Students at Sylvan Middle School were among those receiving shoe and sock donations from the Citrus Heights Rotary Club this year. // CH Sentinel
By Rylie Friesen-
Hundreds of students at various schools in Citrus Heights received donations of shoes and socks from the Citrus Heights Rotary Club this year, according to a news release from the club.
The effort to provide footwear for students in grades Kindergarten to 8th grade resulted in a total of 249 pairs of shoes being distributed, along with 532 pairs of socks, and 12 Brannock Devices used to measure foot sizes, the club said. In 2020, the first year of the effort, 229 pairs of shoes were donated.
To accomplish the task, the local Rotary Club said it provided $3,000 in funding, which was matched by another $3,000 from the greater Sacramento region Rotary District 5180, for a total of $6,000.
Recipients of the donated items included students from Grand Oaks, Mariposa Avenue, Arlington Heights, Kingswood, Skycrest, Sylvan, Lichen, Carriage Drive, Woodside Elementary Schools and the Sayonara Center.
The Rotary Club of Citrus Heights was founded in 1964 and currently has around three-dozen members, made up of community and business leaders. More information about the local club can be found at www.chrotary.org.
Parade-watchers line the streets for the 2017 annual Red, White and Blue parade in Citrus Heights. // CH Sentinel
Colorful banners, balloons and marching bands took over Sunrise Boulevard Saturday morning as thousands lined the street for Citrus Heights’ 18th annual Red, White and Blue Parade.
With morning temperatures in the mid-seventies, the parade kicked off just after 9 a.m. with a high-speed entry by two skydivers dropped from high above Sunrise Mall. The event concluded about an hour-and-a-half later after a steady stream of classic cars, blaring bands, police vehicles, and other parade floats passed by on Sunrise Boulevard between Madison Avenue and Greenback Lane.
“This was the best parade we’ve ever had,” said Citrus Heights Councilman Bret Daniels, who participated in the parade along with all four other council members. “The parade was magnificent, weather was wonderful — couldn’t have been any better.”
The June 24 event was led by 10 police motorcycles and concluded with 10 speeding go-carts driven by the local Ben Ali Shriner’s group. The 60-plus other parade entries included classic cars, church groups, radio stations, and several area businesses.
Citrus Heights resident Brett Coleman was among the parade watchers and said he attends the event every year with his family and young daughters. He said the parade gives the city a “small-town feel” with a community atmosphere, bands, old cars, and families lined along the street — although he said some Metro Fire trucks in the parade would have been nice.
Winning the annual Mayor’s Award for the best and most creative entry was the Harmer family, who had a Flintstones-themed float made entirely of recycled materials and 16 rolls of duct tape, according to a loud-speaker announcement as the float rolled past the judges’ booth.
Citrus Heights Neighborhood Area 6 won the award for best neighborhood association entry, and the Citrus Heights Dance Academy won the award for best music entry. Other winners included Kaia Fit Citrus Heights, the Mesa Verde Mavericks, a Halloween-themed entry from Cemetarium Haunted House, as well as the San Juan Alumni Association and San Juan cheerleaders and baseball players who participated in the parade.
The Citrus Heights Rotary Club‘s pancake breakfast, served up in the Sunrise Mall parking lot was also an expected hit following the event.
“Weather cooperated, there was a little breeze — parade was successful,” Mayor Jeff Slowey told The Sentinel following the parade. “It’s all for the kids and the family so it was all good.”
Slowey said the annual parade began several years after Citrus Heights became a city two decades ago and said the event is always held on the last Saturday in June to not conflict with July 4th parades in the region.
“We wanted to do something for the community,” said Mayor Jeff Slowey, recalling the parade’s origins in 1999. “People like parades, so we’ve had it and it’s been very successful.”
Following the parade this year was a “Summer Kick Off” event hosted by the Sunrise Marketplace in the Mall’s parking lot. Inflatables, classic cars and food trucks could be seen setting up for the kick off event during the parade, with a line of eager kids allowed early entry to the event area around 10:30 a.m.
Police estimated several thousand people attended the 2017 parade. Traffic on Sunrise Boulevard between Madison Avenue and Greenback Lane was closed down for several hours to allow for the event.
The Harmer family’s Flintstones-themed float won the 2017 Mayor’s Award during the Red, White and Blue Parade. // Photo credit: Luke Otterstad
A Little Free Library outside a Leonard Avenue home in Citrus Heights.
Nearly two dozen birdhouse-sized neighborhood lending libraries will be popping up around Citrus Heights in April, thanks to a community vision to promote reading and the collaborative efforts of the Citrus Heights Rotary Club, the City’s History and Arts Commission, business sponsors, and a team of construction management students from San Juan High School.
Known as “Little Free Libraries,” the small, free-standing neighborhood book exchanges are designed “to promote a sense of community, reading for children, literacy for adults and libraries around the world,” according to the Little Free Library organization’s website.
With no late fines or requirements for library cards, each mini-library promises its readers with the free gift knowledge, under the founding principle of “take a book, return a book.”
Stewarded by a business, neighborhood, community group, or family, the Citrus Heights mini-libraries are part of a growing movement whose founding organization now estimates nearly 25,000 to be operating worldwide, since the first one was constructed in 2009.
With the local effort spearheaded by Citrus Heights History and Arts Commissioner Jessica Mang, volunteers plan to install 20 Little Free Libraries around Citrus Heights on April 11, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Stock Ranch Preserve, and ending with a final installation and volunteer picnic at Van Maren Park around 1 p.m., according to a news release from the History and Arts Commission.
The collaborative effort has included book donations from Sylvan Library and construction materials donated by Home Depot and Lowes, according to the news release. Additionally, SJHS construction management students helped build the 20 mini-libraries, modeling their design after the City’s original 1862 Sylvan Schoolhouse.
Local business and community groups have also helped sponsor the construction of the libraries, with each being responsible for maintaining the library and keeping it stocked with books.
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The Little Free Libraries will be located on 20 public sites throughout Citrus Heights, including Rusch Park, Stock Ranch Preserve, the Sylvan Community Center and the City’s new “Green Parking Lot” next to the police department.
At least one local “little library” was in place prior to the involvement of the History and Arts Commission, holding a prominent spot in the front yard of a home on Leonard Avenue, filled mostly with children’s books.
Those seeking more information or sponsorship opportunities are asked to contact Jessica Mang at jessicaemang@gmail.com.
A Little Free Library design, modeled after the 1862 Sylvan Schoolhouse. // Courtesy, Citrus Heights History and Arts Commission
