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Behind the Masks: Aptos Man has Made Millions on Trick or Treating
Behind the Masks Aptos Man has Made Millions on Trick or Treating By Brad Kava There’s probably no one in Santa Cruz who likes Halloween more than Chris Zephro. A decade ago, he started his mask-making company, Trick or Treat Studios with $250,000 and some designers who knew how to make the creepiest masks. Today, this lover of all things spooky, sells $20 million worth of masks and collectibles from a Soquel warehouse. Chris Zephro has taken his teenaged daughter to meet stars like Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne, when he does costumes for their shows. She still doesn’t think he’s cool, he says. We do. More recently, he branched…
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Frights of Passage: A History of Being Scared, Madame Tussaud to Santa Cruz Dark Rides
Frights of Passage A History of Being Scared, Madame Tussaud to Santa Cruz Dark Rides by John Koenig Dark and shadowy places have always held a fascination for those who dare to enter them. Caverns and caves, moonlit graveyards, ominous forests, and abandoned houses were the “haunted attractions” that inspired dares to enter in the days long before amusement parks, movies, or even electric lights. Do you or don’t you dare to enter the Fright Walk? It’s part of the local history of scary rides. Photo: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Ghost stories told around campfires were the main source of supernatural chills until around 200 years ago, when a legendary…
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DJ Shae Slays in Santa Cruz
DJ Shae Slays in Santa Cruz Santa Cruz’s youngest DJ gets crowds dancing By Sophie Levine When most people think of a DJ, the typical association is not a 13-year-old playing shows for $50 an hour. But from elementary and middle school dances to parties, weddings, and golf tournaments, teenager Shae Mandell does just that, right here in Santa Cruz—who needs an allowance? Two turntables and a microphone, plus one MacBook. Some nice speakers, headphones, and a free program called Serato DJ Lite is what it takes to get the crowds dancing and put a smile on Shae’s face. Oh, and don’t forget the custom gray and blue hat with…
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He Built it, They Came
He Built it, They Came Paul Bailey Scored With Aptos Athletic Fields By Brad Kava Santa Cruz Realtor Paul Bailey was driving down Highway 1 when he spied a construction crew widening the road and moving piles of dirt and rocks—tons of them. He did what few people would do. He pulled over and talked to the crew, asking them what they were doing to get rid of the rocks. He figured they were paying $15 a yard to truck and dump the dirt in Morgan Hill and found out they could only do 10 to 12 loads a day. Watching every Aptos High football player sincerely thank builder Paul…
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Mole & Mariachi Festival and a Fiesta on the Beach!
Mole & Mariachi Festival and a Fiesta on the Beach! The Beach Fiesta includes culture not just from Mexico, but from Colombia. Photo Contributed The 7th annual Mole & Mariachi Festival on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park (144 School St.) in downtown Santa Cruz. The festival features mariachi bands, folkloric dancers, kids’ activities and the main event: the Mole Tasting Competition. Mole — a traditional savory, sweet Mexican sauce, sometimes made using chocolate — will be available to sample. Mole tasting kits will be available for purchase. Attendees will have the option to purchase six tasting tickets for $10.…
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Cabrillo College Wins NASA Swarmathon: Around Town August 2019
Cabrillo College Wins NASA Swarmathon Around Town August 2019 Edges Out 23 Other Colleges and Universities in Competition’s Fourth and Final Year Cabrillo College’s Robotics Club has won the NASA Swarmathon, a nationwide autonomous robotics competition with the goal of advancing future space exploration. Cabrillo received the award at the NASA Swarmathon Workshop and Awards Ceremony held at the Kennedy Space Center June 11-13. Cabrillo has participated in the NASA Swarmathon since 2016, when it entered a field of 20 universities and colleges. Cabrillo won the virtual competition, in which participants wrote code for the rover and the code was executed in a simulator. In 2017 and 2018 the Cabrillo…
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From Farm to Film New Business Teaches Kids to be the Next Steven Spielberg
From Farm to Film New Business Teaches Kids to be the Next Steven Spielberg By Kevin Painchaud Credit Kevin Painchaud. Making of the movie “The McGuffin” It’s pretty common in our area to go into a restaurant and expect amazing food come straight from the farm. What if you took your kids to a farm and they came back as filmmakers? That is exactly what The Aptos based family farm, Thomas Farms, is doing. Thomas Farms an organic flower farm owned by Aptos locals Kari Lee Thomas and Joshua Thomas. After running a successful business supplying beautiful flowers to New Leaf and Whole Foods and being pioneers in organic farming,…
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Shelter Dogs and Other Blessings
Shelter Dogs and Other Blessings By Sheila Borgman On a Sunday morning in May, my 14-year-old daughter Eva sulked as we drove to the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter (SCCAS). The night before I’d told her she couldn’t go to a bonfire with older kids and she’d been giving me the silent treatment ever since. We were headed to our weekly volunteer shift at SCCAS, something we’d been doing since Eva turned 13. Looking back on our eight years at the Shelter, I realize now that our time together went far beyond hanging out with dogs once a week. It was a way to connect during the spooky teenage years…
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Summer School of Rock
Summer School of Rock Local music school offers kids a chance to join a band and play gigs By Nik Jones Bathed in colorful stage lights and shrouded in a dense, milky cloud from a fog machine, the six members of Full Disclosure rocked the stage of the Rio Theatre in June. They were one of four bands recording an original song written during Be Natural Music’s weeklong summer band camp. “There’s something about having that opportunity to be on stage at a really good gig, and not having to stress about all the issues that come with being in a band,” said Emily Marschall-Niswonger, 15, who played saxophone and…
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Cabrillo Festival Family Days Coming Up in Downtown Santa Cruz
Cabrillo Festival Family Days Coming Up in Downtown Santa Cruz Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is coming up in August with something for everyone in the community. This highly respected cultural organization has strived to include more and more free family programming to its already brimming two weeks of activities built around new music for orchestra. Beginning on Sunday evening, July 28, the downtown Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium becomes the hub of festivities that include free Open Orchestra Rehearsals, conducted by Music Director Cristian Măcelaru. The rehearsals provide a fascinating opportunity to watch the creative process as 70 orchestra musicians, composers-in-residence, and conductor bring the works to life. Visitors are…
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The Answer to “I’m Bored”
The Answer to “I’m Bored” By Mary Gaukel Opportunities for career exploration are abundant in our county and summer is a perfect time to connect your young person with some career exploration. In this month’s article, and in next month’s, I will share examples, from throughout the county, of short-term and ongoing activities with related jobs. Connecting students with experiences that are linked to specific careers help youth become self-aware and real-world aware. Teen Kitchen Project – Culinary, Dietician The Teen Kitchen program offers an excellent opportunity for growth & team building while developing valuable hands-on skills. Together youth prepare meals that are delivered to those in the community who…
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Stars Therapy Services: Supporting Children and Families
Stars Therapy Services: Supporting Children and Families The relationship between you and your child is at the heart of our intervention services. We focus on parent education, family involvement, and natural routines to encourage a child’s growth across the five areas of human development. The staff at Stars Therapy Services are on a mission to empower and support parents because parents know their unique little one best. When your child feels safe and loved, they grow and learn! Social and emotional development describes children’s ability to experience and express their feelings, form relationships, and explore the world around them. Social and emotional development is the foundation for all other learning.…
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Keep Santa Cruz Laughing: A Movie Theater Turned into a Comedy Venue Plans to do Just that
Keep Santa Cruz Laughing: A Movie Theater Turned into a Comedy Venue Plans to do Just that By Jimi Gleitsman A middle aged man in a cheap suit sweats profusely as he dances and jerks his body spasmodically, screams declarations of self love and rips stuffed animals to pieces while high energy ‘80s dance music shakes the room, like some sort of deranged preacher on an exercise television program. Photo by Kevin Painchaud TESTING, TESTING Comedian DNA, yes, that’s his name, has all the ingredients for a great live entertainment venue downtown. That’s the kind of scene you might find if you stroll in late to a show at DNA’s…
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Cabrillo Offers a Free Summer Camp for Students to Spark Early Interest in Technology
Cabrillo Offers a Free Summer Camp for Students to Spark Early Interest in Technology By Teresa Ruiz Decker Who says tech camps have to be expensive? Cabrillo’s Cybersecurity summer camp offers local youth the chance to learn new skills and dive into a growing tech field early — all for free! Ahhh summer time. Cabrillo College is giving students in grades 6 to 12 the chance to learn cyber security for free in its summer camp program. What a way to start a career!!! The idea of endless sunshine, ice cream cones, and days spent at the beach can have both kids and parents counting down the days till school…
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Teens Talk Back: These Students are Well on Their Way to Beloved Careers
Teens Talk Back These Students are Well on Their Way to Beloved Careers By Mary Gaukel Forster “The Talk” With Your Teen was the focus of last month’s article, about how parents can begin conversations about and encourage career explorations. This month teens “talk back” about their work based experiences in Career and Technical Education courses offered at high schools throughout the county. Our organization, Your Future Is Our Business, held its annual luncheon, on March 8, which highlighted the work of Career and Technical Education teachers and students along with the support given by the community. Caption: CTE award winners Adriana Avila-Medrano, Riley Rozario, Grace Bailey, Elijah Galster and…
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Founding Director of the Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery Retires
Founding Director of the Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery Retires After four and half years of volunteering as Executive Director of the SCCMOD, co-founder Patrice Keet, will be retiring in June. The Board of Directors and Patrice tell us that there will be a smooth and well-planned transition as Dr. Rhiannon Crain will be stepping in as Interim Executive Director. Rhiannon has the distinction of being a founding Board member of the Museum bringing her knowledge, expertise and degree in Museum Science to the position. Previously she was Executive Director of Yardmap, a Citizen Science program of Cornell University. ALL COLOR students in Susan Penprase’s third grade class at…
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California’s Mother of the Year is from Soquel
California’s Mother of the Year is from Soquel Forget apple pies and crocheting, Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy is a Renaissance Woman By Brad Kava Before career woman Susan Tatsui-D’arcy had her first child three decades ago, she thought she’d hire a nanny, so she could run her corporation during the daytime. But one look at her daughter and she knew she wasn’t leaving home. She didn’t want to leave her job either, so she came up with a plan. She hired a nanny, of sorts, who was more like a teacher and she brought in other kids whose parents could share the expense of the childcare at her house. She worked upstairs,…
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These Two Santa Cruz Moms Risk Their Lives Daily
These Two Santa Cruz Moms Risk Their Lives Daily By Jordy Hyman Every day, firefighters, law enforcement and other first responders risk their lives to serve the people of their community, but for these local women it’s not just their own safety they need to consider. They also have to contend with the fate of their children should anything happen in the line of duty. “It’s definitely a scary possibility,” says Trista Drake, an officer and spokesperson for California Highway Patrol Santa Cruz and mother of four. “I would never want to lay down my life, but would I do it? Yeah, of course, it’s what we swore to do…
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Christmas in July (and April, May, June, etc.)
Christmas in July (April, May, June, etc.) By Ramona Pursley During the holidays our family has two Christmas trees in our home. One is in the entryway by the front door and the other is a smaller one in a corner of the dining room, which is the kids’ tree. The tree is artificial, pre-lit and four feet tall. The kids usually choose a theme and decorate it themselves every year. We usually take both trees down right after New Years Day. This year, the kids were very sad to have to take down their tree. CHRISTMAS IN JULY Andrew and Sophie Pursley didn’t want to take down their christmas…
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Local Author Pens Magical Music Book
Local Author Pens Magical Music Book By S. F. Davis Author B. T. Brunelle has called Santa Cruz home since 1968. A UCSC honors graduate, she continued there as a music lecturer, emphasis on voice and songwriting. She founded the original Santa Cruz School of Music in the 70s and head- lined at all the hot spots: The Catalyst (where this town became a music mecca), Crows Nest, Crepe Place, Club Zayante, and Kuumbwa, where she performed and taught for years. Ms. Brunelle’s sultry, rich voice carried her original compositions to L. A. audiences, too, among them at the Troubadour, Ice House and McCabes. She, husband Jon Brunelle and other…
