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On The Town

Safe Trick-or-Treating and Community Events in Grass Valley
KNCO
On The TownOn The Town

Safe Trick-or-Treating and Community Events in Grass Valley

Episode #67October 29, 202626:50

Join us as we discuss safe trick-or-treating practices and upcoming community events in Grass Valley, including Halloween festivities and the Red Light Ball.

In this episode of On The Town, Tom Fitzsimmons visits Sereno's to talk about the upcoming safe trick-or-treating event in downtown Grass Valley. Donna Sereno shares insights about the restaurant's role in the community and the festive atmosphere that accompanies Halloween. They discuss the importance of safety for children during trick-or-treating and the various activities planned for families.

The conversation also touches on the Grass Valley Police Department's involvement in community safety and upcoming events like the Red Light Ball, which supports local law enforcement and fire protection agencies. Listeners are encouraged to participate in these community gatherings and enjoy the traditions that make Grass Valley a special place to live.

Show transcript
Show: On The Town Station: KNCO File: 10:29.mp3 Air date: 2026-10-29 Source: OpenAI whisper-1 · shrunk from 30.7 MB to 6.1 MB --- transcript --- It is 1133 and 60 degrees and I think for the Last time in a while, but it will return Tom Fitzsimmons is on the town at Sereno's good morning, Tom Well, good morning Moe I'm at Sereno's at Main Street. There's no Jerry Sereno here, but Donna Sereno just walked in you didn't know you were gonna be on the air today I know it's not a football game. So here I am kind of surprised Excited about tomorrow night's football game. I am I think it's gonna be a great game I want to see Bear River in though. They had a tough game last week Young quarterback and stuff. Have you enjoyed doing football? Have you figured out how to broadcast the football game? Are you having fun? I'm absolutely having the time of my life. I love it. I love it that you gave me the opportunity Basketball as well. I love it Not play. I don't know but color is gonna be here before you know it So yeah, I know you're really chomping on the bit at that one. I can't wait. I think it's gonna be a blast We'll have a good time You do is that you're nice enough to bring some Sereno's food out to the football game and have me enjoy after the game and stuff Do you have favorites that you have here? Well, I tend to lean towards the penny pepper. Oh, so cuz I like hot pasta It's good. It's really good. But people love the fettuccine alfredo It's the penny pasta the pepper. Oh, so it has chicken. Isn't that a guy you dated back in the Bay? Yeah, the pepper. Oh see Peter pepper. Oh That Sounds like a Jersey thing to me. No There's a lot of favorites people come in for salads. They come in for burgers. They come in for sandwiches People don't realize this isn't just a big huge dinner establishment place. It's a place for Gatherings as a place for great lunches Everything's very fairly priced and you get quite a bit of food where you could take some home as well for the next You know for the next meal or whatever and it's it's great. It's a great place to be I had my birthday party. It was was that an official birthday party here that you helped decorate with Barbara and I did all in the Ranger colors for you. Of course the red white and blue. Yeah. No, and it was a lot of fun It was perfect Like a card from that people signed and stuff, right? Is that what people get when they have their birthday come? It's a recipe for life a cup of friendliness You know a teaspoon of love, you know that kind of thing and then people sing to you and you get a dessert and maybe a few other surprises Should have read that. Yeah, well that sounded kind of kind of lovey and schmaltzy really at rest. What is it a cup of what? No, it's all about life, you know a handful of friends and you know, I don't know a cup of love I don't know. I don't remember. I did it so long ago. I designed it I just do it and then I bring it over here and then everybody signs it and wishes you a happy birthday Your hubby said is that this time of year people have to get their Christmas parties in line, right? So this is a great place. I've Christmas party. Can't you had the party over here in this little area right in this main dining room? We have a lot of large tables and he was gonna put booze in on the other side of the restaurant and he didn't for that very reason because so Many people now come here to celebrate birthdays graduations the holidays Just any kind of event that a lot of people coming back for a holiday like families They come here because this has been here for 43 years and it's kind of a tradition So it's it's a family place and people love it because it's the way it used to be, you know You talk to neighbors you go table-to-table and and see people, you know, and it's a it's a really old vibe That's a very cool vibe. Yeah Have a costume on today. I see This is like the old This is This is like a washed up college basketball player look and stuff Oh, what are you? What are you wearing for tomorrow when they have the downtown event to be passing out candy and I was gonna come as a New York Yankee speaking of being an ex-jock, but I don't know maybe it yeah, I have Joe DiMaggio's Jersey. I loved him I met him. He's a great guy. So anyway, I thought I would do that just drop Joe DiMaggio. That's like a saint of baseball Yeah, no, and um, no I'll do something simple because one time I dressed up kind of scary and the kids freaked out and I just you know They're crying enough as it is. So I just do simple, you know Was so scared you put on like lipstick or what? Isn't he terrible? Yeah, I did I put on lipstick All right. All right, so it's down here at 10 o'clock We're gonna be talking about that matter of fact about safe trick-or-treating But you guys gonna have candy here for the kids and things like that huge bowls and then after whatever's left we pass it out to all the guests that come in and Everybody's dressed up all our crews dressed up and maybe Jerrold even be dressed up, but everybody comes in they love it It's again a great Downtown is such a beautiful place to come to because you can walk the little Mill Street Plaza You can go to the movies. You can go to the Halloween events, whatever Cornish Christmas It's a great town people call it a Hallmark card and we're lucky enough to have that right here in our own hometown That is Donna Serino. Thank you for bailing out your husband, by the way. I don't know where he was calling from Do you know where he was by chance at home or he was with Ryan doing something? I don't know your home He was at my home our home She said her home when she came. Yes. I understand. That's right with the deer in the end All right It is Financial advisor with austro financial consultants LPL financial member SIPC and yeah Trick-or-treating going on tomorrow in lots of places You're gonna be out in costume anywhere Nathan I just may I'm still trying to figure that one out Yeah, I talked with Dan holiday a few days ago, and he said he was going to be dressed as a rock You know, you've seen the Charlie Brown Special where he he goes door-to-door and trick-or-treats and he always gets a rock. Yep. Yep I like that. That's that's pretty appropriate Well, um great idea. How yeah, how about Wall Street? How's it looking today? Yeah, so we're seeing a little bit of a pullback in the markets today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 0.5% at just over 52,180 the S&P 500 is down 0.6% at 7,690 and the Nasdaq is down 1.7% at 26,100 taking a look at commodity markets. We're also seeing some negative price movement there with crude oil down 77 77 cents a barrel at just over $102 gold down $34 down to $4,017 and silver down $1.62 at just over $52 an ounce Lastly the u.s. 10-year Treasury yield at 5% which is down slightly from yesterday All right, and we'll get it. Well, I guess it'll be Rick that will give us the other. Yep Yep, right after the 530 newscast Nathan. Thanks for pinch-hittin. Appreciate it. Thank you securities offered through LPL financial member FINRA SIPC Investment advice offered through Astra Financial Consultants Incorporated a registered investment advisor and separate entity from LPL financial Hi, this is Jerry Serino Thank you for voting Serino's at Main Street the best of more times than any business in Nevada County If you can't join us for lunch or dinner today Stay tuned to on to town and we'll keep you informed of the great changes taking place at Serino's award-winning restaurant Remember Thursday's lunchtime KNCO Serino's at Main Street in Grass Valley Welcome Welcome back down the town Tom Fitzsimmons here Serino's at Main Street always a great place to be in downtown Grass Valley again It could be one of your headquarters When you have the trick-or-treating event with those preschoolers It is a wonderful event. It is just as Sweet as can be to see those little kids walking around our downtown area goes from 10 till about 1 or so tomorrow It's very unusual. It's not on Halloween Day itself So take advantage of that and then of course the Saturday is Halloween Debbie Blakemore is here Representing the board of Nevada County and Law Enforcement Fire Protection Council, which brings up a point Debbie Blakemore I just had a Brian Blakemore on just the other day on the radio We're talking about the turkey trot and stuff. Who's how's he related to you? He's my nephew He's a nice guy. He seems like a nice guy, but then again, he's a cop, you know So I don't want to you know, take him off or anything. He's an incredible nice young man He's been polite always polite very knowledgeable Loves the community He seems like he loves born and raised here, right? Yes. Yes Do you have any things you can say that that that he has any quirky things that drive you a little crazy? Because it'd be good to kind of find this out No, I have to plead the fifth on that one. I don't All right, so you're on the board why did you decide to get on the board of the Law Enforcement Fire Protection Council? I started helping last year with their annual fundraiser the red light ball and got to know I know other people on the board and started going to the meetings and Thought it was a great organization to be further involved in Tell you that you were gonna have to do radio shows though at the time. No, they did not. No, no That could have been a deciding factor if maybe not joining but no I it's it's okay It's almost hurt me it for a second W just for a second there All right So do you guys have big big projects that you've been doing you want to share that with our listeners some of the things that? The Law Enforcement Fire Protection Council has done. Yes. The mission is to raise funds to be able to get back to the local law enforcement firefighter protection agencies first responders to fund their needs in education and equipment that their budgets just can't cover so we've done a lot of Give backs contributions to these agencies this especially in the last six months, so There's been drones that I think CHP's had radios. We were talking about I think with Chicago Park Paredale Correct. Yes, so the CHP last month We granted them through to to ebike bicycles, which helps them to to Conduct And Sorry like surveillance or something Yeah Yeah for it well, it's for the crowded events like the fair and we have the Olympics coming up and also With the drone it's got infrared capabilities So that will help identify help them find a suspect and or search and rescue if somebody is in a car accident Real quickly with the red light ball that's going to be coming up soon enough in the spring Is it a fun event some people haven't been to it before you've been to it. How much fun is it? It's it's really a lovely event and we're going to actually have it in a new venue this year at the Costello Vista and here in Grass Valley and we're going to kind of not reinvent but kind of Look at changing it up a little bit and we're excited about it. We're starting to plan that that's on May 15th 2027 And we have a great turnout and we'd love for the community to come and participate Chance, they would be singing Blakemore's there you guys there's so many Blakemore's involved In the air is there any chance of that having like like this instead of the von Trapp family? We have the Blakemore family it could that so people need to come to the event to find out I'm gonna ask That's half the fun of course trick-or-treat is here. Do you have a costume for trick-or-treat? I didn't even ask you that no not this year All right And you are Officer bird with Grass Valley Police Department and of course you just put on Not too long ago that run through the crazy colors and all that stuff. I never get to talk to you afterwards How was national that was a good success this year? We had a lot of people come out it grows every year, and it was pretty good I had a lot of kids that enjoyed it got covered colored and covered colors And it was it was good you covered head to toe pretty much Unfortunately yes, I was so it's tough to get out of your system and stuff You know I mean the clothes and your hair and your face and all the clothing was easy But what they don't tell you about is our duty belts and all the leather it just gets in Everywhere, and it takes us a while to get that stuff out, but it's worth it for the kids I'm not even sure who's in charge of the police department now because it seems like you guys One's running for governor the other ones like a city manager and things like that who are you in charge this night? No, I am NOT unfortunately. I'm not I'm just a lowly officer Officer who we can okay, but this is an important time though for the public because we're gonna have the safe trick-or-treating It's a very fun thing in Grass Valley That's very controlled But trick-or-treating itself is something people have to be aware of about what to look for and what to be aware of right Yeah, and it's very simple just be aware of like open packaging on your candies Or there's holes or things like that. Do not eat them. Just be cautious of who you're getting them from and Just have a good time while you're out there Has there been many problems in the past during Halloween with people doing? Inappropriate mischievous stuff someone knock on wood in our community. No we have a pretty good community, so no I Know one thing Some areas are darker than others So can you give some safety advice to for some of the parents and or grandparents out there as far as? Going door-to-door trick-or-treating, and you know safety with lights and costumes and stuff I just make sure you have lights make sure you're visible wear bright colored clothing and for the parents if they're walking around with the kids Just be safe and be cautious vehicles approaching Now do you have favorite places that people could did you grow up here? Oh, yeah, I grew up here my dad grew up here my grandpa grew up here, so yeah, it's a couple places I know Morgan Ranch is a big one that people go to Cypress Hill those are pretty big areas locally that people go to for sale I've been there like when even when my kids were were little and stuff like ancient history now So are people pretty polite, but what's the etiquette if the lights are on it's okay to go up if the lights are not on Don't go up. Is that still the etiquette that's still the etiquette as far as I know yes As far as coming down here do it with the families tomorrow what time should people arrive? What's the parking situation like and all that stuff? So tomorrow it's going to be from 10 to 1 o'clock. It's put on by the grass Valley downtown Association It'll be what the Mill Street Corridor West Main East Main part of it For preschool kids they can come and enjoy everything at candy meet the business owners meet the community, and it'll be a good event You guys have a presence there, too. Do you get dressed up, or you just go as a cop? I'll be there as a cop, so I'll be the one attending so yes I'll be there Cool because there's a lot of like Paw Patrol kids and all that stuff I mean do you get excited to see the kids that are dressed up like little Paw Patrol guys like I'm trying to think what the cops name is what do you know? No, I can't recall, but yes, it is good to see them all dressed up as law enforcement It's good to see and then build that community relationship with them Driving us because I know Marshall's the fire guy, but I grew up in a firehouse, but that's just how it is anyway We're going to take a one breaker on the town here at the Serino's at Main Street Talking safe trick-or-treating, and it's this weekend here in downtown Grass Valley big event starting tomorrow, so a quick break. We'll be right back Hello Hello, Grass Valley neighbors. I'm Bob Branstrom, and I served on the Grass Valley City Council from 2020 to 2024 I'm running again because I want to continue serving you on the issues that affect our community every day My priorities include responsible stewardship of city finances Wildfire preparedness a strong local economy and more housing opportunities I believe good local government depends on listening to residents Working with city staff and community partners and making decisions with Grass Valley's long-term needs in mind To learn more about my experience and priorities search Bob for Grass Valley City Council online paid for by Branstrom for Grass Valley City Council 2026 FPPC number 1488394 Escape the everyday and enjoy a little more time to relax with the weeknight getaway because this year stellar rewards members of every tier can Enjoy 50% off all suites and 30% off all standard rooms Sunday through Thursday Settle in and relax in our luxurious rooms and enjoy everything the resort has to offer from casino excitement and free live Entertainment to award-winning craft beer and delicious dining at the brewery the lodge at Feather Falls Casino Resort your place to stay Must be 21 or older blackout days apply management reserves. 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No, I'm hungry You are one-of-a-kind your smile your laugh the way you look at those you love So when it comes to cancer care you deserve a treatment approach That's as unique as you dignity health Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital features a comprehensive range of services From advanced diagnosis and treatment through supportive care and recovery So you get the plan the best fits your needs learn more at dignity health org slash Sierra, Nevada cancer dignity health Hello human kindness Welcome back down the town Tom Fitzsimmons here Serena's at Main Street a Jerry Very Serena's here now. So I just want you to say hi, you know my because you know with Halloween coming and all that stuff It's a fun time. Isn't it to be like a restaurant tour down here? It's absolutely a great time to be in in Grass Valley because all the preschool kids get a chance to come out on Friday when their brothers and sisters are in school and It's a tradition here. We don't miss it. It's almost on the same scale as the as the Donation parade, you know, it's special for our town and you should come down and enjoy it It's really enjoyable, especially we're gonna have some good weather. The rain is gonna hold off and they're gonna be on Mill Street Celebrating with the kids. So it's it's a it's a real treat I just want to remind the the parents and or grandparents that are coming down with the kids that come in here afterwards and stuff Just have a nice little meal and they could have it and just have the fun You know just being in a restaurant Absolutely make it a tradition and tradition are the things that ground those kids that remember year after year after year And that's what brings them back home Donna did a good job in your stead. I heard her. She did a great job. Thank that huh? I wish your play-by-play was that good anyway Again it is is a big time. We were just talking off the air though We were talking about Grass Valley trick-or-treating earlier when you're downtown here. I know I think there's a sign saying like no Bike so you have to walk your bike skateboards and all that stuff our kids doing a pretty good job downtown Heating that sign We do have some that don't for the most part the majority of people have a lot about the signs But there's a group that does not that we've had our eyes on People see something what should they do should they Kind of like ask them to stop or look for one of you You know guys and gals from the police department and stuff. Yeah, they can ask him politely to slow down I'm usually now I'm the downtown officer. So I'm walking up and down so I usually Contact them first, but yeah, if they see I'm just either find me or try to tell them to slow down politely It's kind of a serious thing because it's very rare that we have big news that happens here in town, but they just made arrests with the violence that was over in Condon Park area and stuff. I think it was last what was the last fall. Yes Yeah How does that affect the police department? I mean, I'm sure it's nice to have the arrest and see things progressing that way But it is kind of a surprising thing when you live here to hear a story like that with youth involved. Yeah, it's surprising The facts of the department were determined to find people that were involved like we did It's a lot of work on the back end too. So the detectives are still doing a lot of works on that case But it's good that I think for them that it's coming to an end. So With the holidays coming the other thing, you know How Halloween's kind of the start of it, but pretty soon people gonna be shopping more downtown and bringing packages out to the car Can you give them some advice just about? Safety about making sure their vehicles stay safe and their things are shopping for stay safe Just like everywhere just make sure your vehicles are locked windows are up roll, you know Make sure your children are attended with you so they don't get lost and then just make sure you keep your items close to you so Now, I don't know if you answered who's in charge of the police department. Now, who's the guy that's in charge? Is it? Is it Captain Johnson? Deputy Chief Johnson still the interim. Yeah, he's still the interim chief as far as I know right now You're gonna be chief any chance of that? Maybe one day way down the road, but would you look forward to being chief someday? I mean because you have so many roots here and stuff. I mean, it'd be pretty exciting. It'd be an interesting thing I know a lot of people in the community, but that's for down the road On being a cop here I mean when you have holidays because you were probably a kid that used to trick-or-treat down here and stuff and You know now you're talking about the safety about doing those type of things. Is it kind of neat to be a cop here? Yeah, it's it's actually pretty good. Like I said, uh, I grew up here. I meet people that I went to school with Unfortunately, I've arrested people I went to school with but that usually makes the interactions good because they know who I am They know they know me growing up So it's actually I like working here It's being part of the community and seeing the people I grew up with You have any big events coming up because you did do national night out Are there any things on the horizon that I don't know of that the police get involved with as of right now? No, not until next year. So for me, I know there is a turkey trot that we have but for me There's no big events That is gonna be the Grass Valley Police. Is it association that's involved with that? So are you gonna be involved with it personally? Are you doing the trot or doing traffic or what? No, I'm not gonna be involved in that one So, yeah, I might help out with the traffic, but I'm not involved in the planning or anything of that So leave by that, you know, it's there's a Blakemore guy. I think it's in charge of that thing, isn't there? Yes, but I also had national it out So it's good to have you know, two separate things and not be involved in too many things Do you think Brian's gonna get this guy to work a little bit harder on this thing? I think he probably will Mel's a good policeman. So I'm sure that he'll be Speaking of big events with the red light ball and stuff. When do when the tickets go on sale? They're available now or how's that work? They're not available yet. They'll go on sale right after the first of the year and we're still in the planning stages of getting that all the The event set up and and organized I don't know if this is one for you or Tom Valley. It's next to you To become a member like you became was it an easy process because I know we could always use more members With the Law Enforcement Fire Protection Council as well, right? Yes, it's extremely easy You can be an associate member. I believe that it's $50 a year to be an associate member and attend our meetings see what it's about and meet the people and And and or you can just you know donate to our it's a 501 c3 non-profit organization Any amount of money is appreciated? you can go to our website and that will give you the information on how to donate and we encourage people to Really give back to the to our law enforcement firefighters first responders They're the ones who are keeping us safe That was Tom Valley as president because I understand he runs the thing now and and we've always worried about having a fire guy in that position So as it worked out well Extremely. Well, he runs that meeting with an iron fist and iron fist. Yeah, and he's really fun actually, so he's he keeps the meeting going and We all have a few laughs here and there so it's good. So you could use more members though, right? I mean associate members absolutely, we welcome everybody who wants to participate and The knowledge you come away with there's people that are associate members that had no idea what goes on behind the scenes and law enforcement state parks Highway Patrol all the fire agencies It's it's pretty amazing when you sit there and hear what what goes on in this county and how people work together To know what 1.5 million at this point almost one and a half million dollars all two first responders in our area That's the power of law enforcement Fire Protection Council helping out the grass Valley Police Department Helping out fire departments all the first responders in our area. So it's a wonderful organization Red light ball is going to be their their event this year. That's their main fundraiser now So make sure you take part in that make sure you take part in trick-or-treating in downtown Grass Valley Serena's is a great place to be after it But we really think what the Grass Valley Police Department does to keep our community safe During all these times here, especially during the holidays that are coming up as well --- end of transcript ---