Interesting People
Tales of the City
Marcia Eymann is very proud of the collection she oversees as the city historian at the Center for Sacramento History—and she wants her fellow Sacramentans to be proud too.
CSH is the official repository and research center for Sacramento city and county historic collections, which includes public documents, manuscripts, objects, millions of feet of film and more than 7 million photographs that reflect the social, political, geographic and cultural history of the Sacramento region.
Ghost Tales
During a pandemic, it’s only natural to turn to the most socially distanced place you can go—not just 6 feet apart, but 6 feet under. The Sacramento Historic City Cemetery on Broadway is seeing an uptick in visitors, says park maintenance worker Megan Crose.
At work among the gravestones recently, Crose recounted a colorful story about a man—Franz Louis Asch—buried in the city cemetery’s New Helvetia plot. In 1877, the 22-year-old Asch paid a fateful visit to a Virginia City brothel. “He was making a lot of noise and someone downstairs was yelling up at him to be quiet,” says Crose, who got this oral history from Asch’s descendants. “He was a little drunk and said, ‘Well, who’s going to make me?’ After they went back and forth a couple of times about quieting down, the guy downstairs went upstairs and shot him.”
The Essential Workers
As we cope with the unprecedented upheavals brought on by the pandemic, Inside Sacramento wants to recognize the essential workers who provide critical services and much-needed normalcy. How has the pandemic changed their workdays? How can the public make their jobs easier? How do they feel about providing essential services to our communities? Meet the bus driver, counterperson and recycle truck driver. We asked them to share their stories
Vote Of Confidence
By the end of this month, Courtney Bailey-Kanelos is going to be ready for one epic nap. As the Sacramento County registrar of voters, Bailey-Kanelos is in charge of making sure elections go as smoothly as possible—and the preparation for this year’s presidential election Nov. 3 has been a doozy.
“Preparing for an election is like planning a wedding—but for 800,000 people,” says Bailey-Kanelos, who, at 36, is one of the youngest registrars in the state. “I’m so impressed with everyone who works elections. I’ve never met a more dedicated group of individuals. When I was younger and I’d go to my polling place, I took for granted how much work had gone into it. It’s not just an 8-to-5 job. During big elections like this one, it’s not unusual for us to be here until midnight entering registration forms. We spend so much time together, we become like a tightknit family.”
Staying Afloat
In Sacramento, COVID-19 restrictions have pounded small businesses, sinking consumer demand and sales revenue. One entrepreneur who knows about that experience is Roshaun Davis, co-owner of Unseen Heroes, an events planning firm in Sacramento he began in 2012 with his wife, Maritza.
Unseen Heroes closed in mid-March after Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed stay-at-home orders that shut down large parts of the state’s $2 trillion economy. Small businesses operating on razor-thin margins still feel the pain.
Thank You for the Music
Michael Neumann has been thinking about the serenity prayer a lot lately: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Neumann has retired after 40 years as artistic director and conductor of the Premier Orchestra of the Sacramento Youth Symphony, an orchestral youth organization that started in 1956. What began as an ensemble of 55 youth musicians has grown into an award-winning powerhouse of 400 members from all over the region.
