Barbara Safford shares her earliest July 4 memory: “I was 6 years old and living in Momence, Ill.,” she says. “I wore a red, white and blue dress, and red shoes like Dorothy. As the parade passed, I waved my flag. That night, I waved sparklers.”Safford, 78, will wave as grand marshal in the upcoming Carmichael Elks 4th of July Parade. She will delight in following the fire truck whose siren annually heralds the Fair Oaks Boulevard pageant. “I love firefighters,” she says. “You can always depend on them to make our lives safer.”
NEO Escape Rooms, the winner of the 2018 Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s Calling All Dreamers competition, will open to the public this fall on the Old Sacramento Waterfront at 1124 2nd St. The escape rooms will immerse players in Sacramento during different time periods—including the future.
Juliana Bianes took her first unicycle ride inside her house. She held onto the kitchen counter. A few months later, the Pocket resident was riding her unicycle around the neighborhood while strumming her guitar.Next came mountain unicycling, an adventure sport that consists of traversing rough terrain on—yes—one wheel. Bianes has unicycled for more than 30 years.“My grandfather gave me a Big Wheel to ride as a toddler. When I was 8 years old, he bought me my first unicycle at a flea market for $15,” she says.
Now in its ninth year operating as a nonprofit, the Effie Yeaw Nature Center is preparing for its June 8 Spring Gala & Auction with new patronage. As honorary chair, Sacramento writer Ed Goldman follows such luminaries as publisher Cecily Hastings, Congresswoman Doris Matsui, the late businessman Russ Solomon, and artists Marcy Friedman and Gregory Kondos.
Old Sacramento promises new season of fun and games. Spring marks the Old Sacramento Waterfront’s newest season of games, tours and train rides.Catch gold fever in the Sacramento History Museum’s Gold Fever! games. Participants take on characters from the Gold Rush and embark on a lively tour through the historic district. Games are appropriate for all ages and last approximately one hour. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for youth ages 6–17. Children 5 and younger are free.
The job of visiting every restaurant in Pocket and Greenhaven has produced a surprise. While I expected diverse menus and a wide terrain of tastes and kitchen talent, I was not prepared to see local restaurants acting as community gathering spots and meeting halls. I expected to see people eat and run. But quick meals and fast exits are not how every restaurant works in Pocket, especially during the afternoon. The food comes quickly, but customers are in no hurry to leave. In this way, our restaurants become unique alternatives to home and work. They become the “third place” identified by sociologists—places where people linger and experience their neighborhoods in neutral settings.
