Pajaro Valley Magazine November 25 2022

Showing their gratitude

Community reflects on what they are thankful for in 2022

As we approach Thanksgiving, the holiday season and the end of the year, there is plenty about 2022 to re flect on.

It was indeed a year of ups and downs—locally, nationally and globally—and major changes. Here in the Pajaro Valley, we saw major elections, the return of many beloved community events, housing and roadway projects, the opening of a new downtown arts center and so much more.

We asked people from the Pajaro Valley community the simple question: “What are you thankful for in 2022?”

Here are some of their responses.

“I am thankful for my growing family circle and the meaningful relationships that bring joy and curiosity to my personal and professional life. I am grateful for my son (4) and daughter (8), who remind me to practice patience so we enjoy the everyday activities we do together.”

Mireya Gomez-Contreras Deputy Director, Arts Council Santa Cruz County

“There are too many things to list to be thankful for this year. However, there is one thing that stood out for me, which was the raffle I created for the ‘Children in Ukraine’ through Unicef. The community raised $1,000, which I think is very profound. I’m very thankful and grateful, again I want to express my gratitude to all who participated.”

Hedwig Heerschop Exhibit Coordinator, Pajaro Valley Arts

“I’m thankful for the forces that courted, supported and transported me to Main Street, to paint, and teach, and share artistry, socially.”

Judy Gittelsohn artist and owner of Studio Judy G

“This year I am thankful for the artists that make our community more beautiful and vibrant. Recently we have experienced an arts renaissance in Watsonville, we see more artists, filmmakers, dancers, poets and musicians sharing their talent and creativity. They truly enrich our lives, give us inspiration, joy and pride, and move our community forward. ¡Gracias a todos los artistas!

Consuelo Alba Executive Director, Watsonville Film Festival and Board Chair, Arts Council

“I am thankful for a community that rallies around people who are food insecure, who need something to eat and need nourishment. What an awesome community that we live in.”

Erica Padilla-Chavez CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank

“I am grateful for the beautiful place that we are fortunate to live in. I am also super grateful for my family— my mother, children bio and bonus and also my kind husband. Finally I am grateful for my health. And I am very grateful to our PVUSD family led by outstanding Dr. Rodriguez who has made a real difference for students since she took the helm as Superintendent.”

Kim De Serpa PVUSD Trustee

“I am thankful to be alive.”

Gabriela Hernandez Senior Library Assistant

“In a year marked by national economic and political instability, and a general sense of challenge and unease, I am thankful for our remarkable community support, effort and partnership. Community effort to provide local funding to ensure the Pajaro River Levee is rebuilt, community partnership to save our local Watsonville Hospital and community support to invest in parks, programs and policies that improve outcomes for future generations. I am thankful and grateful for our remarkable community.

Zach Friend Santa Cruz County Supervisor

“I am thankful for the many people who volunteered their time this year to care for our wetlands and trails and make a difference for the health of our local environment by planting trees to increase Watsonville’s tree canopy, planting native plants and picking up trash, sharing their knowledge and passion and teaching others to take action.”

Jonathan Pilch Executive Director, Watsonville Wetlands Watch

“I am thankful for my family; they are very special to me. I am blessed with them. And the same goes for my co-workers.”

Hope Lopez Library Clerk

I am thankful for my family, my pets and for my job as a library assistant.

“I am thankful for the life we live here in Watsonville.”

Sam Earnshaw

Alicia Barba

Dozens of local nonprofits take part in Santa Cruz Gives

Santa Cruz Gives, a countywide crowd funding holiday cam paign, will raise funds for 63 local nonprofits in its eighth season, which started on Nov. 16 and will run until mid night, Dec. 31.

On SantaCruzGives.org, donors may browse individual profile pages to learn about each nonprofit's mission and “Big Idea” for 2023, a project that will be funded with donations, then use a shopping cart to easily give. The minimum donation is $5.

Total donations broke $1 mil lion for the first time in last year’s campaign, for a total of $1,100,659.

This year's participating non profits present the most diverse slate of projects yet, from a wel coming network for foreign ref ugees to support for pregnant women in the post-Roe era. The criteria for nonprofit organiza tions and their projects include covering the county geographi cally and representing a variety of needs (more criteria are listed below): youth, older adults, ani mals, the environment, education, health and wellness, food and nutrition, housing and homeless ness, the arts, veterans, families, LGBTQIA+, and the disabled.

Selected nonprofits will receive individually donated funds, matching funds provided by spon sors, and be eligible for three spe cial awards: Most Donors Over all, Most Creative Campaign, and

Project of the Year. $1,000 will be awarded to each of three nonprof its in these categories ($3,000 total).

A committee with diverse non profit experience vetted the appli cations. The number of partici pants is limited each year so that each organization has the poten tial to raise sufficient funds for the staff time spent on the campaign.

“If any of the local nonprofits tried to create a platform like this for fundraising, it would not be economically feasible,” said Karen Delaney, executive director of the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, in a press release. “Only large national organizations have had a tool like this at their dis posal. Santa Cruz Gives puts this tool into the hands of the local nonprofit community.”

New donors are the lifeblood of nonprofit organizations. Par ticipants in Santa Cruz Gives reported that a majority of donors are new donors as well as younger donors.

Good Times and the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County are the presenting sponsors. Addi tional sponsors include Com munity Foundation Santa Cruz County; two funds at the Commu nity Foundation SCC: The Apple wood Fund, The Joe Collins Fund; and Driscoll’s, Inc. Other business sponsors are Santa Cruz County Bank, Wynn Capital Manage ment, The Pajaronian and Press Banner.

Gift local for 2022

Gift shopping is a harrowing expe rience. Or may be it’s because I’m such a procrastina tor. Nothing says “I didn’t both er” more than handing someone an Amazon gift card. But thank fully, we don’t have to do that. Our writers have taken the stress out of shopping by showcasing a variety of unique gifts at your disposal to show you actually care. Even better, these are all local options, and you can splurge a bit knowing that you are supporting real people in your neighborhood, and not donating to a billionaire’s megayacht fund.

—Erik Chalhoub

Coffee Addict

For some, coffee is more than just a tool to wake up in the morn ing. It’s a treat. A passion. A way of life. As a coffee lover (and for mer barista) myself, I am always on the lookout for new coffee shops, equipment and the newest brew ing trends. From a simple, perfectly pulled shot of espresso to a sug ary frozen concoction, we’re lucky to have plenty to choose from in Santa Cruz County. Swing by Hon eylux Coffee, a new coffee shop in Watsonville, and pick up a gift card, or pop into popular kitchen

store Toque Blanche in downtown Santa Cruz for a stovetop espresso maker (my personal favorite way to brew). And check out Hidden For tress Coffee Roasting, a regular at many local farmers markets, who offers delicious batches of freshly roasted, organic beans that you can order online and have shipped right to your door. Ready, set, brew!

—Johanna Miller

Gift Card

Honeylux Coffee 45 Aviation Way, Ste. B, Watsonville 831.345.2947 honeylux-coffee.square.site

Loma Prieta Blend

Hidden Fortress Coffee Roasting 125 Hangar Way, Ste 270, Watsonville hiddenfortresscoffee.com $16-$34

Fino Aluminum Stovetop Espresso Maker

Toque Blanche 1527 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz 831.426.1351 mytoque.com $25

Gardener

The gardener in your life will be grateful for anything that glows up their green thumb, especially if they don’t have to spend any green to get it. For those just getting into the gardening game, or per haps turning their focus to indoor house plants during the winter, “The New Plant Parent” is a great book that gifts the knowledge of how to properly care for plants that prefer to stay out of the elements. In that same vein, living walls are all the rage right now, provid ing that outside-in vibe. A Wally gro Wally Pocket from Dig Gar dens is basically a no-leak indoor wall-mounted planter, allowing the gardener in your life to get groovy and vertical with their craft. Or let them decide what plants to add to their arsenal with a gift certificate from Alladin Nursery. Their exten sive selection of everything from annuals and perennials, to succu lents and fruit or flowering trees will leave the gardener in your life not only gracious, but also genu inely giddy.—Andrew Steingrube

Gift Card

Alladin Nursery & Gift Shop 2905 Freedom Blvd., Watsonville 831.724.7515 alladinnursery.com $100

‘The New Plant Parent’

Two Birds Books 881 41st Ave., Santa Cruz 831.900.5588 twobirdsbooks.com $27.50

Wallygro Wally Pocket

Dig Gardens 420 Water St., Santa Cruz 831.466.3444 diggardens.com $40-$100

Johanna Miller/File photo

SMALL FASHIONS Araceli Gonzalez shows off a line of skirts at Little Trends, which she owns with Laura Espindola.

Heavy Petter

Do you have someone you know who shares their life with a beloved four-legged family member? Per haps they have a reptile, a bird or fish. Gifts meant for a person’s pets can mean just as much as those meant for the humans them selves—after all, animal compan ionship can be vital to our hap piness. There are plenty of places across Santa Cruz County to shop for the pet lover in your life this holiday season. Check Out Wish bone Pet Company, an all-natural pet food and supply store in Free dom for freshly baked pet treats (just be careful, they look just like human cookies). Mid-County shoppers might stop by Pet Pals in Capitola for a new, soft-shell pet carrier for your small dog or cat. Or stop by Kelly’s Books in Wat sonville for a copy of “The Par ticulars of Peter,” a memoir by Kelly Conaboy about her expe rience living with a rescue pup. —Johanna Miller

Freshly baked pet treats

Wishbone Pet Co. 1994 Freedom Blvd., Freedom 831.722.9474 wishbonepetco.com $2-$6/treat

‘The Particulars of Peter’

Kelly’s Books 1838 Main St., Watsonville 831.728.4139 $18

Bergan wheeled comfort carrier

Pet Pals Discount Pet Food & Supplies 3660 Soquel Drive, Ste. A, Soquel 831.464.8775 petpals.net $78

New Parent

As a new dad, I can say that the following gift ideas come from recent and hard-won experience. Will they work for everyone? Who knows! There may be a new par ent who doesn’t love Watsonville’s Little Trends Boutique, if they are out of their minds. And maybe they don’t care about the incred ible community programs and classes that Aptos nonprofit Cir cle Family Center offers to support

them, for some reason. Maybe they don’t even care about the relax ation they can find at Sage Float Spa, because they’ve given up com pletely. Although I’ve only been a father for six months, it’s clear to me that no matter what the recom mendation is, and no matter who it comes from, parents will par ent however they want to parent. Of course, I’m no different. I know my son isn’t supposed to watch a screen until he’s around 18 months, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t let him watch replays of Brandon Aiyuk sonning A.J. Terrell multi ple times during the San Francisco 49ers game on Sunday. You think that’s bad parenting? Some people raise their children to be Raiders fans!—Tony Nuñez

Everything for babies, toddlers and expecting mothers

Little Trends Boutique 1052 S Green Valley Road, Watsonville littletrendsboutique.com 831.536.5070

Prices vary

Membership

The Circle Family Center

245 Sea Ridge Road, Ste. C, Aptos thecirclefamilycenter.org 831.687.9499

Prices vary

30 Minute Sauna, 50 Minute Massage, 60 Minute float

Sage Float Spa 1395 41st Ave., Capitola sagefloatspa.com 831.854.2700

Prices vary

Techie

These friends are, obviously, the most difficult to shop for. A lot of times, they already have every thing they want. And when you try to buy them something tech-re lated, they might scoff at it, give you a half-smile and say, “Wow, you shouldn’t have.” So how about we think a little out of the box for our loveable techsavvy buddies? Something e-bikey from Watsonville Cyclery, or a

community connection with Santa Cruz Works, and maybe some thing from Santa Cruz Electron ics to show off to their new friends. We’ll get them out of their solitary bubbles and into the world where they connect with like-minded people. If that’s not a recipe for innovation, I don’t know what is.

—Tony Nuñez

Electra Bikes E-Bike

Watsonville Cyclery 25 E. 5th St., Watsonville watsonvillecyclery.com 831.724.1646

Prices vary

Annual Membership

Santa Cruz Works 101 Cooper St., Santa Cruz santacruzworks.org

Prices vary

Tech Tools

Santa Cruz Electronics 2808 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz santacruzelectronics.com 831.479.5444

Prices vary

HOLIDAY BARK Wishbone Pet Company in Freedom Centre has plenty of gifts for the furry members of the family.

Johanna Miller/File photo