Events

Community Celebration of Historic Aptos Village

April 19, 2016 by Seb Frey

A community celebration of historic Aptos Village is being planned for Saturday, April 30th from 11 AM until 2 PM. The event is to be held at the icon of Aptos Village, the Bayview Hotel. This is a free event, complete with refreshments and live music in the hotel’s garden. A number of long-time Aptos residents will be on hand to recount the history of the village.

Notable among them is Mrs. Anne Isaacs who will tell her story about lying down on the railroad tracks 55 years ago – dressed in costume from the 1880’s – to prevent a train from ruining the Aptos Community Family Picnic Day, and the World’s Shortest Parade. She’ll be joined by other card-carrying members of the famous Tuesday Afternoon Aptos Ladies Society (a group formed in 1961 to defeat a cement batching plant which had been planned for Aptos Village).

It should be a fun and interesting event, and if you’re curious about Aptos history, this ought to be an entertaining and educational event! For more information, call Nancy at 831-688-4453.

Aptos Wine Wander Set for May 14

April 19, 2016 by Seb Frey

Aptos Village businesses have announced they will host the first-ever Aptos Wine Wander, a fundraiser for Aptos-area elementary schools held in partnership with the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association, on Saturday, May 14 2016.

The inaugural event, which will be 1-4 p.m., will feature wines from 10 fine Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries. Participating wineries include: Armitage Wines, Bargetto Winery, Bottle Jack Winery, Mindego Ridge Vineyard, MJA Vineyards, Nicholson Vineyards, Sante Arcangeli Family Winery, Silver Mountain Vineyards, Windy Oaks Estate Vineyard & Winery and Wrights Station Vineyard & Winery.

Tastings will be offered inside Aptos Village businesses, located on Soquel Drive and Trout Gulch Road. Wine Wanderers will be encouraged to walk business-to-business to explore the shops and sample wine. Wine tastings will be offered at Cantine Winepub, Warmth Company, Mulberry Gallery, Armitage Wines, Talmadge Construction, Gravity Saddlemaker, Jet Set Bohemian, Claudia DeMaranville Allstate, Aptos Village Garage, Print Smith and Epicenter Cycling.

“The Wine Wander is one of several new events local businesses will be hosting to remind Aptos residents of the wonderful services that are available here in the ‘heart of the Village’” said Claudia DeMaranville, agency principal for Allstate Insurance, a longtime Aptos Village business. “The Aptos Village is a diverse shopping area that allows our residents to buy local and receive fantastic customer service close to home.”

Barry Swenson Builders, Appenrodt Commercial Properties, Testorff Construction, Aptos Village Merchants, Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association and Times Publishing Group are sponsoring the event.

“We are excited to be a part of this whimsical, community-oriented event that draws people into locally owned businesses while showcasing the amazing wines made in our region,” said Mary Gourlay, Development Project Manager at Barry Swenson Builder, which is developing the Aptos Village Project.

Proceeds from the Aptos Wine Wander will benefit Mar Vista, Rio del Mar and Valencia Elementary Schools. Tickets, which include a commemorative glass, are $35 in advance and are available online through the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association, http://scmwa.com/event/aptos-wine-wander. Tickets will be $40 at the door.

Micro Business Summit comes to Aptos

March 31, 2016 by Seb Frey

Micro Business Summit at Cabrillo VAPA, April 22, 2016

The Santa Cruz Micro Business Summit comes to Aptos this April 22nd!

According to Barbara Mason, 82% of the businesses in Santa Cruz County have 9 or fewer employees. That’s 82% of over 14,000 businesses!!! The Santa Cruz County Office for Economic Development wants to help businesses thrive and grow and stay in our county. At the behest of the Board of Supervisors, the Office for Economic Development is planning a business education summit day.

There will be no vendor booths – just classes with great topics and outstanding speakers. The county’s ROP Digital Arts program will be filming every speaker, so if there are two great topics during the same time period, you will be able to watch one live and the other on a computer later from the comfort of your own home or device. You can choose to see all 24 education sessions and the keynote speaker, Kent Burnes, who is a nationally recognized speaker and consultant for small business.

This event has a long list of sponsors, including PG&E, PayPal, SCORE, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Central Coast SBDC, Lighthouse Bank, Bay Federal Credit Union, KSCO, with many more, and more signing up daily.

Tickets to the event are $49 and can be purchased here. They have also set up a Facebook page for the event as well which gives greater detail on what the various speakers will be presenting on.

Coffee, Tee, and History: F.A. Hihn

January 7, 2016 by Seb Frey

Francis Augustus (“F.A.”) Hihn

The Aptos History Museum is putting on event called “Coffee, Tea and History” about F.A. Hihn, one of the “founding fathers” as it were of Aptos and Santa Cruz. Hihn was Santa Cruz’s first self made millionaire. Among his many accomplishments, he built and ran the first Santa Cruz Railroad, and created the town of Valencia to support his lumber operations in Aptos Village.

The talk will be given by Stan Stevens, author of numerous books, papers, and articles about Hihn. The event will be held on Saturday, January 16th from 3:30 PM until 5:00 PM, and will be held at the Rio Sands Hotel. There’s a $15 entrance fee, which will go to support the Museum. This is sure to be a fun and very interesting presentation for anyone interested in the history of Aptos and Santa Cruz.

Seating is very limited – to grab your seat, call the Aptos Chamber at 831-688-1467 to reserve yours today!

Coffee Tea and History Flyer

Cash Mob at Caroline’s Thrift Shop on Tuesday

December 15, 2015 by Seb Frey

Cash Mob Aptos

The good folks of the <a href="https://www.facebook click this.com/groups/aptosia/” target=”_blank”>Aptosia Facebook group are organizing a Cash Mob at Caroline’s Thrift Shop on Tuesday, December 15th 2015. It’s a great way to do a little holiday shopping for unique one-of-a-kind and high-quality items such as you won’t find anywhere, and support a great local non-profit business…and hang out with a lot of cool people in our community at the same time!

The Mob starts at 4 PM and ends at 6 – but come early! After mobbing Caroline’s, the group will walk over to Aptos BBQ (it’s right next door!) to enjoy some drink specials for Cash Mob participants…and the folks from Aptos Street BBQ will also donate some of the proceeds to Caroline’s as well!

Cash Mob 2015 Flyer

Seacliff Village Park Opens December 10!

December 4, 2015 by Seb Frey

It’s been years in the making, and now, finally, Seacliff Village Park opens December 10! There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newest Santa Cruz County Park on Thursday, December 10th from 1 to 3 PM.

Located at the corner Sea Ridge Road and McGregor Drive, the new Seacliff Village Park is a 1.4-acre facility that will feature many wonderful elements. These include five play structures including swings, a climbing net, and a lighthouse themed play area. There will be a small plaza area, multiple walkways, a picnic area, drinking fountain, bike rack, and benches. Public art from local artist Kathleen Crocetti will also be incorporated in our new park. Ms. Crocetti’s work includes 38 stained concrete pylons with mosaic tops that feature local Seacliff imagery.

Aptos Tree Lighting on Saturday

December 4, 2015 by Seb Frey

The Aptos Holiday Craft Fair and annual Tree Lighting is this Saturday, December 5th from 2 to 5 PM at the entrance to Aptos Village Park! Bring the family for hours of fun, and if you have kids be sure to be there at 2:30 PM when Santa rides in on an Aptos/La Selva fire truck!

This annual event will feature a number of musical and dance performances:

2-3pm~ Soquel High Band
3-3:30pm~ Kristy’s School of Dance
3:45-4:30pm~ Twin Lakes Choir
4:45-5pm~ Bag pipes

Following these performances, the tree lighting happens at Dusk – that’s 5 PM!

There will be a number of vendors and crafts on hand, including:

Jan’s Jams * Kiss Catering * Pualani Beauty * Silpada Designs * Calistar Jewelry * Sweet Pea & Me* Impulse Jewelry * Bluestone Imports * Vintage with a Spin * Coastal Kettle Corn * Angry Dragon Glass* Cindy’s Garden to Table * Monterey Bay Gift Company * Girl Scouts/Brownies/Daisies * Botanik/Essential Oils- doTerra

Aptos Book Signing at Holiday Faire

November 19, 2015 by Seb Frey

Local Aptos author Cathryn Grant has just released her eighth Suburban Noir novel, Alone On the Beach – The Haunted Ship Trilogy Book One, and she’ll be signing her book at the Holiday Faire at the Aptos Community United Methodist Church on November 28, 9am to 3pm. Her novels are also available at Bookshop Santa Cruz, on Amazon.com, and at other independent bookstores.

Using the concrete ship and the beaches in Aptos as the setting, Grant’s novel tells the story of Mary Carmichael, a 91-year-old woman who as a child watched the ship being towed in and over the years has become convinced it is haunted. When she befriends young Corrine Dunning, who is feeling paranoid about her boyfriend’s past, Mary senses it is the entity from the ship that is trying to make a home in Corrine’s mind. Mary knows that a ghost that haunts the human mind is the most terrifying of all.

Cathryn Grant’s psychological suspense fiction reveals the motives and desires that lead to suburban crime. Her Suburban Noir novels, ghost stories, and short fiction have been described as “making the mundane menacing”.

For more information about Alone On the Beach, please visit www.SuburbanNoir.com or Contact Cathryn at 831-612-6935.

Cathryn is the author of seven other novels: The Demise of the Soccer Moms, Buried By Debt, The Suburban Abyss, The Hallelujah Horror Show, Getting Ahead, Faceless, and An Affair With God. She’s also the author of the eleven novellas in the Madison Keith Ghost Story series. Grant’s short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazines, and the Shroud Quarterly Journal.

Breakfast with Santa!

November 17, 2015 by Seb Frey

Here’s a new twist on a holiday tradition: breakfast with Santa is coming to Aptos Village Park on Saturday, December 5th, at the Lions Clubhouse. The event begins at 10 AM and ends at 1 PM.

This is a fundraiser to support the new restrooms and concessions building for the Polo Grounds park. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for children under 12. Please bring your camera to take pictures with Santa!

This will be a wonderful event for families and children. The Polo Grounds is desperately in need of restrooms and a concession stand. Show your support for our community and our kids this Saturday December 5th!

We’ve created a Facebook Event for Breakfast with Santa – please invite your friends with kids, let’s make a great showing of support for this project, and spread some holiday cheer!

Rail Trail Debate Rages on

November 16, 2015 by Seb Frey

The Rail Trail Debate Rages on! TRAILNOW.ORG is continuing the neighborhood meeting outreach effort to educate the public on the facts on the train, trail, highway 1 and other transportation issues across Santa Cruz County.

The next meeting is to be held Tuesday, November 17th at 7 PM at the Best Western Seacliff Inn. If you can’t make that meeting, there’s another meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 1st at Garfield Park Community Church, at 111 Errett Circle in Santa Cruz.

TRAILNOW.ORG VIDEOS

TRAILNOW.ORG is working on a video series showing the issues surrounding building a trail with the rail line. Two of the videos have already been published and are embedded here for your enjoyment. They are quite eye-opening and educational:

Video Segment #1

Video Segment #2

2016 TRANSPORTATION TAX MEASURE

Thursday, November 19th from 9 am to Noon will be the RTC Transportation Workshop to discuss the 2016 Transportation Tax Measure. The meeting will be held at the Veterans Memorial Building, located at 846 Front Street, Santa Cruz.

RTC is proposing a 1/2% Sales Tax over 30 years to support various forms of transportation. If you are able to attend, please do. Here is a link to the meeting’s agenda.