The Vanguard Booth once again took in Farmer's Market Saturday in Davis. It was a gorgeous day in early June, and once again a great opportunity to meet some of our loyal readers and get to know new people here in Davis. Once again the question on everyone's mind is just what is the "dark underbelly of Davis?" And once again we discover that no one seems to like the Davis Enterprise (I'm sure somebody must).
(I cheat just a little bit with pictures, the picture of Cecilia with the Rexroad family is actually from last week not yesterday. The other picture is Sharla Harrington talking to Pat Lenzi and Holly Bishop talking to Jim Leonard of the Flatlander).
The talk of Davis right now is now the 3rd and B Street project. There is a lot of concern in the community about that project and what it would do to the character of downtown. We also got a nice history lesson from some longtime Davis residents who told us about a proposal whereby the city was going to build a three-level shopping center with underground parking in some of the territory where the beautiful central park lies. I just cannot picture Davis without Central Park where it is now. Imagine how much the character of the city would be different. I cannot even imagine. And yet, the 3rd and B Street project may do the same.
Cecilia and I had to leave from Farmer's Market to go meet with new police chief Landy Black.
It was a very nice meeting with the new Chief. Since the meeting wasn't on the record, I can only mention in generalities. But my initial impressions were confirmed. I feel that the Chief is a straight shooter. He does not fear oversight and scrutiny by the public. I also think he will serve his department well by being very loyal and caring of them, while at the same time he does not seem to have a huge ego, and does not appear from our conversation to be afraid to admit that he doesn't know everything and that he has some strengths and weaknesses. In short, I think this a person that we can work with to make positive changes that will make Davis a safer community without people believing that the police singling them out. Now as I warned him however, the key test will be how the next "crisis" gets handled. That will be how people will end up judging him.
The fun part of the day came after we broke down our Farmer's Market gear and headed to Sudwerks for the Beerfest. This was a wonderful event, you pay a flat fee, you get a bracelet and then you get as much food and beer as you want. Sudwerks had their beer on tap there. And then you could go around and there were (I'm guessing) about 20 different beers from various microbrewing companies across mainly Northern California. As I was mentioning to people yesterday, probably two-thirds of those brews, I had actually been to their brewing company in my trips across the region. But it was fun nonetheless.
Citizens who Care is a wonderful organization that provides a variety of support services to adults and their caregivers. They have an in-home respite visiting program that gives family caregivers of older adults a weekly break from caregiving, so they can do some other things or get rest themselves. They provide companionship and support to the older adult and the caregiver. They also have a visitation program to provide companionship to socially isolated elderly residents. And they have a time off for caregivers to cover a respite a five-hour break a couple of times a month. As many who have been a caregiver know, while fulfilling, it is also a stressful and tiring responsibility, and Citizens Who Care are able to provide much needed support for those loving individuals.
This Beerfest helped to support those activities.
The talk of Davis right now is now the 3rd and B Street project. There is a lot of concern in the community about that project and what it would do to the character of downtown. We also got a nice history lesson from some longtime Davis residents who told us about a proposal whereby the city was going to build a three-level shopping center with underground parking in some of the territory where the beautiful central park lies. I just cannot picture Davis without Central Park where it is now. Imagine how much the character of the city would be different. I cannot even imagine. And yet, the 3rd and B Street project may do the same.
Cecilia and I had to leave from Farmer's Market to go meet with new police chief Landy Black.
It was a very nice meeting with the new Chief. Since the meeting wasn't on the record, I can only mention in generalities. But my initial impressions were confirmed. I feel that the Chief is a straight shooter. He does not fear oversight and scrutiny by the public. I also think he will serve his department well by being very loyal and caring of them, while at the same time he does not seem to have a huge ego, and does not appear from our conversation to be afraid to admit that he doesn't know everything and that he has some strengths and weaknesses. In short, I think this a person that we can work with to make positive changes that will make Davis a safer community without people believing that the police singling them out. Now as I warned him however, the key test will be how the next "crisis" gets handled. That will be how people will end up judging him.The fun part of the day came after we broke down our Farmer's Market gear and headed to Sudwerks for the Beerfest. This was a wonderful event, you pay a flat fee, you get a bracelet and then you get as much food and beer as you want. Sudwerks had their beer on tap there. And then you could go around and there were (I'm guessing) about 20 different beers from various microbrewing companies across mainly Northern California. As I was mentioning to people yesterday, probably two-thirds of those brews, I had actually been to their brewing company in my trips across the region. But it was fun nonetheless.
Citizens who Care is a wonderful organization that provides a variety of support services to adults and their caregivers. They have an in-home respite visiting program that gives family caregivers of older adults a weekly break from caregiving, so they can do some other things or get rest themselves. They provide companionship and support to the older adult and the caregiver. They also have a visitation program to provide companionship to socially isolated elderly residents. And they have a time off for caregivers to cover a respite a five-hour break a couple of times a month. As many who have been a caregiver know, while fulfilling, it is also a stressful and tiring responsibility, and Citizens Who Care are able to provide much needed support for those loving individuals.
This Beerfest helped to support those activities.
The executive director is former Davis Mayor Ken Wagstaff. The highlight of our day was seeing Ken and Diane Wagstaff. Diane had suffered a debilitating stroke a few months ago. But she was there yesterday and has regained the use of her hand. So she is on her way to making what appears to be a full recovery, which is really a wonderful miracle and that was undoubtedly the highlight of the day for me, well other than the endless supply of beer.
(Pictured above is Bill Ritter, Ken Wagstaff, and Dick Livingston.) Here is a picture that will make the establishment in this community cringe. One of the reasons that Measure X was so handily defeated was the yeoman work of these three activists. If you want great entertainment put Wagstaff and Livingston together on a stage and give them a beer.
Let this be a lesson to all that an endless supply of beer is not always a good thing. Sometimes you can get manipulated into doing things that you ordinarily would not. (For those wondering, no I did not drive home).
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
