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SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CV, NO. XLII
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2021
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EVENT
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Central Coast Craft Beer Festival Huge Success
City Council Discusses Affordable Housing Fire Chief Bryson presents City’s Evacuation Strategy By PATRICK PATTON patrick@atascaderonews.com
Terrie Banish. With over 200 animals calling the Zoo home, Zoo Boo is the perfect blend of experiencing family-friendly spooks while hanging out with your favorite animals. Who doesn’t want to watch the antics of red pandas, meerkats, monkeys, tortoises, or the Mayalan tiger while dressed up? There was also plenty of fun, Halloween-themed activities throughout the zoo for attendees to participate in. Including carnival games, a costume contest, a haunted house, tons of Halloween decorations, and treats for everyone! “The Haunted House was an amazing stand-out activity, along with the new “Education Table” with a variety of creepy crawlers and other animals that the kids
ATASCADERO — Atascadero City Council met on Tuesday, Oct. 26, for their regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m., following a closed session with nothing to report. The agenda was approved 5-0, as was the consent calendar. The City Manager’s report was presented by City Manager Rachelle Rickard, who provided the following updates: • Atascadero Lake Clean-up Day was a great success. • Central Coast Craft Beer Festival was attended by over 2000 guests. • Over 1000 people came out to the Zoo Boo event at the Charles Paddock Zoo. • Downtown Trick or Treat will be taking place on Entrada Ave. for a safe, family-friendly event on Halloween, Oct. 31, from 3-6 p.m. The event is free to attend and will feature candy hand-outs from local businesses, a hay maze, food and beverages from local restaurants, costume contests for various age groups, a pet costume contest, a bounce house, and more! • Mark Russo Sr. is once again putting on a Spooktacular Haunted House featuring a “Lights, Sights and Frights Show” every night from 7 p.m. until about 10 p.m. through the rest of October at 7720 Cortez Ave. • Residential Waste Drop Off is still going on from now until Oct. 30 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Atascadero Chicago Grade Landfill. Atascadero Residents can get rid of extra household waste for free. Please contact Waste Management at (805) 466-3636 or visit the local office to request your voucher. The Community Forum portion of the meeting began with Maggie Payne from the We Are The Care Initiative. She presented Council with new data regarding income for caregivers. A new study conducted by BW Research and commissioned by Cuesta College analyzes the economic impact of the childcare industry here in SLO County. Key findings and conclusions include the following: • Most childcare workers can work full time and still not earn a living wage.
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Over 2,100 guests attended the Central Coast Craft Beer Festival to taste brews, ciders, seltzers, kombuchas and wines. Contributed photos
Festival featured over 55 independently owned breweries, ciders, seltzers, kombuchas, and wines
they were there; The Central Coast Craft Beer Festival! The third annual Craft Beer Festival, luckily, beat out the rain, and the people were ready for the festivities. “The City of Atascadero has such a wonderful charm to it, and the Sunken Gardens [where the festival is held] is a By CHRISTIANNA MARKS For the Atascadero News perfect space to gather everyone for the day to celebrate craft beer along the central CENTRAL COAST — On Saturday, coast,” said Central Coast Brewers Guild Oct. 23, the Sunken Gardens in Atascadero president, Tony Grimes. was filled with over 2,100 guests. The reason The Festival had to be canceled last year
due to COVID-19 restrictions, and this year it was rescheduled from Spring to Fall; however, that didn’t have an effect on the event at all. “Everyone was super excited that we were finally able to host it [The Central Coast Craft Beer Festival]. They didn’t mind that it happened in October instead of March,” said event organizer Andres Nuno. “Our hopes are to keep it in March [next year], but we will make our final decision in the next couple weeks,” he continued.
This year, The Central Coast Craft Beer Festival featured over 55 independently owned breweries, ciders, seltzers, kombuchas, and wines on site. The event includes alcohol-makers from Monterey through Ventura Counties. So there was something for everyone. The event also featured live entertainment to keep the crowd pumped. Resination (a local reggae band), semi-finalist CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
HOLIDAY
HONOR
Local Veteran Henry Barba Honored At Dodger Game
Families enjoy the annual Zoo Boo event and kid-friendly Halloween fun. Contributed photo
Annual Boos At The Zoo
Barba and family enjoy the game from their seats between home plate and third base. Contributed photo
Barba also turned 108 years old on October 19 By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
SANTA MARGARITA — World War II veteran Henry Barba was recently honored at the Dodger game in Los Angeles on October 11—just a few days later, he celebrated with 108th birthday on Oct. 19. The LA Dodgers aired a presentation honoring Barba’s contributions to the country. As a life-long Dodger fan, he enjoyed the day, complete with a Dodger Dog and a Bud Lite. “He had a grin on his face the entire time. He was in Heaven,” said family friend Carrie Zeidman, who went to the game with Barba and his grandson Danny Barba. She added, “He has been a Dodger fan his entire life.”
EDUCATION
Barba began listening to Dodger games on the radio when they were based in Brooklyn (18841957). During a Dodger losing streak, Cheri Roe of the Santa Margarita Historical Society asked Barba why he didn’t pick another team. He replied, “Because that’s not what a fan does. You don’t just leave your team because they are losing.” In fact, Barba is such a fan of the Dodgers that even a broken hip wouldn’t stop him from missing a game. On the morning of Oct. 11, Barba fell and broke his hip, yet he insisted he still go to the game and declined pain medication to avoid “brain fog.” According to Zeidman, she didn’t hear Barba complain once about feeling any pain in his hip. He was too busy having fun! For the past eight years, Zeidman and Roe have been working on getting Barba honored at a Dodger game. By chance, Zeidman ran into a CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
EVENTS
COVID-19 UPDATE
Over 1,000 people attend the annual event at Charles Paddock Zoo By CHRISTIANNA MARKS For the Atascadero News
O
ver the weekend, families pulled on their costumes, jumped in their cars, and headed out for some kid-friendly Halloween fun at Charles Paddock Zoo. A little over 1,000 people were in attendance at this year’s annual Zoo Boo event, which was held on Saturday, Oct. 23. Zoo Boo is a North County favorite and has been an October staple in Atascadero for the last twenty-plus years. “It was an event that was already happening when our Zoo Director, Alan Baker, started working for the Zoo about 19 years ago,” said Atascadero’s Deputy City Manager,
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