Benicia Magazine October 2010A

Less than Illustrious Moments from Benicia's Past: a Ghoulish Glance at the 1800's The Art of Realist Painter Toby Tover-Krein Autumn's Apple History and Lore of the Season's Best

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Benicia Magazine

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9 10 On the Cover: "Hasting's Folly" - Benicia mansion circa 1881.

Cover photo, photo upper right and page 7 courtesy of Benicia Historical Museum

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Inside Happening in October

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A Ghoulish Glance at Benicia's Dark Past

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What's New at beniciamagazine.com

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Autumn's Apple

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19 Contributors

Photographer Graphic Design Editor Publisher

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Interview with Elaine Estrada

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Fashionista: “Snooping” Trends for Fall 2010

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Arts Benicia Presents: the Art of Toby Tover-Krein

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Looking Back

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City Fact

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Benicia Magazine

Samuel J. Adams DeWitt Cheng Gina Eleccion Mary Marino Beth Steinmann Christina Strawbridge Sue Sumner-Moore Jerry Bowles Margaret Bowles Jeanne Steinmann Polygon Publishing, LLC

Ad Sales: 707.853.5226 editor@beniciamagazine.com Printed locally with soy ink Please recycle PO Box 296, Benicia, CA 94510 T 707.853.5226 • F 707.745.6757 Ad changes/editorial deadlines: the 1st of the month New ads: the 8th of the month editor@beniciamagazine.com All opinions expressed in this magazine, including articles and paid advertisements, are those of the authors alone. Ad positions near articles or other ads are not intended as endorsements for any product, service, opinion, or political affiliation.

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Benicia Magazine

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Calendar of Events

October

10/1-10/21 Art Exhibit at the Library, Artist Stan Dann

10/9 Annual Senior Craft Fair 9am-2pm

Puzzle-like contemporary wood wall assemblages O'Rourke Gallery, Benicia Public Library, 150 East L Street Lynda Dann 510.653.6740

Crafts, food, lunch, great Christmas items Benicia Senior Center, 187 East L Street Betty Qually 707.745.4427

10/1-10/29 Capitol & Fischer-Hanlon House Guided Tours 1-4pm Capitol tour 1-4pm, Fischer-Hanlon tour, 2pm Thursdays and Fridays in October

10/2 Benicia Fire Dept. Fire Prevention Week & Open House 10-3pm Demonstrations, station tours, antique fire equipment, kid’s mini muster Fire Station, 150 Military West Ray Iverson 707.746.4273

10/2 Historic Cemetery Tour 11-2pm East Second Street and Riverhill Drive Benicia Historical Society Kathy Griffin 707.745.3629

10/7-10/28 Benicia Farmer’s Market 4-7pm Fresh produce, baked goods, food booths, arts & crafts October 28th, final market for the year Benicia Main Street, First and D Streets Beniciamainstreet.org 707.745.9791

10/8-9 Fashion Weekend, Friday & Saturday, 6-9pm Shop First Street with a focus on fashion, demos, trunk shows Saturday, 6-9pm Fashion Auction/Reception/Runway Show The Inn & Spa at Benicia Bay, 145 East D Street Beniciamainstreet.org 707.745.9791

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Benicia Magazine

10/9 Friends of the Library Book Sale 10am-4pm Benicia Library, 150 East L Street Benicialibrary.org 707.745.4770

10/16 Benicia Arbor Day 10am-2pm Tree care demo, native plant sale, tree science challenge City Park, Military and First Street 707.746.4289

10/16 Sorcerer Saturday 12-5pm Celebration of sorcerers, witches, & warlocks First Street Green Beniciamainstreet.org 707.745.9791

10/20 Evening Book Club for Adults 7-8pm Dona Benicia Room, Benicia Public Library, 150 East L Street Benicialibrary.org 707.746.4343

10/9 Spenger Garden Music Series 8pm Mumbo Gumbo: Genre-bending Americana Benicia Historical Museum, 2060 Camel Road Beniciahistoricalmuseum.org 707.745.5435

10/10 Pumpkin Patch Harvest Festival & Dance 1-5pm New Community Garden, First & D Streets 707.746.4289

10/15-31 Haunted Depot on Friday, Saturday, Sunday Ghosts, goblins and spirits at the transformed depot Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, 90 First Street Beniciamainstreet.org 707.745.9791

10/15-11/6 Benicia Old Town Theatre Group presents "Fences" Friday & Saturday 8pm, Sunday 4pm Captures both the hope & disillusionment of AfricanAmericans in the 1950’s B.D.E.S. Hall, 140 West J Street Beniciaoldtowntheatregroup.com 707.746.1269

10/24 Bewitching Tea & Fall Fashions from Christina S, 11am, 1pm, 3pm Tea leaf readings, haunted hat contest, fundraiser Safequest and STAND Camellia Tea Room, 828 First Street Camelliatearoom.com 707.746.5293

10/30 Halloween Costume Contest & Sidewalk Stroll 10am For kids of all ages, judging in the City Park First Street & Military Beniciamainstreet.org 707.745-9791

10/30 Annual Canine & Critter Costume Contest Noon First Street Green Beniciamainstreet.org 707.745.9791

10/30 Costume Ball at the Historical Museum 8pm Join us for an evening of fantasy and fun!

2060 Camel Road Beniciahistoricalmuseum.org 707.745.5435

Wicked Benicians Some Less than Illustrious Moments from Benicia’s Dark Past

By Samuel J. Adams When winter fell on old Benicia it left the town’s streets muddy and inconvenient, a problem that would persist well into the early twentieth century. On hot summer days dust proved a severe menace. In spite of this, the nuns who visited Benicia commended the town’s healthy and accessible location. When the gods of industry moved in, they impugned the atmosphere further with the emissions of a tannery, a cannery, and (eventually) a glue factory: when it comes to the smells of city living, we have little reason to be nostalgic.

Benicia’s fans may have celebrated her Mediterranean climate and a landscape that recalled the Bosporus, but many of the visitors’ accounts I read described the town as being notably barren—imagine the blonde hills past Southampton extended across town in one golden mass until it meets the outer reaches of the Tule marshes, and you get a picture of the placid, almost Nebraskan emptiness of the place, broken up with not a scintilla of shade. “There isn’t a tree in Benicia,” claimed 19th century military officer and literary wit George H. Derby. Derby was also underwhelmed by the social scene: in a letter called “Squibob in Benicia”, he hyperbolically recalls “looking from [his] airy chamber upon the crowds of two or three persons thronging the streets of the great city.”

Still, Benicia became a respectable place to raise a family, and to educate young women and men. Well, a good place to raise a family if you could afford to: land and goods were exorbitantly priced here. But these defenses notwithstanding, Benicia had its share of the infamy, sin, and ramshackle foolishness that made the nineteenth century fun, or, at least, fun to write about. The past is more than a mere venue for veneration; it’s also a chance to catalogue the inconveniences that no longer trouble our era.

Fans of Benicia history often boast of it as a city of many firsts. We’re the first city in Solano County, we had the first women’s college west of the Rockies, we had the first protestant church in California, and then, of course, we were the first capitol to be the…third capitol. But did you know that we also had the first murder trial in Solano County, and, the first murder conviction?

The first murder case was The People V. William Kemp. It concerned itself with the events of February 1, 1855. Kemp, a workman in a blacksmith’s shop, lived with a fireman named Thomas Sullivan. One night they began quarreling over “which of the two should cook their dinner.” Evidently, the politics of bean and biscuit preparation escalated into an armed conflict, when Kemp picked up his “Mississippi Rifle,” found Sullivan, and watched in revulsion (and, he would say, surprise) as the Mississippi Rifle exploded and killed Sullivan. Kemp was charged with murder. It’s a reasonable thing to suspect, as even Kemp admits that his gun was the fatal weapon. The man was acquitted; however, thus solidifying the 1850’s as either a period of incredibly faulty firearms, or unusually stupid judges. My source material neglects to mention whether Kemp suffered any wounds in his fortuitous explosion, but unless he went to court looking like Wiley Coyote after the fireworks go off, I’m going on the record to say there was something fishy going on.

The second murder was just plain sad, a stabbing in the street precipitated by what amounts to little more than a missed horse ride. Perhaps to emphasize our family-friendly sense of decorum, the perpetrator, one Beverly T. Wells, was brought out to Martinez for his hanging, where 400 spectators attended. Before he died he said, “I commit myself to God, and die on amicable terms with all men.” This is odd, because a few seconds before that he had told the crowd that the chief witness against him was the real murderer; but I guess when the prospect of one’s death is inevitable, you try to end things on a good note.

The barracks fell ill when their water supply was deliberately poisoned. In 1865 the body of a woman found burned to death in her whiskey store showed evidence of bludgeoning.

Neither of these incidents led to any arrests. For the most part Benicia seems either to have buried its unwholesome side, or to have simply evaded one by being a prohibitively expensive, family-centered community. There were village drunks (and 11 different drinking establishments), scuffles in the streets, at least one prominent house of prostitution, and on Halloween even the most upright of local lads were known to pull some pretty hefty pranks: according to the documents I read, the most popular prank involved going around at night and stealing the gates off of people’s property. Evidently, our predecessors were a hardy bunch indeed.

Perhaps it is this reverence for the family that brought about the eeriest story I encountered, the fable-like account of “Hastings’ Folly.” The story concerns one Daniel N. Hastings, a resident who established himself in Benicia as a young man, began a fairly prosperous butcher shop, and paid for the carriage of his family from back east. Gradually, Hastings became one of Benicia’s most prominent landowners, and 1881 he decided to build Benicia’s greatest private residence— no matter how maddeningly high the cost. On a superficial level the home was a brilliant success. It stood four stories tall with a 15-foot tower, had over 45 rooms, 88 doors and 85 windows. It had marble floors and a forest’s worth of exotic wood. A convoluted and dangerous-sounding heating system was installed, which included a 2,000 gallon tank kept on top of the home. The historian Richard Dillon claims Hastings spent $265,000 on furnishings alone.

But the trappings of wealth proved to be just those.

The family dressed shabbily to save money, a fact which caused Hastings’ son a great deal of social strain during his terms at Harvard. Family life at home took a downward turn: even the finest strips of wallpaper can’t cover the threat of impending bankruptcy.

Tragedy struck the Hastings when their son William suffered a hunting accident that caused him the loss of an arm. William soon entered a period of great despondency that ended in suicide.

The family ended up moving out to a smaller home in San Francisco. They returned after the 1906 earthquake, but departed again soon after, leaving the home to their crippled son Ebenezer. Ebenezer pursued a gentle, withdrawn, Boo Radley-like existence, occasionally blaring his phonograph for passersby to hear. But he died young and lonely all the same.

After that, the building became a dormitory for boys, and, in 1937, the home was purchased and dismantled by a Vallejo resident. During the teardown, local newspapers ran ads enjoining locals to come to the property and save 70% on lumber, brick and pipe.

There’s one last story worth noting, and it concerns the death of Benicia’s founder Robert Semple. According to Great Expectations by Richard Dillon, a thrilling, fun book questionably unencumbered with a bibliography, “some say” that Semple, believed to have died in a horse-riding accident, was actually buried alive, and when he was disinterred, the ceiling of his coffin was scratched and splinters were found jammed under his fingernails. I can’t say whether this is true or not: but I will say that there are reasons to believe an elderly 6’ 9” man could incur a critical injury by falling from a horse.

A final note on Semple. He travelled to California with Lansford Hastings, a man who later established himself in Eastern Solano County. There’s nothing too noteworthy about this, other than that Hastings was the gentleman who gave the ill-fated Donner Party their itinerary. He let them choose the menu.

Sources for my research include Richard Dillon’s Great Expectations, The 1879 History of Solano County by J.P. Munro Fraser, and various articles Jerry Bowen and Sabine Goerke-Shrode posted on solanoarticles.com. B

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Autumn’s Apple

By Beth Steinmann Nothing says wholesome and delicious like a good, crunchy apple. As the old adage goes, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.� In fact, the apple has quite a colorful history and has been part of human culture and mythology for several thousand years. Malus sieversii, the wild apple, is part of the Rose (Rosaceae) family and originated in the mountains of Central Asia.

The apple is believed to have been the first cultivated plant, and was brought to Europe by Alexander the Great in about 300B.C. The apple is perhaps most infamous for it’s appearance in the Biblical Garden of Eden.

The term “Adam’s Apple� arose from the notion that as he tasted it, the forbidden fruit became stuck in Adam’s throat. However, since their were no apples in Biblical Times on the Fertile Crescent, it’s more likely that the pomegranate was the culprit, being replaced in the story much later by the apple. In fact, until the 17th century in Europe, the word “apple� was used as a generic term for all foreign fruit. This makes the apple’s history no less dubious though—in Greek mythology, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite were fighting over an apple that Paris of Troy awarded to Aphrodite, thus inciting the Trojan War. From then on, the apple was considered sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and to throw an apple at someone meant a declaration of your love. In Norse myth, the goddess Iounn provided apples to the other gods that gave them the gift of eternal youth. When Norse King Rerir prayed to the goddess Frigg for a child, her messenger, a crow, dropped an apple in his wife’s lap. Upon devouring it she was rewarded with a six-year pregnancy that ended in a Cesarean section and the birth of their son.

The Malus Spp. first traveled to North America by boat with colonists in the 1600s. The first apple orchard on the continent was said to have started in Boston in 1625. The apple made its way out west with the settlers, thanks largely to Johnny Appleseed, who cultivated apple nurseries along the frontier. Johnny Appleseed was a devout missionary for the Church of the New Jerusalem, and though his business made him a rich man, he always traded his nicer clothes for simple rags and went barefoot, even in winter. He preferred to sell his apple trees on credit, but often never came round to collect. He was reportedly kind and gentle to animals, and wandered the frontier preaching against the excessive lifestyle of the elite, being a proponent of simple modesty. All of his apple trees were planted from seed, rather than by the preferred asexual method of reproduction, grafting. Because apples are an example of “extreme heterozygotes,� meaning that their characteristics differ from their parents’, often radically, if a tree is planted from the seed of a sweet apple, it will most likely end up sour and

bitter. It’s possible that Appleseed felt this was the most ‘natural’ way to grow apples, but most of his trees produced fruit that was unsuitable for eating but strong and astringent enough for hard cider.

By the 1830’s, the hard cider industry was booming, and cider was the preferred drink at mealtime, as the water was considered unsafe. People consumed cider by the barrel-full, making it the most popular drink of the time. It was in the 1840’s that the “temperance movement� began, which eventually led to Prohibition and the virtual death of the cider industry. The apple, which had once again gained a questionable reputation, became the subject of ad campaigns promoting wholesome health and nutrition. Apples are, after all, high in Vitamin C, dietary fiber, phenols (which reduce cholesterol) and quercetin (which protects the brain against neuro-degenerative disorders). As the market shifted, growers followed suit.

In the meantime, apple farming was gaining a foothold on the west coast in the fertile soil of the greater bay area. In 1902, the town of Sebastopol was incorporated and began to abound with rural prosperity due to the apple industry. The Gravenstein apple, which was probably brought to America by Russian fur traders, became the mainstay of the Sonoma economy in the first half of the 20th century, and was the source of applesauce and dried apples for the troops in WWII. Sebastopol became known as the Gravenstein capital of the world, and every year it holds a Gravenstein Apple Fair, just having celebrated its centennial year. This year the fair featured local artisans, historical displays and of course, all the apples, fresh apple juice and apple pies you could ever want. Only in recent years has the apple trade in West Sonoma begun to dwindle, with most of the apple orchards having been replaced by wine grapes.

Benicia Magazine paid a visit to one of the few remaining producers in Sebastopol—Walker Apples. We were greeted by Goldie, a member of the Walker family, who gave us tastes of the five mid-season apples they had available—the Gala, Golden Delicious, Jonathan, Empire, and the Gravenstein. Walker Apples has over 25 varieties in the season, which goes from July through November. The famed Gravenstein is an early season apple, peaking sometime in August. Still to come are the deep, delicious Arkansas Black and the sweet, crunchy Pink Lady, among others.

We were able to meet Mr. Lee Walker, who is now 79 years old and whose grandfather started the farm in 1910. He pointed out a sprawling tree just behind the packing shed that is about to have its 100th birthday. Most of the trees on the 65+ acres of farmland are much younger, and many of them are Gravensteins, producing a total of 700-800 tons of apples per year. Lee told us that while their used to be over 3,000 acres of Gravenstein trees in Sebastopol, only about 800 acres remain.

Autumn's Apple continued on page 19

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Benicia Magazine

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When did you start volunteering?

I volunteered for Friends of the Urban Forest in San Francisco. That was my first volunteer experience, when I was in my 20s. We planted 50 trees in my little neighborhood (in one tree planting). It was so much fun -- you get to know your neighbors … There was a gap in my volunteering, but I started again when the kids were young.

Now I’ve come full circle. My kids are growing up and I’m back to trees. Music and trees. I can’t live without music and trees.

How did you move from volunteering at Semple to a community-wide group?

I was on the PTG and volunteering with Benicia First, which was trying to get a greener project out of the Seeno development. I was advocating for students, for air quality and safety of the students at Semple because the project would bring increased traffic. That’s how I was introduced to volunteers outside the schools.

I realized from that how smart, articulate and dedicated volunteers are in our community. I was shocked by how much time and energy, how much dedication, they put into what they were doing.

I was at a City Council meeting and Alison Fleck was talking about starting a private foundation for trees, using the Valero settlement funds. I said I want to be part of that, I want to plant trees. That was two years ago. This is our third Arbor Day.

An Interview with

Elaine Estrada

By Sue Sumner-Moore Elaine Estrada is branching out while staying true to her roots.

In her role as president of the newly formed Benicia Tree Foundation, Elaine is drawing on her past as a Mill Valley kid, bookkeeper, Los Angeles taxi driver, mom and volunteer.

She became involved with the fledgling non-profit organization when she expanded her volunteer work beyond local schools. A spirited woman with an easy laugh, Elaine is eager to work a group devoted to trees.

“I think trees are good for your soul,” she says. “I was brought up with thousands and thousands of trees in Mill Valley. I lived near Boyle Park and I played in a tree that was over 200 years old when I was growing up.”

Now she’s working to expand Benicia’s urban forest through the Benicia Tree Foundation.

This year has been a productive one for the organization: It was granted its tax-exempt status this spring, it received the first two installments of its start-up funding, it hired Wolfram Alderson to be its part-time executive director (see sidebar), and it is helping organize Benicia’s Arbor Day celebration this month. The group will receive two additional payments from the City of Benicia, bringing the total to $200,000. The funds come from $700,000 set aside in Valero Improvement Project settlement funds for a tree program.

Elaine, 50, also is studying to become a registered dietician and volunteers with the children’s choir Voena, whose singers include her daughter, Josefina, 11. Elaine coordinates its scholarship program and she traveled with the group to South Africa a year ago.

She started volunteering locally after moving to Benicia in 1998, focusing at first on Parent Teacher Group activities at Semple Elementary. In addition to Josefina, Elaine and her husband, Andrew, have a son, Solomon, 22, who attends San Jose State.

How will residents see the foundation’s impact in five years?

We’d like to plant more trees, create treelined streets so people will walk more. I think people don’t walk as much in part because so many of our streets don’t have a lot of trees.

You also love music. Did you sing as a child?

Yes, really loudly. I played the guitar and sang really loudly, for good or for bad. It comes from my mother. She’s really into music – jazz, big band music. She still puts on her music and dances and she’s in her 80s.

Your days as a taxi driver converged with your Voena trip to South Africa.

How did that come about?

When I was driving taxi in LA, I met a lot of people from South Africa who’d escaped apartheid and ended up driving taxis here. One was Lebo M, and we were the worst drivers they had—we didn’t know how to get around and we were always getting lost. …

One day at Voena, they were handing out music and I looked at this one song and saw his name. I started saying, “I know him, I know him!” It turns out he helped write the music for “The Lion King” and won a Grammy for that.

So I came home and found him on Facebook and we met him in South Africa and the kids sang one of his songs. So I got to see him again, 25 years later and in South Africa.

What’s next for you?

Why did the city designate Valero settlement funds to pay for trees?

What does the foundation hope to do?

The reason for the settlement agreement is to combat the pollution that’s coming from the refinery. Sometimes people get angry and will ask, “Why spend $200,000 on trees? Don’t the schools need that money?” It would be great for the schools to have more money – my daughter’s at Benicia Middle School and I know the need. But this money is designated to offset the pollution coming from the refinery, and trees do that. Also, the city has a General Plan that calls for creating a more livable city.

Trees help create a more livable city. …We have to start raising our own money as well.

Our mission statement is to strengthen our community by promoting and supporting tree planting, maintenance and education. We plan on planting trees on private property and working with the city in its efforts to map trees (throughout the city).

Our goal is to have every tree sponsored, memorialized and mapped on the web site.

That means you can memorialize your tree in honor or memory of someone. You sponsor it by paying the wholesale cost of the tree and its location goes on a Google map. We’ll even help you plant it.

How can residents find the paperwork needed to remove or trim a tree on their property?

Go to the web site, www.beniciatrees.org, click on “Permits” and we have the permits there. The process is covered on the forms for each.

We’re updating the web site now, and eventually you’ll be able to get information about tree recommendations for your specific neighborhood. We have different climates in different areas of town—we have five different climates in Benicia—so different trees grow best in different areas.

I’m going to get my degree and become a registered dietician and go to work. I think I would like to work in poorer neighborhoods where people don’t have access to good food.

I feel that’s a big problem in our country. We have areas where there are no grocery stores so there are no fresh fruits readily available.…I would like to be part of that movement to bring access to good food to these neighborhoods.

That’s also where trees come in. These neighborhoods that don’t have grocery stores often don’t have trees, either. Trees make an area more pleasant, people get out and exercise more, and that helps with their health as well. B

Wolfram Alderson Executive Director, Benicia Tree Foundation Wolfram Alderson has big plans for Benicia Tree Foundation.

“We’re not just about planting trees and walking away. We’re about creating and sustaining an urban forest and creating community,” says Wolfram, 52. “Many trees

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Benicia Magazine

just get planted and not cared for, but we’re very much about a sustainable approach. We want to make sure the tree and urban forest will be thriving.”

Wolfram became Benicia Tree Foundation’s first executive director on July 1. He spends

two days a week at the foundation office at 979 Lincoln St., a space shared with arborist Ed Brennan. Wolfram has 30 years of experience in nonprofit organizations, focusing on environmental programs. B

Rose Drive Dr e Bicycle/Pedestrian c cle/Pedestrian Bridge Br dge

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Wills, Trusts, Estate Planning Probate, Trust Administration Business Law Real Estate Consumer Law Mediation & Arbitration 940 Adams Suite A

Benicia Historic Arsenal t XXX 4PMBOP-BX(SPVQ DPN

Saturday, October 2, 9am At Rose Drive and Columbus Parkway, north end of the bridge Join us as we celebrate the completion of the Rose Drive bicycle/pedestrian bridge spanning I-780. The separated pathway links residential neighborhoods to the north with the Benicia State Recreation Area.

The bridge is being dedicated in memory of Austin Howard Gibbon, an avid local cyclist.

Hikes and cyclist outings immediately following the dedication.

Parking available at Kindercare (1101 Rose Drive).

Contact Gina Eleccion at 707-746-4278 or geleccion@ci.benicia.ca.us for more information

Solano County Bar Association 2008 Law Firm of the Year

Benicia Arbor Day Saturday, October 16th, 1 - 4pm at City Park

Tree Care Demonstration California Native Plant Society Fall Plant Sale The Great 2010 Benicia Tree Science Challenge ~ Award of iPad to winner!

Also Celebrate Global Climate Action Day

with the “First Annual Pumpkin Patch Harvest Festival & Dance 10-10-10,�

Sunday, October 10, 1-5pm, at the new Community Garden at First and East D streets, across from the historic Union Hotel

For more Information call 707.746.4289

Benicia Magazine

11

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To provide them with opportunities Art, music, Early Bird and Advanced Placement (AP) classes

To keep them safe Crossing guards and yard supervision at lunchtime

>W\M A-; WV ENDORSEMENTS Organizations Mary Farmar Elementary PTA Joe Henderson Elementary PTG Robert Semple Elementary PTG Matthew Turner Elementary PTA Benicia Middle School PTSA Benicia High School PTSA The Benicia Education Foundation Benicia City Council Elizabeth Patterson Alan Schwartzman Mark Hughes Tom Campbell Mike Ioakimedes

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Benicia Magazine

Partial List through 9/15/10

Benicia School Board Andre Stewart Bonnie Weidel Rosie Switzer Steve Messina School Superintendent & Principals Janice Adams Jane Abelee Gary Dias Carin Garton Susan Hutchinson Gary Jensen Barbara Sanders Wendy Smith

Parents, Teachers & Community Members Jim Trimble Joey Baker Sue Fisher Jones Peggy Fulton John Galvin Laurie Key John Lovett John McGuire Annie and John Lloyd Spence and Phylis Rundberg Scott Goldie Leslie Rowley Veronica Wardlow David and Kary Stickney Druscilla Wibben Laura Spangler Kathleen and Guy Lugliani Lisa Johnson

Desiree Jannson Becky Ross Julie Pebler Ernest and Stacy Holguin Julie and Chris Chiodo Alma Cowley Jerry Stumbo Elizabeth Jack Darrell Haber Kim Cooper Nicole Russell Donna Glassford Kathy Jacobs Dean Fulton Chris Fisher Dennis Herman John Hertia Aileen Zurawski Alana Wirth Amber Kelly

5

Marcel and Maria Sloane Anthony Shannon Audrey Fry Annabel Fraser Hurlburt Anne Hahn-Smith Art LaRiviere Barbara Sanders Betty Jensen Bobbie Cravalho Brittany Buchel Bud Donaldson Cande Medrano Cathy Barangan Cathy Wright Chris Carvalho Christina Moore Christine Fisher Christine Kelly Mitchell Christine Stevens Corin Calica

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This is a grass-roots effort lead by parents, local business owners and community members.

How YOU can help: Š Email Benicia friends and relatives

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& ask them to support Measure C

Š Attend a Precinct Party

Measure C benefits EVERYONE.

with your neighbors and friends

$58 per year adds up to approximately $600,000 annually.

This will partially offset massive State budget cuts to education. It provides LOCAL CONTROL to support programs now in jeopardy. Senior citizens are eligible for exemption if they so desire.

Š œ˜>ĂŒi (Extra funds collected go to the Benicia Education Foundation)

Š Endorse Measure C

Communities with parcel taxes maintain higher property values!

Š Request a yard sign Š Register to vote

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Š Post an update on Facebook, blog or tweet your support

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Š Visit our website

5MI[]ZM + Cliff Nelson Daraius Tata Deborah Campbell Debbie Norman Denise Herman Diann Danska Doug Wirth E. Fukushima Erica Cross Gary Wing Gretchen Burgess Heather Pierini Helaine Bowles Iona Morgan Jacie Siino Jan Rogenski Jan Vanderwerf Jeanne Steinmann Jennifer Franz Jennifer Lassahn

Jenny Foley Jerome Page Jerry Hayes Jill Eisenberg-Ray John Kolkebeck Judith Barrall Judith Tata Julie Seymour Julie Rosenthal Karen LaRiviere Karen Love Kari Birdseye Kari Diaw Kathleen Hertia Keith Rogenski Kerry Degavre Kevin Fessenden Kim DeFay Kristin Stumbo Leslie Keating

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Pat Ransdell Cheryl and Cliff Nelson Ellen Blaufarb Gayle and Pete Vaughn Sheila and Gerd Ruhl Susan Bunch Suzanne James-Peters Emmett McDowell Mark Muselli Patrice Sartor Sandy Kennedy Diane Dahowski

Benicia Magazine

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By Christina Strawbridge While on a recent buying trip to the five apparel markets in Las Vegas, I decided to attend a trend show. There are always a number of seminars that are available for buyers to get information on a wide range of retail topics including sourcing, importing, marketing and style trends.

The seminar I attended was put on by a company called Fashion Snoops and co-sponsored by The Taiwan Textile Federation. Their business is to forecast trends in fashion and textiles two years or more in advance. Held at the Las Vegas Hilton Convention Center, it was packed with interested store owners and designers. Those who came late were resigned to hike up their skirts and sit on the floor while looking for answers from the fashion crystal ball.

The top global trends of Fall/Winter 2010/2011 from Fashion Snoops are: Saville Row: Men’s wear and the hit TV series, Madmen’s influence is one of the strongest looks for fall with tailored suiting and lot of grey paired with black. Fabrics include pin striping, flannel and a new treatment called painted plaid.

Lace appeared in collections to feminize the strong lines and the fedora was the “go to� chapeau for this classic look. k.

Retro 50's: Glamour is prevalent with the “Bettyy Pageâ€? pinup-girl style, also popularized by Madmen. There are full skirts and body-shaping narrow dresses that show lots of dĂŠcolletĂŠ.

Alpine: A mix of military and ski influences for clothing and accessories: volume in knitwear with plush ush fabrics and boiled wool, faux fur and shearling andd dramatic blanket capes. What I like about this theme is the ear-flapped hats and oversized berets. Boho chic, a combination of western, tribal and hippie, continues as a trend.

Boarding school: Shorter skirts with leggings andd jeggings give a different perspective to back-to-school. l.

Fabrics include flannel, colored denim and plaid. Hats ts are the “poor boy� version popularized in the ‘60s, s, and eyewear with tortoise frames that give a bookish h appearance.

Color trends include lipstick red, Dijon gold, peony ny purple, peacock blue, army green, chartreuse, camel, mel

FASHIONISTA

“Snooping�

Trends for Fall 2010

chocolate, cream, lots of grey and even more black–the fashion staple. As I took notes, I realized that although the shade or intensity had changed, the colors from Fall ’09 to Spring and Fall ‘10 were the same. Some of the trends seemed to be ideas that had been done over and over again.

I pondered, sitting in this room of industry trend setters, if there was really anything new in fashion. Didn’t I tell women in 1985 to add lace to their suits to create a softer look?

Should we really hold on to something in case in comes back in style?

Fashion is reinterpreted as a reflection of ourselves and our times. The menswear and boyfriend jackets we wore in the ‘80s are different in 2010 because of the construction of the garment and the technology of the fabric. Let’s face it, we’ve changed since the ‘80s in our appearance and personal style.

In today’s world of Facebook, Twitter , the web, TV, movies, magazines and newspapers, fashion information is nonstop and a trend can literally be here today and gone tomorrow.

Women are looking for ways to look modern and updated without looking like a fashion victim. Choosing what we buy houldn’t be based on a specific trend or current color, for fall sh clothing and accessories that give the wardrobe a kick. but in cl Here’s a peak at what didn't stay in Vegas: Here • Accessories that continue to be bold and architectural • Beehive hairdos reminiscent of Bridget Bardot with dresses cut to reveal the shoulder, neckline and a women’s curves • Emphasis on the leg with jeggings (jeans and leggings combined), wide legged trousers and tights that give the appearance of tattooed patterns • Rubber boots designed for more than puddles • Fedoras and top hats • Oversized flower motifs on handbags and hats • Voluminous skirts in rich fabrics worn with t-shirts or sweaters I also learned a new phrase...“Juxtapose a look,â€? which seems to sum up fall 2010 - pairing clothing that illustrates B self-expression. self-exp

Fashion Weekend in Benicia -HZOPVU +LZ[PUH[PVU

October 8 & 9, 2010 Two days of celebrating fashion with shopping, stylish surprises, production runway show and fashion auction.

Project Runway meets First Street Fashion with a selection of Jay Nicholas Sario's collection from Season 7 New York Fashion Week's debut.

In the store: Friday night 6-9pm, Saturday 10am-6pm Trunk shows with Stop Staring! dress line that's captured the Hollywood buzz Saturday Night 6-9 Fashion Reception, Auction and Runway Show

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Benicia Magazine

15

Arts Benicia Presents:

Realist Painter Toby Tover-Krein

By DeWitt Cheng When abstract expressionism replaced figurative painting in the late 1940s, the critic Harold Rosenberg explained the radical esthetic change thus: “What was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event ...it was decided ‘just to paint.’” To be jettisoned in the bright new postwar world were the stuff of the past—figures, stories, and illusionistic space—that were now associated with social realism, European tradition, and Depression hard times. Painting’s meaning, now redefined as the liberated artist’s psychic state, would be transmitted directly to viewers without tedious intermediary stories and symbols. That purist impulse lasted a generation. Today, with all art taboos gone, the old figurationist/abstractionist war that once destroyed friendships seems quaint and dated. Gerhard Richter, for example, famously pursues entirely separate painting styles, while others combine figuration and abstraction in various blends, interchangeably. It is no act of esthetic treason, then, that Benicia realist painter Toby Tover-Krein should have donned Jackson Pollock’s paint-spattered shoes (figuratively speaking) for a new body of abstract work. Her show, curated by Arts Benicia, is on view at Olson Realty until December 17 (with a reception December 3, 6-9pm).

Tover-Krein, who describes her previous work as “human/social condition narratives,” explores the freedoms granted by abstraction—expressive mark-making unconstrained by the dictates of illusionism—with the discipline of an artist trained in figuration, like the artists of the postwar period who came of age during the thirties. The jagged yellow, blue and green squiggles of oil pastel floating atop a modulated white field of acrylic in “Almost” suggest sun-drenched landscape without depicting it, in the vein of gestural painters like Willem DeKooning and Joan Mitchell. More lyrical is “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road,” with its billowing, buoyant, vaporous forms in pale yellows, beiges and pinks —a synthesis of Arshile Gorky and Helen Frankenthaler, Oz’s living flowers replacing monochromatic, tornado-tossed Dust Bowl Kansas.

Less retrospective in feeling are works that play with polyptych formats, looser, more uncontrolled and eccentric mark-making, and a cave-painting palette of gold-ocher, redbrown, beige, umber-gray and white. Tover-Krein’s six “Enigma” paintings are presented in groupings of two or four (presumably due to space constraints); the multi-panel format adds thematic richness, implying narrative sequence (cartoon panels, film strips) and symbolism (mirrors, windows). These works also show the artist moving toward impulse and improvisation, away from depiction, her unconscious creating eccentrically-shaped organic growths, alternately craggy and aqueous, embedded within geological matrices. In “Enigma Nos. 5 & 6,” a crescent of ocher hovers above a field of mottled white rivulets and runnels

suggesting stalactites. “Enigma Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 4” is presumably hung above the previous two paintings, although the quartet seems to form an integrated whole, with the shapes lining up at the edges, that is depleted rather than enhanced by the addition of the other pair, which seem unrelated except in their shared palette (if viewing adjacent jpegs onscreen on a computer is a trustworthy method of evaluation). In “Frazzled,” Tover-Krein adds handwritten words— e.g., “Call your mother”—that suggest the punning glossolalia or diaristic internal monologues, respectively, of William T. Wiley or Squeak Carnwath.

Rounding out the show are a couple of assemblages that embrace the current recessionary scavenging esthetic and employ “materials that express multidimensional meanings with environmental aspects.”

“Bordeaux” is a square-format cardboard/ mixed-media collage that suggests, with its subdued palette and toppled fragmentary forms, archaeological ruins. “Recycled Matter” employs shards of torn cardboard also, but its vivacious forms and color suggest cartography instead, geopolitical entities in slow sedimentary drift—not a bad metaphor for these challenging and politically paralyzed times.

Olson Realty welcomes visitors to their gallery space – just drop by. B

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Benicia Magazine

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Over 35 Years of Excellence!

LOOKING BACK

CITY FACT

Benicia Historical Museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Dedication of the Rose Drive

Gala Evening

Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge

By Mary Marino Saturday evening, October 30 will be a GALA evening at the Benicia Historical Museum. There will be sparkling lights, music for dancing, food catered by Venticelloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, libations served by Rellik Tavern, costumes, exquisite decorations, an elegant and mysterious atmosphere, and you!

Throughout 2010, our twenty-fifth Anniversary year, the Museum has presented twenty-six programs free of charge (with the exception of our concerts) and over ten more are planned. We have done this to celebrate our Benicia Community and to honor the dedicated individuals who worked so hard to preserve such an impressive reservoir of city and military history.

This is our only fundraiser of the yearâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and believe it or not, it does cost to maintain the buildings and artifacts, our grounds, and pay our small staff. We have one full time Executive Director, a part time office manager and a part time groundskeeper who oversee our four buildings, large garden and extensive grounds. The best volunteer corps in California provides all the rest, from groundwork to preservation and cataloguing, sponsoring and creating historically correct and informative tours for our guests.

Plan your historic-themed costume (there will be prizes) or come as you areâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;either way you will be guaranteed a lively evening, fabulous food and drink, elegant surroundings, toetapping music, extraordinary companyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a night to shed or gain a new personaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and support our unique museum. Tickets are $75 per couple, $40 for a single. Contact us at beniciahistoricalmuseum.org or 707.745.5435. It will be the party of the year! B

By Gina Eleccion The City of Benicia is pleased to announce the dedication of the Rose Drive Bicycle/ Pedestrian Bridge. The ceremony will be held at Rose Drive and Columbus Parkway, at the north end of the bridge. This 1.9 million dollar project built a separated pathway alongside Rose Drive including a bicycle/pedestrian bridge spanning over I-780.

The pathway links the residential neighborhood north of I-780 with the popular Benicia State Recreation Area, eliminates a gap in the Bay Area Ridge Trail and provides connectivity to the San Francisco Bay Trail. Prior to construction, bicyclists and pedestrians on this busy route merged with traffic on the Miller Road Bridge to cross I-780.

The project involved years of planning with significant input from the community. The City of Benicia, Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, Coastal Conservancy, California State Parks, CalTrans, and Solano Transportation Authority invite everyone to this special dedication.

The bridge will be dedicated in memory of Austin Howard Gibbon, a Benicia resident, avid cyclist and advocate of the project. Join us Saturday, October 2 at 9amâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;we look forward to seeing you. For more information, contact Gina Eleccion at 707.746.4278 or geleccion@ci.benicia.ca.us. B

Autumnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Apple continued from page 9 Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been tough times for the apple industry, with most of the orchards having been converted to grapes. Walker has no idea what the future will hold for his farm, but one bright spot is that the Russian River chapter of Slow Food USA has jumped on the Gravenstein cause, providing Walkerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gravensteins to local schools. Check out the Slow Food USA website for more information on their Gravenstein Apple Presidia at www.slowfoodrr.org.

Although the Gravenstein trade has been on the decline, he says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s left is good.â&#x20AC;? And what is Walkerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all-time favorite apple? Why, the Gravenstein, of course!

At Walker Apples, most varieties can be used for either baking or eating. Gravenstiens make the best pie, but a tart apple such as the Golden Delicious works well too. Just be sure to add a little lemon or apple juice to the mix to keep it moist. According to Walker, â&#x20AC;&#x153;My wife used to make an apple pie every day during apple season.â&#x20AC;? Walker Apples is located just outside of Sebastopol in beautiful apple country, and is open every day from nine to five during the season. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to know what varieties are available, just call ahead and ask. Their number is 707.823.4310. B

OUR SEVENTH YEAR SERVING BENICIA A huge THANK YOU to our loyal readers and advertisers!

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Come visit our beautifully restored 1900â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Craftsman cottage located across from the downtown City Park. Our goal is to make you feel at home, even in the dental chair. Make an appointment today and meet Dr. Tosch and staff who have been proudly practicing full-service Family Dentistry in Benicia for 25 years.

Ronald J. Tosch, DDS

l 707.745.2130 l 118 West K St., Benicia, CA 94510

www.toschdental.com

CONVENIENT ONE STOP AUTO SHOP OIL CHANGE $

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Benicia Magazine

23

Contractor’s License # 678979

Awarded the Benicia Chamber of Commerce 2009 Business of the Year

W H AT M A KE S D E WI LS UN I QUE? We e offer the best standard features in the market.

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4852 East 2nd Street, Benicia Open M-F 9-5, Weekends and Evenings by appointment

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