People turned out to the library in droves for a recent talk about Zacatecas Cafe, an icon of Riverside’s eastside, in business for six decades. Also: a Riverside man’s 90th birthday was marked in a nationally syndicated jumble puzzle. And a notable Ontario native returns for an estate sale at his childhood home. Read all about it in my Sunday column.
I attend a Riverside City Council meeting, during which outgoing council members popped off at the public, new members were sworn in (and immediately undid the previous council’s last action), and Councilmember Chuck Conder participated remotely while using a “Muppet Show” background. Also: an IE-wide history festival takes place Saturday in San Bernardino, I personally vouch for a problem detailed in our On the Road traffic column and Claremont shows up as a “Jeopardy” clue. All this is in my Friday column.
Juan Bautista de Anza rode through Riverside and crossed the Santa Ana River on March 20-21, 1774, 250 years ago last week. He was the first non-native to document a visit to the future Inland Empire. I visit sites associated with him, including a statue in Newman Park, for my Sunday column. I’d heard of De Anza, and you probably have too, but I hadn’t understood who he was or his significance until now.
It’s like a theme is developing regarding these columns: Two in a row about my birthday! This one’s about my party in Riverside that took place Sunday, which was fun. That’s followed by a reader who claims I don’t write often enough about Riverside — I can’t imagine anyone outside Riverside shares that view — and a brIEfly item, all in my Wednesday column.
Judithe Hernandez, an East L.A. woman who’s been making art for 50 years, is the subject of the first solo retrospective at The Cheech in Riverside. I interview her at her studio to learn about her life and career for my Wednesday column.
Side note: The museum offered to make her available on her next visit, which would be…March 14. Really? March 14? My 60th birthday? Sigh. Playing the birthday card, I instead got to interview her at her studio last Saturday. Everyone wins.
“The Impact of Images” at Riverside’s California Museum of Photography is devoted to Emmett Till’s 1955 lynching, his mother’s decision to have an open casket so the world could see her son’s mutilated face and the trial of his killers, who were acquitted but later bragged about their deed. It’s a powerful exhibit, and free. It’s the subject of my grim Sunday column.
After my column on the long-lived Shakey’s in Montclair, a Riverside woman who worked at her city’s Shakey’s when she was a student got in touch to say she has an album of photos and other memorabilia from the 1970s. I couldn’t resist taking a look. She reminisced and shared stories for my Sunday column.
Riverside’s Judy Lewis has run marathons in 49 states. This weekend, she’ll compete in her 50th — in Hawaii. I talk to Lewis about her 30 years of marathons, which she began in her 30s, and what this race means to her for my Friday column.
Last Saturday I headed to Santa Ana to see an appearance by Riverside writer Susan Straight, who would be interviewed by a journalist friend, making this event a twofer. Then on Monday night I headed to La Verne to see an appearance by writer Reyna Grande, who’s not local (nobody’s perfect). Why did I cover two events during my off-hours? Whatever it takes, baby, especially during a shortened workweek. Read about ’em in my Friday column.
Not being a runner, I walked in a 5K (my first), Riverside’s Mission Inn Run, on Sunday. This seemed worth doing because the run was drawing the most participation in its 46-year history, and also because the sponsor and the namesake hotel are at odds, the subject of a front-page story Sunday. I write about the event, the dispute and what I saw on my 3.1-mile walk in my Wednesday column.