Column 10/12/03

A good reporter will do almost anything to get a story, even eating a great meal, drinking lots of beer and grooving to a hot band. Yes, I just returned from the annual Corralitos Brew Fest

While first advertised as a $15 event, it was actually $20, but that included 7 glasses of beer, a good meal, and entertainment. The meal included Corralitos sausage, potatoes, sauerkraut, apple sauce, stuffed cabbage, and bread. Beer was from the Redwood Coast Brewery, and was provided by Tied House.

Emily Holder and Caitlin quigley kept busy collecting food tickets and passing out plates of dinner. Young volunteers Alex Epilman and Taylor Freeman ran the cider and water concession for the non beer drinkers. This successful event served over 300 people.

Local band Wryly played all evening. They used to practice on Thursday evenings at the now defunct Terrapin Station, and it turns out they are more than a Grateful Dead style band. They did a great job covering Pink Floyd, Van Morrison and others. They even managed some good rap. By the end of the evening the dance floor was crowded.

There was a big "thank you" to Tied House, Hall Crest Vineyard, Martinelli, Ella Bella Farms, Ralph's, Corralitos Nurseries, Corralitos Market, and Gary Vilhauer for their contributions to the event.

Gary Keeley said that the really big event is the Padres Pancake Breakfast on Memorial Day, when nearly 3000 are served. Gary, who has owned The Crape Place on Soquel in Santa Cruz for 30 years, said his parents moved to Corralitos in the 1940s. His father used to call the Register-Pajaronian the "Astonisher." Gary wasn't clear whether that was good or bad astonishment.

While people were eating , drinking and listening to the band, Kryss Crocker and her friends were playing Bocci Ball on the lawn. Apparently they take their Bocci Ball game wherever they go, playing on lawns, beaches, and wherever. Looks like they were having fun.

Old Friend Thurbie Markoe from Redwood Rd.,. off the top of Brown's Valley, came down the mountain to celebrate. Thurbie is a veteran of the logging disputes of the 1990s (remember Grizzly Flat). Jerry and Jean Thomas came by, and Jean talked about Robinson Jeffers' Tor house, and about the late Henry Miller's children living on the Central Coast.

Keith, one of Thurbie's neighbors, gave me a flyer about attempting to get wireless internet up in our canyons . They have a meeting scheduled in La Selva Beach on Tues, the 14th. Looking at the wireless prices, I realized that wireless internet cost more than the monthly payments on my first car.

Neighbors Norm Wolf and Rebecca McKinsey were on hand. They are big supporters of local events. But I was surprised to see Grey and Kim Hayes. Grey has recently completed his doctoral studies and is now working for the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. They have just bought down the street on Hames Road, taking advantage of the low interest rates. I know they will be assets to the neighborhood and the community.

Had trouble disengaging for the festivities as people kept coming up an offering their unused beer tickets, and I really love good beer.

To begin with, I have to apologize for the caption under the photo in my last column. I tagged the wrong caption to the right photo. That isn't Brian's mother with him in the Gazebo, it's Betty Allen of the Corralitos Cultural Center.

Betty said that Virginia Hughins, a member of the Santa Cruz Watercolor Society, will be giving Watercolor lessons starting Monday, Sept. 8 and running for 6 weeks. The cost will be $125. Contact the Cultural Center for more info, or come on down at 10AM.

The Center's Harvest Dinner and Brew Fest will be on October 11 this year. For $25 you'll get dinner, live music, and 7 tasting glasses of beer. Mark your calendar.

After the first of the year, the Cultural Center will offer acting lessons. Tune in to my next column for details on the instructor.

Kathy Arola is the new principal at Bradley School. Actually, she's only new to the job, having been involved with the school for over 20 years as a parent volunteer, instructional assistant, teacher, and Assistant Principal, before moving up to Principal. In fact her children went to Bradley. Kathy reminds us that parent conferences are coming up, Sept. 29 - Oct. 3, and the annual Harvest Festival will be held on October 12, 11AM to 3PM.

The Corralitos Women's Club has a great resource in Fred Schalow. Fred is their outside maintenance man, and he donates much of his time to the club grounds. He also takes care of the old fire station, having taken over that chore from our celebrated volunteer, James Carter. Fred is a life-long local, having been born and raised in the first house on Brown's Valley Rd. The Club would be hard pressed to get along without Fred. The Women's Club also wants to thank Alladin Nursery for donating many plants for the old fire station.

The Women's Club will giving flu shots on Oct. 22, from 10AM to noon. The shots will be free to those on Medicare. Remember that a flu shot is to keep you from getting the flu, so don't feel cheated if you don't get ill.

Richard Alfaro, who owned Alfaro's Bakery until five years ago, now runs the Alfaro Family Vineyard and Winery at the top of Hames Road. Their first batch of wine wearing the Corralitos Wine Cellars label will be bottled in September and be available for sale in November. These will be Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from 2000 and 2002.

Alfaro also plans to offer a Cabernet and an old vine Zinfandel from Mendocino. Alfaro is also buying grapes form 5 Santa Cruz mountains wineries, San Benito and Monterey counties. Additional Chardonnay grapes will be from the Nicholson family on Pleasant Valley Road. All of these will be ready for distribution by the middle of 2004.

An old school friend of Alfaro's and a long time wine maker will be his partner in this exciting venture.

Alfaro plans to distribute to restaurants and local stores, as well as at the winery. Wine tasting and purchasing by appointment will start in November.

Next door to Alfaro, Storrs has purchased some acreage and will probably be starting a vineyard in our neighborhood.

There's something new at the Corralitos Cultural Center. Brian De La Torre has just completed his Eagle Scout community project. He's built a gazebo behind the library and art center. He was on deadline to complete the project, as he is nearing his 18th birthday. He finished the final painting on the evening of Aug. 11.

The project had to be community oriented, and this one was coordinated between the library, art center, and the community. His scout troop (Corralitos 515) is sponsored by the Corralitos Valley Research and Education Association. To get the gazebo completed, Brian had to solicit donations. Granite Rock gave him a price break on the cement, John Barnard donated the welding, and Mr. and Mrs. Heil donated the old 12ft satellite dish that forms the roof. You may recall Betty Heil, a student at the art center and the mother of neighboring artists Judy Stabile and Wendy Aiken. Mark Rood Grading and Paving donated the fill dirt.

Brian has logged over 100 hours on this project, and now people are invited to come by and relax in this cute gazebo.

Another Eagle Scout project was the bench across from the market. It was done by a former scout.

The Corralitos Newsletter Volunteers held a meeting on Wed. the 7th At the meeting they discussed the several important topics. John Schuyler was there to discuss the plusses and minuses of being non-profit. The plusses included bulk mail permit and tax credit for donations. John felt the one important thing they needed to do was to give the newsletter a new name.

They discussed the need to avoid controversial issues and to get permission before using materials from another source.

They discussed who would be doing what. At this time the following people are involved:

Bay Alexander: Coordinator, Linden McNeilly: Editor, Denise Gallant: Layout,

Michelle Kelbert: Distribution Coordinator, Olivia Connor: Distribution , Norma Johnson: Distribution, Sandie Locke-Paddon Dean: Financial Support, Georgia Mackh: Grant Writing. Additional contributors include: Cheri Cernokus: Business profiles and local group news/calendars, Bay Alexander: History, local personalities, news from supervisors, Betty Smith: Creative writing and poetry, Linden McNeilly: School news from students, Evelyn Pogronski: Art, children, horticulture, photography, Bob Newman and John Schuyler: Advisors. Meade Fisher and Jessica Lloyd-Rogers will also be contributing.

The next meeting will take place on August 26th at 10:00am at Espresso Rio, formerly Five Mile House. They will be attempting to get out a fall newsletter by the beginning of October.

I was looking at the thermometer in the carport, and it was reading nearly 90. Global Warming, perhaps! At least we can beat the heat by going surfing. I feel sorry for folks inland.

I found myself down at the Five Mile House on a Thursday. Terrapin Station was alive with music, as the band Wryly (www.wryly.com) was doing its weekly practice session. I couldn't help moving to their music. I could hear the influence of the Grateful Dead in their sound, as I could see it in the decor of Terrapin Station. The band consists of two guitars, a bass, drums, miscellaneous percussion/flute, and an additional back up vocalist. Look for them as they pop up at various venues. Also, stop by any Thursday after 6PM to catch them practice, but remember that the store is small and the band fills it up, so bring a folding chair for the porch.

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The store front next door to Terrapin Station had been vacant for some time, but reopened on July 5 as Vonda's Vintage Collectibles, Gallery, and Gifts. Big name for a small store, but Vonda Hodges has a nice selection of jewelry, china, fine art, linens, vintage and new furniture, etc. She has a few pieces of blown glass that are lovely and sell for a fraction of what they'd bring in Santa Cruz.

Vonda is a life long resident of Santa Cruz County, graduating from S.C. High with Bruce McPherson. In fact Vonda's father helped build the Mystery Spot.

Her sister-in-law, Patricia Rain, runs a store within the store. The Vanilla Queen (www.vanilla.com) sells, well, all things vanilla, and there are more vanilla products than I was aware of.

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The naming of the new high school was apparently controversial. While most kids from Corralitos won't be attending Pajaro Valley High, the new school will reduce the overcrowding at Aptos High, which will be beneficial. I know that many people felt slighted by the choice of a name, but they didn't pick my idea either: Swamp Thing High. Actually, if it were to be named after any person, Assemblyman Fred Keeley would be the logical choice. If he had not gotten involved and used his considerable influence with the Coastal Commission, the site would never have been approved. Actually, the most appropriate name would be Great Compromise High, as everyone wanted a new school, but no one really got the school they wanted.

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As I mentioned in my last column, the Corralitos area has seven excellent artists who will be featured in this year's Open Studios. One of these is Elaine Tinkernell of Pioneer Road. Her medium is racu mixed media wall art. Sound confusing? She starts with a big slab of clay, cuts out windows, and then does the racu part, which is an ancient Japanese method of firing that produces unpredictable, lustrous, metallic results. Once she sees the colors the firing brings out, she adds paint, fabric, twigs and wire to make a completed piece that hangs on a wall like a painting. Plan to see her work in person during Open Studios.

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School's open, and Bradley is off to a flying start. School picture day is Aug. 29, so make sure your kids comb their hair that day. Sept. 5 from 7:00 to 8:00PM is back to school night. The variety show tryouts are Sept. 10, and on Sept. 11 the gift wrap fund raiser begins. This year they are trying to raise money for technology improvements, including wireless internet for the new portables, and some new computers.

Apparently volunteerism is thriving at Bradley. Even some community members who don't have children attending are helping out.

Bradley will soon have an updated web site. Jana David is leading the web team. We'll let you know when it's ready.

Needless to say, give yourself a few extra minutes on your morning commute to allow for the traffic at the school.

In my October 14 column, the kids in the photo were Alex Epilman and Taylor Freeman, and besides sampling the cider, they were serving it. Hard working kids.

Monica Ryan contacted me from Salesian School, up at the top of Enos Ln. They are getting ready for their annual Casino Night and Harvest Auction. Salesian is a Catholic elementary and junior high school, and it's accredited by WCEA, WASC and maintain a membership with NCEA. Now, the do all that PDQ and ASAP, without any help from the ASPCA or NASA.

The casino part of the event is new this year, but the auction is the annual event. It's the school's biggest fundraiser of the year. It's happening at The Kennedy Youth Center at Our Lady Help of Christian Valley Catholic Church (Valley Church), 2401 East Lake Ave. in Watsonville, or Nov. 16 from 3 to 9PM, so don't drive up the hill to Salesian School. The casino table and silent auction will be open from 3 to 7PM, and the live auction runs from 7PM to closing.

The ticket price is $25, but that includes a big buffet catered by Cilantro's and the Wooden Nickel Bar and Grill, a free wine glass which includes the first pour, and music by The Unusual Suspects. You can order tickets by mail through Nov. 7, and they'll be held at the door. When ordering, leave a phone number or e-mail, so they can confirm. Salesian's address is 605 Enos Lane, Corralitos, CA 95076. You can also stop by the school for tickets.

If you don't like wine, complimentary soft drinks will be served, and after that first pour, they'll have a no host beer and wine bar. There will also be a dessert buffet, so don't worry about getting enough to eat.

Big raffle prizes will be given out at the end of the evening for those who are still around to win. Small prizes will be given throughout the day. According to Monica, last year's goodies included a week in an apartment in the Swiss Alps, a ski-in/ski-out cabin in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, baby sitting from an eighth grader, and train tickets for Roaring Camp. We can only imagine what cool stuff will be offered this year.

My wife insisted I refrain from making some snide comment about council member De La Paz and his latest bar escapade. Well, it's easy for those of us who live in Corralitos to be smug. We don't have a city council, only one county supervisor, and whenever she shows up, people get in her face about repairing Amesti Road.

Was up Eureka Canyon at Grizzly Flat lately, getting a water sample for the Watershed program at Pajaro Middle School, when I ran into a group of kids and two leaders. It was an investigative hike out of Science Camp at Koinonia. There is something about the woods that puts a smile on any kid's face.

Recently stopped twice at "open house" signs in the neighborhood. Both were large 3 bedroom places with land, and both well over 600 grand. That's more than I make in a week (or my whole lifetime). Remember the good old days when you could get a nice place for a half million?

The Corralitos Cultural Center is trying something new, and for our little community, something pretty exotic. Acting lessons will be offered and a production staged. This isn't the work of someone who took a class once at a community college. We have a real pro in our midst, one with impressive credentials, Victoria Rue, Ph.D.

The first offering will be in December, and naturally it will involve a holiday presentation.

This Readers' Theatre Workshop will be offered December 5, 6, 7 and 8 from 6:30&emdash;9:30p. The workshop will introduce participants to the fun of creating characters

and Readers Theatre. Students will work with a holiday script entitled "Inspecting Carol."

After rehearsing for three days, the group will read/perform this piece for an audience on Dec. 8.

"'Inspecting Carol' by Daniel Sullivan is a hysterical spoof that peeks behind the

scenes of a community theatre's annual production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL,

complete with prima donna performers, cast love affairs, tyrannical directors, and a

surprise visit from the NEA funding inspector."

The cost for this four day workshop is $40, and it's open to anyone 15 and older.

Victoria assured me that no acting experience is required for her classes.

A longer class will be offered in January and February, again at the Corralitos Art Center.

This six week class, entitled "Soul Search: Acting as a Spiritual Journey," The classes will be held on Saturday from Jan. 10 through Feb. 14, from 1 to 3:30PM, and the cost will be $150. This is a bargain considering who you'll have for a teacher.

Victoria explains: "The great actress Eleanor Duse once said, acting is 'allowing myself to become a crystal tube and letting the universe flow through me.' Her approach articulates the mysticism of acting. Each of us is a complex web of colors, attributes, capabilities and identities. Outside each of us, is a complex cosmos: humanity, cultures, mother earth and beyond. Acting is surrendering to the many voices both within and without.

"Acting is also a discipline. Thus the student of acting learns that the creative journey

is a process of surrender and discipline, intuition and conscious action."

On the journey of creating a character students are required to meet their many selves

as well as embodying "the other" in addition they experience new visions of themselves. The senses are heightened allowing avenues for new perception. Acting also

involves other people and thus opens new paths of communication and relationship. Insight is further explored by working across gender lines. Most importantly, acting introduces you to your full potential, an opportunity for self discovery.

Students will experience creating a character. Scenes will be assigned from several plays chosen by Ms. Rue.

"Victoria Rue, Ph.D., is a playwright, director and professor of theatre as well as a feminist theologian. Victoria's directing work has been seen at the New York Shakespeare Festival, The Women's Project (NYC), Manhattan Theatre Club, the Mark Taper Forum (LA), and The American Conservatory Theatre (SF). Plays she has written include "Ecstasy in the Everyday" (co-authored with Letitia Bartlett (explores everyday mysticism),

"CancerBodies: Women Speaking the Unspeakable," "The Terry Project" (a look at the experience of schizophrenia), "Like Heaven" (a collaboration with San Khau Viet CALI) and "Paula" (an adaptation of Isabel Allende's memoir). For ten years, she was a member of the faculty at the American Conservatory Theatre (SF). Her Ph.D. from the Graduate

Theological Union in Berkeley focused on how feminist theatre enacts feminist theology. She is currently lecturing in the Department of Teledramatic Arts and Technology at California State University at Monterey Bay."

Learn from someone who has done it all. Call her at 768-8468 or email at : victoriarue@cruzio.com.