The Land Park Newssince 1991
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since 1991 The Land Park News February 11, 2010 Your News in Your Hands www.valcomnews.com Guest commentary: Carefully inspect Curtis Park Village Project plans Marty Relles presents ‘Janey Way Memories’ Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association wants a fair deal from the developer See page 10 See page 9 COMMUNITY CALENDAR, PAGE 26 • KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR, PAGE 4 • FACES AND PLACES, PAGE 7 Inside This Edition Restaurant has Hollywood roots See page 4 Eye-to-Eye ‘Tall Wonders’ giraffe exhibit Sac Opera brings tragedy to stage See page 7 See page 8 opens at Sac Zoo The Land Park News WWW.VALCOMNEWS.COM Free speech, free expression E-mail stories & photos to: [email protected] Vol. XIX • No. 3 In anticipation of an “anti-gay” protest by members of the Westboro Baptist Church The Land Park News is published on the second and fourth Thursdays 2709 Riverside Blvd. outside of C.K. McClatchy High School, stu- of the month and delivered by mail and home delivery in the area Sacramento, bounded by Broadway to the north, Interstate 5 on the west, Florin CA 95818 dents from the school and nearby Sacramen- Road on the south and Freeport Boulevard/21st Street on the east. t: (916) 429-9901 to City College readied a counter-protest Feb. f: (916) 429-9906 5 in solidarity with gay-rights groups. Howev- Publisher ...................................................................... George Macko er, due to poor weather conditions, members General Manager ........................................................ Kathleen Egan Editor ................................................................................... Ryan Rose of the Kansas-based church were unable to Production Manager ......................................................John Ochoa make their scheduled airline flights. The stu- Graphic Artist ................................................................. Ryan Vuong dents nevertheless continued ahead with their Advertising Executives .....................................................Linda Pohl protest plans, receiving supportive honks from Patty Colmer, Marc Harris Desiléts, Melissa Andrews passing motorists. Distribution/Subscriptions ...................................... George Macko $30 a year subscription Photo by Land Park News editor Ryan Rose. Read a special blog posting on this matter by Ryan Rose at www.valcomnews.com. 2 The Land Park News • February 11, 2010 • www.valcomnews.com Valley Community Newspapers, Inc. Twain you and me American Guild of Organists concert By RYAN ROSE The Sacramento Chapter of the Ameri- Macy’s store in Philadelphia 2 times daily. Land Park News Editor can Guild of Organists joins with St. Johns That organ is the largest fully functioning [email protected] Lutheran Church in presenting the famous organ in the world. Conte’s performance in Wanamaker Grand Court Organist, Pe- Sacramento will include a silent movie “The In response to a news story that he was at death’s door in ter Richard Conte. Held Feb. 26, Friday, at Kid” (Charlie Chaplin). London, Missouri-born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church, More information about Conte is avail- popularly by penname Mark Twain, wrote, “The reports of my 1700 L Street, Sacramento, $10 suggested able from his management association: death are greatly exaggerated.” donations. www.concertartists.com. Information Indeed, as Twain has since passed, his legend (and wisdom) Known for his orchestral transcriptions about the organ at St. John’s is available lives on in popular culture. And while his larger-than-life perso- played on the organ, Conte performs at the from [email protected]. na is sometimes exaggerated by modern authors and playwrights, Twain’s pointed humor, dogged honesty, keen insights and plainspo- ken ways are as welcomed now as they were when he was writing for The Sacramento Union newspaper during the 19th century. It has been nearly a century since his death, but his ghost still haunts Sacramento. The capital city’s deep political divide would be the per- fect fodder for a Twain novel or the subject of a community chat. Next month, Twain returns to life via the stage – and he is back in Sacramento. Actor Hal Holbrook portrays the fa- mous author Saturday, March 6 at 8 p.m. at The Community Center Theater. Tickets are available at the Convention Center Theater Box Office (1301 L St.), Tickets.com, and (916) 808- 5181. Ticket prices are $30-$60 plus facility and service fee. Considering Twain’s far-reaching legacy, our city is very lucky to have such a connection to the author (much as I’m sure Sali- nas values John Steinbeck). Clemens might have been born on the Mississippi River, but Twain spoke the language of modern Cali- fornians – in his time, he was a pioneer for human rights, women’s rights, the environment and the humane treatment of animals. He may have been a character of the Gilded Age (having coined the term in fact), but Twain, pseudonym and all, was the real deal. The Sacramento Union believed that – and they traded on that rep- utation. Anytime The Union encountered financial problems, the pub- lisher would drag an old desk out from the backroom and sell it as a “Desk used by Mark Twain.” Almost always, those desks sold quickly. A chance to experience a form of Twain today is a treat. As Twain’s close friend Helen Keller wrote, “I think ‘Mark Twain’ is a very appropriate nom de plume for Mr. Clemens because it has a funny and quaint sound that goes well with his amusing writ- ings, and its nautical significance suggests the deep and beautiful things he has written.” Valley Community Newspapers, Inc. www.valcomnews.com • February 11, 2010 • The Land Park News 3 Know your neighbor Land Park’s Trails restaurant has historic Hollywood roots By LANCE ARMSTRONG Land Park News Writer ter setting swimming records and winning [email protected] three national championships in the breast- stroke and freestyle in the 1930s, appeared in 26 films from the early 1940s to the late The Broadway District in Land Park is local- 1950s. ly renowned for its restaurant row, which fea- Among these films were: “Andy Hardy’s tures a wide variety of food offerings, ranging Double Life” (1942) with Mickey Rooney, from fast food to international cuisine. But of “Bathing Beauty” (1944) with Red Skelton, all the fine eateries in this area, only one is the “Ziegfeld Follies” (1946) with Fred Astaire answer to the trivia question, “What Broadway and Lucille Ball, “Take Me Out to the Ball District restaurant was founded by a partner- Game” (1949) with Frank Sinatra and Gene ship of a record setting swimmer, turned Holly- Kelly and “Million Dollar Mermaid” (1952) wood actress, and a radio singer, who would lat- with Victor Mature. er become a notable television actor?” Known for her big screen roles as a swim- The answer to this question is the west- mer, in a similar manner that Olympic, World ern-themed Trails restaurant, which has been and European ice skating champion Sonja He- serving its Shish-K-Bobs, New York steaks, nie was known for her skating roles in films, hamburgers, hamburger steaks, hot dogs, ka- the young, attractive and curvy Williams also basa, milkshakes, deep dish fruit pies and oth- gained acclaim as a pin-up due to the many er specialties to its guests at 2530 21st St., just photographs taken of her in bathing suits. south of Broadway, for well more than a half- Gage built a quality career of his own, as he century. moved from radio to television. And the movie actress associated with this Appearing in television shows from 1959 to restaurant was Esther Williams, who along 1972, Gage most notably played roles in epi- with her radio singer husband, Ben Gage, sodes of such shows as “Bonanza,” “The Lucy owned a chain of Trails restaurants. Show,” “Batman,” “Star Trek” and “Maverick.” Despite the on-screen success of the original Out on the Trail owners of Trails restaurants, this success was Certainly the most famous of the res- taurant’s co-owners was Williams, who af- See Trails, page 5 4 The Land Park News • February 11, 2010 • www.valcomnews.com Valley Community Newspapers, Inc. Trails: ‘To this day, (Trails restaurant) is still my favorite place to eat’ Continued from page 4 far from equaled in their restaurant Known as Myrle’s Trails at the time, endeavors in Sacramento. the restaurant had a chef, named Also owning a second Trails res- Ralph Wilson, and two waitresses, a taurant at 1309 Fulton Ave., where a French lady, named Jackie Hixon, who Rite Aid is now located, Williams and worked in the back dining room, and Gage, who had three children, but lat- Alta James, who worked in the front er divorced, also ended their marriage dining room. with their Sacramento restaurants. The restaurant, which served its food As these local Trails restaurants on decorative dishes with country- went into bankruptcy in about 1954, themed scenes and wooden planks, al- a new era in Trails restaurant history ways had hostesses and at the front of the was about to emerge, as Sacramento place was the cash register, where Mar- auto dealer Al Nahas purchased both go and her older sister, Kay, occasionally locations of the restaurant for his wife stood on a chair during their childhood Myrle to operate. and made change for customers. Al and Myrle’s daughter Margo Na- Myrle would greet her custom- has of Badel, Iowa said that the orig- ers with a menu, hot coffee and her inal owners of Trails restaurant did friendly smile, as customer service, not get very far with their Sacramen- as well as quality food, were essential to restaurants, since the restaurants priorities at the restaurant. Land Park News Photo/Lance Armstrong were “quite expensive and difficult to At the time, the menu was much John Dillon, left and Eric Decetis, who have been dining at Trails restaurant since the late 1950s, enjoy run absentee, since (the owners) were smaller than today’s menu and was an evening at the restaurant last week.