Newest articles on The Sacramento Press written by John Gladding

"Night of 1,000 Pumpkins" in Folsom on Friday

2012-10-24T04:56:35Z

MyFolsom.com and the Folsom Historic District Association are putting together their 4th Annual "Night of 1000 Pumpkins" on October 26 on Sutter Street in Historic Folsom, California. The annual event is expected to draw several thousand residents and visitors; Organizers are asking attendees to bring a carved jack-o-lantern to the event to display.

All attendees who bring in a carved jack-o-lantern will be given a raffle ticket, where they can win a variety of prizes from local merchants.

The evening will have lots of family-friendly entertainment, including:

Trick-or-treating with the Sutter Street merchants
Outdoor movies, with "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," and "Ghostbusters"
Pumpkin raffle

Visitors are urged to bring pumpkins before the event. "We can't make it to 1,000 pumpkins alone," said organizer John Gladding, of MyFolsom.com. "We need everyone's pumpkins to make this a success... this is a community event!" Several businesses and schools are organizing pumpkin drives, to help get to the goal of 1,000 pumpkins.

Intel will play a large role in this year's event. Intel is hosting a pumpkin drive on Wednesday and Thursday, while it will have a large scale pumpkin carving on Friday, where they expect to carve around 500 jack-o-lanterns for the event.

This will be the first year Sutter Street can take advantage of its new amphitheater, located near the Chamber of Commerce building on Sutter Street. The area has had a dramatic makeover since the first event, and is now much more open and accessible to the public.

What: MyFolsom.com's Night of 1000 Pumpkins
When: October 26, 2012; 6-10pm
Where: Historic Sutter Street, Folsom California
Organizers: MyFolsom.com & the Folsom Historic Distric Association

Disclosure: John Gladding is one of the event organizers.

Folsom Looks For 1,000 Pumpkins Friday

2011-10-25T18:26:09Z

Folsom is hosting its 3rd annual "Night of 1,000 Pumpkins" on Friday, October 28. Residents and visitors alike are encouraged to bring in as many jack-o-lanterns as they can for a festival of pumpkins on Sutter Street.

Anyone who checks in a carved jack-o-lantern will get a raffle ticket to win one of many prizes, including an iPad 2, courtesy of MyFolsom.com. Carving parties are encouraged to get the pumpkin tally up; if you bring in 20 jack-o-lanterns, they'll give you 20 raffle tickets! Tickets will be distributed based on the number of pumpkins brought in.

The event is expected to be a social gathering, as the public checks out the pumpkins, and the kids watch Charlie Brown at 6:30 and Beetlejuice (PG) at 8:00 PM. In between showings, the raffle for the iPad will take place. Trick-or-treating will also be part of the event, and Monster Golf will be selling Monster Ware as well. MyFolsom.com, the founding sponsor of this event, will be on hand selling glow-in-the-dark t-shirts and handing out non-candy goodies to the kids, such as glow sticks and glow-in-the-dark pencils.

This is the third year for this popular event; the first two drew thousands of visitors, but the pumpkin tally was lighter than hoped, with both years around 300 pumpkins total. Organizers are hoping that this year's raffle approach will work, as well as getting local schools to have pumpkin drives as well. Any group or individuals is encouraged to participate in this event.

On Saturday, Sutter Street will also be hosting a craft fair "Fallfest" from 10-4, where dozens of merchants will be on hand to sell their wares. Good food and good shopping is expected!

Night of 1,000 Pumpkins
Friday, October 28, 2011 6 – 9:30 pm
Sutter Street, Folsom
Admission: 1 jack-o-lantern

Sutter Fallfest
Saturday, October 29, 10-4
Sutter Street, Folsom
Admission: FREE

Disclosure: John Gladding is involved in organizing "Night of 1,000 Pumpkins"

The Arena - How It Can Work

2011-02-01T00:57:54Z

If you have lived in Sacramento for any length of time, you will know that Arco Arena (excuse me, Power Balance Pavilion) is on borrowed time. Though it is only 25 years old, the arena was built "on the cheap" - a short term solution for the Sacramento Kings while the city could figure out a long-term solution. Well, my friends... that day is here. The City Council is trying to devise a way to pay for a $600 million arena in a faltering economy. No small feat, but it's not impossible.

What's Wrong With Arco
Arco Arena, while acceptable for many fans - is not acceptable by modern standards. Several notable event promoters such as ~~Beyonce and~~ the NCAA March Madness tournament committee have gone as far as tell us they will never play in Sacramento again. The concourse is narrow, luxury suites are few, and simply stated, the place is a barn compared to other cities. Arco is a hard sell to any basketball player who is used to playing in newer facilities - the Maloofs do what they can, but if we want the Kings to attract talent - we have to offer more than the incredible nightlife of Old Sacramento.

Who's Paying: How it Would Work
Estimates at building an arena vary, but $600 million is the most common number to the costs involved. The Maloofs have already stated they will lease for 30 years at $300million. That's half. Naming rights can fetch up to $60million. $240 million can be paid through a tourism tax. Yes... a tax.

Before you put on the brakes, let's take a visit to Orlando. Orlando used to play in a similar arena to Sacramento - it was built in 1989 and just wasn't meeting the needs of today's fans. They passed a tourism tax on hotels and rental cars to help pay for the new arena which was just opened. Taxpayers are technically paying for it - but not those who live there. When you as a Sacramento resident visit Orlando, your vacation dollars help pay for this arena. For Orlando residents, it's practically a free arena.

Think it can't happen in California? Think again. The San Franciso 49ers' new stadium in Santa Clara is being financed through a tourism tax as well. Tourism taxes are quite popular in most cities, yet Sacramento has not capitalized on it.

Who Would Get The Revenue From the Arena?
In Orlando, The City of Orlando collects revenue from non-NBA games, while the Magic get all the NBA games. There's no reason a similar deal can't be struck here. The Maloofs still benefit because they could have a better facility to draw NBA talent and can sell more luxury boxes to corporate sponsors; however the city of Sacramento doesn't lose out on revenue at the other 200 events a year. What's more, a better facility means an instant attendance boost and a major selling point to attracting (and retaining) NBA talent.

Traffic
A new arena downtown in the railyard would be built near light rail and right off the freeway. It's more centrally located for many, including most who live south of the city and on the 50 corridor, where they would drive 10 less minutes than Arco. Traffic was a concern for AT&T Park in San Francisco as well, and they have handled it very well.

The Natomas issue
I realize a new arena downtown will be a major blow to Natomas. Many restaurants in the area rely on this regular traffic to drive business. However this may be our last chance at building an arena. If the Natomas crowd puts up a public fight on the arena, it could kill the whole project - and bring down the Kings with it. Natomas is a strong community… there is no reason they can't concentrate on building a theme park or another large facility on Arco land. Please support the arena, no matter where it's built.

Money that Could Be Spent Elsewhere
I have heard quite a few cries about an arena for billionaires being built, while it could be better spent on homeless, police, or schools. I would argue that without an arena and without the Kings, I honestly doubt Sacramento will magically lose these problems. In fact, without the Arena and the Kings, I would argue this city would be far less desirable for businesses to move to - for the lack of entertainment would make Sacramento undesirable.

I ask all of Sacramento to give this one a shot. If it comes to a tourism tax, what do we have to lose? You may come up with some reason why you don't like it, but you have to see the bigger picture... is it really worth losing the Kings over? Is it really worth not having a major venue for first-class entertainment in Sacramento? Let's not cut off our nose in spite of our face - we have a great opportunity to cement this city for generations. Let's get it done!

Light Rail Prepares for Zombie Onslaught

2010-10-25T15:37:52Z

Zombie enthusiasts are gearing up for the first-ever "Zombie Train" on Friday - a flashmob on Sacramento Light Rail, capped off by Tainted Love at the Powerhouse Pub.

Folsom is hosting its annual "Night of 1,000 Pumpkins" on October 29, in which they are soliciting the public's help to bring 1,000 jack-o-lanterns to its historic Sutter Street. At 7:23 PM, a trainful of brain-eating zombies is expected to arrive in search or brains and beer. All Zombie enthusiasts are encouraged to come, as well as anyone interested in attending the bar crawl, though organizers ask that the zombies not eat the children. It is unknown how many zombies will show up, though organizers are hopeful that up to 100 zombies will make the journey.

The Zombie Train starts in Midtown at 6:28 at the Sac Valley Light Rail station, and makes its way to Folsom, presumably picking up quite a few undead for an interesting train ride. Organizers are hoping fellow zombies will take pictures and video of their trip and post them on the Facebook page.

Once in Folsom, zombies will be checking out the pumpkins, shops, craft tents, and various bars, which are expected to have drink specials for zombies in attendance. Powerhouse Pub will even be hosting Tainted Love that evening ($15 cover charge) and having a $300 zombie contest. "Throbbing Zombies" will also be on special for the undead in attendance at Powerhouse.

Zombies are advised to find a sober friend to drive or cab it home, as the 7:23 light rail train will be the final Folsom train for the evening. Lake Natoma Inn is also down the street for zombies who can't make it back to their graves by sunrise.

What: The Sacramento Zombie Train
When: Friday, October 29
Where: starts in midtown, ends in Folsom

Train stops:
Sac Valley 6:28p
8th & O 6:34p
16th Street 6:39p
29th St 6:43p
University/65th 6:49p
Watt/Manlove 6:55p
Mather/Mills 7:03p
Sunrise 7:10p
Hazel 7:16p
Folsom 7:23p