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SantaCruzSentinel.Com February 12, 2021 | READERS CHOICE | 8 It's clear Jo knows how to treat peo- ple like family. During last summer's CZU fire, she and Ro had to evacuate both their home and restaurant. With all that, they still provided free meals twice monthly to fire victims and do- nated $10,000 worth of food to evacu- ees. This was one reason the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce named Jo their Woman of the Year in January. best virtual Event: Alex lucero (winner) & Santa Cruz ballet The- atre (runner-up) Alex lucero Alex has been a full-time musician for over six years and loves perform- ing. In 2020, at the end of February, he had just gotten back from a trip and music tour in Ireland when he started to hear news about COVID-19. "When we got back, I played a handful of shows. The last night of my standing gig at The Sand Bar in Capi- tola was March 16 (before the shut- down began)," says Alex. On March 20, he and drummer Jake McCuen, his bandmate, played their first live stream concert from Alex's La Selva Beach home—which also serves as his recording studio. "That night, we had no idea what was in store for us!" Since March 20, Alex and his band have been doing live stream shows every Monday, Wednesday, and Fri- day, plus some Sundays, except for a couple of days here and there. With that passion and commitment, it's no wonder readers voted him Best Virtu- al Event. "At first we just were reach- ing our friends, family, and people that were already fans of our music," says Alex. "Then our base grew as the pandemic continued. We have had up to 2,000 views during a show!" The aforementioned Jake sings har- mony in addition to playing drums. Bandmate Mick Adams plays lead guitar and sometimes bass and does back up harmonies. Alex is the lead singer, bass player, and sometimes guitarist (when Mick is on bass). From the very first livestream, Alex's fi- ancé Justina Keith (known as DJ JK) has been the videographer/emcee for all shows. "She has helped so much, bridging the gap between the audi- ence and us," says Alex. "While we're playing, in addition to emceeing and operating the camera, she's reading comments, saying hi to viewers, an- swering questions and essentially enabling us to communicate with our fans and viewers," he adds. This has been key to their success, says Alex, as it not only makes their jobs easier but also increases engagement with viewers, and "…gives them assurance they're not alone in this pandemic." Alex appreciates this Sentinel award and all the encouraging feed- back. "We've had an outpouring of positivity and gratitude from people who tune in. Some have messaged us saying they're hanging on during this crazy time in the world because our show allows some normalcy, taking their mind off of the pandemic and the troubles we all face." He plans to keep performing as long as possible. "We have an obliga- tion to keep our soulful music flowing to the people in whatever way we can. It is my duty as a musician to play for the people!" Santa Cruz ballet Theatre's "nutcracker: Clara's Dream" Last April, one month after the pan- demic provoked Santa Cruz County to shelter in place for the first time, Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre began to realize that gathering audiences for its annual "Nutcracker" performanc- es might not be possible. "By May, it was certain we had to find something else to replace our normal production continues on 10... ...continued from 6 THANK YOU FOR VOTING US WINNER 4 9 0 Au t o C e n t e r D r i ve , Wa t s o n v i l l e | S a l e s 8 3 1 . 5 3 6 . 4 3 3 7 | S e r v i c e 8 3 1 . 7 4 0 . 6 0 4 6 w w w . s a n t a c r u z s e n t i n e l . c o m Santa Cruz Sentinel w Santa Cr BEST NEW CAR DEALER BEST USED CAR DEALER BEST AUTO SERVICE TWO YEARS IN A ROW!!

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