Paso Robles Art in the Park: Returns with over 135 fine artist

By Camille DeVaul

After two years, the Paso Robles Art in the Park has brought back their April showing. Steve Powers produces the Art in the Park show in the Paso Robles City Park twice a year. However, both shows were canceled in 2020 due to COVID restrictions, only to return in October 2021.

But this April, Art in the Park is returning, with over 135 fine artists and craft designers ready to showcase their creations. Celebrating five years in 2022, the Paso Robles Art in the Park Show has become the largest and finest show in San Luis Obispo County. Over 7,000 people visit the show over its two days.

The producer of the show, Steve Powers, has been directing art shows in California since 1975. He first became involved with art shows when he started selling his handmade leather belts at shows during his college years.

"We're looking forward to it [the show]. We pretty much have a full show and are ready to go," said Powers.

Art that can be seen varies from fine art, metal and leatherwork, photography, jewelry, stained glass, and even handmade clothing. Many of the artists are SLO County locals, and others come from all over California. In addition, visitors of the show come from all over the Nation, and some come from Europe while they are here touring the State.

The April show brings beautiful Spring weather and a fresh atmosphere that the artists have missed for two years and are looking forward to getting back to a great art show. "All the artists have been chomping at their bits for a couple of years like most everyone else," said Powers.

Some local artists at the show include: • Georganna Dean, Grover Beach • Andrew Wilkie, Morro Bay (teacher at AHS) • Nic Stover, San Luis Obispo • Julie Dunn, Atascadero • Barry Lundgren, Atascadero • Elaine Hyde, Los Osos

Each year the show brings in new artists. This year Powers says there are artists coming to Paso Robles all the way from Oregon and Arizona, all showcasing their original work.

Powers only allows original art in the show. All items are handcrafted by the artist, who is with their work in the park. Visitors and art shoppers get to speak with the artist directly and in person, something rarely seen at art shows anymore, says Powers.

Admission to the show is free and open to the general public.

The April Paso Robles Art Show is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 10 in the Paso Robles Downtown City Park.

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SANTA MARGARITA — 8,000 racers from all over the world showed up at the Spartan Race in Santa Margarita on March 12 and 13. The race originally was to take place in March of 2020 and finally made its North County appearance after being shut down due to initial COVID lockdowns. “We set the course up, everyone was ready to go, and pretty much the day before the event went off, we ended up having to pull it because of COVID,” said Spartan’s Head of Media, Christine De La Rosa-Stotz of the 2020 Spartan Race.Local racers, racers from all over the United States, and racers worldwide participate in Spartan Races. March 12 racers competed in the 12k BEAST with 30 obstacles or the 50K ULTRA with 60 obstacles. March 13, the 10K SUPER with 25 obstacles took place. There was also a 1-3k kids race with smaller obstacles on both days. “Every single time that we come to an event it’s amazing. You get to see the community here. You get to kind of see; it’s just something that you can’t really explain about coming to a Spartan Race until you

By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@pasoroblespress.com Racers compete in one of the obstacle courses of the Spartan Race held on March 12 and 13 in Santa Margarita. Contributed photo After being postponed in 2020, the obstacle event took place in Santa Margarita PASO ROBLES — On Tuesday, March 15, Paso Robles City Council met for a regularly scheduled meeting. They received an update from Paso Robles Central Coast Community Energy, Paso Robles Police Department, and a Caltrans quarterly report and transportation update.The El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) presented a request for funding their Paso Robles housing location on Black Oak Drive. ECHO is requesting a one-time request of $444,000 from the City of Paso Robles to cover the staffing costs that are not paid for by other funders for 2022 to 2023 fiscal year.ECHO President and CEO Wendy Lewis explained the shelter had experienced many cost increases since its opening. One increase is staffing, as the shelter has had difficulties hiring enough staff to cover their services. Before opening the shelter, ECHO projected to serve over 200 people based on a 2019 report which stated there were 224 unhoused people in Paso Robles. During their first year of opening, ECHO served 600 unduplicated men, women, and children, 85 percent of those from Paso Robles. Approximately 40 percent of ECHO’s clients come from the Salinas Riverbed.District 1 SLO County Supervisor John Peschong spoke in support of ECHO. “I do support this effort,” he said. “As you know, the County of San Luis Obispo has been very supportive of ECHO pasoroblespress.com twitter.com/ @PasoRoblesPress facebook.com/ @PasoRoblesPress 5 67808 24135 7 SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM atascaderonews.com Subscribe & Advertise with (805) 466-2585 office@13starsmedia.com

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PASO ROBLES — Paso Robles man and treasure hunter Dale Hiner has unearthed what is estimated to be a million-year-old volcanic rock from a ranch in Northern Paso Robles.Twenty years ago, Hiner unearthed the geode rock from the North County property only to lay as yard art at his home. It wasn’t until two weeks ago that his wife decided to clean the rock to discover a variation of minerals and an almost perfect figure of a bird. “I asked her who painted it,” said Hiner, who thought the bird was painted onto the rock.Hiner, now in his 80s, enjoys hunting for unique items with ties to history in one way or another. His favorite finds are connected to people or events that bring local history alive. Many of Hiner’s finds are displayed in local museums, including the Paso Robles Area Historical Society and Museum, Nacitone (Lockwood) Museum, Templeton Historical Museum, and more. However, his greatest collection remains at home as his personal treasure trove.Before Hiner was a treasure hunter, he worked as one of the first detectives for the Paso Robles Police Department. As a young police officer, Hiner took Dennis Cassidy on ride-alongs in his squad car. Cassidy ultimately followed the law enforcement career path and became PRPD Chief of Police from 1997 to 2007. After retiring from law enforcement, Hiner worked as a real estate agent for Century 21. Then, about 17 years ago, he got his first metal detector, launching his third career as a treasure hunter.Now intrigued by the rock, Hiner consulted with a friend at the Santa Lucia Rockhounds, a non-profit founded in 1992 and club dedicated to promoting the study of rocks, minerals, gems, and fossils as well as the natural sciences concerned with the Earth’s formation and geology. The club is also a member of the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies and is affiliated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies. It was explained to Hiner the rock was formed from a volcanic eruption deep in the Earth. Paso Robles sits on its unique geologic formation, preserving fossils dating back to the Neogene period (approximately 23 million years ago). It is estimated that over one million years ago, hundreds of volcanic eruptions helped form the mountainous ridges of the The geode rock is estimated to be over a million years old with minerals unique to Paso Robles regions Paso Robles Man Finds Volcanic Rock By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com Dale Hiner is a well-known treasure hunter and collector in Paso Robles. Photo by Camille DeVaul/PRP Scan here to get started!

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PIONEER MUSEUM EVENT Bands, Brews and Barbecue on April 23 | A2 PALOMA CREEK HIGH Gifts garden shed made by students | A3 ECHO’S EMPTY BOWLS Annual event coming back April 28 | A4 High 75° | Low 36°

TEMPLETON — Three Templeton Unified School Board (TUSD) trustees were handed letters notifying them of the intent to file for their recall from the Board. The board meeting was held on Thursday, Mar. 10, in the Eagle Canyon board room.Leah Penner handed TUSD President Nelson Yamagata, Clerk Mendi Swan, and Trustee Ted Dubost letters of intent for their recall. During public comment, Penner read a letter to the Board: SANTA MARGARITA — Over 8,000 racers from all over the world showed up at the Spartan Race in Santa Margarita on March 12 and 13. The race originally was to take place in March of 2020 and finally made its

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North County appearance after being shut down due to initial COVID lock-downs. “We set the course up, everyone was ready to go, and pretty much the day before the event went off, we ended up having to pull it because of COVID,” said Spartan’s Head of Media, Christine De La Rosa-Stotz, of the 2020 Spartan Race.Local racers, racers from all over the United States, and racers worldwide participate in Spartan Races. March 12 racers competed in the 12k BEAST with 30 obstacles or the 50K ULTRA with 60 obstacles. March 13, the 10K SUPER with 25 obstacles took place. There was also a 1-3k kids race with smaller obstacles on both days. “Every single time that we come to an event it’s amazing. You get to see the community here. You get to kind of see; it’s just something that you can’t really explain about coming to a Spartan Race until you actually come. It’s just a general kind of feeling you get

ATASCADERO — Atascadero Unified School District (AUSD) met for their regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday, March 15, at 7 p.m. following their 6 p.m. Closed Session. Paloma Creek High School was recognized for being a Model Continuation High School. Principal Dr. Libby Madding gave a presentation on all of the school’s achievements this year that earned when you walk up on the course, and you start to see all the racers getting ready. Everybody’s seeing each other, meeting each other for the first time, or a lot of people, obviously, who race all the time with us, they’re seeing their friends. It’s a really good vibe as soon as you walk up. It’s such a nice moment to take it all in and be able to see everybody for the first time after a while,” De La Rosa-Stotz said of getting everyone back together

ATASCADERO — At the beginning of the year, the Kiwanis Club of Atascadero donated a complete kitchen remodel to Meals That Connect. The project was completed in a week, and the kitchen at the Atascadero Senior Citizens Center (which is used by Meals That Connect in the North County) was completed in early February 2022. Many members of Kiwanis help Meals That Connect deliver meals to local homebound individuals. Including the elderly, physically disabled, veterans, and wives and widows of veterans. That’s how Kiwanians Tony Villa, Glen Casey, and Ben Mendoza TEMPLETON — Three Templeton Unified School Board (TUSD) trustees were handed letters notifying them of the intent to file for their recall from the Board. The board meeting was held on Thursday, Mar. 10, in the Eagle Canyon board room.

uncovered and spearheaded the remodel. “Ben Mendoza, who owns Mendoza Meat — he’s also a Kiwanian — asked me to go in and take a look at the kitchen, and it needed a lot of work,” said Kiwanian Tony Villa. Though most of the food is cooked in the main Meals That Connect kitchen in San Luis Obispo (SLO), lots of prep work, packaging, and the heating of food happens in Atascadero before being delivered to the people who need it in our community. “Our focus, generally is the youth, but when we see something that needs to be done in the community, we go ahead and do it,” said Glen Casey, who’s in charge of Community Services at Kiwanis. Liz Dunn, the North County site manager for Meals That Connect, was asked by Villa what she would wish for if she had a wishlist. Dunn simply asked for

help cleaning and painting the kitchen space, but Villa decided that wasn’t enough and took the kitchen remodel project to Kiwanis. After a trip to the site by Casey, Mendoza, and Villa, it was decided that the entire kitchen would be remodeled, free of charge. “So what we did, we did a complete removal of everything in the kitchen. Put new floors down, replaced some

sheetrock that was necessary, brought in new countertops, brought in new cabinets. We were able to ascertain two industrial stainless steel sinks. So we did a complete revamp of the whole kitchen area. From floors to everything,” added Villa. The Atascadero Kiwanis Club currently has close to 100 members, and 28 of the members worked and contrib-

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uted to the project. “Getting people involved with something as important as this is a really, really good feeling,” said Casey. Casey had a relationship with the people at Home Depot from a previous project. And when prompted, Kiwanis put together a grant proposal to Home Depot to help with the project. But, sadly, they

By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com

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Atascadero Kiwanis Remodels North County Kitchen for Meals That Connect The project was completed in early February 2022

Three TUSD Trustees Face Recall Yamagata, Swan, and Dubost were handed letters of intent at the last school board meeting By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com

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atascaderonews.com PALOMA CREEK HIGH Gifts garden shed made by students | A3 ECHO’S EMPTY BOWLS Annual event coming back April 28 | A4 SUPERVISORS MOVE Toward repealing housing ordinance | A5 twitter.com/ @AtascaderoNews facebook.com/ @AtascaderoNews High 72° | Low 36° 5 67808 24135 7

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