Page 778 | Good Times

What would be your preferred use for the much-debated ‘rail trail’?

Columns

Matthew Cole Scott

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March 29, 2018

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What would be your preferred use for the much-debated ‘rail trail’?

“I’d like it to be for walking and bicycles.”

Piero Lorenzo

Real Estate Broker

Santa Cruz

“Multi-use, including rail.”

Steve Bennett

Corralitos

Musician at Roaring Camp

“I think it would be nice if it was a horse-riding trail, bike trail, footpath. There aren’t many places you can ride horses, so that would be awesome.”

Gina Bartlett

Santa Cruz

Veterinarian

“I’d like to take the train to work from Midtown to Westside. That would be my main use of it. It would be so much nicer than driving.”

Francesca Pascale

Santa Cruz

Acupuncturist

“I’d like a trail that I can go places on with my bike or walking, and share with other people and see my neighbors.”

Marianne Acquispasace

Santa Cruz

Certified Nurse

Sones Cellars’ Syrah 2013

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March 29, 2018

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One of the wines chosen by Cabrillo College students in the culinary program for the Dare to Pair food and wine competition on Sunday, April 15, is a full-bodied 2013 Syrah made by Sones Cellars. Michael Sones, winemaker and owner of Sones Cellars, along with his wife Lois, says the Syrah will pair with one of the many special appetizers prepared for this wine-centered, gastronomic event.

With its floral notes, vanilla, and slight whiff of fennel in the nose, the 2013 Syrah’s aromas give a lovely fragrant touch to this ruby-red wine. Add to this its dark cherry, cassis, hint of oak, and dark chocolate notes in the mouth, and you have a dynamic Syrah with deliciously earthy nuances. Grapes for this well-made Syrah ($28) are harvested from Wiedman Vineyard in Santa Clara Valley.

Sones is turning out some excellent wines these days, including a spicy, full-throttle Zinfandel. His 2013 Zinfandel was voted best wine by the public and judges alike at the 2017 Dare to Pair competition—a winning wine to be proud of. And Sones tells me he plans on bottling the 2015 Zin very soon, so don’t miss a sampling of that in his tasting room—it’s a wine to look forward to in the very near future.

Sones Cellars, 334-B Ingalls St., Santa Cruz, 420-1552. sonescellars.com.

Dare to Pair

Cabrillo College Culinary Arts students are teaming up once more with Surf City Vintners for the ninth annual Dare to Pair food and wine challenge. The competition will take place from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 15 in the Surf City Vintners’ tasting rooms in the Swift Street Courtyard complex in Santa Cruz. Enjoy delicious appetizers prepared by Cabrillo College’s culinary students, paired with fine wines from eight participating wineries—and then vote on your favorites. There’s more fun to be had at the Awards Ceremony and After Party, with live music until 5 p.m. Tickets for last year’s Dare to Pair event sold out, so don’t miss out on this year’s event. All proceeds benefit Cabrillo College Culinary Program. Tickets are $75. Visit daretopair.org for more info.

Painted Cork Melds Social Gathering with Art Instruction

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March 29, 2018

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Painted Cork Melds Social Gathering with Art Instruction

Chances are that if you’re working on a painting at home, you’re going to have a glass of wine. But in most art classes, that kind of imbibing is frowned upon. Kimberly Godinho is out to fix that injustice with Painted Cork, which opened in Santa Cruz in mid-January. She opened the first Painted Cork in Folsom in 2010, and then one in Sacramento—but for her third location, Godinho is bringing the painting-and-drinking business to her hometown. She spoke to us about why it’s a good idea to raise a glass and a paintbrush at the same time (or alternately).

How do your ‘Paint and Sip’ classes work?

KIMBERLY GODINHO: We teach acrylic painting classes. We have a professional artist that gets up on stage and walks you through the whole painting of the night, whether it’s a sunflower or beach scene. You’re more than welcome to bring in a bottle of wine or your favorite beer. No hard alcohol—we don’t have a hard alcohol license. And any kind of food. It’s bring your own, it’s very casual. Sometimes people don’t want to drink, and they just bring a latte and that’s totally fine. Some people even bring beer they’ve made themselves, or the favorite bottle that they’ve saved for a long time. We also supply the studio with all of the surrounding restaurants’ menus. We’re laminating them and putting them in a book.

Why combine alcohol and painting?

It takes the edge off with certain people that are nervous, but it gives it a social element, too, which is really fun. People have birthday parties, family reunions, bachelorette parties and everything in-between. Team building is huge, too. There’s no experience necessary in our classes. It’s taught step-by-step all the way through: which brush to pick up, which colors to mix where to put it on the canvas. I like to call it a little sampler version of painting. It’s not like the standard workshop where you pay hundreds of dollars and you go in all weekend and you have to go buy all your art supplies. The classes run $35 to $45 a piece. All the supplies are included in the class. People can walk in and have their little fun social time. They can also experience painting without a big huge commitment and having to buy all the supplies and not even know if you like or what have you. It’s like a little baby step version of trying out painting.

1129 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, 471-8939.

Film Review: ‘Leaning Into the Wind’

A&E
Film

Lisa Jensen

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March 29, 2018

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In my line of work, I’m often asked what my favorite movies are. And no matter how often the question comes up, it always seems to take me by surprise. I usually babble out three or four titles that pop into my head right that minute—say, Chinatown; Annie Hall; Memento; Grand Illusion. The selection usually varies, according to my mood in the moment.

But one title I always include on the list is Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time, German filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer’s stirring 2001 documentary about the life and extraordinary work of “environmental artist” Andy Goldsworthy. Not a conventional biographical doc, it says little about Scotsman Goldsworthy’s personal life. Instead, it’s a vibrant joyride through themes of art, time and nature, expressed through the artist’s powerful, yet intentionally impermanent constructions—required viewing for anyone looking to jumpstart your own creative energy.

Artists and movie lovers who made Rivers and Tides such a long-running hit in Santa Cruz will be thrilled that filmmaker Riedelsheimer once again teams up with Goldsworthy for a new doc, Leaning Into the Wind. It’s an invigorating portrait of the artist 16 years later: older, mellower (perhaps) but no less questing, as he travels the globe revisiting old work (or what’s left of it), setting himself new challenges, and always seeking new ways to look at art, his work, and life.

Goldsworthy continues to be obsessed with the colors, shapes, and movement found in nature. He’s also fascinated by the spirit that lies beneath modern surfaces, whether rural landscape or urban street. Typically, he works with natural materials (leaves, twigs) meant to be altered or destroyed by the caprices of nature. Or else he builds mammoth constructions like an undulating labyrinth of clay brick arches called “Stone Sea,” installed at the St. Louis Art Museum.

In another piece, he sculpts a serpentine burrow up the side of a wall with red clay from Brazil, then lets nature do its work. The clay dries out, and the colors of the piece continue to alter, as a network of unplannable, utterly mesmerizing cracks and fissures complete this enthralling work.

Goldsworthy says he didn’t learn to do this at art school; he credits years spent on a farm for his bond with nature and craftsmanship. There are “two ways of looking at the world,” he muses. “You can walk on the path or you can walk through the hedge.” This is not metaphor, as we see him crawling branch-to-branch about four feet off the ground along a leafless hedge in winter. (Art, he says, “can alter your perspective in a very profound way.”) Later, in the city, green leaves rustle portentously in a dense ornamental hedge as strollers pass by on the sidewalk—until Goldsworthy himself pops out of the end of the hedge, brushes himself off, and ambles off on his way.

Another way he’s inserting himself into his art is by simply lying on the ground—on a slab of country stone, or city concrete—during a light rainfall, or a dusting of snow. When he hops up again, he leaves a crime-scene outline as an after-image on the landscape—but only for a few minutes, until the silhouette begins to fill up with raindrops or fresh snow. Another time, Goldsworthy (ably assisted by his adult daughter, Holly) wraps his hands, including each separate digit, in strips of wet, red flower petals, then holds his hands under a creekside waterfall to wash downriver, staining the creek with a stripe of vibrant color.

Goldsworthy chuckles at admirers who claim, he “floats” or “glides” through nature. “I fall. A lot,” he tells us. “But you have to learn to fall.”

In perhaps the movie’s most haunting, ironically indelible image, the artist sculpts a portal shaped like a man-sized scarab, and positions it near a dark, rocky chamber. When the full moon rises, light alone projects this glowing image of breathtaking beauty and no substance at all, into the darkness.

This movie is a feast. Peel your orbs and dig in!

LEANING INTO THE WIND: ANDY GOLDSWORTHY

(****)

With Andy Goldsworthy. Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer. A Magnolia release. (PG) 93 minutes.

Local Author Leslie Karst Appears at Bookshop Santa Cruz with ‘Death al Fresco’

Christina Waters

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March 28, 2018

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Local Author Leslie Karst Appears at Bookshop Santa Cruz with ‘Death al Fresco’

[dropcap]“I[/dropcap]t was a wristwatch. A pretty expensive one, too, by the looks of it. I reached down to take hold of the watch, but it was entangled in the mat of kelp. Pulling harder, I finally succeeded and the watch came free from the seaweed. And with it, the arm to which it was still attached.”

Gino’s dead! The body discovered by chef Sally Solari belongs to a well-known local fisherman, a regular at Solari’s, the restaurant run by Sally’s father. Gino had staggered out of Solari’s a few nights before, and that was the last time anyone saw him alive.

And so begins the new mystery by Leslie Karst, a vibrant woman with a gleam in her eye and a head full of murder suspects. Some of those suspects—a hard-drinking fisherman, a flirtatious journalist, and the owner of a popular seafood restaurant—find their way into her latest “cozy” mystery. Death al Fresco is the third in her series of Sally Solari mysteries—each one of which uses a sensory theme to flavor the plot. In this book, Sally and her best buddy (sometime boyfriend) Eric are determined to become 21st century Gauguins by enrolling in a plein air watercolor class. The protagonist, once again, is a chef and cycling fanatic, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Karst herself.

For those unfamiliar with the term, Karst explains: “Cozies are light mysteries that take place in a small town with an amateur sleuth, and which contain no on-the-page graphic violence or sex.” Karst says she didn’t actually choose the genre, but “as soon as I started writing the first book, Sally’s voice popped out of my head. And since it was a breezy, slightly sarcastic but fun-loving kind of voice, I knew right away that the book would make a perfect cozy mystery,” she says. Actually, Karst likes to call her books, “snarky cozies,” given Sally’s fondness for the odd swear word and sarcastic riposte.

Karst, a passionate home cook with an enviable arsenal of Italian recipes, admits to the resemblance with Sally. “I’m an ex-lawyer who’s obsessed with food,” she grins. “We’re both recreational cyclists and share the love of dogs, opera, the Giants, and single-barrel bourbons.” And while the author claims that her character “is far braver than I am—I’d never have the nerve to investigate an actual murder,” those who know her might disagree. “One of the best things about being a writer is that you can give your characters traits you don’t have but might wish you did.” Hence Sally’s tall stature, her ’57 T-Bird convertible, and Italian heritage.

The minute she arrived in Santa Cruz to attend UCSC, Karst fell under the spell of the “laid-back beach vibes,” the redwoods, and the Italian fishing community legacy. All of those elements—plus a few strands of newer, politically-correct “food activists”—powered her leap into mystery-writing as soon as she retired from Watsonville’s Grunsky Law Firm.

In this, her third mystery, Karst shows off a fluency with dialogue, well-placed red herrings, and mouth-watering food descriptions. The pages of Death al Fresco practically turn themselves once Sally starts to obsess about gathering clues and suspects into a satisfying solution, all the while juggling the non-stop action of a busy restaurant kitchen. Karst’s newest book is loaded with sights and atmosphere of her Santa Cruz home, and locals will have lots of fun spotting their dining landmarks, walking trails and beaches scattered through the pages. Since both Sally and her Italian father own seafood restaurants, the author includes a few of the mouth-watering recipes for dishes served in those restaurants. “I took a class as a culinary arts student at Cabrillo College called Menu Planning with Sue Slater, and I still go back to my notes from that class to make sure restaurant dishes I include in my books make sense from a food-costing perspective,” she says.

The recipe she provides for tagliarini pasta with brown butter, sage and porcini mushrooms is worth the price of the book all by itself.

Leslie Karst, her feisty attitude, and her latest Sally Solari culinary caper will be on hand at Bookshop Santa Cruz from 7-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28 to launch and sign copies of her new book, Death al Fresco. lesliekarstauthor.com.

Music Picks Mar. 28-Apr. 3

Cat Johnson

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March 28, 2018

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Live music highlights for the week of March 28, 2018.

WEDNESDAY 3/28

PUNK

THE DICKIES & THE QUEERS

What’s better than seeing one classic punk band? How about two? As punk rock rolls into its 40s, it’s always a treat to see any band that helped to create and define the genre. This Wednesday, seminal L.A. punks the Dickies join forces with New Hampshire originals the Queers to melt some faces and prove that when it comes to being a snotty punk, age is just a number. MAT WEIR

INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $17/adv, $20/door. 429-4135.

THURSDAY 3/29

INDIE-PUNK

TITUS ANDRONICUS

According to lead singer Patrick Stickles, the latest Titus Andronicus record, A Productive Cough, is a departure from their previous work in that it contains no “punk bangers.” That’s an odd statement, considering that the group is best known for its 2010 rock opera The Monitor, which centers around the theme of the American Civil War. The album even opens with a sample of Abraham Lincoln’s Lyceum address. But, for all the album’s grandiosity, much of the music on it and their other records was punk. So in that sense he’s right. A Productive Cough, meanwhile, sounds much more like swinging, drunken sing-along bar music. AC

INFO: 9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $15. 429-6994.

THURSDAY 3/29

GYPSY ROCK

DIEGO’S UMBRELLA

San Francisco’s unofficial musical ambassador of gypsy rock, Diego’s Umbrella creates floor-rattling rock ’n’ roll that hits listeners from the word go. But the band is no one-trick pony. Underneath all that rock ’n’ roll are carefully crafted vocal harmonies, tight fiddle runs, and an appreciation of international music tradition—in particular the raucous, high-energy Roma traditions, styles and techniques that have been carried down for generations. Also on the bill: Monkeyhands, a local six-piece that traverses funk, ska, blues, reggae and more. CJ

INFO: 8:30 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $9/adv, $12/door. 479-1854.

THURSDAY 3/29

AMERICANA

MARLEY’S GHOST

This West Coast ensemble leans into the bluegrass realm, but steers clear of the rules of traditional string music. These guys have been playing music since the mid-’80s and create gorgeous songs with an emphasis on lush vocal harmonies. There’s a late ’60s aesthetic to the music—a little bit folk, a little bit rock, intrigued by tradition while simultaneously bucking against it. It’s some feel-good folk-rock music. AC

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Michael’s on Main, 2591 S Main St., Soquel. $17/adv, $20/door. 479-9777.

FRIDAY 3/30

REGGAE/DANCEHALL

TANYA STEPHENS

An acclaimed reggae artist who has been touted as one of the best songwriters to come out of Jamaica in recent decades, Tanya Stephens is her own woman. A prolific artist, Stephens sings honest and fearlessly about life, the people around her and her unique perspective on the world, intelligently tackling social issues, including homophobia. A pioneering artist in the reggae/dancehall genre, Stephens first hit the scene with her late-’90s hit song “Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet.” She has since released numerous albums, launched an acting career, opened a restaurant and co-founded a record label. CJ

INFO: 9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $25/door. 479-1854.

SATURDAY 3/31

FOLK

PAINTED MANDOLIN

Among the plethora of Grateful Dead cover bands in the world, Painted Mandolin is a unique gem. Considering Jerry Garcia had 30 years of recorded material, it’s a breath of fresh air to see people covering his full repertoire of tunes, from his days in Old and In the Way to his folk days duetting with David Grisman—and, yes, even some Dead tunes. Just don’t expect this to be your normal GD cover show, as this night of acoustic songs stars a supergroup of musicians including Joe Craven, who played with Garcia and Grisman, Matt Hartle and Roger Sideman (China Cats), and Larry Graff (Slugs N’ Roses). MW

INFO: 8 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $20. 427-2227.

SATURDAY 3/31

ELECTRONIC

JAAP BLONK & NINA DANTE

If contemporary electronic music is your thing, strap in, friend, you’re in for a treat. Jaap Blonk, an internationally renowned sound poet, electronic musician and composer based in Holland, is joining forces with soprano Nina Dante, a vocalist with the Chicago-based Fonema Consort, for an evening of “invented languages and electronically augmented extended vocal performance.” Though one can’t be certain what exactly to expect, chances are good that it will be mind-opening, musical-boundary-stretching and thought-provoking. CJ

INFO: 8 p.m. Wind River, 421 Wild Way, Santa Cruz. $10/student, $15/gen. indexical.org.

MONDAY 4/2

JAZZ

JOEY DeFRANCESCO + THE PEOPLE

Joey DeFrancesco possesses more than enough technique and imagination for three organists, but the Hammond B-3 maestro isn’t content to rule the console. Touring in the wake of last year’s Grammy Award nominated Project Freedom, he’s also contributing on keyboards, trumpet and vocals. The album is DeFrancesco’s soulful manifesto about music’s role in society, and includes his expansive interpretations of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and the spiritual “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” He’s joined by the People, a quartet featuring drummer Jason Brown, guitarist Dan Wilson and saxophonist Troy Roberts. ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $32/adv, $37/door. 427-2227.

TUESDAY 4/3

INDIE-POP

SURE SURE

L.A. quartet Sure Sure takes art-rock influences like Talking Heads and Vampire Weekend and mixes in dancey backbeats, odd chords and catchy pop hooks. The four-piece mixes an assortment of random instruments—they supposedly live in a crazy band house lined with cables and instruments—into a nice blend of weirdo pop music. AC

INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $10/adv, $12/door. 429-4135.

IN THE QUEUE

BAD LIGHT

Blues-driven stoner sludge. Wednesday at Crepe Place

TROUT STEAK REVIVAL

Colorado bluegrass outfit out of Denver. Thursday at Catalyst

ALICE DIMICELE

Singer-songwriter and her band, Force of Nature. Friday at Kuumbwa

LOOPED OUT

Producer showcase featuring Tahaj the 1st, Brycon, and Baghead. Friday at Crepe Place

AJA VU/STEALIN’ CHICAGO

Tribute to Steely Dan and Chicago. Saturday at Flynn’s Cabaret

Giveaway: Theo Croker

Music

Cat Johnson

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March 28, 2018

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A trumpeter, composer and bandleader out of Leesburg, Florida, Theo Croker is a rising star who’s captured the attention of some of jazz’s biggest names for his virtuosity and innovative style. As legendary trumpeter Donald Byrd said, “There are good, great and nice musical players, but then there are phenomenal instrumentalists such as Theo. I would place Theo in a class of musicians who will redirect the flow, change and alter the current of today’s New Jazz.” Back in the States after nearly a decade living and working in China, Croker and his band, DVRK FUNK (pronounced “dark funk”), perform at the Kuumbwa on April 19.

INFO: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 19. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $27/adv, $32/door. 427-2227. WANT TO GO? Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 12 to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the show.

Love Your Local Band: Alex Lucero & Live Again

A&E
Music

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March 28, 2018

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Love Your Local Band: Alex Lucero & Live Again

It was always Alex Lucero’s dream to be a full-time musician, but as he toiled away at different jobs, music took a back seat to making ends meet.

“It’s just been what I wanted to do ever since I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life,” Lucero says.

About a year before moving to Santa Cruz from Oakdale, he started to make that happen by gigging a lot. When he arrived in Santa Cruz a year and a half ago, he had to start over, but was fortunate enough to get a Monday night residency at the Sand Bar in Capitola. It was a nice gig that made it convenient for bookers to come check him out.

“Everything’s kind of sprung from the Sand Bar, weirdly enough,” Lucero says. “We went from the last year and a half only playing at Zelda’s and the Sand Bar. Now we are playing pretty much every place around here, and just loving it.”

Some shows are billed as Alex Lucero, and others as Alex Lucero and Live Again. His solo gigs feature a lot of the same songs, but lean heavier into the realm of singer-songwriter material. His Live Again shows have a lot more funk. For both set ups, the unifying factor is soul music.

“My favorite genre is soul music—Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke. That’s my wheelhouse. That’s my favorite music of all time,” Lucero says. “I try to play that every single show we play, regardless of the lineup.”

Lucero has two new albums—one solo, one with Live Again—slated for release this month. You can see him perform with his full band on March 30.

INFO: 8 p.m. Friday, March 30. Flynn’s Cabaret, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15/adv, $20/door. 335-2800.

5 Things to Do in Santa Cruz County Mar. 28-Apr. 3

Things To Do This Week

GT Staff

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March 28, 2018

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5 Things to Do in Santa Cruz County Mar. 28-Apr. 3

Event highlights for the week of March 28, 2018.

Green Fix

Cesar Chavez Day of Service

March 31 is national Cesar Chavez Day, honoring the legacy of the civil rights and labor movement activist. And is there a better way to commemorate Chavez’s legacy and continued relevance than volunteering on a farm? The Homeless Garden Project is hosting lunch and a lecture by long time Watsonville farmer Antonio Rocha and his daughter, Adriana, who was this year’s recipient of the City of Watsonville Cesar Chavez Award for Community Service. All ages are welcome; for safety, organizers ask that children are accompanied by an adult and everyone wear close-toed shoes.

INFO: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, March 31. Homeless Garden Project, 30 West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz. 426-3609. homelessgardenproject.org. Free.

Art Seen

‘We Feed You’

popouts1813-artseen California produces and distributes nearly half of all fruits, nuts and vegetables in the country. The exported $5.16 billion worth of almonds and $5.58 billion of grapes last year speaks for itself, but who is doing the work to feed the nation? Tending to and harvesting millions of pounds of crops is backbreaking work for laborers who have few to no rights. After working with individuals from the United Farm Workers (UFW), Victor Cartagena compiled a few of the stories of laborers behind our food. “Behind every salad is a story” is the motto of the Museum of Art and History’s latest exhibit, and these stories are often of injustice and struggle against bureaucracy.

INFO: Show opens Friday, April 6 and runs through Sunday, July 22. Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. 429-1964. santacruzmah.org. $10 general admission, $8 students, free on First Fridays. Photo: “Labor Tea” by Victor Cartagena, Commissioned by the San Jose Museum of Art Courtesy of the artist.

Saturday 3/31

‘In Her Shoes’: Listening, Witnessing and Honoring the Lives of Women of Color

As Women’s History Month comes to a close, join the Resource Center for Nonviolence and Sisters in Solidarity for an evening of music, storytelling and spoken word to celebrate the lives and legacies of women of color everywhere. Local talent includes renowned musician Gina Rene, three-time Grand Slam poetry champion Queen Jasmeen, 15-year-old activist Carmen Azmita and many more.

INFO: 6 p.m. Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz. brownpapertickets.com. General admission: $15/$20. Senior/student: $10/$15. Photo: Gina Marie.

Saturday 3/31

First Annual Santa Cruz Seed Exchange

You’ve heard of stamp collecting, but chances are you haven’t heard of seed collecting. Seed collecting yields a much more fruitful outcome, pun intended, and insures a more biodiverse crop. Don’t worry if you don’t have any seeds, there will be free ones on site for everyone to get started. If that’s not enough, Master Chef Rick Cook will also be serving up samples of artisan barbecue. If you are bringing seeds, the event organizers ask that your plant be healthy and you label your seeds—no one wants sick, unidentified plants or a “feed me Seymour” moment.

INFO: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tres Pueblos/Veterans of Foreign Wars. 2259 7th Ave. Santa Cruz. Free.

Saturday 3/31

Free Swim Lessons

Learning to swim is a critical part of every child’s life. Drowning is one of the main causes of accidental death—an average of 10 children drown every day according to the Center for Disease Control. But many parents don’t put their kids in swimming lessons because they are often time-consuming and expensive. In light of this, Seahorse Swim School is offering free swimming lessons for anyone and everyone this spring. The lessons happen rain or shine and if you can’t make it to this one, there will also be more free lessons on April 28, May 5 and June 2.

INFO: 1-3 p.m. Seascape Sports Club, 1505 Seascape Blvd. Aptos. 476-7946. seahorseswimschool.com. Free.

Why the River Street Camp is Working

Local News

Andrea Patton

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March 28, 2018

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Chris Monteith likes keeping a low profile. The lanky 6-foot-1 54-year-old may have managed to fly under the radar as he’s navigated a wide range of jobs—bike store owner, research analyst, electrician, Costa Rica mountain bike guide—as well as positions at Encompass and the Homeless Services Center. But as director of the River Street Camp, Monteith has had to adjust to the spotlight—he’s pretty much always on call, and in demand. And, despite his reluctance to make himself the center of attention, he seems to be thriving.

“I don’t think they could have picked a better person to lead this. He is so in tune,” says Troy Owen, who lives and works at the new camp. “He knows what to do when stuff pops off unexpectedly. We go to him a lot.”

The camp, located at 1220 River St., is the city of Santa Cruz’s latest effort to address the issue of homelessness, and Monteith is in charge of the site’s daily workings. The unlocked gates are monitored by First Alarm from the outside, and a Santa Cruz Police Department trailer is parked up the street. “This area in here is mine to run,” he says. “The politics, the city, the police are all outside.”

Susie O’Hara, a city analyst, met Monteith through the Downtown Accountability Program, and offered him the job, she says, because she wanted someone with “a trauma-informed approach.” Owen says the camp’s trauma workshop, required for all residents, has helped him de-escalate difficult situations, and lets him think outside the box when problems arise.

Adam Carothers, one of Monteith’s assistants, brings his support dog to work each day. Lucifer, a Brittany spaniel, is Carothers’ preferred tool for handling tense situations. “If anyone’s ever stressed out, I toss him their way,” Carothers says. “Everyone’s a little different, but for most people it brings them right down.”

Clearly, this is the front line of the city’s attempt to deal with its homelessness problem. Monteith says the camp offers fewer barriers to entry than traditional homeless programs. Many of the campers didn’t have access to county services until now.

O’Hara says Santa Cruz County officials have been responsive to Monteith’s requests for help, usually sending someone within the hour. Pets are allowed, although there have been fewer than O’Hara and Monteith expected. Partners may cohabitate in their tents, each of which offers a modicum of privacy. Monteith says that just having personal space generally lowers stress levels for everyone. There are currently 62 people staying in 50 available city-provided tents.

Since the program started a month ago, seven people have left. One went to Janus, and another to Pageant House, a veterans transition home. The others, Monteith says, just decided it wasn’t the right place for them.

“My vision was to create a community that was self-sustaining, self-regulating, where it didn’t need some sort of authoritative factor to regulate everything,” he says. “And I found this to be true. Everyone takes care of themselves for the most part. Those people who are not doing well in the community have left, and that’s primarily driven by the rest of the people who use our services.”

There are two spots for people to gather—a small smoking area, and a larger white tent where food is served. Monteith says they’ve brought some board games and a corn hole set to encourage socializing. Overall, the camp is quiet, and he says most campers keep to themselves.

In addition, 35 of the campers, including Owen, are part of the Downtown Streets Team and earn stipends for cleaning up around the city.

Owen, who joined the camp at the first move-in four weeks ago, says the Downtown Streets Team has helped him make a résumé, secure job interviews and get his life in order. “You’ve got to start somewhere. I just call this a grooming grounds for better things to come,” he says.

Owen says if he had to sum up the camp, “in one word, it would be family.” He shows me what he optimistically calls his “three-room” tent. He’s sectioned off his living room/bedroom, a closet, and the pantry—a box with sandwich supplies and some snacks.

Every day, campers get dinner at 5 p.m., and volunteers come to help serve from 4:30 to 6 p.m., which is the one opportunity the community has to come inside the gates—a setup that Owen admits looks like a prison from the outside, given the the fence’s barbed wire, but he says he doesn’t even notice it anymore.

Each camper agrees to 27 campground rules—including prohibitions against drugs, alcohol and visitors. Campers must arrive and depart the campsite via a designated shuttle. They get access to a storage facility when they sign off on 12 more rules.

Monteith says so far the shuttle service has been the biggest challenge. Administrators have had to change the schedule a couple of times and hope to keep it stable for the rest of the program. He says the drivers try to be as flexible as possible, for instance, when they have appointments. But campers have to be on time to catch a scheduled ride. He says he has actually gone out to pick up people who have missed the shuttle.

To get on the waiting list for the camp, homeless individuals can go to the library at 10 a.m. on Fridays, and Homeless Persons Health Project sends referrals. They keep a few spots open for emergency referrals as well.

The camp is set to end in three months, when the fiscal year ends. O’Hara says that June 30 is a hard end date because the $400,000 in funding for the project—which comes from the salaries of two vacant positions at the city manager’s office—will run out then. The county is paying $100,000 toward the camp, a quarter of the camp’s cost. City leaders are working on the next steps for a successful transition into “phase two,” which O’Hara says will involve a structure in a leased lot, but she doesn’t know where it will be yet.

Even the idea of an end date is already making residents like Owen nervous.

“When they do end it, you’re going to come in here and see the scratch marks,” he says, “and they are going to be mine.”

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

Piero Lorenzo

Real Estate Broker

Santa Cruz

Steve Bennett

Corralitos

Musician at Roaring Camp

Gina Bartlett

Santa Cruz

Veterinarian

Francesca Pascale

Santa Cruz

Acupuncturist

Marianne Acquispasace

Santa Cruz

Certified Nurse

Dare to Pair

LEANING INTO THE WIND: ANDY GOLDSWORTHY

THE DICKIES & THE QUEERS

TITUS ANDRONICUS

DIEGO’S UMBRELLA

MARLEY’S GHOST

TANYA STEPHENS

PAINTED MANDOLIN

JAAP BLONK & NINA DANTE

JOEY DeFRANCESCO + THE PEOPLE

SURE SURE

IN THE QUEUE

Green Fix

Art Seen

‘We Feed You’

Saturday 3/31

Saturday 3/31

Saturday 3/31