal for kids Sierra Vista

Regional Medical Center and Twin Cities Community Hospital just completed a community-wide effort to provide local families with a healthy breakfast during the summer months through its Healthy Over Hungry Cereal Drive benefitting The Food Bank Coalition of SLO County. Together, employees from both hospitals donated 1,190 servings of cereal and $3,111 to help feed local children who may be struggling with hunger during their summer break. That money will be matched by Tenet Healthcare. There are 44,000 SLO County residents who struggle with hunger, 40% of whom are children. Nationally, Tenet employees contributed 3.2 million servings of cereal and more than $209,000, which will be supplemented by a $100,000 matching grant from Tenet.

Jared misses surfing. He has been in a wheelchair ever since a brain tumor rendered him unable to use the right side of his body. “Jared’s passion has always been to surf,” said Jared’s father, Frank Springer. “Before his brain cancer, hemorrhage and stroke he spent 4 or 5 days a week in the water catching waves. Since coming home from the hospital Jared’s friends, family and I have been taking him surfing. We usually ride on the board with him and try to help him stay on. It works sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t.” Four months ago, Jared visited Jack’s Helping Hand, a local nonprofit organization that assists families whose children with cancer, illness and special needs. Karen Borges, Executive Director of Jack’s Helping Hand, identified an opportunity to help Jared when she was asked to speak to a group of Cal Poly students taking a Rehabilitation Engineering Course. Borges asked if they would consider adapting a surf board for Jared to be able to use. Jack’s Helping Hand offered to fund the project. The group enthusiastically agreed. They began the project in collaboration with Jared and his family. They decided to adapt a paddleboard with a riser

dignity health accepting grant applications

Dignity Health Central Coast, which includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital (AGCH), French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), and Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC), is now accepting applications for our Dignity Health Community Grants. The maximum amount available for funding an Affordable Care Community’s project, a collaboration of community organizations, is $100,000. The Dignity Health Community Grants Program seeks to partner with other nonprofit organizations who are working to improve the health and quality of life of the communities we serve, as well as exemplify Dignity Health’s five core values: Dignity, Collaboration, Justice, Stewardship, and Excellence. To review the criteria and apply for the 2018 grants, please visit https:// www.dignityhealth.org/about-us/community-health/grantprograms/community-grants.

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