Things to Do in Sacramento

By Anita Creamer
acreamer@sacbee.com

Seniors can learn how to stay safe and preserve their privacy online at the upcoming meeting of the Mission Oaks Genealogy Club. Lynn Brown, a Sacramento genealogy expert, plans to discuss how older adults can surf genealogy and social networking sites while not opening themselves up to scammers.

The meeting is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. June 17 at the Mission Oaks Community Center. Attendance is free. The center is located at 4701 Gibbons Dr. in Carmichael. For more information, call (916) 332-5753.

Call The Bee's Anita Creamer, (916) 321-1136.

...And where is it going? (Besides, perhaps, on the wall behind the couch.)

Nationally recognized artist Everett Jensen will help participants find the answers to these questions and more in an interactive seminar on Modernism scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. April 1 at the Blue Line Gallery in Roseville.

The seminar costs $20 for Roseville Arts members, $25 for non-members, and is expected to last two hours. Pre-registration is advised. The gallery is located at 405 Vernon St., Suite 100, in old downtown Roseville.

For more information, call Roseville Arts at (916) 783-4117, or go to www.rosevillearts.org.

The battery folks are looking for dedicated, unstoppable Americans -- community-minded people who personify a never-say-die attitude -- for the 2009 Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame.

Since 2006, the hall of fame has showcased the efforts of ordinary Americans who overcome hardships with great energy and show perseverence in the face of life's challenges. Last year's winner, a Michigan man named Ron Bachman, lost both legs as a child but became a motivational speaker to inspire other people and founded a nonprofit that helps children meet the challenges in their lives.

Each year's winner receives a $10,000 award plus a $5,000 donation to be directed toward the charity of his or her choice.

The 2009 nominations continue online through March 31. After judges select 100 semifinalists from across the country, online voters will be able to choose from among 10 finalists.

For more information, go to www.energizer.com/halloffame.

As evidence that Sacramento belongs to the global village, the organizers of the second annual Sacramento World Music & Dance Festival invite performers to apply to audition for this year's event, which is scheduled for Sept. 26 and 27.

The 2008 event, which took place at Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium, showcased the arts from Scotland to the Philippines, from Egypt and Ireland to Mexico and Peru.

Auditions for this year's festival are scheduled for May 16 and 17 on the California State University, Sacramento campus. To apply, performers must submit their applications by May 1. There is a $15 application fee.

For more information, go to http://www.sacramentoworldfestival.com/ or call (916) 808-8983.

OK, so it's not exactly a reality show like "Top Design," and Todd Oldham is nowhere in sight. But the winners of the "Fashion Forward 2009" design competition, sponsored by the International Academy of Design & Technology, will receive a range of scholarships to the academy's 10 campuses.

High school seniors who are interested in fashion design have until March 25 to submit their entries to the competition, which is co-sponsored by Teen Vogue magazine. Participants are required to submit sketches of their designs, including fabric selection. The finalists must create a finished garment and provide documentation of their design process.

A full scholarship, valued at more than $50,000, will be awarded to the national winner, with $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to 10 local winners.

The Sacramento campus of the academy, founded two years ago, is located at 2450 Del Paso Rd. Other campus sites of the 25-year-old academy include Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Antonio and Seattle.

For more information, go to http://www.fashiondiner.com/.

Three internationally renowned musicians -- Eduardo Peralta, Rafael Manriquez and Lichi Fuentes -- will showcase works from the Latin American new song movement during a March 21 performance at La Raza Galeria Posada in midtown Sacramento.

The new song movement, or "nueva cancion," combines traditional Latin American folk music with more politicized lyrics. While it began in South American in the 1950s and spread from there into Central America, the music was forced underground in the early 1970s by the Pinochet regime in Chile, which killed one of the genre's most popular artists, Victor Jara.

Peralta began playing protest songs in his native Chile during the Pinochet era. Manriquez and Fuentes are both Bay Area musicians.

Tickets to the event are $12, and seating is limited. La Raza Galeria Posada is located at 1022 22nd St. For more information, call (916) 446-5133.

At their big Second Saturday reception this weekend at Archival Framing's gallery, the artists will sip sparkling cider.

"So they'll feel all grown up," says D. Oldham Neath, Archival's owner.

They're young, but they're creative. The exhibit features the works of 27 seventh- and eighth-graders at Sacramento's Sutter Middle School. The students belong to the school's art club, which meets every Wednesday after school.

"These are not art class students," says Neath. "None of this work was done to get a grade or because they had to."

The exhibit was judged by three local artists -- Janet Aly, Andrew Taggert and Cathy Rowe -- with three jury prizes and a best of show scheduled to be announced at the Second Saturday celebration, which takes place from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the gallery, 1703 Del Paso Blvd.

For more information, call the gallery at (916) 923-6204.

Redbook, the women's magazine, is at it again with its so-called "hot husbands contest," an annual event. And once again, a Sacramentan is one of the 25 finalists.

That would be Larry Luong, 32, a local attorney who was nominated by his wife, Jennifer.

When they met, 32-year-old Jennifer says to the magazine: "I was struck by how humble and down-to-earth Larry was. I knew he was the one when he showed his caring side, nursing me back to health during a serious illness that landed me in the ER, and being so hands-on with my baby niece."

Awww. And now they have a baby of their own, little Addison.

For more information on how to vote for Luong, go to http://www.redbookmag.com/love-sex/hot-husband/hot-husbands-2009-finalists.

An expected 500 local students, ranging from sixth-graders to high school seniors, will keep history alive at the annual Sacramento County History Day competition scheduled for Saturday.

Half a million students take part in the contest each year across the country. Categories of competition include poster, Web site, paper, exhibit and performance -- a range of ways for young people to showcase both their talent and their knowledge. The theme for this year's contest is "The Individual in History."

The competition takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the American River College campus.

For more information, go to http://www.sachistoryday.org/index.html

A free comedy show sponsored by the Sacramento State Women's Resource Center and put on by Women Who Kick Comedy Butt -- yes, that's the name -- is scheduled for Thursday. The show, which features comedians Jackie Kashian, Gayla Johnson and Beth Schumann, is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the University Union Ballroom.

Kashian and Johnson will also appear in Auburn this weekend at the local Soroptomist International's comedy gala and fundraiser. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Ridge Events Center. Tickets are $35 and $45.

For more information, go to http://www.womenwhokickcomedybutt.com

The Sacramento Food Bank has received a $5,000 grant from the CarMax Foundation's regional giving program, CarMax has announced.

The grant, which will go toward funding an after-school educational software project, will help young people study in a safe environment and improve their educational skills.

"The support and educational programs offered to our young people are beneficial as these children grow to be the leaders in the community," says John Stokes, a CarMax manager in Roseville who was part of the committee awarding the grant.

Organizers have announced that sales are closed for tickets on the annual Stitch 'n Ride train ride from Sacramento to the Stitches West convention at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The event, which benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, amounts to one long knitfest, with knitters and crocheters creating warm hats for people receiving chemotherapy.

The special Capitol Corridor ride is scheduled to leave Sacramento at 7:50 a.m. tomorrow and Davis at 8:05 a.m.

In preparation for River City Community Services' annual Empty Bowls fundraising event, students from three Sacramento high schools have been throwing, glazing and decorating pottery bowls during a Bowl-a-Thon this week.

The bowl-making efforts at Christian Brothers High School, Encina Preparatory High School and Loretto High School will contribute 330 handmade bowls to the March 10 event.

Empty Bowls came to Sacramento in 2004, but the fundraising concept had spread far and wide across the country (and to other local communities) long before that. Founded in Michigan in 1990 by a high school art teacher, the Empty Bowls events raise money for organizations that feed the hungry. River City Community Services provides emergency food and housing for the needy.

The Empty Bowls premise: For a $25 donation, you get to select your own bowl crafted by a local artist -- plus you'll eat a light lunch of soup and bread.

The event begins at 11 a.m. March 10 at the Sacramento Masonic Temple, 1123 J St.

For more information, go to http://www.rivercitycommunityservices.org/eb/index.htm

A three-mile fundraising walk in Sacramento's William Land Park is planned as the centerpiece of local events commemorating Brain Injury Awareness Month, according to the California Brain Injury Association. Other events are planned across the state during March, as well.

Brain injuries affect more than 1.4 million people each year, including 22,000 Californians. So prevalent is traumatic brain injury among current military personnel that TBI has been called the signature wound of the war in Iraq. Yet brain injury research and treatment receive little attention, says CALBIA executive director Manfred Tatzmann.

The Sacramento walk begins at 8:30 a.m., March 14. Registration for adults is $25 and for children ages 5 to 16, $15. For more information, go to www.calbia.org.

Through the end of February, EyeCare America wants seniors to to see if they qualify for free eye exams.

The public service program, run by the American Academy of Ophthalmalogy, is one of the largest eye programs in the country. If you're eligible, you'll be referred to a volunteer ophthalmologist for a comprehensive exam -- and if an eye disease is detected, you'll receive free care for up to a year.

"Blindness and vision impairment have enormous personal, social and economic costs, limiting the activities of otherwise healthy and active people," says the association's Dr. Richard C. Mills.

Founded in 1985, EyeCare America has served more than 1 million people.

To see if you're qualified for the free screening, call (800) 222-3937 or go to www.eyecareamerica.org.

Returning from the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Idaho, two area athletes have brought home a bounty of medals, according to Special Olympics Northern California officials.

Philip Sturgeon, a 34-year-old from South Lake Tahoe, won gold medals in several alpine ski events, including the advanced giant slalom, slalom and Super G. And Holley Matlack, 32, of El Dorado Hills won second place in the 4x1K relay freestyle cross country skiing event and third place in the 3k race.

"Our athletes were so thankful to have this opportunity," says Matt Cohen, a regional Special Olympics vice president. "They performed at their best and were proud of their achievements, but meeting other athletes from all over the world definitely was a highlight."

The games, which lasted Feb. 7 through 13, included 300 American participants and another 2,500 Special Olympics athletes from 100 countries.

The poetry of Shakespeare will break out in on the streets of Davis today, courtesy of the Valentine's-themed Sonnet Walk beginning at 10 a.m., just in time for the Davis Farmers Market.

According to organizer Peter Lichtenfels, a UC Davis theater professor, the plan is for participants -- a man dressed as the Incredible Hulk, a punked-out Juliet, a bluegrass band and others -- to recite poetry to the unsuspecting along routes that have yet to be revealed even to the performers. All routes begin at the Hattie Weber Museum, 445 C St. near Central Park, home of the farmers' market.

Lichtenfels will also talk about Shakespeare's sonnets.

The innovative Sonnet Walk is sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance, the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and the Davis Arboretum.

Visit www.dateline.ucdavis.edu for information.

Think you're great?

Maybe you ran a marathon or helped raise money for a good cause or taught a kid to swim: Greatness comes in many, many forms. And now the Nature Made Vitamin Company wants to collect stories of ordinary people's greatness to feature in an upcoming documentary called "Fuel Your Greatness."

Through April 25, you can go to www.naturemade.com and type in your story of achievement to help motivate and inspire others. A panel led by exercise expert Denise Austin will select 10 stories each month for a $1,000 award, the company says. And in May, the documentary will feature five partipants.

And how great is that?

Franc D'Ambrosio, the Broadway performer best known for his long-running role as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, appears in Davis tonight at a fundraiser for the fledgling Sense Theatre, a nonprofit that hopes to unlock the future for local autistic children through what its organizers call "theatrical intervention."

Co-founded by UC Davis MIND Institute neuropsychologist Blythe Corbett and board member Christine Totah, the Sense Theatre aims to use performance as a way to teach the social skills, movement and communication that autistic children characteristically lack.

"We're just beginning the process," says Corbett, a former performer herself. "Our formal auditions will be in March for Disney's Jungle Book. We'll have 10 children with autism co-cast with typically developing peers. They'll work on the same role together."

Future productions will include shows of different lengths and genres, she says. As a researcher, she plans to assess the progress of the autistic children who participate.

"We'll collect neurological and biological data, because we want to be able to show that we're making a difference," she says. "We want to demonstrate tangible changes."

Tonight's event begins at 7 p.m. at the Davis Musical Theatre Company, 607 Pena Dr. in Davis. Tickets cost $50. For more information, go to www.sensetheatre.com.

Stacy Owen, the Emmy-winning news director at KXTV (Channel 10) for the past three years, is leaving the station, News 10's president and general manager Russell Postell has confirmed.

"She'll be here a couple of more weeks," he says. "But we don't discuss personnel issues."

A commendable policy. But is the departure amicable?

"Yes," Postell says.

Do you have a replacement lined up?

"We don't," he says. "You have anybody in mind? Send them over."

Owen, who came to KXTV from KRON in San Francisco, helped Channel 10 cut the longtime ratings hold that KCRA (Channel 3) has had on parts of the Sacramento market.

[updated information Feb. 5]

Owen checked in after Wednesday's evening newscasts to comment on her upcoming departure from the station.

"When I came to Sacramento, I had the goal of taking News 10 to No. 1," she said. "I came, and I did that and transformed it to a multimedia news organization. I've accomplished what I set out to do.

"I'm just looking forward to my next adventure. That's the story."

Owen came to the station in August 2005 after 13 years with KRON in San Francisco, where she served variously as producer, managing editor and news director.