Bob Walter: Area officials to parley over freeway connector

Cross-county: Officials from Elk Grove to Rancho Cordova, Folsom and El Dorado County will gather Aug. 19 for a historic summit that will focus on the long-proposed connector/expressway linking Interstate 5, Highway 99 and U.S. 50.

The meeting will be sponsored by the Elk Grove Community Connection and the dynamic duo of Linda Ford and Connie Conley.

A summit in February produced some remarkably on-point conversation among residents and leaders from Elk Grove, Galt, Lodi and environs. A summit for neighborhood leaders was held Monday.

The August gathering will be co-hosted by EG Vice Mayor Patrick Hume and Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli.

The invitation list – aside from residents from throughout the region – includes Sacramento and El Dorado county supervisors and city council members from EG, Folsom and Rancho.

Connie also said Tom Zlotkowski, head of the Elk Grove-Rancho Cordova-El Dorado connector project, will have a great PowerPoint presentation on the expressway. For more information, contact Linda at (916) 835-5988 or atthefords@frontiernet.net. …

Light up the night: Barring some last-minute showboating by state government, the fireworks part of Friday's Salute to the Red, White and Blue festival at Elk Grove Park should be a go.

The 12th annual festival – produced by the Chamber of Commerce with help from the city and Cosumnes CSD – begins at 3 p.m. and the fireworks show starts at 9:45. In between will be music, food, vendors and kids activities. Admission is free; parking is $10.

Meanwhile, the airwaves, print media and Internet have been full of dire warnings from everybody from The Guv on down about the dangers of so-called safe and sane fireworks. The warnings and safety suggestions are valuable, no doubt, and might keep some people from being injured (this from somebody who grabbed a still-sizzling sparkler at the age of 5).

But I doubt that anybody lame enough to start a fire with a Piccolo Pete is going to pay much attention to the arm-waving. Or even can read.

But be careful out there. And happy Independence Day eve. …

This time for sure: This just in – the twice-postponed Elk Grove Mayor's Cup charity golf tournament is back on the calendar. The event, hosted by Mayor Gary Davis, will be Sept. 12 at Dry Creek Ranch golf course in Galt.

It will benefit the Elk Grove Community Assistance Network, which includes the EG food bank, clothes closet, community garden and other programs.

Originally scheduled last fall, the tourney briefly was set for the spring before being pushed back again.

The day will include lunch, golf, contests, awards, dinner and lots more for $100 per player. Dinner-only tickets are $35. There also are a variety of sponsorships available, from the title sponsor slot for $10,000 to lunch or dinner for $1,000 – and many more. They also need raffle prizes.

For more info, contact Linda (see above) or Connie at (916) 719-8570 or connie4eg@frontiernet.net.

The fact is that lots of charity golf and other events have been cancelled or postponed in recent months. But this is a good one, so sign up early and tell your friends. It could be a long holiday season for the less fortunate folks who are served by the network, and this event can – should – raise a boatload of money to kick off the season.

Fore.

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• Call The Bee's Bob Walter, (916) 478-2860. Back columns, www.sacbee.com/walter.