Glashoffs' gardens

From Daily Republic // Oct. 27, 2005

By Ian Thompson

FAIRFIELD - What used to be the Glashoff family's pear orchard is now raising a new crop - one of iron and steel.

It includes an 18-foot-high upright banjo and a six-foot windmill with blades turning in the west winds. A rotund Santa and host of abstract women of varying heights also dot the field.

“You have got to admit, they do catch your eye,” Roland Mather of Vacaville said of the sculptures next to Rockville Road. “I came down here to get some produce, but the art is a nice, unexpected addition.”

Suisun Valley sculptor Phil Glashoff hopes his newborn sculpture garden will add more luster to the valley, bringing in more people and possibly spurring an increased interest in sculpture art.

“The valley is struggling and this is all about getting a different quality of people in here,” Glashoff said.

Glashoff's idea to create a sculpture garden emerged a few years ago, not long after the family's produce stand and bakery on Rockville Road closed.

“We were trying to figure out what to do with the property,” Glashoff said.

Glashoff and his son, Chad Glashoff, who was just starting to create his own sculptures, brainstormed on ideas for the land while at the breakfast table at the family ranch.

“I already had a substantial collection of sculptures and Chad was just getting started,” the senior Glashoff said. “We figured we could put the sculptures down on Rockville Road so they could get better exposure.”

It has taken two years to get the sculpture garden started. The past month was spent moving sculptures from Glashoff's secluded home and studio further up the valley where he creates his art.

Growing a sculpture garden

The sculptures share the land with a couple dozen head of cattle, which Glashoff's brother moved on to the land from the family's pear orchard. Someone planned to establish an organic meat company in the farm buildings, but the prospective tenant dropped out, he said. The former bakery and produce stand are now for rent to any agriculture-related business.

“None of (the sculptures) are for sale because this is agriculturally zoned land, but we are doing this to help create Suisun Valley as a destination spot to bring in people to discover the wineries, produce stands and restaurants here,” Glashoff said.

It will also serve as an opportunity for local schools' art departments to experience local art “and a great place for new artists to see and get motivated,” Chad Glashoff said.

A little more than two dozen sculptures stand around the former bakery, the closed-off parking lot and the gravel road between the two pastures.

“We are planning to do additions as time goes on,” Glashoff said. “This is just the beginning.”

Glashoff's goal is to have at least 50 sculptures on display. While the lion's share will be his or his son's work, Glashoff hopes to display sculptures from artists from around the world.

The sculptor talks about putting in even larger sculptures in the pastures, possibly up to 40 feet high, much higher than the mostly human-sized pieces there now.

“I want to see what reaction (to the sculpture garden idea) we get before putting large elements into the pasture,” he said.

A unique art gallery

This would be the first such sculpture park within Solano County with the nearest other such sculpture parks found in Oakland, Palo Alto and San Francisco.

“There are no other places around here for artists to display their (larger) works,” Glashoff said. “This will be that place.”

Doreen Lum, who runs The Vegetable Patch across Rockville Road, has been watching the sculpture garden's birth for some time.

“I think its great,” Lum said. “This will bring a different kind of clientele to the area and hopefully they will venture across the street (to Lum's produce stand).”

Maria Gomez pointed out the large medal banjo near the entrance to the sculpture garden to her daughter during a stop at Lum's store.

“They are very nice and it's nice to have them out here for everyone to see them,” Gomez said.

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

Info:

The sculpture garden will be open to the general public noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 29 & 30. After that, it will be open for free docent-led tours on weekends only. To arrange an appointment, call 429-1133.

Lawler House may move again

From Daily Republic // Oct. 20, 2005

By Ian Thompson

SUISUN CITY - Suisun City's historic Lawler House could get a new owner and possibly a new home.

A local business owner recently approached the Redevelopment Agency, which owns Lawler House, asking to buy it, Councilman Sam Derting said during the council meeting Tuesday night.

The city has also pondered moving the house to another downtown location if such a move could help sell a vacant site adjacent to the old home's current location at 718 Main St.

The businessman approached the city earlier this week, Redevelopment Director Al da Silva said. He wouldn't say who it was.

“This is a lead that we are definitely pursuing at this time,” da Silva said.

Main Street West Partners, the developer the city is negotiating with to run the downtown's future redevelopment, has run into difficulty marketing the site next to the Lawler House to potential anchor businesses.

Moving the Lawler House could help Main Street West's efforts to bring in businesses.
“It had been looked at because we wanted flexibility for Main Street West,” da Silva said.

If the city does decide to move the house, it better take a close look at the costs “because it's not cheap,” Councilwoman Jane Day said.

If the house moves, it would be the second time the 149-year-old ranch-style house has been moved.

Originally built on land not far from where the Suisun City Fire Department on Pintail Avenue now stands, the house was moved two miles by barge and truck in June 1979 to its present home on Main Street.

After two years of restoration, it became home to a dozen small businesses.

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

Humphrey's return turns out to be ‘a whale tale'

From Daily Republic // Oct. 18, 2005
By Barry Eberling

SUISUN CITY - At first glance, the creature looked like it just might be a baby whale marking the 20th anniversary of Humphrey's famous adventures by swimming up Montezuma Slough in Suisun Marsh.

It swam under the murky, brown waters near the Beldon's Landing fishing area on Monday morning, darting amid the dozens of piles that hold up the arcing Montezuma Slough bridge.

Every now and then, it arched its back out of the water and showed a fin.

“The tail definitely looked like a whale,” said Sue Willey of Fairfield, who came to Beldon's Landing at 10 a.m. with her husband to enjoy the area's natural beauty.

Anthony Williams and Aaron Martin got a look at the creature as they drove over the bridge.

They drove up to Beldon's Landing to watch from shore.

“We thought it was a whale, too,” Martin said.

But the handful of onlookers were unable to get a close look. They didn't have the advantage of a camera that could freeze the image. The creature usually stayed in the middle of the wide slough and lifted a part of its body out of the water for only about a second at a time.

As things turned out, this wasn't Humphrey the Humpback Whale. Instead, the creature was Suzie the Sea Lion or Seal.

Twenty years ago to the day, Humphrey was causing a stir nationwide. People by the hundreds flocked to Solano County to see the unlikely sight of a whale swimming in rivers and sloughs 50 miles inland.

History failed to repeat itself on Monday. That became apparent to Martin and Williams when they walked onto the bridge for a closer look.

“He kind of looks like a sea lion,” Williams said.

Appearances by seals or sea lions in Montezuma Slough are not a rarity, said Ted Ceder and John Legakis as they prepared to launch a boat and go fishing.

“You don't see them every time,” Ceder said. “But you see them here and there.”

Sheriff's Deputy Ed Hipol said the creatures can especially be seen during the salmon runs. He patrols the area's waters by boat.

So Humphrey the Whale will keep his unique place in the region's history. Still, the onlookers at Beldon's Landing got to enjoy themselves.

“We had something to see,” Willey said. “Normally, we just watch the little fish jump.”

Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.