Local Organizations Celebrate Pride Amid Pandemic, Protests

Johanna Miller
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Local Organizations Celebrate Pride Amid Pandemic, Protests

On the morning of June 28, 1969, a group of police officers raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Greenwich Village, New York City. As police dragged patrons and staff out of the bar, residents responded, leading to a week of protests and violent confrontations.

The Stonewall Riots have been credited as the catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States. The first Pride was held in 1970 in commemoration of the uprising. Gradually, cities across the U.S. began to hold their own events. 

In 1975, the first-ever Pride was held in Santa Cruz. Organized by Cabrillo College’s Lesbian and Gay Men’s Union, it is the third-oldest such event in California after San Francisco and Los Angeles. Now, 45 years later, thousands of people flock to downtown Santa Cruz for the event every year.

But with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and subsequent shelter-in-place orders this year, the Santa Cruz Pride organization’s 2020 parade—usually held the first weekend of June—was canceled. However, that did not stop local LGBT+ groups from celebrating. Santa Cruz Pride instead held a virtual parade dubbed “Nothing Can Stop Our Pride.” People submitted photos and videos and tuned in to a large Zoom gathering Sunday.

“It was incredible,” said Sharon Papo, executive director of Diversity Center Santa Cruz County. “It was a powerful gathering of the community, coming together virtually to celebrate Pride and its history.”

The connection between Pride and the Black Lives Matter movement was not lost on participants, as many spoke about the ongoing protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

“The Stonewall Riots were led by Black trans women,” Papo said. “They have always been our leaders. Black Lives Matter is not a separate movement because of that. We have to honor that intersection.”

Pajaro Valley Pride President Jorge Guillén had similar thoughts.

“It is so important to understand that Pride began as a riot,” he said It began as queer people fighting against police brutality.”

Pajaro Valley Pride held its first event in 2016. While this year’s gathering has also been canceled due to Covid-19, the organization has been working closely with Santa Cruz Pride, Salinas Valley Pride and Monterey Peninsula Pride to organize a virtual event. Guillén said they hope to hold it in late July or early August. 

“We weren’t really sure anything was going to happen,” he said. “But then Dina [Izzo] from Santa Cruz Pride approached us, and we began a conversation.”

Papo said that the Diversity Center has been making a “big pivot” in the past few months to move all of its support programs online. A big reason for this, she says, is that the LGBT+ community is “disproportionately at risk” from Covid-19.

“We are more likely to have diseases such as cancer, AIDS and respiratory illnesses,” she said. “We’re more likely to live in poverty. Many are essential workers and do not have access to proper healthcare.”

Guillén said that Pajaro Valley Pride is also doing what it can to keep in touch with residents.

“This is a really challenging time,” Guillén said. “On top of Covid, the issue of racism, and everything else going on … it’s overwhelming. I think that’s why it’s important to stay connected [and] support each other. We’ll get through this.”

For information about ongoing events, programs and services that support the local LGBT+ community visit diversitycenter.org and pajarovalleypride.org.

Students Can Get Two Meals a Day at School Through July

Jacob Pierce
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Students Can Get Two Meals a Day at School Through July

On top of implementing distance learning, school districts have been wrestling with a variety of challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting shutdowns. 

Many schools around the country have stepped up and have practically turned into food banks for families in need. In Santa Cruz County, school district officials have announced that free breakfasts and lunches will be available for pickup to all children throughout the summer via the new Summer Meals Program.

During a typical summer vacation, children lose access to free and reduced-priced meals that they relied on during the school year, but the Summer Meals Program provides breakfasts and lunches to anyone 18 or younger. Families do not need to meet any eligibility requirements.  

There are 25 grab-and-go-style food distribution sites throughout the county. Families with children who are interested in picking up free meals may use the following instructions:

Step 1: Text message “FOOD” (or “COMIDA” for Spanish instructions) to 877-877 or call 211 for a location near you.  

Step 2: Wait for a text message back, and reply with your address.

Step 3: You will receive a text with a list of the three closest meal distribution sites, with information about each site and how to proceed to pick up meals.

Pajaro Valley Unified School District—the county’s largest school district—has 10 pickup sites. Meal distributions have been on hold this week, but they’ll continue next week and run through July 24. (Pajaro Valley Unified spokesperson Alicia Jimenez says the district needed the extra week to organize the summer feeding and staffing schedules.) Santa Cruz City Schools—the county’s second-largest district—has three pickup sites. Its distributions have continued this week, and they’ll run through July 31.

The need for healthy food across the U.S. is especially high right now, according to recent research, including a Northwestern University study, which found that food insecurity doubled in April and tripled in households with children.

Santa Cruz County nonprofits that distribute food saw steep increases in demand for their services after the pandemic started. Earlier this week, Santa Cruz County’s Great Plates Delivered program got an extension through July 10, just before it was set to expire.

Second Harvest Food Bank is doing food pickups from the Beach Boardwalk and the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, Grey Bears is delivering groceries to the elderly, and Meals on Wheels is delivering daily meals to seniors age 60 and over and people with disabilities.

For more information on offerings from those nonprofits, visit thefoodbank.org, greybears.org and communitybridges.org.

Artists Organize Ribbon Installation to Express Community Grief

Wallace Baine
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Artists Organize Ribbon Installation to Express Community Grief

In the winter of 2005, the famous Bulgarian conceptual artist Christo erected a series of curtained structures throughout New York City’s Central Park in an installation he called “The Gates.”

Christo died on May 31 at the age of 84, and so he was on the mind of Santa Cruz artist and activist Sara Friedlander when she and her cohorts in ARRT (Artists Respond and Resist Together) were looking for a way to symbolically express grief, the predominant theme of the year 2020.

The color of Christo’s large-scale art installation had struck Friedlander. It was saffron, a lush shade that exists in the spectrum between yellow and orange. Saffron has deep symbolic power in Hinduism and Buddhism.

So, the activists of ARRT are calling on Santa Cruzans to borrow a page from the yellow-ribbon playbook and tie a saffron-colored ribbon or cloth to a prominent spot outside their homes as a sign of community remembrance.

The idea came about in late May when the organization was looking for a way to mark the milestone of 100,000 Americans dead from Covid-19. While they were deliberating, American streets erupted with protests against police violence.

“And, then we thought, can we even talk about Covid with all this other grief going on?” says Friedlander. “That was when someone came up with the idea to express mourning, doing like the yellow ribbons.”

Yellow ribbons were originally used to express hope and solidarity with American hostages held in Iran in 1980, and the imagery was again appropriated during the first Gulf War in the early 1990s. ARRT’s idea is to express mourning using saffron ribbons or cloth and the names of someone who has died in the Covid-19 pandemic, or someone who has died at the hand of police, or the name of of Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, the Santa Cruz County’s sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty on June 6.

“We thought this would be a marvelous way to bring the community together in our grief and our sense of protest,” says Friedlander.

It’s important that symbolic expressions have artistic cohesion, says Friedlander. “If you have a uniform color and a uniform sensibility, then people can really pay attention to what the message is. The idea is that it can be beautiful as well as catching people’s attention.”

Saffron ribbon and cloth isn’t easy to find, says Friedlander, but it’s available online, or white fabric can be dyed with turmeric. “What we’re asking people to do given that we’re all still relatively house-bound is to post images on Instagram.”

Saffron, says Friedlander, is “uplifting but solemn at the same time. Because I’ve been to Thailand and I’ve seen Buddhist monks in robes of that color, it’s always very touching and moving to me.”

Fundraiser for Slain Sheriff’s Deputy Raises More Than $450k

Todd Guild
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Fundraiser for Slain Sheriff’s Deputy Raises More Than $450k

The Peace Officers Research Association of California has established a fundraiser for the family of Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputy who was shot and killed in the line of duty Saturday in Ben Lomond.

The account has collected more than $450,000 for the Gutzwiller family as of today. The current goal is to reach $600,000. To donate, click here.

Gutzwiller, 38, left behind a 2-year-old son and a wife who is three weeks away from delivering their second child.

“Our law enforcement community is in mourning and is asking for your donations for the family,” the fundraiser website states. “No amount of monies will make this tragedy right, but it will allow the people Damon cared about most to continue their lives without thoughts of financial issues. All monies donated will go directly to his family.”

Gutzwiller first joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2006. Sheriff Jim Hart has called Gutzwiller a “true hero.”

“In this era that we’re in, what you want to see in a police officer—compassion, caring, someone who truly loves his job, who wants to help people—that’s what Damon was,” Hart said.

Community Calls for Watsonville’s City Council to Save Sports Programs

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Community Calls for Watsonville’s City Council to Save Sports Programs

The city of Watsonville will have to make several tough cuts to meet a projected $6.5 million budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year. 

But more than two dozen community members defending the value of youth sports programs at Tuesday’s virtual City Council meeting urged the council to not balance its budget on the backs of young people. Instead, they asked the council to trim from other departments to keep the city’s recreational and competitive soccer programs running.

In its draft budget presented Tuesday, the city proposed a $3 million cut to salaries and benefits. It is also trying to save $1.3 million by trimming its discretionary spending and dipping into its Measure Y and cannabis tax funds.

Staff is asking the council to use half of its $4.4 million emergency fund balance to make up for the massive drop in revenue as a result of the shelter-in-place restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Included in those cuts is the city’s entire sports program budget and five employees, three of which work for the Parks and Community Services (PCS) department.

The city said it is cutting youth sports because those programs are currently—and, they believe, will continue to be—prohibited because of the physical distancing and shelter-in-place restrictions. But community members assert that the state and county are loosening restrictions quicker than expected and that it would be shortsighted for the council to cut those programs for the rest of the fiscal year.

Those community members were also frustrated that parks and youth programs were again bearing the brunt of the budget cuts. 

“If we don’t have money for kids,” Carlos Campos wrote in an email read to the council, “what are we saying about our future?”

The council is expected to finalize the budget at its June 23 meeting, but much could change in the days leading up to that date. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom and state health officials have picked up the pace at which they are moving through their “Resilience Roadmap,” allowing movie theaters, gyms and bars to reopen starting this weekend.

At the federal level, the HEROES Act has proposed $375 billion to help local governments repair their shredded budgets. That bill, however, has stalled after being passed in the Senate, and faces opposition from many Republican lawmakers.

Because of that volatility, Watsonville Finance Department Director Cindy Czerwin said she will provide the council quarterly updates, and ask for changes as they are needed. Her first update will come in late August when the city will have a clearer picture of its property and sales tax numbers. She will then return in November and again in February, though she did say she was willing to provide reports to the council with more regularity.

“We’re going to have to be amazingly flexible,” Czerwin said.

The city received two dozen emails, and another dozen people called into the meeting to voice their support of the youth sports programs. Many said they grew up playing sports through the city’s programs, and a handful of kids wrote emails to the council asking them to keep the programs funded.

Watsonville Recreation Coordinator Jenny Vivenzi, who is one of three PCS employees on the chopping block, called into the meeting to advocate for the programs and also coordinated calls with a trio of volunteer soccer coaches.

Most of those comments did little to sway the council, as the majority of councilmembers said the decision was out of their hands because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

Councilwoman Trina Coffman-Gomez was the lone councilmember who asked staff to look for funding for the programs elsewhere, suggesting they trim the council’s benefits even further than their already proposed 50% cut.

Czerwin and City Manager Matt Huffaker during the meeting said they received late word that the Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust would help fund some of the programs if the city did indeed follow through with the proposed cuts.

The majority of next year’s projected deficit is a result of the countywide shelter-in-place restrictions. The city’s sales tax—21% of the general fund’s yearly revenue—is expected to be down 26.3%.

Along with the five aforementioned layoffs, the city also plans to reassign two employees to other positions. Other employees have agreed to take one day off per month without pay through the end of the calendar year, and the city also saved $1.3 million by eliminating roughly 27 vacant positions.

California Union Leaders, Politicians Call for Tax Hikes, Not Budget Cuts

Jacob Pierce
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California Union Leaders, Politicians Call for Tax Hikes, Not Budget Cuts

Due to dramatic losses suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic, California is facing a $54 million budget shortfall, and steep cuts are likely coming to state and local budgets.

A coalition led by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is pushing for politicians to prioritize equity, instead of slashing away at social safety nets. Union leaders outlined their vision in a letter to state legislators, and 55 organizations signed on.

“This movement says, ‘All of us together, we refuse to cut our way out of this crisis on the backs of communities of color,’” Rico Mendez, chief elected officer for SEIU Local 521, said Wednesday on a Zoom call with other union leaders and with politicians. “Our elected leaders must pass a recovery budget for all … That means not going back to status quo, because that won’t be good enough. We need to make equity our new normal.”

In the midst of a Covid-19 pandemic that is disproportionately harming Hispanic and black Americans, union leaders like Mendez say the state’s proposed social safety net cuts—such as $450 million in cuts to In-Home Supportive Services, and billions of dollars worth of cuts to education—would worsen California’s income and racial disparities.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget outlines what are known as “trigger cuts”—cuts that will take effect unless California gets additional financial support from the federal government. Mendez said that California should not leave its fate in the hands of Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump, especially after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) suggested that states having a hard time paying their bills might pursue bankruptcy as an option.

“The truth is trigger cuts are still cuts. They would hurt black Californians more than any other group if they’re enacted,” Mendez says. “The truth is enacting a budget with trigger cuts means leaving the future of racial justice in our state up to someone like Mitch McConnell and his Senate—that have made it clear that they have no intention of supporting California at the levels necessary. The truth is that we can do better. Our state is the fifth-largest economy on the planet. We can raise the funds that we need to go forward.”

Politicians like Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) and Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez have signed on to the effort and spoke to union representatives Wednesday to offer encouragement and support for a shared vision. “We need to invest in housing, in our health systems, in childcare,” Kalra said.

But in order to preserve programs and still balance its budget, the state will need to either find savings somewhere else or create new sources of cash flow.

A budget is a moral document, said Eddie Carmona, director of legislative organizing for PICO California, the largest multi-racial faith-based community-organizing network in the state of California. In order to secure more revenue, he called on leaders to raise taxes, create new taxes, reform commercial property taxes and look at the state’s ability to borrow from special funds and bonds.

In short, Carmona called for a “California New Deal.”

“We need to not only address the inequities that were uncovered by Covid-19,” he said, “but need to double-down and invest in the future of California, a future of California that’s going to be built by and for working families and for communities of color.”

Police Investigate Suspicious Object on Santa Cruz Westside

Tarmo Hannula
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Police Investigate Suspicious Object on Santa Cruz Westside

UPDATED, 3:30pm: Santa Cruz police posted on all clear shortly after 3pm Wednesday.

They wrote in a tweet that officers determined the suspicious object found on the Westside of Santa Cruz did not pose a threat.

Santa Cruz police are investigating a “suspicious object” that was found on the Westside of Santa Cruz Wednesday afternoon, forcing the closure of several roads and a shelter-in-place order for some residents.

Police have teamed up with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s bomb team at the corner of West Cliff Drive at Bay Street. The bomb team deployed “Sparky,” the robot designed to handle dangerous objects.

A witness reported a suspicious cylinder-shaped object lying beside the popular pedestrian and bike path just before 1pm.

Authorities have closed West Cliff Drive and part of Pacific Avenue, as well as Bay and Front streets.

As of 1:35pm the incident was ongoing.

Anatum Winery’s Bold Pinot Noir; Plus Wine Gift Ideas for Father’s Day

Josie Cowden
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Anatum Winery’s Bold Pinot Noir; Plus Wine Gift Ideas for Father’s Day

Some Anatum wine was left for me at the Good Times office on Dakota Street in downtown Santa Cruz. I contacted Chris Broaddus, owner and winemaker at Anatum, to thank him—only to find out he didn’t leave it. Probably an Anatum wine enthusiast out there wanted me to try Anatum’s Pinot Noir.

After chatting with Broaddus, I was all set to do a tasting of his wines at one of Shadowbrook’s Wine Wednesdays, but it was cancelled because of the shelter-in-place order. I’m looking forward to going to Anatum’s tasting room—when it’s open to the public again—to try the rest of their wines. They also make Chardonnay, Trousseau, and a pinkish-amber Pinot Gris that makes you think of Strawberry Fields Forever.

This estate 2017 Pinot Noir ($22) is from organically grown grapes individually tended to with the utmost care. “On the spectrum,” says Broaddus, “this Pinot Noir is on the bigger, bolder end.” Fruity flavors of plum, stone fruit, cigar, and berries, make this food-friendly Pinot Noir a tasty pairing with just about any food. A stir-fry I made with rice, bok choy and other veggies was a wonderful match-up with this bold and delicious Pinot.

Anatum Winery, 375 Falcon View Terrace, Watsonville. 831-430-6123. Anatumwines.com.

Wine for Father’s Day

Father’s Day is on June 21, so there’s plenty of time to get your pater some good local wine. Also, there are many wine-related events going on during the shelter-in-place order, including virtual tastings on Sundays. Visit the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association website for more info on this, and check out their new PremierPass wine-tasting experience as well.

Scmwa.com. 

Gift certificates for wine tastings make a great gift, and quite a few wineries are now doing their own merchandise. Stockwell Cellars has some cool swag like hoodies and T-shirts, and the winery owner of MJA Vineyards (Marin Artukovich) grows coffee in Kona, Hawaii, and sells it in his tasting room on the Westside. And who doesn’t love Champagne—aka sparkling wine! Head to Equinox Wines, also on the Westside—they make the best.

Santa Cruz Therapist: What Shutdowns Do to Mental Health

Jacob Pierce
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Santa Cruz Therapist: What Shutdowns Do to Mental Health

After 12 weeks of sheltering in place, the positive health effects on the spread of the novel coronavirus in Santa Cruz County are clear. Santa Cruz County has flattened the curve, greatly slowing the spread of disease.

The mental health effects, however, are less positive and also less understood, says Tim Hartnett, director of Shine a Light Counseling Center, which has offices in Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Monterey.

“People are more stressed and have more severe mental health symptoms or anxiety or depression or substance abuse and more suicidality,” he says.

What makes the current situation more troubling, Hartnett explains, is the fact that—ever since all therapy went online, pivoting to what he calls “teletherapy” appointments—patients have been slower to seek help. “There’s some delay in people seeking treatment,” he says.

Hartnett says some therapists have started doing therapy outdoors as a result. And those who haven’t have begun to feel overloaded when it comes to screen time, he says.

With more industries now opening up, shoppers can now check out local boutiques or set up a haircut appointment. But social gatherings are still verboten, even when it’s just a matter of wanting to go to a friend’s house to watch a movie. “Those things are considered unnecessary and therefore are the last things to be allowed,” Hartnett says. “And yet—if you think about what a social species we are and how important good, connecting activities are to us—that priority comes into question.”

Hartnett says he believes that, in general, many health leaders and politicians underestimated the impact that shelter-in-place orders would have on mental health. He thinks that many experts zeroed in too closely on the virus itself without giving enough thought to what stay-at-home orders would mean for the potential for increased anxiety, depression or substance abuse.

“I didn’t see that concern reflected in what I was hearing from a lot of the policy makers,” he says.

Although he says mental health did not become one of the central talking points in the national discourse, Hartnett says he did hear more concerned discussion about the effects that shelter-in-place orders were having on the economy. (It’s worth noting that, while the cost of shutting down several economic sectors was severe, the nation’s top economists broadly supported government shutdown orders because the economic costs of widespread disease are also severe.)

Given the concerns about jobs, Hartnett adds that the economy is very much tied to people’s moods. A sluggish economy can have deleterious effects on people’s emotional wellbeing, he says. “The amount of stress that people are under—particularly those people who are struggling economically—is having an effect,” he says.

Santa Cruz County leaders certainly have talked about the economic impacts of the shutdown orders. Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel cited them last month when reporters asked her why she was opening up sectors of the economy so quickly, over her own concerns about spread of the virus. “We are trying to walk this very fine line between the very real cost of the economic devastation of our community with the health and safety of the public. So we’re going to give this a try,” Newel said.

Economic slowdowns are quantifiable. What’s more difficult to measure, Hartnett explains, is the direct impact that being ordered to stay home for so long has on the mind.

“What’s extra stressful about the isolation that people are experiencing is we don’t have any way of answering, ‘How long is this going to last?’” Hartnett says. “And that adds an extra layer of stress on top of what was already stressful about being isolated.”

During the height of acrimony over shelter-in-place orders, some mostly conservative activists began holding protests calling for an end to the shutdowns.

Hartnett acknowledges that many of the people protesting on the beaches and in the streets had their own publicly stated rationales for what they were doing. Some used economic arguments to explain why it was time to reopen businesses. Others came armed with conspiracy theories—maybe even like the one of a “plan-demic”—to justify their positions. But Hartnett believes that, regardless of what rationale they may have used publicly, many of those protesters were motivated on a deeper level by their human need to reconnect with others. “Ultimately, I think what drives people to arrive at whatever rationale they have is a need to connect in ways that they haven’t since the beginning of shelter-in-place,” he says.

Hartnett believes no one knows what hindsight will ultimately reveal about the virus, as well as the response from health leaders and governments around the country and around the world. But he isn’t a policy maker, and he says striking the right balance between a community’s physical health needs and its mental health ones is not easy.

Hartnett also does not want to downplay very real risks posed by the virus. Now that some of Shine a Light’s therapists are preparing to go back to work in the office, Hartnett knows that could put them at increased risk for infection. While the therapists and their patients will be wearing required face coverings, he says that sitting in an office with a patient for an hour does pose a risk for exposure.

Going forward, Hartnett says the community also needs to figure out how to better meet children’s needs while keeping them safe. He isn’t sure how to do that, but he says that he knows some kids who have not played with another kid for nearly three months. 

He believes that restrictions on outdoor gatherings are important when crowds get big, but nonetheless, he says that, when public parks and beaches are not crowded, they can be vital public spaces—especially because social distancing is easiest to do outdoors and because virus transmission risks are much lower outside.

There’s a chance that the restrictions on beaches could change next month.

Santa Cruz County spokesperson Jason Hoppin says the county intends to keep the existing beach order in place through at least the July 4 weekend and make a decision after that about whether to loosen it or make other changes.

Here are three ideas Hartnett suggests to cope with the negative effects of shelter-in-place:

  • Go outside, exercise, and connect with nature.
  • Arrange at least one daily social contact, like a check-in phone call, so that you have a chance everyday to tell someone how you are feeling and make a personal connection.
  • Within the small bubble of people with whom you do not practice social distancing, try to ask for touch, Hartnett says. In this time, where human touch is so limited, it’s important to make contact with others where it’s available, he says.

More than anything, Hartnett encourages those who need help in these stressful times to seek it out.

“It may be possible to see counselors in person sometimes soon,” he says. “But even until then, it’s better to go ahead and make a call and try to get help—rather than, if you’re cooped up with your family, letting the conflict increase or if you’re in isolation, letting your loneliness and your depression get to a level where it starts to spiral out of control. Better to get help sooner, even if it’s teletherapy. This combination of people’s mental health deteriorating and them delaying treatment is not good. And the thing we can do about it is don’t delay treatment; get help for yourself.”

Things To Do (Virtually) in Santa Cruz: June 10-16

GT Staff
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Things To Do (Virtually) in Santa Cruz: June 10-16

Because in-person events across Santa Cruz County have been canceled or postponed during the pandemic, Good Times is compiling a weekly list of virtual events hosted by local nonprofits, artists, fitness instructors and businesses. To submit your virtual event, send an email to ca******@*******es.sc. 

ARTS 

EBB AND FLOW RIVER ARTS FESTIVAL 2020 Starting Friday, June 5, the community is invited to celebrate the San Lorenzo River through public art installations, virtual performance, and activities as part of the Ebb and Flow River Arts Festival. In its 6th year, Ebb and Flow 2020 will continue to deepen and inform the Santa Cruz community’s relationship with the San Lorenzo River and the Tannery Arts Center through creative educational activities and storytelling. Permanent and temporary public art will be at the center of this year’s celebration. Local artists are designing works that will elevate water literacy, connect us to the land and its history, cultivate our sense of belonging, and inspire curiosity about the impact we have on the river system. Learn more at ebbandflowfest.org. 

VIEWABLE VIA SOCIAL MEDIA: CABRILLO GALLERY EXHIBIT ‘SIX YEARS SMITTEN: OBJECTS OF ADORNMENT.’ We miss seeing you take your time so generously with the artwork in our gallery. But this too shall pass, and we will be able to gallivant around to different venues again someday and bump elbows. In the meantime, we hope you are making the most of hunkering down at home; tidying up, being creative, or continuing work remotely. Since there are more than 150 pieces in the show, we are posting regularly on Facebook and Instagram so you can get a daily inspirational dose of the artwork. You don’t even have to join Facebook to just tune in and see the images. They are available to everyone; you can sidestep the prompt that comes up to join or log in. 

DNA’S COMEDY LAB VIRTUAL COMEDY Who says comedy has to be in-person to be funny? We can still laugh over the internet. DNA’s Comedy Lab is hosting live standup (sit down?) in online Zoom meetings, plus their open mic and Sloth Storytelling Show, all online. Visit dnascomedylab.com for more information.

CLASSES 

GROW YOUR SELF-LEADERSHIP FOR OPTIMAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING Join us for a one-hour event to learn five simple tips you can use any day to help yourself. Thursday, June 11, 1:30pm. Register at tracieroot.com/workshops. 

SALSA SUELTA IN PLACE: Free weekly online session in Cuban-style Salsa Suelta for experienced beginners and up. Contact to get a Zoom link. Thursdays at 7pm. salsagente.com.

PARADIGM SPORT LIVESTREAM CLASSES LIVE While we are sheltering in place, one of the best things we can do for the health of our minds is to move our bodies. When we move together as a community, connected by the desire to inspire and promote wellness, we encourage, motivate and lift each other beyond what we might think is possible. Every day at noon. 426-9500. paradigmsport.com.

TOADAL FITNESS ONLINE CLASSES Toadal Fitness is streaming live classes and workouts that don’t require much if any, workout equipment. You must be a member, so visit toadalfitness.com to sign up. Members can get access to classes at toadalfitness.com/online-classes to take a class. 

KIDS EXERCISE CLASS Stuck at home? Don’t let that stop your kids from getting quality exercise. Tune in for a fun, creative way to exercise at home! This class meets state curriculum guidelines for children’s physical education. Classes taught by bilingual trainers (English and Spanish). Our collective health is critical now more than ever! We all need to be healthy to boost our immune systems and fight this virus. We may all have to socially distance in the physical sense of the word, but we do not have to be entirely separated and isolated. All you need is a streaming device, water, Wi-Fi, and a positive attitude. Tune in to our online fitness and education sessions. Pay what you can, and together we will make a stronger, healthier, more resilient community of wellness. We hope to partner with you on your journey to optimal health to keep this going as long as possible. Please RSVP, then use this link to join our sessions: zoom.us/j/344330220. Contributions are via: Paypal: ja***@***********re.com. Venmo: @santacruzcore. Every day at 11am. 425-9500. 

COMMUNITY

TALES TO TAILS GOES VIRTUAL Tales to Tails goes virtual to create a comfortable, neutral, and fun reading experience. Bring some books, a stuffed animal or your own pet, and come read with us! This is a YouTube livestream event so you might be reading to up to six animals at once. Woo hoo! Caregivers, you can post your child’s first name and city in the comments section, along with the book they are reading, and we’ll read off as many of those names as we can, live, during the break we need to give the dogs. Each week you register we’ll send you your dog bone “punch cards.” These will be dated dog bones your child can color and email to us. The following week, we’ll display them live on the feed. This will also be recorded so if you can’t make it live, the dogs will still be there for you. Every Wednesday, 10-11am.  Learn more at santacruzpl.libcal.com/event/6764929.

PEOPLE AND STORIES: READING DEEPLY IN COMMUNITY People and Stories is dedicated to opening doors to literature for new audiences. Through oral readings and rigorous discussions of enduring short stories, we invite participants to find fresh understandings of themselves, of others, and of the world. Please note that some stories contain themes and language of an adult nature. Santa Cruz Public Libraries offers People and Stories regularly in our county jails. We invite you to our special eight-week session on Zoom! Drop in for one or attend all 8 People and Stories sessions! Wednesdays June 10-July 29, 1:30pm. Learn more at santacruzpl.libcal.com/event/6760931.

THE BIG NIGHT IN REPLACES BOWL FOR KIDS’ SAKE 2020 For the first time in our history, we’ve had to cancel all live events including our signature Bowl for Kids’ Sake, which represents a significant portion of our annual budget. This change has the potential to disrupt services to the youth we serve. We find ourselves in an urgent situation that we hope can be remedied by a temporary campaign asking many to give a little. Since we are not able to join together to bowl this year as planned, we want to offer a way for the community to support our work as well as provide fun ways for people to have community during this unique period of sheltering in place and social distancing. Instead of having a Big Night Out like we used to and will again, we are inviting you to have a Big Night In. This campaign will run May 15-June 30. It is a virtual fundraiser that is all about having fun and supporting a great cause, 1:1 youth mentoring. To encourage and promote your participation, fun and fundraising, we will be holding Weekly Drawings throughout the campaign window. A variety of gift certificates will be awarded each week. One week we will even be raffling off exclusive California wines for those that are over 21. We will also be offering Grand Prizes to the top individual(s) and team fundraiser(s). The organization is also seeking larger donations that can be used to match campaign donations and that info can also be found on our campaign website. Learn more at amplify.netdonor.net/13981/bfks2020. 

CASA ONLINE INFORMATION MEETING: CASA of Santa Cruz County needs caring adult volunteers to speak up for the best interests of children who are involved in the Juvenile Dependency Care System (foster care) because they have been abused or neglected. A volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) spends time with one child each week, getting to know them and gathering information from everyone involved in the child’s case. In-person information meetings have been postponed in order to uphold the safety and well-being of you and your loved ones. In the meantime we’re hosting virtual information meetings! Please go to casaofsantacruz.org/signup to sign up, and you’ll receive a confirmation email with details and the link to the online meeting. If you have any questions you can email yo***@*************uz.org. Wednesday, June 10, at 11am, and Tuesday, June 16, at 1pm.

GROUPS 

SUNSET BEACH BOWLS Experience the tranquility, peace and calmness as the ocean waves harmonize with the sound of Crystal Bowls. Every Tuesday at 7:45pm. Moran Lake Park. 

HEALING CRYSTAL BOWL SOUND BATH Relax, empty out and soothe our nervous systems in these uncertain times of great change. While humanity is laying low, nourish your spiritual immune system with high resonance alchemical crystal vibrations! Support all aspects of your being. Ride the wave for one hour with Sonic Vibration Specialist Michele for a deep journey with harmonic, alchemical crystal bowls and chimes. Feel free to sit up or lay down in a restorative pose to receive this uniquely relaxing expression of compassion. Immerse yourself in healing crystal bowl sound resonance and Michele’s angelic voice. Singyoursoulsong.com. Every Monday at 7pm. Online by donation: eventbrite.com/e/harmonize-w-alchemical-crystalline-sound-immersion-tickets-102214323794. 

VIRTUAL GUIDED MEDITATION Reduce stress with meditation and maintain a healthy lifestyle during social distancing. Join us for a free virtual session. It’s been a tough week. In our lifetimes we have never faced a public health crisis like this one. As a locally owned small business, this situation is particularly overwhelming and stressful. Yet, we are also grateful. Grateful for our amazing cohort of practitioners that want to help as many people as they can. Grateful for our dependable back office and administrative support team. And, most of all, grateful to you, our community who has helped my dream of co-creating a community of wellness become a reality. Without you, there is no Santa Cruz CORE! Please RSVP, then use this link to join our sessions: zoom.us/j/344330220. Contributions are via: Paypal: ja***@***********re.com. Venmo: @santacruzcore. Every day at noon. 425-9500.

VIRTUAL YOUNG ADULT (18-30) TRANSGENDER SUPPORT GROUP A weekly peer support group for young adults aged 18-25 who identify as transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, agender, or any other non-cisgender identity. This is a social group where we meet and chat among ourselves, sharing our experiences and thoughts in a warm, welcoming setting. Our meetings will be held on Discord during the Shelter in Place Order. For more info, contact Ezra Bowen at tr***@*************er.org.

LGBTQNBI+ SUPPORT GROUP FOR CORONAVIRUS STRESS This weekly LGBTQNBI+ support group is being offered to help us all deal with stress during the shelter-in-place situation that we are experiencing from the coronavirus. Feel free to bring your lunch and chat together to get support. This group is offered at no cost and will be facilitated by licensed therapists Shane Hill, Ph.D., and Melissa Bernstein, LMFT #52524. Learn how to join the Zoom support group at diversitycenter.org/community-calendar. 

OUTDOOR

NORCAL BATS NorCalBats is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of bats throughout Northern California. Live bats will be presented along with a slide show geared to dispel myths and prejudices against bats that can lead to the destruction of their roosts and colonies. Learn more at santacruzpl.libcal.com/calendar. Friday, June 12, at 11:30am and 2:30pm. 

LIONS, LIZARDS, AND LUPINE, OH MY! (VIRTUAL) Learn about some of the amazing creatures that call Castle Rock “home” and how you can safely visit them! This interactive program will be simultaneously broadcast as a Zoom webinar and a Facebook Live. Registration is required for the Zoom webinar. To register, visit tinyurl.com/SantaCruzCampfire. Like our Facebook page to receive a notification when we go live! Facebook.com/CastleRockStatePark. If you are unable to join us live, this program will be recorded for later viewing. Free event. Saturday, June 13, 7pm. 

SEYMOUR CENTER’S OCEAN EXPLORERS VIRTUAL SUMMER CAMP Ocean Explorers experience the thrill of scientific discovery at a working marine lab. Join the Seymour Marine Discovery Center for behind-the-scenes virtual visits, live streaming interactions with scientists and animal trainers, and much more! Children actively learn in a distance learning format. Enjoy a week of fun this summer learning about ocean science. Investigate the incredible creatures that inhabit Monterey Bay. Discover how ocean scientists work with marine animals at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center and Long Marine Lab to help conserve animals in the wild. Space is limited–APPLY NOW! Masterful Marine Mammals, ages 9-11, June 22-26, July 13-17, and August 3-7. Masterful Marine Mammals, ages 12-14, June 15-19, June 29-July 3, and July 20-24. Something’s Fishy, ages 7-9 (waitlist only), July 6-10. Marine Science for Girls, ages 9-11, (waitlist only), July 27-31. Programs run 10:30am to 2:30pm (1-hour lunch break from 12-1pm): varied activities and mini-breaks. Fees: Members $250 (was $610); General Public $300 (was $650). Learn more at seymourcenter.ucsc.edu/learn/youth-teen-programs/ocean-explorers-summer-camp.

Local Organizations Celebrate Pride Amid Pandemic, Protests

Pride celebrations went virtual amid the pandemic
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Students Can Get Two Meals a Day at School Through July

There are 25 Santa Cruz County pickup for families
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Artists Organize Ribbon Installation to Express Community Grief

Activists call for Santa Cruzans to tie a saffron-colored ribbon to a spot outside their homes
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Fundraiser for Slain Sheriff’s Deputy Raises More Than $450k

All proceeds will go to family of Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller
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Community Calls for Watsonville’s City Council to Save Sports Programs

Watsonville faces tough cuts with projected $6.5 million budget deficit
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California Union Leaders, Politicians Call for Tax Hikes, Not Budget Cuts

Labor responds to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s trigger cuts
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Police Investigate Suspicious Object on Santa Cruz Westside

Police closed several roads and issued a shelter-in-place order for nearby residents
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Anatum Winery’s Bold Pinot Noir; Plus Wine Gift Ideas for Father’s Day

Gift certificates for wine tastings make a great gift
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Santa Cruz Therapist: What Shutdowns Do to Mental Health

Tim Hartnett says health orders have side effects—anxiety, depression and substance abuse
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Things To Do (Virtually) in Santa Cruz: June 10-16

virtual events
Sign up for virtual summer camp, celebrate the San Lorenzo River, and find more things to do virtually
Read more
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