Events

Mar Vista Harvest Festival this Sunday!

October 23, 2015 by Seb Frey

Come one, come all to the Mar Vista Harvest Festival this Sunday! The event will be held from 12 to 4 PM at Mar Vista Elementary School, and all members of the public are welcome and invited to attend this free event!

The organizers have really gone over the top this year – look what they have planned:

Dancers from the Performing Arts Center
El Cuarto Verde Band
SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics)
Fire Truck
Sheriff’s Canine Demonstration
Magician

There will be a number of food trucks at the festival too – including from Zameen, Carmona’s and Lucy’s Hot Dogs!, so come hungry!

While the event is free, attendees can purchase a $20 wrist band using this link which gives you:

Unlimited Bounce House Rides
Unlimited Games
Choice of 1 time visit to 5 of the following:
- Cookie Lab
- Glitter Tattoo
- PumpkinCupcake Walk
- Bracelet Making
- Frisbee Spin Art
- Face Painting

New this year is a special Wipeout styled bounce house – check it out:

This is going to be an amazing event and a great deal of fun for everyone – so please come on down and support Mar Vista Elementary School and our community!

Passenger Rail Opponents Meet on Thursday

September 15, 2015 by Seb Frey

Are you concerned about the Regional Transportation Commission’s plans to bring some form of passenger rail service to Aptos and Santa Cruz county? If so, you’re not alone, and a group of like-minded people will be gathering on Thursday, September 17th at the Rio Sands Hotel in Aptos (near Rio del Mar Beach) from 6:00 to 8:30 PM.

If you can’t make it in person, you’re welcome to attend online via GoTo Meeting, https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/30522503 – for audio, call (872) 240-3311 and use Access Code 305-225-037

The purpose of the meeting is to:

Discuss why rail + trail is not feasible
Discuss how the proposed train would degrade our quality of life
Create enthusiasm for Trail Only option by educating attendees how it would benefit them and community
Recruit attendees to participate in activities needed to achieve goals
Develop action plans

There is an event created on Facebook which you can share with your friends who are likewise interested in learning more, and there’s also a Facebook page for the Aptos Rail Trail advocating a trail without rail.

Seacliff Mural Unveiling

September 15, 2015 by Seb Frey

Come to the Seacliff Mural Unveiling on Saturday, September 19th at 4 PM! The new mural graces the corner of Broadway and Center in Seacliff, and depicts the moment when the SS Palo Alto arrived at Seacliff Beach. It’s a beautiful mural and will be a focal point of Seacliff Village for many years to come!

County Zoning Ordinance Meeting Tonight

September 14, 2015 by Seb Frey

The Santa Cruz County Planning Department will be having a meeting tonight, September 14th, from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at the Aptos Grange Hall. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the proposal to modernize Santa Cruz County zoning ordinances.

The county planning department has been working for years on updating land use regulations in the Santa Cruz County Code. Drafts are almost complete, and they want to meet with the public to discuss proposals before beginning the Environmental Impact Report. Key proposed updates include the following:

Permit terms: Move towards more standard and descriptive “use permits” and “site development permits,” allowing for focused reviews and reducing permit costs and review times for some smaller projects (such as a new retail tenant moving into an existing commercial building)
Regulations to support local commercial agriculture and wineries:
Allow on-site marketing for wineries, such as public wine tastings
Update uses allowed in zone districts, such as allowing R&D facilities in commercial areas
Provide requirements for newer temporary structures such as “PODs” and cargo containers
Other code changes including new regulations to limit commercial weddings in residential areas

At the meeting, Planning Staff will provide an overview of the code modernization, answer questions, and hear the public’s ideas and comments. They will also let you know how to receive information about future public meetings, and stay engaged as the project moves forward.

If you can’t make tonight’s meeting, two more are planned on subsequent days:

Tuesday, September 15
Simpkins Family Swim Center
979 17th Ave, Live Oak
7:00 – 8:30 PM

Wednesday, September 16
Loma Prieta Community Center
23800 Summit Rd, Los Gatos
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM

Shrek comes to Aptos

July 17, 2015 by Seb Frey

Nasty will be nice and Santa Cruz will be ogre-the-moon when Christian Youth Theater Santa Cruz presents their production of Shrek The Musical Jr. opening July 17th at Aptos High School. The family-friendly musical comedy follows the adventures of an ogre named Shrek who sets off on a quest to save Princess Fiona from a dragon. However, it turns out that in order to ultimately succeed, Shrek must battle an even bigger obstacle: learning how to believe in himself and open his heart to others.

Tickets are available online at www.cytsantacruz.org. Don’t miss this exciting performance!

TIMES:

Friday, July 17th – 7:00 pm
Saturday, July 18th – 3:00 pm
Sunday, July 19th – 3:00 pm
Friday, July 24th – 7:00 pm
Saturday, July 25th – 3:00 pm
Sunday, July 26th– 3:00 pm

PRICES:

$16 – Individual Online
$18 – At-the-Door Price
$12 – Group Discount (10 ticket minimum)
$14 – Child Discount (Age Limit: 12)
$14 – Student Discount (ID Required)
$14 – Senior Discount (Age Minimum: 65)

Sandman Triathlon Returns for Its 30th Year

April 8, 2015 by Seb Frey

The Sandman Triathlon returns for its 30th year this summer! The Sandman Triathlon is a fundraiser for the Santa Cruz State Parks Lifeguard Association held at Seacliff State Beach. This year, the race will be held on Sunday, August 2nd at 8:00 AM.

The Sandman Triathlon is a USAT sanctioned event. It begins with a .75-kilometer ocean swim around the historic SS Palo Alto, followed by a spectacular 13-mile bike ride through redwood forests, Seascape and Rio Del Mar. To top it all off, the race finishes with an strenuous four mile run on the beach.

The Sandman is a sprint triathlon and designed to be a super fun and a family friendly event, it is the perfect triathlon experience for athletes that are new to the sport.

Registration for the 2015 Sandman is now open on Active.com. Athletes can sign up for the sprint triathlon, a duathlon or the one-mile kids’ fun run.

The Sandman Triathlon is one of Santa Cruz County’s oldest triathlons. Its inaugural race occurred way back in 1986 in the infancy of the sport. The Sandman was originally conceived by the Santa Cruz State Parks Lifeguard Association to be a positive Aptos community event that would raise funds for the association, who supports the junior lifeguard and lifeguard operations in Santa Cruz, including providing scholarships for kids from low-income families that otherwise could not afford the cost of the 4-week program. Over the past three decades, thousands of dollars have been raised for the Santa Cruz State Lifeguard Association to help provide high-quality water safety education to hundreds of Santa Cruz County youth.

New Music Works Ensemble Performs at Cabrillo

March 17, 2015 by Seb Frey

Pacific Premieres Musical Event

The New Music Works Ensemble Performs at Cabrillo College’s Barbara Samper Recital Hall on Saturday, April 4th at 8:00 PM. In addition, there will be a Composer-Performer panel discussion which begins at 7:00 PM, and the discussion will be free of charge to the public.

Several new chamber works will be performed by the ensemble, which will be conducted by Phil Collins.

Tickets must be purchased on Cabrillo College’s VAPA Vendini website:

General : $19 + $5 service fee
Senior : $14 + $5 service fee
Student : $5 with ID, availble at door only
Kids (Age 12 and Under): Free

This concert is supported in part by grants from the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, the Santa Cruz Arts Council, the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation. This performance is also sponsored by the Hill Guitar Company and Cabrillo College VAPA Department.

About New Music Works

New Music Works is dedicated to presenting music of our time in concert. Their goal is to develop a positive relationship between today’s audiences and the music of our time, through imaginative, diverse programming. Their annual concert series offers works by living composers in a variety of media, emphasizing music by Santa Cruz area composers, producing original music/theater works, while also including masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries.

First Annual Santa Cruz American Music Festival

February 26, 2015 by Seb Frey

The First Annual Santa Cruz American Music Festival is set to rock Aptos Village Park on Memorial Day Weekend 2015, Saturday and Sunday, May 23-24. This year’s headline acts are Bonnie Raitt and Big & Rich, with a number of other highly talented artists including J.J. Grey, Los Lonely Boys, Coco Montoya, and many more.

Tickets go on sale starting March 1: children 6 and under are free, kids 7-12 are $25, and adults are $65 each, or $120 for both days, and can be purchased directly on the festival’s web site, or at Street Light Records in Santa Cruz.

While this is the First Annual Santa Cruz American Music Festival, the event is really the successor to the Santa Cruz Blues Festival, which was held in Aptos Village Park every year from 1993 to 2014. Aptos Village Park has historically hosted a number of festivals over the years, including the KPIG Fat Fry, the California Beer Festival, Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival, and many others.

Ray Charles, Santa Cruz Blues Festival 2003

Carrie’s Dream Dance Showcase on February 8

January 9, 2015 by Seb Frey

Tickets are now on sale for the Carrie’s Dream Dance Showcase on February 8, to be held at Aptos High School’s Performing Arts Center. There will be two shows, at 1 PM and 5 PM. The dancers are from the Santa Cruz Pacific Arts Complex. Funds raised from the showcase will go to provide scholarships for young dancers of the Pacific Arts Complex, with 10% of the funds going to the Aptos High School Dance Team.

Carrie’s Dream Scholarship Fund Project is a project of the Santa Cruz Pacific Arts Complex. It was founded in 2014 as a tribute to Carrie Dianda McCoid, a local Realtor as well as the owner of the Steps Dance Studio in Watsonville prior to her untimely death. Carrie had a dream that all the students in our community who wanted to dance would be given that opportunity, regardless of their financial circumstances.

Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased at the Carrie’s Dream web site.

Free Family Movie Matinee at the Aptos Public Library

December 5, 2014 by Seb Frey

Aptos Library Movie Maintee — First Friday Movie Matinee at the Aptos Public Library

Did you know that there is a free family movie matinee at the Aptos Public Library? Yep, it’s true: the free matinee is held the first Friday of every month in the community meeting room, just to the right as you come in the front door. This month the movie is held today, December 5 at 3:00 PM, and they are showing Chicken Little.

This month, they are also having a special showing of the Muppet Christmas Carol. This will be in two weeks, on Friday, December 19. Don’t worry about not finding space – the meeting room holds nearly 70 people, and a good turnout at the movie would be about 20 folks in attendance. Here’s a great chance to get out of your house and watch a movie with your kids and friends from the Aptos community.