February 16, 2017 | www.valcomnews.com
East Sacramento News — BRINGING YOU COMMUNITY NEWS FOR 26 YEARS —
Urijah Faber visits David Lubin School The reTIred mIxed marTIaL arTIST Champ To opeN gym IN eaST SaC See page 8
Crossword .............................................................6 Lance armstrong feature ......................................8 What’s happening ..............................................10
Sewical Sacramento: Sewing in bars and at birthday parties
Life in the Village ................................................13
See page 2
home Improvement guide .................................11
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Community comes together to support victims of Tahoe park hate crime
See page 5
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Vol. XXVI • No. 4
East Sacramento News is published on the first and third Thursday of the month in the area bounded by Business 80 on the west, the American River on the north and east and Highway 50 on the south.
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Publisher...................................................................David Herburger Editor............................................................................... Monica Stark Art Director.......................................................................John Ochoa Graphic Designer..................................................Annin Greenhalgh Advertising Director................................................... Jim O’Donnell Advertising Executives: Melissa Andrews, Steve Crowley, Linda Pohl Copyright 2017 by Valley Community Newspapers Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
Cover photo by: Lance Armstrong Other photos: Stephen Crowley Courtesy
Correction On Page 3 of the last issue of the East Sacramento News, the person in the photograph was misidentified. Ellen Cochrane was the photographer, not the person in the photo. The person in the photo is named xxxxx.
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A no-experience required, imbibing optional sewing party, Sewical Sacramento has hit local bars and neighbors’ homes with sewing machines and friends who like to “sewcialize.” Held in chic urban locations or privately hosted parties, Sewical Sacramento allows participants (aka “sewcialites”) to meet new people (aka “sewcialize”) in their community and complete a groovy project within two to four hours. Sewcialites can relax and enjoy beverages of their choice during the event. Once an event for friends, family, and a few close neighbors, Sewical Sacramento parties started catching on and ladies wanted to host parties for their best friends, so the group’s brainchild Melissa Barton began offering a free registration to the hostesses in appreciation for opening their home to their guests and Sewical Sacramento soon received rave review on Nextdoor.com, which then, in turn prompted an invitation from local breweries, like SacTown Brewery to host the group. Now, other establishment maker-spaces have asked her to hold “sewcials” at their venues. Sewing is Melissa Barton’s self-proclaimed superpower and she’s known for making an entire dress or skirt only hours before an event. Melissa’s sewing days harken back to when she was just 5 years old. “It was a very small, real working machine, with a needle, fly wheel, and foot pedal. But my dedication to the craft began at 10 years old. My mom taught me how to sew an apron,” she recalls. “We purchased the materials and I got my first tutorial in fabric
selection. I spent the entire weekend cutting the pattern, pinning, ironing, creating and lots of laughter. My mom might dispute that last bit though. Looking back, the overall experience was ambitious for a first project, but she obviously had confidence in my abilities and saw my potential – I’m proud of her.” Since becoming a mom, Melissa has been active in the community. Having lived in Sacramento for almost 16 years, she has fostered close relationships with some of the nicest people on the planet. A-stay-at-home, work-at-home mom, Melissa quickly discovered that it takes a village. And part of Sewical Sacramento is her giving back to the community. “ The men and women in our communities are so thoughtful and resourceful and have helped me in more ways that I can express. I can’t think of a better place to invest my appreciation and love of community than Sacramento,” she says. Melissa sources her sewing materials from her sister venture, Say You Do, which makes accessories and gifts for brides and her bridesmaids. She tries to purchase supplies semi-annually so that the freight is as eco-friendly as possible given supply needs. “Sewcial Sacramento and Say You Do is co-branded, meaning we have a cohesive style between the brands making it easier to manage two businesses while juggling the messy mommy business of what is in my child’s diaper or what did the cat catch this time,” she says. Sewical Sacramento currently uses strait stitch sewing machines with new machines joining the team every few weeks. “Participants need to know what it’s like to work See Sewical, page 3 Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.
Sewical:
Continued from page 2
on a quality machine and feel great about their experience. There should be no other way to sew,” she says. Because once in a while a machine has a bad day, Melissa has a back-up machine on stand-by or you can bring your own working machine. Melissa’s dreams for Sewical Sacramento never end. “It’s a wonder that I sleep enough to dream them at all. It’s been so energizing and exciting to share my knowledge and skill with so many enthusiastic people,” she says. In the very near future, there will be a calendar of upcoming public Sewcials, making it easier for participants to check her availability or book their girls night out at Sewical Sacramento. She would love a dedicated studio in the mid-town community, with multiple sewing machines, amazing lighting, and patterns that don’t have sizes on them because when you make it, it’s whatever size you say it is. She dreams of a childcare room so mommies who need a day-break can sewcialize and have a place for their babes to have fun too. Melissa wants to hold virtual events for friends everywhere who maybe feel “un-sewcial” or just want to wear pajama pants and drink wine. She promises sil-
ly narration with the ability to pause and replay lessons on demand. “I am also working on a sewing guide for beginners – a fabulous book of techniques that I have cataloged in my head for the past 15 years.” Sewical Sacramento’s calendar has many exciting private and public events coming up. All of them are unique and special, but some of the most mentionable booked events is a private teenager co-ed birthday Sewcial, a 34 participant birthday summer extravaganza, a live televised event. TWO STORY TUDOR
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www.valcomnews.com • February 16, 2017 • East Sacramento News
Finding home Local Buddhist groups come together under one roof By Monica Stark
editor@valcomnews.com
They say home is where the heart is. As cliche as that sounds, the saying rings true for the groups that can now call the Sacramento Dharma Center home. With a mission “to create a sanctuary for meditation and Buddha’s teachings, welcoming everyone who seeks to end suffering and live in harmony,” the nonprofit organization’s board of directors envision the new location at 3111 Wissemann Drive as “an inclusive and accessible community resource available to all people who wish to encounter Buddha’s teachings, enjoy the benefits of meditation practice, practice with a Sangha, and participate in a Buddhist tradition.” On Sunday, Jan. 29, the nonprofit held its grand opening, in which the entire community was invited including honored teachers, neighbors and supporters and others who helped realize the Center’s vision. Once the location of two credit unions, the renovated Buddhist haven for Western practitioners, the Sacramento Dharma Center, boasts space for six small offices, a library, kitchen, meditation room, break room, four bathrooms, a small meeting room, two vaults and 1.7 acres of yard space where ideas for gardens, walking paths, a labyrinth and a memorial garden (for those who have passed away) may soon be a reality. Looking outside the windows of the meditation room on a recent rainy Monday afternoon, Julia Mullen, SDC vice president, said, “I imagine all of that.” Helping to organize the many volunteers there, Julia posed the question: What would you imagine being here? A simple question, all answers need consensus for anything to ma-
terialize at the SDC, so when it came to the big picture of possibly finding a space to house the three local groups or Sanghas – the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group, Sacramento Insight Meditation and Valley Streams Zen Sangha – Zen practice leader and ordained priest Jim Hare eight years ago asked the three groups what they thought about having a permanent home that would house all the groups. No more moving around; they could offer more programs and support each other. Julia and Linda Dekker, office manager and board member, spoke with the Arden-Carmichael News regarding the big changes at the Center. For the first year, Jim simply met with people and asked about their interest in it, and then in April of 2010, a steering committee was formed, which laid the groundwork of what the Dharma Center would be. Out of that spawned the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Dharma Center. For six years, the organization fundraised, looked at properties, and, as Julia adds, “(We) figured out how we’re going to live together because even though we’re all Buddhist practitioners, there (are) differences and so how do we take our differences and make them our strengths. It is a challenge and hopefully it will be an ongoing challenge because the three groups they want to maintain their personalities, their cultures.” From humble beginnings, groups have met at various yoga studios, have leased space in Land Park at the Congregation B’nai Israel, the Buddhist Church of Sacramento and other locations near downtown. Specifically, the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group started 26 years ago in a living room of people
Photo by Kent Lacin
The Sacramento Dharma Center
who were interested in Buddhism as a means of practice with dealing with everything that was going on when the United States was invading Iraq. “SBMG was in response to all that turmoil. And trying to find some serenity and peacefulness around it,” Julia said. “Well, SBMG moved several times. The last place we were at was Congregation B’nai Israel on Riverside. We rented the big social hall to us. They were a wonderful host.” SBMG hosts teachers from all different traditions to come and talk each week, so for first timers or the more curious, that group is a good place to start to learn about local traditions. A number of the visiting teachers hail from the Bay Area and are shocked at the energy inside the walls of the SDC. “(They) enjoy being here,” Linda said. While many of the members hail from downtown and its nearest neighborhoods, real estate agent Kari Bryski convinced the Sanghas to look outside of the area. “We thought we wanted to be in Curtis Park, Land Park, East Sac, midtown, close to where everybody had been before and she said you would not get what you want. You can’t afford what you want. What you want does not exist in that part of the city with this kind of property. As soon as we opened up, we found this place a month later,” Linda said. Because the Dharma Center Board of Directors consists of representatives of each of those organizations, Julia went back to the groups and asked whether they could go looking further out from the central city. “The boards
had to discuss this because one of the things they thought was we’re going to lose membership if we go too far out from the central city. Once the Sanghas gave us permission to go looking further this appeared,” Julia said. Convenient to the Watt/Manlove stop on the Gold Line of the light rail and between 10-15 minutes from downtown (without traffic), the Wassermann location seems to work out, as membership continues to grow. “We had to take down the walls of the little office (inside the meditation room) because the Sunday group needed the space,” Julia said. Additionally having the groups under one roof can help leaders direct newcomers to a group that may be a good fit. As Julia explains, “Now that we are all under one place, if we think someone is dipping their toes in the water and they say, ‘Oh, Zen doesn’t speak to me,’ they can come Thursday night and go to Sacramento Insight Meditation.” On Inauguration Day, the Sacramento Dharma Center hosted a meditation titled, “For the Benefit of All Beings”. A nonpartisan Buddhist-inspired morning of meditation and prayer, the event, held Jan. 20 from 9 a.m. to noon called for people to sit together to “support community, to support those outside community, to be in touch with the here and now and to water the seeds of interconnection.” People were welcome to sit for a few minutes, an hour or the entire time but were able to be part of a collective effort for peace. The center looks forward to an Interdependence Fourth of July Celebration at their new location.
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Community comes together to support victims of Tahoe Park hate crime By Laura I. Winn
After two Tahoe Park businesses were vandalized in a suspected hate crime, the community sprang into action with a clear message: Not in our neighborhood. On January 31, Tahoe Park residents received a startling alert from the social networking app, Nextdoor: MoMo’s Meat Market and Supreme Barber Lounge, both African-American owned establishments, had been vandalized and racial epithets had been left behind. Neighbor Isaac Gonzalez, who recalled ordering MoMo’s steaks the night before his first child was born, had to see the damage for himself. “I walked into the barber shop and saw the swastika and the nword spray painted on the wall. It caused such a deep reaction within me that I knew everyone had to see the disgusting thing that had occurred,” he said. Gonzalez shared pictures of the damage online. Barber chairs were slashed and clippers stolen. MoMo’s suffered a smashed window. Then, Gonzalez created a Facebook invite for the next day: Lunch at MoMo’s. “I knew that people would want to stand together to say: This is not welcome in our community.” Karen Flores, a Citrus Heights resident and fan of the familyowned barbecue joint, was one of the estimated 300 who responded to the invitation. When she drove
up to the Broadway shopping center, the long, winding line of people blew her away. “I almost started crying because there were so many people,” she explained. Flores didn’t have time to wait to eat; she was there for another purpose. Flores approached Sharon Miller, who owns the restaurant with her husband Glenn, and asked if they needed a GoFundMe account. Flores described Sharon’s reaction, “She couldn’t even say anything for a moment, and then she just said, ‘You know what, that is so sweet of you. We’re good, all we need is money for security cameras’.” Then, Flores recalled that Sharon glanced at the donation can and said, “I’m pretty sure that’s going to cover it.” That was 24 hours after the Facebook event went viral. For the next several days, the blocks surrounding the shopping center were filled with cars of people who traveled from all over the Sacramento area to patron the restaurant and leave behind messages of support for the closed barber shop. Patrick Schiller-Nunes, who lives about a block away, led the charge to financially support Supreme Barber Lounge. On February 4, Schiller-Nunes opened a GoFundMe account with a goal of $1,000. He posted the link on his Facebook account and within hours, the goal was met. So Schiller-Nunes increased the goal by another $1,000. As donations poured in, some as small as $5, oth-
ers as large as $200, Schiller-Nunes realized he was going to need a bigger goal. In as little as five days, the total had surpassed the final target of $5,000. Over 140 people donated, included many who had never had a Supreme cut or shave. Tahoe Park resident Kenn Altine, who pointed out he is bald and no longer needs a barber, explained why he donated, “It was important to do two things in response to this horrific act. The first was to shed light on it: talk about it, make people aware of it. The use of Nazi symbols recalls an era where people turned a blind eye to what was happening in front of them. We cannot repeat that complacency,” he stated in an email. “ The second was to do something about it. Making a donation is one way. Supporting the businesses is another. An even better way is to meet the people who were targeted.” Getting to know Nick Finks, who owns Supreme Barber Lounge, has been one of the silver linings to this “disgusting and frightening” crime, said Schiller-Nunes. “I just wanted to help out and let him know that no one deserves this,” he said. “ Tahoe Park is a diverse neighborhood. Our area doesn’t have time for hate or racism.” Gonzalez shared a similar sentiment. “Whoever did this wanted to scare and intimidate these blackowned businesses,” he said. “But what they did had the opposite ef-
fect. The entire community rallied around these two shops and reaffirmed that Tahoe Park is a place of love and tolerance.”
Searching for the suspect The Sacramento Police Department is seeking the public’s help in identifying the person responsible for the crimes against MoMo’s Meat Marget and Supreme Barber Lounge. On Jan. 31, at approximately 1 a.m., there were two businesses in Sacramento that were victimized. Momo’s Meat Market (5780 Broadway) had a rock thrown through their window. The business next door, Supreme Barber Lounge (5776 Broadway), was broken into and vandalized. There was a 42” Vizio TV, a Clover cash register and Wahl clippers stolen from the barbershop. Supreme Barber Lounge was tagged with a racial slur and a swastika in black spray paint on the interior of the business. The barber shop was also flooded out and ransacked. The suspect is a light-complected male wearing a light-colored hoodie, dark jacket, and dark tennis shoes with white soles. A silver sedan is connected to this crime.
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If I walked a mile in your shoes by James Peyton
Have you ever watched a horror movie, where the detectives walk in on a man standing over a body with a dripping knife? Wouldn’t you think he did it? Earlier in the movie, the man discovers his friend dead on the floor. Shocked, he picks up the knife and tries to figure out what is going on. Then, someone opens the door and he finds himself interrogated and arrested for murder. We know he didn’t do it, but does anyone believe him? No. After all, he wouldn’t have been picked up or be in court if he was innocent, would he? If you’ve ever been misunderstood, this article is for you. Maybe you are a Muslim and people are afraid of you, or treat you like a terrorist on a daily basis. Maybe you are Sikh, and people think you are Muslim. Maybe your entire family won’t talk to you anymore because you married a man instead of a woman. Perhaps you are pretty and people feel you can’t be intelligent. Maybe you are black and dress hiphop, and are constantly getting pulled over by the Police. People would rather write you off than take a chance on you. Perhaps people pick on you because you have glasses and talk about Minecraft instead of the NBA and the NFL. Maybe you’re a reformed ex-con who loses a job every time an employer finds out about your past. Perhaps you’ve been burnt or are in a wheelchair, and people don’t treat you like an equal, rather more like a child. Perhaps people won’t look you in the eye. It could be the case that you are very old and people talk about you right in front of you, without ever talking TO you. Maybe people have taught their children to hate you. It’s possible that you are short, and people won’t take you seriously. They pick you last when they pick a team for a basketball game. Perhaps your parents pressure you to be perfect, rather than to be a person. Or it could be that ladies call you a stalker when you try to talk to them, but when a tall, handsome guy comes along and says the same thing you just said, .. they treat him like a normal guy. Or you’re one of Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.
those guys that glances over at a girl, and finds she had a dirty look waiting for you before you even looked. Maybe you’ve got a thick accent and people don’t understand what you’re trying to say. You could be a youth getting bullied at school, right under a “bully-free zone” sign in the cafeteria. Maybe you have OCD, or compulsions to repeat behaviors, color co-ordinate things obsessively, or re-write pages of notes redundantly because they look messy. Maybe you are forgotten in a care home, and your parents never come to visit you. Maybe you have a woman living with you, that checks into your phone every time you come home from work. Maybe you have a room-mate that threatens you, doesn’t pay rent, and eats up your food. Maybe you are the neglected child in the family, and all the attention goes to your brother and sister. Maybe you know when you go to work, your wife’s in a parking lot with another man. Maybe your kids were taken away from you for an illegitimate reason. You got a beard and people think you’re a drug dealer, right? It doesn’t matter if you’ve never smoked or drank, or dealt... your whole life. Maybe rich people have snubbed you because you are poor. Maybe you don’t have a perfect Facebook life. Maybe you realize that your friends or co-workers will never change the way they see you as long as you live. Even though you’ve tried so hard to show them, so hard to prove that you are different than their labels. People grow, mature and sometimes even change for the better. But to your labelers, you will ALWAYS be stuck in the past, as they saw you back then. Even if you move on past the negativity, you may be surprised that for them, it’s always still there whenever they see you. If you look a certain way, you ARE a certain way in some people’s viewpoint. This kind of close-mindedness runs rampant in our society. The forces of conformity are often unspoken and unwritten, yet still powerful. I remember a young man who tattooed “Don’t Forget To Love Yourself ” on his chest. Maybe you’ve done that,
maybe you don’t feel you deserve to be loved. Maybe you wear black clothes a lot, maybe you’re a cutter. Perhaps the only one you really care about hates you, and left you for dead. In the words of Eddie Griffin, “Whatever happened to a girl falling in love with a n&*@# with a bus pass? Maybe people say you don’t smile enough, and they don’t know that someone recently died in your family. Maybe people get on you for being grumpy or negative, and they don’t know that SEVERAL people recently died in your family. Maybe you were abused as a child or as an adult. Maybe your mom chased you around the house with butcher knives as a teenager. We have to try and forgive those we feel have wronged us, let it go, and move on. One person told me that they could never forgive their mother for what she did to them. I can understand that. Perhaps your life is worse than most of the things mentioned in this article, there’s always something worse. But where we can, at least, we have to try. We have
to strive for caring, compassion, and kindness. From childhood to adulthood, I attended an AfricanAmerican church. I remember the song we sang, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” Many of us are misunderstood. We had negative experiences in life. Perhaps we think negatively as a result, perhaps we ARE negative. None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes. In order to overcome obstacles, and make things better, we have to have that light in us. But it’s not enough just
to have it, we must cultivate it. We have to practice growing it, just like you have to practice to get better at handwriting, basketball, communicating with people, being effective at your job, or building a fence. Maybe you feel like nobody loves you. Maybe you feel like you’re just not worth it to anybody. Well, even if I don’t give you a dollar, and I won’t give you a ride, I love you! You are worth it. You are human. Like Rocky Balboa said, “Hey little Marie! Let there be light! Let there be LIGHT!”
Call Melissa at (916) 429-9901 www.valcomnews.com
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www.valcomnews.com • February 16, 2017 • East Sacramento News
Urijah Faber visits David Lubin School The retired mixed martial artist champ to open gym in East Sac By LANCE ARMSTRONG Lance@valcomnews.com
Surrounded by a large crowd of young students at David Lubin Elementary School in East Sacramento, recently retired mixed martial artist Urijah Faber spoke about the importance of fitness and his plan to open a new gym on Folsom Boulevard. Faber, who spent 14 years competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a pioneer in the sport, won the World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight championship in 2006. But Faber, an East Sacramento resident who understands the importance for athletes to be fit, emphasized a need for everyone to keep active and exercise. “It’s not just about being an athlete as far as a career, but being active is good for you in a lot of different ways,” he said. “How many people feel good after they have recess? Well, there’s a reason for that. When you work out and you eat healthy and you choose healthy lifestyle choices, your brain is making things that make you feel good. It makes you feel happy, your bones are getting stronger, your muscles are getting stronger. So, I’m always encouraging you guys to eat healthy, be out there and be active.” As part of Faber’s Jan. 27 presentation at the school, he held a push up contest for students. Following the contest, Faber said, “Everybody has the ability to be the winner, if they put their mind to it. I just wanted to let them know that the mentality is the biggest part of anything.” And in furthering his ongoing efforts to encourage people to maintain active, healthy lifestyles and to build both their bodies and minds, Faber will relocate his 11-year-old business, Uriah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness, to 6700 Folsom Blvd. this March. Faber said that the move represents a major expansion from his current location at 1705 I St. “We’re revamping and having a bigger facility,” he said. “It’s going to be two and a half times the size of the current gym. So, we’re going to do all sorts of mixed martial arts based classes for conditioning and just technique. We’re also going to have general fitness classes like TRX (Total Resistance eXercise) and yoga, and high intensity training.” The new, 20,000-square-foot facility will also include dry saunas, an outdoor area and unlimited parking. Faber mentioned that the new gym will also serve as home to Faber’s team, Team Alpha Male. “We have some of the best fighters on the planet, the current UFC world champion Cody Garbrandt, UFC superstar Paige VanZant and a whole host of up-and-comers who are professionals in the sport that are representing for Sacramento,” he said. “We’re creating an environment that is uplifting and it’s motivating. You’re training alongside some of the best pros in the world.” Faber said that his gym is a place for people of all ages, including kids. “It would be exciting to get these kids in here, too,” he said. “That’s something we really want to focus on in this new gym is providing a place for the
Photo by Lance Armstrong
Urijah Faber speaks to students at David Lubin Elementary School on Jan. 27.
Photo by Lance Armstrong
Urijah Faber congratulates the winner of the push up contest.
community to bring their kids and be a part of the energy that’s there.” David Lubin Principal Richard Dixon said that he appreciated Faber’s encouragement for kids to be interested in fitness. “Our focus is science, technology, engineering, arts and math, and we think rigorous mental activity goes hand in hand with physical activity,” he said. “So, to hear him share with our kids the importance of that, the importance of nutrition, a balanced life, to realize your potential, that’s what we want to push at our school. “(Faber’s visit) is the kind of thing that can make a difference in a child’s life, so it was a privilege to have him out (at the school).”
East Sacramento News • February 16, 2017 • www.valcomnews.com
Photo by Lance Armstrong
David Lubin Elementary School Principal Richard Dixon spends a moment with retired mixed martial artist Urijah Faber. Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.
Lubin Talks Local discussions part of school effort to demonstrate strength of character and hard work By Pat Lynch
Bernard Marks spoke conversationally from a chair on a low stage. But his remarks frequently brought a hush over the adults in David Lubin School’s Lubin TALKS presentation January 19th this year. The TALKS are designed to bring community families together to experience the inspiring stories of local innovators, activists, educators, and thinkers. The monthly, family-friendly evening event aims to strengthen us as a community that demonstrates for our youth the hope created and power gained from working together. Marks, 84, was born in Lodz, Poland. When the Nazis occupied Poland his family was forced into the Jewish ghetto. From there they were taken to Auschwitz in August of 1944. Marks stilled the room with the story of how his father saved his life by falsifying his birth certificate to make him old enough to qualify for slave labor. When his family arrived in Auschwitz with 200 others, Marks was ordered to line up with the women and children on the left. But his father approached the Nazi commander, Joseph Mengele, and showed him the forged paperwork that said Marks qualified for labor, and Mengele let Marks return to the right with the men. Marks never saw his mother or brother again. They went from the line to the gas showers. To calm them, the Germans played recordings of Bach. Very young kids occasionally fidgeted and squirmed, but older children and their parents sat transfixed while Marks went on. Questioned by teacher Anita Warmack, he described his twelve-hour work days of slave labor. “We got one cup of soup, one piece of bread for the day, every day.” The elder prisoners formed co-
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vert classes in the basement to pass on cultural values. “They taught us always to hope that tomorrow will be better,” Marks said. “They said, we live for others, not just ourselves. We have to treat people correctly.” He was transferred to Dachau, and there got sick, was confined to a tent with other sick prisoners. The Nazis set the tent on fire. His father pushed through the smoke and tangle of bodies and dragged him away. His father was his salvation. His incarceration was, he added, his “five and a half years with the Devil.” When liberation finally came Marks was thirteen and weighed fifty pounds. Sick again with Typhoid fever, he was cared for by Franciscan monks. “I had to learn to eat all over again,” he said. The room was silent when he said, “I can still smell the burning flesh.” He stated that 4,000 people were exterminated per day. Of ten thousand women who started on the infamous ‘winter death march,’ only one hundred survived. His childhood was stolen, he was brutalized beyond comprehension, agonized by loss. But through all this he had his father and the values his father imparted. “You have to know more than just your job,” he said. “You have to know what’s really happening in the world.” When he received the Presidential National Volunteer of the Year Award, he said, “You can’t just live in a community. You have to serve it.” Marks serves by telling his story and reminding his audiences to be vigilant and involved. He said the “relocation” of Japanese Americans to camps in WW2, and the forced expulsion (called “repatriation”) of 1.2 million American citizens of Mexican heritage in the Depression years were, to him, “holocausts,” comparable to the expulsion of the Jews in Germany.
davidlubin E L E M E N T A R Y
These things happen under “democratically elected” leaders, he warned. When such leaders take power, their supporters, unmonitored, can enact policies even more egregious than the stated beliefs of the leader. This was what happened in Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) when thuggish Hitler supporters rampaged through Jewish neighborhoods destroying property and terrifying residents while the police stood by. He answered questions from students, emphasizing that in the midst of the horrors in Germany, “many Christians helped Jews,” many saved them. “And I know of 10 and 11 year old kids who saved classmates,” he said. He encouraged his audience to be mindful of people in need. He himself distributes food and winter socks to the Sacramento homeless. His message of, perseverance, courage, kindness to others and starting anew resonated with the audience. A woman asked what he thought of the present American election controversy.
He answered that he couldn’t comment about specific political matters, but noted that Hitler had said, “Elect me and I’ll make Germany great.” He leaned forward in his chair, and said into the microphone, “Beware.” There was an almost visceral response from the attentive adults in the room. “Beware,” he said, “when you elect someone who has no scruples.” Marks’ talk was part of David Lubin School’s effort to “provide a forum for speakers who share thoughts and stories that demonstrate how strength of character, hard work, community engagement, and intellectual curiosity” better prepare students for the future. Marks’ story asserted that an informed and involved citizenry is the best guardian of our children’s future, and further enjoined the children themselves to become aware and engaged. He received a standing ovation.
www.valcomnews.com • February 16, 2017 • East Sacramento News
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THURSDAY, FEB. 16 VOTING IS TOPIC OF SAC STATE PUBLIC LECTURE: Sacramento State’s next STEM Scholars Lecture covers a timely subject on everyone’s mind. Mathematics and statistics Assistant Professor Jay Cummings will present “Counting on the Results: The Math of Elections” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in the University Union, Redwood Room. Many elections have ended in results that seem counterintuitive. Cummings’ lecture will focus on a handful of political contests that included some oddities, such as Ralph Nader’s role as spoiler in the 2000 presidential election. Most recently, Cummings asks, did a spoiler or the electoral system itself play a part in the election of President Donald Trump? No advanced knowledge of mathematics is required to explore this phenomenon. Cummings also will look at how a simple theorem about election theory shook up political science, dismayed democracy purists, and won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Cummings earned his doctoral degree in mathematics from UC San Diego under distinguished mathematician Ron Graham. He conducts research in an area of mathematics called “combinatorics,” which is the study of discrete structures and involves counting, classification, and graphs. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) lectures are free, open to the public, and presented by the Center for Science and Math Success (csus.edu/nsm/ successcenter) in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The center may also be contacted at (916) 278-2789.
FRIDAY, FEB. 17 LEGO MANIA! – Like building with LEGOs? Join us for our monthly Lego free-play afternoon! LEGOs and DUPLO LEGOs will be provided for this family program. Friday, Feb. 17 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at McKinley Library, 601 Alhambra Blvd, Sacramento.
SATURDAY, FEB. 18 WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE WITH THE SACRAMENTO PHILHARMONIC – Calling all wild things! Come join us as the Sacramento Philharmonic perform the classic story,
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Then stay to join the wild rumpus march, make wild things masks and monster slime, and view the different instruments used in the Philharmonic’s telling of this tale. Costumes are encouraged! This family program is Saturday, Feb. 18, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at McKinley Library, 601 Alhambra Blvd, Sacramento. SUTTER’S FORT TO PRESENT “HANDS ON HISTORY: BY LAND AND BY SEA”: Continuing a series of popular, interactive and fun “Hands on History” activities offered each month, Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park (SHP) will present a special “Hands on History: By Land and By Sea” event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fort visitors will be delighted to see the recently completed restoration of the historic walls, gates and blacksmith shop plus have the opportunity to step back in time to the 1840s to understand the two different ways emigrants originally came to California -- by land or by sea -- while sharing the unique challenges they faced and what daily life was like during their journeys. In fact, Sutter’s Fort was once home to sailors who “jumped ship,” trappers who became overland trail guides because of the failing fur trade, wagon train parties looking for a new life, and soldiers who served in the Mexican-American War and whose services were terminated in California – 3,000 miles from their homes in the east. Fort guests will hear the amazing tales of adventure and survival these nomads experienced on the journeys and enjoy participating in daily activities of the different skills and trades they used in their new California home. A few of the special hands-on activities awaiting Fort visitors include helping to pack a wagon while making choices about what to bring along for their journey of a lifetime, determining latitude with a sailing sextant, hoisting a laden barrel, weaving rope, learning simple knots, creating maps with available resources, joining the Navy and receiving pay in Stonington Bank $2 bills, and even marching around the Fort with the NY Volunteer fife and drum corps. And, of course, popular demonstrations of black powder weaponry in action will take place including the crowd-favorite firing of Sutter’s cannon. Admission to Sutter’s
East Sacramento? Fort SHP costs $7 per adult (18 and older), $5 per youth (ages 6 to 17) and is free for children 5 and under. For more information, call 916-445-4422 or visit www.suttersfort.org
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22 TEEN SPACE – Looking for something fun to do after school? Need a place where you’re free to hang out with your friends and have a snack? Come to the McKinley Library Teen Space, Wednesday, Feb. 22 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at McKinley Library, 601 Alhambra Blvd, Sacramento.
FRIDAY, FEB. 24 MINECRAFT GAMING – Like building and creating new worlds in Minecraft? Come join us for an afternoon of Minecraft gaming! Each player will be given their own computer to battle with friends on our library server or build new creations and in creative, survival, or hardcore mode. Players of any level of experience are welcome to join. This is a school-age and teen program. Friday, Feb. 24 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at McKinley Library, 601 Alhambra Blvd, Sacramento.
THURSDAY, MARCH 9 THE MARINE CORPS ALL-STAR JAZZ BAND JOINS SACRAMENTO STATE’S JAZZ ENSEMBLES for their next concert at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 9, in the Capistrano Concert Hall on campus, 6000 J St. The University’s jazz ensembles have been honored by Downbeat magazine and the Next Generation Jazz festival for many years. Tickets are
$10 general admission, $7 seniors, and $5 students, at (916) 278-4323 or www.csus.edu/hornettickets. Contact (916) 278-5155. NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION IS SEEKING LOCAL HOST FAMILIES FOR HIGH SCHOOL EXCHANGE STUDENTS: ASSE International Student Exchange Programs (ASSE), in cooperation with your community high school, is looking for local families to host boys and girls between the ages of 15 to 18 from a variety of countries: Norway, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Japan, to name a few. ASSE students are enthusiastic and excited to experience American culture while they practice their English. They also love to share their own culture and language with their host families. Host families welcome these students into their family, not as a guest, but as a family member, giving everyone involved a rich cultural experience. The exchange students have pocket money for personal expenses and full health, accident and liability insurance. ASSE students are selected based on academics and personality, and host families can choose their student from a wide variety of backgrounds, countries and personal interests. To become an ASSE Host Family or to find out how to become involved with ASSE in your community, please call the ASSE Western Regional Office at 1-800-733-2773 or go to www.host.asse.com to begin your host family application. Students are eager to learn about their American host family, so begin the process of welcoming your new son or daughter today!
Do you have an upcoming or monthly event? Let us know.
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LIFE in the Village
By Jan Dalske
East Sacramento News
It was July, and the weather was getting warmer. Dad had promised to get us a swimming pool. What kind of pool did he have in mind? It could not be very deep if the little ones, like Rita and Wayne would be in the pool. And none of us had learned how to swim. I guess that Dad made the right choice when he brought home a wading pool. It was just deep enough for us to cool down. The pool had rings around the sides that needed to have air added to them. Dad used a machine that he plugged into the electricity in the wall to put air into the pool rings. Pretty soon the pool rings were all filled up with air, and now the pool just needed to be filled up with water. Dad hooked up the hose to the faucet on the side of the house and turned it on. Water immediately came rushing into the pool.
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It was cool water, and we could not wait to sit in our new pool. Bathing suits would be required and we had all pulled them out of our dressers as soon as our mother had told us about our new pool. Our mother had made sure that we all had bathing suits for when the summer days were hot. On especially hot days she would squirt us with the hose to cool us down. Now, we could just sit in our new pool. And, if she watched the little ones, they could join us. Six kids in a pool was fun! When Dad came home from work on Friday he had some boxes with him. He left them on the back patio. We were all curious about what was in those boxes. So, after he went to take a shower before our mother started dinner we had to go take a peek at the boxes. Imagine our surprise
when we saw large ripe peaches in one box and tomatoes in another. We all wondered what he had brought home for. There were too many for us to eat. As soon as we all sat down for dinner, my dad looked around at all of us. He asked us if we had noticed the boxes he had brought home. We all nodded. He told us they were for our mother. We were not to eat what was in the boxes. She was going to “can” the fruits and vegetables. None of us had any idea what “can” meant. And, as it turned out, there were no cans involved in what she did to those fruits and vegetables, just big jars with metal caps and lids. Apparently you could cook up peeled and chopped fruits and vegetables and put them into hot jars and seal them with the metal caps and lids. My Mom used something called a pressure cooker to heat the jars. The contents stayed fresh for a long time when you stored them in a cool place, like our garage. Dad built shelves for the “canning.” After the jars had cooled, he carried them outside to the garage and placed them in rows. We enjoyed the sweet peaches for dessert all winter. And the tomatoes were used to make tasty spaghetti sauce and added to our mom’s Spanish rice dish.
Over the summer, Dad would bring home more fruits and vegetables for our mother to can. She sometimes asked me to help her with the washing, peeling and cutting. It was fun working with my mom. We canned some pears and added food color to the sugar sauce to make them a light blue or yellow color. One day, my dad brought home some very small cucumbers. I had never seen any that small before. He said that they were going to be pickles. What a great idea! Our mother cooked up some vinegary sauce and poured it over the little cucumbers and added some dill sticks to flavor the sauce and turn the cucumbers into dill pickles. The only problem was that they needed to stay in the jars awhile before they would become pickles. Waiting for them was the hardest part for canning vegetables. We were all happy with the new way that our mother and father had to keep our food in the garage. Whenever we needed some fruit, it was there waiting for us. The pickles were always in great demand. During the summer, Dad would bring home many kinds of fresh fruit. Some of it we got to eat and some of it got canned. We enjoyed not only the peaches and pears, but tasty little apricots that Mom sliced in half.
www.valcomnews.com • February 16, 2017 • East Sacramento News
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Local author to discuss new book on sexual abuse By Monica Stark
Local author, Wanda Arnold, will read from and discuss her new book, The Long Silence: Finding My Voice Again After Childhood Sexual Abuse at the Avid Reader at Tower, 1600 Broadway on Saturday, Feb. 18 from 5 to 7 p.m. What follows is a Question and
Answer with Valley Com- visual artist, but that medium munity Newspapers. is open to interpretation in ways that can totally obscure VCN: Tell me about your the original intent, so this background as an author. time I chose to write because WA: This is my first pub- I want people to understand. lished book. I have written a genealogical history, but only VCN: Tell readers about your for my son and his family. I book. Can you tell readers used to write poetry, but only what it’s about in a nutshell for live performance, never for and why and how you came to publication. I am primarily a want to share your story pub-
licly? And, tell us about the process of writing this book. WA: The book is more memoir than autobiography as it focuses on certain time periods and events in my life, all revolving around a central theme. That theme is childhood sexual abuse and how it affects the entire life of an individual: one’s sense of selfworth; the ability to trust and
form lasting relationships; the inward focus and loss of interest in the wider world; contemplation of suicide; how it can percolate down through the generations as secrets and lies and destroy families. This project started as an exercise for myself, as a way to understand the anger I still felt, and how that anger sometimes came between me and those I love most in the world. Over several years, it morphed into something more. As I researched statistics, I began to understand that behind every one of those numbers are human beings, too often young children feeling pain, fear, and isolation. I decided to reach out to people in a position to help those children, to the adult survivors who still need to know that they are not alone, and even to people who “don’t want to know about things like that.” VCN: Tell us about the sexual abuse that occurred and the repercussions for the victim and were there any for the perpetrator? WA: My stepfather was the abuser. The overt abuse began when I was eight years old and lasted about four years. In retrospect, I believe there were earlier clues, but I was too young and innocent to see them for what they were. The repercussions for me lasted a lifetime; for him they were minimal. The story is in the book. VCN: Where can people get this book? WA: The book is currently available only through the author or at AVID READER at Tower. I have chosen to promote it locally first. Later, it will be available at ondemandbooks. com and at amazon.com. VCN: Anything else you’d like to add? WA: This may not be appropriate for your community newspapers, but I thought I would include it as being indicative of the extreme emotions I felt when young. I saw this as my only way out: Have you ever deeply wanted to kill another human being? Have you planned how it could be done, the method and the instrument; have you watched for the right opportunity? I have. I was 12 years old. (Preface; p.xi)
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East Sacramento News • February 16, 2017 • www.valcomnews.com
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www.valcomnews.com • February 16, 2017 • East Sacramento News
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