Time to Garden
April is here and the gardening season has begun! Charlotte has been working feverishly in her garden preparing for this Month’s Riverside Flower Show & Garden Tour. This is the same tour that Connie’s garden was featured on last year. The show will take place at the end of the month on April 27th & 28th.
This picture is a sneak peek of Charlotte’s garden, come see the tour for the full experience. In addition to the flower show at the Elks Club, (6166 Brockton Ave.), there are 6 gardens on the tour. It is going to be a fun event to be sure! Check out this flier for more information on where to get tickets and tour times.
As we move into the warmer days of spring, more of us are getting outside and thinking about what we’re going to do with our gardens. This weekend, the UCR 39th Annual Botanic Gardens Spring Plant Sale is open to the public, Saturday & Sunday (April 6th & 7th). This is a fabulous opportunity to find native plants that will thrive in your Riverside gardens. There will be Master Gardeners on hand to answer your gardening queries and a plethora of plants to choose from. For more information, visit the UCRBG website.
The Wood Streets Green Team is also hosting a “How-to-Garden” tour this month. This is an annual event that has really taken off. This year’s tour is the 4th Annual event for this very popular tour. As you visit local gardens you will learn techniques for various garden tricks, get recipes for fresh, healthy food, and enjoy a tour of the Wood Streets neighborhood. There is also an Eco tour at RCC in conjunction with this event. Donations of $5 will go towards the Green Team’s efforts to support local community gardens in Riverside. For more information, visit the Green Team’s website.
Last, but not least is the Riverside Community Medical Center Foundation’s Garden Tour the first weekend in May. This year is the 18th year for this event which will feature five unique gardens. The proceeds from this garden tour event support the Child Abuse and Neglect Unit at RCMC. This tour also includes a lunch at one of the garden locations where you can meet with Friends as you travel around town visiting the gardens. For more information on this tour, visit the RCMC’S Website.
Have fun gardening!
We LOVE Riverside’s Farmer’s Markets
We’ve talked about shopping local for gifts and books, but what about veggies and meats? Are you a Locavore? “What is a Locavore?”, you ask. According to Jennifer Maiser, founder of the “Eat Local Challenge” group, “Locavores are people who pay attention to where their food comes from and commit to eating local food as much as possible.” We have recently seen a surge of Locavore activity popping up around town.
The great thing about thinking like a Locavore, is that it does not have to be an all or nothing proposition. Start small, like deciding to get your produce at one of our local farmer’s markets. We’re fortunate in Riverside to have numerous markets to choose from. Here is a list of our local Farmer’s Markets.
Riverside Certified Farmer’s Market
Every Friday, Rain or Shine
8:00am – 12:00pm
5261 Arlington Ave. (Sears Parking Lot off of Streeter)
Riverside CFR Website
Downtown Farmer’s Market Riverside
Every Saturday Morning
8:00am – 1:00pm
Main Street between 5th & 6th Street
DFMR Website
Galleria at Tyler Riverside Farmer’s Market
Every Sunday Near TGI Fridays
9:00am – 1:00pm
Pacific Costal CFM
Riverside Kaiser CFM
Every Other Friday
10:00am – 2:00pm
At the Riverside Kaiser Hospital Campus
Southland Farmer’s Market Association
These are just the markets that are here in Riverside. If you’re adventurous and would like to travel further, or if you travel and like to visit local markets where you are visiting, there are phone apps that will help you locate a local market.
This Market Finder app is available for i-phones or Androids
The app we used to help write this blog entry is called “Farmer’s Market Finder”. It will help you find markets wherever you are by city, day of the week, or as pins on a map. There are some great markets in surrounding cities such as Redlands or Temecula as well. With this app or one like it you’ll be able to keep your locavore status even when traveling.
Purchasing your food from local vendors is one small step towards living local. An added bonus is that it is fun go get out to visit the vendors and see friends there too enjoying the wonderful quality of life we have here in Riverside.
California Proposition Guide
On Election Day eve many of us have already determined where our votes will be cast. However, with 11 propositions on the ballot in California, it is a bit confusing. We found an online guide which is very helpful in sorting through the hype and gets to the basics of each proposition. The more educated we are as voters, the better off we’ll be.
The important fact to remember is that EVERY vote counts! Make sure you get out to vote if you haven’t already. We’ll see you at the polls!
Fox Entertainment Plaza
COMING SOON!!
The City of Arts & Innovation is preparing to celebrate the opening of yet another venue to support the arts, entertainment and growth downtown. The Fox Entertainment Plaza is close to completion!
Construction is moving along quickly on the parking structure (right), Entertainment Plaza (center) and Black Box Theater.
The complex will include a 400 space parking structure, 10,000 square feet of exhibit space for the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, and 12,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space. The restaurant occupant has not yet been confirmed but the City says they are in talks with numerous options. In addition to the retail and parking, there is going to be a 4,000 square foot Black Box Theatre. A black box theater is a flexible space that can be reconfigured to accommodate different types of performances.
The Fox Entertainment Plaza connects to Route Six of the City’s Seizing our Destiny plan. This route is titled Around the City, Around the Year, Around the Clock. This route states:
Riverside buzzes with an unmatched array of nationally recognized and regionally distinctive destinations delighting people of diverse interests, age groups and lifestyles by providing a mix of popular venues for dining, shopping, entertainment and socializing.
When the Fox Entertainment Plaza is complete, and the space is full, it will most certainly add to the diverse venues available Downtown.
Artist’s rendering of the Fox Entertainment Plaza’s front facade along Market Street.
YOU CAN NAME IT
The City is asking our residents to help out with the naming of the Black Box Theater and the Exhibit Hall portion of the Plaza. You can cast your votes up to October 22, 2012 by clicking on the “Vote Here” link below. If you don’t like the name options given in the survey, you even have the opportunity to add your own suggestions. As we anticipate the arrival of this venue, it is fun to have the opportunity to participate in the project one last time.
Let us know what you think! Keep the conversation going Riverside.
More Fun in Riverside!
Well, we had a fabulous time at the Long Night of Arts & Innovation. How about you? It was wonderful seeing Downtown teeming with activity. The exhibits along Main street between University and Mission were loads of fun, and all of the galleries and museums put a lot of effort into having great exhibits and activities going on. What was your favorite part of the evening?
If you’re looking for fun events this weekend, there is something for everyone. Two events that caught our eye are the Mayor’s Ball for the Arts & Innovation tonight, and the Citrus Classic Bike Ride event tomorrow. Both are events which support great causes. The Mayor’s Ball, which will be celebrating their 35th year tonight, supports the Arts Council, and the Citrus Classic Supports Riverside Educational and Enrichment Foundation (REEF).
MAYORS BALL FOR THE ARTS & INNOVATION:
One of Riverside’s longest running and most exciting annual events arrives with a whole new look as the Mayor’s Ball for Arts and Innovation transforms the sixth floor of Downtown Riverside’s elegant Citrus Tower into a celebration unlike any other. The event highlights the City’s finest artists and arts organizations, along with the technology research and education that have helped make Riverside the Most Intelligent City in the World. Music, performance, exhibition, dancing and a Taste of Riverside-style representation of some of the City’s best restaurants combine with the most unique event location of all time to create a night to remember. Tickets are $75, and all proceeds from the event support the Riverside Arts Council and their Community Arts Partnership program, serving nearly 80,000 residents through grants provided to non-profit arts and cultural organizations. For more information, visit the Arts Council’s Website today or call (951) 680-1345 !
RIVERSIDE CITRUS CLASSIC:
The Riverside Citrus Classic is a fundraising event which was started by the Leadership Riverside Class of 2010. They felt that creating an event which would support our local schools with grants and funding for classrooms was an important endeavor. Little did they know who successful and fun the event would become. Three years later, we’re expecting over 1,000 riders to participate in the event. There is something for everyone! Organized rides include a 100 mile, 50 mile , 28 mile, 7mile, and a Kiddie ride. Come out and enjoy the fun!! They are holding registration in the old Boarders at the Riverside Plaza today from 2-6pm! It is not too late to join the fun. If you’re pre-registered for the event already, beat the crowds and go down today to pick up your number, shirt, and goodie bag.
For more information on the event, visit the City’s Page for the Citrus Classic event.
Riverside’s Long Night of Arts & Innovation
If you have not heard about it yet, get ready to mark your calendar. Next Thursday, October 4th, is an inaugural event you won’t want to miss. The Long Night of Arts & Innovation is going to be an incredible opportunity to actively learn about, and experience first hand how the arts and innovative technology are strong economic drivers for the City of Riverside. This event was created based on a Long Night event that occurs in our sister city Erlangen, Germany. After a visit to Erlangen last year Mayor Ron Loveridge and a delegation from Riverside enjoyed their Long Night event they decided to bring the idea back to Riverside. We have so much to showcase in our community, The Long Night of Arts and Innovation will share all that happens in the art and innovation industries in the city.
From 6pm until midnight you’ll be able to enjoy live demonstrations, performances, exhibits, and hands on activities at over 130 venues throughout downtown Riverside. This will not be just your regular First Thursday event! The University of California at Riverside (UCR), California Baptist University (CBU), La Sierra University (LSU) and Riverside Community College (RCC), along with the Riverside Philharmonic, the Riverside Metropolitan and the Riverside Art Museums will “open their doors” in a centralized downtown location for all those interested in the arts and sciences.
It will be a challenge to not be enthralled for the full six hours of the event. (If you choose to arrive at the start.) You’ll be able to listen to lectures on everything from spiders to Avatar plants, experience the universe through UCR’s Keck telescope, visit the Riverside Philharmonic’s musical petting zoo, watch culinary demonstrations with RCC Culinary Institute and Phood on Main, experience magic shows, Tesla coils and more! For a detailed schedule of everything that will be taking place, here is a printable schedule of all the presentations. You will want to take a look at this schedule prior to going to the event so you can map out your plan for the evening. There is even a handy chart on the last page just for this purpose.
So, come Downtown next Thursday and get ready to experience a plethora of Art & Science.
In case we haven’t convinced you yet, here is a link to the City’s sneak peek video page, . We’ll see you on Main Street!
Endeavour Arrives Friday!
There is a historic event happening tomorrow in Los Angeles which we felt would be worth mentioning. If you’re wondering why we’re so excited about a space shuttle arrival in Southern California, here is a little history regarding the Ransom-McKenzie connection to the Space Shuttle programs.
When the Space Shuttle program started in the early 80’s, Connie and Roger, along with Rogers’s older brother David, raced out to Edwards AFB in the middle of the night to witness the early morning landing of the first shuttle sent to explore space by NASA. That was April 14, 1981 and the shuttle was Columbia. A moment in history celebrating the first test flight of what was , at the time, the most complex spacecraft ever built.
STS-1 or Columbia as it was later named, landed on a dry lake just outside of Edwards AFB.
Columbia’s flight was the first of many shuttle excursions into space. Some successful, some tragic. In fact, the Columbia Shuttle met a tragic end in 2003 as she disintegrated during re-entry on her 28th mission.
With NASA’s change in direction, and the retirement of the Shuttle program, the next stops for these amazing ships are museums. Here in Southern California we are fortunate to have the shuttle Endeavour arriving for exhibit at the California Science Center. Endeavour is actually the “youngest” of the Space Shuttle ships. Her new, temporary, home will be the Samuel Oschin Pavilion which opens October 30th. Eventually Endeavour will be the centerpiece of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center which will be a new wing at the museum.
Endeavour will be arriving on the back of a 747 Friday morning.
The Science Center is very excited about the arrival of the Endeavour Shuttle. “Space shuttle Endeavour is now on her way home to California! Flying across the country on the back of a specially modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Endeavour will arrive at LAX (weather permitting) on Friday, September 21, 2012 .
Around 10:30 am on Friday, or shortly after, watch for flyovers of Endeavour in the Los Angeles area. There will be opportunities to see Endeavour passing regional landmarks such as, its future home at the California Science Center, Los Angeles City Hall, Disneyland, the Getty Center, Griffith Observatory, Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, Malibu, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Queen Mary, Universal Studios and Venice Beach, among others.”
If you have time, it might be worth a drive into LA. The final chapter of NASA’s Space Shuttle programs.
Riverside Newcomers & Neighbors
We’re always surprised when we hear people ask if there is “anything to do in Riverside”. Granted, we’re not Los Angeles or San Francisco, but The City of Arts & Innovation has a lot to offer our residents. Not only are there exciting arts venues in the City, we also are host to a plethora of community organizations that offer opportunities for residents to get together and find common interests to gather around.
One such group is the Riverside Newcomers & Neighbors group. When Charlotte moved back to Riverside after a 20 year hiatus this was a group she and her husband joined. It offered a link to new and old acquaintances in the city and an opportunity to socialize with people who had like interests. Whether you are new to Riverside or not, this is a fun group of individuals. There are people who have been members for over 20 years alongside people who just joined 2 months ago. This provides a great way for you to get to know Riverside from a multitude of perspectives.
Join Riverside Newcomers & Neighbors at their Open House this Week.
We bring this up today because this week, the Riverside Newcomers & Neighbors will be holding their annual Open House at City Hall! The event will take place on the 7th floor in Grier Pavilion. This is an opportunity to learn more about the group, including information on their various interest groups. Join fellow Riversiders and become a member of this vibrant group as we celebrate the start of a new year with Friends & Neighbors. The event details are listed below.
Date: Wednesday, September 19th
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Place: City Hall’s Grier Pavilion, 7th Floor
Please e-mail the RNN at info@rivnewcomers.org if you plan to attend.
If you can’t make it to Wednesday’s event but would still like to join. You can fill out an application online to join the club. Just click here to visit the RNN website.
The Ransom-McKenzie Team 