Zip Trips: Novato

foreign [Music] the road for a zip trip to Nevada Nova toe no vatos [Music] Like A New Beginning New Beginning yes yes no vato we're bringing you a taste of this North Bay City's best restaurants and breweries on this street alone there are a variety of terrific restaurants plus an inspiring story of empowerment and connection how a local non-profit is nurturing personal growth for children who need some extra help it's become something that's really changed her perspective and something that she enjoys way more than we ever thought and who no you're not even gonna trust we can't we don't we don't know as Morning Song 2 takes you on a zip trip to Nevada [Music] foreign [Applause] about 30 miles north of San Francisco but a whole world away welcome to Nevada you know this building it's City Hall She's a Beauty she was built back in 1896 the site of Nevada's First Presbyterian Church these days it's used for meetings Banquets weddings and social events and then next door we have a gorgeous Green Lawn farmers markets musical performances the whole nine yards and speaking of music We Are Grace this morning by a woman with amazing vocals say good morning to lenise she woke up early got warmed up and is now at the Mantra wine bar with her backup guitarist Joshua they're going to be singing for us throughout this next hour of our Zip Trip which finds us in the gorgeous North Bay Town of Nevada welcome and thank you for being with us that's just a little bit of what we've got going on for you what we got on tap here in Nevada we've got an exciting warning and we've got our cruise spent out across the area we've got Sal Castaneda he is over at Mantra the wine bar where you just saw lenise performing just a moment go They're gonna have a little something special gonna be sharing with us right now Frank in a very friendly way he's going to test the knowledge of Nevada residents to see how well they know their Town that's always fun to see and he always comes up with some great great questions that you never even thought of in relation to the town so we'll see what he has for Nevada and Claudine found something really cool here uh horse therapy and it looks just really really amazing the work that they're doing here and we're going to check in with her uh just shortly to get an update from her but first uh Nevada you know it is a quiet area but it has got a lot going on and there's a lot to see here and a lot to do as well here's a little taste of that a symbol of the hippie movement a center of the mountain biking community and an active World War II Air Force Base all part of Nevada's unique history Novato is the northernmost City in Marin County it sits nearly 30 miles north of San Francisco currently more than 50 thousand people call the city home before becoming an official City back in 1960 the area played a key role in the US's war effort in the Pacific during World War II planes took off from Hamilton Air Force Base in Novato headed for Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor the Air Force Base then became an important training facility for fighter groups throughout the war since it's decommissioning the city of Novato has redeveloped the land and turned those large airplane hangars into Office Buildings Marin County has always been known for the outdoors the area is considered the birthplace of modern mountain biking and it's the motto that makes it easier for people to get into the sport Stafford Lake bike park off was all skill levels 17 Acres of bumps jumps and track to perfect those riding skills and one of the city's most eye-catching sites is hard for drivers on Highway 101 to miss with its triangular Peaks covering the entire rooftop this building at one time was the U.S distribution headquarters for Birkenstock the company founded in Germany in the 1700s became a staple in the hippie era in the 1960s and 70s eventually finding U.S home or time at least here in Nevada so many people still call that the Birkenstock building even though Birkenstock hasn't been there for a few years they're not they're not based in there anymore but it's I think it's a cool name and I think I I if I remember correctly there might even be a sign outside because I remember the first time I drove by that building I'm like oh right that's where they have Birkenstocks but they weren't even in there back then but it's still pretty cool and I think everyone's gonna keep calling it that just because it's a cool building yeah it's associated with it I mean they used it for so long totally totally it's I mean look if you have driven up 101 you see it on your left hand side as you're heading up into Novato it is not called the Birkenstock building but that is what everyone calls it and let's kind of dive into the history of this amazing piece of architecture and practice peek into the future a bit by welcoming James Manley of the commercial real estate broker uh thanks so much for being with us closely associated with the building um how do you feel when we still call it the Birkenstock building when people still call it that I actually struggle a little bit with it I mean it's so well known but uh having grown up in Nevada it was always the McGraw-Hill building right because it was the it was the home of the publisher first correct right and the publisher moved out Birkenstocks uh moved in yes why do you think it's become such an indelible part of kind of Bay Area lore in history well it's one of those buildings it's I mean it's obviously very uh well appointed and and very dramatic and so I think that when people drive by it they kind of their imagination gets caught up and uh you know what's going on there what uh why did they do it that way yeah so your commercial real estate broker so I'm assuming you a little bit about the design of it what what do you know about when McGraw-Hill the original uh Builders of that property what do you know went into that design process well they use the architect John Savage Bowles who uh he's he's a well-known mid-century architect that designed Candlestick Park uh the Embarcadero Plaza formerly the Justin Hermann Plaza IBM 25 and that business park down in San Jose and with his father he helped with some design lines for the buildings in the 1936 Exposition on Treasure Island so his stuff was all very very well stated and very much a sign of the times I think the building I mean it's an 8 acre complex with a lot of off I mean it's massive it is more than we can see when we drive by it's been in and out of escrow many times over the years if if you could draw the vision for for what happens in that building what do you what's the right fit well Marin County has essentially been built out for industrial properties there's just no room for them and this is this is a property that actually is already designated as an industrial property obviously there have been people who have approached it for a different concept but I think that it's something that Marin County and the North Bay in general needs you don't get too much industrial availability once you get north of the Golden Gate Bridge until you're up in the Santa Rosa area and even that's a very tight market right now it's also industrial and office space I would suppose inside as well well a lot of people don't realize is that there's actually another building up there which is a 36 000 square foot office com office building which was also designed by Mr Bowles and is not uh it's not dissimilar but it's not the same as as the balance of the uh as the property that catches your eye it's for sure the little sister got it yeah James really uh thank you so much commercial real estate broker I've always wanted to talk a little bit about the building and find out some more about it so I'm so glad you're able to come in and talk to us today a little bit more about it and uh hopefully it stays in Marin in the in the exact you know structure that it's in now because it's such an eye-catching thing uh when you look at it driving by Highway 101 or maybe some other part of the of the of the city but you can see it and you're just like what is that all about thank you so much for coming and talking to us thank you very much we appreciate it yeah all right so uh coming up uh Claudine Wong she is uh she found something really interesting here uh therapy you know you think about physical therapy but you think about animal therapy you might think about dogs yeah but uh horses are also used in that therapy as well so let's turn things over to Claudine Wong who found uh an organization just like that here in Nevada Claudine tell us about it yes hi guys yeah we're excited to tell you about hopes for harmony coming up in the 90 45 hour they're at MorningStar Farms here with us now Morningstar vaulters which amazing group as well I've got Carolyn Connor this is your baby behind us we have some the amazing talent tell me about Morningstar Walters Morningstar Walters started in 1998 as a recreational team and I thought I'd be doing it for maybe a year or two and then a little bit longer yes a little bit longer so I have been teaching kids now for almost 25 years and I actually competed until I was 45 myself oh that's amazing um yes and we're looking at on this horse right now this is um Violet and Ally and they're doing their double routine and there are my horse Sandy said if you look at it and people are like that looks a little Peter Pan maybe yeah they're uh for their freestyles they take themes and use music and interpret the music um in a competition the horse is judged as well as the vultures technique their style and music interpretation and so they're going to be doing they're doing some double moves that's awesome but over here on your barrels you've got little ones tell me about what it takes to train for this and and and what what these kids are learning okay well our typical um practices we start off warming up I have pull-up bars in the background there they do pull-ups we have a balance beam and these are called vaulting barrels right here the vaulting barrels simulate the horse and the kids learn to do all their moves on the vaulting barrels softly and um in control before they even get onto the horse Jonathan wanted to go out and take a turn and as Jonathan goes out this is amazing and tell me what it gives to these kids and to these you know all the participants and how long does it take to really kind of know how to do this you know everybody's different I've had kids who already had a gymnastic background who were able to do quite a bit their very first lesson and other kids who start off possibly a little more like a couch potato with no uh upper body and and once they get strong they get they do very well so the um the main thing with with vaulting is is harmony with the horse and consideration of the horse so the kids have to learn to be in rhythm with the horse at whatever speed and the um and it's really beautiful it is a beautiful sport the the actually this weekend up at Rancho Marietta is the national vaulting championships are going on we haven't been competing because we lost us our competition horses and Sandy here is 19. oh well that's amazing that's amazing well thank you for sharing this beautiful beautiful sport we'll be back we're going to show you more of what they can do here but we're going to send it back to you but appreciate everything at Morningstar vultures it's been really fun to hang out with them all morning long guys I bet it must be such a calming energy you know they do such amazing work in that program bloody and I can't wait for for all of us to learn more together thank you so much when we come back talk about you know learning things I love it when people are like oh I grew up in Nevada I know everything about that town and then I I I kind of fly one of uh Frank's zip trivia questions by them and they're like uh so there's a lot of uh going on in this next round of zip trivia we are focusing on what you think you know about Nevada what you might not know and what what may come as a total surprise or Frank Malico took his questions on the road in Nevada and of course he taught Sports as he likes to a Hall of Fame pitcher with five World Series rings lived in Nevada for a time also who's the former Cal football star who's now in the NFL who's from Nevada as well we'll get you answers coming up here on our zip trip to Novato [Music] [Music] and welcome back to zip trips to Novato and you're looking live at our new friend our four-legged friend his name is Billy and he's with his foster parents Kathy and John here he's two and a half years old and the reason we're featuring Billy this morning he is from the Humane Society uh here in Marin County and he has been there for about six months now since way back in February and he's looking for a forever home he's a sweet dog we are told he gets along with other dogs as well he's currently in training one of the many programs at the Humane Society Marin offers so if you're looking for a great addition to the new home Billy just might be you're new favorite part of the family look how cute he is he's like keep the treats coming that'll be a good boy as long as you have the trees we're great so as you can see there it really is a just a cute fantastic uh hopeful addition to the family he's been to the shelter uh you know a little longer than they would like so hopefully he can find find someone maybe someone in the Bay Area wants to have them I I'm sure someone does I almost got to when we talk about Nevada we sort of you know do look more broadly at Marin County and a lot of people do know that Marin County is considered the birthplace of mountain biking a lot of people on two wheels up here um we set our Frank malicode up to Stafford Lake they've got an incredible bike park there have been a number of times um you know it's really incredible Frank when you when you think about what a gem Stafford lake is for the whole family and you can spend more than a full day there under the gorgeous sunshine I got to tell you guys I know you have two boys that are uh big time in the mountain biking this is Mecca Marin County and Stafford Lake Park is ridiculous it's free we're going to talk more about that later on in the show but it really is something you got to come up and check out here in Nevada of course Nevada's got a rich history as well it's been around since the 1800s although it didn't incorporate until 1960. did you know a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Yankees spent a majority of his life here as well as a Super Bowl quarterback not playing for the Lions he actually grew up here and they have an Air Force Base vital to our World War II efforts those are some of the questions here's some of the answers what does Novato mean in Spanish I have no idea don't go don't go to Nevada Nova toe I don't know that's all I can make that's as much Spanish as I know no cows no cows I don't know no vatos novato's those darn vatos right yeah so Novato is I don't want to travel I don't want to travel that is correct what no no something with the nine I don't know with a knife Nuevo elevado new new new new Like A New Beginning New Beginning yes yes no vato that is correct oh awesome this hanger behind me a control tower were part of an Air Force Base right here in Novato that trained our pilots during World War II it flourished for years before being decommissioned in the 1980s and shut down can you name the Air Force Base no no you're not even gonna try we can't we don't we don't know I'll give you a hint popular Broadway show recent named after our U.S treasurer name of that show lin-manuel Miranda no who's on the ten dollar bill I don't know does Hamilton ring a bell nope Hamilton Air Force Base there you go Hamilton Hamilton all right yeah yeah you are smoking Hall of Fame pitcher New York Yankees 1930-42 five world series ranks left-handed pitcher and he lived part of his life right here in Nevada Whitey Ford Whitey Ford's a good guess but he was a little after Lefty give me a hint I just did he was a lefty Lefty Lefty I think that's a bar in the city yep been there for years okay yeah Adams Family what was morticia's husband's name Gomez Gomez oh my gosh come on oh yes they got a field named after up in Fairfax uh Lefty Gomez that's it he grew up in Nevada but went to Kim Fields Marin Catholic where he was an All-Star quarterback went on to Cal brilliant career there he is now in the NFL with the Detroit Lions a former Super Bowl quarterback who is that quarterback I know the 49er for quarterbacks but not the Detroit you want to phone a friend would your wife know that oh oh my God not God Tom Brady Tom Brady now I'm retired yes did not grow up in the bottom no okay went to a Super Bowl with the Rams Matthew Stafford Matthew Stafford no there what was that and the answer is whatever she said I didn't quite understand it that was Jared Goff Jared yo yes yes I know yeah thank you ma'am okay what's his name Jared God Jared God go Bears yes I know his mom she went to high school in San Rafael well there you go yeah yeah and there you go by the way Jared Goff who is now in his eighth year in the NFL and playing on a pretty good Detroit Lions team his dad was a major league baseball player too during the 90s he was a catcher for three teams so uh quite the athletic family hey when we come back Stafford Lake Park the bike park here is out of control I'm up on one of the Mounds we've got a couple of bikers that are kind of in the back 40 right now but we're gonna talk all things mountain biking because Marin County is kind of the center of the universe when it comes to mountain biking and we'll have more on that coming up shortly guys we'll send it back to you where's your bike where's your bike but I got to tell you that that Zip Trip package was uh the trivia packages one of the funniest I haven't you've done this summer long I've enjoyed the entire time we're all back here laughing at it uh Frank we'll check in with you shortly let's get right over now to uh Sal castanedi who's over at Mantra Wine Bar you know Sal's always finding the good stuff with more hey Sal hey guys by the way uh it's not a wine bar it's a tasting room I'll let my cumulus explain Mike uh it says Mantra wines on on the door by the way this is the owner of Mantra wines along with your wife right um so what's the difference between like a wine bar and a Tasting Room well at your typical Wine Bar you're going to find wines from various producers um all over the world sometimes throughout Napa or Sonoma but we have over 20 wines here at Mantra and all the wines that are here are wines that we make all right let's get right to it I want to I want to try some but I also want to I noticed these beautiful bottles they all have uh really great artwork this used to be your standard bottle but now you went to these beautiful labels can you explain that yeah yeah so uh we have an art gallery we opened this six years ago and we started it off with with an art gallery and every time a piece of art comes in that really you know moves us or our customers then we work with the artists and we turn it into a label and it's just it's a lot of fun so this this is our art series artist series of uh of wines you know I'm always looking for a place to bring the wife on date night this is a beautiful old Bank building on Grant Street the nice Corner nice light you have live music all the time we're just about to get a sample uh what should I get when I come here oh wow well we're particularly known for a couple things probably our big bold Reds and our sparkling wines especially our pink sparkling wine is very popular here in Novato it's a great delicious way to kind of take the edge off the heat all right so while the band plays uh we're going to have maybe a little taste of this wine here and we're gonna hear from mama's boy a really nice band that plays out the break I got a ride to be wrong [Music] that's it welcome back to the nine we are focusing an hour in this morning's Zip Trip on gorgeous Nevada it's about 30 miles or an hour in traffic North of San Francisco but once you get up here you do feel like you're in a whole different world some parts of Nevada are exactly the same as people remember growing up other parts are brand shiny and new let's talk about history not just here in Nevada but all across the bay area some incredible images you may probably have not seen before and they are made possible courtesy thanks to a data archivist David you're joining us here this morning David ruiz you're with Pacific aerial survey so you know to to break it down these are pictures taken from high above as the Bay Area grew into what it is today we document the history of the Bay Area millions of photos we're the original Google what can you see from up above that you can't see standing at street level well you know uh a lot of times it's activity patterns growth changes in the environment changes in the you know structures and how development has just grown yeah so yeah and one of the things that you guys look for you study the El Cerrito fire station you study the ground around it so the work that you're doing also helps with the stability of structures that are built that's because now tell us how that all works yeah so you know with aerial photography we're able to do what's called stereo pair and when aerial photos are taken in Stereo we can create Contours from that stereo and we can compare it to older generations of Contours to see how the ground has shifted over time and if it's moved a little bit you know they can mitigate that issue if it's moving quickly then you know something has to happen very quickly and you also have been able to help law enforcement in some cases that have made news I mean Nationwide worldwide and you've had some very gratifying moments through that work I have but and you know doing that work is always good for the soul basically and and if the archive can help determine some answers that need to be asked you know we can we can help with that so no no talk a little bit about some of the photos that you've taken aerial photo mapping of the Golden Gate Golden Gate and Bay Bridge while it was under construction so you know we actually have aerial photos of the Golden Gate before it was even started being built and a lot of people don't realize this but there was a grandstand set up on the Beach Fort Baker's side and they flew by planes across trailing smoke to show where the bridge would be built wow okay and then just the progression even the foundations when they putting cables in would just have a complete progression of the bridges being built including the Bay Bridge and the newer portion of the Bay Bridge you grew up here San Marin High graduate do you ever progress is kind of a double-edged sword right yes if you you know if if one day we're looking back on today what do you hope is developed what do you hope the Bay Area as far as taking Direction uh becomes let's say you know 20 30 years from now what do you want to see well you know I really like to see a preservation of open space to be honest with you you know but density is is it's a double-edged sword right you know we eat housing our grandkids need a place to live that's right um but just incredible well it's just nice to document the history changes anyone have access to those photos we we have it's open to the public Yeah by appointment basically but most of our clients are engineer geology and legal in and you know homeowners who need to answer questions about their property so David Rue is with Pacific aerial service thank you so much for joining us hey well thank you very much documenting history I appreciate it in Nevada and across the bay area thank you thank you appreciate it all right uh when we come back after the break here Taste of the Town Sal always tells us where we can go to eat breakfast lunch and dinner and snacks and you can tell us how it tastes too because he's actually getting a taste every time he goes to these places you're watching zip trips our specials at prove to Lovato Taste of the town is up right up to the break with South Castaneda we'll be right back foreign our zip trip to Novato continues with something delicious to eat drink and snack on one of my favorite foods that you believe is sort of boring but it's toast just a good old-fashioned piece of sourdough toast with some salted butter I'm in heaven South Castaneda actually found a restaurant called toast as you tasted your way to this gorgeous North Bay Town cell I sure did toast is a nice restaurant here in downtown Novato there are many places you know that I'm at Mantra wines I'm having a nice class of their chilled champagne let me tell you it's delicious but when you come to Novato there are a lot of options either downtown or maybe in some of the other areas and this is what I found when I ate my way through Novato so if you come to find a bite to eat in Novato you may want to start in Historic downtown Grant Street is the kind of place you might see a classic car cruising by and people taking a nice leisurely stroll on this street alone there are a variety of terrific restaurants from Asian food Irish Pub miscellaneous Mom and Dad restaurants further down some great spots for breakfast you'll see them packed on Sunday morning right away I saw the distinctive Dr Insomniac sign and went in is there a reason you come here well that's easy we already ate it the bottom residence Brock and Gabrielle Roni love the food here but they especially love the scruffin the combination of a scone and a muffin is a big seller here we actually have Scotland's purchased and brought to one of our events for our wedding because we love them it was a total breakfast item but we wanted it at the wedding because we love them so much we come here like every Sunday to get a scuffin you know me and my constant search for a good strong cup of Joe I think I've discovered why they call it doctor insomniacs this is a good strong cup of coffee Dr insomniacs has nice outdoor seating in front and out back on the other side of town is a modern Eatery located in a shopping area near Highway 101. it's Toast restaurant my sister found this place online toast has been here since 2008 on this nice weather day we saw most people sitting outside but inside there's a nice looking spacious dining room the menu has a lot of options so I asked for some help I had the salmon Benedict was it good it was delicious should I get it you should get it so I did and I was not disappointed for me the Hollandaise sauce is the key to this dish and toast has it down toast always has a healthy crowd something owner fairy Bijan attributes to the quality of her food and the love she has for her customers I'm very happy this is my baby is like my babies if you like big portions for reasonable prices I recommend toast finally I had to try Hot Monk Tavern since many locals recommended it the proprietor here is Dean beersch half of the famous Gordon Biersch Duo that operated brew pubs in the Bay Area in the 90s and 2000s beer says when he broke off to start his own Venture he brought his love of the hospitality industry and music to hop monk Tavern let's celebrate All beers rather than doing a very structured narrow kind of offering of certain beers that we made on site let's bring them all to the table let's add the food Tavern environment and for me my my uh real excitement comes from the beer garden and the live music that we do the Kent light was pretty cool having a beer with Dean Biersch as for the food the burger is legit the calamari was crispy and flavorful and Hot Monk Tavern has the classic garlic fries made very popular by Gordon Biersch these garlic fries are about to bring me back to my younger days when I used to go to packbell park and they had Gordon Biersch fry stand or I used to go to Gordon Biersch wow suddenly I'm younger Andre and Garcia our producer loves champagne so I'm going to make her a little jealous I'm having some Mantra champagne here it is what 9 30 9 40 in the morning so eat your heart out there this is uh breakfast foods and and No One's Gonna Stop Me Back To You guys that's that's never stopped you before so come on we know that should be short all right let's turn things over now to uh Frank Malika Hoover who's over at Tavern Lake Park uh fun on two wheels is the uh is the theme for him this morning hey Frank I guess so I've been up here a fair amount of times played Indian Valley I had no idea they had a bike park here but right here at Stafford Lake uh the bike park is amazing it's free and I have their director of operations here at Marin County uh Eric Morales uh tell it this sport is really exploding mountain biking isn't it oh big time yeah you can see folks uh you know they have really Advanced bikes nowadays they can handle a lot of different kinds of terrain a lot of places like this where you can really start working on your skills and you know navigating a lot of diverse environments and here we have you know nine to 20-foot jumps that are just waiting to be ridden and you're a biker too right I sure am I've been running for my whole life you may have the coolest job around you know can't beat this office it's pretty beautiful out here tell us a little bit about the park and then we'll cue the guys up on the hill sure thing so Stafford Lake bike park is a 17-acre park nestled in the West End of Stafford Lake it's been around since 2015. it's been going through several developments you know highs and lows covid was it was a huge drop for people because you know you couldn't be within six feet of each other so they came out to explore the bike park and visitation just exploded yeah and people have really realized that this is a huge resource for the community you know um be able to come out and have a picnic ride your bike and it's a great way to stay in shape should we get these guys biking all right Eric step this way I'm going to cue them with a rather large voice all right guys hit it and that's at the top of the hill and tell us what these guys are about to do so these guys are about to navigate the Blue Line in the progression Zone there's about nine features that they're gonna be riding right now so really big jumps as you can tell this is all made with dirt whoa whoa getting a little squirrely there um and you could say it is a high risk sport this is that's a fact elbow guards shin guards highly recommended full face helmets and these things happen on occasion but what's what's great is that you know this park is designed to be as safe as possible given what it is um and on occasion these things happen but otherwise this is well they've been sitting up there for 10 minutes all Juiced up to be on TV and I think they were going to let it rip how high do you go you get up there pretty big you get up I'd say probably 12 feet at the tallest 12 features and 19 feet at the longest that's a little scary it can be yeah and bikes I mean beginners they can come up here as well right absolutely yeah here on my left we have What's called the kids pump track kids you know as little as um few years old on Strider bikes that's where you get your introduction to the bike park the very easiest features and there you work your way into the beginner pump track and then you can work your way all the way up the hill as your skills progress well Hayden and Taylor they've been shredding the course the last half hour and they finally get on cue and uh let it ripped a little bit uh Eric thank you very much yeah thank you all right and this is free right absolutely free to park free to ride and it's gorgeous if you want to play a little golf Indian Valley is a nice track too that's the latest up here guys we'll send it back to you it's a gorgeous place to spend the day my damn my family has done it a million times only because of what we just saw on TV I'll remind you safety does need to come first and the second thing my boy said when I told him I was heading up to Nevada to go bike park I said yes they go the one where daddy ate it and and I said yes so so it happens with even super experienced writers um so I I hope that guy's okay all right but when we come back something a little more calming um something that's actually therapeutic an incredible um program is unfolding here in Nevada and they do such good work they take children who are struggling for any number of reasons and they pair them up with horses for horse therapy this is something unlike anything you've seen before our Claudine Wong is really sharing the beautiful message and the mission of this program that's happening here in Nevada that's helping so many children so many children also as we are staying focused on uh beasts with four legs I don't know that we would call Billy a beast he's been sitting here having treats for the past 40 minutes but he is up for adoption through the Marine Humane Society they do such good work there at Marin humane an incredibly popular summer camp but today we are focusing on getting animals into good houses and helping pet lovers keep their forward-legged members of the family good work by the Marine Humane Society it continues after a quick break all right uh welcome back to zip trips here in Nevada we went from uh two wheels over at the skate park Stafford uh Lake uh Park and now we go to uh four feet now uh horse therapy uh organization Claudine Wong now here with more on that hey Claudine hey Andre yeah certainly this has been a lovely morning out here at Morning Star Farm where we've got the vultures behind us this is kind of a home for uh just horses and the families and the children and the adults who all come here you know for not just the skills but also for the peace and the calm and there's a non-profit that operates out of here that we have been lucky enough to spend a little time with it's called hooves for Harmony and it's really remarkable what this horse Therapy Program can do a non-profit that has served families here in Novato for so many years for Heather Parker few things compared to this so hooves for harmony is a therapeutic writing program it's for kids with special needs and it is all free for the families and we take children on a 30-minute trail ride through O'Hare Park which is right off the back of the property here which is Morning Star Farm in Novato some of the children have special needs some are foster children and some like Jonathan Ibarra say they came hoping for calm I was hoping to um not get as much as anxiety and not biting my nails like just you know because having another friend because I don't have much friends at my school he says what he found here in this program changed his life it really changed the law because once I sat on the horse I you know I wasn't biting my teeth I um volunteers were excited immedi talked I made a bunch of friends now at 12 years old he gives back every weekend as a volunteer helping children like Mara who love Sunday rides you want to go ride Spirit or Triscuits yeah is that something fun here she go [Music] we're gonna get ready and go soon okay all right it's become something that's really changed her perspective and something that she enjoys way more than we ever thought um and she's gotten so much out of it look where you want to go don't look at him this has been Parker's dream since she was in college after she volunteered at a horse Therapy Program and for the last two decades she has made sure one thing about her program has never changed I think one of the most important things that was my mission and my goal was to make this accessible to everybody so a lot of the families I met early on said you know it was helping but they just couldn't afford it anymore and you know kids with special needs have a lot of financial you know requirements there's occupational therapy Physical Therapy speech therapy and so I think the first thing on the chopping block tends to be the horse therapy so I thought gosh if there was some way I could raise enough money and make this free wouldn't that be amazing and I've been able to do that for 20 years I've never charged but what she does need is help so she has volunteers like Caitlin Bolin who started helping at the age of 10 and who returned a couple of years ago to help train others you know you want to make sure you're keeping the writer safe and making sure they're having a good time and just that they're enjoying their experience you don't have to be like an expert on horses to volunteer here like you can um there's so many different things that somebody can do volunteer Marion Huntington spends hours here she ran her own non-profit for many years my goal was to help low-income kids here in Nevada increase their physical mental health through Sports so there's 35 percent of all kids in Novato now are low income which translates to about 3 000 kids and at least 150 of them are homeless those are the ones who want to be counted so uh that is the target population she knows what this program can do so when she closed her non-profit she put all of her resources here basically another transformation besides the fact that you become calm to help the horse is joy and movement emotion you can go faster on horse you're higher on a horse the horse can sense things that humans cannot sense you know with their ears and nose and body and it like extends your own perceptions into the world and I think it's like riding a magic carpet for these kids a Magic Carpet Ride that gave Jonathan new Dreams yeah how's your anxiety these days I don't have anxiety actually so I'm really good now I've been riding horses you know uh yeah I've been waiting belt buckles my dream is to become just like Heather because she's like a very my idol sometimes yeah and I want to become a horse whisperer and a horse trainer and I want to also own my horse therapy too so like I really want to give back you know and giving back gives everyone out on that trail something special maybe it's physical improvements or verbal progress but it's also something more Heather Parker will tell you something just happens on that trail between a horse and its Rider the horse provides the magic and it's pretty hard to you know Define or explain it's there's something there for sure [Music] so much magic out here hopes for harmony Marion with the volunteer give me this hat and the boots I'm wearing just to borrow they also introduced us to this other non-profit that's Eric there on the horse we do Morningstar vultures he's been vaulting since he was four years old he's a little older than four now at one point he was a gold level vulture and that's what he is backflip that's where you're headed back look amazing and a high point champion in the U.S so it's really been remarkable to see what they do for the work out here for the kids and both non-profits so both need all the help they can get so you should look them up bring the kids out here come out and visit them they're the nicest people you'll ever meet Andre Garcia absolutely life-changing we all had our mouths fell open when you did those clips awesome Claudine thank you so much um you know there are parts of Nevada that people may not know about that played such an important part of this town's history one of those is Hamilton field and there's a Hamilton field History Museum that is open to the public and you will learn more about this town's history by going there and spending a delightful afternoon then you you think you're in for we welcome Ray dwelly you're the head of the museum thank you so much for joining us this morning you're welcome you you've been here a long time raised a family here do you still run into people at the supermarket who say oh wait Hamilton yeah Hamilton field what was that do you think does everybody know no a lot of people don't know about it yeah it in fact people that even live at Hamilton don't know what it was all about you know because it's all housing now right right what was its important rate to to uh to you were part of the refurbish and making it what it is today into that museum why was it important for you to do that work uh actually I was doing the construction and uh uh that's how I got involved in it to turn it for my firehouse into a museum and I didn't plan on being there the next 12 years and here you are well what do you want people to know about Hamilton field if they're new to it uh well all about the history of Hamley it was very important during World War II uh kids nowadays don't even know anything about World War II and we also have stuff on the Vietnam War and the Korean War but it's mainly World War II and we have a lot of displays all the planes that flew in and out of there and they're all still there they're all still there that you can go and see them and they're just uh models models right yeah that are there you can go see and experience what happened back in World War II yeah the only thing that's uh out on the landing strip is they can land there now are ducks and geese yeah it's all been flooded here Ray you you raised a family here you continue to support your town you're a volunteer firefighter for many many years your town honored you very recently for all the good work you've done through the Hamilton field History Museum what's so special about Nevada that that kept you here all these years oh it's this small town atmosphere and uh I moved here in 1941 and uh it's I've seen it grow you know a little hick town where all the roads were uh gravel wow you know and uh to what it is today and I've enjoyed it yeah I raised my flaming here and I think they've all had a good time here yeah yeah well you're one of those that made the community the way it is we want to thank you and that's why we wanted to stop by today one of the reasons thank you so much for joining us this morning stop by the museum yes for sure certainly all right well coming up next uh you know we the residents make this community home but so do the businesses as well and we're going to talk to the head of the downtown ofano Business Association right after this on our special zip trip to Nevada we'll be right back since I come along [Music] all right welcome back to our zip trip to Nevada we're joined Now by Stephanie Kohler downtown Nevada Business Association executive director uh you've got a lot of cool businesses out here some of our staff has gone to some of the businesses here in downtown area tell us what do you want people to know about the Business Association about businesses here in Nevada well one of the big things about Nevada is that it's become a destination I think historically that wasn't necessarily the case we've had some long-standing great Boutique type shops and restaurants but also just in recent years we've had a lot of new Boutique shops come in and and new restaurants come in and we're finding I also sit on the Tourism Committee so we're finding a lot of people come to our events and that of course builds up businesses so that that's making businesses want to come in yeah I know you get a lot of people from the bay area are you seeing a lot of interest in Novato from outside the greater Bay Area absolutely actually so when we do some of we have some Signature Events like rock the block and and a bouncy ball New Year event and people come from as far away as San Jose even to come up to the events so and that's that's it's great we love having them yeah well it's a gorgeous town I'm I'm so glad that we get to learn more about it all together so much thank you so much for joining us Stephanie of perks have a marvelous late Summer Weekend all right guess what zip trips far from over next time we're gonna meet you in the Far East Bay we we are going to be in Pittsburgh two weeks from today for our next Zip Trip that is Friday September 1st at 9am join us in person or watch here on KTVU Fox 2. so from the far north bay to the East Bay we go and we want to thank the rest of the crew here Claudia Wong over at MorningStar Farms the horse therapy organization there we also want to thank Frank Malika who's over at Stafford Lake Park and we want to mention that the uh mountain biker did uh skin his elbow a little bit his name is Aiden but he will be just fine and we want to thank Sal who's over at Mantra wine room for all of uh the uh great uh food ideas that he gave us today I was kind of jotting down a few myself but to see where I'm going to stop by after the show today uh thank you all so much for joining us this morning a special zip trip to Nevada absolutely so we take you out with the sounds of Mama's Boy vocals backup Guitar by Joshua you guys have a great Friday morning here in gorgeous Novato [Music]

Channel: KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco

Views: 1,345

Keywords: KTVU, Zip Trips, Novato

Id: ivuL2tKrUtU

Length: 46min 31sec (2791 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 18 2023