In the year that Sacramento native Teal Wicks portrayed Elphaba in "Wicked" in San Francisco, a lot of regional residents drove over and reveled in this native daughter's fame.

The 29-year-old Wicks now comes here – no, not to perform in the blockbuster musical opening May 23 – but to raise funds for California Musical Theatre.

"My love for theater grew out of seeing shows in Sacramento," said the Natomas High School graduate. "My parents took me … to a lot of the shows that came through Sacramento at the Convention Center, and we went to the ballet, and we went to Music Circus when it was the old, hot tent."

The actress is donating her time and talent for the May 19 benefit that is expected to net $75,000. That's a needed chunk of change.

But development director Allison Cagley tells me that at least half the organization's 2012 fundraising goal of $1.4 million – $700,000 – will be donated by hundreds of individual patrons who, like Wicks and her parents, Gail Allen and Chris Wicks, forged a bond over hot summer nights. The donors' money pays for summer camps, college internships, and tickets and educational talks for children who otherwise might not see a show.

Katy, bar the door

When the barbarians are about to storm the door of one of the best law libraries in Northern California, it takes a keen legal mind and a certain stodginess to maintain the status quo.

Take heart. Attorney Bill Gould, 75, and a small but hardy band of lawyers at Wilke, Fleury, Hoffelt, Gould & Birney have the right stuff. These more mature attorneys, who grew up thumbing through law reports, have so far staved off the computerization advocated by their younger colleagues, Gould said, describing a healthy, good-natured tension.

The firm, which has 32 lawyers, celebrated its 90th anniversary Friday night with a party for 400 at the California Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento. Over the years, Wilke Fleury has given Sacramento nine judges, and it landed California Supreme Court Justice Paul Peek when he retired in 1966.

Gould has been with the firm for 48 years and has seen many changes: "When I came here, I had to learn how to use a Dictaphone. (Partner Sherman) Wilke never even got that far. His secretary had to come in and take shorthand."

Today, the firm files most court papers online, and the number of secretaries has dwindled as lawyers type their own emails, legal papers and the like. Gould ran across an IBM Selectric typewriter in a supply room the other day, and it triggered a now-amusing memory of when he and another partner saw it demonstrated in the 1960s.

"Dick Hoffelt and I … were saying, 'Boy, what are they going to think of next? I mean, this is really terrific.' … Little did we know."

Online legal databases have made case law available on computers, so the firm's law library could shrink to fit in, say, a supply room. The idea, however, brings to mind a film released the year Wilke Fleury had its 30th anniversary. Perhaps you've heard of it: "High Noon."

I got Buffalo'd

Dr. Herbert Yee didn't call me to talk about the Sunflower Farmers Market opening Wednesday in his Land Park Shopping Center across from the Sacramento Zoo.

No, Yee called about the old Buffalo Beer brewery, which was mentioned in this space Tuesday.

The 88-year-old Yee and another resident called to tell me that they had built their 1950s-era homes from the brewery's thick bricks.

"I always kid that if you lean against the wall too long, you'll breathe in the beer and you will get … high with it," Yee said.

Davis' Melissa Kelly sent a photo of a Buffalo logo, featuring a bare-breasted maiden on a bison, that her father-in-law Dick Kelly painted years ago. Sacramento's Patricia Tolley has a couple of cases of Buffalo bottles, some still full.

Developer Paul Petrovich emailed that a Buffalo pub once sat on the site he developed near 19th and S.

"Before I demolished the building," he wrote, "I found the old pub signs and just donated them to the Sacramento Archives last week! They are … stunning."

And, as I pointed out, The Bee's building sits on the site of the old brewery. A bit of Buffalo's history – a barrel-shaped glass lamp imprinted with the company's logo – hangs tucked away on a back stairwell.

A 'WICKED' GALA

What: Sacramento native Teal Wicks will perform her nod to musical theater in this benefit for California Musical Theatre. The evening includes a meal and a live auction.

When: 6 p.m. May 19 (Respond by Monday.)

Where: The Ballroom at the Sacramento Convention Center, 1400 J St.

Cost: $200, $250

Information: (916) 557-1999; (916) 446-5880, ext. 123

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