years

sweat equity, here we are.”

Although it was rough waters during the pandemic, ARC Guitar stayed afloat. In the wake of it all, Calderone still offers guitar, ukulele and bass lessons as well as repairs and restoration work on any string instrument — except violins. He also does consignment and sales, however, Calderone is most proud of his guitar building school. With 106 students to date, this school is a testament to the human touch machine-made guitars couldn’t possibly replicate.

“Keith Cary helped me get started and I owe a lot to him. He’s a great man because he taught me some things and sold me a kit to get started building guitars. It wasn’t so much tools that he gave me, but a little bit of knowledge,” said Calderone. “So, I just started building, got better at it, people found me and I wrote my own little manual. It’s turned into a science now, but the amazing thing is my students have evolved with me, so they’re building at the same level I am.”

Beyond loving music itself, Calderone loves passing along what he’s learned and experienced to other people even more.

To get a glimpse and to experience Calderone’s passion, stop by ARC Guitar at 308 Railroad Ave, call 530-795-1795 or visit the shop’s social accounts by searching @arcguitar on Instagram and Facebook.

Continued from Page 7

there were a few printing orders waiting on my desk when I got back. When I deliver the printing, or copy jobs, most of my customers will think I’m right on schedule. It pays to be known for being a little slow with deliveries.

Some people like to travel, but I know some of you don’t like leaving town. One of the best parts of visiting other countries is meeting other travelers. At our age no one says they are on vacation because that implies that you are skipping work. We are just traveling, and the other people on our tour are doing the same thing.

It is nice to compare trips with other people. This is our sixth trip with Overseas Adventure Travel, an agency that takes care of almost all of your needs. Some people have 20 or 30 trips under their belts and it is nice to hear about their travels. When they ask if we have been to Antarctica, or some other place we haven’t been, the answer is, not yet.

Iceland was an interesting place. I was expecting trees, there aren’t many. The scenery looks like high desert. Think Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California with miles of lava flows, short grass, some irrigated pastures, and lots of horses and sheep. There is a lot of water from melting glaciers and enough waterfalls so that I don’t need another hike to a viewing area. There are also mud pots and geysers, just like you would expect.

One nice thing about tours is they take you to places that you wouldn’t see on your own. We visited a yarn/wool manufacturer, a sheep ranch, and then a goat ranch, which lead us to a horse ranch. I tasted the lamb and goat but skipped when they put out a plate with horse meat. Sherri said it tasted like beef, and I’ll take her word for it. I don’t know why I balked at eating horse, when I’ve tasted Guinea pig in Peru. It didn’t taste like chicken.

There were geothermal fields almost everywhere we traveled on the West Coast of Iceland. Most homes and hotels get their hot water from the earth and their electricity if cheap because of steam generators. An interesting fact was that they don’t produce as much electricity from their geothermal fields as California. Maybe that is because they only have 380,000 people in the whole country.

If Winters were in Iceland, we would be the seventh largest city in the country, right behind Mosfellsbaer and Hafnarfjoerdur. This is the first trip where I didn’t pick up a single word of Icelandic.

It is always nice to be home.

Have a good week. sign makes things even worse. After listing just those four Winters restaurants, the sign also says “Take The Second Exit,” which tells drivers to skip the Putah Creek Road exit, and instead stay on 505 until the next exit — the one that says 128 — Winters/Davis. Imagine that! Cal-Trans signage tells hungry people to skip the Putah Creek Road exit, even though it is the exit closest to downtown, and closest to more than 20 restaurants.

That’s not helping our downtown businesses. We need to tell all the people driving by on 505 that Winters has at least 10 restaurants and (three wine-tasting venues) in just a three block area of downtown. And that’s not all. Winters has 20 more places to eat within a twomile distance from downtown. Yes, there’s at least 30 places to eat in our small City. (See end of column for a complete list.)

That’s amazing. Thirty places to eat in our tiny town. We need new signs to announce this to the thousands of people who drive by on 505 every day.

There are two ways we can we fix this. First, the City could ask Caltrans to add new, accurate signs on 505. But even if they say yes, it will take a long, long time, and could be quite expensive.

The second possibility is that the City itself can build and install, on private property, new and accurate signs. This makes more sense. How about large signs that say “Winters — 30 Restaurants, and Wine Tasting, Too.”

The City and Chamber of Commerce can ask the local property owners along 505 to allow large signs to be erected on their land, just off the edge of the freeway. I think one or two of the property owners adjacent to 505 would be quite willing to give this assist to our downtown businesses.

And while I am on this topic, we must certainly add similar signs at the stoplight intersection of 128 and Railroad Ave. Thousands pass through that intersection daily, but there are no signs telling them to turn onto Railroad Avenue to find our multitude of restaurants and our wine tasting venues.

The second item on my list today is one that I wrote about in the Express, 13 years ago. It is time to bring back an iconic symbol of Winters — the cupola that once stood on top of the Buckhorn Building. Unfortunately, that impressive and dramatic cupola was destroyed in a fire a century ago. But you can still see the cupola on the large, colorful “Welcome to Winters” billboard that Rotary placed on Grant Avenue. And, the cupola is also shown on Buckhorn Restaurant menus, and on advertising used by the City and the Chamber of Commerce.

Think about cities that have significant architectural symbols that are instantly recognizable. Redding has its Sundial Bridge. Hollywood has the hillside Hollywood sign. Auburn has their stunning old Courthouse. And Modesto has the impressive Modesto Arch.

Restoring the cupola would help identify, advertise and promote Winters. It can be built out of modern, very lightweight materials, bringing back a visual symbol of Winters, that would create effective advertising, be well remembered by visitors, and enjoyed by residents who come downtown.

Winters once had a stunningly beautiful cupola. It is time to bring it back!

Email me (starbase27@gmail.com) if you missed my column, “Five Fantastic Fixes for Winters” part one. And, here are the 30 places to eat in Winters: Pizza Factory, Ocean, Preserve, Putah Creek Cafe, Steady Eddy’s, Ficelle, El Pueblo, Carboni’s, Buckhorn, Hooby’s, Chuy’s, The 128, The Distillery, Upper Crust Bakery, Buckhorn Truck, Verdusco Truck, Kountry Kitchen, Green River, Subway, Togo’s, Burger King, Round Table, Taco Bell, Starbucks, Kona Ice, Berryessa Brew, Pizza Factory, Park Winters, Togo’s, and Lorenzo’s Deli. Did I miss any?

It is time to bring back an iconic symbol of Winters — the cupola that once stood on top of the Buckhorn Building.