Over The Fence with Greg Brown

Eclectic Yard Sale in the HP

The annual Hollywood Park Neighborhood Mega Yard Sale is Saturday October 3rd. This fun neighborhood event has been going on since 2003. HP residents Kathy Spitzer and Debbie Keller, with help from Dwight Coleman and Mona Royster, launched it back when they were Hollywood Park Neighborhood Association board members.

Bargain shoppers will be trolling the neighborhood looking for deals and treasures at the MegaYard sale. Over 50 residents will be participating, hence the Mega.

Hollywood Park is an eclectic neighborhood, which means the yard sale will probably be a bit eclectic, too.

I toured the Mega Yard Sale last year and got to know some neighbors and also sift through all their memories up for sale. You get to know a person by the items they have at their yard sale; “Oh, I didn’t know Kevin was such a big Gnome collector.” I love the yard sale stories on the news where a guy buys a Jackson Pollack masterpiece for a dollar or the painting of JFK that was worth thousands.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll get lucky and find a rare art piece for a dollar.

Simple tips for yard sale shoppers: Don’t dress like you’re headed to the yacht club, get there early, and bring small bills. Oh yeah, and don’t forget your haggling hat!

Second Saturday at Panama Pottery

Panama Pottery and the Panama Artists Collective on 24^th street had a steady stream of neighbors, patrons, and customers visit on Second Saturday.

Panama Pottery owner Maria Vargas poses with friends and customers on Second Saturday.

Maria Vargas over at Panama Pottery was having a fall pottery sale to coincide with the 2015 Sacramento Open Studios. She was floating around the yard speaking with customers and friends who came to visit and shop. There were also some cool tunes and a Burgess Brothers Food Truck serving the art admirers. Good que!

Once I left the Panama Pottery retail yard I wandered into the Panama Factory where the artist’s studios are located. They have added new artists and new studios to the Panama Factory.

The art in Studio 800 was visually stimulating. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of it. Unusual artistic ceramic creations by Clarissa Pezone and Marsha Schindler.

I’m not an art critic or an art collector…I just like to look at these cool creations at the Panama Artists Collective. One of my favorite little pieces was Clarissa’s blue ceramic mugs with teeth on the lip of the mug.

She did tell me a dentist purchased several of the tooth laden ceramic mugs at a previous art show. A drooling mug, instead of a drooling cup.

The location off the beaten path makes the Panama Artists Collective more artsy, relaxed and stimulating. There isn’t the chaotic Second Saturday mob scene that sometimes occurs in Midtown. There’s time and space to actually consume the art.

They’ll be having another artist open house next Second Saturday in October. Like the sign said, “Welcome to the Factory”.

Ice Cream and a Movie Under The Stars

There were quite a few things happening over in Hollywood Park over the weekend. The HPNA had their ice cream social and outdoor movie night at Hollywood Park Elementary. Gunther’s ice cream, Nathan’s hot dogs and Disney’s Big Hero 6 were the main attractions at this yearly Hollywood Park event. Some folks even brought side dishes. How neighborly.

There was also a raffle of local prizes that were donated by local businesses including Hollywood Hardware, Spenser’s Framing, Panama Pottery and Phono Select Records.

After the hot dogs, side dishes and ice cream were consumed, folks wandered over to the large pop-up movie screen on the Hollywood Park Elementary Field. Sitting on blankets and lounge chairs people munched on free popcorn while enjoying a family movie under the stars.

Crosswalk on Freeport to Be Removed

Some crosswalks make life easier for pedestrians and some crosswalks seem to be a danger to public safety. There’s a crosswalk on Freeport and Virginia Way that is being eliminated.

I call it, “The Crosswalk of Death”. Luckily, no fatalities have been reported.

The crosswalk on Freeport and Virginia is being removed by the City of Sacramento for public safety reasons. It’s an uncontrolled crosswalk. Which means there are no traffic signals or stop signs. Hector Barren, a city traffic engineer told me “We want to make sure that Freeport remains a safe area. What we find, and what studies show, is that having a crosswalk by itself with no treatments, like a hybrid beacon, under certain roadway conditions is not sufficient enough.”It’s the type of crosswalk somebody who goes sky-diving might enjoy. There’s definitely an adrenaline rush to using it. There are four lanes and two additional lanes coming from the side streets. A stressful situation for a pedestrian trying to get across the street to go to Raley’s or the Rite-Aid shopping center. Nearby residents called the crosswalk “dangerous” and “sketch”.  One area resident likened it to the video game Frogger, where a player must successfully guide a frog between opposing lanes of trucks, cars, and other vehicles to avoid being roadkill.

I think that explains the problem perfectly.

A good idea by the City Of Sacramento to remove the crosswalk that was a real life Frogger for pedestrians.

Got an item for Over The Fence? Greg@valcomnews.com

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Over The Fence with Greg Brown

Mahoroba Bakery Featured On Public Television

Locals know all about Mahoroba Bakery in Land Park. But now, the secret is out.

Mahar­­oba Japanese Bakery was recently featured on Public Television’s A Few Great Bakeries. I caught it the other night on KVIE. Yes, I’m a supporter of public television and local businesses.

Mahoroba in Sacramento was prominently featured along with some of the finest ba­­­keries in the United States. From the Columbus Baking Company in Syracuse, New York to the Minerva Bakery in Mckeesport, Pennsylvania.

We now have a bona fide star along Freeport Blvd!

I paid a visit to Mahoroba Bakery on a Thursday morning and they had a steady stream of customers in the cool octagon shaped building.

In fact, the bakery has been busy non-stop since the TV show aired on Public Television. They have been flooded with customers.

When I dropped by the owner/baker Naruske Monguchi was furiously rolling dough to bake the famous kobe creams. He does it all with a smile.

Owner/baker Naruske Monguchi prepares the smiley faces on the Anpanman pastries.

Lauren Okamoto, who has worked at Mahoroba for 6 years, said, “He’s a one man army. It’s hard for him to stop moving”.

The bakery has been getting a lot of first timers ever since “A Few Great Bakeries” aired. Tim Burns was driving through town from Lake Tahoe on his way to Walnut Creek when he decided to stop by. He saw A Few Great Bakeries on KQED in the bay area and decided to try almost everything in the bakery. He had two big pink boxes of Japanese baked goodies to take home. He said, “If I don’t try it all my wife and kids will say, ‘You didn’t get the Chocolate Hat?’ ”

His wife will be thrilled!

Last Saturday at 6am there were actually quite a few people waiting in the parking lot for the bakery to open. It opens at 7.

Lauren Okamoto, who’s worked at Mahoroba for 6 years, told me the bakery has been getting calls from all over the country including New York, Texas, Pennsyvania and Vermont. They want the baked goods shipped cross country overnight express. Lauren said, “The quality control would be hard”.

People gotta have the kobe creams!

A lot of people must have seen the program, because, the weekend after the show aired there were lines out the door and a long wait for kobe creams and chocolate hats, which are among two of their specialties.

What food tourists don’t know is Mahoroba has an outdoor patio with a great view of Freeport Blvd. A great place to watch the weird that occurs along Freeport.

New Dining At Old Crepe Escape Location

Last October I wrote about the new restaurant that will be taking over the Crepe Escape building that shut down after a devastating fire.

Rafi Rozbahani, The owner of Café Dantorels in Curtis Park, is busy completing construction on the new spot on Freeport Blvd in Land Park.

I ran into Rafi a couple weeks ago at Dantorels and he told me the name of the new restaurant will be “Meet & Eat”. His wife even showed me the new logo on her smart phone.

And no, it’s not Meat and Eat. It’s Meet and Eat. Like friends meeting up to eat.

When I spoke with Rafi last October he told me the new restaurant will offer casual, healthy food like salads and sandwiches. They’ll have burgers, too. A variety of different foods will lean more towards a healthy direction like a signature salmon burger. They will also offer a variety of local craft beer.

They also spent some money on the building to make it look nicer. It’s basically a whole new building. The patio will be used year round for outdoor dining and…meeting and eating.

Look for the new casual dining spot to open in October.

Land Park Porch Swing Locked Up

There’s nothing like a good porch sittin’, right? In William Land Park they have a metal porch bench swing that is near the WPA rock garden. It has a great view of the park. It’s also a good place to sit back, relax, and swing.

I went to sit and swing and…what? I didn’t notice until I started to swing that the bench swing had been chained up and locked.

William Land Park swing chained up.

According to the Land Park Volunteer Corp’s  Forrest Neff  “Some city employee ground off the safety stop which made it very unsafe. I am in the process of getting it fixed.”

Lets hope the cool bench swing near the WPA rock garden is back in business, soon.

Land Park Trees On The Chopping Block

Another thing I noticed while enjoying Wm Land Park is all the trees that were marked for death with a big orange flat line across the trunk. I thought an orange frowny face would be more appropriate.

There were quite a few marked for death. Seemed to be an astounding number of them.

Pictured here are just some of the 66 trees that are scheduled to be removed from the park by the Department Of Urban Forestry.

City spokesperson Marycon C. Razo sent a press release stating 66 trees were scheduled for the Department of Urban Forestry wood chipper.

She added, “The trees slated to be removed are in poor health and structural conditions. Due to the drought, trees are more predisposed to disease, and are more susceptible to problems.  Trees that are dead or dying, in poor structural condition, poorly placed, or are otherwise unsustainable are being removed. Of course, public safety is a primary concern.”

This big oak tree was showing signs of rot and was removed by the Dept. Of Urban Forestry.

Last week there was a big plein tree NOT scheduled for removal that had a giant limb smash the roof of a car. An enormous eucyliptus tree near Funderland also lost a big limb that crushed the roof of a car. Nobody was injured. That tree was actually removed.

It is unfortunate to see trees marked for removal and ultimately taken down, but it’s something that needs to be done for the health and safety of the remaining trees in Land Park and the people who enjoy it.

Land Park Raley’s Officially Announces Move to Capital Nursery Site

The Land Park Raley’s has finally, officially, declared they are moving over to the Old Capital Nursery location on Freeport Boulevard. It’s the worst kept secret in the neighborhood! I kid Raley’s, but it’s true.

They filed paperwork with the city to start the process of building a new store. No word on how long that will take, but the neighborhood should be excited about a new modern-day Raley’s Supermarket.

A rendering of the new Land Park Raley’s set to finally replace the shuttered Capital Nursery.

I first found out about it through the Raley’s Land Park Facebook page. They posted a message along with a new store design using the hashtag #LandParkRising

According to Raley’s Chelsea Minor the new Raley’s will be expected to have “ abundant outdoor seating areas, pedestrian and bicycle friendly access, and a mix of retailers catered to serve the neighborhood”.

Oh yeah. And no gas station. Which means no controversy.

Some people have asked, why build a new Raley’s a few blocks away? Chelsea told me “That location has its limitations and we’ve made some improvements to the store, but we’ve kinda hit our peak there and are looking forward to bringing a whole new fresh feel to the neighborhood.”

When I spoke to Chelsea over the phone I told her Raley’s is my family’s neighborhood grocery store and we’ve “spent quite a bundle over there”. She was a good sport and said, “Well we appreciate the support! That store has been an integral part of the community. “

And she was right. The Land Park Raley’s has been serving customers for 57 years. Raley’s is an old school Sacramento institution.

The press release stated, “Raley’s is collaborating with MO Capital to develop a facility with design elements and landscape plans that tie the project to the unique feel of the Land Park residential community”.

Sounds like Raley’s is open to feedback from the neighborhood about the feel and design of the project. Listening to neighbors/customers who have supported the Land Park Raley’s all these years is probably a good thing.

The neighborhood was greatly affected by the closure of Capital Nursery. It was a local gem. It left a gaping hole in the community.

A new Raley’s will fill the empty gap and make that spot bustle again along Freeport Blvd.

Got an item for Over The Fence? Send me an e-mail. Greg@valcomnews.com