Need Calm? The Apothecarium Can Help, By Jondi Gumz

COMMUNITY NEWS Need Calm? The Apothecarium Can Help

By Jondi Gumz

The Apothecarium, which opened Nov. 11 on 41st Avenue in Capitola, brings a boutique style to shopping for cannabis for those 21 and over.

With a wall of mirrors behind the quartz counter, it feels like a Sephora cosmetics shop.

The look is based on Apothecarium’s flagship location in San Francisco, named best-designed dispensary in the U.S. by Architectural Digest. (Credit to Vincent Gonzaga.)

Founded by three cousins and two friends in 2011, The Apothecarium was acquired in 2019 for $118 million by TerrAscend Corp., a Canadian company.

The Capitola shop is the first California location outside the San Francisco Bay Area, but The Apothecarium also has stores in Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

In two weeks of operation, store staff said, popular items include: State Flower brand for smoking, $55 for 35 grams; Valhalla chocolate, $18; and the CANN grapefruit-rosemary beverage, with a 6-pack of resealable cans selling for $26. Products from Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance are local favorites, too.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in mid-March, many businesses have been struggling — but not cannabis.

“Cannabis has thrived during the pandemic … It makes sense,” said Sharon Daigle, assistant manager of The Apothecarium in Capitola. “We’re an essential service. People seek us out.”

Manager Jason Astorio agrees, saying the shop helps “people who need calm.”

“The Apothecarium” page 23

Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz Jim Bushneff awaits customers at The Apothecarium, a chain with stores in the San Francisco area, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

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“Safe Fires” from page 14

The burning, done “in small patches” in a mosaic pattern, would clear land, control insects, and boost the productivity of plants and animals, he said.

Scott Stephens, a scholar in fire ecology at UC Berkeley, said fire scars on redwoods show indigenous burning took place on average every 9 to 12 years.

As for the CZU fire damage in the San Vicente Redwoods Preserve in Santa Cruz County, he said, “Indigenous management would have prevented this.”

Cal Fire has funded a research project on 25 acres in the San Vicente Redwoods with the Amah Mutsun, working together as a team, and Stephens hopes to secure a second site soon.

“It’s time for innovation and restoration,” he said.

Don Hankins, a geography professor Cal State Chico and a Plains Miwok, cited research expert Henry Lewis who found indigenous people had 73 reasons for burning, including game management and water stewardship.

“Knowing how and when to set fire is important,” Hankins said. “In our stories, we have a knowledge about fires that goes back to the beginning of time.”

He quoted a Miwok elder saying, “If people stop burning, wildfire will become rampant. If you light fires, you must know you will bring the rain.”

The Amah Mutsun Land Trust, formed in 2013, has four full-time staff, and is recruiting an executive director.

Sara French, interim executive director, said the organization has funding for the first time from the Coastal Conservancy for the Native Stewardship Corps.

The young people in the Stewardships Corps, certified as type 2 wildland firefighters, participate in training exchanges and prescribed burns with partners at Klamath TREX, Yurok TREX, San Vicente Redwoods, Ano Nuevo State Park and Big Basin State Park.

French said she wants to build up an engine crew so the land trust can contract with landowners to do prescribed burning.

The Amah Mutsun Land Trust also is working to protect Juristac, one of the tribe’s last sacred sites in Santa Clara County, from sand and gravel mining.

“We need your help,” French said, urging listeners to subscribe to the tribe’s newsletter at https://www.amahmutsun landtrust.org/ n

Photos courtesy of Amah Mutsun Land Trust

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“Mark Holcomb” from page 18

It was there that he met the love of his life, Kay Gill. Mark and Kay were married in Incline Village, Nevada, on Aug. 7, 1976.

After their marriage, Mark and Kay moved to Aptos and started a family. Mark soon joined his father in the family real estate, construction, and development business. Their office later moved to Seascape where The Holcomb Corporation went on to make a deep impact on the area, developing such projects as The Seascape Village Shopping Center, Palapas Restaurant, Seascape Resort, Seascape Ridge, Racquet Landing, and The Seascape Uplands, as well as many other single and multi-family projects within Santa Cruz County.

Mark dreamed of creating spaces where generations of families could come together and share memories, and he was able to bring this dream to life through his mastery of creative financing, development management, and as Mark himself would say, “perseverance.” Mark and his father, Charles, an architect, built and developed much of the Seascape area in Santa Cruz County, and Mark’s wife Kay staged interiors. They were a phenomenal team, working together for more than 40 years.

Mark was recognized with numerous awards for his achievements and contributions. In 1994, he received the “Best of the West, Gold Nugget Award” from the Pacific Builders Conference for Best Specialty Hotel/Resort Property for the Seascape Resort and Conference Center. The Aptos Chamber of Commerce awarded The Holcomb Corporation “Business of the Year” in 1995, and Mark was awarded “Man of the Year” in 2006. In 2019, Mark received an honorary membership into the Aptos Sports Foundation Hall of Fame, and an honorary Aptos High School diploma, for his contributions to the local Aptos community and local school athletic programs.

Mark loved his family and friends; Willie Mays and the San Francisco Giants; family trips to Mexico, Palm Springs, and Lake Tahoe; and sports of all kinds. For more than 30 years, he proudly hosted the annual Anchovy Open golf tournament at the Seascape Golf Club, raising money for the Santa Cruz Special Olympics and other charities.

His long-time college friends came annually to play in the tournament, and the event always made his year. Recently, Mark further followed his love of golf and acquired partial ownership in the Seascape Golf Club, where he was a former Men’s Club president.

Mark was preceded in death by his father, Charles Holcomb, and brother, Grant Holcomb.

Mark is survived by his wife of 44 years, Kay Gill Holcomb, his mother Lois Holcomb of Aptos, his daughters Kyla Holcomb Piramoon of Soquel, and Keri Holcomb Hope of Santa Barbara, his grandchildren Tessa Hope, Nicolas Piramoon, Camila Piramoon, and Carolina Piramoon, and many nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to extend their deepest appreciation to the entire Santa Cruz community for its outpouring of love, support, condolences and well wishes. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations may be made in Mark’s honor to the Aptos Sports Foundation at https://www. aptossportsfoundation.com/donate or The Dominican Hospital Foundation at www. supportdominican.org/donate. n •••

A memorial “tribute room to Mark” will be set up at Seascape Resort from Nov. 28-Dec. 31, 2020. Please stop by to pay tribute to and celebrate Mark’s life. Reservations may be made online at https://markholcomb.getomnify.com.

“The Apothecarium” from page 21

Both of them have personal experience with cannabis.

Daigle, 54, formerly a high school teacher, found the right combination of cannabis components CBD and THC targeted her lingering pain and inflammation from a back surgery.

“The tin man just oiled my joint” is how she put it, allowing her to work and feel better.

“The benefits are worth exploring,” she said. “It’s not for everyone but it might be for you. Until you try it, you don’t know.”

Astorio, 47, said his drummer friend’s wife suffered from chronic headaches until she found the indica strain of cannabis was beneficial for her.

The challenging part of opening in a pandemic has been hiring people when most of their face is covered by the requisite mask to prevent the virus from spreading.

Still, The Apothecarium is fully staffed with 10 employees. Katie Rasche, 39, came from Whole Foods, excited to work at a place where she could help people.

Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz Art by Santa Cruz artist Eric Peterson adorns the wall at The Apothecarium.

Daigle said she had worked for a competing cannabis dispensary locally before coming to The Apothecarium.

“What drew me,” she said, “was cannabis being a part of health and wellness.”

Cannabis was outlawed by the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, with the name of the law indicating financial motivations rather than randomized clinical trials showing health hazards.

In fact, in the 1830s, Sir William Brooke O’Shaughnessy, an Irish doctor who had written a paper on cholera, was working in India when he documented that cannabis extracts could ease cholera symptoms like stomach pain and vomiting. By the late 19th century, Americans and Europeans could buy cannabis extracts in pharmacies and doctors’ offices to help with stomach aches, migraines, inflammation and insomnia, according to History.com.

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified marijuana as Schedule I, which means it has a high potential for abuse, there is no accepted medical use in the United States and there is a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.

Attempts to change this status in Congress have been unsuccessful.

In recent years, opioids prescribed for pain have resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, with 50,000 dying last year in the U.S. due to opioids.

Daigle contends cannabis is safer.

“There’s no evidence anyone has died from too much marijuana,” she said.

Although many states, California included, have changed laws to allow the sale and use of cannabis, the federal prohibition remains in place. As a result, most of

Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz Joey Cardiol at the checkout counter of The Apothecarium in Capitola. the research on cannabis for medicinal use has been done in Canada or Israel.

Santa Cruz County, long known as a favorable environment for growing superior fruit and vegetables, now is becoming a place where cannabis an be grown legally.

“We’re in a unique area that grows the best cannabis in the world,” said Daigle. “I’ve traveled. I’ve sampled a lot of product.”

The 2019 Santa Cruz county crop report does not list cannabis but it does list industrial hemp, with 21 growers registering 185 acres and harvesting 132 acres — numbers that are likely to expand over time. n •••

The Apothecarium at 1850 41st Ave., Capitola, is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Phone: 831-325-0691. Email: info@ theapothecarium.

“Chris Ow” from page 18

Chris is survived by his children, Amber and Austin Ow; his life partner Carmen Garcia; her son William Allen, his wife Amy Allen and their children Jessie, Thomas, and Shaddix, who Chris loved as family; his parents David and Judy Ow; sisters Karen Ow and Sharis Ow; nephew and godson Kyle (Nicole) Winterhalder, greatniece Kaylie Winterhalder, and niece Lauryn (Rob) Groh; niece BreAnne Rhett and nephew Bryce Rhett; and numerous uncles, aunts, cousins, and extended family.

Viewing hours will be 3 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, at Benito & Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel, 1050 Cayuga St, Santa Cruz. Due to COVID health guidelines, masks and social distancing will be required. If you are feeling ill or experiencing symptoms, please refrain from attending.

Due to the County of Santa Cruz’s move back to the state’s COVID-19 Purple Tier, the celebration of life planned for Saturday, Nov. 21, at Carl Connelly Stadium at Cabrillo College has been postponed until it is safe to gather again. Chris would not want to jeopardize anyone’s health.

Private services took place live online via Tribucast, at https://client.tribucast. com/tcid/876051267. The video will be available on until Dec. 21.

In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to a local charity of your choice in memory of Chris. n