The Outdoors are still a Classroom

A little Q&A with some local scoutmasters and pack leaders

If you have a child, chances are you want what’s best for them. With so many wonderful organizations to get them involved with—be it the YMCA, DeMolay, Boys & Girls Club—it may be hard to decide where to put ‘em. No organization is really better or worse than the other, it all really boils down to what’s best for your child. We can’t truly speak for them all, but one particular organization seems to pretty much cover the full gamut of life for its kids. Which organization? Why, the Boy Scouts of America, of course.

For more than 100 years the Boy Scouts have been teaching our kids all about how to survive in this crazy world, both indoors and out. That’s one of the biggest draws to scouting is how it covers such an epic range of skills. “Boy Scouts is a program that teaches a lot of different life skills for young people,” said John Fenoglio, Scout Executive for the Mount Diablo Silverado Council of the Boy Scouts for America. “We can teach them through doing and practicing, learning the process of everything from self reliance to self esteem, and probably the greatest thing we teach is leadership.”

Fenoglio explained the Boy Scouts as “fun with a purpose”. They could all go camping, hiking or canoeing for the weekend, and the kids organize it all themselves, but they might not even realize what they’ve learned. “You can sit down with them and say: Do you remember learning teamwork and leadership? And they’ll say: no,” he said. “But they practiced it. They don’t understand that, but that’s okay, because we want them to learn these skills and have fun at the same time.”

It’s not all fun and games, but even the work can be fun, and they’re taught that it’s important to work in order to have their fun. “Each year the boys raise money for their summer camps through Christmas tree recycling,” said Jeremy Lowe, Scoutmaster for Troop 64 in Vallejo. “It’s a good way for the boys to understand the relationship between work, and spending that money on something constructive like summer camp.” Thinking of life lessons on the grander scale is what makes scouting so effective. “Boy Scouts gives them an opportunity to try out lots of different things—but also doing so as part of a leadership,” he added. “Learning how not just to attend events or participate, but also to lead and organize. I think Boy Scouts is a great way to challenge the boys to become better leaders and to learn from each other as much as they learn from adults.”

Lowe has two sons who have been with the organization since Cub Scouts, and he’s enjoyed seeing them grow as they rise the scouting ranks. “I started out as a Cub Scout leader and there you’re just acting like a surrogate parent, everything’s organized by you,” he said. “Gradually, I stepped back more and more and watched them lead and decide what they want to do and organize.” Now he’s getting to enjoy the fruits of his labor, watching his kids and their fellow scouts grow from boys to men. “I look at them now as a group of young men who are equipped to deal with a lot of life’s situations,” he said. “They have common sense, they have skills, they’re better equipped to deal with some of the unexpected. As the Boy Scout motto goes: Be Prepared.”

Troop 64 in Vallejo meets at the First United Methodist Church in Vallejo, which is its chartering organization, every Monday at 7:15 for about an hour and a half. Meetings are open to the public and, if you’re interested, Lowe invites you to just come by and check it out! You can even call him right now at (707) 373-6907 or email jeremyplowe@gmail.com.

It’s never too early to get your kids involved with scouting. Okay, well, maybe not before they can walk on their own, but as Cub Scouts used to be strictly for children in 1st-5th grade, kindergartners are now also welcome to participate.

Gretchen Burgess is the current president of the Kiwanis Club of Benicia, which is the chartering organization for the Benicia Cub Scouts Pack 108. “Kiwanis’ motto is: making the world a better place, one child at a time,” she said. “And, on just about every level, there is no better way to benefit a boy than to get him into scouting. The same would be true, of course, with girls and Girl Scouts.”

So what are all these beneficial levels? “Scouting addresses the child intellectually and emotionally, it supports the family unit—which is really the root of building the best children we could possibly have—and it also challenges the child athletically,” explains Burgess. For the Cub Scouts, of course, the physical aspect is pretty tame. For example, this December they’re planning to do a holiday light walk where the boys walk through a neighborhood with a high percentage of decorated homes. “And we do an evening hike with the boys on city streets!” she said. Also in the summertime they’ll walk along the paved pathways of the 50-acre Benicia Community Park, or hike along the state park paths. “While they’re doing these hikes they have leaders all throughout pointing out local birds, local fauna, and geological aspects of the hike,” said Burgess. “It’s to increase their awareness of the outdoors and the elements that make up that particular region’s highlights and beauties.”

When it comes to what sports are addressed between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, kids will experience just about everything. “They run the gamut from badminton and ultimate frisbee to tag football, soccer, baseball—just about every sport. And then, of course, there’s archery and BB guns!” said Burgess. For the little ones they engage in activities that are a bit more fair across age ranges, such as the Pinewood Derby where they race hand-carved toy cars down a track, which is a great way to get everyone actively competing against each other for bragging rights. And while you might think winter would be the less physically active time of the year for the Cub Scouts, sometimes it’s just the opposite.

This winter, Pack 108 will be engaged in things like the aforementioned holiday light hike, Christmas tree recycling, the Christmas parade downtown, the Downtown Holiday Open House and Tree Lighting, and more. “We’ll be scouting for food in November,” said Burgess. “The boys will put fliers on door handles and collect canned food for the food banks, which are always hard pressed during the holiday season.”

Burgess’ son Maximilian has risen from Cub Scout to Boy Scout and is one of the organizations greatest advocates. “My own son must be one of the best recruiters out there!” she said. Scouting has helped Maximilian tremendously, and he wants to share the opportunity with everyone he meets. “He was the emcee of his school’s talent contest because the skills that he learned in Boy Scouts, as far as building confidence and being able to present himself in front of an audience, just came out to shine,” she said. He’s also looking forward to middle school, as opposed to some of his more timid friends. “When he thinks about going into middle school, he’s not afraid, because he knows there are going to be other Boy Scouts there that he’s known for years and years, waiting to help him through the process,” said Burgess. “He’s not just bound by those kids in his classroom or sports team that are all his same age; he’s got friends that are both younger and older than him. It’s a huge confidence booster.” If you’re close to Benicia and want to get your little one involved, visit www.beniciascouts.org.

Just like Maximilian is looking forward to running into fellow scouts in middle school, these surprise connections could happen for the rest of your life. For instance, when we were interviewing Professor Rick Marshall about the new autotechnology building coming to Vallejo’s Solano College campus (see page 38) he happened to mention that he’s been a scoutmaster for about 7 years for Troop 864 in Cordelia.

Marshall states their motto: Do a Good Turn Daily. “It’s an awesome thing to live by,” he said. “You take nothing for it; no food, no tip, no nothing. If every person lived by that, willing to do something every day to help someone else, I think that’s just an awesome thing.” That’s what he’s doing as scoutmaster, never having been able to join as a kid.

“I wish I would have had this experience. It just makes you so much stronger, and better,” Marshall explains. “My wife and I call scouting as a game—this is where the boys can mess up. As long as nobody gets hurt, it’s a game! I’ll say let them screw up all they want, this is their chance to learn in life.” And Marshall’s doing his part to help the learning process, as he’s currently teaches about 30 merit badges to the scouts.

If you’re hoping to find a local troop near you, you probably can. Best bet is to head to www.scouting.org. Happy trails!

Matt Larson is a writer/actor/comedian native to Vallejo who travels back and forth from Los Angeles way too much. He’s desperate for attention and urges you to follow him on all social medias @MarsLegstrong. He lives for likes, please keep him healthy!

Getting to the Other Side of Ghost Walks

According to Benicia folklore, lurking in the shadows at Sailor Jack’s restaurant is the spirit of an old card player. He’s known only by his first name, Carl, and locals say he spent his days compiling stacks of cash and emptying bottles of booze. When a bullet to the head ended all that, Carl apparently became content wandering the area around the Tannery building, waiting for some visitors to entertain.

“It’s usually the women who go up, because he does like the women,” Benicia Main Street Executive Director Nancy Martinez said with a chuckle. “The ladies swear they feel a presence, and they can smell his cigar.”

Carl is one of dozens of spirits known to those who run Benicia’s Ghost Walk tours, who are celebrating a decade of ghost walks in Benicia this year. They’re led by a local paranormal investigator and are tailored for adults (and children 12 and up) who are interested in exploring other realms.

“There’s a lot of Benicia history that you’re not going to find in the history books,” Martinez said.

Ghost walks are nothing new to the Bay Area, and neither are haunted locations. Suisun holds regular ghost walks on the second and fourth Fridays of every month, exploring the town’s paranormal history in groups of up to 30 people. Napa — home of the reportedly haunted Greenwood Mansion (the location of a double homicide in 1891) — holds them as well, using former Benicia Ghost Walk leader Devin Sisk and Napa native (and spirit enthusiast) Ellen MacFarlane.

From November 4-6, the town of Volcano will join the mix too, with a murder mystery, scavenger hunt, and multiple days of paranormal investigation (including into the infamous Lizzie Borden). Participants are encouraged to dress up as their favorite serial killer or victim (real or fictional).

Benicia started doing them in 2006, but in the past three years the city has made its ghost walks more immersive. Deborah Hogarty, the paranormal investigator who leads the walks, starts by taking participants out into a field, having them close their eyes and try to get a sense of this area’s history. Then the group goes up First Street, block by block, trying to detect signs of spirits of Benicia’s past.

“Deborah’s really putting participants in the shoes of an investigator,” Martinez said. “It’s great to see. I’ve been on tours, and they’re always a little different.”

Many people, of course, do not believe in ghosts, or are at the very least skeptical that there could be spirits inhabiting random dwellings throughout the area. Hogarty, the Benicia Ghost Walk’s current leader, used to fall into that category as well, Martinez said. But some personal experiences made her change her mind.

“Little by little she has come to believe that there is a little more going on out there,” Martinez said.

Skeptics are encouraged to come along for the walk as well.

“We have a lot of what I would call ‘non-believers,’” Martinez said. “Sometimes they come around, sometimes they don’t. But no matter what, it’s always good entertainment, and a lot of history.”

Martinez knows where she stands on the spectrum because Benicia Main Street’s offices, the old train depot located down at the end of First Street, has its own spirit resident named Ben, she says. The way Martinez tells it, some details of Ben’s life (and of many spirits) will probably never come out.

“A lot of them, from what I’ve been told, don’t really like to talk about their death,” Martinez said.

Still, she said her and others have communicated with Ben here and there, and have come to the conclusion he used to work at the depot years ago, when trains passed through this way, Martinez said.

“(Ben) definitely has a sense of humor. He comes into our office at times,” she said. “There have been times where computer chords will become unplugged, and it’s not something where you could accidentally kick it… He loves the energy of the depot, because you have to understand—this sat vacant for years and years.”

According to those well-versed in these subjects, Benicia’s spirits mainly fall into two categories: the recurring cast of characters, like Carl or Ben, who are known to investigators and sensitives. Then there are the roaming spirits, who might pop up in a ghost walk here or there, but aren’t anchored down in any particular place. Of course, Benicia has no shortage of old buildings, which Martinez suggested increases the chances of detecting a passer-by spirit.

“Imagine how many souls have passed through this place over the years,” Martinez said. “And of course this works to our advantage as well … Sometimes we have six spirits here in this building alone. The most I’ve heard was 11.”

Benicia’s downtown wasn’t always the quiet, peaceful strip it is now, where newlyweds can go to furnish their home with antiques, or where a group of old friends can come find a quaint tea room for lunch. In the olden days, downtown Benicia was inhabited mainly by two kinds of people: sailors, and drunken sailors.

“Benicia, back in the day, was thriving. We were a waterway source, and you had a lot of people coming,” Martinez said. “It was huge.”

If you read Tales of the Fish Patrol by Jack London, a slightly embellished retelling of London’s experiences in Benicia, you’ll read short stories about illegal fisherman, dangerous pirates, and high-speed chases on the Carquinez Strait. These times, though much more adventurous, also led to a lot of folks’ untimely demises, thereby potentially increasing Benicia’s spirit population. London died in Sonoma County, but Martinez said his spirit may still pass through Benicia.

“They have not talked to Jack London’s spirit yet, though,” Martinez said. “But it’d be nice if they did.”

Hogarty’s means of getting a yes/no on whether a spirit is around involves a divining rod and a K2 detection sensor, both of which are used to find “hidden energy,” Martinez said.

According to Martinez, the type of energy the K2 sensor detects isn’t specific to spirit energy, so false positives can happen.

“They’re very good about explaining how it works,” she said. “A participant might go, ‘Ooh!’ And get excited when it starts to light up, but that may just be because you’re standing under a light.”

Surprisingly, Benicia’s ghost walk (and others in the area) have restrictions on how children can participate. For one thing, kids under 12 just flat out aren’t allowed. Kids 12-17 must be accompanied by a parent, and most ghost walks are very adult heavy.

“Sometimes, with small kids, you have to wonder how long they can stay focused on something, and you don’t want to scare them,” Martinez said. “It’s mainly an adult thing, but we do get a few where their mom, or grandma or aunt, will tell them, ‘Wait till you’re older,’ and they’ll show up for one right after their 12^th birthday.”

Benicia’s Ghost Walks take place twice a month at Benicia Main Street, located at 90 First Street, starting in February, and going through October. To celebrate Halloween, though, they’re held every other week in October. Groups can be up to 20 people, and walks always start at 8 p.m., though folks are encouraged to show up at 7:30-45 p.m. and sign up. This year, they will be held on Oct. 7th and Oct. 21st, both Fridays, are well as the following Saturdays: Oct. 1st, 8th and 22nd.

Tickets cost $25 each. For more information, visit www.beniciamainstreet.org/ghost-walk/ or call (707) 745-9791. For more information on Napa’s ghost walks, go to www.napaghosts.com or call (707) 363-6890.

Suisun’s Ghost walks are for ages 10 and up, and children aged 10-16 must be accompanied by a parent. Tickets are $25. For more information, go to www.suisunwaterfront.com/ghostwalk.php or email info@suisunwaterfront.com.

Nate Gartrell grew up in Benicia, studied journalism in college, and has written for a handful of media outlets since age 15. He aspires to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums and to hit the trifecta at the horse track. 

The Best Films are Rarely Seen

More than 100 films to be showcased at the 6th Annual Napa Valley Film Festival this November

Remakes and sequels are plentiful in the movie theaters, leading us to think, is Hollywood out of ideas? Not even, they’re just playing it safe. But for many jaded moviegoers it’s all starting to feel much more like a business show, rather than a show business.

This isn’t always the case, however. Films like Swiss Army Man, Sausage Party and Kubo and the Two Strings prove that there is still plenty of space left to explore new ideas in our cinematic universe. In fact, countless filmmakers are doing just that, every day, all over the world! But we rarely see what they’ve done as their films generally don’t make it to theaters and are sometimes never even released online. More often than not, your only chance to see some of these passion-project masterpieces is to attend a local film festival.\

“We want people to discover these small films,” says Brenda Lhormer, Co-Founder/Co-Director of the Napa Valley Film Festival held this November 9th-13th. “We want people to come and meet these working filmmakers and see a film that they would probably never see any other way at any other time.” And seeing films in unique ways is what the Napa Valley Film Festival is all about.

Of the 13 different screening venues across the four walkable film-festival villages (in Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga), only one—the Cameo Cinema in St. Helena—is an actual movie theater. “Everyplace else we turned into a movie theater,” says Lhormer. “This year we added Charles Krug and Freemark Abbey wineries—they are now literally screening venues where people can go to watch a film and drink wine,” she says. You’ll find a lot of unique viewing opportunities at the Napa Valley Film Festival, she says. “Where else can you be watching a film in an airplane hangar in a field listening to filmmakers talking about how they made the film and hearing from the actors all while you’re drinking an amazing glass of wine?”

Food and wine will be abundant at the festival, as will be everything else: 120+ films, 300 filmmakers, 150 wineries and 30 chefs will be entertaining and enlightening guests in four different regions throughout the Napa Valley. Each of the aforementioned towns will have its own box office, multiple screening venues, a wine pavilion or wine stroll, and plenty of perks for the pass holders. Plus, culinary demonstrations and special events (and private parties) galore.

“We are growing leaps and bounds in terms of attendance,” says Lhormer. “As we become a more well-known festival, more and more people are participating in one way, shape or form, which is absolutely what we want.” Napa Valley is already an international tourist destination, so hotel accommodations are fortunately not a concern for the festival. But despite expecting around 48,000 total attendants this year, Lhormer is well aware that there still remains huge potential for even more growth. “We could handle a lot more,” she says. “So we’re hoping that word gets out. When you don’t have a big marketing budget, and you’re a nonprofit like we are, you have to rely on word of mouth, PR, and just hope the word spreads organically! That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Even though this year is only the 6th Annual Napa Valley Film Festival, they’ve been able to attract some of the best names in the business to come and represent their films. Of course, the actors’ schedules are ever changing, so it’s difficult to guarantee that certain familiar faces will be present. But this year possible celebrity attendees include Jessica Biel, Katie Holmes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Aaron Eckhart, to name a few. They’ve also announced that actress Chloe Grace Moretz will be receiving a very special Celebrity Tribute.

“We’ve got an unbelievable film lineup this year,” says Lhormer. And you may be surprised to find some of your favorite actors in many of these films. “We probably have seen the most well-known actors in the smaller movies than we’ve ever seen before,” she says. “It shows you that you’ve got a lot of actors who are spending their time and their talent on these independent films when they’re not doing big studio stuff, so that’s really fun to see.”

Film categories include narrative features and shorts, documentary features and shorts, short features, special presentations, and The Lounge, which is a venue in Downtown Napa that is reserved for films that are a bit quirkier or more adventurous, lower budget maybe but still very entertaining, so they get their very own venue! Lhormer wants filmmakers of all levels to feel comfortable submitting their work to the festival, and not to be intimidated. “We’re looking for a good story,” she says. “We have films in the festival where the production values are not super high, but the story is really good, it’s well told, it’s well acted … if somebody doesn’t have a big budget, it’s very hard, but if the story’s great then it has a shot! We do watch everything. At least, some of everything.”

More than 1,000 films were submitted for the festival this year. Lhormer credits the festival’s program manager, Whitney Haskins, for creating an effective system utilizing volunteer screening committees that help with the first approval round for the films. “Some members came through, wrote reviews and were thoughtful, others kind of dropped off the face of the earth when they realized how hard it is to watch so many films. Most of which were … not good,” she explains. Ultimately it’s up to Lhormer and her husband Marc, who is the other Co-Founder/Executive & Artistic Director of the festival, to decide which films make the cut. “It’s quite a challenging process,” she says. “It’s not fun. It’s only fun when you discover those gems that you end up programming, and then once you start the scheduling process it becomes a blast!” So it’s very worth it in the end.

You’ll also find some sneak previews of carefully selected major motion pictures at the Napa Valley Film Festival. They’ve confirmed screenings for Lion, with Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel, in which a young boy from India becomes adopted by an Australian couple and years later sets out to find his long-lost family, Bleed For This, featuring Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart in the true story about a famous boxer who fights to make a comeback after a near-fatal car crash, The Founder, starring Michael Keaton as McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, and many more. And, even though it’s been in theaters a bit, Mr. Church showcases Eddie Murphy in a dramatic role that could very well be a turning point in his career. Despite all these exciting films, Lhormer reminds us, “All the smaller independent films are the heart and soul of the film program.” There is certainly much to look forward to this November.

Special events at the Napa Valley Film Festival are about as impressive as the films themselves. Opt into their Patron Circle and you’ll encounter “The Essential VIP Experience” at the festival. On Friday, for example, about 600 VIPs will be attending exclusive winemakers’ dinners at 24 winery estates throughout the valley, simultaneously. Saturday after the awards ceremony is the festival gala, referred to by Lhormer as “the party of the year” with 30 chefs and 30 wineries participating to serve 2,000 guests.

Regardless of your expectation you are sure to be amazed at the Napa Valley Film Festival. Watch some films, drink some wine, have a good time. “I want people to come and go ‘Wow. I was in this really cool barrel room at a winery, drinking this amazing glass of wine and I got a chance to see this incredible film that I’ve never even heard of and then hear from the filmmaker and I loved it,” says Lhormer. “That’s what I want to happen.”

So make it happen! November 9-13, 2016. Get your passes now and also lock in your VIP status at napavalleyfilmfest.org. For more details, email services@nvff.org.

Larson is a writer/actor/comedian native to Vallejo who travels back and forth from Los Angeles way too much. He’s desperate for attention and urges you to follow him on all social medias @MarsLegstrong. He lives for likes, please keep him healt