SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: Yoga influences local painter's work

All right, this was the last article I contributed to the Herald during my internship. It's an interview with local artist Susan Summerfield Kozak about a new exhibit she had at the library. After this, it was a weeklong road trip up to Oregon, then I started DVC and I'd be happy to fill in the gaps to anyone else who wants to know. Needless to say, when I had my last day at the Herald, I really thought that was going to be it. I didn't think I'd ever be returning to the paper, and I certainly didn't think I'd be returning on a much bigger level. However, that's a story for another day.

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: Published standalone pictures

I have exactly one article left to post, but I'll hold off on it for now. Today, I'd like to post some of the pictures I took that weren't part of any articles but rather were used to fill space.

The "Everybody loves a carnival" package has an interesting story behind it. On my way to work, I noticed what looked like a mini-carnival. I told Marc about it, and he had me go back out and grab some pictures of it. It was part of a summer camp put on by Benicia's Parks Department, and I got information on it from the coordinator.

The other three pictures came from a day when I wasn't really doing much, so Marc sent me out to shoot as many pictures of First Street as I could, and he'd publish them whenever he needed to fill space. I think the "Views of Benicia" pictures were actually published after I'd left. (By the way, the offer to take pictures and send them to beniciaherald@gmail.com is still valid. We do like having visuals on the front page.)

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: Oh, those skateboarding rascals!

First of all, that is a terrible picture of me. I don't think there are any good pictures of me from this period, but I have to wonder what trick they were pulling to make my eyes do that.

Anyway, one of the requirements of my internship was to write an opinion piece on a city-related issue. I didn't have quite as much knowledge of city-related issues at that point, so I decided to do mine on the strict skateboarding laws. I'm quite happy with how this turned out, especially the research that went into it (I even talked to then-Councilmember Mike Ioakimedes, but it doesn't look like he made it into the article.) I should point out, however, that with a lot of my opinion pieces, my views evolve over time or I no longer feel the way I used to feel. This is one of those instances. Anybody nowadays trying to accuse me of encouraging reckless youth can relax. I don't feel as strongly about this now as I did back then (and I'm not sure how strongly I felt about it back then.) Still a good read.

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: High-speed chase leads to arrest

This was a crime story, and I don't remember a thing about writing it. Not a thing. I think it might have been a fleshed-out Police Blotter item, but covering this story left no impact on me.

Also, "frelonies"? Really, Nick?

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: View from over there

You know how every election, somebody says "If the candidate I don't like wins, I'm moving to Canada/England/etc."? It's mostly a bunch of empty talk, and few people actually do it. This guy, however, did. Chris Reed, a Benicia High School graduate and resident of Davis at the time (probably still is. I don't know), actually moved to France after George W. Bush won the 2000 election. What's more: he stayed there until Bush's second term ended in 2009. However you feel about his reasoning, you have to admire him for his commitment.

Upon returning to California, he wrote a book about his experiences in France, and I got to interview him. It was quite interesting.

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: Police Blotter, Week of July 2, 2009

One of the ongoing features of the Herald has been the Police Blotter. This provides a summary of the more interesting bits of police activity from the past week, and it is always published on Sundays. In the summer of '09, I was in charge of this. It involved a lot of combing through the police log, looking up criminal codes, and putting the information into easy-to-understand sentences.

I'm not going to post all of these, but I will post one chosen at random to provide an idea of the kind of work I was doing as well as the kinds of crimes Benicians were committing that week. Eggs were thrown, people complained about an annual bike festival...it was quite a week.

"Apparently, it was some kind of scam."

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: Passion for People

This was an article about a Benicia High School student who got to go to a nursing camp. I don't have a whole lot to say on this one except I later got a very nice letter from North Bay Healthcare thanking me for writing the article. I think this was written during my first week, but I can't confirm the dates for any of these articles.

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: Love Comes to Town

First of all, yes I did come up with that headline. I generally don't consider myself very good at coming up with those, but sometimes I get lucky, and I consider that to be one of my better ones. It's actually a reference to the U2/BB King collaboration from Rattle and Hum, but I'm not sure how many people picked up on it.

This was one where I had most of the story written but didn't publish it right away because I was still waiting to hear back from Edna Love. I finally did early in the morning on a weekend, but I was still willing to get that interview done, and I was quite happy with it. I always like writing stories about music, and this was no exception.

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: Leaving a Mark

This was my interview with Fred Schlatter, a local artist most famous for developing many of the signs for businesses around town. His style is very unmistakable, so it was nice to put a face behind the man who'd been creating all those signs.
Probably the most interesting thing about covering this story is that when I went to interview Delando Pagan (Yes, I spelled his name wrong in the article) of The Rellik Tavern (which I think had been open for only a few months at this point), Christi had to go inside and bring him out because I was still under 21 at that point. All in all, this was a fun story to write. Fred was a very nice person, and as far as I know, he's still creating art, but I'm not sure if he's created any more signs.

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: Tannery undergoes major changes

This was one of three story ideas I pitched when I got the job. I don't remember what the other two were, but Christi suggested I flesh this one out. This was at a time when it felt like the historic Tannery building was really feeling the sting of the recession. A good number of its businesses had moved elsewhere on First Street or just shuttered completely. For a while it was looking like the Tannery would never recover and would be foreclosed upon at any minute. Thankfully, it seems to have bounced back. Char's moved back to its original location, and they've acquired a number of new tenants to keep it operational. However, the Tannery Grill that I kept mentioning in the article never actually opened. To this day, I still don't think that space had been filled.

This was the first semi-investigative piece I'd done, and I'm quite proud of how it turned out.

SUMMER OF '09 ARCHIVES: Still probing, powerfully

   This is the first article I had published, and it ran on the front page below the fold. Of course, a lot of the paper's content is always slated for the front page, but that was a big deal for me at the time. I remember getting comments from people who didn't know I was interning there to say "Hey, I saw your story in the Herald!" I felt like a local star.
   Anyway, this was an article about an Arts Benicia exhibit. I interviewed the curator Mark Eanes, who I believe is still a member of Arts Benicia, but I haven't actually talked to him since. There's really not a whole lot to say about this one, except it was a good introductory piece for me.

But I'm not done with this blog yet!

   Yes, I've found a way to keep this blog busy.

   I'm not sure how many readers know this, but this is not the first time I've worked at the Herald. I was an intern right after I graduated high school. How did that happen? Let me set the scene.

   The year was 2009. Many countries were experiencing an economic recession, Barack Obama still had dark hair, and America just couldn't get enough of the Black Eyed Peas *Gag*. At that point, I was just wrapping up three years on my high school's student paper, The Paw, my senior year of which I had spent as one of two editors-in-chief. One day, my teacher Steve Gibbs (who has been a columnist with the Herald for more than 30 years) told me there was an intern position available at the local paper where I would be able to write stories. I told him I was interested, and he placed a call to then-editor Marc Ethier. Marc's response? "Send him over when he's ready. I'd like to meet with him."

   I went over to the paper's office with a portfolio of my strongest Paw articles to meet with Marc and the paper's then-assistant editor, Christi Chidester. We talked for a bit, and a few days later I got a call from Christi telling me that I had gotten the job. I was very excited to get my foot in the door at my local paper.

   The job was pretty straightforward. I wasn't paid, and I came in on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while the other intern hired for that summer, Macy Williams- who I had worked with on The Paw the previous year- would come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Macy now writes for the entertainment site PopSugar, by the way). I basically wrote stories that were assigned to me, which turned out to be good practice for the real world. On The Paw, I would write about whatever I felt like, and only a handful of my articles had t do with Benicia.

   The paper did not have a website at that point (They would finally establish one about six months after I left), so this is the first time the stories I wrote that summer will be appearing on the web. I've scanned all the articles that I had saved (There was one big one that I had only saved half of, and it was a big one. It was an interview with then-school board trustee Dana Dean, who was about to run for re-election. Maybe there's another copy of that paper lying around the office) and plan on posting them here. I'll be updating on Saturdays and Mondays (AKA, the days when the Herald doesn't publish) and posting attachments of my articles as well as brief preambles on the stories behind the articles, if I can remember them. I didn't save the dates in my clippings, so I can't remember exactly when these articles ran, but I have a good idea of when I was working on them.
   It's important to note that I was 19 years old at that time and had not started college yet. Therefore, my writing was not quite as strong back then as it is now, but that's to be expected. I still find this stuff fun to read, and if you were living in Benicia in the summer of '09, perhaps you will too.

Enough rambling though. Let's get started. 

   

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I started this blog back in October as a place to house my stories until we finally got the Herald's website back online. Seven months and more than 100 posts later, that has happened. That isn't the only thing that's happened: I have since taken the reins as the new editor. One of my goals was to bring the website back, and that's finally happened. Now readers can stay up to date on Benicia stories beyond what I write. Of course, I'm juggling several different things, so don't expect all stories to go up quickly.

As for this blog, it will always stay up, but anything I write now will be posted over there rather than here. People will want to know what was happening in Benicia between October 2015 and May 2016,  but that site is more professional than this one, and it will have content from all the regular writers and contributors. Not everything will be uploaded to that site as we want people to still have a reason to subscribe to the newspaper, but now you can share stories, comment, etc. It's good to be back.

http://beniciaheraldonline.com

Concert promoter aims to turn Solano into musical county

(Originally published in the 5/3/16 edition)

   As there are no big arenas in Solano County, a lot of people take for granted how much great music comes to the area. A lot of it comes courtesy of one man: Jeff Trager.

   Trager is a Glen Cove resident with almost 50 years of working in the music industry. In that time as an event promoter and booking agent, he has gotten to work with some of the biggest artists of all time: The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles, James Brown, Joni Mitchell, The Eagles, The Bee Gees, Bon Jovi, Kiss, Tom Waits, the list goes on and on.

   Among other things, Trager is credited with kickstarting Tina Turner’s long and successful career by promoting her first hit with her then-husband Ike, a cover of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.”

  “Backstage at a concert with Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, she asked me to come backstage and she grabbed my hand and said ‘Thank you. Thank you for what you did,’” he said. “When I broke her first record, it changed her whole life. From that record she probably made about $100 million in her career. I got her the Rolling Stones tour because of it.”

   Trager’s resume does not stop there. He also promoted Vangelis’ theme to the movie “Chariots of Fire,” which was a No. 1 hit in 1982, and he worked with legendary Bay Area concert promoter Bill Graham on Day on the Green, a series of concerts held at the Oakland Coliseum from 1973 to 1991. A big theme throughout much of the concerts he has put on has been charity. In 1971, he put on his first fundraiser concert after one of his friends was jailed in Spain.

   “We drew 3,500 people on a Monday night, and that was pretty incredible,” he said.

   Since then, Trager has put on concerts such as the Fairfield breast cancer awareness concert PinkFest, the annual autism awareness concert Voices of Latin Rock at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco and concerts to help raise money for Crystal Middle School in Suisun City and its students whose instruments had been broken.

   “I think people should give back, especially if they have the opportunity,” he said. “To me, it feels good to be able to give back to people who may not have as much as others.”

   Lately, Trager and his company Jeff Trager Presents have been working to put on concerts in Fairfield, including weekly Saturday night shows at the Chinese restaurant Sticky Rice Bistro, Thursday shows at Mankas Steakhouse and several concerts at the various Suisun Valley wineries.

   Perhaps his biggest projects have been monthly shows at Fairfield’s Downtown Theatre, featuring either comedians or musicians. This Saturday’s show will be a tribute concert to the legendary country singer Patsy Cline. Joni Morris, who Trager has described as “the No. 1 Patsy Cline impersonator in the country,” and Lyndesy Elm, a Vacaville resident who was a contestant on the ninth season of NBC’s “The Voice,” will be performing some of Cline’s most popular songs, including “Walkin’ After Midnight,” Crazy,” “Back in Baby’s Arms” and “I Fall to Pieces.”

   “You’re gonna hear all the great songs of the true music icon,” Trager said. 

   Trager says his goal is to keep bringing quality music to Solano County.

   “I want to get people to understand that they can hear good music without having to drive to San Francisco or Oakland or even Napa,” he said. “You have quality music right here in your own backyard.”

   Moreover, Trager wants his concerts to cause people to leave with positive feelings.

   “I love bringing good, quality music to each and every venue that I book,” he said. “It’s all about having people tap their toes and smile and walk out and say ‘Man, that was a great show.’ That’s what Bill Graham was famous for. When you went to a Bill Graham show, you walked out satisfied that you got your money’s worth and that you saw a great show. That’s what I like doing.”

   “Tribute to Patsy Cline” will be held at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 7, at Downtown Theatre, located at 1035 Texas St. in Fairfield. Tickets can be purchased at siteline.vendini.com/site/downtowntheatre.com. For more information on this concert or any past or future Jeff Trager Presents concerts, visit JeffTragerPresents.com. 

   

Robert Semple Elementary to host murder mystery dinner theater show, "Death by Dessert"

(Originally published in the 5/1/16 edition)

We've heard of death by chocolate, but this is ridiculous.

Or maybe it is not so ridiculous. After all, the murder mystery dinner theater show, “Death by Dessert,” does go toward funding Robert Semple Elementary. It also will make for a very fun Friday night out for all.

The play centers around two families in Little Italy who own competing Italian restaurants. The families have long been at odds with each other, and this comes to a head when Maria, the owner of the building that houses these two restaurants, is found dead. With such bad blood between the two clans, everyone becomes a suspect.

Attendees will be able to cast their votes as to who they think killed Maria, and the winner will receive a prize and take photos with the cast. The cast will include members of Robert Semple, Mary Farmar and Matthew Turner Elementary's drama clubs as well as drama club alumni and Benicia Middle School advanced drama students. 

Since the setting of two Italian restaurants is sure to make audience members hungry, Robert Semple Student Council and drama club students will be providing an exquisite dinner for the evening. People who purchase tickets will get to choose from one of two entrees: baked ziti with Italian sausage or capellini pomodoro with garlic. Additionally, they will be able to choose from one of two delicious, non-fatal desserts: apple torte a la mode or cheese cake. Audience members will also get to enjoy salad and bread and butter with their entree. 

“Death By Dessert” will take place on Friday, May 13 at Robert Semple Elementary School, located at 2015 East 3^rd St. Check-in will begin at 5:45 p.m. Tickets are $40, which will include one entree, one dessert course, bread and butter, a salad, coffee and a raffle ticket. They can be purchased at RSE.BeniciaUnified.org. For more information, call 747-8360.  

League of Women Voters Benicia register more than 500 student voters

(Originally published in the 4/28/16 edition)

   To say that the 2016 general election is inescapable is an understatement. Even before Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex) became the first to officially announce his candidacy in March of 2015, the media had been fervently speculating who would become the next president, which was only inflamed by several others throwing their hats into the ring over the next year. Now, the race has dwindled down to five as of this writing: Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and Republicans Cruz, John Kasich and Donald Trump.

What is perhaps even more exciting than this race is the fact that for many high school seniors, this is their first time voting. But it doesn't stop there: Solano County 18-year-olds will also be electing senators, congressmen, state senators, assemblymen, district supervisors, mayors and voting on ballot measures. To make sure students were prepared to vote in an informed way, League of Voters Benicia was there to help.

In March and April, the local chapter of the national nonpartisan organization aimed at encouraging civic engagement, visited more than 30 social science classes in high schools in Benicia, Vallejo and Fairfield, as well as Solano Community College. The campuses visited were Benicia High School and Liberty High School in Benicia, St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School and Jesse Bethel High School in Vallejo, and Fairfield High School, Sem Yeto High School and Matt Garcia Career and College Academy in Fairfield. 

Members of the Voter Services Team- including Susan Neuhaus, Harvey Rifkin, Peggy Lipper, Carin Coleridge, Gayle Vaughan, Eliza Wingate and Alvina Sheeley- delivered a Power Point presentation on the importance of voting, the offices up for election and the ballots on the June 7 primary. The presentations did not encourage students to vote for any particular candidate as the League of Women Voters is nonpartisan, but they did highlight how essential voting is. 

“We had a slide that said 'Denial and ignorance are the enemies of democracy' and had a picture of an ostrich with his head in the sand,” Vaughan said. 

They also showed a graph of the 2012 election in which the youth voter turnout was only 41.2 percent and encouraged them to beat that number. After the presentation, registration forms were given out, and more than 500 students ended up signing up to vote.

The presentations were also informative to the teachers as well. LWV had discussed California's semi-open primaries, in which those who registered under “No Party Preference” could request a Democratic, Libertarian or American Independent ballot, but not Republican, Green or Peace and Freedom Party ballots. 

“A couple of the teachers, once we said that, said ‘Oh, I think I need to change my registration,’ so some of them changed their registration so they could vote for the candidate they wanted,” Vaughan said. “The kids were very careful about that, and they asked a lot of questions.”

Since California requires two weeks of civic instruction on the voting processes in U.S. government and economics classes prior to the primary and general elections, Vaughan said the level of prior knowledge students had varied from class to class.

“Some classes had really gone over it and informed students how the process worked, while others had just gone over the government process,” she said.

The 2016 election is unique in that new voters will be affecting all three branches of government. They will not only be electing a new president but also a new California senator, as Barbara Boxer will be retiring after 24 years, which Vaughan noted is longer than this new crop of voters has been born. Additionally, who they elect as president could determine the next Supreme Court justice.

At the local level, Benicians will be voting for a mayor, Councilmembers, district supervisors and more.

“Not often do you get all levels of government in one election,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan said this election is exciting for 18-year-olds not only because it will be their first time voting but also because they have the power to really make a difference.

“This one is important because many things can be changed right now,” she said. “If you’re interested in making change, now’s the time to do it.”

Those looking to register to vote can pick up forms at the post office, library and City Hall. You can also register online by going toRegistertovote.ca.gov.

Rellik to bring piano madness to Benicia every Wednesday

(Originally published in the 4/27/16 edition)

   The Rellik Tavern has long been a prime spot for nightlife in Benicia. In addition to having a full bar, lounge area and tapas menu, it also is a place where patrons can enjoy live music, open mic nights, ‘80s dance parties and a whole lot more.

   Contributing to that whole lot more is the Rellik’s newest weekly event series, Dueling Pianos.

   Every Wednesday night from 7 to 10 p.m., the Rellik will rotate two piano players every week- some local and some just passing through town- who will perform renditions of virtually any song that is requested- emphasis on the any. Tonight will be the first such show, and Rellik co-owner Delando Pagan says he has been meaning to do a dueling pianos event for a while. He and his wife, Rellik co-owner Zoey, are big fans of the format.

   “Whenever we’re in Vegas, we never miss a dueling piano act up there,” he said. “We’ve been meaning to do this for a long time, and we finally got the right crew together.”

   The format of a dueling pianos event is pretty simple. Patrons will go up to one of two piano players and provide tips along with a written request for a song they would like to hear. The piano players will then go through the list and each play a song. What types of songs can be requested? Pretty much anything. Patrons will be treated to not only standard piano fare from Elton John or John Legend but a wide variety of songs from different artists, ranging from Franz Liszt to Franz Ferdinand. From heavy metal to hip-hop to country to dance-pop, nothing is forbidden. If you have ever wanted to witness piano-fied covers of Van Halen’s “Panama” or Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” in person, then Wednesday nights at the Rellik will be for you.

   However, you do not have to feel like you should listen to every song that gets requested. For example, if one of the pianists starts playing a Justin Bieber track and you do not want to hear it, then you can tip the opposite pianist to stop the song, and then the other piano player will play a new song.

   “It’s fun, it’s interactive and there’s a lot of sing-alongs,” Pagan said. “It’s part music and part comedy.”

   Pagan says the event will be a great way to celebrate birthdays or bachelor/bachelorette parties, and it will also provide something new to Solano County.

   “There’s nothing like that in Solano County right now,” he said. “I think the closest dueling piano act is in Danville and San Francisco, so it will be something fun for everybody on this side of the bay to come to.”

   Pagan says the nights will be a fun way for Benicians to experience something new and crazy.

   “Every time my wife and I have ever been to one, once you get caught up in it you’re pretty much there until it’s over,” he said.

   He also believes the event will draw people from outside Benicia as well.

   “Hopefully, it will become a destination every Wednesday,” he said. “People will come not just from Benicia but also outside the area. It will bring more people downtown to our little historic waterfront area.”

   “It will definitely be something new for Benicia,” he added.

   The Rellik Tavern is located at 726 First St. For more information, call 746-1137 or visit TheRellikTavern.com. 

Photo courtesy of Delando Pagan

Jason Marion, a pianist who plays at Venue in San Francisco as well as numerous gigs in las Vegas, will be one of the piano players in the Rellik tavern's Dueling Pianos nights. 

   

   

Benicia Main Street gets into the giving mood

(Originally published in the 4/26/16 edition)

   Winter is always seen as the season of giving- it is the season in which Christmas falls, after all. However, people really should be benefiting those in need throughout the entire year. Benicia Main Street recently came up with the idea to tie the concept of giving with the season of spring for its weeklong promotion titled Spring into Giving. 

   “We were just throwing around ideas that had to do with spring,” Deborah Housman, Benicia Main Street’s event coordinator, said. “We thought ‘The community is really giving, with a lot of different charities, so how can we tie a shopping promotion with a charity cause?’”

   Out of this brainstorming came Spring into Giving, a promotional event lasting from Sunday, April 30 to Sunday, May 7. The event will benefit Benicia’s Family Resource Center, a community center supervised by Benicia Police Department’s Special Operation Division. The center provides assistance for families and offers parent education and family support services.

   People who drop off suggested donation items at Benicia Main Street during the week will receive a discount card valid with 33 participating downtown businesses. These include Bookshop Benicia, Camellia Tea Room, First Street Cafe, First Impressions Salon and Spa, Pups ’N’ Purrz, Union Hotel, Christina S Fashion Destination, Venticellos Ristorante Italiano, Angel Heart 4 You, Roberto’s Fine Jewelry, Wellness Wisdom and many others. 

   The goal is to stock the Family Resource Center’s closet with emergency family products. Suggested donation items include diapers, baby wipes, baby shampoos and soap, feminine hygiene products, deodorant, bath towels, wash cloths, socks, hair brushes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and more. 

   “Spring into Giving is a win-win all around,” Benicia Main Street Executive Director Nancy Martinez said in a statement. “The public gets to learn about and donate to a great community cause, while supporting local downtown businesses.”

   Benicia Main Street is located at 90 Main St. and open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursdays and weekends. For more information, visit BeniciaMainStreet.org or call 745-9791. 

   People can also drop off donations at the Family Resource Center, located at 150 East K St. However, appoints should be made ahead of time by calling 746-4352. For more information, email Blanche Hillman at bhillman@ci.benicia.ca.us. 

Peppino D'Agostino returns to Benicia Historical Museum

(Originally published in the 4/24/16 edition)

   Internationally renowned guitarist Peppino D’Agostino will make his return to the Benicia Historical Museum on Saturday. Fresh off the release of his newest album “Penumbra,” the Sicilian-born musician is coming off more than three decades as an acclaimed acoustic guitar player. He has performed in 26 countries, worked with other greats like Tommy Emmanuel and Leo Kottke and was even named Best Acoustic Guitarist by readers of Guitar Player magazine in 2007.

   Before moving to Benicia in the ‘80s, D’Agostino grew up in Torino, Italy where he was drawn to music by his cousin.

   “I began playing guitar at the age of 10 when I heard my cousin Peppino (yes, same name) playing in a church,” he said. “I got a few lessons from him, and then I embarked on a journey of self-study and further exploration on the guitar and in music that continues today. ”

   Early on, D’Agostino was influenced by The Beatles and Italian pop songs and later by electric guitarists like Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin. 

   “After that first phase I discovered the acoustic guitar by listening to musicians such as Leo Kottke and John Renbourn,” he said. “Then I fell in love with Brazilian music, classical music (and) improvised music. Now I listen to everything from Bach, Mozart, Piazzolla and even some pop artists.” 

   D’Agostino believes that music can be a force for good and appreciates the stripped-down nature of the acoustic guitar.

   “Music helps us feel human again and lift all of us to a better state of mind and open our hearts to beauty and emotions,” he said. “Making music on an acoustic guitar is special because the sounds is essentially produced by your fingers in contact with the fretboard and then amplified by a wooden sound box without any special effects or pedals. It's real, beautiful and captivating. ”

   Since living in Benicia, D’Agostino has gotten to know a wide variety of talented local musicians, including Stef Burns, an electric guitarist who has worked with Alice Cooper and Huey Lewis and the News; Jeff Campitelli, a drummer for guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani; Annabelle Marie, the director of the choir group VOENA; and many more.

   “It's amazing to have so many people involved in music in a relatively small town,” D’Agostino said. “The Dunlop Company, one of the most well-known music accessories factories in the world is in town,  as is Masaki Liu at Onewaystudio who's one of the best sound engineer that I ever met, and AnneMarie Martins who's one of the best booking agents in the business.”

   He has also said that whether playing in a small town in America or a larger venue in Italy, he feels the warmth of the audience.

   “In both countries I have family, friends and fans that makes me feel at home when I perform,” he said. 

   D’Agostino has recorded several albums and toured extensively for the past few decades while still finding room for other projects. He recently completed the score for a documentary titled “Journey to Baja: A Tale of Three Travelers,” about gray whales, elephant seals and brown pelicans. The documentary will be shown at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

   “It was a wonderful experience to support with my music such a great American institution that works to protect ocean life for future generations,” he said.

   D’Agostino is thrilled to be playing at the museum again, and he hinted that there may be surprise guests. One of the confirmed collaborators for a few songs will be D’Agostino’s friend Steve Olsen.

   “He plays pedal steel guitar and violin beautifully,” he said. 

   The concert will be held at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 30 in Stone Hall at the Benicia Historical Museum, located at 2060 Camel Road. Doors open at 7 p.m., and there will be a ho-host bar. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased online at BrownPaperTickets.com or at the museum gift shop, Wednesdays through Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, call (707) 745-5435. 

School board hears about further efforts to create safe, welcoming schools at Thursday's meeting

(Originally published in the 4/24/16 edition)

   Dr. Carolyn Patton, the director of special services to Benicia Unified School District, presented an update to the school board on the work being done to create Safe and Welcoming Schools at Thursday’s meeting. Three programs were highlighted, which fit in with Superintendent Charles Young’s goal of creating and maintaining schools that were safe and welcoming. 

   The three programs that were discussed were Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) at the elementary schools, the Second Step and Special Friends Supports program also at the elementary schools and the Sources of Strength program at Benicia High School.

   “Just a disclaimer: these are not all of the things we are doing toward these goals, so I don’t want you to think this is it,” Patton said. 

   Patton then talked about about the goals of PBIS, which academically covers topics like what students are expected to learn, how those lessons should be taught, what faculty should do if students do not learn it and how they should intervene. As Patton noted, those same topics could be applied at the social and emotional level. She then allowed Benicia Middle School teacher Faith Shaw, Liberty High School Principal Joann Severson and Robert Semple Elementary School Principal Christina Moore go over what their schools were doing in their PBIS training. 

   “It really is about teaching our kids behavioral expectations,” Patton said. “Just like we don’t expect kids coming into school knowing how to read, we shouldn’t expect them to come into school with the same behavioral expectations or understanding. We really need to teach those things and help reinforce them in a positive way.”

   Next to present was BUSD psychologist Kelli Leiner who talked about the Special Friends and Second Step programs at the elementary schools. Special Friends is an early mental health intervention program in which students and specially trained aides interact one-on-one in a playroom.

   “Students who are identified for this program are usually demonstrating some mild to moderate adjustment issues,” Leiner said. “There could be anything from being new to the school to a loss.”

   Second Step is a social skills program, usually consisting of groups of two to four students. Leiner then introduced Joan Burnett, a Special Friends aide at Robert Semple, who then introduced three students who had participated in the program.

   Patton then introduced Mental Health Coordinator Jessica Garcia to talk about a new program at Benicia High called Sources of Strength.

   Sources of Strength is a suicide prevention program consisting of 65 students and 11 faculty members including Garcia and three of the school’s counselors. The group meets every other week in peer groups to foster a sense of positivity for students dealing with anxiety or depression. The idea for the program was brought forth by Barbara Gervase, the mother of 16-year-old Benicia High student Kyle Hyland who died by suicide in 2014. 

   “I’m very happy that you agreed to finally bring that program to BHS,” Gervase said in a public comment before the presentation. “From what I’ve heard, it’s been going wonderfully well. One of the things that I’m asking from you is that if this program is working so well, then we need to make an effort to bring it to more kids at BHS because it’s limited.” 

   Gervase also recommended bringing the program to Benicia Middle School, as students tend to begin exhibiting mental health issues at the middle school level. 

   To demonstrate what students were learning, sophomore Amaya Clark talked about a 21-day challenge in which students were given journals to write about three things they were grateful for.

   “I noticed for the first day I kind of did broad things,” she said. “By the fourth day, I had to really think about things I was grateful and appreciative for, and I had to be more specific because I would have ran out of things. It just made me have an open mind and think ‘Wow, I really am grateful for this.’ It was a really good idea.”

   The board’s trustees praised the presentation. 

   “This is probably the best presentation I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been on the board 12 years,” Andre Stewart said. 

   Stewart said he has hired interns who did not know how to talk to adults.

   “This first thing you’re teaching them (PBIS) will teach them how to have presence, how to present themselves and how to talk to adults,” he said. 

   Stewart made the recommendation that the district work to provide more counseling support by hiring more staff. Currently, Benicia High has three counselors- Justin Keppel, Megan Guenther and Kathleen Wallace- to serve the needs of 1,700 students, which does not meet the California Department of Education’s recommended ratio.

   “I think you will be pleased with the recommendations coming forward in the LCAP,” Patton said. 

   In other business, the board voted to set the retention for Benicia High’s stadium renovation project at 10 percent because the project is substantially complex, and Young formally introduced Damian Scott as the new principal of Benicia Middle School. 

   

Benicia High students donate hair to benefit cancer victims

(Originally published in the 4/22/16 edition)

   On Thursday, the Multi Purpose Room at Benicia High School became a miniature barbershop where girls could get haircuts for a good cause. The Make the Cut event was part of hair care company Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths campaign in which eight inches of hair would be donated to the company to made into wigs for cancer victims.

   The event was the brainchild of junior Clare Rodgers, who had donated hair twice before and lost someone close to her to cancer.

   “My good friend Mille Duvall passed away from cancer and lost her hair,” she said.

   Rodgers began promoting the event on social media and put fliers around campus. She ended up getting seven participants, which was more than she expected.

   “I was expecting five people, so when we got seven, that was really awesome,” she said. “It’s great to see people support their friends.”

   Additionally, Rodgers sent out an email to Class of 2013 alumna Samantha Cruz, who works at Peter Thomas Hair in Berkeley. Cruz then brought along her co-worker Terra Allen to assist with the haircutting.

   “I have done cuts for people donating hair before but not as a whole event,” Allen said. “I thought it would be a really good opportunity to help others.”

   One of the participants was sophomore Lily Chase whose mother Theresa was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008. Theresa was the first person to get her hair cut.

   “I’m glad my mom was able to get the first cut so I could show respect to her and her fight,” Lily said.

   Other participants were happy to help in any way they could.

   “I’d been growing my hair out for a long time with the intention of really growing it out,” sophomore Morgan Bundy said. “I wanted to do something good instead of just cut it.”

   Everyone agreed that donating hair was a strong way to provide support for the many people who have experienced such a widespread disease.

   “There are a lot of people who have been touched by cancer,” Allen said. “I recently found out my grandmother has two months to live, so I wanted to help out. It’s a very good cause.”

   To learn more about the campaign, visit pantene.com and click on the “Beautiful Lengths” tab. 

Photo by Nick Sestanovich

Terra Allen cuts sophomore Lily Chase's hair at Benicia High School's Make the Cut event, in which students donated 8 inches of hair to Pantene, which then makes the hair into a wig for cancer victims. Chase's mother Theresa was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was the first to have her hair cut that day.

Sac State professor will cover California's geologic history tonight at Camellia Tea Room

(Originally published in the 4/21/16 edition. The print edition accidentally left out the headline.)

   Many talks by the Benicia Historical Society focus on the local history of Benicia and California as it pertains to people and places. Tonight’s lecture will focus on a different kind of history: California’s geologic history.

   Steven Skinner, an assistant professor of geology and geophysics at Sacramento State University will be delivering the talk. Skinner’s work has researched the history of subduction zones and rifted margins using field observations and geophysical methods. Other areas of interest include the tectonic applications of paleomagnetism and plate reconstructions. His line of work has brought him to study rocks in places like Antarctica, Peru and El Centro. 

   Skinner’s talk will go over the geologic history of California as it pertains to the tectonic assembly of the western coasts of America and Canada. His main focus will be the geologic events recorded in rocks around the Carquinez Strait.

   The talk will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at Camellia Tea Room, located at 828 First St. Admission is free for members and $5 for non-members. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, visit BeniciaHistoricalSociety.org. 

Benicia High revisits Dr. Seuss for spring musical

(Originally published in the 4/20/16 edition. The discount ticket price and phone number for additional information have been corrected.)

   Dr. Seuss needs no introduction. The famed author has done as much to shape the last five or six generations of children as any of their parents. Of course, his success is not limited to just books. His works have also inspired countless animated TV specials, movies, children's edutainment shows and even a theme park in Orlando.

   With all the media that he has inspired, it only makes sense that Dr. Seuss’ works would inspire a Broadway musical, which they did with “Seussical” in 2000. One rendition can be seen over the next two weekends as the newest Benicia High School Panther Production.

   “Seussical” is this semester’s spring musical at Benicia High. However, it is not the first time this play has been performed at the school, as it was also the spring musical  back in 2007. 

   “It’s the only play or musical that I’ve ever repeated in 17 years,” director Christine Mani said. “I decided to do it again because it perfectly fit the actors we have on hand. We have a lot of performers who are ready to push to the next level and have a part with a name.”

   However, this will not be the same “Seussical” that audiences saw in 2007. This version is more modern, with visual references to cellphones, video games and reality TV, although the script itself is largely the same.

   “We have it set in the very modern day, what would happen if Dr. Seuss wrote his books now and the technology we have available for us,” Mani said. “It’s still definitely a show that’s OK for kids, but it has a lot of references and enjoyment for the more mature humor.”

   The story centers around Horton, played by Hamish Dinsdale. The curious elephant discovers a speck of dust on which the inhabitants of a planet called Whoogle live. One of the citizens is a beta tester named Jojo (Pilar Gonzales) who tries to invent a new phone app but is punished for his individualism-- i.e., thinking too many “thinks.” In the meantime, Horton has to guard an egg left by vain reality TV star Mayzie La Bird (Maya Singh Sharkey). 

   As one can tell by the synopsis, the story is largely based on “Horton Hears a Who” and “Horton Hatches the Egg,” but the musical is filled to the brim with references and characters from other Dr. Seuss stories from “The Cat in the Hat” to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” to “Gertrude McFuzz.” According to Mani, seeing these characters again, even in a new setting, will remind audiences of just how timeless Seuss’ works are.

   “It really is an honest story,” she said. “On the surface level, Dr. Seuss books seem very child-like, but they always have a very strong message behind them that doesn’t hit you over the head. It’s just one of those things that makes you say ‘Oh yeah’ and just agree with it.”

   “It does have those child-like elements in it that remind you of your youth,” she added.

   In addition to the hard work of the cast, director and set designers, the play will also utilize the talents of vocal director Vivian McLaughlin choreographers Staci Arriaga and Kevin Gruwell, and a live orchestra that performs backstage. The collaborative efforts of all will result in a show that everybody should go to- even if your name happens to be Marvin K. Mooney.

   “It’s colorful characters, lots of wonderful music, the dancing is superb, the singing is just fantastic and the story is relatable for people of all ages,” Mani said. “Even if people have seen it, it’s definitely a different ‘Seussical’ than anyone’s seen before.”

   “Seussical” will be performed on Friday, April 22 and 29 and Saturday, April 23 and 30 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 24 and May 1 at 2 p.m. All shows will be held in the school’s Performing Arts Building, located at 1101 Military West. Tickets are $14 for adults and $8 for students. There will be a $2 discount for tickets purchased in advance. Tickets can be purchased at the door or at BeniciaHighPerformingArts.org. For more information, call the school at 747-8325. 

(All photos by Nick Sestanovich)

Mayzie La Bird, played by Maya Singh Sharkey, holds the egg that Horton the Elephant, played by Hamish Hinsdale, sat on for 51 weeks.

Mayzie (Left) relaxes in Palm Beach with her assistant Renee the Beautician (Sydney Chow), leaving Horton to hatch the egg she laid.