It is my privilege to begin a sixth term as SCNA president while looking forward to devoting the board’s energy to things that are not Curtis Park Village. As my predecessor was fond of saying, I am cautiously optimistic.
Fortunately, I have lots to be optimistic about regarding SCNA and the Sierra 2 Center for the Arts. I feel my heart flutter a bit when I ramble over to Sierra 2 for a board meeting and the parking lot is jam-packed full on a Wednesday evening. The Learnery, our version of The Learning Annex, is an unqualified success, and new classes keep getting added all the time. Right now, there’s everything from Beginning Spanish to Wabi Kusa: Japanese Water Garden Workshop.
Our biggest initiative this year is the rehabilitation of the 24th Street Theatre. This venerable institution is showing signs of its age, and we’re fund-raising with a vengeance. We’ve already replaced the roof, and we were awarded a $40,000 matching grant from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.
Our next priority is to raise additional funds to replace the worn-out theater seats, which were purchased second-hand from Memorial Auditorium in 1979. You can help by buying a T-shirt, purchasing a couple of the antique seats (perfect for a deck or front porch) or sponsoring one of the new seats — Terri and her staff are offering donation options to fit every budget.
Also serving on the Executive Committee are Bruce Pierini, vice president; Jonathan LaTurner, treasurer; Kate Van Buren, secretary; and new board member Kat Haro, member at large.
Former SCNA President Pat Soluri and the longest-ever board member Andrea Rosen have retired from the board. Both have been invaluable resources and supporters of SCNA.
Of course, I look forward to all the events and happenings that make Curtis Park fantastic: The home tour, wine tasting, CurtisFest, Senior Center crafts fair, egg hunt … the list goes on.
I hope you, dear reader, will consider volunteering to be on an event committee — recent years have seen an increase of staff time devoted to events, and it’s really important that we keep our events community oriented. My time volunteering on the board has been incredibly rewarding, and I bet you’d find it rewarding also. I hear the Wine Tasting committee is a blast.
There’s a lot going on in our neighborhood, and I really enjoy being a part of it. I hope to see you out and about — I’ll be the guy sweating as I toil over the pedestrian bridge on a run, and then enjoying a frosty pint on the front porch. Stay optimistic.