Appliance Repair in Atwater, CA

Atwater Village -- When Lawrence Frank co-founded a fairytale-like restaurant in 1922, there’s no way he could have anticipated that patrons would still be enjoying his passion project a century later: The Tam O’Shanter.

“To see it succeed and thrive and carry on into its hundredth year, I think he’d be incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to do,” said Ryan Wilson, CEO of Lawry’s Restaurants and Frank’s great-grandson.

Today, the Tam O'Shanter kicks off its 100-year birthday with a St. Patrick's Day party, featuring live music, plenty of green beer, and 1,000 pounds of corned beef and cabbage. The celebration continues throughout the year with whiskey tastings, the release of a coffee table book and other happenings.

John Lindquist has been General Manager of the Tam O’Shanter for 12 years. The key to the restaurant's success, he says, is a sense of family connecting owners, staff and guests.

“There is an extreme sense of ownership among all my co-workers, that they have this piece of history that they’re stewarding for whatever time that they’ve been here,” Lindquist said. “It’s that type of camaraderie and family that shows through to the guests coming in day in and day out.”

Lawrence Frank and Walter Van de Kamp, founders of Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakeries (you can still find the Van de Kamp Bakery building in Glassell Park) opened what was first called Montgomery’s Country Inn in 1922. They later renamed the roadside restaurant on Los Feliz Boulevard for a Robert Burns poem “Tam O’Shanter.”

The owners commissioned a set designer - how Hollywood - to design the Tam O’Shanter Inn, which was once a popular haunt of Walt Disney, who lived and worked nearby. Frank and Van de Kamp eventually opened the Lawry’s restaurant chain, and the family still owns the Tam.

Wilson got his start in the family business as a chef at the Tam O’Shanter while in college, working the line on Friday nights. He eventually became the Executive Chef of Lawry’s Restaurants before being named CEO in 2020. He credits the Tam’s hospitality and accessibility for its longevity.

“I think that’s something my great grandfather really would recognize,” Wilson said. “He wanted this to be a restaurant for everyone.”

Having served hearty Scottish fare for a century, the team at the Tam O’Shanter understands the delicate balance of managing a legacy while looking forward.

“One of our opportunities and goals in celebrating the 100th anniversary is not to celebrate an old restaurant, but celebrate a really cherished restaurant and a part of the fabric of Los Angeles and why it’s relevant today,” Wilson said.

The Atwater Elementary School District broke ground on the new Juniper Elementary School site Friday afternoon, days after the school board approved a lease-leaseback deal to help pay for the ninth school in the district.

The school will be built on a 10-acre site at Juniper Avenue and Bridgewater Street, in front of Joan Faul Park in the City of Atwater.

“This is a growing community,” said Sandra Schiber, superintendent of the Atwater Elementary School District. “I believe people are happy with the educational system, so this is just another piece to be proud of.”

The new school is expected to serve around 600 students from transitional kindergarten through the sixth grade. There will be four classrooms for TK and kindergarten and 21 classrooms serving first through sixth grade.

In addition, the school will have 45 employees, which includes administrators, support staff, and faculty. The school will have administrative offices, a multi-purpose building and athletic fields.

The school board selected C.T. Brayton & Sons, Inc., as the contractor for the project after announcing a request for proposals in October.

The company submitted the best proposal in a competitive bidding process and the contract, according to district officials, totals $16.2 million.

The total cost of the project is projected to be $32 million, with the remainder of the financing for the project coming from the $20 million Measure E bond passed in 2018 and an estimated $12 million from the school district’s own coffers.

The current payment schedule, the sublease agreement shows, will have the district make 19 payments starting next month. The last payment is scheduled for Sept. 30, 2023, although a final payment schedule, together with the amount of the monthly lease payments, will be brought back to the board for approval at the next board meeting.

Lease-leaseback is a way of financing new construction of a campus, in which the school district leases the property to the construction company for a small amount.

The construction company takes on all the costs of construction at the outset of the project and the school district pays the company back through monthly lease payments for a set period of time – in this case, about a year and a half, according to lease-leaseback contract documents.

“We’re very excited to get this project underway and we’ll begin seeing activity on the site by the end of this month,” said Aaron Delworth, the assistant superintendent of business services.

“What it really comes down to on a project this size, lease-leaseback is typically a better option. The contractors are part of the process early on, whereas typically with design-build, the contractor doesn’t come on until everything’s ready to go.”

C.T. Brayton & Sons, Inc., headquartered in Escalon, just north of Modesto, was awarded a pre-construction services contract in the school board’s regular meeting on Dec. 14m before the lease-leaseback contract itself was awarded in the Atwater Elementary School Board meeting Feb. 8.

The other two contractors to submit full proposals were Lodi-based F&H Construction and Acme Construction, headquartered in Modesto.

The subcontractors on the project were also approved during the Feb. 8 board meeting, and more than half are from Fresno, Merced and Stanislaus Counties, school officials said during the meeting.

Construction is expected to start in March and the new school is expected to open in August 2023, officials said.

“The students, the families, all these homes here are going to benefit,” said Scott Lee, Atwater Elementary School Board trustee for Area 3. “We look forward to having a new school in 2023.”

The new school will also have amenities like electric vehicle charging stations, a STEM lab incorporated in the learning resources center, a large kitchen area, and an incorporated indoor stage for school productions. All of the school facilities would be solar-panel ready.

It was a special season for Atwater High junior Colton Dukes.

The Falcons guard surpassed 1,000 career points and helped lead the Falcons to a second consecutive Central California Conference championship.

Dukes can add another accolade to his resume.

The conference coaches selected Dukes as the CCC Most Valuable Player.

“That’s great for him,” said Atwater coach Kanoa Smith. “He’s done so much for us. He rarely comes out of the game. He led us in points, rebounds, steals and deflections. Besides assists and taking charges, all those big things we look for, he does that.”

Dukes averaged 19.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game that helped the Falcons win a share of the CCC championship with Merced and El Capitan.

“He made it hard for me to take him out of the game,” Smith said.

Dukes says earning the respect of the other coaches in the conference is an honor.

“It means a lot to me,” Dukes said. “It means they view me as the best player in the league. It shows all the work I put in paid off.”

The Falcons had to win their final three CCC games to earn their share of the championship.

“It’s definitely something we talked about and was one of our goals since the beginning of the season,” Dukes said. “It was special last year to win our first title in forever. To win back-to-back is amazing. It shows we can be more of a basketball school. It shows we can produce winners.”

The all-CCC first team selections were Atwater’s Tyler Parr, El Capitan’s Brody Collins, Will Bain, Golden Valley’s Mateo Tangaan, Merced’s Jaylen Thao-Booth and Seth Mays-Meneley and Patterson’s Precious Nnaji.

Merced’s Adrian Sanchez was chosen as the CCC Coach of the Year.

The second team was comprised of Atwater’s Cameron Frazier, Buhach Colony’s Brock Richards, Central Valley’s Jordan Powers, El Capitan’s Edrian Figueroa and Patterson’s Kwame Appiah.

Judah Flores (BC), KJ Ross (Atwater), Gage Mastropierro (CV), Greg Mack (EC), Isaiah Taylor (GV), Roman Buendia (Merced) and Jacob Guevarra (Patterson) all received honorable mention.

The all-sportsmanship team was comprised of Parr, Richards, Yoshi Kumar (CV), Tyler Minor (EC), Braden Castleton (GV), Javis Saeteurn (Merced) and Guevarra.

ATWATER, Calif. (KFSN) -- An electric meadow in the North Valley was so awe-inspiring it earned the $50,000 top prize on ABC's "Great Christmas Light Fight."

When Evelyn Quintero's home lights up the night, people can't believe their eyes.

Maria Vega said, "I think it will put Atwater on the map."

80,000 lights have helped Christmas meet the great outdoors - complete with deer, mountains and a waterfall.

Sylvia Gonzales said, "It's a work of art."

Evelyn never expected to make the show, let alone win the grand prize.

RELATED: DIY Christmas Lights Tour: Where to see holiday lights in Fresno and Clovis

She said, "I was in total shock. I just couldn't believe that they chose me. I'm just a little old great-grandma on a corner here."

Quintero picked out the corner lot at Crystal Drive and Travertine Way when her family moved here four years ago. She knew it'd be perfect for her decoration plans.

Kiley Stahlhut said, "I feel like I'm in a meadow and I feel like I'm out of this world. Like, amazed by these lights."

Quintero hand-painted all 8,000 flowers in the meadow. They're made out of icicle lights.

Gonzales said, "It's beautiful and I was told the pink flowers are in memory of her daughter, so I think that's very precious."

Quintero explained, "We had a daughter who passed away several years ago and her favorite color was pink so yes, I do have more pink flowers in memory of her."

It's a way of keeping Andrea close to her heart and Evelyn loved how people, especially kids, react to the display.

Alex Stahlhut said, "It's beautiful. Amazing."

Quintero was amazed at how quickly word has spread. Two Atwater women brought their friend - who just came in from Texas - to see the now-famous house.

She said, "I'm amazed at her skills and her imagination and that she even came up with the concept."

Evelyn Quintero wasn't seeking national fame. She just wanted to showcase her creativity.

RELATED: List of Christmas-themed events in Central CA you can visit with your loved ones

She said, "It was like showing your artwork at a New York gallery. That's what I was thinking.."

Downtown Atwater will look a bit more festive this holiday season with the addition of a new outdoor ice rink at the corner of Fourth Street and Cedar Avenue.

The rink is a first for Atwater, and Mayor Paul Creighton said the community is buzzing about about its Nov. 1 opening day.

“It’s going to be so nice,” Creighton said. “It will make (Atwater have) more like a small town feel again, kind of like a Hallmark movie.”

Construction of the rink, which is being built with real ice, has been underway in recent weeks.

The ice rink’s inception was spurred by Old Town Atwater, a downtown-based organization that pushes for positive change through restoration and projects within the heart of Atwater. In the works since January, organization officials say the nearly completed project represents Old Town Atwater’s mission of restoring downtown.

“We’ve had people driving by (with their) thumbs up, people walking by and checking it out, people wanting to actually come in the site and see what’s going on,” said Brad Kessler, president of Old Town Atwater.

The organization’s plan to create something positive for the community this holiday season was bolstered by local support and funding, Kessler said. The Old Town Atwater Skate Center is community-funded in its entirety, with Razzari Auto Centers as the main sponsor.

Help from the community allowed Old Town Atwater to provide the city’s local students with the opportunity to skate for free. Old Town Atwater handed out free ice skating tickets to over 7,600 local kindergarten through middle school kids — about a $114,000 value, Kessler told the Sun-Star.

These Atwater students will get first rights to the ice on the morning of Nov. 1, Kessler said, before the rink opens to the rest of the public that afternoon.

“It’s been quite an undertaking but we’ve gotten a lot of community support, and businesses and individuals have come through and really helped us make this happen,” Kessler said.

Once the rink opens, ice skaters can also enjoy food, hot chocolate and “all the accoutrements of a little Norman Rockwell” town, including a possible visit from Santa Claus during Christmas time, Creighton said.

“I think Atwater has needed something like this for a long time,” Kessler said.

The rink will be open through Jan. 16. General admission is $15, including the price of renting skates. Discounts are available for members of the military and first responders plus their families.

This story was originally published October 28, 2021 5:00 AM.