Shop 916 GIFT CARD PROMOTION SUPPORTS DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES
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Valerie and Abe Sanchez of Article Consignment participate in the Shop 916 gift card program. Photo by Linda Smolek
he city of Sacramento is offering a new limited-time promotion for Shop 916: Buy an electronic gift card and get a free bonus gift card. The Shop 916 gift card, launched by the city last December, can be used at any participating business within the city and helps support local storefront retailers negatively impacted by the pandemic. A combined value of more than $110,000 from gift and bonus cards was spent in the city of Sacramento during the previous two-month promotional program. Nearly 100 small businesses are signed up to participate in the program, with new retailers joining daily. “The card is very user-friendly, especially on the retailer side, which is amazing,” says Valerie Sanchez, co-owner with husband Abe of Article Consignment. “The people I've seen use it are also first-time customers, so it's given us exposure to new clientele we may not have reached otherwise.” Under the current promotion, buy a $25 gift card and get a $10 bonus gift card for free; buy a $50 gift card and get a $25 bonus gift card for free; buy a $100 gift card and get a $50 bonus gift card for free. This offer is available until June 30. Regular consumer-purchased gift cards do not expire, but bonus gift cards must be used by July 17. To purchase gift cards, visit shop916local.com.
JL By Jessica Laskey Out & About
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ROSE GARDEN PHOTO CONTEST Get your cameras out. Friends of East Sacramento is sponsoring the 10th annual McKinley Rose Garden photography contest, open to amateur and professional photographers. “We are looking for some general overall shots of the garden showing the variety of beds, as well as close-up portraits of individual roses and the other plants in the garden,” says Lisa Schmidt, co-founder of Friends of East Sacramento. The garden, a popular wedding spot located at the corner of H and 33rd streets, is maintained by volunteers and managed by Friends of East Sacramento. Photos must be taken during the month of May. Email high-resolution photo entries (limit of three per person) to friendsofeastsac@aol.com by June 1. Winners will be featured in Inside Sacramento and displayed in the lobby of the Clunie Community Center.
CHORAL CONCERTS The Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra is celebrating its return to in-person performances after a two-anda-half-year hiatus due to the pandemic. SCSO’s 26th season kicks off with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem” on Saturday, May 14, at 8 p.m. at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center with soloists Jennifer Forni, Linda Baird, Robert Breault and Timothy Jones. The concert will also include guest chorus Schola Cantorum of Sacred Heart Church, as well as a tribute to celebrated restaurateur Biba Caggiano and the singing of the Ukraine national anthem. “We have missed the excitement and real joy that our audience experiences when they are seated in the theater, and the lights are dimmed and the music
