Speedway remembers Al Hinds

Gary Thomas

Placerville Speedway

Since opening in 1965 Placerville Speedway has been a favorite among fans throughout Northern California.

Saturday night

Placerville Speedway will pay homage to a man who had a key role in making it all possible with the 20th Tribute to Al Hinds taking to the red clay.

The event began in 2004 following the passing of early track promoter and mentor Al Hinds, a longtime Placerville resident and true race fan who touched the lives of many.

Hinds was the second promoter of Placerville Speedway. He took operation of the track with business partner Richard Hirst from its founder Bruno Romani in 1968.

The operator of a local machine shop by trade, Hinds loved the community where he lived. In his final years of life, he enjoyed sitting with some of his best friends every night in the grandstands at Placerville Speedway and loved watching young talent make a name for themselves in the sport.

“From the day he set foot on the red clay at Placerville Speedway to the very last race he attended, Al Hinds continued to display his true love for auto racing and the community,” commented former track announcer and publicist Bill Sullivan. “Even in his final years he continued to help young drivers, entertain fans and most importantly he spent a great deal of time talking to and mentoring those that helped in speedway operations. “

Modesto’s Tony Gomes heads into the Tribute to Al Hinds fresh o his second career winged sprint car victory last Saturday. Gomes will face sti pressure from Auburn’s Andy Forsberg, Hanford’s Michael Faccinto, Indiana native Brinton Marvel, Placerville’s Shane Hopkins,

Dunnigan’s Luke Hays, Suisun City’s Chance Grasty and others.

The pure stocks make their third appearance of the season as Oakley’s Nick Baldwin looks to make it three in a row to start the year. Last weekend he had all he could handle from Diamond Springs’ Kevin Jinkerson and Placerville’s Russ Murphy. Rounding out the card will be the limited late models and the Bay Cities Racing Association Lightning Sprints.

For more information log onto placervillespeedway.com.

Speedway Schedule

April 22: Tri-State Pro Stock Series, limited late models, pure stocks, mini trucks and vintage hard tops | Tilford Tribute

April 29: Winged 360 sprint cars, limited late models, pure stocks and mini trucks

Mollette Continued from A4

Brazil. There are many wonderful people in Brazil but also plenty of thieves.

We didn’t grow up with fences and walls. We don’t want them today, but do we have a choice?

Many believe eliminating semi-automatic rifles is the answer. A killer with two six shooters could still kill someone and probably several in a classroom filled with children. If we outlaw guns in this country, then evil people will find a way to smuggle them into our country to other evil people who aren’t concerned about keeping the law. We will be defenseless and at their mercy. Fentanyl is illegal but more than a 100,000 people died in 2022 from fentanyl and synthetic opioids.

I don’t own a semi-automatic rifle but if China or Russia invades us, I want one. Actually, I want one for my wife, children and grandkids. We need at least a chance to defend ourselves.

By all means we must stop the mentally ill from having such weapons but that’s hard to do when someone has no record of any psychotic episodes. There is nothing wrong with a waiting period for buying a gun and a background check.

Obviously private and religious schools are targets like any other school. Everyone is vulnerable.

Every school and board of education must be in serious planning stages for implementing the best security possible for our children. This is something that has never happened to most schools or churches in America but everyone is vulnerable. It only takes one such act next month or 10 years from now to kill people and devastate a community.

Dr. Glenn Mollette is a national columnist and the author of 13 books.

Announcements

AL-ANON is here for you if you are bothered by someone else’s drinking. Call for meeting times. (916) 334-2970. https://sacal-anon.blogspot. comt

AMERICAN ASSOC. OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN Foothills of EDC Branch. Our mission is to advance gender equity for women & girls. Science and Math Camp Scholarships, programs & interest groups. Leave voicemail for Laurel (530) 417-7737 or Sara (530) 417-7138 eldorado-ca.aauw.net

El DORADO COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB Dedicated to all aspects of ham radio. Meetings held on the third Tuesday of each month at the El Dorado Sheriff’s office, 200 Industrial Drive, Placerville, 6:30 pm. Visitors and non-hams welcome. Info at www.edcarc.net

LEARN & PLAY CRIBBAGE Cribbage is a fun, fast paced game that will surely keep you on your toes! **All skill levels **Learn to play by ACC Rules (American Cribbage Congress) **Beginner instruction available **Compete in weekly Cribbage tournaments. Call 916-768-4452 for more information. Gold Country Cribbers play Wednesday afternoon 4:30 pm at the Moni Gilmore Sr Center, 990 Lassen Lane, El Dorado Hills, CA. 95762

Ready for real change?

CELEBRATE RECOVERY meets Wednesday nights at 6:30 pm at Bayside Church of Placerville, 4602 Missouri Flat Road, Placerville. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. We are a Christ centered recovery program to find healing and recovery from our hurts, habits, and hangups. Email elebratercovery@ baysideplacerville. com. Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/ CRBaysidePlacerville.

Struggling with life? CELEBRATE RECOVERY is for any Hurt, Habit or Hang-up. We are a faith-based recovery program for life’s issues and struggles. Join us Thursday nights at 6:30pm at Green Valley Church, 3500 Green Valley Rd, Placerville. Doors open at

SavetheDate

6:15pm. Children’s programs are available for ages 3 months to 18 years old. Email: celebrate@ greenvalley.church. Find us on Facebook: https://m.facebook. com/crgvcc/

DEMOCRATS – Come meet with the United Democrats of El Dorado County at Round Table Pizza–Missouri Flat Rd. in Placerville at noon on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Call (530)391-6414 or see edcdems. org for more information.

GOLD RUSH CHORUS now welcomes both men and women to share the joy of singing fourpart harmony in the barbershop style. To learn more or to book a performance, call Howard at (530) 647-6513 or Kent (530) 651-3575

Hangtown Women’s TENNIS Club. Join fun-loving women Wednesdays 9am-11am at El Dorado High School. Lessons, social events, only $50/year. Call Cindy 805-540-8654.

MARSHALL HOSPITAL

AUXILIARY is looking for volunteers. It is a rewarding opportunity to do something for the community. We will be holding interviews on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. Please contact Linda Grimoldi at 530-6202240 or call the Auxiliary Office at 530-626-2643.

SENIOR PEER COUNSELING

Seniors 55 and over who are grieving, depressed or having issues related to aging can meet one-on-one with a caring senior, professionally supervised and trained to listen and encourage. Call (530)6216304 to leave a message and get started.

TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION OF EL DORADO COUNTY

Our mission is to educate the public on tax issues that affect them. Our meetings are held every Monday morning from 7:30 to 8:30 at Denny’s Restaurant, Fair Lane Drive, Placerville. Meetings are open to the public except the first Monday of each month. For more information call Louis (530) 622-6763. We are a nonpartisan organization zooplankton that provided a natural clean-up crew to help restore the lake’s famous blue waters.

The findings are reported in the 2022 “Lake Tahoe Clarity Report” released April 10 from the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

Clarity sinks in

In 2022 Lake Tahoe’s average annual clarity was 71.7 feet compared to 61 feet in 2021. The key finding from 2022 was the great improvement in lake clarity from August through December, when the average Secchi depth was 80.6 feet. This coincided with the highest numbers of the zooplankton Daphnia and Bosmina.

California and Nevada, which share a border at Lake Tahoe, are actively working to restore lake clarity to its historic 97.4 feet.

Zooplankton a clear factor

The primary factors affecting lake clarity are the concentration of particles in a specific size range, such as silt and clay, and tiny phytoplankton, or algae. The phytoplankton Cyclotella, a singlecelled alga is in this size range and has impacted clarity in most years.

Zooplankton are small, microscopic animals. Some zooplankton, particularly Daphnia and Bosmina, are specialized to consume particles in that critical size range.

“Daphnia and Bosmina largely disappeared from the lake after they were grazed down following the introduction of the mysis shrimp in the 1960s,” said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center. “In late 2021 the mysis population unexpectedly crashed and it took 12 months for the Daphnia and Bosmina to build up their numbers and start their natural cleansing.”

Other factors are known to influence year-to-year changes in clarity. These include the magnitude of runoff, the warming of the lake surface and the depth to which the lake mixes in the previous winter. The report examined all these factors and concluded that only the change in the zooplankton community could account for the magnitude of this year’s change.

For a limited time only

Researchers emphasize the process is still in its early stages and they expect clarity improvement to continue through 2023.

Clarity is measured as the depth to which a 10-inch white disk, called a Secchi disk, remains visible when lowered into the water.

“We expect the impact of Daphnia and Bosmina to grow over 2023 and clarity may return to 1970s levels — despite the expected large runoff from this year’s record snowpack,” TERC boat captain and Secchi disk observer Brant Allen said. “These events support the hypothesis we put forward several years ago that the food web is a major factor in controlling lake clarity.”

However, the assistance provided by Daphnia and Bosmina may be only short-term. Mysis shrimp populations are expected to rebound.

“Future management actions should explicitly look at incorporating ways of controlling the mysis population,” Schladow said. “We have a brief window of time to monitor the lake in the absence of mysis and then track the impacts of their return on lake clarity.”

This would be in addition to efforts taking place to keep fine particles and nutrients out of Lake Tahoe. Management agencies in the Tahoe Basin report more than 500,000 pounds of fine sediment and other clarity-harming pollutants are being kept out of the lake every year through roadway maintenance and erosion control projects.

TERC scientists are currently monitoring zooplankton communities through donor funding. They are also working with local fishing guides to monitor changes to fish. Kokanee salmon, for example, are expected to be larger in 2023, as Daphnia are their preferred food source.

Protecting Lake Tahoe

UC Davis has measured clarity and other health indicators at Lake Tahoe since 1968.

In 1969 Nevada and California created the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to lead the collaborative effort to protect and restore Lake Tahoe and better manage growth and development in the region.

The emerging trend is welcome news for Lake Tahoe, according to TRPA Executive Director Julie Regan.

“We will continue to work with regional science partners to better understand the role native species play in promoting clarity,” Regan states. The clarity report is funded by TRPA.

2019. Two years later Tobin received a message from Ancestry alerting her of a close match. “At first it said first cousin and eventually it said half-sister, which I thought was weird because I thought I had a brother out there somewhere,” said Tobin. Nevertheless, she sent several messages through Ancestry.com, which at first went unanswered.

On the other end, Alora Steele was doing her own research but had no idea she had any half-siblings, much less six of them. “I had the same notification that I had some close relatives and I thought, ‘Oh this is just wrong; they must have used a dirty swab when they were testing my DNA,’” Steele laughed. “I just thought it was a mistake.”

However, upon speaking with her brother about her findings, he revealed their father had previously admitted to the possibility that he was not her biological father. Steele’s mother then told her that she was also uncertain as to who her biological father was. Because of the lack of DNA testing at the time, it was impossible to prove which of two men fathered Steele.

Steele returned to her Ancestry page. “Maybe it’s not wrong,” she thought. As she reviewed the results and specifics about Tobin’s life that Tobin had posted, some details began to add up. She decided to contact Tobin through Facebook.

“My first question was what was your mother’s name,” Tobin recounted, and discovered that it was Quanu. “That’s when I realized that she was the sibling that I had been looking for. I’ll never forget that day. I still wasn’t sure if it was real.”

Steele, who lives in Arlington, Wash., hopped on a plane down to El Dorado Hills and met Tobin for the first time in mid-January this year, getting to know her sister over breakfast at Milestone Restaurant. “It was great,” Tobin said, tears welling up with the memory. “I wanted to keep her right there and study every inch of her face.”

Some of Tobin’s siblings aren’t ready to meet Steele, but other siblings as well as Tobin’s uncle and sons are looking forward to meeting their new family member.

“I wish my dad had lived to meet Alora,” said Tobin of their father who passed away in 2020. “He wasn’t the most responsible parent but he did love all of his children very much. He always told us what wonderful people we were and just lifted me up.”

For Steele, the discovery of not only a whole new family but the truth about her father is complicated. “My dad hadn’t really been involved in my life. I had a lot of abandonment issues,” she admitted. “But when I heard Sherie’s life story I knew if she could forgive and let the past go, I surely could. And what I got out of it? I got six brothers and sisters and one of the neatest people I’ve ever met.”

For others researching their ancestry, Steele pointed out her biggest challenge was navigating name changes. To this, Tobin chuckled. Their father had changed his name from Baginski to Allen when she was a baby. “Growing up he told me he changed his name because he wanted to dabble in politics,” she said. “It wasn’t until my aunt told me that it was because it was cheaper to change his name than it was to pay his parking tickets.”

Tobin and Steele are already planning more visits in the coming months. “I just want to get to know my sister more and just be sisters,” said Tobin. “But I wonder what life would have been like, going through that craziness together.”

“She’s got such a great heart. Even though we just met, she is someone who understands me very deeply. What makes me, me, I feel like Sherie gets that,” said Steele. “Maybe this was just the way it was supposed to happen.”

April 14

Sherwood Demonstration Garden is open, 9 a.m. to noon. Take a leisurely stroll through all 16 themed gardens. Docents are on-site to assist with any questions. Check the website before visiting: ucanr.edu/sites/ EDC_Master_Gardeners/ Demonstration_Garden.

Ponderosa High School Foundation hosts the Green & Gray Gathering, 6-9 p.m. at Saureel Vineyards in Placerville. For tickets and more information visit pondofoundation.com/ events.

Live music at Red Hawk Resort + Casino continues with live music at the Stage Bar, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

See Violin on Fire (Latin/ rock) April 14 and Fast Times (dance) April 15. Visit redhawkcasino.com for more details.

Falcon’s Eye Theatre at Folsom Lake College presents “Antigone,” April 14-30 at Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom.

For tickets and more information call (916) 6086888 or visit HarrisCenter. net.

April 15

UCCE Master Gardeners of El Dorado County hosts its annual plant sales with edibles and herbs April 15 and ornamentals April 29, 8 a.m. to noon both days at the Sherwood Demonstration Garden, 6699 Campus Drive in Placerville. check the inventory preview at mgeldorado.ucanr.edu a week to 10 days before the sale.

The El Dorado Hills Community Services District hosts a Nature Walk at Bass Lake, 9-11 a.m. Meet at the Sellwood Field parking lot. The walk is free and all ages welcome. Bring water and wear comfortable shoes.

The El Dorado County Mineral & Gem Society present the Rock & Gem Show, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 15 & 16 at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville. For more information visit edcmgs. org/activities-events/rockgem-show.

Third Saturday Art Walk takes place 4-8 p.m. in downtown Placerville. This month’s theme is “Flower Power” and the free raffle prize is a Paul Cockrell framed photo of the Anza

D. Lee Reyes Special to the Mountain Democrat

Gold Country Artists Gallery, an awardwinning artists’ cooperative in Placerville, features in April the exceptional work of Deena Reyes, Terrie Gray and Nataly Tikhomirov. Meet the artists during Main Street’s Third Saturday Art Walk, 5-8 p.m. April 15.

Art therapy

Reyes grew up in L.A. during the 1960s and ’70s. Her mother took her to local galleries and museums where Reyes encountered art styles that would influence her own future work. An art show featuring original Norman Rockwell paintings and canvases created in hyperrealistic style made a deep impression on her. M.C. Escher, H.R. Giger, the art of Walt Disney and frequent trips to Disneyland along the way nurtured her imagination and desire to be an artist.

Reyes attended art classes throughout high school and college, where she also earned a nursing license.

After a back injury she wove together her artistic skills with her knowledge of anatomy to create a unique way of dealing with ongoing pain. Finding it difficult to describe her back pain to her doctors, she drew a picture for them of what the inside of her back “felt” like.

This image became the first in a series of drawings Reyes calls Backstracts, or abstracts of her own back, rendered in colored pencil, ink and gel. “I discovered a healing state occurred within my body whenever I created any style of art, but especially when I drew these images,” Reyes explained. She became interested in art therapy and laughed when she said she turned pain into an art form, quite literally. But more importantly, through the healing benefits of art therapy she feels she “harnessed a positive outlet for expressing my feelings both physically and emotionally.”

An example of her unique style is a Backstract called “ValsaLisa,” where the central structure of her image is a curving line down the middle representing the spine. The other loops and whorls, curves and curls happened as the result of her “hand telling the lines where to go, until they were just right. Any incidental missteps became incorporated into the finished creation.” The titles of her images are abstract as well, leaving the viewer to interpret as they wish. However, for this title, the “Lisa” is a fellow artist who randomly selected the handful of colored pencils from the pencil box Reyes used to create this work.

Reyes explained her artistic process often uncovers an element of surprise. Her creation, Backstract “Aire Terjan,” for example, started out in one direction, but something happened along the way that transformed the image. “Somehow, water and earth elements made their way onto the canvas, like a waterfall twisting around a rainbow and cascading onto rocks. Or perhaps a swath of cobalt fabric wafting in the breeze?” Some viewers may see birds in her images, while others perceive certain anatomical features. In the Backstract “Faa Quimon,” textured patterns fold in on themselves in jewel colors like a twirling geisha. Turn the picture upside-down and you may see a boat caught mid-wave.

The character of Reyes’ amazing artwork can be described as lyrical or perceptual abstractionism, or even a fanciful category like neuroemotive abstractionism; however, her imaginings encourage the mind’s eye to freely interpret patterns and envision its own stories.

“Art saved my life,” she shared, “and it helped to elevate me to a place where even pain may possibly be exquisite. Art in any form adds to the beauty of the world, and I am grateful for its gift.”

Stories to tell Gray’s desire is to widen her viewer’s appreciation of the natural world through her photography and inspire others to help her protect wildlife and its habitat. She refined her craft through a series of local, online and field-based learning opportunities, including certification as an underwater photographer. Gray upgraded her camera to a professionalquality Nikon, with her underwater and macro photos winning numerous photographic contests and accolades.

As Gray’s photography gained recognition, her photos were published and included in a book produced by the World Best Top Photographer Association.

Gray’s artistic process begins before she ever commits to the shot. Her research includes creating opportunities to acquire wildlife and nature images; for example, traveling distances on photo adventures, using her vast knowledge of camera and lens equipment to obtain the best image, along with a deep understanding of timing for the assurance of “good light.” With selective application of her digital software to remove distractions and focus attention on the subject, she is finally ready to print the work for display.

Of her photographic subjects, Gray shared, “If it’s alive, I’ll take pictures of it!” She finds it wonderfully compelling that herds of wild mustangs still exist and can be found within driving distance of her home. So far, her favorite places to view and photograph wild horses are near Mono Lake and by the Salt River near Mesa, Ariz. In 2021, Terrie’s photo “Making the Turn” took the first place award in the Terry & Hyon Bixler Image of the Year competition. She describes another award-winning image, “Mono Lake Sunrise,” a long-exposure shot she snapped on a visit to the South Tufa area of Mono Lake. With her tripod and camera angled toward the east, she seized the shot as the sun rose, resulting in a striking effect with the colors of the dawn and the white limestone “tufa” towers reflected in the smooth-water.

“I capture a lot of reflections in my