Our cup runneth over. If you haven’t been downtown lately you’re not where it’s happening. There are non stop events, celebrations, openings, and other holiday seasonal goings on daily, it seems. I’ve even applied mascara for the second time this week to meet the moment. Hadn’t used it since last Christmas and it clumped.
Saturday morning after the tree lighting, I walked up First St. and heard Christmas music — live. Decked out in their Santa hats, the Benicia Jazz Club was performing holiday carols on the sidewalk in front of Benicia Fitness. Twins Jason and Ethan Moran on trumpet and trombone and Mark Zimmerman on tuba and alto sax are students at Benicia High. The three performed “Carol of the Bells,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and other favorites as toddlers became dizzy dancing and twirling as their parents shot videos.
Rolled out of bed late this past Saturday morning, threw a coat on over my pajamas, and jumped into the car to see if the Christmas Parade was on. The rain and wind were ferocious. B St. had become a lake with waves and floating barricades. So made a quick U-turn and drove up E. 2nd to E. D St. where police were directing traffic around another lake. Asked the cop if there was a parade and was surprised when he said, “Yes, and you are probably going to be part of it.” Quickly pulled over in front of the Yacht Club and ran.
The parade had started as a few hardy souls cowered under overhangs and on balconies to watch. I arrived as a vintage Mercedes stopped and a man jumped out to replace the greenery that had blown off his hood. Council Member Largaespada was standing on the corner. “What did I miss?” I asked. “It started with the Mayor, Trevor Macenski, Kari Birdseye, and me. Terry Scott is resting at home but is here in spirit,” he said.
“What a job,” I thought. It pays something like $350/mo without a raise since 2012, if I have the numbers right. Hardly enough to keep a Council member in waders and ponchos. Four of the 11 Benicia Main St. board members were there as well as Supervisor Monica Brown.
Gold stars go to the Benicia Brownies and Girl Scouts who showed up in rubber boots and slickers and sang their hearts out, and the Benicia High Cheerleaders, looking sharp in their blue uniforms and waving white pom pots as they stopped every block to perform a dance routine despite gale force winds. The Burmese dogs made an appearance, as did St. Dominics, and Alvah Contracting.
Poor Santa and Mrs. Santa Claus brought up the rear. Wearing transparent ponchos over their red velvet attire, they kept their heads down as they braved the storm, trailing behind on foot. Santa forged ahead with a walking stick probably wishing that he was back at the North Pole where the temperature was a brisk -27 degrees but the winds light.
The Holiday Market was pretty much a bust and was shut down by 10:30 am as tents crumpled to the ground. “We had some 50 or so vendors on the list,” said a Benicia Main Street staffer. Only about ten showed up.
I’ve got to hand it to the youth of Benicia (especially the girls) and their parents. Your kids are hearty souls with fortitude and resilience — our future. I saw only one kid crying and the rest were celebrating the storm. Go Generation Alpha!
Benicia High School Drama Department’s production “A Midwinter Night’s Dream” Friday night was a blockbuster. Taking one of Shakespeare’s most complex plays, they added some challenging and amusing wrinkles. Instead of setting the action in Athens, Greece in the 1500s, they chose Athens, NY in the 1950s. Characters wore vintage lettermen’s jackets and saddle shoes and spoke Shakespeare’s prose and verse with a Bronx accent.
We took our seats a few feet from the stage as the classic song “Earth Angel” played over the sound system. Due to lack of space, I’ll mention only a few of the standout performances.
Azlan Star-Clevenger played the rapscallion Puck, both diabolical and charismatic as he hopped around the stage on his haunches, roaring with glee when he was ordered by the King to sprinkle love potion on innocent victims. Callum White dressed as Marilyn Monroe played the provocative Titania, Queen of the Fairies and sang in dulcet tones while her husband Oberon, King of the Fairies, played by Xavier Ervin, held the stage with his powerful presence.
Jeremy Ross played an over-the top, highly excitable, and supremely confident Nick Bottom with high comedic effect, using dramatic body language and delivering his extensive lines all without a hitch. He brought down the house when wheeled out splayed in a bathtub, transformed by Puck into a grotesque but silly-looking donkey. “Titania waked, and straightway loved an ass,” Shakespeare wrote.
Every so often the action would be interrupted by a 1950s era song and dance — “Shaboom!” “Rock Around the Clock,”and “Misty.” The cast was in almost constant motion falling, jumping, crawling, running, and fist fighting. Not surprisingly the program listed a “Combat Instructor” among the Production Team — Nikki Tillotson — who was also the Director. Also on board were a gymnastics coach, and a dance choreographer. The actors did all of their own stunts. Imagine that there were some bruises the next morning. A very impressive production!
Benicia Literary Arts had a convivial reception Saturday afternoon at Estey Real Estate on First. Writers, poets, bookworms — Benicia’s literary cognoscenti — gathered in the festive lobby where an enormous live Christmas tree bathed the space in sparkling lights. Tables were laid out with delectable foodstuffs worthy of a Tom Jones feast with napkins rather than dogs.
Author Debbie Weiss, new President of BLA, outlined a busy schedule for 2025. Past presidents Jim White, Johanna Ely, and Lois Requist did readings as did Mary Eichbauer, Editor-in-Chief. I caught up with Benicia Poet Laureate Kathy Monroe at the dessert table who kindly recommended the chocolate pretzels, so stuffed a few in a napkin as I left.
If you haven’t gotten your Christmas tree yet go to the downtown location of the Museum of Historical Benicia at 900 E 2nd Street, Benicia. Open through Dec 22nd. https://mohbenicia.org/.
Cheers!
Letters From Benicia 