Photos

There's something timeless about kids filling a beautiful spring day. These boys were riding Saturday afternoon on the path that leads to the south side of the new bridge.

North, South, all around Murieta, Saturday was a day for cleaning up and surveying damage from Friday's storm. The fabric shade cover over the playground at Riverview Park was found to be a casualty of the high winds. Wind wracked the cover's frame, driving one piece of tubing into the playground surface and reducing the cover to a mound of sodden fabric.  Read more »

* See coverage of the storm damage here

Friday's wind knocked over everything from a portable toilet on a De La Cruz Drive construction site to a street sign on Via Del Cerrito, but the main casualties of the wind were trees.

The Country Club started out the day dealing only with debris, but trees were hit as the day went on.

By early afternoon, the damage was apparent to anyone crossing the pedestrian bridge. A large fallen conifer blocked the path along the South Course.

 Read more »

The weekend's rain ended Sunday, leaving puddles on the trail around Lake Calero and more than a little autumn in the air.

Kylee Howard, 8, took to the skies over Rancho Murieta with pilot Frank Storm at Sunday's Young Eagles event at RM Airport. Blue skies and perfect flying weather brought out a record-breaking 42 children for the free airplane and helicopter rides offered by the Rancho Murieta Aviators and other volunteer Experimental Aircraft Association aviators. The aircraft association established the Young Eagles program in 1992 to provide young people from 8 to 17 years of age with an introduction to flying, and the aviators' club hosts the events several times a year. In addition to their Young Eagle membership certificate, children received a pen in the shape of an airplane as a memento of their adventure. "It's good for the kids and the community," said pilot Wally Boeck, who coordinates the events for the club.

Murieta Village's annual Craft Faire and Bake Sale took place Saturday, and about a dozen vendors turned the Village Clubhouse into a festive display of handmade jewelry, paintings of local scenes, knit scarves, Christmas decorations, baked goods and harvest treats like pomegranate jelly and shelled walnuts.  Read more »

The annual Cosumnes River Elementary School Harvest Festival Sunday afternoon had all the old-time favorites like a cake walk, pie-eating contest and carnival games, plus something new. This year, for the first time, parents had an alternative to parking on the shoulder of the busy highway and hiking in with costumed kids in tow. Instead, families could hop on a school bus shuttle paid for by the Optimist Club. "The bus is just the best thing," said Kellie Reyes, a parent volunteer who saw passengers disembark as she collected admission fees at the door of the school.  Read more »

Dozens of Daisies and Brownies got to be princesses for a night at an event staged Friday evening by Girl Scout Troop 1248.  See a slideshow of the evening here.

Paul Davis and daughter Tori, 8, selected pumpkins at the pumpkin patch Boy Scout Troop 633 set up across from the Plaza Saturday (6-year-old Emma was along too), and Julian Antunez, 15, helped them carry the colorful produce to their car. Below, Russell and Gloria Lawrence shopped Murieta-style, loading up the cart with the choices of grandsons Logan and Hunter. The scouts' annual fundraiser continues Sunday and next Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. New this year -- customers receive a collection of pumpkin recipes by local cooks.

The bus shelter on Murieta South Parkway is a welcome sight on a wet Wednesday morning. The Kiwanis Club and South developer Reynen & Bardis are now moving forward with plans for a second shelter, to be located at the entrance to Riverview Park. The Kiwanis Club solicited $44,000 from the developer and contributed $4,000 to construct both. The first shelter, which cost $26,000, was completed in April with the assistance of the Rancho Murieta Association.