Interesting People
High Flyer
Alice Astafan has a story to tell. “Not many people are born on a cotton farm and get to the Pentagon,” the Carmichael resident says.
From her humble start to lofty success in the U.S. Air Force, Astafan is the rare woman who reached the rank of major general. Her second star made her the first and only woman reservist—including all service branches—to attain the two-star rank at that time.
Astafan’s memoir, “Lady Leader Leaves Lasting Legacy: From the Cotton Patch to the Pentagon and Beyond,” was published last November by AuthorHouse. The book tracks her life from a farm in Oakman, Alabama, a town of about 800, to the heights of military service.
“I loved my upbringing, but I didn’t want to be a farmer’s wife for the rest of my life,” Astafan, 85, says.
Hands Off
There’s one nugget of good news buried in the budget debacle at City Hall. The $66 million deficit has zero impact on finishing the Sacramento River Parkway bike trail.
While City Council members scramble to produce a balanced budget, vacuuming dimes and quarters from under sofas, money for the levee trail is beyond their reach.
Funds for engineering, environmental analysis, easement acquisition and construction are locked down, under contract or spent. Levee trail dollars are secure. This means the parkway project sails forward, a half-century after it was promised to the community.
Instant Mom
At age 25, Lauren Hamilton became stepmom to three young boys. Recognizing she needed help, she searched for a book to assist with her tricky new role.
Nothing spoke to her experience, so Hamilton wrote the book herself.
“I kept finding all these love stories and I was definitely not living this happily-ever-after. I was navigating the trenches,” the Arden Oaks resident recalls. “I had days where I remember questioning, is this even worth it? How am I going to make it till they’re 18?
Roll Over Beethoven
You’ll probably never meet anyone more passionate about music than Benjamin J. McClara.
The founder and artistic director of Sacramento Preparatory Music Academy, a community-based education program, gets choked up when he talks about music.
He shares that passion with hundreds of students and community musicians in academy lessons and performances.
“Our mission is to provide lifelong access to music education and a place where students can come and study music with professionals,” McClara says. “You don’t really get that in school.”
The academy offers private and group lessons at Midtown’s E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts in piano, guitar, ukulele, woodwinds and voice under McClara, Michael Dale and Anthony Tavianini.
Crowded House
While attention is focused on mayoral and City Council races, there’s another bruising election battle underway in town, this one is for state Assembly.
The 6th District includes the city of Sacramento, Rio Linda, Antelope, Elverta, parts of North Highlands and Carmichael. It’s solid blue. Democrats enjoy a 51% to 21% registration advantage.
Yet because of the top two primary system, where the first two finishers advance to the November election regardless of party, a Republican could reach the general election if the flock of Democratic candidates split the vote March 5.
High Style
Beautiful, colorful rolling works of art are attracting long lines of ticket buyers to the California Automobile Museum’s “Rucas y Carruchas: Ladies in Lowriders” exhibit.
Many cars on display are heirlooms, worked on by generations of families and cherished by women in a culture historically regarded as male dominated.
Museum exhibits manager ShaVolla Rodriguez exemplifies the involvement of women in the lowrider community. She named her lowrider Adeline.
