Best Local Artist
John Ramos

If SLO’s art scene were the super-saturated horse race it is in New York or London, John Ramos would be on the winner’s podium along with the surliest, most freakishly small jockey. And that shouldn’t be taken as anything but a huge compliment. This year Ramos has been voted SLO County’s "best artist" for the sixth year in a row.

Ramos was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1944, and much of his colorful, highly representative art reflects that cultural heritage. At the age of 8, Ramos moved to southern California, where he lived for over 25 years and studied art. 16 years ago, Ramos and wife/manager Donna moved to SLO to escape the madness of southern California.

These days, he’s pulling in up to $50,000 for commissioned paintings and has his own high-visibility gallery at the intersection of Marsh and Higuera. He also makes regular appearances in what his wife terms the "coastal U.S. circuit," which encompasses beachfront galleries everywhere from southern California to Pt. Aransas, Texas, to the Gulf Shores of Florida to the New Jersey coastline. His unique brand of folksy, nostalgia-driven coastal landscapes, Mexican portraiture, and warm-hearted depictions of surf culture has attracted international attention and a legion of loyal followers.

More recently, however, Ramos has turned his attention to local subjects–a shift of focus for an artist who has traditionally been more interested in international material. "It started two years ago when they had to tear down Avila Beach," explains Donna. "I think he started to realize that the area was changing, and he wanted to capture some of that before it was too late." In the last two years, he’s done all that and more–including a series of paintings of landscapes off Highway 1 in both directions. Now he’s working on a series inspired by Baja, Mexico, and he and Donna are collaborating on his memoirs.

As reflected year after year in the votes of New Times readers, Ramos is a local treasure and a great credit to both SLO county and his Mexican-American roots. Stop by his sunny, visitor-friendly gallery in downtown SLO to have a look at this work. Just bring either a fat checkbook or a large helping of self-restraint–his original paintings start around $4,500 and venture up to $25,000 or more. Postcards go for 50 cents.

2nd: Eric Schofield
3rd: Dottie Hawthorne

Best Community Watch Dog

It wasn’t surprising that readers chose the Shredder again for this singular honor, but it was surprising when SLO County’s most infamous office appliance ran off to Jamaica with the copy machine–everyone thought for sure it would be the FAX. We caught up with the happy couple recently to discover that they were neither happy nor a couple any longer, but we were able to get the following statement from our winner via video cam:

"–no, I said just a hint of Vermouth, not half the damn bottle…Look, it’s simple. All you do is… Right now? Oh, okay…yeah…Hold on sec…Hey, everyone, I just want to send out my thanks for your votes, and anything else it may have taken to help me come out on top. As I wing my way back across the country, I’m struck by a single thought: Doesn’t that guy in seat H-3 look kind of like Bin Laden?

"But seriously, I can’t take this seriously. And neither should you. Because this entire rinky-dink Best Of thing has nothing to do with being best. It has to do with your Pavlovian responses–the first thing that pops into your mind, nothing more. You know, word association, that parlor game those smarty-pants employment psychiatrists at Diablo play to see if they can trust you to help dump radioactive waste in the ocean.

"But here at New Times, they trot out a list of local loo-loos and ask you to pick the "best" of the lot, but all you’re really doing is sitting there letting stuff involuntarily pop in your head, which is as easy to do as recalling the last commercial you saw. Then New Times sends its sales troops out to sell a bunch of ads to people who think they’ve been picked as the best by you, but it’s all just so much waffle dust and pigeon poop so New Times can collect the loot and laugh to the bank: "Ha! Fooled them again! What a bunch of suckers!"

"And then they I think they do some creative counting so I’ll win this category, hoping I’ll be so pleased and puffed up that I’ll buy a full-page ad and won’t say all the things I just said. Ha! Fooled them again! What a bunch of suckers!

"As usual, they try to buy me off, but their offer is never enough, but then it is and then it becomes obvious that everything I’ve said here is total nonsense, I simply have no idea what came over me, perhaps an acid flashback or yesterday’s sushi, I really don’t know, but I really want to thank all of you for choosing me out of so many other undeserving contestants, you’re too kind, thank you, thank you, no autographs please, see my agent for current prices, God bless you all, you’re so easily manipulated, each and every one of you, simply the best, but nowhere near as good as me because I won and you didn’t."

2nd: New Times
3rd: SLO Police Department

Best local news source
KSBY
Charter Communications channel 6

Did you see the episode where the sailboat on Sharon Graves’ ocean forecast map suddenly became possessed and went into hyperspeed on the air? How about the ‘Legal Edge’ clip where members of an office were recruited to "drive" their chairs around a parking lot to simulate freeway traffic, or the time Jennifer Mandulay and Tony Cipolla bickered for the entire run of the 6 p.m. news? If you haven’t been watching the award-winning news on KSBY channel 6, you’ve been missing out.

KSBY’s "Live at Five" news program won Best News Broadcast in the Associated Press Television/Radio Association of California and Nevada news contest. KSBY also won Best Television Light Feature for "Denny the Duck," and Best Television Anchor Team for Jennifer Mandulay and Tony Cipolla.

There’s something for everyone on KSBY. Besides, what else are you going to watch in between the NBC world news and Jeopardy? If you can’t watch anchors Tony Cipolla and Jennifer Mandulay plus Dave Alles covering sports and Sharon Graves covering the weather at 6 p.m., there’s daybreak with Richard Gearhardt and DeDe Harper; the 11 p.m. news with Wendy Thies; and weekends with Shari Small, Ryan Bennett, and Teresa Garcia. KSBY provides the most complete local television news coverage seven days a week.

Eat your heart out Big Bird, In addition to the news anchors who have reached cult status in some circles, "The Spirit of the Central Coast" is also home to the giant blue peacock with the NBC-colored tail seen wandering around events covered by KSBY. While it supposedly attends events for the benefit of young children, the effect that the sight of this giant, googly-eyed bird has on local fauna will allow adults to find humor in its presence as well. Dogs do not take kindly to the sight of a giant blue bird, nor do crows, cats, and possibly some insects. While this has absolutely nothing to do with the news, it is a peripheral benefit to having KSBY cover an event in your area.

2nd: New Times
3rd: The Tribune

Best Thing to Happen to SLO County
Mardi Gras

Well, this ain’t only the Best Community Festival in the county , but it’s also the Best Thing Overall To EVER Happen in the County! (Ok, so that might be over-doing it just a tad). All of those rebels who want to shake it downtown despite the city have spoken loud and clear.

2nd: Farmer’s Market
3rd: The Cuesta Grade Project

Best Cultural Asset
Performing Arts Center
Cal Poly Campus, San Luis Obispo

When it comes to prominent civic landmarks, there’s something to be said for ambitious architecture, especially in the case of a performing arts center. Like the volcanic Seven Sisters chain that provide its stunning backdrop, SLO’s Performing Arts Center rises up off Grand Avenue to a high-peaked ceiling. This lies directly in line with the natural mountain peaks adorning the area around Cal Poly’s campus, which houses the huge, multi-functional Performing Arts Center. It’s truly a setting that is at once inspired and inspirational–and thus the perfect home for the best performing arts the county has to offer.

The facility is a joint collaboration between Cal Poly State University, the City of San Luis Obispo, and The Foundation for the Performing Arts Center. It took two years to complete construction, which began in 1994 and ended with a weeklong celebration in 1996. The facility features a concert hall with 1,282 seats, a pavilion that provides for multiple activities from receptions to outdoor lectures to concerts and campus- and community-oriented political rallies (rare as that may be these days), and a 170-seat recital hall. The center’s full name is officially the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center, honoring a gift of over $2,000,000 made by Mr. Cohan to Cal Poly State University in 1990. This generous donation was the largest single gift to any individual California State University campus in history.

Today the Performing Arts Center is an indispensable feature of SLO county’s diverse cultural landscape. From performances by the Gilbert Reed Ballet such as this year’s "Rhapsody in Blue" to "The Vagina Monologues" to the best of Cal Poly’s drama department to traveling concerts such as Lucinda Williams and Ira Glass to excellent jazz offerings from around the country and much, much more, the Performing Arts Center is the SLO county spot for national-caliber performing arts. You owe it to yourself and to the local arts scene to take in some highbrow culture at such an esteemed location–just don’t get a parking ticket in the process. Check out the Center’s Web site at www.pacslo.org or call 756-2787 for a complete schedule.

2nd: Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
3rd: The Hearst Castle Experience

Best People-Watching Place
Downtown San Luis Obispo

A buddy of mine wouldn’t dream of planning anything between 3 and 5 p.. on Saturdays. See, that would interfere with his habit of sitting outside at the Mission Plaza in downtown SLO. He’ll pass up just about any offer in order to keep this tradition. Curiosity got the better of me a couple of Saturdays ago, and I joined him for his standard two-hour foray of people watching.

I can see how it could be addictive. The assortment of humanity that wanders by seems limitless. Of course, I was partial to the beautiful girls, dressed a la California Casual, which translates to abbreviated everything.

But after my initial phase of unabashed gawking, I settled in to just plan people watching. A businessman with a slicked back ponytail and dressed in traditional suit-and-tie garb from the waist up, but with knee-length khakis and rubber flip-flops on the bottom half. Then there’s the old guy who plays a mean fiddle and looks like he’s been going at it for at least a century. His donation jar is brimming over with bills–it’s been a good day. Lots of new-agers float by in gaudy tie-dyes, pierced eyebrows, and rings on every finger. The jocks run into Jamba Juice for a wheat grass-enriched smoothie on their way to Kennedy’s, their dark muscled legs strangely absent of hair. Pretty young moms push baby carriages with dozing youngsters whose faces are caked with the remains of what looks to have been one heck of an ice cream cone.

Then there’s the dogs–gotta be more golden retrievers in San Luis Obispo than any other town in America. A tall skinny girl with a bandanna tied around her torso is being towed by two damp dogs with matching bandannas around their necks. She flops down at the table next to ours. The dogs smell strongly of salt water, kelp and maybe dead fish. Within minutes she has a crowd of admirers, petting and crooning over the smelly canines–another golden opportunity which I just manage to resist. On a day like this in downtown SLO, I know there’s sure to be plenty more.

2nd: Farmer’s Market
3rd: The Beach

Best Place to Take Kids
Beach

What makes the beach so special to kids? Well it’s the same things that make it special for adults, only kids haven’t started taking it for granted. It’s the blue on blue of water touching sky, sea gulls floating overhead on rivers of air, and the pure free feeling of walking along the water’s edge on a warm sandy beach that seems to go on forever.

The day is certain to bring adventures–could be a sand crab scooped up in your bucket, spotting a bright starfish in a tide pool, or something as simple as a new flavor at the shaved ice stand. No doubt about it–for an unbeatable day of family fun, take your kids to the beach.

Avila may well be your best bet if the kids are on the smallish side. Most days, the protected beach offers a glassy cove with waves lapping at the shore that are just big enough for your knee-high youngsters to jump over. Then there’s the fresh water river that flows in via the Avila golf course. When the tide’s right, it makes a perfect wading pool for kiddies. On a warm summer day, the shallower water can warm up almost to bathtub temperature.

For more excitement, Pismo Beach is a favorite with the adolescent/teen-age set. Waves there are surf-able, and for diversion, there are arcades, a bowling ally and shops-a-plenty–but that sort of defeats the purpose of a day at the beach, doesn’t it?

The Old Port beach offers another source of family fun. The wind can tend to whip up a little there, making a chop that is a favorite of Wave Runner enthusiasts. They can be fun to watch, but may make the beach less than ideal for small children. There is the added advantage of the fire pits on the beach. Show up in the afternoon with the kids, dogs, a load of firewood and a bunch of hot-dogs–memories are made of this kind of thing!

2nd: Children’s Museum
3rd: KidzPlay

Best Place to Wow your Friends
Montaña de Oro

When it comes to living in SLO County, few motivations can top the sheer natural beauty of this unspoiled area. From Big Sur to the Pismo Dunes, from Bishop’s Peak to the Los Padres National Forest, this is a region of the country with natural wonders to rival the absolute best the remainder of the country has to offer–and SLO county holds its own with the rest of the world, too. Just don’t get caught in the trap of taking this natural paradise for granted–because you sure ain’t here for the low cost of living or incredible job market.

For many, Montaña de Oro State Park, a few miles past Los Osos on Los Osos Valley/Pecho Valley Rd., epitomizes this paradise perfectly. With drop-dead gorgeous sea cliffs, rugged green peaks, dense groves of fragrant eucalyptus, miles of sand dunes, world-class surfing, an abundance of sea otters, countless tide pools, fields full of wildflowers, and mile upon mile of stunning day hikes, it’s no wonder at all. Not to mention that plans for the future include more than doubling the size of the park as the land around the defunct Diablo nuclear power plant is acquired by the state.

Now, at the risk of being branded cheesy, Montaña de Oro has always had a spiritual significance beyond the grandiose scenery alone. No, nothing new-agey, exactly (though there’s plenty of that out there, gathering Chi, fondling crystals and what not). There’s just something about the smells, like a garden of fresh herbs, the splendid solitude (even on a crowded weekend, the non-coastal trails remain nearly deserted), the sand beneath your feet, the rocky shoreline and abalone-laden beaches, the wildlife–from sea otters to bobcats to coyotes to the hundreds of bird species to the tide pool inhabitants to deer and even, shudder, the occasional mountain lion–hiking in Montaña de Oro is something like stepping into a scene from Bambi on crack–and I mean good crack. This place is nature times 100, a true state (if not national) treasure, and every visit there makes the thought of living any place else seem unbearable.

Props to the hardworking crew of State Park rangers, conservationists, and volunteers. They’ve been keeping the place pristine, safe (provided you know your enough to bring a trail map and your own water), and most amazingly–shhhh–absolutely free of charge. Camping does carry a fee, however, and reservations are required months in advance between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

"We want everyone here to have their chance to use the park, so we have to share the resource between competing user groups," says Supervising Ranger Juventino Ortiz. "We have specific areas for horseback riders and for mountain biking, and some areas are closed to dogs." There’s also an environmental education camp for kids from Kern County tucked back away in a beautiful eucalyptus forest.

Ortiz adds that the maintenance of the park would not be possible without the efforts of the park’s hardworking Resource Ecologists and the chairperson for volunteer docents, Joyce Cory. She coordinates a group of over 50 dedicated volunteers who staff the ranch house headquarters and native plant garden. Some of them, like Cory, lead hikes in their spare time as well.

Ranger Clay King doesn’t hesitate when describing the wonders of the park: "It’s probably the premier state park in the area, not just for the obvious scenic beauty, but also the wide variety of recreational activities such as horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking, camping, and surfing."

So check out Montaña de Oro, readers’ pick for best place to wow visitors for the third year running. For more information, check out www.parks.ca.gov, and if your buddies aren’t blown away by a visit here, then to put it bluntly, something’s gotta be wrong with them. Get ‘em a one-way ticket to Long Beach and say "Sayonara." Then you’ll be free to enjoy paradise by yourself–just watch out for Lyme disease-infected deer ticks. Even paradise has its drawbacks sometimes.

2nd: The Hearst Castle Experience
3rd: Madonna Inn/The Beach

Best Mover and Shaker
Alex Madonna
San Luis Obispo

There are a lot of movers and shakers in San Luis Obispo County, but Alex Madonna is the best known and everyone’s favorite to talk about.

Every mover and shaker needs to shake up the community with a big debate, and Madonna has the most prominent one: the Froom Ranch Debate.

He tried to move a 150,000-square-foot Costco onto his annexed 54-acre Froom Ranch. The community tried to limit the size of big-box stores by preventing them from selling groceries but failed before the SLO Planning Commission.

Then they asked for additional environmental impact studies, and Madonna responded with a lawsuit, claiming the studies would kill his project. Madonna then flirted with the idea to make Froom Ranch into a pig farm, but he is still trying to build a box-store.

Every mover and shaker needs his own mountain, and Madonna has the most prominent one: Madonna Mountain.

Madonna has recently battled trespassers who want to hike his mountain. He said that the younger generation’s attitude of entitlement to access is one reason why he has had problems with Madonna Mountain.

Every mover and shaker needs his own "castle" as well. Again, Madonna has the most prominent one: Madonna Inn. The Madonna Inn is known throughout the United States as a garish, but fun, themed inn. Madonna served as the inn's architect and wife Phyllis its interior designer. Their picture greets you when you walk into the restaurant, which is decorated with a lot of pink.

Last year, Madonna got Monica Lewinsky to advertise for the Madonna Inn. The inn is so well known that rooms like the Caveman room have to be booked a year in advance.

Madonna has a lot of other businesses and activities in San Luis Obispo, though his most prominent remain the Froom Ranch debate, the Madonna Inn and Madonna Mountain.

With such aspects that are such a part of San Luis Obispo, it is no wonder that Madonna is the best mover and shaker. No other mover and shaker has stirred quite so big a debate, built quite so spectacular an inn or owns quite so big a mountain.

2nd: Rob Rossi
3rd: Dave Congalton

Best Advocate of the Arts Scene
Ann Ream
San Luis Obispo

There are a lot of advocates of art in San Luis Obispo, so being the best is quite an achievement.

"Ann is interested in promoting and supporting all the arts in San Luis Obispo, whether it’s giving her time or resources to arts," Executive Director of the County Arts Council Kate Stulberg says. "She is always the first one to come forward to help the arts."

This is not the only recognizement of Ream’s achievements, though. She received the Community and Public Service Award in the Volunteer work for her work in art. This award is given to women who have distinguished themselves as volunteers in the community through outstanding service to human and community needs. Ream definitely did this.

Ream’s efforts can be seen on public display in downtown San Luis Obispo. She didn’t create the art and sculptures that unexpectedly decorate the streets and storefronts of San Luis, but she played a major role in getting them there.

Ream is the chair of the Arts in Public Places Committee of the City of San Luis Obispo. She also co-founded the "Arts Are Core" organization that raises money for public school’s arts education.

In the past, Ream has served as Board President for the SLO County Art Council. She continues to be involved in this organization after being involved with it for more than 10 years.

The SLO County Art Council plans to give her an Arts Honors Day Award in June for her many achievements in the world of San Luis Obispo arts scene.

People who have experienced Ream’s dedication to art have all described her as energetic, a leader and very enthusiastic about art.

Ream is the best advocate for art because she has stimulated the community and local government into getting involved in local, public art. She definitely deserves applause for stirring the community to even greater creativity than it already has.

"She is a national treasure," Stulberg said. "And I love her to death."

2nd: SLO County Arts Council
3rd: New Times

Best Advocate for the Environment
Bill Deneen

With his Walt-Whitman like beard, piercing blue eyes, legs muscular from hiking and biking, and T-shirts touting environmental slogans, Bill Deneen certainly looks like the best advocate for the environment, but his actions are the real reason he was voted the best.

Deneen puts his money where his mouth is, by supporting the Environmental Defense Center financially, for example. He has contributed to a local "legacy fund," with a charitable gift annuity.

The recipient of many honors for his environmental work, he recently created an environmental honor which he bestows on other advocates, such as Eric Greening and Pam Heatherington, the director of ECO SLO.

This former college biology professor had no trouble slipping in to the new age. Several times a week he sends an e-mail newsletter to about 300 of the "enviro-inclined." His newsletter always begins with "If busy, sun out, uninterested or significant other suggests other activity--DELETE NOW. If you want to write about a meeting, enviro issue, potential letter to elected rep., neat nature experience---send."

This electronic exchange gives environmentalists a heads-up on environmental legislation, contains draft letters to congressmen, and alerts its audience to important media events necessary to those who want to stay informed.

A champion of population control, Deneen also sends out a non-Mom’s e-mail newsletter, which discusses overpopulation concerns. He makes it his business to sit outside of the Santa Maria Planned Parenthood clinic each week on the days that abortions are scheduled, to escort women past the pro-life demonstrators.

Deneen mourned this fall when his mentor Kathleen Goddard Jones died. She is considered the "Lady of the Dunes," and is credited with single-handedly stopping PG&E from building a nuclear power plant there. She accomplished this not by fighting the corporation, but by inspiring a love for "her dunes" in others.

Now that the battle to save the dunes has a new adversary, the off-road vehicle enthusiasts, Deneen takes Goddard Jones’ approach. He routinely leads hikes there and points out many of the hundreds of unique plant and animal species that call the dunes home. Visitors are always taken aback by their beauty.

Bill Deneen is granddaddy eco-hooligan, of them all–the best.

2nd: ECOSLO
3rd: U.S. Congresswoman Lois Capps

Best Place to Get a Tattoo/Body Piercing
Studio 805 Tattoo & Body Piercing
590 Doliver, Pismo Beach

If you think of a tattoo parlor as somewhere where folks go to enjoy blood, metal, pain and passing out, then you ought to visit Studio 805 Tattoo and Body Piercing for a change of perspective. That’s a prison silly! Tattoo parlors are much cooler!

You’ll find a studio flooded with sunshine, and some of the coolest wall art in the county, when you walk into Studio 805. Contrary to popular misconceptions, this tattoo parlor is full of creative, friendly, and cool smiling artists. On top of that, this studio has the same hygiene standards as even the finest plastic surgeon in West Hollywood!

They don’t just listen to scary death metal tunes in this tattoo parlor, but play everything cool from jazz to punk rock. Just like you and your buddies do, but they do it with style.

If you have an idea for a tattoo, but don’t see it anywhere on paper, Chewy and the guys at Studio 805 can work some magic and portray your idea as tangible art. Art that will stay with you forever, reminding you of just how cool you used to be, and just how hip that guy was who drew on you!

These guys have the bedside manners of your mother, and are really cool about helping you decide what you want. Because a tattoo is not generally a fly-by-the-minute investment, the crew at Studio 805 will work with you to ensure your tattoo doesn’t suck.

While you’re at it, you may be inspired by the pretty and creative jewelry on display. The Studio 805 lads will place it in any groovy location on your body that you wish. They can make it as inspiring, spiritual, and cool an experience as a date with the Dalai Lama might be, if any of us were cool enough to get one!

If you are looking for a one-time butterfly on the ankle tat, or an addition to a growing collection, the artists at Studio 805 appreciate how personal the experience is and will dig every moment with you.

2nd: Traditional Tattoo/Mothership Tattoos
3rd: Pandora’s Box Tattooing

Best Place to Tie the Knot
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

The smell of flowers lingers in the air around Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in downtown SLO. Plants are blooming as far as the eye can see. Most fragrant of all, perhaps, are the lemon and orange trees scattered throughout the entire downtown area. Roses and pink jasmine are abundant as well, and azaleas show their plumage like arrogant peacocks. Framing the mission bell is the ancient Chorisia tree, blossoming forth in splendid hues of pinks and purples.

The Mission itself sits cloaked in wedding white amidst this abundance of natural beauty. Add to this the gentle breezes whispering through the leaves, the distant gurgling of the creek and the Mission fountain, and romance can’t help but bloom and flourish right along with the flowers.

Clearly, a setting idyllic as this is the perfect place for SLO County lovebirds to exchange their sacred vows. The dark polished wood inside the mission holds a simple yet grand allure, and the subdued lighting and flickering candles cast a warm glow that flatters and beautifies the bride as she makes her way down the aisle to the elaborately carved wood altar on her special day. Rounded arches support the high ceiling, a setting replete with both splendor and simplicity.

Add to this a healthy dose of rich California history and that good ol’ Catholic missionary nostalgia. Such divine severity can’t hurt–I mean, what better way to scare your beloved into a life of faithful obedience? All right, all right–it’s a pretty place, and that’s that. Still, there’s something wonderfully sacred, almost stern inside the Mission–the perfect spot to vow eternal love. Meanwhile, the outside presents a festive, beautiful sight that evokes eternal spring–the perfect spot to emerge from the divine vows, duck some birdseed, and hop in a limo taking you to your flight to Cabo San Lucas. It’s no mystery why readers picked downtown’s Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa as the best spot to tie the knot and ride off into the sunset together. It’s a magical spot that’s centrally located, simply beautiful, and like love itself, at once celebratory and uncompromising.

2nd: The Beach
3rd: Harmony Chapel/The Cliffs At Shell Beach

Best New Business
Jump Design Group
1130 Garden St. (Door A), San Luis Obispo

This one had a lot of people around the office asking, "What’s Jump?" Those in the know were as pleased as ants at a picnic. For those not in the know, Jump is a hair salon. But, it’s not just any salon.

Jump, which opened in January of this year (so winning in this category after only three months is quite a feat), features a dream team–a collection of the best hair stylists in the area. "We didn’t take out a [help wanted] ad," said Jump owner Tony Beaurain, "The right people just came." They came because Beaurain created a totally unique environment.

The atmosphere feels less like an appointment for a haircut and more like visiting a friend. You know, your friend who has the cool apartment in the rustic little building where there is always great music playing. "I’ve always wanted a salon, but not a salon," said Beaurain. And that’s really the best way to describe it.

The furniture is all handmade by Beaurain from discarded materials like window frames, wooden beams, and dresser drawers. The waiting area, which is peppered with architecture books and gardening magazines rather than People or Us magazines, isn’t in the front. It’s in the middle of the salon next to an atrium. It’s more like a living room. There’s also a cozy little back patio bordered by lush plants. It’s all very bohemian.

"All of us here were really ready for a change," said stylist Aura Joy, "Tony makes a nice environment."

Beaurain wanted to create a place where people could step back and breathe. The idea had been brewing for a long time, but as he describes it, there was no huge plan. First Bank helped with the start up and that was it. "It just kind of came about," he said, which seems to fit with the relaxed mood of the place.

Just because the mood is relaxed, however, don’t think the stylists are taking it easy. The staff keeps up on the latest techniques and styles. "We are learning all the time," said Beaurain.

It shows. Jump’s specialty is coloring and the stylists are all first rate. And, if there’s a piece of furniture someone likes, they can buy it. Beaurain said, "You can walk out of here with a cut, shampoo, and a chair."

Jump’s friendly and talented staff help redefine the salon experience. And, they look good doing it.

2nd: Proch Home and Garden
3rd: Uptown Jean. Co. /virtualslo.com