Santa Cruz ready to start the summer
The summer solstice will join us in just a few days and the official start of summer will begin in Santa Cruz. Summer brings more people, outdoor activities and occasions to enjoy and celebrate some of the beauty of our wonderful city that feeds our well being. We kicked off the month celebrating with a well attended Pride weekend, parade, and festival downtown. During the festival, I presented a mayoral proclamation declaring the month of June as Pride Month in the city of Santa Cruz, and was joined by Rep. Jimmy Panetta, Sen. John Laird, UCSC Chancellor Cindy Larive, Cabrillo College Trustee Adam Spickler and college President Matt Wetstein, councilmembers from Scotts Valley, Watsonville and even Monterey to honor the statewide contributions of support to the LGBTQ+ community made by Assemblyman Mark Stone as he nears the end of his term in a few months.
We are celebrating graduations, some of the first in-person celebrations in a couple of years, and are also seeing more visitors to our hotels, downtown district, restaurants and city attractions. Despite an uptick in COVID cases, we are also seeing more international visitors as well. Even the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has work and travel international employees back after COVID restrictions, and I met a couple of them who were from Spain and excited to live in Santa Cruz for the summer.
The Midtown area has been making progress along Soquel Avenue with Berkeley-based Gilman Brewing Company building out the old Tony & Alba's Pizza location to host its first Santa Cruz home. Gilman Brewing will be offering award winning handcrafted, small batch brews, wood fired pizzas, snacks and large plates.
And the beloved Midtown Fridays block parties are back at Midtown Plaza supporting artists and live local bands from
5-8 p.m. every Friday. Thank you to Event Santa Cruz for activating this space and supporting our community artists.
The Crow's Nest has also brought back the favorite Thursday Beach Barbecue parties. At 5:30 p.m. every Thursday, this free family friendly outdoor stage on the beach at the Santa Cruz Harbor brings all the fun and local bands that get
everyone dancing, and of course, the Crow's Nest's famous barbecue and outdoor bar.
Continuing the music theme, UC Santa Cruz, in partnership with Noise Pop Industries, will be starting its new outdoor summer concert series at the Quarry Amphitheater beginning June 24 with Carla Morrison, a Mexican-born singer/songwriter. Make sure to visit this beautiful space.
There's a Juneteenth Liberation Paddle Out from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at Cowell Beach sponsored by Black Surf Santa Cruz.
With the feeling of our city opening up again, there is still a COVID yoyo effect, an unknown economic future and revitalization continues to move along slowly. Some people and businesses I've talked to are thriving, and many are still catching up from devastating COVID losses.
A new round of $2,500 microbusiness grants have become available for eligible businesses including Santa Cruz artists and musicians, child care providers, construction workers, food vendors, hair stylists, handy people, house cleaners, gardeners and landscapers, nail technicians and more. Help spread the word if you or someone you know might qualify. Applications are open through the end of June through the Santa Cruz Small Business Development Center. For information, visit .santacruzsbdc.org/microbizgrants.
The next Santa Cruz City Council meeting will be held June 28, and hopefully it will be back in person again, after experiencing some COVID outbreaks. For upcoming agendas and information, visit www.cityofsantacruz.com or City Hall.
Starting in July, make sure to join us for free activities, a jump off of the Santa Cruz Wharf, beach cleanups and events to celebrate July Is Parks and Recreation Month.
Sonja Brunner is the mayor of Santa Cruz.