An artisan coffee roaster and baker brought their old world values into a new world context when they created the Old Soul Co. boutique coffee roaster and bakery in midtown. Roaster Jason Griest was co-owner of the Naked Lounge when he met baker Tim Jordan, who was one of his early customers. The two realized that they both shared an old world appreciation for true craftsmanship and for quality products that spoke for themselves without the need for glitzy advertising methods. Old World Model Griest said that he and Jordan pictured American immigrants, from the 1700’s and 1800’s, arriving in New York on boats and bringing their strong work ethic and craft to the new world to make better

Sacramento Region Literacy Challenge - Now through October 26 University of Phoenix, GOOD and DonorsChoose invite Sacramento residents to ideate literacy solutions University of Phoenix Sacramento Valley Campus, along with GOOD and DonorsChoose.org, announced the launch of the Sacramento Region Literacy Challenge. The five-week contest invites Sacramento community members to submit original ideas for fostering literacy in the Sacramento Region. Entries will be accepted now through noon on Oct. 26 and can be made at http://sacramento-literacy.maker.good.is. The submitted ideas will then be open to public voting from Oct. 30 – Nov. 13. The top-voted submission will be awarded a $10,000 Don

The Sacramento Reads! Festival returned to Land Park’s Fairytale Town for it’s 2nd Annual Celebration of Literacy this Thursday. Scheduled on the eve of the 1st anniversary for Sacramento Reads: The Third Grade Literacy Campaign , it celebrated the initiative launched by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson last year. If the long lines waiting entrance were any indicator of this family event’s excitement, then the enthusiasm of the attendees inside confirmed it. This free community event provided resources for families in preparation for the new school year. Free books were available from several vendors throughout Fairytale Town, as well as information about literacy, health, and community res

The 13th Annual Sacramento Film & Music Festival opens on Wednesday, August 15th and runs through Sunday, August 19th at the Crest Theatre. The film includes 87 projects of all lengths, programmed into 12 screenings, and representing 13 countries. While the Festival remains true to its submission-based, international, all-genre roots, this year’s program has been scheduled to provide a stronger showcase for locally produced content, with local programs on each of the five days. This includes the Festival’s own pair of nine year old programs that incubate local talent and facilitate the production of original content - “Sac Music Seen,” a music video program that pairs local filmmakers wit

“I feel like I want to jump up!” Third grader Tre’ John is still amazed to know that he has become a published author. He is one of 22 students from Capitol Heights Academy who had his/her stories published in a book entitled “Monsters and Mayhem”. “I’m just happy,” Tre’ John said during an official book release ceremony on May 29. The book release came after an eight-week workshop, led by 916 Ink and The Salvation Army. The two-month session was a program created by 916 Ink, a volunteer organization promoting literacy by empowering youth in the Sacramento region to engage in the literary arts. “It’s been a lot of work to make this day a reality,” said Katie McCleary, 916 Ink executive

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento will have to wait two weeks longer to launch key literacy and gang-prevention programs after a surprise move by City Council Tuesday halting the acceptance of a $250,000 grant to fund the programs. Sheedy asked for the agenda item on the grant to be pushed back until she could get more information from City Manager John Shirey about details of the grant. “I haven’t been briefed on it, and I have a lot of questions,” Sheedy said Tuesday. “I have questions about how it was done and the method of a private individual doing it instead of the city.” The item was initially on the City Council’s consent calendar, which typically contains non-contro

This weekend, Fairytale Town was transformed into a menagerie of creative writing and reading. Fairytale Town hosted the 11th Annual ScholarShare Children's Book Festival this past Saturday and Sunday. Arts and literacy organizations were on hand, most of them providing information to parents and interesting literacy activities for children. Mother Goose Stage was the centerpiece of the day. Authors and presenters sat in a giant and rather royal-looking throne at the center of the stage and the children crowded around. The weekend’s events included readings by eleven different authors including Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. Trevor Wyatt was the MC and resident magici

This weekend, Fairytale Town will host the 11th Annual ScholarShare Children's Book Festival. The festival will include hands-on literacy activities for children, dramatic performances and readings and presentations by numerous authors and illustrators. The event will feature a special appearance by Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi will read her first book, "Dream Big, Little Pig!" on Saturday on the Mother Goose Stage at 3:00 p.m. The 2011 release by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times Bestseller List. "Dream Big, Little Pig!" was illustrated by Tim Bowers. Fairytale Town will host the book festival this Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 24 and 25. O

Teaching kids to read and helping college students navigate college requirements are just two of the ways city employees spend the 40 hours of paid leave they are given to do volunteer work each year. The Volunteer Mentor Leave program started in 2009 and offers those 40 hours of paid leave for city employees to act as mentors in Sacramento public schools, said Mary Lynn Perry, volunteer coordinator with the city’s Human Resources Department. Perry said volunteers can use an hour per week of their work time helping local kids who need guidance and encouragement. “Right now, there is a push for literacy (in the city),” Perry said, “so (employee) volunteers read with schoolchildren of all