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LIGHTS ON AUBURN – Who’s that happy couple in this week’s snapshot? None other than Gail Remington and her hubby Jack enjoying the Festival of Lights parade in Auburn last Saturday evening. To put on the annual parade takes a team of dedicated volunteers, weeks of planning and, of course, the support of the community (not to mention, plenty of heavily spiked egg nog). From Wayne Manning announcing at Central Square (as well as all the others announcing at various locations along the parade route), Teri Gibson (of the Christmas Village) donating decorations for the town Christmas tree, Leslie Maita and Steve Galyardt posting "no parking" signs along the parade route the day before (as well as delivering garbage cans along the same route the next morning), Harvey Roper organizing volunteers to work the parade route, the city’s public works department hanging garland and holiday decorations before the day of the parade, business owners such as Jerry Kopp working to keep the crowds out of the streets during the parade and the Auburn Police Department (with their own volunteers and on-duty officers) providing much-needed traffic direction and crowd control, the Festival of Lights is one of those gems that make small towns like Auburn so special. As one of those volunteers working the parade route, I spotted plenty of friendly faces including Tanya Hibbard, Old Town Business Association President Ty Rowe, former Auburn Mayor Cheryl Maki and her husband Randy, Auburn’s Finance Director Andy Heath and his wife Cherié, Craig Graham of AuburnBuzz.com, City Manager Bob Richardson and his wife Jennifer, Bob and Eileen Ferber, Jackie Weston, Placer County District 3 Supervisor Jim Holmes, Auburn Nissan’s Michael Barbieri, Rob and Kim Haswell, Auburn Planning Commission member Mark Smith, Auburn Police Chief Valerie Harris, Nancie Radakovitz, Sonny Harris of Auburn Public Works Dept., and Kurt Bertilson of AuburnEvents.com. And what a parade it was! Who among us doesn’t think of Storm Troopers or Darth Vader during the Christmas season? I hear the massive float featuring "Star Wars" characters was officially approved by filmmaker George Lucas. (For more, see page B1.)
PENNING PLACER POLITICS – There are a few local blogs regarding
Placer County politics on the web nowadays including "Red County:
Politics From the Center Right," www.redcountyplacer.com, and Mark
Klang’s "Conservative Betrayed," www.conservativebetrayed.townhall.com. In his recent blog, Klang took
Rocklin Mayor Kathy Lund and fellow councilman Scott Yuill to the
woodshed for their support of the county’s half-cent gasoline tax that
is intended to improve county roadways. "These (two) tax and spend
Republicans say we need the money to widen the highways because of all
the traffic. Maybe Mayor Lund and Councilman Yuill should (have)
thought about that before all the growth they approved over the years.
This is especially true with Mayor Lund. But what would you expect? ...
They both received most of their campaign donations from the
developers," Klang wrote on Nov. 30. In Loomis, Councilman Miguel
Ucovich has taken up the electronic pen to write about issues facing
the town at http://ucovich.blogspot.com. In a recent posting, he
discussed the historic train depot and asks for input. "Well, we are
trying to decide which way to go with the train depot. One side favors
tearing down the depot and building a ... replica which would be more
energy efficient. The other side favors restoring the existing building
thus saving its historical value, but maybe not as energy efficient.
Which way do you favor?" Ucovich wrote. Interested in the effort to
oust Rep. John T. Doolittle from office? Visit "Dump Doolittle" at
http://solongjohn.blogspot.com. There is a wealth of information
available to anyone with a computer and a connection to the Internet.
And if someone has an opinion, it’s easier than ever to broadcast his
or her personal views to the masses. ODDS & ENDS – Now that
Karla Tilley has successfully sold off her payroll business, she isn’t
kicking back with a margarita in her hand. Oh no, she tells me she’s
been busy helping Marty (that’s her hubby, for those who aren’t
familiar with the couple) with his parachute business and will be
taking a trip to China. Give her a warm welcome when she returns in
next week. Don Chaddock is the executive editor of the Sentinel.
His column, "Biscuits and Gravy," publishes every Friday. He may be
reached at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or by calling 530-823-2463.
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