A Watercolors and Hiking event will be held in Locke, Calif. on Thursday, September 15, 2011 starting at 10:00 a.m. The hike will be led by Martha Esch. Bring the kids and the grandparents; everyone is welcome!  Well-behaved dogs on leashes, okay. This is a mostly level 1.5 mile hike apart from one 20 foot long, somewhat steep, narrow path up a levee hill and some optional off-path routes along the way that are prickly and narrow. Locke artist and art teacher, Martha Esch, will demonstrate easy techniques to painting a quick, lovely, loose watercolor postcard of scenic spots along the hike. Next, participants will begin using watercolor kits, blank postcards and brushes that will be pas

When searching for holiday gifts, local shoppers often think of malls and neighborhood retailers.  However, hidden treasures and unique items are available at various museums and historic parks throughout the Sacramento area as well.   Outlined below is a gift guide sampling of some of the unique, quality items waiting to be discovered at a few favorite historic destinations around town. California State Railroad Museum California Poppy Necklaces & Earrings -- Made exclusively for the Railroad Museum Store, fashion necklaces and earrings are available that showcase an elegant floral design taken from the Santa Fe Railway's "California Poppy" china pattern. This china pattern was used fo

Photos: 1) Ian Shive at work; 2) Sequoia National Park; 3) Yellowstone National Park Interview by Tony Sheppard Originally published in Capitol Weekly Ian Shive, the photographer behind the new pictorial book "The National Parks: Our American Landscape" recently spent a day in Sacramento, visiting a management class in the Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration program at Sac State. I asked him a few questions about his work and the value of parks in our lives: Photography as a living is new to you – before it was more like a cell phone plan: Unlimited nights and weekends. Very true [laughs]. What were you doing before and how did you get into this? I was working as a publicis

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting state park spending by $70 million and that  would require state parks that do not cover there own costs to be closed. 220 of 279 state parks would be closed if this proposal was put into place including Sutter’s Fort, the State Capitol Museum, the Leland Stanford Mansion, the California Indian Museum & Cultural Center, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park and the Governor’s Mansion.