The past year saw Sacramento businesses, cultural icons and landmarks from Tower Bridge to Cafe Marika celebrate significant milestones. Most notable was the Crocker Art Museum’s 125th birthday on May 8. That was just one aspect of the museum’s big year, which included the completion of a decade-long expansion project that opened Oct. 10. For more details about the Crocker in 2010, click here. The North Sacramento Land Company turned 100 in September, and the company’s president, Bob Slobe, credited the business’ longevity to staying small and having deep roots in the community. To read more about the company’s history and its ties to the California State Railroad Museum, click here. Al

After 20 years in business, the owners of Midtown’s Cafe Marika said they are living their dream – but getting there was no easy task. Lubomir (Louie) and Eva Chruma were living in Karlovy Vary – a spa and resort town in then-Czechoslovakia, but they dreamed of escaping the communist regime and moving to the United States. “We escaped in 1982,” Eva said. “We bought a vacation to Yugoslavia and crossed into Austria.” After seven months in a NATO refugee camp in Austria with others who had fled the Eastern Bloc countries, the Chrumas were able to travel to the United States with permission from the American consulate. Without knowing where they would be living, the two professional chefs