PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER
Time to rewind The Sun takes a look back BY AMY ASMAN Let’s face it—there were some hard hits in 2010: The effects of a fledgling economy still trying desperately to recover; foreclosures and bank failures; and the loss of several community pillars, including Santa Barbara County District Attorney Christie Stanley and resort mogul Fess Parker. But here’s the good news: No matter what happened in 2010—whatever burden there was to shoulder—there was always the promise of better things to come. When Bodger Seeds closed its doors in the Lompoc Valley, another company showed up to keep the flower industry alive. When County Executive Officer Mike Brown packed his bags and left, the Board of Supervisors found an experienced leader, Chandra Wallar, to take his place. And if all else fails to cheer you, dear reader, let’s not forget that ice cream conquered all in Arroyo Grande. m Contact Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
Congrats, Katcho! Come election time, former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Katcho Achadjian (right) ended up as the voters’ choice for the coveted 33rd District State Assembly seat, previously occupied by Sam Blakeslee. Achadjian beat out fellow Republicans Etta Waterfield, Fred Strong, and Matt Kokkonen in the June primary before taking on sole Democratic candidate Hilda Zacarias in November. The politician and gas station owner took the oath of office in early December.
PHOTO BY HENRY HOUSTON
PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER
Rare beauty: The Sun paid homage to Lompoc’s dwindling flower fields in July. Forty or 50 years ago, sweet peas and other blossoms covered the Lompoc Valley as far as the eye could see. Today, however, only a scattered few remain. Earlier in 2010, Bodger Seeds, the last major flower seed producer in the valley, closed its Lompoc facility doors for good. But there’s still a sliver of hope: After Bodger bailed, Dutch company Hem Zaden purchased several product lines, then contracted a local farmer to plant 45 acres of sweet peas for seeds.
So long, May: Members of the Orcutt Union School District Board of Education voted unanimously at their Dec. 15 meeting to close May Grisham, one of Orcutt’s top-performing schools and one of Old Town Orcutt’s only elementary schools, to give Orcutt Academy a permanent home. Come 2011, the school’s students and teachers will be transferred to other nearby campuses. The district, meanwhile, expects to receive a budget boost of $300,000 per year through rent payments. The decision generated outrage among many parents, including a grassroots group called Save May Grisham, which claimed the district waited too long to notify affected families. However, board member Bob Hatch told them the idea had been mentioned many times in the past, and that in the future, they should attend more school board meetings. PHOTO BY JEREMY THOMAS
They’re Orthodox: Santa Maria’s first Orthodox Christian church, the Orthodox Church of the Assumption, opened its doors in November 2010. The congregation was actually established in the late 1970s by 15 local families, but it wasn’t able to build a parish hall until this year. The golden cupola atop the hall had some people wondering if Santa Maria now had a mosque. The question caught Father Lawrence Russell off-guard: “I typically say, ‘Doesn’t the 10-foot cross on top give it away?’” The cupola is in fact modeled after a monastery near Smolensk, Russia, where Orthodox Christianity is more widespread.
PHOTO COURTESY VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE
Honoring the fallen: October was a somber month for Vandenberg Air Force Base. On Oct. 13, the Vandenberg community gathered to say goodbye to one of its own: Senior Airman Daniel Johnson, 23, who was killed on Oct. 5 in Afghanistan while conducting an explosive ordnance disposal operation. Another operation member, Tech. Sgt. Robert Butler, sustained unidentified injuries. Airman Johnson’s body was flown to the base from Afghanistan, and Air Force officials organized an on-base memorial. Another memorial was held at First Christian Church in Santa Maria.
Bridge to somewhere: On March 30, 2009, Santa Barbara County officials met with contractors and other community members in the Tepusquet area to break ground on the Tepusquet Bridge project. The bridge has since been completed and will serve as a connection between the rural community and the rest of the Santa Maria Valley.
PHOTO COURTESY SAN DIEGO COUNTY
She’s the boss: In late September, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors announced it selected former San Diego County administrator Chandra Wallar to replace the retiring Mike Brown as county executive officer. Wallar served for almost a decade as San Diego’s deputy chief administrative officer and general manager of the Land Use and Environment Group. She was officially sworn in as Santa Barbara’s top employee on Nov. 1. Wallar is faced with managing a budget gap of anywhere from $60 to $90 million in 2011-12.
PHOTO BY JEREMY THOMAS