Things to do in Sacramento

It's not everyday that a local arts nonprofit gets a grant from an oil company.

But that's exactly what happened when the arts gallery and multicultural center La Raza Galería Posada received a $5000 sponsorship check from Phillips 66.

The sponsorship will benefit the center's 2012-2013 Academia de la Artes Education Program.

In a written statement, Phillips 66 representative Don Petty said: "We believe in investing in the communities where we operate, supporting organizations focused on education, health & safety, and the environment."

To honor California Free Fishing Day, the Lake Solano Nature Center will hold a fishing seminar, led by docent Barbara Cooper, on Saturday, July 7 from 10 a.m. to noon. The event is free; parking is $5. 

In addition to fishing at Lake Solano and Putah Creek, visitors will learn the difference between a salmon and a steehead, as well as other fishy facts. 

Though fishing licenses on July 7 are free, all other regulations (bag and size limit, gear specifications) are in place. Lake Solano Nature Center is located at 8685 Pleasanta Valley Road in Winters. 

For more information, call (707) 432-0150, ext. 200.   

If this world is killing you, take heart: The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts has added three potentially mood-lifting performances to its 2012-13 season.

Elvis Costello, David Sedaris and the modern dance troupe Pilobolus Dance Theatre will appear in the Mondavi's Jackson Hall in separate performances.

Singer, songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Costello will perform an intimate solo show on Friday, Sept. 28. Author, NPR commentator and longtime Paris resident Sedaris will appear Friday, Nov. 16. Pilobolus, a company known for its fluid, inventive movements, will take the Jackson Hall stage on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013.

Tickets are $35/$55/$65 for Costello, and $25/ $37/$49 each for the Sedaris and Pilobolus shows. Tickets are on sale now to Mondavi Center subscribers. They go on sale Sunday to the general public.

For tickets and information, call (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787 or visit the Mondavi's site.

PHOTO OF ELVIS COSTELLO BY JAMES O'MARA

The Mondavi Center at UC Davis announced today the cancellation of Ravi Shankar's performance, scheduled for Oct. 23.

Shankar's management company, Opus 3 Artists, provided the following statement:

It is with deep regrets that, due to health issues, Panditji Ravi Shankar must cancel his October 2012 tour. Mr. Shankar lives for the joy of performing and is very sorry to have to announce this cancellation. He very much hopes to be able to perform for the Davis community in a future period.

The Mondavi Center will issue refunds to all ticket holders no later than Friday, July 13.

Information on refunds (530) 754-2787 or www. MondaviArts.org

Does your living room make you cringe? Are you ashamed of its tackiness, outdated furnishings and clutter? Do you avoid house guests so they won't see just how awful one room can be?

If so, you may have a winner. HGTV and HGTV magazine are looking for "The Most Embarrassing Living Room in America." The winner gets more than national cringing rights - they'll get a living room makeover worth $25,000.

Meg Caswell, host of "Meg's Great Rooms," will personally handle the transformation of the offending room. But applicants need to hustle with their entries. Deadline is 2 p.m. PDT July 12.

To enter, e-mail your contact information including city of residence, a description of your living room, photos and a video of yourself and your space to: livingroomcasting@gmail.com

The video may clinch the title.

"We especially want to see video of you and the room, so grab your camera or smart phone and prove you have the most awful, outdated, embarrassing living room ever!" said associate producer Dave Scheller, who is helping coordinate the search.

It's the rare arena show where you know the performers do not need to rely on lip-syncing or on backing tracks.

"American Idols Live" will come to Sacramento's Power Balance Pavilion on Saturday, July 21. The 10 finalists from the show's most recent edition will perform, including winner Phillip Phillips and runner-up Jessica Sanchez.

Tickets are $42.75- $79.45, and are available through Ticketmaster (800-745-3000).

PHOTO: JOHN GANUN

Crocker Art Museum and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts have teamed up to show a a filmed performance of "La Boheme" in Sacramento's Crocker Park.

The free outdoor screening on Thursday, July 12 will showcase a 2008 San Francisco Opera production of "La Boheme."

The park event starts at 8 p.m., and follows the Crocker's 5 p.m. Art Mix event, "Red, Hot and Bohemian." The Art Mix event will include live music and an art-making project involving cellophane and inspired by glass. The event is included in the price of museum admission.

Crocker Park sits next to the Crocker Museum (216 O St.).

For information on the museum, visit its website. For information on the Mondavi's 2012-2013 arts season, see the Mondavi's website.

Get your summer off to a flower-filled start during the 16th annual Daylily Days in Plymouth.

Held this weekend at Amador Flower Farm, Daylily Days celebrates the 14-acre farm's plentiful crop of daylilies. Located in the heart of Amador County's wine country, the farm grows more than 1,000 varieties of the colorful perennial.

Free tram tours make it easy to tour the farm's long rows of daylilies and see millions of blooms. In addition during this special free event, visitors can take part in hourly gardening demonstrations and get expert advice from Amador County master gardeners.

There also will be a summer fruit tasting Saturday, hosted by Dave Wilson Nursery, and tastings of olive oil and gourmet jams, salsa and sauces both days.

Food booths will be available or bring a picnic lunch to enjoy under the farm's massive oaks. Daylily Days will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Amador Flower Farm is located at 22001 Shenandoah School Road, Plymouth. For more details or directions, click on www.amadorflowerfarm.com or call (209) 245-6660.

Catch New York Times best-selling author Ridley Pearson tonight at 6. He will give a presentation, answer questions and autograph books for the Bee Book Club at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, 828 I St., Sacramento. The event is free.

Pearson's latest book is "The Risk Agent" (Putnam, $26.95, 432 pages), the first entry in a new series. The action is set in Shanghai, the world's most populous city. When a Chinese national employed by an American company is kidnapped, two operatives must team to rescue him. The thrills are nonstop, the cultural insights into a foreign country are fascinating.

Pearson has written 16 titles in three adult-thriller series, 15 titles in four young-adult series, and 10 stand-alone thrillers. His book sales are in the millions, in 22 languages throughout 70 countries.

Barnes & Noble will be on site to sell "The Risk Agent" for 30 percent off the retail price. Other books by Pearson also will be available.

Information: (916) 321-1128. Visit the author at at www.ridleypearson.com.

Lincoln Way in Auburn will stand in tonight for the main drag of George Lucas' 1973 classic "American Graffiti."

The Auburn Placer Performing Arts Center nonprofit will show the film at 7 and 9:30 p.m. at its restored State Theatre, 985 Lincoln Way.

Classic cars will line the street outside the theater.

Admission is $8. Patrons can buy cocktails before the movie in the theater's marquee room.

Mel's Diner in Auburn will take 20 percent off the tab of any patron showing a State Theatre receipt. (A Mel's diner is featured in the film).

For information, call (530) 885-0156 or visit LiveFromAuburn.com

Sacramento bands Deftones and Oleander will perform in their hometown Sunday, Sept. 23, as part of the all-day "Aftershock" concert at Discovery Park.

Stone Temple Pilots head the day's lineup. Bush, Chevelle, Hollywood Undead and other bands will appear as well.

Tickets are $49.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster (800) 745-3000.

Radio station and "Aftershock" concert presenter 98 Rock is conducting a presale today through its Rock Mob program. To sign up for the Rock Mob, see 98 Rock's website. Presale tickets are $44.50.

You would think, now that the UC Davis have mostly gone home for the summer, Davis would revert to its summer sleep-mode.

You would think wrong.

No less than three events will take place in this hub of Yolo County culture: a music festival, an arts festival and, of course, a bike ride.

Details:

• The Downtown Davis Art & Craft Festival will be held in the E Street Plaza Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. More details, click here.
• The Davis Music Fest will be held at various venues throughout the city from 1:30 p.m. Saturday to 1 a.m. Sunday. Tickets ($20) good for all venues can be purchased at Armadillo Music on F Street and byclicking here.
• The Livestrong Challenge bike ride begins Sunday at Central Park, covering courses 20, 65 and 100 miles in length. More than 2,000 cyclists are expected. There will be a "Livestrong Village" at Central Park open all day.    
  

Three free summer movie nights will be offered this summer in Rancho Cordova.

The first of the three is "The Sandlot," to be screened June 22 at 8:45 p.m., The screenings continue July 27 with "E.T. (The Extra Terrestrial)" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" Aug. 24.

The screenings will be shown at the Village Green Park amphitheater at 3141 Bridgeway Dr., near the intersection of Highway 50 at Zinfandel Drive.

Information: (916) 273-5704

On its way to Sonoma for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350, NASCAR's traveling road show takes a slight detour through Sacramento for a lap around the State Capitol.

On Thursday afternoon, more than 50 massive haulers - the colorful trucks that carry the race cars and equipment - will form a convoy for a parade down Capitol Mall from the Tower Bridge, starting at 1:45 p.m.

From Capitol Mall, the hauler parade will turn right on 9th Street, then left on N Street, left on 16th Street and left on L Street for one lap around Capitol Park. Then, the convoy will head back to Interstate 80 and the former Infineon Raceway.

At the corner of L and 11 streets, NASCAR and Sonoma representatives will set up displays, offer giveaways and sell tickets for the upcoming race weekend. Qualifying is on Friday with the Sprint Cup race at noon Sunday.

For more details, call (800) 870-7223 or click on www.racesonoma.com/nascar.

Larry McReynolds previews NASCAR's trip to Sonoma.

In 2010, Steven P. Unger of Elk Grove published "In the Footsteps of Dracula," a recounting of his travels in search of the infamous count (World Audience, $20, 258 pages; with 185 black-and-white photos).

After visiting a parish church cemetery in Whitby, England - a key setting in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula" - Unger says he became obsessed with "traveling to every site in England and Romania related to either the fictional Count Dracula or his real historical counterpart, Prince Vlad the Impaler."

Unger has followed that book with something completely different. "Dancing in the Streets" (Anaphora, $20, 210 pages) is partly his memoir of key events in the riotous 1960s, and partly a mystery involving Unger's alter ego in the book, Steven Strazza. That adventure begins after "a deathbed revelation that leads to the discovery of long-buried secrets of murders."

Unger will appear at 1 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 6111 Sunrise Blvd., Citrus Heights; (916) 853-1511.

In the world of literature, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" - epic poems attributed to the Greek poet Homer - endure as classics. After all, scholars think they were written in the 8th century BC.

"The Iliad" tells the story of the Trojan War. "The Odyssey" follows Greek hero Odysseus on his adventure-filled, 10-year post-war voyage home.

Families have a chance to hear Homer's words, as Fairytale Town and the Readers of Homer have teamed to present a dusk-to-dawn reading of "The Odyssey."

More than 200 people - children, military veterans, teachers and poets among them - will take turns reading aloud pre-assigned passages of the story. Three of the readers will be Sacramento poet laureate Bob Stanley, Sacramento Opera general director Rod Gideons, and Sacramento Bee community-affairs director Pam Dinsmore.

The reading will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and end around 7 a.m. Saturday. Food and beverages will be catered by the Greek restaurant Opa! Opa! Families are encouraged to bring sleeping bags and lawn chairs.

Fairytale Town, which opened in 1959, is at 3901 Land Park Drive, Sacramento. The Readers of Homer is a "literary-event company that produces audience-participation readings of 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey.'"

Advance tickets are $20 for adults, $25 day-of. The event is free for veterans, active military, students with ID, and children 12 and younger.

To register and buy tickets: www.fairytaletown.org, (916) 808-7462.

The Isleton Cajun Festival continues this weekend, featuring Zydeco and Cajun music, Bayou cuisine, vendors, carnival rides and street entertainers.

Hosted by the Isleton Chamber of Commerce, the event on Main Street will take place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, call (916) 777-4800.

Bee photo by Lezlie Sterling: Francia Trout and Terry Stoker dance at the 2011 Cajun Festival in Isleton.

It may only be the length of a single mile, but the opening next week of the Tahoe City Lakeside Trail will serve to link a larger trail system heretofore left uncompleted.

At 2 p.m. Thursday at Jake's on the Lake (780 North Lake Boulevard), a ribbon cutting will be held for the new segment of a project that has taken 11 years to complete. This segment connects the North Shore Trail, the West Shore Trail and the Truckee River Trail. Before the project was completed, pedestrians and cyclists had to traverse a busy roadway to link to other parts of the trail.

One reason for the delay, according to the Public Utilities District, is that the land was split between public and private jurisdiction.

Another ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. June 24 on the trail. More than 1,000 people will line the trail in a "human chain."

For more information on the trail, call (530) 583-3796.

Beginning in August, Sunrise Marketplace in Citrus Heights will hold a series of concerts in a pavilion being erected in the parking lot, a la the summer outdoor venue at Thunder Valley Casino Resort.

The series' double-act shows feature Baby Boomer favorites one expects during the summer concert season: Lonestar and Charlie Daniels (Aug. 10), Three Dog Night and America (Aug. 25), Kool and the Gang and the Commodores (Sept. 8).

That is, until you get to the Sept. 14 show: Blondie and Devo. Granted, Blondie and Devo are also Boomer favorites. Yet a joint show by the two New Wave forerunners at a Citrus Heights mall is unexpected.

Other stops on the Devo/Blondie "Whip It to Shreds" tour include the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and the Warfield in San Francixco.

Tickets to the Blondie/Devo show run $39.50-$82.50. They officially go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through the Sunrise Marketplace site. Sunrise Marketplace site. But there also is a presale today through the site. The password is "Blondiedevo."

The 2,500-capacity Sunrise Marketplace pavilion, which also will hold Sacramento Capitals tennis matches, fills a gap in the Sacramento concert market. Most other venues are significantly smaller or larger. This one seems like the perfect size for a Blondie/Devo sellout.

Why won't your veggies grow? What's that bug (and is it good or bad)? How do I get bigger tomatoes?

On Saturday morning, UC masters gardeners will be out in force and ready to answer all sorts of garden-related questions during Open Garden Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in Fair Oaks Park, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks. Admission is free.

From 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., the master gardeners will be demonstrating some of the finer points of summer fruit and vegetable gardening. That includes summer fruit tree pruning, T-bud grafting, using herbs as a lawn alternative and how to care for grapevines.

But their expertise makes this event a big opportunity to solve plant puzzles. Got a mystery plant or pest? Bring a sample (in a sealed plastic bag) for identification and suggested remedies if needed.

For more details, click on http://cesacramento.ucdavis.edu or call (916) 875-6913.

Singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco and Cake will be among the headliners at the 16th California WorldFest music festival, in Grass Valley.

The focus on world music and culture continues at the festival and will play out amid eight stages surrounded by the trademark ponderosa pine, black oak, and green lawns of the Nevada County Fairgrounds.

Events include children's programs, vocal, dance & instrumental workshops, yoga, and international foods. Camping sites are available.

The second annual Adventure Sports Week takes off Friday and runs through June 24. You can compete or simply enjoy the action and entertainment.

As for competitive events, there will be a bike race, runs, stand-up paddleboard races and an off-road triathlon. If you want a "tune up," experts will host clinics on mountain biking, fitness and diet, and open-water swimming.

A schedule of family-friendly entertainment will include music concerts, comedy acts, car shows, dining, easy hiking, dancing, a summer solstice festival, movies, fireworks, and winetasting at the annual Tahoe City Wine Walk (www.tahoecitywinewalk.com).

To register, and for a calendar of events, go to www.adventuresportsweek.com.

The independent bookseller Avid Reader in Davis is all about books, of course, but it's also about author appearances. Here are two:

Neil Abramson, author of "Unsaid" (Center Street, $23.99, 368 pages) will speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. A review in Parade magazine said, "Rarely has a novel captured so movingly the deep bonds between people and the animals that share their lives."

Beth McMullen of Davis, author of "Spy Mom" (Hyperion, $14.99, 624 pages), will speak at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Readers get a bonus, as the book is really two novels in one - last summer's "Original Sin" and the new "To Sin Again." Heroine Sally Sin is a San Francisco-based mom with a secret life as an international spy.

The Avid Reader is at 617 Second St., Davis; (530) 758-4040.

Lindsey Pavao, the Manteca singer who made it to the semi-finals of NBC's "The Voice," will perform at this Friday's Concert in the Park at Cesar Chavez Plaza.

The folksy, asymmetrically haired performer will join a lineup that includes singer-songwriter Reggie Ginn and DJ Shaun Slaughter and is headed by blues-rock band Relic 45.

Concerts in the Park shows start at 5 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Plaza at Ninth and J streets in Sacramento. For information see the Downtown Sacramento Partnership site

Above are a behind-the-scenes video of Pavao from "The Voice" and a video of Pavao performing earlier this year at Sacramento's Zen Sushi.

Comedian Kevin Hart has been just about everywhere over the past few months. He starred in the film "Think Like a Man" and appeared in "The Five-Year Engagement" and on television's "Modern Family."

Now he is coming to Power Balance Pavilion on Oct. 6 with his "Let Me Explain" stand-up tour.

Tickets run $59.35-$141.20 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster (800-745-3000).

PHOTO: LIVE NATION

Did you know that the Sacramento Municipal Utility District has an art gallery?

That gallery, a partnership between SMUD and the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Commission (SMAC), is fronting the work of "Open Studio Artists," from Lakeside Artists. The show is comprised of art works made from recycled plastic soda bottles.

The show runs through July 31 and an example of the kinds of exhibits and shows that are part of SMAC's Art in Public Places Program.

Think of a classical music concert and what comes to mind?

Usually it's an intimidating brew of prim concert protocol, uncomfortable concert seats and sky-high ticket prices. It's no wonder young or new audiences have not flocked to the art form.

But the presentation of classical music is changing, as evidenced by Classical Revolution, whose focus is presenting classical music - usually chamber music - in unexpected locales that are breezy affairs where a glass of wine or entree at your seat is no rarity.

"Unbreakable," a documentary by Nevada filmmaker JB Benna about the 2010 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, will be screened on June 21 at the Oylmpic Village Lodge in Squaw Valley.

The Squaw Valley Institute also is bringing in guest speakers Tim Twietmeyer, a five-time Western States champion, and veteran Andy Wilkins-Jones to talk about their experiences in the race, which will be held June 23.

Admission price is $15, $10 for Squaw Valley Institute members and race competitors.

For more information, call (530) 581-4138 or click here. 

 

The Auburn Symphony has selected Stockton Symphony artistic director Peter Jaffe as its new Music Director.

The decision bodes well for the Auburn Symphony. Mr. Jaffe is highly regarded among regional orchestra conductors for the work he has done during his 14-year tenure at Stockton.

He replaces the late Michael Goodwin who died in a car accident earlier this year. Jaffe will continue his duties with the Stockton Symphony.

River City, Iowa, will meet River City, California, when chamber choir Camerata California hosts an old-fashioned potluck supper and special-celebration singalong of the iconic Broadway hit "The Music Man."

Guests can sing from a stage or from their seats, or simply sit quietly and enjoy the show tunes. Proceeds will help fund California Camerata's "Emerging Young Artist Scholarship Program" (www.cameratacalifornia.net).

As for the menu, it will reflect the setting and era of the play: 1910 rural Iowa. After a "social hour" of hors d'oeuvre and drinks (beer, wine, soda, lemonade), guests can help themselves to an array of meat-filled and meatless casseroles (including lasagna), mac 'n' cheese, fresh-picked corn on the cob and other veggies, salads (green, fruit, potato and Jell-O) and cornbread, with apple pie for dessert - of course.

Admission is $60 a person, or $100 a couple. Music (by Impromptu) and food will meet at 5 p.m. Sunday at 5412 Gibbons Drive, Carmichael. RSVP at (916) 483-1386.

Runners tackle the annual Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run for any number of reasons -- including "because it's there" -- but many have helped raise funds for charities along the way.

One such runner is Willy Onate, who works at the Sacramento Childrens Home Family Reource Center, founded in 1867. Onate, who will be running his first Western States on June 23, said he hopes raise more than $3,000 for the organization that helps abused children and provides other family services.

He said he came up with the idea after participating in a charity climb up Mount Shasta in 2010. "It took us two tries, but we made it to the summit," Onate writes in a release. "I said to myself that if I ever got a chance to run the Western States 100, I would dedicate it to the Sacramento Children's Home Family Resource Centers."

To donate, click here.

A dinner aims to raise funds to defray the cost of the $800,000 double lung transplant needed to save the life of Stockton resident Yolunda Barquet, age 40. She suffers from a rare disorder causing the accumulation of iron in the lungs, which has led to pulmonary hypertension and other health woes.

Her sister, Selena Barquet-Peacock, who lives in Sacramento, said: "She got so medically compromised, but she's really determined. She wants to get out and do things. She wants to get better."

The National Foundation for Transplants, a nonprofit that raises funds for people who need organ transplant surgery, is helping coordinate donations.

The chicken dinner is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. June 19 at Hill Top Restaurant and Catering, 126 E. Market St. in Stockton. Tickets are $12 a person.

For tickets or for more information, call Barquet-Peacock at (916) 821-5564.

By Jing Cao

hcao@sacbee.com

The Crocker Art Museum will show Christopher Reeve decked

out in blue tights in an outdoor screening of Superman on Thursday. The film screening is the first of a

series, a new addition to the museum's Thursdays 'til 9 program.

Before the screening, starting at 7:30 p.m., A-1 Comics owner Brian Peets will hold

a discussion about the love for superheroes. There also will be an all-ages draw-along

with supplies included. The movie starts at 8:30 p.m., and seating will be provided, but

audience members can bring their own chairs and blankets.

The Crocker is at 216 O St.

Tickets are $5 for members, $6 for

college students and youth under 18, and $8 for nonmembers.

Other films in the series:

Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (Setzer Foundation Auditorium, June 28, 6:30 p.m.)

Casablanca (courtyard, July 5, 7:30 p.m. activities, 8:30 p.m. screening)

Coraline (courtyard, Aug. 2, 7:30 p.m. activities, 8:30 p.m. screening)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (courtyard, Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m. activities, 8:30 p.m. screening).

Here's something big to look forward to over the weekend: the combination of hot cars, haute couture, tasty hors d'oeuvres (and larger plates) and cool wines. It starts Saturday with the Prelude d'Elegance and ends Sunday with the Capitol Concours d'Elegance.

The Prelude is the preview event for the 18th annual Concours, both sponsored by Wells Fargo.

At the Prelude, bites and sips will be served as models show off the latest in fashions by Los Angeles designer Tiana Vega at the unveiling of her Concours d'Elegance Collection.

The fashions will reflect the era of each of the 10 cars on display. Among them will be a 1929 Pierce-Arrow, 1935 LaSalle, 1941 Lincoln, 1955 Thunderbird, 1963 Corvette, 1970 Shelby Mustang and a 1980 Ferrari Testarossa. Guests are encouraged to chat with Vega and the car owners.

The Prelude will be 6 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Shriners Hospitals for Children, 2425 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento. Tickets are $40; all proceeds will benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children-Northern California and the California Automobile Museum.

The Capitol Concours d'Elegance will feature displays of more than 100 rare and classic cars (pictured here). Three marques will be highlighted: "Cars of Hollywood," "Cars of 1962" and "Streamliners," pre-World War II autos that were ahead of their time in aerodynamic styling.

Attendees can nosh from 10 food trucks while watching artists use their brushes and paints to put images of the metal masterpieces onto canvases. Music will be courtesy of the Sacramento Youth Symphony.

The Capitol Concourse will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday along Capitol Mall between Fourth and Ninth streets in Sacramento. Tickets are $20.

For more information: (916) 933-4056, www.capitolconcours.org.

Juneteenth will be celebrated June 19, but the California State Library is getting a jump on the holiday. Juneteenth commemorates the freeing of the last slaves in America, on June 19, 1865.

The library's Juneteenth National Freedom Day Exhibit 2012 features "historical items that document the African American experience," taken from the library's collection. Among them are:

- The first California printing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
- A copy of the Thirteenth Amendment, which forbids slavery and involuntary servitude.
- Rare books on slavery and the Abolitionist Movement.
- A transcript of the 1839 Amistad Slavery Trial.
- Art by African American illustrator Grafton Tyler Brown.

The exhibit is on display now through July 31, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at 900 N St., Sacramento.

More information: www.library.ca.gov.

The Asian Community Center's Park City site -- which houses a host of community-based services for older adults -- will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a health fair on Saturday.

The fair will include a blood and bone marrow drive, tai chi and hula lessons, a variety of senior services vendors, a sake ceremony and Asian art exhibit. Bill Tom, winner of the statewide Aging Services of California volunteer services award, will make an appearance at the fair.

The services offered at ACC's Park City site include transportation, caregiver respite programs, utilities education and wellness classes.

The fair takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 7375 Park City Dr. in Sacramento. For more information, call (916) 394-6399 ext. 139.

Follow this year's Grape Escape with the Bee's Chris Macias and others via Twitter. The Grape Escape event begins at 4 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento.

Julianna Zachariou, the local teenage singer-songwriter with a sophisticated voice and sense of melody, will celebrate the release of her first CD, "Tell Tell Tell," Saturday night at with a show at Harlow's, 2708 J St., Sacramento.

The show is an all-ages event -- unusual for Harlow's. Doors open at an all-ages friendly 6:30 p.m., and the cover charge is just $7, or $10 for the cover and a copy of the new CD.

Above is a video of Zachariou performing at Downtown Plaza. She sounds pretty great, considering the outdoor mall offers a less-than-perfect acoustics. Just imagine what Zachariou can bring to an actual nightclub setting.

By Genny Howe

ghowe@sacbee.com

Bring a camp chair and listen to dance hits by Tragically White performing 6-8 p.m. Saturday as part of the Citrus Town Center Summer Night Concerts series. The lineup includes Dave Russell (country), June 16; Pinkie Rideau and Blind Resistance (blues), July 7; The Indestructibles ('80s), July 21; Shadia (soul/funk), Aug. 4; Four Barrel (classic rock), Aug. 18; The Funky Blue Devils (blues), Sept. 1; and PointDexter (rock), Sept. 15. The concerts will be held 6-8 p.m. at Citrus Town Center, Greenback Lane and Sunrise Boulevard, Citrus Heights. Admission is free. For more information, (916) 489-4600.

Thousands of Sunset magazine readers will converge this weekend on the headquarters of their favorite magazine for the annual Sunset Celebration Weekend.

Billed as "the pages of Sunset come to life," the home and garden festival features scores of demonstrations and seminars emphasizing the best of western living. Among the presenters are celebrity chef Guy Fieri, cookbook author Tom Douglas, Sacramento landscape designer Ahmed Hassan and Sunset's editors and staff.

Shop "Secondhand Sunset" for great buys on items used in magazine photo sessions. Don't miss the "Ultimate Outdoor Living Room."

Sunset magazine headquarters are located at 80 Willow Road, Menlo Park. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Admission is $16; seniors age 60 and up, $14; children age 12 and under admitted free. For parking, directions, seminar schedule and more, click on www.sunset.com and follow the links to "Celebration Weekend." Or call (800) 786-7375.