Pocket News

Pock et NewsMarch 20, 2014 | www.valcomnews.com

— BriNgiNg you commuNity News for 23 years —

Writer Lance Armstrong to receive award from

Sacramento County Historical Society

See page 7

Pocket Little League

celebrates opening day

See page 12

The Pocket Watch ...........................................4

School News ...................................................8

Sports ............................................................12

Pocket profile ................................................20

Calendar ........................................................ 22

Know your neighbor:

Cole Cuchna

Pocket musician to release new album April 1See page 21

Know your neighbor:

Cole Cuchna

Pocket musician to release new album April 1See page 21

� Pocket News • March 20, 2014 • www.valcomnews.com Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.

By Monica [email protected]

She gets giddy. Like a kid in a candy store, Land Park resident Julie High gets ecstat-ic each time her good friend Pocket resident Debbie O’Hearn photographs her wear-ing the latest styles. But get this: Julie has owned some of these outfits for at least five years and hasn’t worn them, but maybe just once before. This may seem like a contradic-tion of sorts, in reality, however, this is all part of Debbie’s magic.

Debbie, a longtime Pocket resident and transplant from the Midwest is a fashion consultant with a big heart. The bubbly trendsetter gets some of her energy from watching a transformation occur right be-fore her very eyes.

One February Saturday morning, Deb-bie came over to Julie’s and went through her closet and evaluated her clothes. Ju-lie’s square-toed shoes – not in fashion anymore! Those could go, but as soon as Debbie had Julie try different combina-tions of clothing items on together, the eyes from her longtime friend widened and her smile grew.

Meanwhile, Debbie photographed Julie wearing outfits she liked for the purpose of putting them all in a personal “look book.” Together, they created 31 outfits with only two pairs of pants, and, after a shopping trip to Nordstrom’s, Debbie hopes to get 100 outfits together and place them in Julie’s book, so she can flip to her outfit of choice and be on with her day.

Julie’s excitement was overwhelming; “I had to say, ‘Down girl!’ We had a ball,” Debbie said.

Debbie started her interest in fashion as a very young child, dressing up her dolls, and as she got a little older, she made her own clothes, including her very own prom dress. Debbie, the prom queen, was a trend-

setter back then, and people look to her to-day for fashion advice and inspiration.

Displaying photographs of previous and current clients donning their outfits, Deb-bie described their clothes, noting the brand names (or not) whilst saying how beautiful each woman is no matter her age or weight. “They’re all adorable,” she said.

“I want them to be happy. Fashion for-ward.” That’s the nonchalant message Debbie relays over a glass of ice tea at Cafe Bernardos, in an interview with this

Pocket News is published on the first and third Thursdays of the month in the area bounded by Interstate 5 on the east and the Sacramento River on the north, west, and south.

Publisher ....................................................................... George Macko General Manager ......................................................... Kathleen Egan Editor .............................................................................. Monica StarkArt Director .......................................................................John OchoaGraphic Designer..............................................................Ryan WunnAdvertising Executives .......................................................Linda Pohl Patty Colmer, Melissa Andrews, Jen HenryDistribution/Subscriptions ......................................... George Macko

E-mail stories & photos to: [email protected] Vol. XXIII • No. 6

2709 Riverside Blvd.Sacramento,CA 95818t: (916) 429-9901f: (916) 429-9906

Cover photo by:Courtesy

Other photos by:CourtesyLance Armstrong

Copyright 2014 by Valley Community Newspapers Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

Pocket Newsw w w . v A L C o m n e w s . C o m

Debbie O’Hearn: A Pocket fashionista with a heart of gold

Photo by Monica StarkPocket resident Debbie O’Hearn is a fashion consultant with a big heart who sees beauty everywhere.

See O’Hearn, page 17

�www.valcomnews.com • March 20, 2014 • Pocket NewsValley Community Newspapers, Inc.

Our local Elks lifted the spirits of Yountville Vets On Feb. 12, 2014, Sac-

ramento Elks Lodge No. 6 volunteers took the party to Yountville, Calif. where the Yountville Veterans had been quarantined for almost three weeks due to a stom-ach virus. Once the quar-antine was lifted, our local Elks decided to step in and lift their spirits. The Elks treated the Vets to an au-thentic Mexican meal and also took DVDs, CDs, nu-merous boxes of Sees Can-dy, t-shirts, Hershey candy bars (donated by Hersheys and Judy Tracy,) and cakes. They played trivia games and most importantly vis-ited with these wonder-ful Veterans. Ben Which-

ard, who use to live in the Greenhaven area, attend-ed the party. Ben is still a faithful member of Elks

Lodge No. 6 and drives in for the Sunday breakfast from time to time. They all loved seeing him.


By Jeff [email protected]

My old neighbor, Per Ost-land, used to marvel at the way walking in the park next to our homes was like being a cast member in some great play. He could tick off the characters: the old guy who walks backwards, the wom-an who performs elaborate arm exercises as she goes, the crowd of old ladies shout-ing at each other in Chinese, various people and their in-teresting dogs, the young woman who talks on her cell phone the whole time.

I never thought much about Per’s observation at the time, because, back then, I wouldn’t be caught dead walking around the park. Then, last year, my doctor told me that I just might be caught dead if I didn’t start walking around the park sometime soon. And so, I succumbed to this medical threat, staked out a route along the greenbelt that runs throughout my neigh-borhood, and began incor-porating a half-hour-long, 1.5-mile walk into my dai-ly routine.

A few years back, I moved away from the park I used to share with Per, but I’ve re-

cently realized that we host a production of the same play in this neck of the woods, with a different cast that is interesting in their own right, and Per’s observation came echoing back to me. He was right. The park is its own little world, and I’ve no-ticed that, if you pay atten-tion to it, you can easily find enough interesting things go-ing on to take your mind off of the monotony of putting one foot in front of the oth-er for what would otherwise seem like an eternity.

The first thing I did when I embarked on this new program was to download an app to chronicle my ef-forts—I decided on “Run-keeper”, which was hearti-ly recommended by a couple of friends who have made a similar conversion to exer-cising for exercising’s sake. I also recruited a compan-ion to accompany me on my voyages—the family dog, a Jack Russell Terrier by the name of Trixie, who basi-cally pulled me through the course our first couple of times out.

I noticed after those ini-tial walks that you do tend to see the same faces out there on the greenbelt who all stick to a consistent time of day for their dai-ly jaunt. Start your walk an hour or two later, and you get an entirely different set of characters who consis-tently appear at that time. One particular timeframe suits my schedule best, and I’ve enjoyed the crew that

works the park at that spe-cific time of day.

The one guy I see most consistently is a guy I affec-tionately refer to as the “Fit Jogger”, who, with his Lab-rador retriever, not only passes me and leaves me in a Roadrunner-esque poof of dust, he delivers a friendly “good morning”, impressive-ly not out of breath in the least. I look into the camera with my best Wile E. Coy-ote look of resignation as he zips up the trail ahead of me, and the Warner Bros. theme music plays him out.

An older gentleman with a utility belt of water bot-tles seems to have sussed out Trixie’s m.o. immedi-ately. “Good morning!” he says, then, looking at Trix-ie, “Tough guy, huh?” Trixie approaches every walk like this is going to be the day she finally bags one of those elusive gophers or, better yet, a crow. As fast as she is, she doesn’t have a prayer of catching either, but I do ad-mire her optimism. The sad truth of the matter is that, if she were ever challenged by any other living creature, great or small, she would im-mediately dive into that uni-versal position of dog sub-servience, flat on her back with her legs up.

Every five minutes, a wom-an from the Runkeeper app pipes up on my smartphone to tell me how far I’ve gone and what my minutes-per-mile pace is. At first, I tried to improve my time with each new outing, but then I real-ized that such a thing would one day have me breaking the sound barrier. Eventu-ally, I came to appreciate all the sights and sounds that I encountered out there to the point that I don’t necessar-ily want to hurry through them. Like this one coming up right here, for example…

She is an older gal, in green tights, jogging with the most feminine stride imag-inable. It’s like she’s running on a cloud. She’s consider-ably older than me, but she’s beautiful. This is probably

The Pocket Watch

A Walk in the Park

See Pocket Watch, page 5


Got News?e-mail [email protected]

what my wife will be like when she’s that age. And she doesn’t just say, “good morn-ing” as we approach each other, the way most of the others do. She gives a kind of combination wave and finger point with a turn of the wrist. There’s a warm smile, too, and, wait… was that a wink? I call her “Bet-ty”, as in “Hello, Betty…!” from the old Dentyne chew-ing gum commercial.

There is a woodpeck-er that lives out here some-where. I can’t pinpoint the exact spot (too much loud rock and roll in my past), but that sound, like the sound of a rattlesnake rattling, is un-mistakable. Sometimes it sounds like I’m directly be-neath it, and then it sudden-ly sounds like it’s off a lit-tle further in the distance. When you’re walking, it’s like there’s nothing else to do but walk, so your mind tends to wander. With me, I catch myself slipping off into my thoughts and memories. The sound of the woodpeck-er brings up one of my fa-vorite stories that my grand-pa used to tell me.

When he was maybe 12 or 13 years old, living in Va-caville, he was home one day, sick in bed with the flu, try-ing to rest. He had final-ly managed to fall asleep, but, first thing in the morn-ing, the jackhammer sound of a woodpecker against the house stirs young Grand-pa from his slumber. He turns over, trying to main-tain his semiconscious state, hoping that the woodpeck-er will fly away. No use. A few minutes later, the wood-pecker is at it again. Angry at the interruption, grand-pa gets out of bed, slides his window open, and spots the woodpecker working on the wood trim around his sis-ter Annie’s window at the end of the house. With that, grandpa retrieves his .22 ri-fle from his closet, leans his entire torso out of the win-dow and picks the bird off with one shot.

Next comes my favorite part of the story that I al-ways made my grandpa re-peat several times when he told it: After shooting the bird, Grandpa puts on his pants, goes downstairs and

retrieves the dead bird for his mother, Grandma Juan-ita, who promptly plucks it and makes Grandpa some nice woodpecker soup for breakfast that morning.

Better pick it up again. The Runkeeper lady has just chimed in to tell me that my average pace per mile is now 18 minutes and 23 seconds. I remember a day when it was a matter of miles per minute rather than minutes per mile. Now look at me… Like grandpa used to say, “You can’t beat Father Time.” Man, I miss my grandpa.

I just realized that this must be my old friend Carl Packard’s house. He always used to talk at work about living next to a park, and that HAS to be his Alfa Romeo out front. There aren’t too many cars like that in Sac-ramento. His wife tends a beautiful flower garden in the strip of Earth that runs between their house and the walking path. I always look for Carl when I walk past. Haven’t seen him in ages, and it would be nice to catch up.

Before I know it, I’m on the last leg of my journey, I see many more members of the cast of characters, the woman who walks her im-mense dog and pushes her kid in a stroller at the same time; the lady with the white fluffy dog (never on a leash), and who always stops me

so that she can offer Trix-ie a dog biscuit from her ziplock (which is the only thing, other than lettuce, that I’ve ever seen Trixie refuse to eat); the husband and wife walking team who wear matching sweatsuits. Everyone says some form of “Hello” or “Good Morning” as they pass.

When I return home, I hit “STOP ACTIVITY” on my smartphone. The Runkeep-er lady then offers me my fi-nal numbers, along with an aerial view of the neighbor-hood with my route that day traced onto it. I swipe through the walks I’ve done to this point, all neatly filed on my phone. Technically, they’re all workouts, but if I were to consider them as such, I’d lose interest almost immediately. Luckily, they’ve become something much more to me. Visits, maybe. A promenade of visits with friends whom I don’t re-ally know. Whatever they are, they seem to make time pass quite quickly for me, my only hope for a consis-tent exercise program. Fur-ther, they seem like some-thing that only a resident of the Greenhaven/Pocket community can enjoy.

“The Pocket Watch” appears in every issue of the Pocket News. Jeff Dominguez can be reached at [email protected].

Pocket Watch:Continued from page 4


See Answers, page 17


Editor’s note: The Sacramento County Historical Society will recognize Valley Community Newspapers’s very own histor-ical writer, Lance Armstrong, at its annual dinner, to be held Tuesday, March 25 at 6 p.m. at the Dante Club, 2330 Fair Oaks Blvd.

Lance Armstrong was born at Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento and has had a life-long interest in the rich history of his native city and region.

At a very young age, Lance excelled in English courses and writing proficiency and creativity, and as a teenager, he was awarded a special medal for his excellence in creative writing by the San Juan Uni-fied School District.

It was also during his teen-age years that he created his own single-page newspaper, which he distributed to friends in various states. And because of this fact, occasionally Lance has humorously told people that by the time he was 16 years old, he was the editor of a national newspaper.

Lance’s early interest in his-tory led to his many years of researching local histo-ries and preserving histori-cal documents, photographs and other historical items from throughout Sacramen-to County and other areas of the Golden State in his vast personal collection, which is recognized as the Lance Arm-strong Collection.

After graduating from Cal-ifornia State University, Sac-ramento with degrees in jour-nalism and music, Lance began his professional writ-ing career, which includes his work for local newspapers such as the East Sacramento News, Land Park News, Ar-den-Carmichael News, Pock-et News, Elk Grove Citizen, The Sacramento Union, Capi-tol Weekly, Sacramento Down-town News, Sacramento Mid-town News, Old Sacramento News, Natomas Journal, The Folsom Telegraph and the Sac-ramento News and Review.

Lance, who is presently em-ployed by Valley Communi-ty Newspapers in Sacramen-to, has used his knowledge, researching abilities and per-sonal archives in the process of producing local history articles for each of these publications.

These informative and en-tertaining articles provide a valuable resource for the pres-ent and future understanding of the area’s rich history.

The majority of Lance’s lo-cal history articles include oral history quotations from his interviews with people from various levels of society.

His local history articles have been positively recog-nized by various newspapers and organizations.

For instance, in a review of local newspapers in the Jan. 8, 2009 edition of the

Photo courtesyValley Community Newspapers’s Lance Armstrong will be awarded general excellence for publications by the Sacramento County Historical Society.

w w w. v a l c o m n e w s . c o m

Congratulations to our very own: Lance Armstrong

See Armstrong, page 10


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School NewSKennedy students excelled at the FIRST Robotics Competition held at UCD; Mr. Greene earned the prestigious Woodie Flowers Mentor Award

Dubbed a varsity Sport for the Mind, FIRST Robotics Competition com-bines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology and congratulations to Kennedy’s robotics team for winning its last match against School of Engineering and Sciences.

At the Robotics Competition, teams follow strict rules, have limit-ed resources, and time limits. Teams of 25 students or more are challenged to raise funds, design a team “brand”, hone teamwork skills, and build and program a robot to perform pre-scribed tasks against a field of com-petitors. It’s as close to “real world” en-gineering as a student can get.

Professional Mentors volunteer their time and talents to guide each

team. Congratulations to Mr. Greene for earning the prestigious Woodie Flowers Mentor Award!

Robots are built in six weeks from a common kit of parts pro-vided by FIRST, and typically weigh up to 150 pounds.

High-school students get to:Work alongside professional en-gineers.Build and compete with a robot of their own design.Learn and use sophisticated hardware and software.

Develop design, project manage-ment, programming, teamwork, and strategic thinking skills.Earn a place in the Champion-ship.Qualify for over $18 million in college scholarships

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson stopped by the Robotics work area at UCD to spend time with JFK team! Congratulations to Mr. Greene for earning the prestigious Woodie Flowers Mentor Award!

Shown here, is a little damage repair on the Kennedy robot at UC Davis. The Kennedy team won its last match against School of Engineering and Sciences, and is shown here, making repairs for the next round.


Got News?e-mail [email protected]

Weekend Excursion Train RidesCalifornia State Parks and the California State Railroad

Museum are proud to announce the opening of the 31st sea-son of weekend excursion trains on the Sacramento Southern Railroad on April 5 and 6 and continuing through September 2014. New this season, guests will be treated to updated com-mentary aboard the trains, which changes regularly depending on the special theme for each month. Also, the Railroad Mu-seum will offer special “Diesel Days” one weekend per month when the popular excursion trains are pulled by two graceful-ly-styled, streamlined diesel locomotives.

Excursion train ride guests delight in the sights, smells and sounds of an authentic, working locomotive as it rolls along the levees of the Sacramento River for a six-mile, 45-minute round-trip excursion. Appealing to all ages, the experience of-fers guests with the chance to enjoy train travel from an earlier era. The train features a combination of vintage closed coach-es with comfortable seats, and open-air “gondolas” with bench-style seating.

Also new this year, excursion train ride tickets are avail-able to book online in advance at www.csrmf.org or can be purchased in-person starting at 10:30 a.m. the day of the train ride (based on availability) at the Sacramento South-ern Railroad ticket office, located on Front Street between J and K streets. All excursion trains depart from the Cen-tral Pacific Railroad Freight Depot in Old Sacramento (lo-cated on Front Street between J and K Streets). Departures are on-the-hour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends the trains are running.

Regular excursion train tickets cost $10 for adults, $5 for ages 6-17; and ages five and younger ride free. For passengers desiring a ride aboard the first-class car El Dorado, tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for ages 6 to 17, and are free for children five and younger. (There is a per-ticket service fee when book-ing online.) Groups interested in reserving the entire El Dora-do car for a regularly scheduled ride need to do so in advance by calling 322-8485. If summer temperatures reach 100 de-grees or higher, trains may be canceled for the remainder of that day. For more information about the weekend excursion train rides or the California State Railroad Museum in gener-al, call 323-9280.

Old Sacramento Underground ToursNow in its fifth consecutive season, the Old Sacramen-

to Underground tour program will resume on weekends beginning April 5 and 6 and will continue through mid-December (with schedules fluctuating and expanding with the seasons). New this year, Old Sacramento Underground Tour guests will have a special, hands-on opportunity to learn what it was like to raise and level a building by oper-ating “mini-jacks” during the tours. Custom-designed jacks will be placed at four corners of a scaled down building and tour participants will work collaboratively to spin the jacks and watch their raising and leveling progress. The hands-on experience allows guests to gain an understanding of and appreciation for the ambitious, yet painstaking process suc-cessfully completed by Sacramento property and business owners in the 1860s and 1870s.

The Old Sacramento Underground tour program is coor-dinated by the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation in part-nership with the City of Sacramento, California State Parks, Old Sacramento Business Association and participating mer-chants and businesses. While tour schedules vary with the seasons, Old Sacramento Underground tours will kick off on weekends in April, departing as follows for the month: 11 a.m., noon, 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Addition-ally, the popular “Adult Only” Old Sacramento Underground Tours will resume with the first two offered on April 24 and 25 at 6 p.m., then expanding to every Thursday through Sat-urday beginning in May. For the “Adult Only” evening tours, guides lead guests on special walking tours while sharing some of the dark secrets and racy tales lurking in Old Sacra-mento’s underground history.

10 Pocket News • March 20, 2014 • www.valcomnews.com Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.

Sacramento News and Re-view, one of that pub-lication’s writers, Cos-mo Garvin, wrote: “Lance Armstrong’s writing on Sacramento history is al-ways interesting.”

In 2006, the Elk Grove Historical Society present-ed Lance with an honorary lifetime membership for his continuous articles and other efforts in preserving the 150-year history of the Sacramento County city of Elk Grove.

Lance, who is also a mem-ber of the Sacramento Coun-ty Historical Society, received another honorary lifetime membership six years lat-er from the Portuguese His-torical and Cultural Soci-ety (PHCS) for “his work in documenting the lives and contributions of the many Portuguese and Portuguese descended persons who were instrumental in developing the Riverside-Pocket area of Sacramento.”

In commenting about the latter honor, PHCS Presi-dent Mary Ann Marshall said, “We are very appreciative of

Armstrong:Continued from page 7

the many Portuguese-related articles that (Lance) has writ-ten for the Pocket News and we are pleased with the op-portunity we have to archive them for future generations to have access to them. Lance did a wonderful job in making these stories come to life.”

In another honor, Lance re-ceived national recognition from the Grand Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Or-der of Elks, in 2011, for his ar-ticle, “Elks Lodge No. 6 has ex-tensive history in Sacramento.”

The article, which was first published in the January 7, 2010 edition of the Pock-

et News, was selected as the country’s best newspaper ar-ticle written about the Elks that year.

In addition to his hun-dreds of local history news-paper articles, Lance is the author of Echoes of Yesterday: Elk Grove – the first book in his Echoes of Yesterday histo-ry book series.

In 2007, Echoes of Yester-day: Elk Grove was recog-nized as the nation’s top re-gional history book for that year by the American Au-thors Association.

Lance is presently near-ing the completion of several

comprehensive history books about Sacramento from the times of Captain John Augus-tus Sutter to present.

His other endeavors include his regular contributions as a professional newspaper pho-tographer and volunteering as a judge at the annual Ca-mellia Society of Sacramento Camellia Show Photography Contest. He is also a public speaker, a musician and an avid music memorabilia col-lector with an emphasis on collecting concert posters and LP records, ranging in genres from rock and blues to jazz and country.

11www.valcomnews.com • March 20, 2014 • Pocket NewsValley Community Newspapers, Inc.

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1� Pocket News • March 20, 2014 • www.valcomnews.com Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.

By Lance [email protected]

Editor’s Note: This is part two in a two-part series about and relating to the Pocket Little League.

A Pocket area tradition continued last weekend, as the Pocket Little League opened its season at the Bill Conlin Youth Sports Complex.

And in anticipation of the sea-son, Dave Starnes, the league’s president, sat down with this pub-lication to discuss various topics related to the league.

In continuing with the theme of the first article of this series, Starnes shared information regarding the league’s home complex, and he not-ed that its baseball fields are presently “kind of misnumbered,” since a fourth field was recently built.

Field #1In describing those four fields,

Starnes said, “Field #1 is a 200-foot field, all-dirt infield. It was initial-ly built for softball. We turned it into a baseball field and we put a mound on it. Typically, Double A, which is the first year kids, are pitching (at) 8 (years old). Six, 7, 8, 9 and 10-year-old (kids) play on that field. And ac-tually, if you were going to have some kind of tournament, 11 and 12-year-olds could also play down there. (The field has a) 200-foot fence.

Field #2“Field #2 is the junior field or the

90-foot baseline, 300-foot fence field. You know, for the big kids. The ages (for the field) are age 13 up to adult.

Field #3“Field #3 is what we call our major

field. It’s got a grass infield, a 200-foot fence. Typically, the majors player there, which are the 11 and 12-year-olds.

Field #4“Field #4, which we just built, we

built it with a 60-foot, 70-foot, 80-foot, 90-foot baseline. The 90-foot baseline is primarily for practice for the big kids, because the fence is 245 feet at its longest point, which is still kind of short for the juniors. (It has an) all-dirt infield. The 60-foot (base-

line) will be for the Little League, dis-tance of 70-foot is for travel ball, and then the 80-foot is for, its called 5480. It’s between the junior field and the small field. So, it’s a multi-use field.”

Maintenance of the complex

In regard to maintenance, Starnes said, “We maintain the grass, the en-tire complex, including the outer areas 100 percent ourselves. We don’t hire anybody to come out here. That in-cludes watering, fertilizing, weeding, cutting (the grass), fixing sprinkler heads, fixing the fences, everything else. I have two guys (Sandy Wills and Randy Ohara) that come out here just about seven days a week. Without those guys, the place wouldn’t look half as good as it does.”

Praising the fieldsIn speaking with experience, Starnes

explained that the baseball fields at the Conlin complex compare extremely well with other fields.

“I’ve been to a lot of the other fields, just from going to different All-Star tournaments and going to different travel ball tournaments all the way down to Santa Cruz,” Starnes said. “And our fields, at the prime part of the year, are probably the best sur-face to play on, just because of the way Sandy and Randy take care of them. They turn the dirt over every week (and the grass) is mowed every single Friday. If we’re having a tournament, they’re mowed twice, down to a nice low cut on the grass, so it’s a really fast field. They’re level, watered.”

Snack shackStarnes complimented the com-

plex’s snack shack, noting, “We have a pretty good snack shack that we’ve kind of pieced together here. We sell a wide variety of food from pulled pork to teriyaki bowls. Our prices are probably some of the lowest in Sacramento, so we make our mon-ey on volume. The snack shack is our big money maker. We average about $35,000 a year gross in the shack, and its 100 percent volunteer, so there (are) no labor (costs). We utilize the local high school kids, so they can get their volunteer hours in community service. But mostly, it’s just the par-ents coming here.”

Starnes added that it is part of a signed agreement for parents or guard-ians of PLL players to provide volun-teer hours in the snack shack.

Family-friendly vendor, sponsor area

In moving on to another element of the complex, Starnes said, “The whole cement (sic) layout out here is real family-friendly. There are (large)

umbrellas and just a bunch of people hanging out. We’re real good on tour-naments out here. Then there’s a big area to set up vendors or whatever to sell stuff or (for) sponsors.”

The teams, divisionsAfter being asked to speak about

the categories of the league’s teams,

Pocket Little League president speaks about many benefits of league

Photo by Lance ArmstrongPocket Little League President Dave Starnes is looking forward to a successful 2014 season.

Photo by Lance ArmstrongJohn F. Kennedy High School 10th grader Marissa Yamauchi,16, serves a Pocket Little League player at the snack shack on opening day, Saturday, March 15.

See Little League, page 13

1�www.valcomnews.com • March 20, 2014 • Pocket NewsValley Community Newspapers, Inc.

Starnes said, “ There’s T-ball, Sin-gle A, which is 6, 7-year-olds. T-ball is 5, 6. Double A is 7 and 8 year-olds. And then there’s Triple A, which is 9, 10-year-olds. Ma-jors, 11, 12-year-olds, and then ju-niors, which is 13, 14-year-olds. I think they play up to 15. So, we have six divisions.”

Many tournamentsOn the topic of tournaments,

Starnes said, “We’re going to try to host about 10 tournaments (this year) to generate revenue to finish Field #4, and maybe start working on Field #5. We’ll have an Easter tournament, a Memorial Day tour-nament, Labor Day tournament, Halloween tournament. Anything that we can think of to have a tour-nament. Those are the competitive tournaments where there’s a trophy or a prize at the end, different base-lines, an hour and 55-minute drop dead time on the games. Real, super competitive. I mean, you could prob-ably make a reality show out of com-ing and watching some of the par-ents when the games are going on.”

Kudos for PLL board members, others

During his interview for this arti-cle, Starnes made sure to compliment members of the PLL board.

“My entire board (is appreciat-ed),” Starnes said. “We have every-body doing something. We have somebody who does the Web and somebody that does all of our reg-istration and the registrar. I have my vice president of operations, Jeff Marang. He’s been kind of the backbone for the admin side this year. He’ll likely be my successor. He’s got young kids in the league, so we’ve got him for a while. And my secretary, Diana Garcia, she keeps me organized and reminds me of stuff, because I’ve got 20 different things going on at once. My umpire-in-charge, Bob Wood, coach coordinator, Anthony Carter, my sponsorship guy, the previous one, Matt DiSantis, and the cur-rent one, John Grandchamp, those guys are key. They go out and get a lot of money and sponsors. Our treasurer, Jeff Klein, he’s been the treasurer for 10 years. He knows when I spend 38 cents. He’s kind of the voice of reason when we’re go-ing to go jump off the cliff and buy something big. He reels me back in. I want to make it the best experi-ence for the kids. We give them the nicest uniforms. We give them the belts and the socks and everything that goes with them. The only thing

we don’t give them is the pants. We want the fields to be the best, we want it to be just the best experi-ence for the kids.”

Starnes also showed appreciation for the past PLL boards, as well as District 7 representative Darrell Fong.

Additionally, Starnes made sure to single out former PLL board member Tracy Gee, saying, “She was just a walking wealth of knowledge in helping me learn my job, so I definitely want to mention her.”

But like many people who give thank you speeches, Starnes wor-ried that he left some people off of the list of those he desired to recognize for their quality efforts toward constantly improving the Pocket Little League experience.

Pocket champions of 2013As for the game of baseball itself,

Starnes reminisced about a special

moment that occurred in the league in 2013.

“Last year is memorable because the Pocket Little League’s majors won the District 7 All-Star cham-pionship,” Starnes said. “(That team) went on to play in the sec-tions, which is the tournament that goes all the way up to Williamsport (Pa.) for the Little League (Base-ball) World Series. A Pocket team

hadn’t done that in I don’t know how long.”

The 2014 seasonIn speaking about the 2014 season,

Starnes said, “I think it’s going to be another successful season. All the di-visions appear to have parody and good coaches. All the right chemistry (is) there. It should turn out to be a good, competitive, fun season. Hope-

Pocket Little League to hold 2nd Annual Dinner and AuctionDetails: A great night is planned for Pocket Little League’s 2nd Annual Dinner and Auction with all proceeds going directly back to the league’s improvement of Conlin Field and making PLL the best baseball little league for its children.When: Saturday, May 17 at 6 p.m.cost: $140 for a table of eight; $20 for a single ticket; $13 for children (age 5 and younger are free)Where: Cabrillo Club, 4605 Karbet Waycontact: Kim Lukenbill at [email protected]

Little League:Continued from page 12

Photos by Lance ArmstrongThe Pocket Little League held its opening day ceremonies on Saturday, March 15 at the Bill Conlin Youth Sports Complex, located at 7895 Freeport Blvd. The family-friendly complex has four well-maintained fields and a good money-making snack shack. The league looks forward to another great season, as last year Pocket Little League’s majors won the District 7 All-Star championship, and this year teams have great chemistry and good coaches.


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1� Pocket News • March 20, 2014 • www.valcomnews.com

Dates released for Food Truck Mania in the Pocket Photos courtesy

This Friday, March 21 marks opening day for District 7’s Food Truck Mania at Garcia Bend Park. Besides food trucks, there will be music, a beer garden and fun for the kids. Last year’s average attendance for Food Truck Mania at Garcia Bend was about 1,200 people with about 2,000 at the

last event. The following are the dates for this year: Friday, March 21; Friday, April 18; Friday, May 16; Friday, June 20; Friday, July 18; Friday, Aug. 15; Friday, Sept. 19; Friday, Oct. 17. The hours are 5 to 8 p.m. and until 9 p.m. in the summer months. Shown here is a collection of photographs from various Food Truck Mania days at Garcia Bend.


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publication, whilst demon-strating her effect on even the most modest individu-als, including clients who declined having their pho-tographs published in this newspaper. “Of course, she didn’t want to have her photo taken,” Debbie says of one of her lovely clients.

Debbie sees beauty every-where, and the price tag of high fashion outfits don’t ever need to be known.

“I have one client who the only place she shops is at Thrift Town. She’s gotten Nike athletic wear with the tags on, and an $800 Gucci dress she paid $6 or $8 for,” Debbie said. Then there’s another client who’s about 45 years old and who shops at Forever 21. “It’s not about the age,” Debbie reiterated. “She looks amazing, and no one needs to know where it came from, and no one needs to know the price. It’s the look. It’s how you pull it off. It’s the look you want to achieve. I said to her, ‘Do not tell anyone it came from Forever 21.’”

Then there’s Land Park resident Jennifer Fitzgerald who began working with Ju-lie a while ago. “I started her a while ago and just finished her up with her colors. She just needed help with casu-al looks using only her col-ors. She knows business at-tire and evening looks, but needed help with more casu-al looks. I suggested adding much needed cream pants for business, nice casual, and even cocktail outfits when paired with sequins.”

Known at local stores, such as Arden-based Madame Butterfly, or at the mall, be it

at Nordstrom’s or Macy’s, Ju-lie and her guests are often given the red-carpet treat-ment, with coffee brought out to them, or if they are hungry, something to munch on. “If I tell (the stores) in advance that we’re coming, oh yeah – the manager used to do it all the time.”

With a fashion merchan-dising degree from the Uni-versity of Arizona, Debbie was a buyer Weinstock’s for women’s ready-to-wear styles and designer shoes. Later, she was an account executive for Lancôme Cosmetics. The job required a lot of traveling, but having children later in life, she was able to accomplish all of that before raising a fami-ly. As she raised her children, she kept fashion at home. She would dress her mother-in-law in outfits, and it was she who suggested Debbie make a living out of this type of con-sulting work.

Debbie’s children and their education have been so important to her that she helps the schools as of-ten as she can.

Active in fundraising at Holy Spirit Parish School and Christian Brothers High School, Debbie has one son who will be graduating from CBHS this year, a daugh-ter who graduated there in 2011, and one who’s in eighth grade now at HSPS and who will be a freshman at CBHS next year. “We love, love, love that school. It’s just a genuine communi-ty. They have the best teach-ers, the best leaders. The kids leave ready to fly, ready to take on the world with a new-found Christian confi-dence. They leave different, wonderful. The Christian Brothers community knows every child. It’s just a very

special environment over there – everything about that whole school.”

On Saturday, March 29, Debbie herself will be one of the auction items at the annual benefit auction at Christian Brothers. Some-one donated a limo for her to take six ladies to San Fran-cisco where she will take them shopping and help pick out outfits. “(Christian Brothers) will flash me on the screen in front of 800 people. All (six people) have to do is stick up their pad-dles. If no one buys it, I’m in trouble,” she laughed. The shopping will start at Union Square where they will hit up the big department stores and if there’s interest, Deb-bie will take them consign-ment shopping off Sacra-mento Street, which has the best “good buys” and “vintage on consignment.” Of course, they can choose where they want to shop and Debbie will take them anywhere. She’ll splurge for coffee and lunch. All they have to do is write a check to Christian Brothers. “A lot of auction money goes to tuition assis-tance,” she said. “They do a lot of great things.”

And so does she. Debbie and her husband

have helped out with the auc-tions for the last five years. The two have put on pre-auction parties. While their efforts are grandiose, Debbie notes the whole parent com-munity helps out. “Everyone is doing it. There are parents putting on the whole show. There are parents at every meeting – they don’t have to ask. Everyone wants to help out. It’s a unique environ-ment. We are just blessed to be a part of it. It’s a wonder-ful journey,” she said.

O’Hearn:Continued from page 2

Pocket resident Debbie O’Hearn is a fashion consultant with a big heart who sees beauty everywhere. Pocket resident Debbie O’Hearn, fashion consultant, stands behind friend and client, Julie High.

Photo by Monica Stark


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Chinese New Year at JFKBy anStonia Ma

Chinese New Year is about get-ting together with your family and having a great time with each other. To promote such a feeling in John F. Kennedy High School, the Chi-nese National Chinese Honors So-ciety decided to set up a week-long celebration. The main events hap-pened on Monday and Friday. On the first day, there were guest speak-ers, Councilman Darrell Fong and SCUSD Board Member Darrel Woo, guest dancers, and Chinese Yo-Yo performances by the stu-dents. Both Darrell Fong and Dar-rel Woo gave encouraging words to the students and added a great sense of humor to the crowd of lunch-go-ers! On Friday, Mr. Jimmy Yee gave a rousing speech to the students which was both inspirational and educational and more dance and Chinese Yo-Yo performances were featured. Mr. Yee brought interest-ing trinkets and Chinese New Year materials to complement his speech to the students of JFK and gave them new awareness of the intrica-

cies of ancient and modern Chinese culture. Throughout his speech, he connected the old with the new and made interesting jokes to keep the audience interested and constant-ly asked them questions. Also, on the Friday preceding this event, two students, Anstonia Ma and Wen-dy Ma, spoke on the intercom to give their peers in John F. Kenne-dy High school insight of the inner workings of Chinese New Year and all about the different phrases that are spoken during Chinese New Year. This was a fun play on the students’ last names because both of their Chinese last names were Ma which is the Chinese character for horse and it just so happens that this year is the year of the horse. In all, this special New Year celebra-tion could not have been possible without the support given to the Chinese National Honors Society by their guest speakers, Mr. Darrell Fong, Mr. Darrel Woo, and Jim-my Yee and the dance and Chinese Yo-Yo performers! Thanks to all of them, this year’s celebration was a huge success!

From left to right: Chun Ming Yan (JFK student), Councilman Darrell Fong, Reporter Vicki Beaton, Mrs. Hatamiya, SCUSD Board Member Darrel Woo, Anstonia Ma (JFK Student), Dance Instructor, and Erinn Wong (JFK Student)

Mr. Jimmy Yee addressing JFK students and faculty in the auditorium.

Left: Anstonia Ma preparing to catch the Chinese Yo-yo.Right: Erinn Wong preparing the Yo-Yo to be caught with ease.

�0 Pocket News • March 20, 2014 • www.valcomnews.com Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.

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On Friday, Feb. 28 Pocket resident Jim Anderson ran for 12 hours on a treadmill at Urban Fitness, a down-town gym, putting him in the run-ning to raise $100,000 in 10 weeks for the Greater Sacramento area chapter of the Leukemia & Lym-phoma Society’s Man of the Year. Though he had a few volunteers stand in (err run) for him when he needed a break, Anderson certain-ly got his workout that day! Now, gearing up for a big shindig at Fai-rytale Town on March 29, he’s nail-ing down the logistics for an evening of dance, food trucks, live music from cover band, Thunder Cov-er, and libations from Bend, Ore.-based Deschutes Brewery. (The en-trance fee is $20; food and drink sold separately). Besides these fund-raising events, Jim has worked the streets, driving around town. He’s even driven out to the Jelly Bel-ly Candy Company factory because he’s golfed with the owners and he figured he would ask them for some money. Along the way, he stopped at car dealerships, and got his foot in the door asking general manag-ers for money. A big hitter for Lyon Real Estate, he’s been reaching out to his colleagues.

One-hundred thousand dollars is a key amount for Jim, because with every $50,000 raised, the Society al-lows these top money earners, name their research grants in memory of someone. And, well, Jim wants to memorialize two people, his father, Jim Anderson, Sr., who died more than 10 years ago, and this year’s poster child, a 4-year-old girl named

Emily Love, who he met while work-ing on this campaign over the last year and who continues to live each day to her fullest.

But in the end, any amount Jim raises for LLS, will help fund therapies and treatments, and es-sentially help save lives today. The organization’s continued advance-ments over the years, are respon-sible for the blood cancer surviv-al rate doubling and tripling; in some cases, the survival rate has even quadrupled.

Born and raised in Gridley, Califor-nia, Anderson grew up around cattle and horses, and now loves working as a real estate agent in this “urban cow town.” Anderson writes so passionate-ly about his father on his fundraising website, calling him his personal man of the year because dad is always in his heart.

Between Jim’s two parents, dad was the softie. When mom would say, no, he and his siblings would ask dad. “He was a good spirit-ed guy and he died suddenly. He had an aneurism; it wasn’t leuke-mia that killed him and because of medical advances, he lived a pret-ty normal life for 11 years, though there were times he was sick and had to change medicines when one stopped working.

“But he was a Marlboro man. He didn’t want us to treat him like he was sick,” Jim said about his father.

As an employee for United Par-cel Service for 30 years, everyone in Gridley knew Jim’s father as a hum-ble man who helped anyone he could. “He didn’t care how much money you had or how poor you were. He would pick up the town drunk and drive him home. He was just a good old boy. He

always was the type that made sure everybody was taken care of.”

Perhaps that spirit to help oth-ers is genetic or has been passed down to Jim, Jr. because his heart is in the right place.

Now more than 10 years since Jim Anderson, Sr.’s death, the en-tire family is on board with Jim’s campaign for his father. Jim’s mom, Sally Anderson, still lives in Grid-ley and will be holding small-scale fundraising efforts there, including a tea in her home and outreach to local service groups, like Kiwanis, to see what funds they can raise.

As Jim speaks passionately about his love for his father, he also de-scribes Emily’s spirit as enduring and pure. He said the first time he met her, she was clinging onto the shoul-der of his campaign manager, Jenni-fer Pear, at an event at Zocolo, but she was quick to let go after a photo re-quest. Recalled Jim: “I said to Emily’s mother: ‘Can I hold her? Can I get a picture with her?’ I thought, Oh sure! But her spirit. She’s so sweet. I was re-luctant she was going to come to me, but she did. She is just a sweet, sweet little girl.”

Upon thinking about the interac-tion, Jim explained how she has been used to interacting with strangers over the last year due to spending so much time in the hospital, getting shots, ex-ams and doctors’ visits.

Besides those who have donated to his campaign, Jim has garnered sup-port from friends who are holding smaller, fundraising events, includ-ing a bunko party and wine tastings at their homes.

The following are the larger upcom-ing fundraising events that have been publicized on Jim’s website:

Pocket resident Jim Anderson in the running for Man of the Year

Photo courtesyJim Anderson, Jr. and Emily Love.

Upcoming fundraising events:

Saturday, March 29: From 7 to 10 p.m., enjoy live music by Thunder Cover, dancing, food and drink at Fairytale Town, 3901 Land Park Dr., $20.

Sunday, March 30: From 3 to 6 p.m., you be the judge at this chili/bread cook-off at the Pock-et Club, 5043 Freeport Blvd. Price: $10.

Saturday, April 12: From 3 to 6 p.m. join the Land Park Bike Cruise, which starts and ends at Riverside Clubhouse, 3633 Riv-erside Blvd. Price: $20. Fee in-cludes one drink and a raffle tick-et for a custom cruiser bike.

�1www.valcomnews.com • March 20, 2014 • Pocket NewsValley Community Newspapers, Inc.


Cole Cuchna, a composer of contemporary concert music and multimedia currently residing in the Pocket, has outdone himself with his solo project, “Tetrachord”, a 9-track album, digitally due out in April.

Full of sound collages, the electronic project “Tet-rachord” aims to assemble disparate sound elements and styles into an accessible, unified whole. The first single “Do Right” features Georgia Jackson whose son, George Jackson, was killed in the inmate up-rising at the San Quentin Prison in 1971. The au-dio was provided by the Pacifica Radio Archives via former Cosumnes College English instructor Dan Wenger, whose four sound collages on this subject “dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y”.

In an interview with this publication, Cole said he felt when he wrote the music to the song, “Do Right”, it needed a little bit of depth. Included in his description of the song’s process, he said: “I had never written music without singing before. As far as this world of music, electronic, I was still get-ting used to writing without vocal material. I had it laid out for some kind of voice. (Wenger) had that piece archived. (Georgia Jackson’s) voice stuck with me. It’s really powerful and it gave the song what it needed. It brought a whole dimension to the piece. That work became the focal nucleus of the album.”

With Tetrachord, one of the main objectives for the first time with Cole’s music was to com-bine musical elements he has accumulated over the years. A guitarist turned pianist, Cole started his music endeavors playing rock and roll, with his interests turning to jazz and folk, followed by techno and classical. “Plus, I listen to a lot of hip hop, so I really wanted to combine all those ele-ments at once,” he said.

Tetrachord, meaning a four-note segment of a scale, Cole simply said he likes the way the notes sound together. “The finale is dramatic. A tetra-chord has an arc; I never had a project name that was one word,” he said.

Similar to the overlay of dialogue by Georgia Jackson, is a piece that features a speech by Salva-dor Allende, the former President of Chile, who died during the Chilean coup of 1973 by the Chil-ean Army Commander-in-Chief Augusto Pino-chet. Accounts of his death vary, with the official version stating he committed suicide and his sup-porters claiming assassination. Then there’s an-other piece that has a poem by Cole’s friend poet Jaydn DeWald, an Elk Grove native. “I set it to music; there’s more vocal meshing.”

An Elk Grove native, Cole’s career as compos-er began at an early age writing music for rock and pop groups, leading to multiple studio albums and US tours, as well as numerous awards includ-ing Sacramento Music Awards Best Indie Band in 2008, 2009, 2010 and Outstanding Keyboard-ist for his work with the now defunct band, The New Humans. Cole’s creative attention ultimate-ly turned to contemporary concert music, compo-sition for orchestra, chamber ensembles, mixed media, and electronics. During his time at Cal-ifornia State University, Sacramento, Cole stud-ied with Dr. Stephen Blumberg and Leo Eylar, and was President of the Composers Symposium club. Upon graduation in fall of 2012, Cole was select-ed by the music faculty to join Pi Kappa Lamb-da, a national academic honor society for music students and professors. He was also awarded the Outstanding Senior of 2012-13.

As he was developing and writing Tetrachord, he was able to work in a comfortable space out of his Pocket area home. “There were no expectations mu-sically except creating it. I don’t expect much in re-turn except the thing I created. It’s a comfortable space to be in. With The New Humans, I looked it as a business. If you wanted to do (music) as a liv-ing, you have to. It was a lot of work. It took away from what I want to do, which is just make it.”

Opposed from working with The New Hu-mans, when in his early 20s, he toured, slept on floors, and lived on fast food, he realized later he wanted to produce music differently. Married in December 2009 to wife B Zeboski Cuchna, that lifestyle he had with The New Humans changed as the years passed. The Cuchnas bought a home in the Pocket area about a year ago. “We’re feeling it out. I like that the river is right there and the diversity of it,” he said about his experience as a relatively new Pocket resident. “There’s a mix of cultures. It’s suburban, but it doesn’t feel like it is too much in the suburbs. I love it’s five minutes from downtown.”

Cole began playing guitar at age 13, piano at 20 and experienced an age difference amongst his class-mates at Sacramento State University. He said, “I was older than everyone and they came years ahead

of me.” A self taught pianist, he learned the instru-ment by first finding a note on guitar, then finding it on piano.

Asked about his experience studying classical mu-sic, Cole said it was all very humbling. “When you’re self taught in rock bands, you don’t know what you don’t know. I went into Sac State, thinking I knew what I was doing, but realized, no, not at all. I didn’t know what I was in for. I was on the verge of drop-ping out after the first and second semester, but I grew to love it. I learned a lot. Not only the theo-ry and proper education, but being in an environ-ment where you are surrounded by actual musi-cians, it was Very humbling, very exciting. And I ended up fitting in a little bit. The majority of them were raised in that world. The culture was really good for me. Although it’s very humbling, I don’t don’t consider myself a pianist anymore or a guitar-ist anymore. What I am doing now, I am not com-paring myself.”

Visit www.modestism.com regularly for updates on Cole’s musical endeavors, including the release of “Tetrachord”.

Know your neighbor

Cole CuchnaPocket musician to release new album April 1

Tetrachord album cover.

Photo courtesyCole Cuchna, a Sacramento State University graduate, speaks about his new album, Tetrachord, and about making music today.

�� Pocket News • March 20, 2014 • www.valcomnews.com Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.

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OngOing

Land Park Pacific Little League collecting memorabilia as part of 60th anniversary Land Park Pacific Little League (LP-PLL), a youth baseball organization serv-ing children in the Land Park, Curtis Park, Hollywood Park, South Land Park, Little Pocket, and neighboring areas, cel-ebrates its 60th anniversary season in 2014. As part of the celebration, LPPLL is collecting photos and other memorabil-ia to display throughout the season. LP-PLL’s home fields are located at Dooley Fields, located behind Holy Spirit Parish School at the edge of William Land Park, and the baseball fields located in Wil-liam Land Park. Originally, Dooley Fields

were the home of Pacific Little League, created in 1959. Through the years, some of the area little leagues merged. In 1994, Dooley Fields also became the home fields Land Park Little League, which was established in 1954. In 2000, Curtis Park Little League also merged into the league. As part of the Opening Day Pa-rade, scheduled for March 22 at 8:00 a.m., old photographs, jerseys and other mem-orabilia will be on display. Alumni from past years are invited to attend and share memories. Anyone willing to share or do-nate items should contact [email protected]. Additional information about the league is available at www.lppll.com––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

AARP tax aide seeks volunteers for 2014The nation’s largest free, volunteer-run tax assistance and preparation service is seeking volunteers for tax assistance/preparation and leadership coordinators. Volunteers of all ages and backgrounds

are welcome. Each year from Feb. 1 through April 15, AARP Tax-Aide vol-unteers prepare federal, state, and local tax returns for low and middle income taxpayers, with special attention to those age 60 and older. Volunteers are espe-cially needed to assist with electronic fil-ing of tax returns. You do not need to be an AARP member or retiree to volun-teer. For more information on how you can join the AARP Tax-Aide team in Northern California, contact Ron Byrd at [email protected] or visit website at; www.aarp.org/taxaide’––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Mahogany Urban Poetry Series - Queen Sheba - poetry readingsEach Wednesday from 8-11 p.m. at Queen Sheba in Sacramento, local talent makes it way to the restaurant for weekly open-mic events. $3-$5. 1704 Broadway. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Registration Open for Nature Bowl Science and Conservation CompetitionRegistration is now open for the 29th annu-al Nature Bowl, an elementary school activi-ty-based competition held in the spring. Coor-dinated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in partnership with local organizations and agencies, the Nature Bowl increases the science and conservation literacy of third through sixth grade students in the Sacramento Valley and Sierra foothills. The Nature Bowl is open to students from any school, group or organized youth club. Partici-pants employ teamwork, creativity and critical thinking while participating in group learning activities centered on local and regional natu-ral environments. The first round will be held at 10 locations from mid-March through early May. Teams will consist of three to seven stu-dents each and several teams will advance to the finals to be held at California State Uni-

versity, Sacramento on May 17, 2014.Teach-ers, youth group leaders or parents can coach a team. The semifinal at Nimbus Hatchery is scheduled April 3, 2014. To register, call (916) 358-2884. The semifinal at Effie Yeaw Nature Center is scheduled March 11, 2014. To reg-ister, call (916) 489-4918. A new semifinal is also being offered at Sutter’s Landing Region-al Park in Sacramento on May 1 or 2 (date to be determined). For more information, please call (916) 284-1627. For more information about the Nature Bowl, please call (916) 358-2353 or visit the CDFW website at www.dfg.ca.gov/regions/2/naturebowl/.––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Brain GymnasiumExercise your mind and have some fun at this on-going Brain Gymnasium class! Inviting all seniors to Eskaton Monroe Lodge, 3225 Free-port Boulevard, 9:20 a.m. Thursdays. $6 per class. Call 441-1015 for more information.––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Bonsai Sekiyu Kai of Sacramento to hold 37th annual show

Photo by Monica Stark

Bonsai Sekiyu Kai of Sacramento to hold its 37th annual bonsai and rock show on Saturday, April 5 from noon to 5 p.m. and Sunday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be demonstrations both days at 2 p.m. by Sensei Yuzo Maruyama, who is shown here. The show will take place at the Betsuin Hall of the Sacramen-to Buddhist Church, 2401 Riverside Blvd. All guests are welcome.

��www.valcomnews.com • March 20, 2014 • Pocket NewsValley Community Newspapers, Inc.

Women with Good Spirits monthly meetingWomen With Good Spirits is a networking group that engages women in the Sacramen-to community with non-profit organizations that make contributions to our quality of life and care for our fellow residents. Each month, Women With Good Spirits invites a commu-nity non-profit to present on its mission work. The meeting is held at Revolution Wines on the second Tuesday of each month and starts at 6:30 p.m. The presenter will start their pre-sentation promptly at 7:15 p.m. and will last 15-20 minutes with an open question and an-swer forum after. RSVP is appreciated as well as a $5+ donation per person that will go di-rectly to the non-profit presenting that month. Revolution Wines is located at 2831 S St. Vis-it www.womenwithgoodspirits.com or find the group on Facebook. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Gentle Qi GongLearn powerful relaxation techniques re-duce stress, reduce physical pain and emo-tional suffering, lower blood pressure, increase immune response and improve bal-ance. Inviting all seniors to Eskaton Mon-roe Lodge, 3225 Freeport Boulevard, 3 to 4 p.m., Wednesdays. $7 per class. Call 441-1015 for more information.––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

California Youth Basketball League taking applicationsCYBL is a non-profit year round league for ages 4 through 18 that prides itself on be-ing well organized that aims to develop basketball skills, sportsmanship and self-esteem through coaches, gym official and organizers. Visit www.cybhoops.com or call 391-3900. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Attn. students: Submit now for water efficiency video contest High school students can win cash priz-es and the chance to view their video on the Raley Field Jumbotron by entering the 2014 Water Spots Video Contest. The contest, sponsored by the Regional Water Author-ity (RWA) and the Sacramento Bee Me-dia in Education (MIE) program, challeng-es teens to create compelling and original 25-second Public Service Announcement

(PSA) videos on a select water efficiency topic. The 2014 water efficiency theme is: Don’t be a gutter flooder: Prevent overspray and runoff. Judging will be based on creativ-ity, entertainment value, accuracy, original-ity and incorporation of the water efficien-cy topic. Finalist videos will be displayed on the Raley Field Jumbotron screen and win-ners announced at a Sacramento River Cats game in April 2014. Winning students and their teachers will also get cash prizes. The grand prize winner’s spot may become part of RWA’s 2014 television ad campaign. Sub-missions due Feb. 28. Visit www.BeWaterS-mart.info for more information and tips on using water more efficiently and to sub-mit entries or get more information about contest rules, judging and prizes, visit www.sacbee.com/water-spots ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Kiwanis Club of East Sacramento-MidtownVisitors Welcome, weekly breakfast meeting on Fridays at 7 a.m. Topical weekly speakers and ‘first meal for visitors on us’. Meet at The Kiwanis Family House, (at UCD Med Ctr/ 50th St & Broadway) 2875 50th Street Sacra-mento, CA 95817. www.eastsacmidtownki-wanis.com. Meeting/Membership info: 916-761-0984, volunteers always welcome!––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Artisan holds Food DriveArtisan Salon is participating in the Spirit of Giving Food Drive. Over the last 17 years, the Spirit of Giving (SOG) drive has helped Sacramento Food Bank collect and distribute over 4.6 million pounds of canned and non-perishable food items for local families in need. Help support families in need by par-ticipating in this year’s drive! Artisan Salon is located at 3198 Riverside Blvd.––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Soroptimist International of Sacramento South meetingsA service organization dedicated to insure the status of women and girls, the group meets at Aviator’s Restaurant, 6151 Freeport Blvd. for lunch and to discuss the day’s topic. Meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 12:15 p.m. The meetings discuss our fund raising Projects and Community Service, often with speakers from our community.

March

Folsom Library spring 2014 book saleMarch 21-23: Shop for incredible bargains in 1000s of gently used books, audio books, vid-eos, CDs and much more in both children and adult materials. All proceeds directly benefit the Friends of the Folsom Library, a 100 per-cent non-profit organization. The sale will be held insdie the Folsom Public Library’s Geor-gia Murray Building Meeting Room at 411 Stafford St. The early bird sale will take place on Friday, March 21, from 5 to 8 p.m., admis-sion $5 per person (including children 12 and older). The general sale will be Saturday and Sunday, March 22-23, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., admission free. Fill a bag for only $5 on “Bar-gain Sunday”. For more information, visit www.foflib.org or call 608-8743 or 355-7374.––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Vintage Trailer Show & Antique Flea MarketMarch 22: A fantastic display of Vintage Trailers will be featured at the Vintage Trail-er Show and Antique Flea Market from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Enjoy an up close look at these ret-ro trailers that are now a part of the Glamp-ing world. Shop dozens of vendors for trea-sured Antiques, Collectibles, Vintage and Flea Market finds. Food available on site. A portion of proceeds benefit The Elk Grove Histori-cal Society. Additional information and vendor applications are available at www.thereddoor-elkgrove.com or 714-0619. General admission is $5, children under 16 are free. Old Town Elk Grove Plaza, 9056 Elk Grove Blvd. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Sacramento Community Concert Association performanceMarch 22: SCCA presents A Night At The Movies With Pipe Organist Dave More-no at 7:30 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian, 1300 N St. Complemented by emcee Matias Bombal, organist-entertainer Dave Moreno will thrill you as he accompanies popular si-lent films on Westminster’s grand 3000-pipe organ. Don’t miss this extraordinary event. Regular subscription: $90, Group discount (8 or more people): $75, Students subscrip-tion: $45, Single Ticket: $25. For more in-formation, contact Sacramento Community Concert Association www.sccaconcerts.org; [email protected]; 400-4634.

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GREENBELT CLOSEBeautiful property was builder's own custom home. 3 bedroom 2½ baths with professionally landscaped front yard, Pergo floors, remodeled kitchen and half bath. There is also remod-eled laundry play structure, dual pane windows and custom curtains and blinds. $359,000

MONA GERGEN 247-9555

STYLISH AND ENERGY EFFICIENTGracefully appointed, South Land Park 3 bedroom 2 bath home. The home combines natural elements of wood, masonry and light to create alluring spaces throughout. Lush landscaping, pool and koi pond and spacious 2 bedroom guest cottage. Comme see the magic! $667,000

STEPHANIE GALLAGHER 342-2288

BRIDGEWAY SOUTHPORTBeautiful lake front single story home situated in West Sac-ramento. 4 bedrooms 3 baths, ultra high ceilings and open floor plan beaming with natural sunlight. Large dining room, arched doorways, expansive kitchen, cherry cabinetry, and custom tile floors. $459,000

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CUTE SLP CONDOLower level 2 bedroom 2 bath cutie; spacious and open. Walk-in closet in the master bedroom, detached 1-car garage with opener. Pool and spa with clubhouse. Lush landscaping. Great value. Private patio. Inside laundry closet. Convenient location close to shopping, restaurants, library. $124,000

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WONDERFUL WEST SACWonderful single-level home in a quiet cul-de-sac. 4 bedrooms, 2½ baths on almost a quarter acre. Granite counters and glass subway tiled back splash set the kitchen apart. Dual pane windows and a tile roof. $430,000

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WALK TO DIDION SCHOOLA rare opportunity to live close to Didion School. Spacious 4 bedrooms 2½ baths, 2264 square feet, with new interior paint, flooring, light fixtures, granite counter tops in kitchen and all 3 baths, new dishwasher, and new gas range. Huge family room is just waiting for fun and games! $349,000

PAULA SWAYNE 425-9715

LOT ON THE RIVERMust see this beautiful lot! A rare opportunity to build your own home on a riverfront lot in the Little Pocket area close to the freeway and downtown. Riverside Blvd close to 35th Ave. Go by, walk around the lot and enjoy the Sacramento River. Call agent if you have questions. $259,000

MONA GERGEN 247-9555

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