This new gym in Placerville is rocking the spectrum!!

                 The We Rock the Spectrum Gym in Placerville is finally open!! It is located in the former Thrifty Auto Sales dealership building next to Jim's Automotive at 1412 Broadway near Grocery Outlet in Placerville, California.

 This new gym's focus is a place for kids of all abilities to play and grow together. At We Rock the Spectrum, they offer a place where children can have fun while benefiting from an active environment. Their aim is to help children in the area of strength, movement, sensory processing, positive behavior modification, social interactions, and self-care skills.

The gym features 10 pieces of therapeutic equipment which is specifically designed to work with many sensory processing issues that children on the spectrum face.

We Rock the Spectrum held its ribbon-cutting grand opening ceremony on July 28th 2018 which I attended. At the ceremony, Mrs. Keri and Mr Patrick McAtee, the owners of the Placerville gym, the founder of We Rock the Spectrum Dina Kimmel, and Tim, one of the owners, talked about the gym and what it is. Mrs. McAtee talked about her journey with her kids and her dedication to the gym in memory of Sammy, and they cut the ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of the new gym. My favorite part was when Hangtown Harmonizers Barbershop Quartet sang the national anthem, which I was pleasantly surprised to see.

As a boy challenged by autism, I feel like this place would have been fun and helpful when I was a little child with all the activities  and equipment beneficial for people struggling with special needs such as me. When I went to this place, it reminded me of my many therapy visits to Growing Healthy Children in Rescue and visiting the gym doing the zip line and fun activities.

Swinging was very important when I was a little kid cause it stimulated speech. Jumping on the trampoline helped me to sleep better at night and sensory activities helped me to be productive. I enjoy being with friends and have opportunities to be with friends. This gym provides opportunities for kids to make friends with others who struggle with the same issues.

 I believe this gym will be helpful for people with special needs in Placerville, Camino, Pollock Pines, and the whole El Dorado County region.  I hope that you enjoyed reading my blogpost and I hope that you can visit this gym sometime if you have kids who would love the gym.

We Rock the Spectrum has 49 locations including the Placerville locations in the United States and 3 others in the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Malaysia. There are 13 locations coming soon in the United States and new locations opening soon in Canada and Saudi Arabia. They have a website for more information about the gym: www.werockthespectrum.com

Video from the Grand Opening:  https://youtu.be/f-1OzPQ8DGw

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.   John 3:16

                                          Thank You for reading my post and God bless!!

       

Looking for a toy store to shop at? A local toy store in Folsom may be the right place you are looking for

If you are looking for a toy store to shop at, Brainy Zoo Toys in the Folsom Premium Outlets may be just the place for you. It is located a few doors right of the Merrill Shoes store in the Folsom Premium Outlets located at 13000 Folsom Blvd #1005.  Brainy Zoo Toys at their store offer their customers:

·         Active Play Toys

·         Building and Construction Toys

·         Science and Nature Toys and Kits

·         Cool Toys

·         Musical Toys

·         Arts and Crafts

·         Games

·         Fantasy Play Toys

Brainy Zoo Toys is family owned toy store that has been in business since 1982 and It is voted the best toy store by Style Magazine and KCRA 3. They have just recently moved into the Folsom Premium Outlets from their previous location in the Nimbus Station center. The purpose for Brainy Zoo Toys is to create happy and healthy childhoods and to encourage a love for learning!!

 I visited the new Brainy Zoo Toys on the Fourth of July and I purchased a fun toy NASA Space Shuttle which I love playing with. It was a fun experience shopping at the small toy store playing with toys such as sand foam, kits, puzzles, planes, and cars. I hope you enjoyed reading my article and I hope that you can shop at Brainy Zoo Toys someday.

Brainy Zoo Toys also has a website for more information about the toy store: brainyzootoys.com

Thank You for reading my blogpost and God bless

The Lincoln Highway: America's First Highway

 

 

The Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental highway in the United States which went from coast to coast going from San Francisco to New York. The states and towns it went through were:

California: Oakland, Hayward, Livermore, Tracy, Stockton, Sacramento, Roseville, Folsom, Auburn, Placerville, and Truckee

Nevada: Carson City, Reno, Fernley, Fallon, Austin, Eureka and Ely

 Utah: Great Salt Lake Desert, Grantsville, Salt Lake City and Coalville

Wyoming: Evanston, Green River, Rock Springs, Rawlins, Medicine Bow, Laramie and Cheyenne

Colorado had a branch of the highway that went from Cheyenne, WY to Big Springs, NE: Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Denver, Fort Morgan, and Sterling

Nebraska: Sidney, North Platte, Kearney, Grand Island, Columbus and Omaha

Iowa: Ames, Marshalltown, Cedar Rapids and Clinton

Illinois: Aurora and Joilet

Indiana: Valparaiso, La Porte, South Bend, Elkhart and Fort Wayne

Ohio: Lima, Upper Sandusky, Mansfield, Canton, and East Liverpool in Ohio

Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh, Gettysburg, York, Lancaster and Philadelphia

New Jersey: Trenton, Newark, Jersey City and finally to New York City.  

The highway was originally 3,389 miles long.

The Lincoln Highway's history was started by Carl Fisher and Henry Joy, who had proposed a coast to coast highway. This highway was dedicated on October 31st 1913 as a memorial to the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln.

The highway was not all paved, in fact some of the road was still dirt in portions of the country, especially in Iowa and the area in between Joilet, Illinois and California. Because of that, many changes were made to the highway over the years such as paving roads, straightening them, and adding links such as the Carquinez Bridge in Vallejo linking Sacramento to San Francisco without going through Stockton.

In California, there were two branches of the Lincoln Highway: the Pioneer Branch which went through Mills (now Rancho Cordova), Folsom, and El Dorado County. The Lincoln Highway was the predecessor of the Interstate 80 that was to come.

In El Dorado County, the highway went through the old town of Clarksville, the towns of Shingle Springs, El Dorado, Placerville, Camino, Riverton, Kyburz, Strawberry, and Meyers

The routes it went through in the county are the present day:

White Rock Road, Old Bass Lake Grade, Country Club Drive in Cameron Park, Durock Road, Mother Lode Drive, Pleasant Valley Road, Forni Road, Placerville Drive, Main Street, Broadway, the route of modern US 50 to Five Mile House, Carson Road, Pony Express Trail, Modern US 50 from Pacific House to Johnson Pass, and Pioneer Trail from Meyers.

I first heard about the Lincoln Highway from Ken Allen, one of my family's longtime friend,  talking about where it went and what it was like. When I heard about it, I was eager to take a tour of the old Lincoln Highway and see what it was like.

He finally took us on a tour a year later of the highway which we saw the route and the remnants of the old road. On the trip, we saw the old route of the highway from old Clarksville to Placerville.

A few months later, I looked at old maps that Mr. Allen gave me after the tour and I was fascinated at what the old highways looked like. Because of that interest, my family and I toured the old Rusch House in Citrus Heights which was one of the first houses in the area and saw exhibits about the history of Citrus Heights at the house. Citrus Heights was on the old Lincoln Highway.

On May 5th, we went to the fun Clarksville Days at the historic town of Clarksville, a few blocks away from the modern El Dorado Hills Town Center off of White Rock Road on the old Lincoln Highway. While we were there, we saw old cars, the old buildings and the remnants of them in the town, people riding on horses, and a fun model train set.

It was a blast learning about the old highway and the history of our area and I hope that you can learn about it also.

I learned about the Lincoln Highway from:

The Lincoln Highway Association's website: https://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/.

 The El Dorado County A Pictorial History Book by Lisa M. Butler and Jon McCabe

 The History of A Place Called Rescue book from Francis Carpenter and William C. Teie

The Citrus Heights Images of America Book by Jim Van Maren

 the El Dorado History Museum on Placerville Drive

the Lincoln Highway Main Street Across America book by Drake Hokanson

 the NETR Historical Aerials website

some of the old California maps from Shell, Chevron, Texaco, and the old Richfield gas station.

 

                        

                                                 

 

   Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.  Psalm 25:4-5

 

                                   Thank You for reading my history lesson and may God bless you.

There's a revolution in the pizza business in Citrus Heights!!

 

                   The revolution in the pizza business has just begun with the opening of PizzaRev in Citrus Heights. Their grand opening also was a fundraiser for A Community of Peace, a local non-profit seeking to end all forms of violence against humanity and to promote peace in our community, which 100% of the funds raised from each guest's first donation went to the non-profit.  The restaurant offers a Craft Your Own pizza experience, empowering customers to customize an 11" pizza for one price. They offer homemade dough options including gluten free, flavorful sauces, all-natural cheeses, salads and more than 30 toppings for the pizza.  Then, the pizza is fired in a 900 degree, stone bed oven, which produces a crispy Roman style pizza in just three minutes. The bustling restaurant  was hopping with excitement with lines to the door. There were families, groups of friends, and individual people in line at the restaurant and some sat in the peaceful patio to enjoy the pizza without the noise. It is located in the strip mall with Nation's Giant Hamburgers and the future Dos Coyotes Border Cafe at 5450 Sunrise Blvd, Suite B-4 in Citrus Heights.  Along with this location, PizzaRev has more than 45 locations in the United States. 

 

   I wrote this article because I am currently an intern for the Citrus Heights Sentinel and one of my assignments was to attend the grand opening of this new restaurant and write about it.  I have been an intern since March 31st, attending classes to learn more about how to cover a variety of stories such as police logs, events, news articles, and summarizing them. It has been an interesting experience learning about the rules of journalism and the code of ethics. During this internship, I've visited the historic Rusch House and the Lincoln Highway which I hope to write posts on soon. I enjoyed a meal at a restaurant after reading an article written by the Sentinel. The restaurant is called Crepes and Burgers.  The internship is going on until May 12th 2018.  I appreciate the time and the mentoring that the Sentinel is investing in me.

The website for the Citrus Heights Sentinel if you want to read the news site: https://citrusheightssentinel.com/

The website for PizzaRev is: https://pizzarev.com/

                 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the LORD not for men.                                                                  Colossians 3:23

                                            

                                         Thank You for reading my blogpost and God bless!!