Neighbors
www.SanTanSun.com
March 19 - April 2, 2016
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Neighbors Grammy winner Lecrae brings Christian hip-hop sounds to GCU page 56
After Easter page 66
Where to Eat page 73
Owners Matt Nobile and John Araujo with ready to cook on their wood-fired oven. Submitted photo
Bella Gusto Urban Pizzeria: A new venue for old-world food
proliferation of pizzerias and outdoor Bella Gusto Urban Pizzeria celebrated wood-fired ovens along the streets its grand opening on March 8, providing of Naples over the next century, the pie aficionados a new venue for old-world “Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana” Neapolitan pizza. (True Napoletana Co-owners Matt Pizza Association) Nobile and John Araujo was founded in are pizza purists who 1984. It certifies and adhere to the genuine endorses the authentic traditions of pizza pizzerias, those that making, dating back to use the proper ancient the late 1800s. It could cooking techniques. be argued that pizza Meticulous rules are actually originated enforced—using only around 500 B.C. with San Marzano tomatoes, ancient Greek soldiers “0” highly refined There are seven Italian salads from who baked flatbread Italian flour, freshly which to choose. Submitted photo seasoned with garlic, made mozzarella and onion and herbs on their shields. It was, dough rolled by hand and baked on the however, in the 1880s when peasants in stone surface of a wood-fired dome oven Naples added tomatoes to the flatbread, at 900 degrees. and pizza—as we know it—was born. Nobile and Araujo adhere to these This “new” pizza was so beloved that rigorous rules, going as far as procuring Naples became a destination for travelers a custom built oven with a design and wanting to try this local dish. Due to the see PIZZERIA page 42 BY JUDI KING
Bryleigh Harper McDonald, seen here with her mother, Mary Katherine Harper, an ER doctor for Banner Health, was one of eight “Leap Year” babies born at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. Submitted photo
ER physician beats odds, gives birth on Feb. 29 BY TIM J. RANDALL
Twenty-seven “Leap Year” babies said hello to the world on Feb. 29 at three area Dignity Health hospitals—10 at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, nine at Chandler Regional Medical Center and eight at
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. Among the newcomers is Bryleigh Harper McDonald, born at Mercy Gilbert at 5:57 a.m. to parents Mary Katherine Harper and Jeff McDonald. “I was in labor for two days, but my see LEAP YEAR page 44
LIVESTRONG at the YMCA comes to Chandler/Gilbert BY TIM J. RANDALL
A program dedicated to revitalizing the health and well-being of cancer survivors is coming Monday, March 21, to the Chandler/ Gilbert YMCA. LIVESTRONG at the Chandler/Gilbert Family YMCA is the first Arizona-based YMCA to join the national LIVESTRONG at the YMCA program. “We are honored to be the first to bring the LIVESTRONG program to Arizona and share the passion of the LIVESTRONG Foundation for inspiring and empowering people affected by cancer,” said J. Bryan
Madden, CEO of Valley of the Sun YMCA. Since 2007, LIVESTRONG at the YMCA has helped 334,500 cancer survivors at 460 locations across the country, according to Cameron Krier Massey, director of government relations for the LIVESTRONG Foundation. “A LIVESTRONG survey showed that cancer survivors were having a really hard time returning to physical activity after treatment,” Massey said. “We felt strongly about addressing this need because physical activity can greatly reduce the impact of see LIVESTRONG page 44
OSTRICH FESTIVAL
Kain Bello grins with excitement on one of the coasters. See page 55 for more photos.