Getting a manicure to get away from the suspects

From Daily Republic // Oct. 3, 2005

By Brad Stanhope

SUISUN CITY - Lori Bush likes getting a manicure for the same reasons as many people.
Well, almost the same reasons.

"I think it relaxes me," Bush says while sitting in a chair at The Gallery. "An hour here is an hour not on the phone. I have good conversation. I'm not driving to work, dealing with suspects and all that."

Yeah. Not dealing with suspects.

Bush, who lives in Suisun City, is an Oakland cop - and a trip to the salon is a nice way to relax away from her job. She does it every other week, always with Kimmy Sheets, the popular manicurist at the shop on the Suisun City waterfront.

"I used to get my hair done here, then I got my nails done," Bush says. "I liked the way they do nails."

That was five years ago. Now she comes every other week for a manicure, once a month for a pedicure. Bush has artificial gel nails and the two-week period is how long it takes her natural nails to grow out, requiring a new application by Sheets.

Bush sits calmly while Sheets works on her nail, pulling off the old, preparing for the new.
"All I'm doing is sitting and talking," Bush says. "Kimmy does the work. I like a nice, clean look. I don't wear polish, I have a pink-and-white look."

Sheets, who was born in South Vietnam, held many jobs in her life. She was a beauty school teacher, a tailor, an accountant. But she kept coming back to doing nails - winding up at The Gallery, which she says she loves.

"I like to have time to talk with people," she says. "I have good interaction with my clients."
Her customers agree. The appointments take an hour and it's time well spent.

"It takes an hour because I like Kimmy," Bush says. "We catch up on our experiences every couple of weeks, and when I leave, (my hands are) a Picasso."

Sheets, having removed much of the old nail, uses a tiny machine to sand as Bush sits and talks. The manicures cost $35 to $40 and pedicures, done less regularly, are $45.

"I like the finished product - the whole result," Bush says. "I leave feeling better. My nails are better, they give me confidence."

That makes it well worthwhile to take a trip every other week to relax away from the police job and enjoy time with her friend and manicurist.

Reach Brad Stanhope at 427-6925 or bstanhope@dailyrepublic.net.

No Suisun lighthouse yet, but beacon set to shine

From Daily Republic // Oct. 1, 2005

By Ian Thompson

SUISUN CITY - Suisun City Hall doesn't have its lighthouse yet, but it does have the lighthouse's light.

Mayor Jim Spering and the City Council will flick the switch on the lighthouse beacon at 7:30 p.m. as part of the city's Waterfront Festival today.

City Hall's announcement plugs the event as "the flickering promise of a rejuvenated downtown waterfront" and a public test of the 150-watt lamp that will have a maximum visibility distance of 23 nautical miles once the lighthouse is built.

The city plans to erect a 52-foot-high lighthouse on the east side of Suisun City's harbor, which would be an instant landmark and focal point for the Main Street West development project, supporters said.

Suisun City is in negotiations with Main Street West Partners on a plan to jump-start the redevelopment of the Old Town area.

"This lighthouse will be the landmark that guides people to Suisun City," Spering said. "Lighthouses have a long history of guiding sailors to safe harbors. This lighthouse will guide visitors to the vibrant destination downtown will become."

The lighthouse idea was conceived last year during community forums, where members said the waterfront needed a unique and distinctive symbol to promote it that would be visible from Highway 12.

ROMA Design Group designed the lighthouse. The council hasn't decided specifically how to pay for it, but councilmembers have said developers building in the Old Town may foot the bill.

Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.

Wine, music and chocolate--Suisun Waterfront hosts annual event

From Daily Republic // Sept. 30, 2005

By Andrea Garcia

VACAVILLE - Vito Accardi, a Sicilian-born winemaker with a strong sense of family tradition, wants folks to taste a sip of his culture.

His 5-acre estate, named Accardi Vineyards, was once a vast field of weeds nestled within the Vacaville landscape. Eight years after planting imported grapes, the acreage is now a wine-producing terrain.

More importantly, it is a place where the tradition of familia remains strong, a place where the four Accardi members grow and harvest their own product and share a glass of wine after a long day's work.

But Accardi's experience in wine is also an ancestry tradition.

As a child, Accardi roamed the Sicilian vineyards belonging to his grandfather, uncles and cousins. He learned their methods, bottled and sealed it, then brought it to the States, only to be shared with the public after the winery's inception in 1998.

Years later, and with a variety of seven reds and one white from which to choose, Accardi Vineyards has become the only winery in Vacaville to sell wine as well as one that provides naturally fermented selections.

"All of our wines taste different because they have no additives," Accardi explains with an enthralling Sicilian accent. He smiles. "These don't give you headaches like others."

Keep in mind, however, sulfite-free wines have a limited shelf life.

"Because our wines have no preservatives, it can hold for about three to four years," says Cinzia Accardi, Vito Accardi's daughter. "But we still have wine from 1999 that has maintained its taste."

Undoubtedly, Accardi wines do evince a unique quality. The smell of his 2000 Barbera, for example, flaunts a smokey-like aroma with a hint of clove, nutmeg, raisin and prune. The 1999 Sangiovese wine, offering grapes imported from the Tuscan region of Italy, also emit a strong oak barrel smell filled with a plethora of dark fruit.

"When you break the skin of the grape they mostly smell the same, but when it gets ripe and sweet, that's another story. You have to know when to pick them," the winemaker says of his full-bodied wine.

If the unparalleled taste from his vineyard isn't enough for the palette, perhaps the wine-filled chocolates could please the sugar-loving soul.

Apart from a selection of wines and a facility that offers "wine dinners" - meals prepared from scratch from Accardi's Sicilian-born wife, Adela - the winery offers bite-size dark Sonoma chocolates filled with their own 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wine lovers and beyond will have the opportunity to sample Accardi wines and chocolates, as well as a plethora of other local wineries and confectioners during the "Suisun City Waterfront Festival" Saturday at the Suisun's Historic Waterfront from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"It will be an exquisite art, wine and chocolate festival with family entertainment," says Shelly Kontogiannis of Suisun's Athenian Grill, coordinator of the event and president of the Business Improvement District.

Kontogiannis, along with Debbie Kiikvee of " Do Me a Favor Wedding and Special Events," collaborated with the BID and the City of Suisun City to bring this annual event as a way for the public to enjoy local food, wine and entertainment.

"We'll have more than 50 booths in total all around the waterfront," Kiikvee says. "We have several artisans, crafters, food vendors, free boat rides by Adam's Marine, a bake-off, bongos playing all day and a wine store."

Also featured at the event will be Eagle Eye Winery, a local vineyard owned by Bill and Roxanne Wolf. The wine, grown in the fertile land of Napa, is labeled with the artwork of Roxanne Wolf, which will also be sold at the event.

Other wineries include Ledgewood Creek, Kenwood Winery, Purple Pearl Vineyards, Inc., St. Supery, PRP Wine International, Sunset Cellars and Wooden Valley. Chocolate will be supplied by Thompson Candy, Guittard Chocolate, Granny Jan's Homemade Fudge and Vintage Sweet Shop. There will also be children's activities at the North Basin by Soroptomist International.

Reach Andrea Garcia at 427-6935 or agarcia@dailyrepublic.net.

Preview

• 'Suisun City Waterfront Festival'
  10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, 2005
  Suisun's historic waterfront at Harbor Plaza and the Promenade
  Free for event; $20 a glass with nine tastings
  428-4970
• On Stage
  10 a.m. Stephen Dreyfuss
  11:30 a.m. Solano Youth Theater
  Noon Just Gotta Dance
  1 p.m. Time Bandits
  2:30 p.m. Bake-Off awards
  3 p.m. Time Bandits