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JANUARY 2013
Aptos Births At Dominican Hospital: FUGATE
November 16 at 3:17 a.m. to Leah Rose Malsbury-Fugate and Richard Thomas Fugate of Aptos, a 7-pound, 12-ounce boy, Aksel Brian.
SCHILLING
November 17 at 1:01 a.m. to Ruth Lillian Bentley and Craig Stuart Schilling of Aptos, a 7-pound boy, Micah Stuart.
MCMILLEN
November 24 at 6:22 p.m. to Chelsea Ann Phillips and Brian Douglas McMillen of Aptos, an 8-pound, 6-ounce boy, Wyatt Douglas.
TURNER
December 1 at 3:05 p.m. to Danielle Elizabeth and Tyler Allen Turner of Aptos, a 7-pound 9-ounce boy, Urijah Allen.
Britannia Arms in Aptos closes By ROSEANN HERNANDEZ Of Aptos Life
Aptos Life Hunger Fighter By ROSEANN HERNANDEZ Of Aptos Life
APTOS — While local high school students get ready to hunker down and settle into a cozy routine of hanging out with friends and family during winter break, one Aptos teen will be spending her vacation planning a ski and snowboarding competition — all in the name of charity. Aptos High School student and snowboarder Marissa Hushaw, 15, will be putting the final touches on Marissa Hushaw’s Second Annual Grind Out Hunger Rail Jam at China Peak — taking place on Feb. 9. “It is such a great event,” Hushaw said, her blue eyes twinkling as she described the competition that will benefit Grind Out Hunger, a hunger-awareness organization created through partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County. “We got Skull Candy and Roxy to sponsor it this year – which is so sick,” she said. Hushaw is passionate about her work with Grind Out Hunger, which began just a year ago after she attended a school assembly where Grind Out Hunger founder Danny Keith spoke. “He has such a way connecting with kids — he knows how to talk to them,” Hushaw said. When Keith asked the Aptos High School students to look around to their friends and think about one of them going hungry — something clicked inside Hushaw. “One in four goes hungry? And I went ‘whoa’ – that’s kind of crazy.” That moment made Hushaw remember a time when she was about 8 years old and went with her aunt and uncle to volunteer at a food bank in Fresno. Suddenly what she was hearing in the assembly, coupled with her early memory of being at the food bank made her realize what she wanted to do.
Tour the oldest house in Aptos on Jan. 22 By ROSEANN HERNANDEZ Of Aptos Life
Marissa Hushaw of Aptos, a rising snowboarding star, is on a campaign to help Grind Out Hunger. Tarmo Hannula/Aptos Life
She wanted to help. So she went to the Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop in Capitola — what would later become the official Grind Out Hunger Headquarters — and asked if there was anything she, as a snowboarder, could do to help. The rest, they say, is history. Hushaw is now one of the organization’s most passionate Hunger Fighters, a vocal advocate that Hushaw on Page A3
Rancho del Mar merchants not satisfied with Safeway’s assurances By ROSEANN HERNANDEZ Of Aptos Life
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APTOS—Two public information meetings regarding the future development of the Rancho del Mar Shopping Center took place earlier this month. Held by Safeway, which purchased the shopping center in February, the meetings included a tour of the Safeway store in Aptos — highlighting the cramped interiors — to demonstrate the need for the proposed expansion of the grocery store from its current 35,000 square feet to just under 60,000 square feet. The two sessions were well-attended and helped people understand the issues in terms of the layout and functionality of the existing site, said Charles Eadie, principal associate at Hamilton, Swift & Associates, local land use consultants hired by Safeway. “It’s part of an ongoing process of outreach into the community,” Eadie said, adding they will probably continue to hold such small-scale meetings in January and February. A larger community meeting will be scheduled once Safeway gets closer to submitting its development application to the county, Eadie said. Eadie said the designs of the large-scale construction project, which will entail the closing of at least 13 tenant businesses, have been refined since the last community design workshop in August, Eadie said, adding Safeway has also been working
on the interior design of the grocery store. The proposed development continues to be a hotbed issue for the Aptos community, as shopping center businesses grapple with an uncertain future. Kaeng Lee, owner of Baskin-Robbins and Le Chef Kitchen & More in the shopping center, said that as a small-business owner he did not think there was much he could do and just hopes and prays that whatever the outcome, that Safeway may help or compensate them in some way for their move. “But I haven’t heard anything from Safeway,” Lee said. Lee has met with the Central Coast Small Business Development Center at Cabrillo College — which is using a $50,000 grant from Safeway to help shopping center businesses explore their options — a few times but he said nothing has really come out of it. For businesses that will be displaced during construction, a new location in Aptos appears hard to come by. “In Aptos, its almost impossible,” Lee said, adding that since Baskin-Robbins is part of a chain, he can’t just move anywhere because of territory rights. Plus, because it is a restaurant, all supplies are built into the location and once you move out , you take a loss, Lee explained. “And once you move out, you have to borrow a
APTOS — There is a whole lot of history to be found in Aptos, in spite of it being such a seemingly small place. There is the Bayview Hotel, originally called the Anchor House and built by Jose Arano, the son-in-law of Aptos Rancho owner Rafael de Jesus Castro in 1878. Nearby is the Hihn Apple Packing Plant (now Village Fair Antiques) built in 1890, and even Sushi on the Run, located on the site of the first school in Aptos, built in 1871. Now you can take a walk back in time and learn about the two oldest buildings in Aptos — and the families that built them. On Jan. 22, as part of the Aptos History Museum’s Dining for History series, you can take a tour of the oldest building in Aptos — the former home of Jose Arano, who later went by “Joseph” — and learn all about the Castro House, originally built by Castro’s son Vicente in the mid 1870s, and on its way to becoming a community center for the Aptos Blue affordable housing development currently under construction. Complementary wine will be served as you tour Arano’s former home, which also served as a general store for a spell. Built in 1860 and located on the site of the original Aptos village, the house still serves as a private residence and is currently occupied. The original home of Vicente Castro, a prominent rancher and orchardist, the Castro House was added to the Santa Cruz County Historic Resources Inventory in 2001 for its association with the rancho period in Santa Cruz history and
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APTOS — After two years of struggling in a weak economy, the Britannia Arms in Aptos has closed its doors for good. Since 1985, the English pub provided a welcoming space where patrons could enjoy a plate of hearty English fare — fish and chips, bangers and mash and a traditional “fry-up” served with backside bacon — just like any good London cafe would, while enjoying a pint of beer. But rent increases, ongoing maintenance to the building, which Britannia Arms was responsible for, coupled with decreased customer traffic, made it impossible for owner Andy Hewitt to continue. “The rent was far too high for the current economy. We were struggling for two years to make it work,” Hewitt said. “We are victims of the economy.” Hewitt said the Aptos location became just “too big” to sustain and “people just stopped coming.” “The building has a lot of charm, but it needed a lot of maintenance,” Hewitt said. Many of the Aptos staff have been shifted to the Britannia Arms Capitola location, Hewitt said. Britannia Arms in Capitola is at 110 Monterey Avenue, on the Esplanade. “Capitola is doing really well — it is more of a workable size,” Hewitt said, adding that all of the fun events they did in Aptos such as trivia nights and live music are all happening in Capitola. Yet there may be a silver lining for pub-goers in Aptos. Hewitt said he may be interested in going back if “a little place opens up” in the village as part of the Aptos Village Project, which is set to add 75,000 square feet of commercial space in the heart of the village. The project, which is more than a decade in the making and carries out the directives set in the Aptos Village Plan, has a tentative ground-breaking set for next year. “I just want to thank all the customers we’ve had over the years,” Hewitt said.
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