Tuesday is National Night Out

CITY BLOCK PARTY SET FOR 5-8 P.M. AT SUISUN CITY'S HERITAGE PARK

We live in an ever-changing world, where yesterday is forgotten and tomorrow is unknown. We rush from one place to another, from one task to 100 others. We remember when things were simpler and community meant something. It’s time that we all slow down, take a deep breath and get back to the basics. It’s time to stop reminiscing about the good old days, and start forging ahead on a path of revitalization and rediscovery. It’s time to become active participants in our neighborhoods and our communities. It all starts with one person taking the first step, one neighborhood paving the way, one community working together for the common goal.

One night a year, everyone in the community is invited to join with friends and neighbors in block parties across Suisun City to focus on public safety awareness and basic safety prevention techniques. “This is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors and at the same time stand together against criminals who prey on the innocent,” said Chief Ed Dadisho. It’s all part of National Night Out 2008 a nationwide effort to build safer communities through the old-fashioned small town virtues of getting to know your neighbors and watching out for each other.

National Night Out is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness, generate support for and participation in local anti-crime efforts, strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships, and to send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized and united in preventing crime, and taking back our neighborhoods.

From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on August 5, the Suisun City Police Department will host a community block party at Heritage Park located on Village Drive between Merganser and Pintail drives. The event will bring together various organizations committed to promoting community unification. This extraordinary event will include a free BBQ, children’s jump houses, as well as other youth games and activities. There will be informational booths and safety demonstrations by local public safety agencies. All residents are invited to attend and join in the festivities.

In addition to the community block party, various Neighborhood Watch groups also will host localized block parties for their areas. City leaders, Firefighters and Police Officers will visit such parties throughout the evening.

Lock your doors, turn on your outside light and spend the evening with your neighbors, your friends and your public safety officials. We all have to start somewhere, let’s make this the first step together.

OktoberFest early! AugustFest this Saturday

MICROBREWS AND HOT MUSIC IN THE WATERFRONT DISTRICT

The Suisun City Waterfront District will be the place to be for microbrew tasting, great music and watching fast waterski demonstrations 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday (August 2, 2008).

We call it August Fest - a taste of the traditional OktoberFest a couple of months early! As always, admission is absolutely FREE!

So far, we've announced that Lagunitas of Petaluma, Blue Frog and Tri-Eagle Beverage (offering seven varieties) will be on-hand pouring samples. For $15, you will get 8 tastes!

Plus we have The DOC Band and the Used Blues Band playing two sets, and a performance by The Solano Youth Theater.

You aren't going to want to miss any of the fun.

Health Walks become regular event

SUMMER ONLY WALK SERIES A BIG SUCCESS

The summertime Walk to Health program has made the big leap from special event to permanent activity! Starting in the Fall Recreation Guide, which just recently came off the presses, the Walk to Health program is now listed as an ongoing feature of the City's activity calendar.

The Suisun City Recreation and Community Services Department launched the weekly Walk to Health program with the help of resident Shane Ballman and the sponsorship of NorthBay Healthcare and Main Street Yoga.

Each Sunday morning all summer, City recreation staff and volunteers arrived early at City Hall to register walkers and set them on their 2-mile course along the Promenade around the Waterfront District. The event proved so successful that Recreation staff have extended it indefinitely, though expect some weather-related modifications during the winter months.

Check here for more details.

President Thanks Suisun City Hero

SUISUN CITY FIREFIGHTER, TRAVIS MASTER SERGEANT GETS VOLUNTEER MEDAL FROM PRESIDENT BUSH

Few people are more self-effacing than firefighters who all too often do what many of us think we'd never be able to do to help someone else then shy away from special honors meant to say "thank you."

The Suisun City Council last month honored Hall and the other volunteer firefighters on his crew for their efforts to save the life of a 1-year-old girl who nearly drown in her family's wading pool.

But Gary Hall Jr. - an Air Force Master Sergeant and volunteer driver-operator for the Suisun City Fire Department - couldn't escape the Commander in Chief when he came through Travis Air Force Base last week.

Hall was there when President Bush came off Air Force One and was presented the Presidential Volunteer Service Award, for which he was nominated by his Air Force unit. 

Here's some of what Daily Republic reporter Ian Thompson wrote about the encounter:

FAIRFIELD - President Bush has recognized a Travis Air Force Base master sergeant for his work as a volunteer firefighter in Suisun City.

Master Sgt. Gary Hall met with Bush on the Travis flightline Thursday afternoon when the president stopped at Travis on his way to a fundraiser in Napa.

Bush presented Hall with the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. Hall was nominated for the award by members of his Air Force unit.

'It is an honor to get to salute the commander in chief,' Hall said Friday. 'It is also an honor to receive an honor for what I enjoy doing.'

When not on military duty, Hall spends three nights a week serving as a volunteer driver-operator with the Suisun City Fire Department.

'A lot of the guys in Suisun City volunteer as much as I do and I am in no way unique,' Hall said. 'The rest of the guys work as hard as I do. It is just fortunate that the military has a process to recognize people for their community involvement.'

For more of the Daily Republic's report, visit www.dailyrepublic.com. We'd like to thank the DR for use of the photo above, as well.

The Napa Valley Register also carried an article by Editor Bill Kisliuk on Hall's honor:

Few Napans got to see President George W. Bush on Thursday. Gary Hall shook his hand.

Hall, 43, a Vintage High School graduate, Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force and volunteer with the Suisun Fire Department, had the honor of being present when Air Force One landed at Travis Air Force Base Thursday afternoon.

Hall was tapped for the special occasion both for his work as an in-flight refuel operator for the 6th Air Refueling Squadron and for some recent heroics with Suisun’s volunteer fire department.

On June 1, Hall helped save the life of a toddler found floating in a residential pool, and on Fathers Day helped with the emergency delivery of a baby, even cutting the umbilical cord for the mother.

Then came Thursday.

The president, Hall said, “got off the aircraft. He greeted some VIPs on the base — the base commander, wing commander and some other people ... He came over and I got to salute my commander-in-chief, which very few people get to do.”

Hall told the president, “Welcome to California.”

The president, he said, thanked Hall for his service to the country, then he moved.

“He had other things to do,” said Hall, who noted the president also greeted a woman — whom Hall did not know — who like Hall appeared to have been chosen because of her community service.

Hall grew up in Napa and graduated from Vintage High School. He was a city of Napa Fire Explorer as a teen, and was a reserve firefighter for the city of Napa before entering the Air Force in 1986.

He, his wife Peggy and daughter Nicole live in Suisun. He plans to retire from the service in February.

So, what was it like to meet the president?

“It was cool,” said Hall. “Like I said, as a member of the military, he’s my commander in chief. Not many people in the military get to be personally recognized. It’s special I got to do it.”

Hall appreciated the honor, but insisted others are just as deserving. Acknowledging the other volunteers in the Suisun Fire Department, he said, “There are an awful lot of people who do the same thing I do.”

Suisun City is very proud of Gary and all of the volunteers who selflessly staff the City's fire department.  All of our residents owe you more thanks than could ever be adequately expressed.

Major Safety Improvements Get Started

SUNSET AVENUE PROJECT WILL ENHANCE POPULAR ROADWAY &

RAIL CROSSING

Crews will restripe Sunset Avenue north of Railroad Avenue on Friday (July 18) in preparation for a six-month construction project to improve traffic flow on this major entrance to Suisun City and install new safety enhancements ordered by the City Council at the railroad crossing.

Working in partnership with the City of Fairfield, the Suisun City Public Works Department will oversee the installation of new synchronized traffic signals, additional traffic lanes, center medians and other roadway improvements. At the same time, a new 36-inch water line for the City of Fairfield will be installed to improve Fairfield’s water system.

The project will require traffic to be re-routed to one side of the roadway while work is performed on the other. Significant traffic delays of up to 25 minutes are anticipated.

Starting Monday, traffic lights on Sunset Avenue at East Travis Blvd. and Railroad Avenue will be set to require three-way stops. Drivers are urged to plan ahead or use alternate routes to avoid the construction zone.

Detailed information about the project and related traffic impacts is available at www.suisun.com.

McCoy Creek Bike Trail work starts

Construction work started this week on the McCoy Creek Bicycle and Pedestrian Path, a major new neighborhood asset that will provide alternate transportation options and add to the City's safe routes program.

It's the first phase of a bike path that is planned to follow McCoy and Laurel creeks right through the middle of Suisun City.

The work being done now will connect the Central County Bikeway on the north side of Highway 12 with Pintail Drive. That will allow residents of the Pintail area to access the Central County Bikeway to get to the Sunset Avenue Shopping Area.

This phase of the project is being funded by $400,000 in grants from Caltrans and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The BAAQMD offers these types of grants to innovative projects that specifically provide opportunities for alternative modes of transportation.

Work on the new bike path is expected to wrap up in mid-September.

Click here for more detailed information about this exciting addition to Suisun City's bike trail system.

Jazz on Sundays on the Waterfront

The rock group Chicago may have made Saturday in the Park a huge hit, but it's Sunday afternoons during the summer that are really special in Suisun City.

Each Sunday at 3 p.m. come enjoy the Waterfront Jazz Series. This free concert series hosts the most diverse array of top quality jazz music by the region's best musicians. You won't want to miss this.

• July 20 – Dalt Williams Quartet (swing and straight-ahead jazz)
• July 27 – Ted Schafer’s Jelly Roll Band (Dixieland)
• Aug. 3 – Dream Door (original smooth jazz)
• Aug. 10 – Dave Rocha Jazz Group (straight-ahead modern jazz)
• Aug. 17 – Outta Nowhere (contemporary jazz)
• Aug. 24 – Second Planet (smooth jazz)
• Sept. 7 – Reality Check (jazz, Latin, funk & rock)
• Sept. 14 – Delbert Bump
• Sept. 21 – Blusion
• Sept. 28 – Jerry Macchia Band

Click here for all the information, including an interactive map showing parking area, dining suggestions, even the weather.

Come early for lunch at a great local restaurant. Then bring your low-slung chair, blankets, and dessert or snacks to Harbor Plaza for the free jazz concert at Solano and Main Streets.

When you come to the Waterfront District these days you will notice some really exciting construction projects underway.

Right off Highway 12 at Civic Center Blvd, a new Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel is under construction. This 102-room waterfront hotel is expected to open next Spring and provide a terrific place to stay overnight right in the heart the burgeoning Waterfront District. (Click here for more information.)

On Main Street at Solano Street (right across from the Harbor Plaza concert stage), 40,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space is nearing completion. Harbor Square is expected to be completed this fall with exciting new restaurants to open there in early 2009. (Click here for more information.)

Come see Waterfront District renaissance, then grab a friend to come explore the Waterfront District again for yourselves.

Saturday Movies Outdoors on the Waterfront

What could say "summer" better than a comfortable & fun Saturday Night @ The Movies?

That's exactly what you get when you bring your family to the Suisun City Waterfront District each Saturday night for the free movie series through Sept. 27 (except for Memorial Day weekend, which we leave to your family activities.)

The line-up is pure family fun, with a mix of newer hits with older favorites:

• July 19 – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (PG-13, Warner Bros., live action)
• July 26 – Surf’s Up (PG, Sony Pictures Animation)
• Aug. 2 – The Goonies (PG, Amblin Entertainment, live action)
• Aug. 9 – The Water Horse (PG, Beacon Pictures, live action, family fantasy)
• Aug. 16 – Back to the Future (PG, Amblin Entertainment, live action)
• Aug. 23 – The Golden Compass (PG-13, New Line Cinema, live action, family fantasy)
• Sept. 6 – High School Musical 2 (G, Walt Disney Pictures, live action, musical)
• Sept. 13 – Ratatouille (G, Pixar Animation Studios)
• Sept. 20 – Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (PG-13, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, live action, adventure)
• Sept. 27 – Happy Feet (PG, Kingdom Feature Productions, animation)

Come early for dinner at a great local restaurant, then stroll over to Harbor Plaza for the free movie, starting at dusk (approx. 9 p.m.) at Solano and Main Streets. Check out all the info online with an interactive map showing directions, parking and dining suggestions.

Make sure to pack the blankets and low-slung chairs because evenings can be a bit cool. Popcorn and light theater fare available for purchase.

When you come to the Waterfront District these days you will notice some really exciting construction projects underway.

Right off Highway 12 at Civic Center Blvd, a new Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel is under construction. This 102-room waterfront hotel is expected to open next Spring and provide a terrific place to stay overnight right in the heart the burgeoning Waterfront District. (Click here for more information.)

On Main Street at Solano Street (right across from the Harbor Plaza concert stage), 40,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space is nearing completion. Harbor Square is expected to be completed this fall with exciting new restaurants to open there in early 2009. (Click here for more information.)

Come see Waterfront District renaissance, then grab a friend to come explore the Waterfront District again for yourselves.

Fridays Jam in Suisun City

Friday Nights @ The Waterfront are back for 2008 bringing more music and more fun to the Suisun City Waterfront District.

The free annual concert series got underway on July 11 with an amazing performance by Evolution - A Salute to Journey. The award-winning tribute band brought the house down with all of Journey's top hits. It proved an excellent warm-up act for some die-hard Journey fans who then went to see the 'real' Journey in Tahoe over the weekend.

The weekly concerts continue with an awesome lineup of really diverse music:

• July 18 – Inner Soul (R&B, funk, old school dance band)
• July 25 – Bayou Boys Band (Cajun, Zydeco, New Orlean R&B)
• Aug. 1 – Graydaze (70s & 80s variety band)
• Aug. 8 – California Cowboys (New Country)
• Aug. 15 – Poyntlyss Sistars (Classic rock ‘n’ roll, 80s party music)
• Aug. 22 – Tom Rigney & Flambeau (Cajun, Zydeco, New Orleans fusion)

All the concert info, plus directions, parking information and suggestions for nearby restaurants are all online at www.suisun.com/events.

When you come to the Waterfront District these days you will notice some really exciting construction projects underway.

Right off Highway 12 at Civic Center Blvd, a new Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel is under construction. This 102-room waterfront hotel is expected to open next Spring and provide a terrific place to stay overnight right in the heart the burgeoning Waterfront District. (Click here for more information.)

On Main Street at Solano Street (right across from the Harbor Plaza concert stage), 40,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space is nearing completion. Harbor Square is expected to be completed this fall with exciting new restaurants to open there in early 2009. (Click here for more information.)

Suisun City Fireworks Show Will Go On!

WATERFRONT DISTRICT FIREWORKS SHOW SET FOR 9:15 P.M. FRIDAY

SUISUN CITY - The best July 4th Celebration in Solano County will be capped with the best fireworks show in the region as usual this Friday evening in Suisun City.

Due to high fire danger and the large number of fires burning across California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged residents not to buy or use "safe-and-sane" fireworks in the areas were they are legal. Some cities and counties in areas of particularly high fire danger have cancelled public displays.

However, Suisun City conducts its public display over the Waterfront District, which dramatically decreasing any risk of wildfire. Suisun City and Pyrospectaculars by Souza have an excellent fireworks safety record.

All personal fireworks displays - whether using the "safe-and-sane" type or illegal fireworks - are banned in all parts of Suisun City, and all areas of Solano County, except for Rio Vista, Fire Chief Mike O'Brien said.

All personal displays pose high risks of starting fires and causing great bodily injury, O'Brien said.

Make plans now to join us on Friday July 4 for a full day of terrific family celebration and entertainment in the Suisun City Waterfront District. Click here for the full schedule of events and details.