FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - Last month, Dr. H. Michael Shepard received the 2019 Lasker Award. He and his team were recognized for their groundbreaking development of the drug Herceptin, a drug credited for saving more than 500,000 women battling aggressive breast cancer.   

Shepard was a teenager when his family moved to Sacramento in the late 1960s. He enrolled at Del Campo High School as a sophomore and credits team sports for helping him integrate into his new school. 

“Through the physical education programs and the sports programs, I made some very good friends,” said Shepard. “Some of whom I’m still in touch with.” 

Biology was his favorite subject, but he admits that he wasn’t very focused as a high school student. 

“The teachers, apparently thought they should spend some time with me and I did much better than I would have otherwise,” said Shepard. 

Check out Dr. H. Michael Shepard’s #mysjstory.

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - The acclaimed American River College Theatre and award-winning director Nancy Silva open ARC’s 2019-20 season with Broadway’s wildly popular sci-fi musical, Little Shop of Horrors. Written by the same team that brought the world Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin (Howard Ashman and Alan Menken), this deliciously devious musical comedy is running October 11-27 in ARC’s impressive mainstage theatre. The show features an accomplished symphonic band (conducted by Susan Hamre), lively costumes and sets by Elly Award winners Gail Russell and Kathy Burleson, and puppets designed by Sacramento’s premier puppeteer, Richard Bay.

Talented newcomer Ethan Mack plays Seymour Krelborn, a meek floral assistant who stumbles across a new breed of plant he names “Audrey II” after his beautiful, troubled co-worker Audrey (Kloe Walker), on whom he has a crush. Before he knows it, the ‘strange and interesting plant’ (voiced by Sacramento favorite Corey D. Winfield) has literally taken on a life of its own… but only as long as Seymour keeps feeding it blood!  The R&B-singing carnivorous plant offers Seymour unending fame and fortune… but at what cost?  With rich harmonies, saucy patter songs, luscious ballads and Barry White-inspired tunes, this show is a musical feast for plant and audience members alike!

Performance days and times are as follows:

Fridays (Oct. 11, 18, 25) at 8pm (the 10/25 show features an ARC Oak Café dinner option and is ASL interpreted)

Saturdays (Oct. 12, 19, 26) at 8pm

Sundays (Oct. 13, 20, 27) at 2pm

Thursdays (Oct. 17, 24) at 6:30pm

All performances of Little Shop of Horrors will be at the ARC Theatre, 4700 College Oak Drive.  Parking is $2 in Lot D (College Oak and Myrtle).  Ticket prices are $18 (general), $15 (student, senior, SARTA), with group rates also available.  Children 4 and under are not admitted. 

For more information, go to ARCTheatre.org or call (916) 484-8234.

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Carmichael’s 110^th birthday united critters, cars and community in Carmichael Park this Saturday, September 28th. The area’s biggest car show spotlighted more than 100 classic vehicles and sponsored a contest to celebrate the world-wide phenomenon of pin-up culture. From among bevy of vintage-style beauties, a Rancho Cordova grandma was acclaimed “Miss Classy Chassis”. Show sponsors – the Cappuccino Cruisers car club – hope to make the contest an annual event in Carmichael.

Rolled bangs and seamed stockings were seamlessly compatible with vehicles that cruised when Betty Grable wore platforms and artist Alberto Vargas airbrushed the girl-next door. Post WW II fashion is eternally in vogue for latter-day Grables who pose, primp and fundraise for charity; they also convene thousands-strong Las Vegas conventions where only excess suffices.

Special occasions aside, some ruby-lipped divas embrace pin-up culture for everyday life. “I dress like this all the time,” claimed contest winner Rosalie Perona (AKA Candy Apple Red). “To me, it isn’t a costume, I dress like this to go shopping at Target.”

Beyond posing and primping, the ladies in lipstick expound liberated philosophies. “We’re not a one-size fits all group,” explained contestant organizer Devan Magas (AKA Calamity Cupcake). “We come in all ages and shapes. Some of us are shy but when the red lipstick goes on, you’re out of your comfort zone; the look says confidence. Dressing like this is empowering.”

Fundraising is a by-product of sashaying at car shows.  “Many of us use the pinup platform to help veterans, animals and mental health causes,” says fitness instructor Suzie Shortcake. “A girl can do a lot of good in platform heels.” 

Learn about Pin-up opportunities at Cupcake Calamity on Facebook.              

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Almost lost forever, relics from Carmichael’s only high school were center of attention at the recent foundation alumni reunion. Yearbooks, trophies and pennants were among treasures salvaged when La Sierra High closed in 1983.

For 30 years, its Longhorn traditions had been part of Carmichael life. By the 1980s, declining student numbers obliged San Juan School District to relocate teenagers to Fair Oaks and Arcade schools. The grieving Longhorn herd scattered as demolition began but, thanks to one alumnus’ foresight, many memories were saved. School historian Tony Asaro was an administrative staffer during the school’s final years. “One day in 1983, a staff secretary called and told me that school treasures were being purged,” he recalls. “I drove my truck to the dumpsters and filled it up.”

Among relics were hundreds of “Longhorn Round-up” yearbooks still in Asaro’s keeping. “You don’t want to see my garage,” he confesses. “Over the years I’ve given many away to former students.”  He also rescued the fabled fiberglass mascot named Sir Loin – so enormous it bestrode its own trailer – that students paraded at games and rallies. “Sir Loin lived in my side yard for ten years,” he says. “My neighbors got used to a giant blue and white longhorn looking over their fence. But eventually he had to go. I found the art teacher who’d helped make him. I understand Sir Loin is buried somewhere in the foothills.”

Pre-closure, teachers donated many school trophies to former star athletes. A plaque commemorating 17 graduates who died in the Vietnam War was removed to the home of a La Sierra PE teacher. It is displayed annually as part of Veterans Day ceremonies that unite the community in a nature reserve adjacent to the school.

Now administered by Carmichael Park District, the school campus is a community hub. The cafetorium serves as a town hall; re-purposed facilities house sport, education and arts centers. “We went to a great school,” observes Asaro. “La Sierra was our Camelot – the center of our lives. We’re glad it’s still a jewel for the community.”

More than 200 foundation alumni last month filled the cafetorium for their 60-year “Longhorn Social” reunion. Mascot Sir Loin glared from tee shirts and banners as alumni pored through Asaro’s year books.  Though the salvager was a later graduate, attendees welcomed the 70-year-old like a homecoming hero.

“La Sierra students are sentimental,” explained reunion co-organizer Brenda Beers Mock.  “We foundation students wrote the fight song; we chose the mascot and colors. Because our school’s not there anymore, we’re even more sentimental. Tony Asaro’s younger than us but we’re grateful he has the same feelings for our school. What he saved is almost all we have left.” Learn about La Sierra alumni activities on Facebook.

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Carl Holland, a resident of Aegis of Carmichael Assisted Living, will celebrate his 102^nd birthday on October 9.

During his lifetime, Holland said the world has “completely changed.” When he was born, there were no televisions, “automobiles were just beginning to take their place… there were no airports, no passenger airplanes,” and electricity was only available in downtown areas. “There’s an awful lot of changes,” said Holland, “102 years is a long time.”

Holland was born on October 9, 1917, in a little community called Preston Bend in Red River Valley, Texas. He said the town itself is “no longer there, because they covered that with about 40 feet of water when they put the Denison Dam there across the Red River” between Texas and Oklahoma.

Holland recalled his earliest memory of Preston Bend: “I can remember when I was a year old — and I remember the church, and the hay and feed store.”

His family moved from Preston Bend to Denison, Texas, and then moved to Ada, Oklahoma in 1927 when he was 10 years old. The Great Depression hit in 1929; “Nobody had any money. Everybody had problems,” said Holland.

Then his father, a sharecropper and carpenter, abandoned the family. “He left my mother and me and my two brothers — completely left us. And she had no education… so you can see the situation was pretty bad. … I never did have a father really.”

“I didn’t have a father to turn to,” said Holland. “I decided a long time ago that I wasn’t going to allow my children to be in the same situation that me and my two brothers were in when my father left us.”

His mother eventually became a nurse, working 20-hour shifts and leaving the boys on their own. Holland had to learn independence and responsibility at a young age: “I was the oldest of the three boys. I kind of had to look after my two brothers.”

After high school, Holland worked as a carpenter. He married his wife Elwood on January 1, 1938 and started a family. “My proudest moment was probably when Beverly was born. I remember she was born December the 8th, [1938], and Christmas was the 25th. I got a little Christmas tree… and I set it on the table near where Beverly was, course she didn’t know it at the time. That was my proudest moment, giving my own daughter a Christmas tree.”

Beverly, now 80 years old, fondly remembers him singing her to sleep at night when she was a little girl. “He’s an amazing father.”

In 1939, Holland began his career with Proctor & Gamble in Dallas, Texas. World War II had just started, and Holland’s service was deferred because of the nature of his work: “We were producing glycerin that’s used in dynamite. … So, Proctor & Gamble was controlled, really, by the federal government because they needed the glycerin.”

In 1952, Proctor & Gamble transferred Holland as one of the first employees of a new Sacramento location. The family — which now included two sons, Phillip (born in 1940) and Jim (born in 1948) — relocated to the Sacramento region, and then they put down roots in Carmichael two years later.

Throughout his 35-year career at Proctor & Gamble, Holland was a valued employee and held many roles in the company: “It was easy for me to learn things, and Proctor & Gamble knew that. … I’d go to one department that wasn’t making too much profit, they’d put me in there, and I’d work there until I got it back up to where it was supposed to be. And then they’d transfer me to another department.” Holland was working as the company’s employment manager when he retired in 1975.

Holland’s wife passed away in 2000, but he sees all three of his children frequently. Beverly said, “He came from such a poor beginning, and he worked his way up and he was very self-motivated.” Holland expertly managed his finances throughout his life to ensure that he could live comfortably and that his children would never be responsible for taking care of him: “I think that’s something to be admired. I’m very proud of him,” said Beverly.

“There is no secret to longevity. There just isn’t,” said Holland. But he described the “three phases of life” — the first is being born, and the second is the environment where you’re raised. Holland explained that no one has any control over the first two phases. But as an adult, you enter the third phase, and Holland said “that’s the one that’s important, because then you have control over what happens… and you have to be able to assume responsibility for your own actions. If you can do that, then you’ll have it made.”

 

Preserving an American Tradition Like No Other

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - The Big One is Back with “The Greatest of Ease” bringing acrobats, daredevils and flying trapeze! Join us in celebrating, Circus Vargas’ 50th Anniversary extravaganza, an homage to the golden era of circus in America!

All aboard our spectacular circus steam engine as we ride the railways back in time, to relive the nostalgia of yesteryear! Marvel at the sights and sounds emanating from the big top, just as audiences did decades ago!

The hypnotic call of the calliope, the sawdust, the sequins, the spangles!

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry! Witness the unusual, the astonishing, the unimaginable! Wonder at the daring and the beauty! Experience the phenomenal, the extraordinary!

Run away with the circus, for two unforgettable hours of nonstop action and adventure, as we transport you back through the ages of circus history and tradition! A magnificent, mega-hit production guaranteed to thrill and enchant children of all ages… only at Circus Vargas, where memories are made and cherished for a lifetime!

Circus Vargas presents “The Greatest of Ease,” circus as it should be seen… under the Big Top!

Always fun for the entire family, Circus Vargas’ incredible new 2019 production highlights an amazing cast of world-renowned performers! Death- Defying Acrobats, Daredevils, Aerialists, Jugglers, Contortionists, Clowns, Motorcycles and much, much, more!

Arrive 30 minutes early for an entertaining, interactive pre-show celebration, where kids can create their own magic under the big top, learning circus skills such as juggling, balancing and more! Meet and mingle with the entire cast after each performance. Capture the fun by posing for pics or selfies with your favorite cast members, all part of an unforgettable Circus Vargas experience!

A small self-contained city on wheels, Circus Vargas is a family operation laid out across whatever parking lot or grass field the Big Top calls home that week. It is owned and operated by a talented young couple who together with their immediate and extended family have managed to produce some of the most incredible productions in live family entertainment in generations all under the Big Top!

Circus Vargas will be performing in: 

1151 Galleria Blvd, Roseville, CA 95678 on September 20-29
6166 Sunrise Mall, Citrus Heights, CA 95610 on October 3-6 and,
745 Oak Ave Pkwy, Folsom, CA 95630 on October 10-14

For Circus Vargas more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.circusvargas.com, call 877-GOTFUN-1 (877-468-3861) or visit the box office at each location. Follow Circus Vargas on Facebook and Twitter for updates, discounts and behind the scenes video.