DECEMBER 2017 EVERYTHING APTOS, CAPITOLA & SOQUEL Vol. 6 No. 4
Sports
APTOS
women’s basketball
SOQUEL
pg. 12
Holiday food drive
pg. 2
CAPITOLA Photo by Tarmo HANNULA
The couple settles in the calm of a dramatic sunset near Pleasure Point.
Aptos honors community leaders
HISTORY CORNER By John Hibble Call: 688-1467
By ERIK CHALHOUB
Visit us online: aptoshistory.org Visit the museum: 7605-B Old Dominion Court Aptos, CA
In the beginning
Where did your people originally come from? Did you ever think about what life was like for your ancestors? What were their traditions? The native people who named Aptos may have lived here when ancient Egypt was founded. They are still here. What was it like to be a Native American? They were as different as the French and the Chinese; different languages, different resources, different traditions. The Indians of the Great Plains were nomadic and followed the buffalo. They rode horses, were fierce warriors and fought over resources. The Indians from the Monterey Bay area lived in the “Garden of Eden,” did not need to travel far and were relatively peaceful. (Remember, Columbus called them Indians because he thought that he had landed in the Please turn to Page 6
LEO’s Haven receives the Outstanding Achievement of the Year award.
APTOS — In June 2016, the Santa Cruz Playground Project embarked on a two-year capital campaign to raise nearly $2 million for an inclusive playground. Named LEO’s Haven, the playground, designed in a way so a child with a disability can play side-by-side with their friends, will be built at Chanticleer Park in Live Oak.
Now, as the group inches closer to its fundraising goal to make the playground a reality, LEO’s Haven was bestowed with the Aptos Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding Achievement of the Year award on Oct. 27. The Santa Cruz Playground Project was founded by the Potts family of Watsonville, who visited an inclusive playground for the first Please turn to Page 7
Leaders take stock of county issues Annual Community Assessment Project released By JOHANNA MILLER WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville City Council Chambers was packed Nov. 20 with community leaders, organization representatives, media outlets and other county residents for the release of the 23rd annual Community Assessment Project report. The event, which was sponsored by the City of Watsonville and First 5 Santa Cruz County, presented the
findings of the Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project (CAP), produced by Applied Survey Research every year. Speakers took to the podium to shed light on everything from local housing issues to educational rankings. Throughout the morning, community members from various agencies and organizations were awarded accolades for their work. Watsonville Mayor Oscar Rios thanked everyone present at the event
for what they do for the community, particularly in South County. He acknowledged the work that still needs to be done, urging residents to “be vigilant” in protecting each other’s rights. “Every one of us wants to move forward, to keep improving life here,” Rios said. “Together we can overcome all of these challenges we face.” The event itself was broken up Please turn to Page 7
Inside ...
Chamber update ...............2 Briefs ...............................4-5 Guest columns ..................11 Calendar ...........................14 PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID WATSONVILLE, CA PERMIT NO. 23 ******ECRWSSEDDM****** POSTAL CUSTOMER APTOS, CA 95003 CAPITOLA. CA 95010