Mostly clear skies this evening will give way to mostly cloudy skies overnight. Low near 50F. WNW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph..
Tonight
Mostly clear skies this evening will give way to mostly cloudy skies overnight. Low near 50F. WNW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.
Halloween is going to be different because of the pandemic but at least one special treat will happen although in a different form. Halloween lights at the Carolands, a spectacular show, will take place via a drive through. There will be spooky lights, creatures, and much to delight at this former mansion up in the Hillsborough hills. Also video mapping will produce spiders and who knows what else crawling up and down the walls.
Allegra Entertainment will produce this extravaganza. Its founder, Kier LaCrosse, has an unusual background. I met him unexpectedly since his areas of expertise are not mine. I was helping a friend whose father had recently died and she was trying to put together some kind of a memorial during the pandemic when gatherings, even outdoor ones, were limited. She didn’t want to Zoom but wanted to be able to share her family’s love for her dad with a small group of friends. It turned out to be more of a challenge than she thought. The plan was to show a video which the children and grandchildren had spent hours putting together but realized this was going to be almost impossible to see outside in the morning sun and via a laptop which was too small. They would have to rent a monitor and have someone to put it together and make sure it worked. They would need to rent chairs and set them up 6 feet apart but in a way that the group would be able to see the speakers. And probably a mike so people could hear. She turned to me for advice and I suggested, reluctantly, that she probably needed some expert help. We looked online and found a few local groups which put on events, but these events were usually corporate spectaculars.
I made some calls, unsuccessfully. I tried one again, Allegra. This time a woman answered, wanted to know where I lived and when I said San Mateo, she turned me over to the boss. Maybe it was because LaCrosse had grown up in San Mateo, gone to the same schools as my friend and me. And also because the entertainment business was a bust and he had some time on his hands that he agreed to help.
***
LaCrosse entered the entertainment business because a neighbor’s 15-year-old sick dog ended what was to be a successful career as a guitar rock star. The dog attacked him one hot day when LaCrosse was trying to provide water. He almost lost the use of his left hand and lost three fingers. His forefinger was ruined. He spent many weeks in surgery and rehab but his musical career was over. At the time he was auditioning with Grammy winner Red Hot Chili Peppers. Instead they hired a well-known entity, Dave Navarro.
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LaCrosse started playing guitar as a teen. While a student at Chico State University, he wrote and recorded the number one requested song “Chimes.” The media attention to his song and band caught the attention of Anheuser-Busch who sponsored his band, Monkey Business, which was voted the #1 college party band in the nation. This led to the audition with the Chili Peppers.
The accident marked the end of his band and his playing in live performances. But in 1993, he worked for an entertainment firm and decided to open one on his own in 2000 and named it Allegra. The firm’s last big extravaganza before the pandemic closed things down was a post holiday party for Zoom, in early 2020 (Earlier they had done the gala for the San Francisco Ballet). I watched the Zoom trailer on Allegra’s website. Bands, many food venues, entertainment. It was spectacular. I wasn’t quite sure how this kind of expertise would help my friend. But LaCrosse knew the art of a successful production, no matter how big or small, how noisy or how somber with no food and no bands. And my friend and her family were very pleased.
***
That’s the musical part of his career. But LaCrosse was also an award-winning soccer star at Aragon High, Sonoma State, Chico, in a semi-pro League and a soccer coach. He plays in an over 50 league today. His dad, Kenneth LaCrosse, was the soccer coach at Burlingame High; played football at Stanford with the team that went to the Rose Bowl in 1952.
Let’s hope Allegra and the many other entertainment firms and their employees, can hang on. And, maybe LaCrosse lucked out not having a career as a guitarist in a rock band. He was able to move on to a more stable life, marry and raise a family with two potential soccer stars.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.