Barbara Safford is a breeze at conversation. The Carmichael resident and volunteer can talk to anyone about anything, which has made her an amazing asset to countless organizations over the years.
“I’m a people person,” she admits while we lounge in her beautiful backyard. She and her husband, Tom, have lived in this house on Stanley Avenue for 45 years, ever since they moved to Sacramento from their native Chicago so Tom could take a job.
I was only six months into my first pastor’s job in Hopland, Calif., when I contemplated quitting. As I considered my pastoral responsibilities, I had to admit I had an uncomplicated life. I was a full-time graduate student driving 90 miles every weekend to preach two sermons in a country church. Not a bad gig, as they say.
By some magical quirk of karma, the very day this interview with Lucy Steffens was scheduled in her modest Midtown office near 16th and I streets was the same day that Clint Eastwood’s prestigious film company, Malpaso Productions, announced plans to film “The 15:17 to Paris
If not for the financial crisis of 2007 and the resulting economic downturn, Kenny Hotchkiss might still be laying tile for a living. A longtime craft beer fanatic, Hotchkiss used his shrinking workload as motivation to pursue his passion project, a taproom and bottle shop that would showcase the best the beer world had to offer.
Most people shop at Costco like they’re survivalists stocking up for Armageddon’s aftermath. They purchase massive quantities and trundle the goods to their cars via ginormous carts and wheeled pallets. Recently, I needed only a single item that I knew Costco carried. I was unsure about finding it anywhere else. I thought, “Why not bike to Costco, get a little ride in and enjoy the trip?” I found out why not.
