♪♪ Welcome to Sunday Stories, I'’m Michael Sanford.

Over the next hour we'’ll be sharing stories that celebrate the rich history, amazing people, and fascinating places throughout our region and beyond.

We'’ll see how students encouraged their peers to register as organ donors; Explore how kids and parents are coping with the challenges of learning and working at home together; Check-in with the owners of Two Flew the Coop to see how they'’re managing the business in uncertain times.

Discover some of Sacramento'’s little-known past with a local historian; See how art therapy helped a young woman deal with the loss of her brother; And venture to William Land Park to learn about the lotus flower.

But first Rob Stewart introduces us to Robert Paylor.

Robert shares his story of grit and determination in becoming an inspirational speaker despite a devastating injury that left him paralyzed.

Rob: Joining us now is Rob Paylor.

I'm just so happy to say that!

Robert: Yeah.

Rob: Rob, it'’s great to see you!

Robert: Sounds good to hear those words.

I'’m so excited for this.

So excited.

Rob: When we were speaking on the phone and... and talking about doing this, you shared a sentence with me that I had never heard before.

"“And my journey to overcome quadriplegia.

"” And I thought, wow, overcome quadriplegia.

That's huge.

Robert: Mhm, mhm.

Rob: How do you do it, literally?

How do you do it?

Robert: You know, it's a lot.

Um, I would put overcoming quadriplegia with climbing Mount Everest, uh, winning the Super Bowl.

I mean, maybe even over those kinds of feats.

Uh, when you get that kind of diagnosis, you know that you are witnessing the terrors of the earth.

Um, nobody anticipates something like this happening to them.

I certainly didn'’t in my life.

And hearing that kind of... that kind of prognosis, that kind of news, it chills you to your bones, um, that it's like being in a nightmare.

I mean a living nightmare and there's nothing you can do to wake up.

Nothing you can do to escape.

It's complete reality.

Rob: After your neck was broken, uh, you were pretty much told you may not even make it.

Robert: Yeah.

Rob: Let alone... let alone be able to move.

Robert: Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, I can just go through and tell this story.

Rob: Yeah, do.

Robert: Um, the day was May 6, 2017.

Uh, it was the day of the collegiate Rugby National Championship.

I was playing for Cal, which I got my Jersey right behind me that was that I put on my back that day.

It was very early on in this game that I'm competing in a maul, which is when the bigger guys in rugby, we group together kind of in a single unit and we pushed to advance this ball.

And then these opposing players, they started making these illegal moves.

Then this guy, grabs me around my neck, in a headlock, he's pinning my chin to my chest.

Someone comes in, he chops me down by the legs so, I started riding down and since he's got me pinned in this position, you know, I'm...

I'’m trying to drive and try to put my chin up, but I've got all that weight down.

So, what I just remember, I closed my eyes, grit my teeth for impact, and then my head just rolled.

My face slammed against my chest and then just crunch.

And then poof, I could not feel or move anything below my neck.

And I'm lying there, I'm screaming.

And I knew what happened.

I was completely conscious.

I saw and heard everything that was going on-- Rob: You did, you were conscious.

Robert: Everything.

Everything.

I remember it better than anything in my life.

I did some medical images, uh, X-rays, CT scans, MRIs.

My doctor comes in, he tells me the worst thing that he could have told me.

He says, "“Robert, your injury is bad, really bad.

The disc in between your C5-6 vertebrae ruptured into your spinal cord.

You also have some fracturing from your C4 to C7 vertebrae.

Essentially, what this means is you will never walk again.

You will never move your hands.

We're going to do our best so you can do something like pick up a piece of pizza and bring it to your face.

If you can do that, then you made it.

If you can do that, you beat the odds.

The phone call I made was to my religious advisor.

Um, I'm a man of faith.

My Catholic faith is very important to me and immediately I'’m reaching out to God.

And I called this man and I tell him what happens, horrific prognosis.

And he gives me the best advice I ever have heard.

It has changed my mindset from that day forward, it's carried me.

And he said, "“Robert what happened to you was terrible and throughout this journey, there's gonna be a lot of things you just can't control.

But the one thing, as long as you have breath in your lungs, the one thing you can control is your mindset.

Rob: Mmm.

Robert: So, your ambition, your optimism about this, your willingness to wake up every single day and fight is up to you.

No circumstance can take that away from you.

"” And I'll tell you what, death was sitting with me in that room and death was waiting for me to quit.

I could feel it lurking over me all the time, um, waiting for me to quit.

One of my respiratory therapists, as he was leaving the room after what was a three-hour session of just slamming on my lungs.

He just was walking out, and he looked back at me and said, "“Robert, you're in trouble.

"” And just left.

While there was these handful of naysayers, I had thousands of people all across the world reaching out to me.

We launched a GoFundMe campaign to pay for the medical expenses, which are just insane, massive.

And all of these people said, "“Robert, I believe in you, you can do this.

By you taking on your fight, I'm reconnecting with family members.

I'm getting up and I'm setting new goals in my life.

Hearing stuff like that, it made it to where breaking my neck, it wasn't even about me anymore.

Fighting in those moments to keep living, it wasn't just so I could struggle another day through this.

No, it was a commitment to them, a commitment to do something really good.

It was mutual benefit that we both got and that I could...

I could carry this cross.

And I could give them everything I had and in turn, they would give me the encouragement I needed to keep pushing forward.

Um, those people, they carried me through that first month.

My chances of walking again, they weren't zero, they were probably like 1%, Rob: Yeah, 1% Robert: Around there.

Kind of like that 1, 2% range.

But it wasn't zero.

And I just thought I'm going to give absolutely everything I have.

I'm not going to let these days pass me by and just think "“what if?

"” But with 1% you had a lot of room to doubt.

Um, and you did not.

I've seen the videos of you, Robert.

I'’ve seen the videos of how you crawled your way to standing and to walking.

Robert: Yeah.

Rob: And I have to tell you, I sat and went through all of the videos, and it is... it is astounding to me, how much strength I see in you when you may have felt at your weakest.

Robert: And I went from no motion at all to where I was twitching a finger and twitching a toe.

To where, about a year later, I mean, that was like 365 days I spent in a hospital, I walked out of the hospital doors.

Rob: Hearing you talk, I want to ask, is what happened to you when you broke your neck the worst thing that ever happened to you?

I would say, "“Absolutely not.

"” I have met so many amazing people.

I've had all of these incredible life changing experiences at only 23.

These people I've met, these experiences I've had, they're carrying me to such a greater life.

There's no way that I would be able to touch hearts and inspire souls like I can because of what happened to me.

I could not do this just playing rugby.

Breaking my neck... You think breaking your neck is all bad, right?

Well, good can possibly come out of breaking your neck.

Well, being able to share that story of inspiration, being able to have someone tell me, "“Robert you've changed my life.

"” It makes it that breaking my neck is not all bad.

It's a gift.

It's an absolute gift in my life.

And I think I had to change the circumstance for it to become a gift, I've really had to work with it.

There's so many people that have worked with me to do that, but there's no way that I could change what happened to me, um, because I'm so proud of where I am today.

Um, it's the greatest source of joy that I have in my life.

Rob: And I think you won the biggest game of them all because life is not a game.

It is... it is reality.

And when you take it off the field, you, my friend, are clearly what it's all about when it comes to being a champion forever.

Robert: I don't even know what to say other than thank you to be honest.

You know, what I do is difficult.

Um, I do have to struggle through things every single day.

There's times when I'm walking and I'm screaming with every single step.

And, um, you know, I'm wondering, I'm trying to answer those "“why"” questions.

But hearing something like that, it just, it keeps me going.

The... the benefit is... is mutual, um, it really is.

A life lived for others is a life of purpose.

And to... to hear something like that, to know that what I do is more than just gaining back mobility, but It's about touching hearts and, um, it's about changing people's lives.

Um, it makes me so appreciative for everything I have.

Rob: You have a light inside of you that burns so brightly.

And I just am so grateful to have the opportunity just to be a conduit to... to let that light... me get out of the way and just let your light shine.

Robert: That's amazing, Rob.

I...

I can't say anything other than thank you.

I hope everyone gets so much out of this.

Um, it means so much to share this story and keep that purpose going in my life.

Rob: I love the symbolism of the jersey behind you, because who knew that that would be the day that you were cut free into your life.

Robert: Mhm.

And put back together.

That's right.

Put back together stronger than ever before.

Rob: Thank you, Rob.

Robert: Absolutely.

Have a great day.

Rob: Look at you moving and walk!

Yay!

Robert: Yeah!

Rob: By yourself!

Robert: Yeah!

Peace out.

Bye-bye.

♪♪ Michael: What an extraordinary story and inspirational individual.

We wish Robert the best.

This next story from 2019 is about a contest that encourages high school students to teach their peers to register as organ donors through the use of visual arts campaigns.

Huanying: just give somebody else life.

That's the best that you can as a human.

And I think saving life by just signing up is very, very rewarding.

So I've become committed to be an organ donor as well.

Dr. Richard V. Perez: The young people, the students, would be the best ambassadors to carry the wonderful message of organ donation.

I became interested in transplantation partly because my father had a heart transplant.

It was transformative for him and it opened my eyes into what transplantation could do.

Deanna Santana: In the United States, it's 114,000 people waiting for a lifesaving transplant.

In California, it's almost 22,000 people.

In our own Sacramento region, it's about 2,000 people that are waiting for a lifesaving transplant.

One organ donor can help save up to eight lives.

One tissue donor can help transform the lives of up to 75 people.

That's what we're trying to communicate to people is if your family is struck with somebody with end stage organ failure, would you want somebody to save their lives?

Dr. Richard V. Perez: It's a challenge to educate the public into the benefits of transplantation.

There were a couple places in the country that had started poster contests that focused on high school students, so we expanded it not only as a poster contest, but also incorporating videos and things like that.

If you educate the high school students, then they'll bring the conversation back to their homes and talk with their families.

You can harness all of their creative talents and imaginations to bring forth a very positive message about what organ donation can do.

Deanna Santana: When Dr. Perez reached out to us and said he had this idea, I was super excited.

It was a great opportunity to get the kids to educate each other about donation.

We've made presentations in more high schools than ever before.

We've been able to go into more classrooms and explain what the registry means.

Gavin: I first heard about the contest when the Sierra Donor Services came to our classroom, did a presentation and they brought this competition, and I thought that that was such a easy decision for me, that I thought I could incorporate that into a video, or I could try to persuade other people as well.

I never thought it could effect me, but it did.

Huanying: When I was in my freshman year, a lady came to our school and had a presentation about organ donation, so I decided to sign up as a donor and as a participant.

Dr. Richard V. Perez: We incorporated different languages into the contest, so now we have English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and there's really no limit.

Deanna Santana: The ripple effect of this project is these children that speak many different languages and live in households that have many generations of different ethnicities living with them, they're able to go home and talk about their project with their family.

Gavin: You know, I think is kind of in our family of trying to give back whenever you can, and so and this was kind of a easy decision.

Dr. Richard V. Perez: You can just see the thought and the creativity that went into each of these and you know that that message is reaching that family, and the friends and relatives.

Deanna Santana: And they're so glad they got involved because they're able to make a difference.

Huanying: I can just feel so rewarded because they do it because of us and because we are educating them, we are actually making a change.

Dr. Richard V. Perez: It's accomplishing the purpose of reaching as many people as possible with the message of organ donation transplantation so that part has been a tremendous success.

It's really a miracle and an organ donor can be part of that miracle happening for these desperate people thatare on the waiting list.

♪♪ Michael: February 14th is National Donor Day, but you can register to be an organ donor any day.

Next, we turn to a story about the challenges faced by families with students learning while parents are working... all at home.

Producer Christina Salerno also gets some advice from California'’s Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris on how kids and parents can cope with stress during the pandemic.

(Clapping) Isla: Oliva, this is going to be my song!

Christina: Parents of children in elementary school tell us - it'’s really challenging to balance their kids'’ schoolwork, while often trying to work themselves.

Family: Hello Erik and Carley Castellanos both work from home and have two children in the Natomas Unified School District, just outside Sacramento.

Isla is a first grader and Nathan is in fourth grade.

Christina: What is it like being a parent who's trying to homeschool, and you're both working from home right now.

Carley: Hard.

Yeah.

Very hard.

Erik: The difference is that there's, um, there's not a clear distinction any longer of like work and home.

It's, they're totally muddled together.

And I think maybe for the first time since this began, we took Saturday as a day of being like, no screen, no work.

Um, let's just shut it down and have a day where we're not.

Carley: We'’re not working, Erik: we're not a fractured, right.

I would say the best way that I've been able to, what word I've been able to use is, um, fractured constantly.

Christina: The Castellanos praised the Natomas school district for getting students online quickly.

Both kids have schoolwork that keeps them busy from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day.

But that doesn'’t mean there haven'’t been adjustments for them, either.

Christina: How is your online school going?

How do you feel like everything is going for you right now?

Nathan: It'’s for me, it's going okay.

Um.

I wouldn't say it's the best time I had doing school.

Actually, it's definitely not.

It's pretty simple.

Christina: What about you Isla?

How is, how's everything going with you?

Isla: It's good, but I don't like it.

And everything's really easy.

Christina: What don't you like about it?

What's, what's been a little bit hard?

Isla: Like getting onto Zoom and doing everything with the computer.

Christina: The kids went from having very limited screen time... .

to using it as their primary method for school and to talk to their friends.

The family focuses on the positive... like the trampoline that'’s come inside the house, and the closer bond between siblings.

But there is no denying that this is not normal life.

Carley: As a therapist, you know, I see like their anxiety is much higher right now than I've ever experienced.

Um, you know, having a hard time going to sleep, or waking up in the middle of the night, having nightmares.

Where our kids are, I would say both extremely well adjusted, you know, like they're happy kids.

And so that stuff is, even though like we try to be really careful of what we talk about and answer at their developmental level and everything, but they still are hearing things.

Christina: We heard from many teachers and parents who say their number one focus right now is the social and emotional health of students.

We asked California'’s Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, about what we should all keep in mind during these times of high stress and anxiety.

Nadine Burke Harris: The thing that I tell parents is that now's a really good time for us to give ourselves a break.

And in fact, giving ourselves a break isn't just good for us.

It's good for our kids as well, because the most important ingredient for a healthy child is a healthy parent.

Christina: How is stress impacting learning right now?

And I mean I guess, how much, should we realistically be expecting our kids to be learning when they're kind of in this state of stress?

Nadine: So, um, some of the things that we're seeing is that the impact of stress hormones have a outsized effect on our ability to learn, our ability to focus, pay attention, task shift, right?

Even I think as adults, we're noticing that it's a little bit hard, harder to shift from one task to the next.

And be as productive and focused as we would like to be.

And um, that's real.

That's the effect of stress hormones on the brain.

And, um, we want to recognize that for kids, it's going to be, um, that they're going to be feeling that and it's going to be, uh, perhaps more challenging for them to have the same level of focus and, uh, educational success.

So a couple of the pieces that we want to do are, number one supporting, so recognizing this and supporting our kids as they're trying to do distance learning.

Right?

Uh, um, supporting them with lots of encouragement and reinforcement, but then also making sure that we're building in times during the day for kids to play.

Right?

Because kids process stress through play.

And there's an opportunity for us to, um, be playful with what's going on right now.

Right.

And figure out, uh, some of our, uh, strategies get a little silly with it, um, around how we as a family can cope with the, the new normal, which is, you know, being at home and, and dealing with this pandemic.

Christina: Dr. Burke Harris recommends that people read the Surgeon General'’s stress-busting playbook at covid19.ca.gov.

There you'’ll find tips like making sure to exercise at least 60 minutes a day...

Practicing mindfulness or meditation or prayer... .

And tips for healthy eating and sleeping.

♪♪ Michael: More of the interview with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris can be seen in the Sunday Stories "“Extras"” section at kvie.org/SundayStories Our next story is also about coping.

The use of art therapy at UC Davis Children'’s Hospital to help young people cope with and heal from the loss of a loved one.

♪♪ Katie Watanabe: Tommy was my younger brother, and I was older, but he was much bigger.

He was 6'4".

We were always very close as siblings.

♪♪ All the time I just want to shout you know "I had a brother.

His name was Tommy.

He was great for all these reasons."

But I can't really do that and so this group was a really good place to umm kind of decompress those feelings and create art that represented it.

♪♪ Katie Lorain: Art therapy is about the process of making artwork to be a mirror image to be a projection.

♪♪ It's all about exploring the materials and having the paint or the clay or whatever the medium it is adapted to fit your needs in that moment.

Katie Watanabe: It's just a really good way for me to, without consciously thinking about it, just translate these things that I've been feeling that have made me feel empty or miserable or just negative have turned into something that I can look at.

And then create something that matures into just a different type of feeling.

Into one that's not as raw.

Katie Lorain: There's not a lot of words to describe those traumatic, painful memories and emotions so we use a non-verbal subconscious medium to externalize those emotions and get them out into the open.

♪♪ Katie Watanabe: I filled in one of the eye sockets with black and just seeing the visuals of the black paint slipping down the cheek, it just was very powerful for me because often times I felt too numb to even cry, you know, even when I was alone, and so seeing this mask that I made to represent myself be allowed to express that was very powerful.

Katie Lorain: Through artwork you can see your progress through grief and so that's a physical reminder of I am going through change and it is getting better.

♪♪ ♪♪ Michael: The guys and their feathered friends in our next story might seem familiar.

We profiled Greg, Brian, and their chickens in 2019.

Producer Tyler Bastine checks-in with the owners of Two Flew the Coop to see how their backyard chicken business has been doing during the pandemic.

Tyler: We have Brian Fikes and Greg Howes joining us right now.

Welcome gentlemen.

Brian: Hello Tyler: So you guys own Two Flew the Coop in Sacramento,.

Um, for those who aren'’t familiar with your business, just briefly describe what is Two Flew the Coop?

Greg Howes: So Two Flew the Coop.

Our kind of tagline is everything for backyard chickens.

We retail artisan coops.

We also sell Modesto milling, a premium organic feed.

And then we offer education through soil born farms and the natural foods co-op.

And then we do private consultations and things for people as well.

Tyler: And you know something worth mentioning, you guys are a very small business.

Greg Howes: Yeah, I always say, you know, it'’s not really even a mom and pop business or a pop, but it'’s more of a mom and pa'’!.

That'’s how small it is.

(laughs) Brian Fikes: It is a small time operation.

Tyler: The last time we profiled your business it was about a year ago today, 2019 here we a year later in 2020 there were a couple new developments personally Brian you were working at the state?

Brian: Yes, March 9th this year was my last day at work and the 10th was my first day of retirement.

And I think on the 17th, the Governor did his order to stay at home got out just before all the madness.

Greg: He had good timing as they say (laughs) Brian: I think it was perfect timing.

Tyler: Now Brian, since you retired, have you been a little more involved with the business?

Brian: it'’s still been about the same amount of work.

Instead of being at the state Monday through Friday 8-5, those hours are now freed up.

Greg: And he'’s around here an awful lot.

(laughs) Brian: Yeah we are able to go outside.

Greg: Distance can be forgiving.

(laughs) Tyler: So how, how were things going into 2020?

Greg: You know it was kind of business as usual for us.

Um, everything looked to be, you know, normal at that point before, you know, everything kind of hit and the rug was pulled out from all of us.

It was looking to be, you know, we always look forward to spring.

It'’s kind of the time of year when baby chicks come for sale at the feed stores and really the season for chickens, although we keep them all year it'’s really, the season gets started in that it kind of early spring.

Tyler: You you were about to do a Northern California tour on educating people.

Greg: We had, um, kind of contracted with the mill that we sell feed for - Modesto milling out of Modesto.

Um, to do a series of kind of like chick 101s at feed stores throughout Northern California and then, you know, again, everything just hit and everyone had to cancel um, so hopefully we can offer that next year.

Tyler: Yeah.

Yeah.

And, and so, so I imagined there was probably an increase in business because all of a sudden everybody'’s, you know, stuck at home and I'’m sure there was.

An in, uh, an influx in, in, in raising backyard chickens during this quarantine.

Greg: Um, you know, it became, the people were buying chickens like they were toilet paper, pasta and hand sanitizer.

(laughs) You know, we kind of, it'’s sort of a joke, but it was it'’s the truth.

(laughs) Um, I did speak with, um, Connie out at Bradshaw feed.

Who'’s the manager out there.

They'’re probably the largest source for baby chicks in the Sacramento area.

And she said It was like they were giving away gold for a few months there because people were coming in and they would have lines out the door to get baby chicks.

Tyler: Are you serious?

Jeez.

Greg: This is unprecedented.

You know, it'’s normally, um, active in the spring time for people to get chicks and it was crazy this year.

Tyler: So wait, was there a chicken shortage?

Greg: There was!

There was absolutely, I mean, again, people were waiting sometimes in line an hour or two before the feed store is open that'’s how crazy it was.

It was like getting Rolling Stone tickets.

Tyler: (laughs) Brian: But when there was the scare with the food insecurity, people not finding the eggs at the supermarket or whatever.

So they were like, '‘Oh, we'’re going to buy baby chicks.

That'’ll be something the whole family can do.

Greg: Yeah, that really is what spurred, pop, you know, the big impetus to buy baby chicks was the food insecurity.

Brian: Remember everybody started baking right before the shut down?

And then there were no eggs at the store.

No yeast.

So people probably thought, I'’ll have my own eggs.

I'’ll get some chickens.

Greg: Of course it takes about six months.

Brian: It takes about six months for the eggs to be there.

Greg: For baby chick to, uh, to maturity about six months.

But yeah.

Tyler: But that had to be kind of concerning for you guys though, right?

Because it'’s an impulse buy almost.

Greg: You remember Tyler from our class, we always say it should never be an impulse buy and I think in many cases, probably was we also spoke with the vet recently, too.

And she was, um, she was really alarmed because she was getting a lot of calls from people that had no idea what they were doing.

So they were on the front line and then things kind of trickled and filtered to us for feed.

And then also for coops too.

So we did see an increase.

Tyler: Has the business been affected any other way?

Brian: Initially we were concerned about traveling.

Greg: We were concerned when we first started traveling, would we be able to continue doing what we'’re doing?

But the fact is that considered essential because it'’s to feed people'’s livestock.

So we were able to continue, you know, what we were doing because we were concerned about picking up our feed orders in Modesto and crossing county lines and whatnot, but we were, you know, we were okay.

Tyler: So I mean, for you guys not much as has, um, changed really and how you'’re operating, Right?

Brian: Well it did affect the coop sales too, because we'’ve had a good relationship with two of the local nurseries.

And with the shutdown at the nurseries, it was hard to have a coop presence over there.

Greg: Yeah, that'’s true.

We really have sold most mostly from, from, from our property here.

You know, we'’ve always, um, we, we call it being very '‘Mayberry-esk'’ and old fashion.

Greg: Good morning Russ.

I'’ve got feed for you.

Greg: Folks can kind of come by, you know, at their, at their will, as long as they let us know when they'’re, when they want to come by and pick up feed and we can leave it out for them.

And they just drop the payment in our, in our mailbox.

So this way we can be totally, you know, contact free if folks want to be.

Certainly there are some folks that need help when they need it loaded in their trunk.

We'’re willing to do that, but we wear a mask and whatnot.

So actually converting to sort of converting to COVID protocols.

We were kind of doing it, offering some of that anyways.

So it wasn'’t a big sort of change of operations for us.

And.

.

.

I'’m sorry, I think the phone'’s going off, but we'’ll see if we can get rid of that.

Tyler: Speaking of, I love your voicemail.

Greg: Well that'’s because you haven'’t heard it like 3000 times.

Many of our friends are pretty tired of it.

(laughs) Tyler: Well how are the chickens doing?

How are the ladies?

Greg: The ladies are doing well they inquired about you.

Like I said, they weren'’t, they were curious as to how they could possibly untie your tennis shoes virtually, um, but they'’re doing well.

Tyler: Have the chicken'’s been helping you stress wise?

Emotionally I guess.

Greg: That'’s really a great question.

And it'’s something, yes for us personally.

But I am hearing that from, you know, when people will come and pick up feed, they'’re like, thank goodness you know, I have, I have my chickens.

They have been a wonderful diversion during this.

So yes.

They really have helped in their own, in their own way.

Brian: Someone has a lot to say this morning.

Greg: She does.

Tyler: So what'’s next for you guys?

Greg: Well we'’re planning on shutting down next week and going into the South of France.

(laughs) I wish that were true.

(laughs) Brian: We'’ve been doing day to day, like everyone else.

And hopefully if they get a vaccine next year, we'’ll be able to do the seminar circuit again.

Cause we really enjoyed the educational outreach part of our business.

Greg: Yeah, it really is.

What'’s nice about the classes and seminars and lectures and things is that these are people that are brand new or just starting on their, on their backyard, poultry, adventure.

And it'’s so exciting and new for them.

And of course we love poultry and always will, but if rekindles that spark it outside, say right, it'’s, it'’s really fulfilling that way.

Brian: And I do talk too, but as you notice, he talk nonstop without taking a breath Tyler: Before we wrap it up real quick, is there anything that you would like to mention that maybe I didn'’t touch on?

Greg: Because we are not offering any, you know, scheduled and, um, formal classes or lectures right now, people are more than welcome to call us.

Um, you know, if they need some advice and information, those that are new, we'’re glad to help in any way that we can.

[phone rings] Hi you'’ve reached the home of Two Flew the Coop.

Thanks so much for calling.

Bye now.

[Clucking] ♪♪ Michael: It'’s always fun catching up with Greg and Brian.

We wish them continued success.

In our next story, host Scott Syphax delves into Sacramento'’s unknown history with local historian and author William Burg, who shares some little-known facts about Sacramento'’s past.

William, what is the importance of us knowing our history?

William: Well, the main draws of history is the inspiration that you can get from that.

But not everybody is always inspired by history.

Uh, we learn history to... for-— the stereotype is to avoid making the mistakes in the past and to inform future decisions.

But very often, uh, a lot of people look at the... the icons that we hold up as examples of great civic leaders of the past, and they don't see someone who looks like them or thinks like them.

And for others, they may see someone who looks like them and thinks like them, but they don't see icons held up and people of the past that don't look like them, or don't think like them.

And in both cases, it disconnects us from our past.

And so, it becomes harder to learn, harder to, uh, make that connection to the history of our communities, the history of people who don't look like us.

And the... the values of our society, um, almost get lost because the lessons that were learned through hard experience, through blood, through labor, they don't get passed along without that sense of history.

Whether it's a physical place, like a historic building or the story of a person from our past.

Uh, when a building's demolished it's... it's gone.

It's easy to forget.

If a person is no longer there and their story doesn't hold then their story can vanish.

So that's the risk we have with not learning our history.

And, uh, that's the kind of history that I try to focus on, is the untold stories.

Scott: When-—when you'’re sharing, uh, Sacramento's history with others, what inspires you from their reactions when they learn about things that might be kind of surprising to them?

William: That's... that's really the part of it, is the challenge of the unknown.

If you're a gold miner, you want to mine gold where no one else has mined it, because you're more likely to find it there.

It may not be there, but at least no one else has looked and... and gone there before you.

So, it's the opportunity to map out new roads.

And then very often making connections with people who don't think of history as... as something interesting or something engaging.

People talk about history the way they talk about broccoli.

They know it's good for you, but they haven't had any lately.

But how do you make broccoli interesting?

A little cheese sauce, a little bacon makes it tasty.

So, making history tasty, making something that tastes good, that people enjoy, and they want to share it.

That's really fun.

Scott: What story, uh, dealing with the history of Sacramento, tends to be the most tasty to the audiences that you speak to?

William: Well, the... the new flavor that I've kind of become obsessed with over the past decade or so are the stories of the West End.

And that's the neighborhood that Sacramento doesn't have anymore.

Roughly from about 9th Street on Capitol Avenue to the river.

That part of the city where there's nothing older than about 1950, where we used to have a neighborhood of extraordinary diversity and vitality.

It was the heart of Sacramento'’s African American neighborhood.

It's Japantown.

Uh, the Latino community was centered there.

The Southern end of our Chinatown and other communities of color, all in one place, along with a built environment that a lot of it dated back to the Gold Rush.

Scott: And in... in that West End neighborhood, uh, what... what aspect of it do-— would people be most surprised to learn about, um, that it was known for during the time that it was thriving?

William: Well, it was known for a... for a lot of things.

For the political activism and community spirit of those communities of color.

Of the businesses that they engendered, including things like restaurants, live entertainment, music, art, and other community institutions that they built, uh, often with... with a lot of community resistance from the rest of the city.

Scott: And all of that was, uh... uh, wiped away because of what?

William: Because of redevelopment.

And then 1950s federal funds became available to remove large portions of American cities.

Sacramento became, in a lot of cases, a test market for some new mechanisms to finance redevelopment, uh, called, one was called Tax Increment Financing.

It became known as the Sacramento model and because Sacramento is, uh, a city of relatively moderate size, unlike really large cities, we were able to demolish that neighborhood so completely that in a lot of ways it was erased from our cultural memory.

Scott: Wow.

So... so tell us about some of the, um, leading institutions that were within this neighborhood and what they provided that really speaks to how lively and vibrant it was.

William: Well, in the case of Sacramento's African American community, which dates back to the Gold Rush, there were churches like St. Andrews AME and-— Scott: That one is still around.

William: That'’re-— yes, that'’re are still around.

Or, uh, Salone Baptist Church, which is still around, Shiloh Baptist Church.

And they fought for the right of Africa-— African Americans to... to be able to testify in court, which wasn't allowed the 1850s.

This was before the end of slavery in the United States.

And it was the... the white people of California essentially were divided into two camps.

One that felt that California should be a slave state.

And one that felt that it should be whites only.

That's put the communities of color in California in a pretty uncomfortable position.

But they decided rather than to give in, but to fight.

And so that political legacy, was really the foundation of Sacramento.

And then 50 years later, the term, the West End came from a group called the West End Club, which was known by a few different names.

Uh, was the... the Eureka Club and uh, a few other names, for an organization was intended as an African American parallel to The Sutter Club as, uh... uh, a community organization-— Scott: Really?

William: For... for... for political organizing, for social advancement, and also for recreation, but then for business.

And that's what, so far as I know is the institution that gave the neighborhood its name.

Prior to that, it was called the Tenderloin.

Um, or the Japanese American community, which also grew, uh, more in the late 19th century, as immigrants started coming in from Japan.

Sacramento about 1910, 1920, it wasn't the largest Japantown in the United States, but in terms of percentages of population, we were one of the most Japanese cities in the United States.

And so, they brought their civic institutions, churches, and social organizations.

And their cultural institutions, sushi and saké.

And these were all present in Sacramento during this era mixed with what was available in the United States to create something new, a Japanese American community.

Scott: What... what part of Sacramento's founding in its early days has by and large been forgotten, uh, by all of us that have lived here, uh, and enjoy the city as it is today?

William: Sometimes it wasn't necessarily forgotten by those of us who have lived here, but we never learned it in the first place.

And so that the history of... of our Chinatown, another legacy of the Gold Rush, and their... their often their alliances with the African American community for that right of testimony and... and to overcome other social barriers.

Uh, they became, uh, they were different neighborhoods physically parallel to each other located in the same neighborhood, but often living separate lives, but they all were part of this greater whole of the West End.

Which if, from today's perspective, we look at this neighborhood and we'd see a walkable, dense, mixed-use neighborhood with good transit access and accessibility to thousands of thousands of jobs, and a wonderfully culturally diverse neighborhood with many entertainment options.

But in the early 20th century, they called it blight.

Scott: What's interesting is that if this was such a vibrant neighborhood and arts and culture and entertainment were all available there, uh, all of that was destroyed by redevelopment.

And we've invested hundreds of millions of dollars, essentially in things like the Golden 1 Center and the improvements to our museums and things like that, to bring all that back.

And so, uh, it-— it's almost like a cycle that, uh, has repeated itself.

William: It, uh, hist-— There's a saying that history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

So, but there are common themes.

There were efforts to try to clean up the West End as early as the early 1900s, because it was already a fairly notorious neighborhood.

And a lot of it had its origins, quite frankly, in racism, and in Sacramento trying to reclaim its civic identity.

We had been the second largest city on the West Coast, and we saw other cities supersede Sacramento for that position.

We fell farther and farther behind.

Scott: Wait a minute.

I...

I...

I... have to jump in.

Sacramento was the second largest city on the West Coast?

William: From... from really the beginnings of our days as a state, up until the mid-1870s around 1880.

That's when Los Angeles, because they had a land boom and two transcontinental railroads in a rate war with each other, they superseded us.

And then that same railroad came to Oakland and Oakland got bigger than us.

And then Portland and Seattle grew bigger than us and we felt ourselves shrinking, and Sacramento civic leaders said, "“Well... well, what's the problem here?

And how do we solve it?

"” Scott: Well, you know, that's interesting because the Big Four all used to live here.

Uh, Huntington, Crocker, Stanford, um, and I-— I'm forgetting the last one... William: Mark Hopkins.

Scott: Mark Hopkins.

They all, uh, at one point had resided in Sacramento and then they migrated away to other places.

What happened to Sacramento being such a... a major-— at least for that era, metropolis?

And, uh, did we kind of lose our mojo?

William: Not so much the mojo as the... the number one was the gravity of San Francisco.

That's where the Big Four moved.

That was traditionally the pattern.

You moved to Sacramento, made your money, and then moved to San Francisco and you built your great civic ed-—edifices there.

And maybe your house in Sacramento became an orphanage or something.

And so, uh, except for, uh, E.B.

Crocker who founded the Crocker Museum.

Uh, so we didn't necessarily lose our mojo, as we just got bounced out of line.

Um, part of it was weather, uh, flooding, access to a port, or to having multiple railroads.

It just kind of worked out that way.

But the solution Sacramento's leaders came up with was instead they would, uh, deny that we were a city.

And the mythology of Sacramento as a quiet, bucolic farm town, which we never were, began to supplant the image of Sacramento as a bustling city.

And that's when some cases, the... the deification of John Sutter as the original farmer who be-— benevolently came to Sacramento and taught the Nisenan how to farm.

But I...

I hope you don't... yeah.

I'm being very sarcastic here... [laughs] But-— Scott: It... it.... it's okay.

But I...

I...

I, you said something that really jumped out at me, which is that Sacramento was never a farm town.

We label ourselves today as the Farm-to-Fork capital of the world.

Uh, I...

I'm trying to figure out the basis on... on how you make that statement and how you connect that up to all of our trumpeting about our Farm-to-Fork history.

William: We've got plenty of forks, but not lot a lot of farms.

Every city is surrounded by farms... or every city was surrounded by farms and other resources, areas.

In fact, it's a major... it's a major theme in urban history, is connecting resource flows from great cities like Chicago to the primate city.

And this is where that food gets turned into something that you can ship.

And we also built the systems that you shipped those goods on.

We built the first transcontinental railroad principally to ship the product in the valley, but it wouldn't have been shippable if you couldn't bring it to Sacramento, which had that large diverse population.

We built railroads, we built railroad locomotives.

And we canned and bottled and brewed and stored and froze all of the... the goods of the valley to turn them into something else.

That transformation is a power that cities have that we still have.

But, uh, in a lot of cases, because we have the civic mental image of the bucolic farm towns still, we focus on the Farm-to-Fork instead of the... the forks themselves.

Instead of the people who were working the farms to the people who are transforming.

Scott: So, you... so you consider the... the whole Farm-to-Fork kind of, uh, mantra a bit of a mythology?

William: It's definitely mythology.

And mythology-— myths can be useful.

Myths can be helpful.

And what I'm trying to do is essentially introduce other myths.

And the-— and myths, whether they're true or not, are less important than what's the lesson that they deliver.

Do they educate?

And is that education real?

And the... the farm myth has its hazards and it has its, um, its aspects, uh, regarding race that, uh, have been really poisonous in some ways to our city.

And again, because we're in a... a 21st century city where things like having a diverse population, having a lively and active downtown are desirable.

They were very much not half a century ago.

They were very much not during the redevelopment era.

The... the word city was a four-letter word.

♪♪ Michael: Who knew "“city"” was considered a 4-letter word!?

More of the interview with William Burg can be seen in the Sunday Stories "“Excerpts from"” section at kvie.org/SundayStories And finally, today, Rob Stewart takes us to the Peace Pond in Sacramento'’s William Land Park to meet Master Gardener Daisy Mah.

Daisy introduces us to the lotus flower blossoms and shares the story of how it'’s become one of the largest collections in North America.

♪♪ Rob: It is so good to see you again, Daisy.

Daisy: Hey, same here.

Rob: Look at this.

Daisy: Oh.

[laughs] Rob: I mean, this is spectacular.

Daisy: Yeah.

It's something you won't see anywhere else but Asia.

Rob: Tell me exactly what we are looking at.

These are lotus flowers, but what all are we seeing?

Daisy: Well, this is a lotus plant that used to live in a planter about maybe 15 years ago that was protected by case so that, um, the ducks wouldn't consume it.

Cause every part of this plant is edible.

Rob: The leaves, the seed pods... Daisy: The roots.

And, uh, it's an ancient plant from, uh, Asia.

Rob: They're stunning.

They're exquisite.

You may have noticed that Daisy said a lotus plant.

Daisy: [laughs] Rob: You are looking at the person who planted this.

You're responsible for this.

I mean, I just thank you.

It's spectacular.

Daisy: Uh, it's become, uh, a place where, um, people are drawn to, you know.

Families come and, uh, elder, uh, older people who normally don't come to the park, come to see the lotus.

Rob: We've seen many out here today.

Daisy: Yeah.

Yeah.

Rob: This started with one plant.

Daisy: Slowly but surely.

It... it, you know, it started in one section and then it just kept going and going.

But that's the nature of water plants.

They, they're unstoppable.

As long as they have water.

Rob: You know, I have to say that that says a lot about the power of one and what one thing can do.

One plant.

Daisy: Yes.

Rob: One thought one action.

Um, one step in the right or wrong direction can explode like this.

Daisy: Yes.

Rob: And you mentioned that many people are calling this peace pod.

Daisy: Yes.

Mhm.

Rob: It would be so nice for peace to spread that way.

What do you think about the name?

Peace pond?

Daisy: Oh, I think that'’s a beautiful name.

It... it, for years, it was called the duck pond, which, you know, it's sort of more, um, generic.

And... but peace is something we, I think we are all striving for, or we would hope for right now during these unsettling times.

Rob: Tell me about the actual, the flower.

How long does it last?

Daisy: The actual flower doesn't last that terribly long, but it starts, the plant starts blooming in May.

It likes the warm temperatures of Sacramento and it will bloom into October, which is amazing that it has that long, beautiful bloom period.

Part of my reason for being a gardener was to make the world more beautiful.

I was seeing how, uh, the immigrants from Southeast Asia were, um, struggling with, uh, adapting to their new world.

And I thought, you know, I want to plant something that will speak to them.

And... and I think I was successful.

Rob: This is the best year-— Daisy: Yes.

Rob: That the lotus have had since planting.

Planted around 2005.

We're in 2020 and look...

I have to tell you something, the person you're taking a picture of planted all of these.

I know!

[laughter] I just have to, I have to say that every time someone stops to take a picture.

I'm like, it's... she did this!

Daisy: I just planted one though.

Rob: And they all did this.

Rob: See it's... it's every... people just love knowing that.

Daisy: Yeah, everyone can connect to it.

Visitor: I'm coming from Visalia.

And just come here to see the lotus flowers.

It reminds me of China because in China we have this flower in the Southern China.

Daisy: Yeah.

Yeah.

Visitor: No, it's 3 hours.

3 hours, 17 minutes.

Daisy: Wow.

Visitor: Yes Daisy: In Asia this has so much symbolism.

It, uh, it's a symbol of reincarnation and purity.

And what the, what I keep hearing or reading is that it emerges from the muck and the mud, pure and beautiful.

And that's kind of what people should strive for, even though they might have some negative, you know, flaws, um, they can always become better.

Rob: We all get down in the mud.

Daisy: [laughs] We... we can.

Rob: But we can also do this.

Daisy: Yes.

Emerge beautiful.

Rob: What does the Lotus mean to you personally?

Daisy: It was kind of a present for me to the community to... to grow it.

And there aren't many, like I said, there aren't many places where you would see lotus.

And so, it was like, I need to create more beauty.

So, that I think, that helps our society.

Rob: I would like to ask you, if you could speak for the lotus flower, what would you say?

Daisy: To me, it connects us kind of to the way past in that we could have something that is so ancient and primordial living here and thriving.

So that gives me a little bit of hope that, you know, our world hasn't been so inhospitable that we can, we can't grow something so ancient.

Rob: And beautiful.

Daisy: And beautiful.

Rob: You know, it's... it's astounding to me that with all of the bad and good things that have happened in this world, the beauty is what will outlast us.

And the lotus is a great example of that.

Daisy: Yeah.

Well, I've heard that people come from out of state to, um, to be near the lotus.

Rob: Thank you, Daisy.

Daisy: It's my pleasure.

Rob: I'’m forever grateful for you.

Daisy: Yeah.

Well, I'm grateful to be able to speak to you today.

♪♪ ♪♪ Michael: Looking forward to seeing the lotus flowers blossom again this spring.

And that'’s it for today.

I'’m Michael Sanford.

It'’s been a pleasure being a part of your Sunday.

We hope you'’ve enjoyed today'’s stories and that you'’ll be back for another episode of Sunday Stories.

Until then, have a great week.

♪♪ ♪♪ Or download the Free PBS Video App to stream all your favorite KVIE programs whenever, wherever on your phone, computer or tv.

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