north county life - may

CCAALLEENNDDAARR

FFIITTNNEESSSS

DAY IN THE SHADEMother’s Day

& more(pg. 10)

COOL OFFAnd have fun

(pg. 14)

BAMBOOAdd a lush touch

(pg. 4)

BBUUSSIINNEESSSS

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Permit 163 AMSPaso Robles, CA

Paso Robles Press

P.O. Box 427

Paso Robles, CA 93447

LifeNORTH COUNTY

Pinot & PaellaSizzlin’ foodie fun

in Templeton(pg.12)

MAY 2012

BEST VIEW IN NORTH COUNTYLocal ballooning business reaches hot air heights

Jandy Jones

TThere are only5,000 registeredhot air balloons in

the United States, andluckily, one of them re-sides in Paso Robles.What started out as a flukehas turned in to a passionas well as busy businessfor owner John Warren.

The seasoned pilot – hehas been flying planessince 1973 – decided on awhim to check out the ac-tivity after seeing a bal-loon in an ad.

Warren thought to him-self, ‘Owning a hot air bal-loon could be fun.’ Also,as a pilot, he felt qualifiedto take to the skies.

“Next thing you know Iam in Tennessee, lookingat this balloon,” he said.

The Montana nativestarted flying his hot airballoon in his home state,and it wasn’t until he suc-cumbed to good friendsthat he decided to try fly-ing on the Central Coast.

Warren was sold on the

area after the first trip. Hisoriginal plan was to splithis time between the twostates; summers in Mon-tana and the rest of thetime in Paso Robles. Thatwas in the fall of 2004,and Warren still hasn’tgone back.

“When I got downhere, it went so well Ihaven’t been back yet,” hesaid.

Paso Robles is ideal forhot air ballooning. Theweather is fairly compati-ble all year long and thescenery is amazing. Hotair balloons do not use anengine to propel, just theoccasional hit of the bu-tane burner. That meansriders can get in close.

“You can control a bal-loon about an inch altitudewise and this allows theriders to skim above trees,grapevines and more with-out disturbing the environ-ment around the balloon,”Warren said. “It is nothingto be a foot or two off thegrapevines or float rightoff the top of a tree.”

Photo by Jandy JonesJOY RIDE – John Warrenand his companions floatsilently across the tops of

grapevines. Hot air balloons are one of thebest ways to explore

nature because they get inclose without disturbingthe scenic surroundings.

BALLOONS pg. 9

Peace, love, happiness: Rock meets dance in ‘Let it Be’Beloved Beatles tunes become backdrop for North County performance

Hayley Thomas

WWhat happens when you combine liverenditions of Beatles tunes with con-temporary dance? You get a truly

rock-worthy experience in the form of “Let itBe,” presented by the North County Dance andPerforming Arts Foundation May 11 and 12.

According to Music Director Terry Cline,“this is not ‘The Nutcracker.’”

“We have a lot of ballet it the show, but Iwould say not a lot of traditional ballet. It’s con-temporary; it’s lyrical and all with deep elementsof ballet and jazz-oriented styles. We have sometap, some swing and even some hip hop.”

Set in the ’60s, the groovy performances willtake place at the Templeton Performing ArtsCenter. North County will, for the first time, fea-ture a full band on stage performing alongsidethe cast of dancers, according to Cline. Com-bined with state-of-the-art lighting, the showtells a story of “peace, love and understanding.”

The original storyline – told completelythrough music, dance and lighting – follows ayoung man’s journey from innocence to aware-ness.

LET IT BE pg. 5

Courtesy photo

COME TOGETHER – Rock-dance performance “Let it Be,” presented by the North County Dance and Performing ArtsFoundation, will rock Templeton May 11 and 12.

Giddy Up!Horsemen hit Paso

(pg.8)

LifeNORTH COUNTY

NEWSCOMMUNITYSPORTS

PUBLISHERJason [email protected]

EDITOR IN CHIEFHayley [email protected]

STAFF WRITERSJandy JonesCreig P. SherburneNena BensonLisa PrettyJosh Petray

Visit us on www.facebook.com/northcountylife

Follow us on www.twitter.com/northcountylife

NORTH COUNTY LLiiffeePublished monthly by Paso Robles Press & Atascadero News

www.YourNCL.com

Paso Robles PressP.O. Box 427Paso Robles, CA 93447Ph: (805) 237-6060Fx: (805) 237-6066www.PasoRoblesPress.com

Atascadero News5660 El Camino RealAtascadero, CA 93447Ph: (805) 466-2585Fx: (805) 466-2714www.AtascaderoNews.com

LifeNORTH COUNTY

NEWS: 3

LOCAL BUZZ: 8

CALENDAR: 10

GOOD EATS: 12

COMMUNITY: 4

FITNESS: 14

PUZZLE: 11

May 2012 North County Life

There’s so much happening this May!

I hope this issue of North County Life tipsyou off to some great local offerings here inour community.This month, local dancers take the stage

in “Let it Be,” Wine, Cheese & Chocolatewill raise funds for the American CancerSociety, Day in the Shade offers family funfor all and the San Miguel Wine Experiencia will draw hundreds into thehistoric Mission.Also, don’t miss out on the Paso Robles

Wine Country Alliance’s annual Wine Festival weekend, featuring local wineriesspanning the region.

There’s even more to explore in the community calendar. Whew!

Have a blast!

Hayley Thomas,Editor, North County [email protected]

Courtesy imageReady to relax? So are we. Flipthrough the calendar and find all thebest ways to unwind, North Countystyle. That means food, wine and funcommunity events.

North County Life May 2012 page 3

Hayley Thomas

Soft sunlight filteredthrough the rusticwooden panels of the

Santa Margarita Ranch’shistoric Asistencia lastmonth as nearly 400 localsdressed in their spring finerycongregated for brunch anda special Easter service.

Santa Margarita Ranchand Santa Margarita Com-munity Church invited thecommunity to attend theevent, which recently cele-brated its fourth year.

“When we started thisevent, it was the first timethis building had been usedfor worship since the1840s,” said Santa MargaritaChurch pastor Robert

Campbell. “Every year it’sgrown.”

Serenity Tuckey watchedher two boys frolic throughthe green grass.

“The church makes youfeel like you’re part of afamily,” she said.

Congregation memberMarolin Stempson was oneof many church membersgreeting friends and localsoutside.

“We feel really honoredto be in the Asistencia,” shesaid. “The church hopes tobe significant in the commu-nity by serving. “

“And we would like tomake friendships,” addedLeslie Bryson of GardenFarms.

Santa Margarita Church

Outreach Director KarinTaylor said the ranch has be-come part of the communityin a real way.

“Santa Margarita startedhere because the ranch setaside land for a communityto develop, so it’s so inte-gral,” said Taylor. “I thinkthat the community loves toworship here on Easter. Ialso think it’s neat that theFranciscan monks actuallybuilt this place as part of achapel.”

The barn replaced thechapel so to speak, but theoriginal masonry has beenpreserved, along with therich history. “I love that 150years later, we’re worshipinghere again,” Taylor said.

A picturesque Easter serviceA picturesque Easter service

at Santa Margarita Ranch

Photos by Hayley ThomasColtin Tuckey, 10, and his brother, Isa-iah, 5, check out an old water fixtureat the Santa Margarita Ranch. SantaMargarita Church partnered with theranch to put on its fourth annualEaster Service.

Locals swarm the Santa Margarita Ranch Asistencia for a special Easter Service.

May 2012 North County Lifepage 4

Hayley Thomas

It’s a fiery-hot Paso Roblesafternoon, but surroundedby dense, green bamboo

stalks, it’s pleasantly calm,cool and shaded. The serenerustling of bamboo leavesswishes in the wind highabove the exotic landscape.

Paso Robles Bamboo, located on South River Roadjust across from River KPumpkin Patch, is a lushsanctuary offering an exten-sive bamboo nursery.

The farm boasts fouracres of the woody foliage,from thin, elegant shoots tobamboo stalks so thick andshiny they appear too prettyto be real. The plants areoften used as privacy screensor to add a dash of tropicalambiance to local backyardsand ranches. Guests can alsotake a “jungle tour” of themature bamboo forest on sitefor a touch of Asian adven-ture in Paso Robles.

This is where you’ll findGavino Villa, a self-professed“bamboo nut.”

He’s been growing bam-boo for about 30 years. Itstarted as a hobby when Villalived in the Bay Area.

“I always had a dream tobuy some land, and when Ibought [in Paso Robles], Ididn’t want to do grapes –everyone was doing grapes,”said Villa. “When I camehere, I wanted to do some-thing different. As far as Iknow, I’m still the only one.”

Villa said he loves livingin Paso Robles, “the bellybutton of California,” for itsincredible weather, friendlyfolks and great location be-tween Los Angeles and SanFrancisco.

He and his wife, Estefana,bought the property back in2000 and began their busi-ness in 2006. H o w -ever, if you haven’t heard ofPaso Bamboo, that’s under-standable.

Villa, an engineer, said itstaken years to get to the pointwhere he can finally focus onpromoting and growing hisbamboo business. Now, PasoBamboo is poised for its bigdebut.

For the first time, PasoBamboo has been shown athome shows and Villa wasalso able to hire on an em-ployee (his kids used to workwith the bamboo before theywent on to college). Estefanaruns the financial side ofthings.

“Like many small familyowned-and-run busi-nesses, it's been a slow tran-sition from working forsomeone else and to being

able to work my businessfull-time. We are just now atthat stage and are excited toshare our unique environ-ment with our community.”

That means educating thepublic on live bamboo: howit grows, the different typesand what it can be used for.

“Most people don’t evenknow bamboo grows in thisarea, and they think it’s fromHawaii or the tropics,” saidVilla. “We went through a lotof work to find out the vari-eties that grow well in PasoRobles.”

In 2001, Villa did a testplanting of 60 varieties.

“Paso is very unique interms of climate, and it isvery stressing on plants,which is why we have suchwonderful wines,” said Villa.The temperature differencefrom day to night is stressfulfor bamboo as well, but notso much to the varieties hail-ing from the mountains ofChina and Japan.

“Paso Robles has similarclimates to the mountains inJapan with the cold wintersand hot summers,” he said.

Ten varieties did verywell in Paso soil. Bamboosare some of the fastest grow-ing plants in the world andthe shoots grow out of theground with the same diame-ter they’ll show throughoutlife. Villa pointed to a variety,which grows up, branches outand develops into maturity injust six weeks’ time. PasoRobles is notoriously brownand golden during the sum-mer, but bamboo – an ever-green – stays relativelylush-looking all year long.

Then, there’s the beautyof the plant.

“Even in a very smallspace, bamboo can create avery unique environment,”Villa said. “And a bambooscreen is very private.”

It’s no wonder the plantsare cherished around theworld.

“Bamboo in Asia is a cul-ture. The philosophy and liferevolves around bamboo,”said Villa. “When you’reborn, your umbilical cord iscut with a bamboo knife.When you die, you are buriedin a bamboo coffin. And inbetween, you eat bamboo andlive in a bamboo house.”

Bamboo is also adaptive.Dormant shoots can be trans-planted most places and

spring right to life.“We’re probably one of

the largest growers in Cali-fornia because there aren’t asmany commercial growers.Bamboo is relatively newwith the public,” Villa said.

As a longtime member ofthe American Bamboo Soci-ety, Villa hopes to educate thepublic on the plant. PasoBamboo boasts black, yellowwine-colored and stripedstalks, including a special va-riety that zig-zags as it growsupwards. You’ll also seeplans anywhere from five to40 feet tall, ready to trans-plant.

“It’s always refurbishingitself, and that’s a great thingfor this sustainable move-ment we’re in,” said Villa.“Paso Bamboo serves to pro-vide awareness to people.The plants are very efficientin producing oxygen com-pared to trees, so if everyonehad a couple bamboos intheir backyard it would cer-tainly help [the environ-ment].”

It’s been rewarding forVilla to see his love of bam-boo come full circle. As achild, Villa was entranced bytropical plants on televisionand in movies.

“When I started lookingfor it, I couldn’t find it. Thatwas about 35 years ago,” hesaid. “My dad had a land-scaping friend who showedup one day with all thesebamboo clippings.”

Villa laughed as heknocked on a tall, sturdy cropof bamboo.

“These timbers camefrom that bamboo. When Imoved, I brought 200 plantsand stuck them in my barnand watered them, and theysomehow survived for a fewmonths before I put them inthe ground.”

It turns out, bamboo –like dreams – are very re-silient, if you remember totend to them.

“It’s very exciting whenpeople come to Paso Bambooand they see something newand it opens up their eyes,”said Villa.

Lush living: Paso Bamboo thrivesFrom a hobby to a four-acre nursery, the bamboo business has room to flourish

We are excited to share ourunique environment with the community.” – Gavino Villa, Paso Bamboo““

Grow a bamboo paradisePaso Bamboo, located at 5590 N. River Road, is open by

appointment only. For more information, visit www.pasobamboo.com or call 712-1759.

Photos by Hayley ThomasFAMILY BUSINESS – Paso Bamboo is family-owned-and-operated, offering a se-lection of lush greenery in the North County. Pictured from right is “bamboonut” Gavino Villa, wife Estefana and daughter Victoria before Paso Bamboo’sjungle tour.

“It’s a story about loveand life as told throughevents we’ve all livedthrough at some point,Cline added.

Locals may recognizethe cast: ‘Let it Be’ willfeature dancers from“The Nutcracker,” “Cin-derella,” “Ishtar” andother performances. Thelive band features mem-bers of local groupsResination, CuestaRidge, Funk:30 and TheProbes.

“This show is aunique opportunity for allof us to send our own‘Thank you’ to the Beat-les for everything theirmusic has contributed toour lives,” said Cline.

Class Act DanceArtistic Director CheryleArmstrong conceived the“rock ballet.”

“One of the aims ofthe NCDPAF is to giveperformers in our com-munity opportunities toperform in major theatri-cal production,” Arm-strong said. “We’refeaturing dancers fromages five to 85, from firsttimers to pre-professionaltalent.”

Five choreographersare working on the show

alongside Armstrong:Molly Comin, AmyWescom, Mindy Hart-man, Tiffini Hansen andRachel Dodson.

Cline said the cast andcrew has had to workwith what they have, andthe result is a creative useof costuming and set de-sign. He pointed out theuse of a mountain back-drop.

“[The mountain] isacting as a number ofthings throughout theshow. It’s a way to ad el-evation and some dimen-sion to the performance,”he said. Combined withlighting and sound pro-vided by Bill GainesAudio, “it’s a major pro-duction in every way,”said Cline.

It’s safe to say work-ing with the Beatles’discography – from theiconic “Abby Road” to

the beloved “WhiteAlbum” and eclectic“Sergeant Pepper’sLonely Heart’s ClubBand” – has been a stim-ulating experience forthe cast.

“There’s no questionthat each of the choreog-raphers has been inspiredby the various songs,”said Cline.

“When I first came inwith the songs we weregoing to use for the pro-duction, it was immedi-ately apparent whichsongs resonated witheach choreographer, andit was interesting.” SaidCline, “The breadth ofpersonality that The Bea-tles’ music brings ab-solutely resonated with[the cast].”


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LET IT BEContinued from pg. 1

Courtesy photos

GROOVE – "Let it Be," a story of peace, loveand understanding, will be presented at the

Templeton Performing Arts Center May 11 and 12.


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This way to freedom: Ground breaks on veterans’ memorial signCreig P. Sherburne

Ground broke recently for anew bronze and granitesign which will be erected

on Highway 41 and point the wayto the Atascadero Veterans’ Me-morial at the Atascadero LakePark.

The sign’s designer, MarkDariz, said that the sign will beshaped like a large V, with thepoint aimed toward Highway 41.Each arm will be 12 feet long fromthe apex, and it will be 10 feet tall.

Mark Greenaway sculpted thememorial’s bronze statue in 2008.For the sign, he said, he will maketwo bas relief images, one for each

panel of the sign, reproducing thesoldiers on the primary statue’sflag. The effect, he said, will besomewhat like a coin, but muchbigger. Each sculpture will be ap-proximately 40 inches in diameter,though the exact size is not yetknown.

Atascadero Veterans’ MemorialFoundation President JimmyQuinonez said that furtherfundraising is still required, butwhen that is finished, two slabs ofgranite, approximately five feet talland eight feet wide, will beshipped from India, engraved lo-cally, and installed at the park. Theentire process, not includingfundraising, will take approxi-

mately four or five months, he said.According to a press release

issued by the foundation, the signgot kick-started with a $20,000 do-nation by Greg Hind of the HindFoundation. Hind spoke at thegroundbreaking.

“This has value,” he said. “Itshows us that the things we enjoyare not without price.”

Atascadero Mayor Bob Kelleyagreed and praised the foundationfor its good work.

“This is almost becoming ahallowed place,” Kelley said. “Atsome point, it will be recognizednationally and people will comehere for this.”

Also according to the press re-

lease, the sign is hoped to be com-plete by Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11.

The sign is expected to cost ap-proximately $50,000 and fully half

of that cost still needs to be raised.To donate or get more information,call 466-7076 or go to www.facesoffreedommemorial.org.

Photo by Creig P. SherburneA watercolor painting by Faces of Freedom sculptor Mark Greenawayshows what the sign for Faces of Freedom will look like. Below, membersof the Atascadero City Council, Atascadero Veterans’ Memorial Foundationmembers, sign designers, city employees and others break ground of thesite for the proposed Faces of Freedom sign at the Atascadero Lake Park.


Wine Lips & Beauty Tips

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Cass Vineyards andWinery is located inthe rolling, oak-stud-

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Sited due east of the“Templeton Gap,” the win-ery receives the evening'scooling breezes that thewest side of Paso Robles isnoted for. The winery alsorests far enough from thecoast to generate the heatneeded to optimally ripenthe Rhone varieties grown intheir vineyards.NENA’S PICKS: 2009

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MAY 5

HEARTHSTONE VINEYARD TASTINGROOM AT 4 - 6 P.M.A Culinary Wine Seminarwill provide a guide for foodpairing and the use of winein foods you serve. Authorof Eat this with…Paso Rob-les, Lisa Pretty, will explainhow she pairs food withwine, and you can enjoywine tasting accompaniedwith a light food paring.$38/pp. Call 238-2544.

MAY 10

FIRST CRUSH WINEMAKING EXPERIENCEPASO WINE 101, 5:30 -7:30 P.M.

This seminar providesguests a wonderful intro-duction to Paso Robles winecountry, its wines, and howto taste them. The presenta-tion gives guests anoverview of how terroir in-fluences wine taste andlearn how wine is made,along with learning how toevaluate wines. $30/pp.Call 434-2772.

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MAY 18-20

PRWCA 30TH ANNUAL WINE FEST

More than 200 wineries willfeature events, tastings andmore spanning the PasoRobles Wine Country re-gion. Call 239-8463 or visitthe PRWCA web site.

BEAUTY TIPS

“The price we pay for thecomplexity of

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This is such great ad-vice for making your life asaner and more beautifulplace to be!

1. Even if you don’t med-itate, you can practice oneof meditation’s most valu-able lessons: do only whatyou are doing, be onlywhere you are.

2. Keep downtime sacredand don’t feel guilty aboutit.

3. Find some quiet time tothink . . . about where youare in life, about yourgoals, about your disap-pointments, and so on. In-sight can be very curativeand energizing, but it re-quires thought.

4. Be sure to avoid exer-cising too close to bed-

time. It can be too stimu-lating and interfere withyour sleep.

5. Warm milk is a naturaltranquilizer and calciumhelps you relax. Try aglass at night before yougo to bed.6. Take a Sunday afternoon nap.

7. Drop out of one com-mittee or evening meetingand dedicate that time tofamily activities.

8. Take five minutes torelax your back, neck, andfacial muscles.

9. Stop and think aboutwhat you enjoy that’sreadily accessible.

10. Remember: you mayhave more control overyour time than you think.

This Spring, lets focus on acouple beauty

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First-Ever Horsemen’s Re-Union: Six days, 20 horsemen and 40 coltsPaso Robles Event Center hosts music, wine tasting, calcuttas, cowboy cooking and more

Hayley Thomas

When it comes down to starting colts,every cowboy has his own way. Thatbeing said, it was fitting that the

First-Ever Horsemen’s Re-Union celebratedthe nuances among 20 top-notch horsemenApril 2 -7 at the Paso Robles Event Center.

Forty colts were featured over the six-daywestern experience, complete with chuckwagon meals, western vendors and a horsesale. The event was presented and producedby Chris Cox, Martin Black, and Rowly andCathie Twissleman.

Three-time undefeated world champion ofthe Road to the Horse, Chris Cox’s love forhorses began at a young age. Born in Floridaand raised in Australia, Cox has lived hisdream of working with horses around theworld.

Martin Black is a fifth-generation Idahorancher and fourth-generation rodeo competi-tor with a lifetime of experience handlinghorses, cattle and roping. Fellow horsemenhailing from Nevada, Illinois, Texas andSwitzerland crowded into the Event Centermuch to the excitement of an enthusiasticcrowd.

Featured horseman Jim Neubert startedhis first horse when he was just 7-years-oldand now runs a successful business starting performance horses aroundthe globe.

“It was a weaner colt that’s mother haddied…I only weighed 50 pounds and my dadhelped me start him,” said Neubert. “The nextyear, I started the whole batch of yearlings.”

At 12, Neubert started riding outside horsesfor money, and now he and his brother, Luke,travel the country starting performancehorses.

When asked what he liked about theHorsemen’s Re-Union, he smiled and said it’sneat to see so many riders doing what they do,all under one roof.

“Everybody gets started and does it, buteveryone has their own way of doing it,” hesaid. “I try to make the right things easy andthe wrong things difficult. I try to put thehorses in a learning state of mind where theywant to progress.”

The six-day show featured a slew ofevents, including cowboy music jam sessions,wine tasting, goat roping, calf-branding and ameet-and-greet session with the horsemen. All that roping and riding can cause a cow-

boy’s belly to bellow, so it was good to haveRobert Heely around. I found him preparingtamale pie at his restored chuck wagon.Backed by Dutch ovens and a crackling fire,he looked as if he’d stepped out from an oldphotograph.

“Cowboys are naturally drawn to the fireand everyone likes to sit around it when it’scold in the morning, enjoying a warm cup ofcowboy coffee,” said Heely. “People have en-joyed the food and the Dutch oven cooking.Chuck wagons are fun to be around, becausethere’s always something to eat at the end ofa chuck wagon.”

“We’re happy to bring together these finehorsemen in a new and exciting format,” or-ganizers said. “You’ll see them all, every-day…We think it will be something you’llremember for a very long time.”

Photos by Hayley ThomasHOWDY – Featured horseman JimNeubert started his first horse

when he was just 7-years-old andnow runs a successful

business starting performancehorses around the globe. Twentytop-notch horsemen were featured

at the first-ever Horsemen’s Re-Union held last month.

RIGHT: Robert Heely prepares Tamalepie with the use of his restored chuckwagon. BELOW: Horsemen share a

laugh on horseback.

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Generally, the ridelasts around an hour.However, Warren giveshimself several hours be-cause he is at the mercy ofthe breeze. If the balloonis pushed to an area wherehe can’t land, he has towait until the breezepushes him back to onewhere he can.

“All you control in aballoon is altitude,” War-ren said. “You can’t haveany kind of thermal orconvection currents mak-ing the balloon go up anddown causing it to go outof control.”

So, how does it allwork? When the air isheated up in the balloon,it causes the molecules topush each other apart, hesaid. It creates a low pres-sure in the balloon and

forces a lot of air out ofthe balloon. When thathas been done, the pres-sure around the balloonbuoys it up. When the airin the balloon starts tocool down, the pressurearound it and inside startsto equalize and the bal-loon comes back down,Warren added.

Direction is controlledby the breeze which tendsto be layered. The breezecan change directions atdifferent altitudes.

“If you take off and areheaded to the north, if youclimb to say 200 feet, youcan easily find yourselfheaded to the south, eastor west,” Warren said. “Asyou change elevations,you change directions.”

It wasn’t flying theballoon that bothered theseasoned pilot – it was thelanding that he was con-cerned about. Warren feltlike he needed a 10-acrefield to land the “mon-

strous” machine. “What is intimidating

is the size of those bal-loons,” Warren said.

“You feel like, ‘Ohmy gosh, this thing ishuge.”’

As he became moreacclimated to the size, herealized that he couldland it in a space assmall as 60 feet by 120feet pending the weatheris just right.

Although he can doit, he does prefer largerareas to land it in. Theballoon that Warrenuses are 70 feet talland 55 feet wideand will hold oneto four passen-gers. If passen-gers aren’t in aweof the balloon, theride itself will taketheir breath away.

The quietness ofballooning is like noother and may even bedescribed by some asstealth-like. If youweren’t paying attention,you wouldn’t even no-tice a balloon was there.

It’s a unique way toobserve nature withoutdisturbing it.

For more informa-tion, visit www.sloballoon.com and for reser-vations call 458-1530.

BALLOONSContinued from pg. 1

Photos by Jandy JonesAIR TIME– The balloon is

first filled with cold air with alarge portable fan. Then, it is heated

with a butane burner to get it to standupright, and eventually, take off.

FUN FACT:The first hot air balloon had asheep, goat, chicken and a duck as pas-sengers. When it came back down withthe animals still kicking, that’s when

humans set their sights on reach-ing higher altitudes via hot air

balloons.

“You can control a balloon about an inch

altitude wise, and this allows the riders to skim

above trees, grapevines and more without disturb-

ing the environment.” - John Warren


Get involved, see, taste and play

Community Calendar

WEDNESDAY,MAY 2

AG TOURAgricultural enthusiastswill get an up-close-and-personal look at localranch lands, producers,cattlemen, farmers andeverything in betweenwhile witnessing the evo-lution of the local indus-try during the PasoRobles Chamber of Com-merce's 50th Annual AgTour, slated for Wednes-day, May 2. Waiting listsare available for PasoRobles, but the event issold out. For more infor-mation, visit www.pasorobleschamber.com.

FRIDAY,MAY 4

WOMEN’S CLOTHINGSALEThe public is invited to awomen's clothing sale atthe Women’s Center inTempleton, 691 S. MainSt. (across from UpscaleResale) on Friday May 4from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. andon Saturday, May 5 from8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closeoutsand overstocked itemsstarting at $10, locally de-signed, made in the USAand sold at fine boutiquesnationwide. Come outand shop for Mother'sDay.

WINE, CHEESE & CHOCOLATE

On Saturday, May 5 from2 to 5 p.m., a wine,cheese and chocolatefundraiser sponsored byTeam Vino Vice featuringwine tastings from 30Paso Robles Wine Coun-try wineries will takeplace at Vina Robles Win-ery, 3700 Mill Road. Thisevent features wine tast-ings from 30 Paso RoblesWine Country wineries,plus gourmet food, silentand live auction, as wellas live entertainment. Allproceeds will benefit theAmerican Cancer Soci-ety's research, education,and support programs.For more information,visit www.vinovice.comor [email protected].

MOMS & MUFFINSThe Paso Robles Chil-dren's Museum, 623 13thSt. invites the public to

our Moms and Muffinsevent on Saturday, May 5from 9 to 10 a.m. We areopening an hour early totreat you special - join usfor coffee, tea, juice, fruit,muffins and more. TheCreation Station willoffer mother and childcrafting experiences. Call238-7432 for more infor-mation.

WINE EXPERIENCIAWine Experiencia Eventwill be held at MissionSan Miguel on May 5from 2 to 6 p.m. Over 30local wineries pouring,olive oil tasting, over adozen local restauran-teurs, caterers, localartists, live entertainmentand silent auction. Formore information, visitw w w . m i s s i o n s a nmiguel.org.

INDOOR YARD SALESt. James EpiscopalChurch on 14th and Oakstreets in Paso Robleswill hold an indoor yardsale on Saturday, May 5from 9 a.m. to noon. Avariety of small appli-ances, books, clothing,and miscellaneous itemswill be available.

SENIORS IN ACTIONSeniors in Action (SIA), anon-profit organization,will be holding their an-nual “Spring Fling” onSaturday, May 5, 9 a.m.to 2 p.m. in the RanchoPaso Senior Park at 2945Theatre Drive. For moreinformation call GiedraVaicius at 237-7620.

FIRST SATURDAYSFirst Saturdays: Wine andthe Arts will be held indowntown Paso Roblesstarting at 5 p.m. on Sat-urday, May 5. They'reheld the first Sunday ofevery month and end atroughly 8 p.m. The eventpromotes artists, gal-leries, wine tasting roomsand other venues thatshowcase the arts.

SUNDAY,MAY 6

FANCY HAT TEAThe Fancy Hat Tea Partyto benefit the work ofCommunity Action Part-nership’s Adult Day Cen-ter, will be held onSunday, May 6 at RobertHall Winery, 3443 MillRd. in Paso Robles from1 to 3 p.m. This is an an-nual fete where attendees

don their prettiest, funki-est or most outrageousfancy hat and join 120revelers for High Tea. Afun party where everyoneis guaranteed to have agreat time. Tickets areonly $35 and must bepurchased in advance.Call Mara Whitten at434-2081 or [email protected] more details.

CUESTA SPRING CONCERTThe Cuesta CollegeNorth County Choruspresents their SpringConcert “Love, Laughterand Lieder” on Sunday,May 6 at 3 p.m. at theAtascadero UnitedMethodist Church, 11605El Camino Real. This de-lightful and diverse con-cert features the poetry ofLord Byron, music ofPalestrina, Brahms,Moses Hogan, and wit ofGilbert & Sullivan. Tick-ets are $10 for general ad-mission, $7 for studentsand seniors 65+. Forreservations, call 546-3195.

THURSDAY,MAY 10

WOODWORKERSThe Central Coast Wood-working Association willhold its monthly meetingon Thursday, May 10 atthe Pioneer Museum,2010 Riverside Ave. inPaso Robles. A programabout how-to with routerswill be presented. Themeeting starts at 7p.m. For more informa-t i o nvisit www.ccwwa.org orcall the president at 237-0051.

SATURDAY,MAY 12

CRESTON SWAPMEETThe Creston Swap Meetwill be held on SaturdayMay 12, 8 a.m. to noon atthe Creston ElementarySchool ball fields onAdams and O'Donovanroads. Admission is free.12' x 25' spaces are avail-able for $25 for thosewho wish to sell crafts,rummage items, food,beverages, householdgoods, and hobby items.No live animals. Pro-ceeds will benefit fieldtrips for Creston school

children. Contact CrestonElementary School at238-477 to reserve aspace or [email protected] more information.

DAY IN THE SHADEMark your calendars forthe 10th Annual Day InThe Shade: A Celebrationof the Arts taking placethe Saturday beforeMothers’ Day, May 12, inTempleton CommunityPark, at Crocker & 6thStreets, from 9 a.m. to 5p.m. Featuring BigDaddy Blues Band andother local musicians,wine tasting from 12local wineries, and delec-table food options, thisyear's event will be thebest place to whisk momaway for a day of shop-ping and family fun.

NCCS AUCTION & BENEFITCome and be dazzled in anight devoted to 1940'smusic, fine chocolatesand confections, duringone of North CountyChristian School's mostcommunity-driven auc-tions yet this year at theAtascadero Lake Pavilionon Saturday, May 12 at6:30 p.m. Music by Sec-ondhand Swing Dancingand singing by La BellaTrio. Tickets to the event$25 per person; raffletickets $5 for two chancesto win a $500 gift card ofyour choice.For informa-tion or tickets call 466-4457.

SUNDAY,MAY 13

GRANGE BREAKFASTThe Paso Robles Grangewill hold its monthlybreakfast the second Sun-day of the month at 7:30p.m. at the Paso RoblesGrange Hall, 627 CrestonRoad in Paso Robles,from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Thismonth's breakfast isscheduled for Sunday,May 13. Pancakes, eggs,bacon, orange juice andcoffee will be served. Formore information, callLester Reugot at 238-2340 or 801-1766.

MOTHERS DAYBRUNCHPear Valley Estate Winepresents a Mother’s Daybrunch on Sunday, May13 with the first seating 11a.m. and second seating at12:30 p.m. Come at and

enjoy a fabulous buffetbrunch catered by ChefCharlie set in a gorgeousTuscan setting. $50/perperson, $40/wine clubmembers, $18/guestsunder 18. For full menu oradditional informationcontact the tasting room at237-2861 or [email protected].

SATURDAY,MAY 19

5K/10KKennedy Club Adventureof Paso Robles invites youto join us in its annual 5Kand 10K Fun Run/Walkon Saturday, May 19. The10K starts at 8:30 a.m.,and the 5K starts at 8:45a.m. with check in at 7:30a.m. This is a benefit forthe American Cancer So-ciety's Relay for Life. Thecost is $20 for the 5K and$30 for the 10K beforeMay 9 and $25 and $35after May 9. This includesa race T-shirt, race bagand refreshments. Regis-ter online at www.ac

tive.com or by calling theclub at 239-8488. Thereare awards for the first 3male and female runnerson each course.

CLUTTER TO CASHTo promote and encour-age recycling, reuse andother sustainable strate-gies, the Templeton Com-munity Services District isholding its annual Clutterto Cash community-widegarage sale on Saturday,May 19 from 8 a.m. to 2p.m. All shoppers maypick up a free guide be-ginning on Friday, May18 at Templeton Market,Hewitt's Hardware, Tem-pleton Donuts or the TCSoffice at 420 Crocker St.or download the guide atwww.templetoncsd.org.For more information, call434-4914. Main StreetAssociation and the PasoRobles Bearcat Boosters’athletic programs. Formore information, call238-4103.

WINE, CHEESE & CHOCOLATEHelp raise funds for local Relay of Life team Vino Vice. Enjoy 30wineries, an array of fine cheeses and rich chocolate delights on

Saturday, May 5 at Vina Robles Winery. The best part? Funds go to the American Cancer Society.


FARMER’SMarkets

Atascadero Farmer’s MarketWEDNESDAYS 3PM - 6PMAlbertsons parking lot

Atascadero(805) 239-6535

Paso Country Farm & Craft Market

SATURDAYS 9AM - 1PM11th and Spring streets Downtown City Park

Paso Robles(805) 238-4029

Paso Robles Farmer’s MarketTUESDAYS 3PM - 6PM11th and Spring streets Downtown City Park

Paso Robles(805) 237-9254

Paso 101 Open Aire Farmer’s Market

THURSDAYS 3PM - 6PMSan Paso Truck Stop

(off HWY 101)Paso Robles(805) 286-1436

Paso Robles Farmer’s MarketFRIDAYS 4PM - 7PM

Golden Hills Plaza at Lowe’sPaso Robles(805) 610-5023

Templeton Farmer’s MarketSATURDAYS 9AM - 12:30PMCity Park at 5th and Crocker

streets, Templeton(805) 239-6535

MOTHER’S DAYFASHION SHOW

Tickets go on sale May 1 and

are $75 per person. All

proceeds benefit the Wellness

Community -California

Central Coast.

Visit www.twcccc.org for

more information or contact

the Wellness Community at

805-238-4411.

Contributed

TThe InauguralMother’s Day Fash-ion Show Charity

Classic will be hosted byTempleton Farms Eques-trian Center.

The State-of-the-Artfarm is the realization ofowner Gina Bornino Miller,United States Dressage Fed-eration Gold Medalist andWellness CommunityFounder.

The world class 24-stallbarn, covered arena and 52pastoral acres is the perfectbackdrop for the lineup ofevents scheduled for whatpromises to be a day to re-member.

This equestrian-themed

event is a showcase of theCentral Coast’s finest fash-ions, food, wines, horsesand equestrians. Fromfarmer to fashionista, thereis something for everyone toenjoy.

"There is simply nothinglike it on the Central Coast,”said Christie Kelly, Execu-tive Director of the WellnessCommunity. “It's definitelythe place to be on Mother'sDay. The day is a specialcelebration of mothers,daughters, families and sur-vivors, all while raisingfunds for cancer support inour community."

LADIES HAT CONTESTWhat would a fashion

show be without a hat con-

test? Ladies will be asked todecorate their hats, whichwill be judged by a panel ofjudges in several categories.

The Community hasbeen asked to create hats forthe event and a separate run-way presentation will takeplace to show off their cre-ations. Those hats will bedonated to the silent auctionand will be on display withinformation on each com-pany, business or organiza-tion.

VENDOR VILLAGEThe event will feature a

village of local wineriespouring tastings for showgoers eager to taste andlearn about boutique winer-ies on the Central Coast.

DRESSAGE DEMONSTRATION

A Grand Prix Freestyledemonstration will takeplace during the event aswell as an exhibition ofReining, the Western rendi-tion. Both beautiful and edu-cational, this event will beone to remember.

BAREBACK PUISSANCE

A Puissance is the high-jump competition in theequestrian sport of showjumping, without a saddle.

Spectators may bet ontheir choice for the winninghorse and rider combination.Thrills and spills, a realcrowd pleaser.

MODEL MAKE-OVER

Cancer survivors andcaregivers will be struttingdown the runway dressed tothe 9s, modeling local de-signer fashions.

LIVE AND SILENT AUCTION

The event will host asilent auction to raise addi-tional funds for the WellnessCommunity, featuring localpackages, wines, beautyitems, salon makeovers,wine tours, etc.

The Mother’s Day Fash-ion Show Charity Classic isexpected to draw over 300attendees and is on target togrow into a Central Coastfamily tradition.

Mother's Day fashion show promises to pleaseInaugural event to be held Sunday, May 13 at the Templeton Farms Equestrian Center


with Duck Paella & mushroomsPaso Robles PinotLife

Lisa Pretty

When most peoplethink of PasoRobles wine

they typically think infan-del, Cabernet Sauvignon,Rhône varietals and variousblends. Pinot noir is likelynot a wine that comes tomind. I have to confess inthe past if I was going todrink a pinot noir from Cal-ifornia I looked for wineproduced in the RussianRiver or Santa Rita Hillsarea.When I was working on

my Eat This With Paso Rob-les Wine book, I was sur-prised to find 45 PasoRobles wineries producingpinot noir. Several of theproducers with excellentpinot noirs source their fruitfrom other growing regions.For example Wild Horse,Kenneth Volk and TassajaraCellars all purchase the fruitfrom other regions andmake the wine in their PasoRobles based winery. Then there are wineries

that actually own estatevineyards outside of thePaso AVA that grow theirown pinot noir. A couple ofexamples of this would be J.Lohr and Derby EstateWines (who by the way alsomake an excellent sparklingfrom their estate pinot noirgrapes). In each of those sit-uations, the label will not

have Paso Robles since theAVA on the label must bewhere the grapes are grown,not where the wine is made. There is a growing list of

Paso Robles wineries whohave been growing pinotnoir in the Paso RoblesAVA. One of the first, andlikely best known, is Wind-ward Vineyard, which ma-kees exclusively pinot noirfrom its estate vineyard.There are now more than 20pinot noir producers makingwine from Paso Robles fruitand they are forming an al-liance to promote the factthat Paso is a great place togrow this noble grape.The group is in the early

stages and will begin pro-moting their wines by host-ing industry and localevents. They will be creat-ing marketing materials andwill soon be spreading theword about Paso Pinot Pro-ducers outside of the region.Many of the members haveparticipated in the PasoPinot & Paella annual eventfor many years. The event isbeing held next month, so

get your tickets today andtaste for yourself what Pasopinot is all about.

Paso Pinot & PaellaSunday June 3, 2-5pm A great way to try a large

selection of Paso Roblespinot noirs is at the PasoPinot & Paella event. Notonly is it an opportunity totry the pinots, but also anopportunity to sample witha wide range of flavors.Marc Goldberg & Mag-

gie D’Ambrosia weresearching to create a wineand food pairing event thatwas different from the usualwinemaker sit-down dinnerformat. The event needed tobe a unique way of show-casing the diversity of PinotNoir with a wide range offood and flavors. With a lit-tle help from Tom Fundarofrom Villa Creek and LynnDiehl of Wine Region Newsthe First Pinot & PaellaEvent, in 2004, attracted125 guests at WindwardVineyard. Paella was selected since

there are about 450 different

types of Paella that could allpair well with Pinot: fromseafood, to duck, lamb, veg-etarian, basically incorpo-rating any locally availableingredient with short grainrice and cooking on an openfire. This year’s event will be

held on Sunday, June 3 andtickets are now on sale for$65 per person atwww.pinotandpaella.com.There will be 20 Paso pinotnoir producers, 20 outstand-ing chefs creating 20 differ-

ent paellas, live music underthe shade of the big oaks inthe beautiful TempletonPark with live music anddancing. Attendance is limited to

500 guests in order to em-phasize the quality, and notquantity and 100 percent ofthe proceeds benefit localyouth arts foundations. Thisis an excellent event toshowcase many impressivePaso Robles pinot noirs.

FOOD & WINE

LISA PRETTY

Owner/winemaker at Pretty-SmithVineyards & Winery/Pretty Café

One of Lisa’s favorite activities is to experimentwith food and wine combinations to find ones withthe “wow” factor. You can find several of her fa-vorite pairings on the blog EatThisWith.com orreach her by email at [email protected].

Photo by Lisa PrettyA DINING DELICACY – Duckpaella with mushrooms (cre-ated by Maggie D’Ambrosiaof Windward Vineyard) isthe perfect way to celebratethe upcoming Pinot & PaellaFestival, held June 3 in Templeton.

Going into the ninth year, it is rewarding to see thesell-out crowds that attend this unique and specialPaso Pinot & Paella event celebrating the chefs andpinot noir of the area.” – Marc Goldberg, Windward Vineyards““

SPARKLE & SHINE – Just in time for June’s Pinot & Paella Fes-tival, try out a bottle of Derby Estate’s own sparkling pinot noir.

This year’s Pinot & Paella Fest

Sunday, June 3


by Maggie D’Ambrosia

Serves 6

� � WHAT YOU NEED

1 cup dry white wine1/2 teaspoon saffron threads1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt1 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme2 tablespoons fresh parsley2 cloves garlic, minced2 1/2 pounds duck breast or legs4 ounces sliced, fully cooked smokedChorizo 1 tablespoon olive oil1 1/2 cups chopped onion3 cloves garlic, minced1/2 pound mushrooms, cleaned andcoarse chopped (porcini and baby bellas are perfect)3 cups Arborio rice5 1/2 cups low salt chicken broth1-14 ounce can diced tomatoes injuice2 red bell peppers, cut in half inchpieces

� � Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix whitewine and saffron threads in smallmeasuring cup; set aside. Combinesalt, smoked paprika, black pepperand herbs in small bowl; rub mixtureall over duck. Heat heavy large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat.Add chorizo and sauté until fat beginsto render and sausage browns, stirringoccasionally about three minutes.

Transfer chorizo to large plate. Addolive oil to skillet. Add duck to skilletand cook until browned, about fourminutes per side. Transfer to platewith chorizo.

� � Pour off all but one tablespoon ofdrippings from skillet. Reduce heat tomedium. Add chopped onion andcook until translucent, stirring often.Add four cloves minced garlic and stir30 seconds. Add mushrooms andsauté. Add rice and stir to coat. Addwine-saffron mixture and bring toboil, scraping up browned bits frombottom of skillet.

� � Add chicken broth, tomatoes withjuice, and red peppers. Bring to sim-mer. Stir in browned chorizo. Placeduck atop mixture in skillet (if usingbreasts, do not add until last 10 min-utes of baking for medium-rare).Bake paella uncovered until rice is al-most tender, about 20 minutes.

� � Transfer duck to plate. Stir rice;season to taste with salt and pepper.Return duck to skillet, nestling intorice. Bake until rice is tender, 5-10minutes longer if necessary. Visit us on line at www.rbsmokinbbq.com

where you can even place an order for pick-up!

1467 Creston Road, Paso Robles • 805-221-5863Located in the Food-4-Less Shopping Center

NEW MENU ITEMS:TRI-TIP • FISH & CHIPS • SALADS • VEGETABLES

FRESH RB GROUND BEEF BURGERS

Happy Hour Monday thru Friday – 11am to 6pm$2 PINTS - BUD LITE & SMOKIN’ BLONDE DRAFT

$2 DOMESTIC BOTTLED BEER

SLO Home Show BBQ ContestPeople’s Choice Winner

PatioDining!

Family owned and operated, we offer a world of BBQ under one roof. Youwill find slow cooked classics in a range of styles from Texas, Kansas Cityand the Carolinas. We take great pride in our Angus Beef Brisket, meatyand tender dry-rubbed baby back ribs, premium quality pork butts, tenderyoung smoked chickens, and all the great side dishes including fried pickles andfried green beans. Our meats are smoked low and slow with our signature dry rub.

Relax on our covered patio and choose from 8 premium draft beers,a couple of dozen bottled beers and several local wines.

DeliveryNow

Available!

1st Place Tri-Tip • 1st Place Ribs • 2nd Place Chicken

Duck paella – Recipe –

recipe

Photo by Lisa PrettyHEAT UP THE PARK – Chef Charlie cooks up a meanpaella at last year’s Pinot & Paella Festival at TempletonCommunity Park. RIGHT: Wild Horse Pinot is ready fortasting. This year’s festival will feature dozens of paellaand pinot pairing combinations courtesy of local chefsand wine producers.

Creig P. Sherburne

Jennifer Parham livesin Paso Robles, butteaches swimming all

over the county. She washired by Kennedy ClubFitness in Atascadero al-most a decade ago ashead lifeguard, but “builta job to suit my interests.”

Those interests areoriented on swimmingand always have been.

Parham grew up inSan Jose and spentumpteen hours per weekin community and schoolpools.

“The pool was likeday care for us,” Parhamsaid.

She said she wouldbegin the summer days ofher youth at the pool forformal swim practice,then head home and “eatlike seven bowls of ce-real, then watch T.V. tillthe whistle blew at noon.”

The whistle signaledthat the pool was open forfree swim and her nextseven hours became ac-counted for.

“How do you play forseven hours?” she askedwith a grin. “I don’t knowwhat we did.”

That’s not entirelytrue. She knows that thelast 10 minutes of everyhour in those days wasadult swim time. She saidthe lifeguards would jumpin to cool off, but Parhamand her friends wouldalso jump in and hide be-hind a bulkhead. Some-times, she said, the groupwould get caught andhave a time out, but it wasfun.

At 16, Parham became

a Red Cross certified life-guard, but she’d been giv-ing private swim lessonssince about 12 or so, usu-ally informally, duringfree swim at the commu-nity pool.

She was also on thecommunity intramuralswim team.

“We had thesecoaches we worshipped,”she said with what canonly be described as animpish grin. “The blond-haired surfer dude. Hehad a V.W. van with surf-boards sticking out theback.”

That swim coach, shesaid, helped keep his fol-lowers on the straight andnarrow. His message wasclear: you don’t needbooze to have a goodtime. Look around whileyou’re in the pool, hewould say, you’re notdrinking, and life is good.

When he came backfrom college to say “hi”to his old students,Parham said she was ab-solutely heartbrokenwhen he told them howwrong he was and that, hesaid, alcohol really is amany-splendored thing— just you wait till youget some.

“I was so let down,”she said. “So, so letdown.”

It’s why, now, shehires wholesome juniorlifeguards and insists thatconversations aboutdrinking and sex stay outof her pool.

“The kids are listen-ing,” she said. “I make afun, safe environment. Wefocus on getting educatedand getting good jobskills.”

In high school,Parham said her participa-tion on the school’s teamwas haphazard because ofthe amount of travel in-volved, but she practicedwith the boy’s swim teamanyway, just to swim.

But while she was onthe team, the most excit-

ing thing of her entireswimming career hap-pened at a league champi-onship.

“We won the leaguechampionship one yearby a tenth of a second,”she said. “It all camedown to that last relay.Everyone was on theirfeet, cheering.”

She was unable toswim in college due to aninjury in which the L3and L4 discs in her spinewere damaged; they re-main damaged, but shesaid that swimmingseems to be the best treat-ment, so that’s fortunatefor her.

Then followed a pe-riod of unrest. Parhamsaid that while shelearned to be an expertphotographer, she didn’ttake any business classes,and had no idea how toopen up a photographybusiness. So instead she

taught photography. InNew Zealand.

Interestingly, she wasmoving during the eventsof 9/11, she did not havea T.V. and was in the mid-dle of moving across anocean, so didn’t learnabout the events untilmore than a week had

passed.New Zealand only

lasted about a year. Butshe kept teaching in SanJose, though in retrospect,she said she wasn’t matureenough for it then.

“I considered piercingmy eyebrow to irritate theprincipal,” she said.

She moved to San LuisObispo County to helpcare for a friend’s elderlymother. She took the job atKennedy along with themove.

At the time, she said,the job really was justwhat the title said: headlifeguard. But that boredher and she rememberedhaving fun in the pool as akid. There were twoevents from her youth thatprompted the big changesthat followed.

First, she said, she andher friend, at about age 12or 13, would use a cleantrash can as a submarine

in the friend’s pool, andthat was a blast.

The other was on theFourth of July every yearin the community pool —they’d grease up a water-melon, choose teams andplay the “shove thegreased watermelon to theother side of the pool”game.

She wanted to try torecreate that, not only forkids, but for herself and allof the other adults who,she said, have forgottenhow to just play.

So what she’s done atKennedy, inspired by theplaytimes of her youth andher three-year-old son’sneeds, is make a safe placefor kids to play in thepool.

“You know whenyou’re a kid and in thezone and your mom callsyou in after two hours andyou feel like it was onlyfive minutes?” she asked.“You could do that forhours. You’d only stopwhen you’re going to faintfrom hunger.”

She started the pro-grams with organizedgames, but she quicklylearned that the kids justwant to play “king of themountain” and practiceholding their breath. Sothat’s what free swim atthe Kennedy pool hasevolved into, and the kidscouldn’t be happier.

Despite how muchParham might wish itwere otherwise, it’s not allfun and games. She alsoteaches Total Immersionswimming. It’s a style of

swimming which focuseson being utterly stream-lined and relaxed andteaching a swimmer whyhe or she does the littlethings required to go fast.

“It’s sort of like yoga;it’s a way to meditate andtrain your brain to be bet-ter in all areas,” Parhamsaid. “You get rid of all thethings in your stroke thatslow you down.”

She said she teachesanyone from neophytes tothe elite, and she doesn’tjust do it in the pool.

“The Wildflower[Triathlon]’s swim is inthe lake,” she said. “It’sdifferent from practicingin the pool. There’s nobottom, the water ismurky, the taste is differ-ent. If you’re not used tothat, sometimes panic at-tacks happen.”

And on the other endof the spectrum, Parhamtold a story about awoman who had neverbeen in water deeper thanher ankles. Parham taughtthat 60-year-old clienthow to swim slowly, butsuccessfully.

And now, Parham said,that woman in her 60’s haslearned the joy of swim-ming.

“I’m so excited toshare the joy of swimmingwith people who haven’thad that,” she said.“Sometimes we just haveto swim to swim. Don’tcount laps. Pay attentionto the joy you’re having.Just bring a towel. Justplay, don’t worry abouttimes.”

page 14

LifeMay 2012 North County Life

FITNESS

The joy ofswimmingJennifer Parham teachesswimming and fun

Creig P. Sherburne

Jennifer Parham is in charge of the swimming pool at Kennedy Club Fitness. She teaches good swim-ming habits in the Total Immersion style, but urges swimmers to take some time to just play and enjoybeing in the water.

“Sometimes we just have to swim to

swim. Don’t count laps. Pay attention to

the joy you’re having.” – Jennifer Parham


Creig P. Sherburne

At 33 weeks preg-nant, SarahGoible, 32, went

for the inaugural San LuisObispo half marathon onEarth Day, April 22.

What makes the PasoRobles resident interest-ing is that she is not a life-long health nut ormarathoner. She onlystarted a couple years ago,after the birth of her firstson, Jackson, 4-almost-5.

“I started running afterJackson was born as away to get a good workoutthat was quick,” Goiblesaid.

To keep motivated, shesaid she started signing upfor 5K and 10K races be-cause “it pushes me tokeep exercising.”

Growing up in Massa-chusetts, Goible’s dadplayed baseball, andGoible herself startedplaying basketball infourth grade. She playedon her high school’s var-sity team all four years.Along the way, she alsoplayed softball and soccer.She even ran cross-coun-try for a season in herfreshman year, but said,ironically, that she hatedit.

Things began gettingreal for Goible when sheran a 5K with a cousinwho’d lost approximately90 pounds. The racebegan a little late, 10 a.m.,and the heat, she said, waspretty miserable, but theyfinished and had some-thing to be proud of.

“Passing the finish lineis a big thrill,” she said en-thusiastically.

Goible’s last big, offi-cial run was the Big Surhalf marathon in Novem-ber 2011. A marathon is26.2 miles, which makes ahalf marathon 13.1 miles.There’s a famous sayingfor half marathons: “halfthe distance, twice thefun.”

Goible finished in twoand a half hours; not thebest time ever, but herlongest run before thatwas only six miles. Oh,and she was 11 weekspregnant.

“My goal is finishing,getting exercise and burn-ing calories,” she said.

Much of Goible’s run-ning happens on her lunchbreak. She works as arecreational therapist at

Atascadero State Hospital.Goible said that her jobtitle can mean quite a va-riety of things includinggardening, art or physicalfitness. For Goible, it’smeant physical fitness foronly a short time.

She said she does a lotof pre-diabetes work withher patients, teachingthem how to be healthy,how to achieve a balancedlifestyle.

“I felt like I had to liveit, too,” she said.

So now she goes toyoga twice a week withcoworkers, runs on herlunch break, works out athome with her husband,Josh, where their son cansee them living healthyand works out with theguys at work.

“It’s really hard for theguys to not work out whengetting their butts kickedby a girl,” she said laugh-ing. “That was fun. It waswhy I made that part ofmy day.”

Now, being as healthyas she is today is a far cryfrom how things werewhen she was pregnantwith Jackson.

“It’s been interestingthis time around,” shesaid, smiling.

The big difference isthat exercise wasn’t a reg-ular part of her life then.She said she’s the typewho would — and did —get a gym membershipand then never use it.

So how does one blendrunning with pregnancy?One way that Goible hasdone it is by stopping run-

ning. She actually walkedthe SLO half marathon,not run it. But, she added,she probably could haverun it safely.

“You don’t have tostop running,” she said. “Ifeel like I can run, I justchoose to walk or hikenow.”

One major reason forthat is that, when preg-nant, a lot of extra gear isrequired for running. Asupport belt and a lotmore water begin thechecklist.

“I’m not doing it forany reason other than tostay healthy,” she said. “Iwould never put this babyat risk, not for any race.”

She’s done her re-search and is under thecare of a doctor and a pairof midwives, and is as-sured that her upcominglabor will be easier thanher last because she’smuch fitter now.

She’s also a big fan offun gadgetry and exerciseswith a heart-rate monitor— handy in non-pregnanttimes to help her keep herpace up, handy nowadaysto keep her pace down.

Besides, “it’s fun to getnew gadgets; I need thereinforcement,” she said.

For his part, Jackson isenthusiastic both aboutgetting a new brother orsister and about beinghealthy with his parents.

“I’m a little fast,” hesaid. “We got a lightningmachine. It shoots base-balls so you can be a bet-ter hitter.”

LOCAL PROFILEPROFILE

Real-life ‘super mom’ is a healthy inspiration for allPregnant runner blasts through SLOhalf marathon with a true glow

Creig P. Sherburn13 MILES AT 33

WEEKS – Sarah Goiblewalked the San Luis Obispo

half marathon recently. The fitand healthy Paso Robles

resident is an occupationaltherapist at Atascadero StateHospital and an inspiration

for moms everywhere.

FIT MOM – Sarah and Jackson Goible round the firstturn at Atascadero High School’s track recently. Jack-son is “a little fast” and his mother has used running tostay fit since shortly after his birth.

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