Thursday, April 4, 2013, started out like a normal day for me.  I woke up early, fed the cats and made coffee for Barbara and me.  Later, after doing my chores, I drove to La Bou on Howe Ave. to meet my aunts, Kay and Alice, for coffee and a croissant.  My brother John was there too on that day.  After one hour and one half of chit chatting, we headed off in different directions.
Then, when I arrived home, I received a cryptic text from my brother, which brought darkness to an otherwise sun shiny day:  “Denis Tomassetti killed last night in auto accident.”  I texted John back immediately saying, “no way”, but sadly it was true.  Minutes later, I contacted our mutual friend Tom Hart to confirm John’s text.  In a broken voice, Tom said, “yes, it is true; Denis was killed last night on the way home from work.”
This shows how fleeting life can be.  Here one minute, gone the next.
I have known Denis Tomassetti pretty much all my life.  He entered the world in the year I moved to Janey Way, 1952.  He was part of a bunch of kids we called the younger Janey Way boys:  Denis, the three Johns (Tomassetti, Relles and Ducray) Rick Thomsen and Tom Hart.  I remember watching them play Senior Little League baseball games on the field behind our house where St. Francis High School now stands.  I watched and thought, “these little guys have sure grown up, and they are good.”
Years later, after we all came back from serving in the military, I attended some rock concerts (the thing he really loved to do) with Denis.  I recall seeing the Kinks at Sacramento State College and Bob Dylan at Cal Expo.  We always had a great time.  He had an encyclopedic knowledge of contemporary music as well as an incredible sense of humor.  Going places with Denis, was always fun.
We played golf together too:  Denis, Tom Hart, my dad and I.  Dad took golf seriously and was known to hurl a club after a bad shot, but not with Denis in the foursome.  Denis would have needled him too much for that. Again, we always had a lot of fun.
More recently (over the last decade) Denis enlisted me to play with him and Tom Hart in an annual POW (prisoners of wives) golf tournament.  He and Tom usually picked me up at my home on Friday afternoon, and then we drove up the hill to Lake Tahoe.  It made for a great weekend:  golf, gambling, a few beers and good friends.  Who could ask for more?
Denis won’t be playing with us this year in the POW Tournament.  All of his POW friends will miss him dearly.  Now, the great fun I had over the years with my dear friend Denis is just another heart-felt Janey Way Memory.

Tom Hart stands in front of his childhood home on Janey Way in East Sacramento. The house, which is presently being remodeled, is featured through 13 Internet videos. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

For those who either grew up on or near Janey Way or for those familiar with Marty’s column, it should come as no surprise that many people have a very deep-rooted love for this local street.

This fact is even more understandable since the street was constructed more than 60 years ago.

But nonetheless, the great number of stories that derive from Janey Way can seem quite remarkable when considering that the street is a mere 909 feet long and never included more than its current total of 32 houses – three of which are actually duplexes.

Certainly, this article is not intended to replace Marty’s popular column. So, be sure to read his current “Janey Way Memories.”

Instead, this first and only edition of “More Janey Way Memories” is presented solely to tell the story of one more person who grew up on Janey Way and his lifelong love for this East Sacramento street and his current project to preserve a portion of its past.

Tom Hart discusses details of a new addition to his childhood home. / Valley Community Newspapers, Lance Armstrong

This person is Tom Hart, who grew up on Janey Way.

Tom, 57, who follows Marty’s column, is familiar with many of the column’s related stories and people and can sometimes even read about himself, is working on a project that will bring him back to his old neighborhood.

Dust has been flying, machinery has been running off and on and hammers have been pounding at the old Hart house since last July.

This activity, said Tom, who is of Scottish, Irish and English ancestry, is part of a project that will fulfill his dream to move back into his childhood home, where he grew up with his mother Rose (Hawkins) Hart, his sister – the former Susan Hart, now Susan Chevassau – and for a shorter period of time, his father, Bernie, who passed away in 1961.

“When my mother (who passed away in the home on Dec. 19, 2001) was sick and I was staying with her, we would talk in the evenings and one of the things that I told her is I wanted to move back home,” Tom said. “That really warmed her heart and made her feel happy that her son was going to be moving back home and back into the neighborhood.”

Bernie Hart stands behind his boat and car in the driveway of his Janey Way home in about 1951. / Photo courtesy, Tom Hart

The remodeling project includes the addition of about 400 square feet of livable space with the expansion of the living room and master bedroom, a new master bathroom, a new laundry room and the addition of more closet space and a covered porch area behind the house. Additionally, the old garage was demolished and replaced with a two and a half-car garage, the roof and windows were replaced and new insulation was installed throughout the home.

Tom, a 1971 graduate of Sacramento High School, said that although he had hoped to move into the house with his wife Diana by Christmastime, he is now setting a more realistic goal of once again becoming a Janey Way resident by April.

The upgrading of the old Hart house helps to preserve one of the street’s older homes.

Research for this article revealed the following history of Janey Way:

According to the 1949 city directory, the first houses to be built on Janey Way – those of the late 1940s – were the homes of Ross Relles, James Tomassetti, Dante Viani and Jose “Joe” Micheli.

During the time their homes were built, Relles operated his well-known Relles Florist at 2200 J St., Tomassetti was a painter for the Western Pacific Railroad, Viani worked for Koro Products Co. at 2116 19th St. and Micheli was a bartender at the Square Deal Café at 5723 Folsom Blvd., where the Espanol Restaurant is now located.

Bernie Hart enjoys the company of his nephew, Rick Dixon, and his son, Tom Hart, on Christmas day in 1958. / Photo courtesy, Tom Hart

Carmen Tomassetti, who married James Tomassetti on Aug. 14, 1948 and raised five children in her Janey Way home, said that she moved into her then-new house on Dec. 10, 1948.

“My house was built in 1948,” said Carmen, who is a native of Monte Porzio, Italy. “The first houses (on Janey Way) were built in 1948, then little by little different companies built different houses.”

The 1952 city directory shows the growth of the street by this time, as follows: Olin N. Boggs, Joseph C. Brady, Dominic J. Costamagna, Raymond Cullivan, Adelbert C. Jacobs, Richard Kinzel, Jr., Eugene E. McKnight, Jose Micheli, Gene C. O’Keefe, Virgil W. Petrocchi, Mateo Puccetti, Ralph Puccetti, Ross Relles, Joseph C. Romel, Loren E. Sizemore, Eugene R. Thomsen, James Tomassetti, Dante H. Viani, Louie E. Viani and three vacant homes. As an historical note, Janey Way no longer extended south of M Street to include its 1300s addresses by the late 1950s. This property is presently part of the site of St. Mary’s School.

Enzo Costa said that he moved into the neighborhood in 1972 and now lives in the last house that was built on Janey Way. He had the house constructed in 1976.

Neighborhood children gather in front of the Hart house for Tom Hart’s birthday in about 1958. Pictured from left to right are: Berna Tomassetti, Denis Tomassetti, Diana Viani, unidentified, Jennifer “Deedee” DuCray, John DuCray, Tom Hart, John Tomassetti and Josie Tomassetti. / Photo courtesy, Tom Hart

Tom, who with his wife, has three children, Angela, Rebecca and T.J., said that a prime example that his neighborhood is fairly old is the fact that Costa is considered one of Janey Way’s “new kids on the block.”

Costa may have had the last house built in the neighborhood, but as a resident of the street, he has much seniority over a family, for instance, who moved to a house on Janey Way about two years ago.

Fortunately, due to modern technology, most readers who are interested in seeing the old Hart house do not have to go further than their own computers to do so.

In order that Tom’s sister could observe various remodeling stages of the home, Tom has placed footage of these remodeling stages on the Web site www.youtube.com. The short videos, which currently present 13 remodeling stages, can be found using the search words: “Hart Janey Way remodel.”

Tom plans to load seven more videos onto the site to show a full-range summary of the project. He also plans to eventually take the main highlights of all his videos and combine them to create a 15-minute video that he will also post on the Web site.

Tom said that the simple fact that he desires to move back to his childhood house shows how special the home and its neighborhood and residents are in his heart.

“I just have so many fond memories of the place,” Tom said. “I’m coming full circle. My kids have grown and now I have a chance to come back home to be where still many of the neighbors live. Where, when I was smaller, these neighbors would take care of me, now I’m coming back home, so I can take care of them.”

lance@valcomnews.com

Esoteric Records owner Denis Tomassetti stands in front his longtime north area business at 3413 El Camino Ave. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

Located at 3413 El Camino Ave. in Sacramento, Esoteric Records may seem out of place for several reasons.

For starters, the store’s location within an aging strip mall on the north side of El Camino Avenue and just west of Watt Avenue, coupled with its far from flashy storefront, makes this business’s existence somewhat hidden to the average commuter.

Many people traveling from “Point A” to “Point B” can pass by the store on a regular basis, yet would never be able to win a prize for pinpointing the location of Esoteric Records.

Furthermore, many such people would even ask, “What is Esoteric Records?”

The store may also seem out of place for many due to the “Records” portion of its name alone.

A record store?In a day and age when CD sales have declined by way of newer mediums such as computer downloads and iPods and many of the younger generation have no clue what a vinyl record is, having a name like Esoteric Records can seem a bit antiquated.

But none of these things seem to affect the existence of this longtime-operating record store, as Esoteric Records has both evolved with the times, yet has remained very much the same.

Store merchandise at Esoteric Records includes laser discs, cassette and 8-track tapes and of course, vinyl records. Left to right, Denis Tomassetti, Jim “Tony” Larejeno and Ryan Samples of Esoteric Records. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

Unlike some older “record stores” around the country that may have kept their “Records” name, yet have almost entirely stepped into the digital age, Esoteric Records still carries a large selection of vinyl records – about 8,000 to 10,000 to be more precise.

But this is not to say that Esoteric Records has bypassed any music mediums postdating the days when vinyl records were considered the most popular form of recorded music.

True to its roots

To the contrary, part of the evolution and success of Esoteric Records is its willingness to embrace newer mediums in the recorded music market, while still holding onto its roots.

It is for this reason that shoppers in this 1,300-square-foot retail store can also browse through a selection of about 15,000 CDs.

Remember laser discs?

The store also offers about 2,000 DVDs and even laser discs, VHS tapes, cassette tapes and as Esoteric’s owner Denis Tomassetti describes it, “about 20 pounds of 8-tracks.”

“We’ll sell you 8-tracks by the pound,” Tomassetti jokingly – or perhaps not so jokingly – said.

With Esoteric’s openness to accepting both the new and the old, this combination makes the store one of the north area’s more unique businesses. And with the 2006 demise of Tower Records at Watt and El Camino avenues, Esoteric is currently the north area’s oldest record store.

Tomassetti said that in addition to simply offering older merchandise, the store serves as a sort of museum.

Rick Da Prato tends to his store in this c. 1978 photograph. / Photo courtesy, Esoteric Records

Older merchandise popular

But fortunately for Esoteric, the store has a strong enough following that a lot of its older merchandise sells on a consistent basis, thus continuously making room for new “museum” exhibits.

Tomassetti said that among his store’s most loyal customers are vinyl record collectors and those who have discovered the economic value of purchasing vinyl records for much less than a brand new CD.

Records offered at Esoteric generally range in price from 25 cents to $8 each, although many collectible records sell for more.

Bargains galore

One loyal Esoteric customer, Sacramento resident Mike Parlette, who was recently browsing through the store’s bargain records, which sell for 25 cents each, said that he appreciates the many deals he can find at Esoteric.

Parlette, who has been an Esoteric customer for more than a decade, added that vinyl records are still a very important medium, when considering that a very low percentage of all recorded music was ever made available on CD.

Founded 40 years ago

The fact that Esoteric Records has survived the test of time is an especially intriguing story, when considering that it was founded nearly four decades ago.

The business, which was initially known as John P. Hogue Books and Records, opened at 720 Alhambra Blvd. in 1974.

The following year, Hogue renamed his business, Esoteric Record Service, and apparently no longer sold books.

Esoteric Record Service is described in the 1975 city directory as “an old-fashioned, service-oriented record shoppe, where your request is our specialty.”

The following year’s directory notes that Hogue’s business was a dealer in phonographs and retail records.

For a brief time during the mid-1970s, the store was owned by Bryant Williams, a fan of English folk music, and was known as Dancing Bear Records.

In 1978, Rick Da Prato, who resided at 3533 21st Ave., became Esoteric’s new owner and operated the store as its sole owner for about four years, at which time Tomassetti, who was 28 years old at the time, became co-owner of the store.

It was also in 1982 that Esoteric relocated to 1716 Broadway.

After about three years, Tomassetti opened a second location of Esoteric Records at 3329 Balmoral Drive, where Shelley’s Hair Salon is now located. This location was in operation until about 1990, at which time this store relocated to its current location.

The Broadway store relocated to 1427 L St., Ste. D in 1996. This store was closed eight years later due the fact that the property was sold and redeveloped.

Throughout the years, Esoteric has achieved its success through the assistance of its dedicated employees, who have included Jim “Tony” Larejeno, Brian Gould, Tom Darling, Keith McKee and Ryan Samples.

Esoteric Records features about 8, 000 to 10,000 records, about 15,000 CDs and various other merchandise. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

Continuing traditionTomassetti, who has been the sole owner of Esoteric Records since 1985, said that he has enjoyed continuing the tradition of the store and hopes to see the business continue to prosper for many years to come.

“I haven’t had to work since I became involved with Esoteric Records,” Tomassetti said with a chuckle. “I don’t know if I’d want to do anything else. It’s like the last man standing. I enjoy it and I’ll keep doing it as long as I can. It’s just been a pleasure bringing music to Sacramento music fans and collectors for so many years.”

Esoteric Records is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call (916) 488-8966.

lance@valcomnews.com

Marty Relles

On Aug. 2, 1964, three North Vietnamese torpedo boats engaged the destroyer USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam. The Maddox sustained some moderate damage. The story made the network news that night. Two days later another attack supposedly occurred on the same ship. Then, the next day, Aug. 7, the U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which authorized the President to do whatever necessary to assist the government of South Vietnam. This didn’t seem like such a big deal to us.

Little did we know.

That fall, my friend Mike Gilson joined the U.S. Marines and went off to train at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. After eight months of training, Mike came home on leave at the beginning of summer, 1965. He swam with us at the river, went to movies and generally had a great time. After his leave, Mike shipped out for Vietnam.

We would never see Mike again.

He lost his life in a fire fight in February of the next year. When that happened, we grieved and also realized how serious the war in Vietnam was. More Janey Way kids would soon follow Mike into battle.

Jim Ducray volunteered for the Army in late 1966. He trained at Fort Ord and then received his orders for Vietnam. As he prepared to leave, his older brother Bill told him, “when you get there, tell them you can type.”

Of course, Jim couldn’t type, but when he arrived in Vietnam, he set out in search of the administrative company. He found an officer there and asked if they needed a typist. Fortunately, the officer said they did, and Jim got reassigned from his infantry unit to the typing pool.  Jim did most of his Vietnam service behind the lines and returned home unscathed.

Dick Kinzel wasn’t as lucky. He was drafted in 1967 and soon followed Jim over to Vietnam. Dick served in an artillery battery which supported the infantrymen on maneuvers in the field.  He lived through the infamous Tet Offensive of 1968 when the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong attacked U.S. bases throughout South Vietnam. It was a horrible battle and many U.S. lives were lost.

Dick told me, “It got so bad, we lowered our cannons to ground level and fired them directly at oncoming Vietnamese attackers. I was lucky to survive.”

Some of his buddies were not so lucky. Fortunately, Dick returned home in 1968.

That year my brother Terry volunteered for the U.S. Army, and soon after our neighbor Roger Thomsen received his draft notice.

Terry trained as a military policeman and shipped out to serve in Saigon.

Roger was not so lucky. He trained as an infantryman and when he reached Vietnam in mid-1969, shipped directly out to the field. Three months later he sustained serious wounds in a fire fight.

When Terry heard of Roger’s condition, he visited Roger at the hospital. There, he arranged for Roger to call his parents back home and the whole neighborhood breathed a sigh of relief. The Army soon sent Roger home to recuperate, ending his assignment to Vietnam.

Meanwhile, I received my draft notice, in April of 1969. As I was training at Fort Lewis, Washington, my brother shipped out for Vietnam. So when I finished my training, in accordance with U.S. military policy, the Army could not station me in the same combat zone with my brother.

Consequently, I received my orders to serve in West Germany along with the 80,000 other U.S. soldiers serving there. I spent the rest of my two-year army career as a member of the 510th Ordinance Battalion in Southern Germany. There I learned how to destroy my ordinance base, using C-4 plastic explosive and detonating cord in the event of a Russian attack on our base. Fortunately, that never happened. I returned home to the U.S. in the fall of 1971.

When I returned home, Sacramento seemed a much different place. Its borders stretched out to Rancho Cordova on the east, to near Elk Grove on the south and toward Roseville on the north.

Janey Way had changed too. Most of the kids of my generation had moved out of the neighborhood. I would soon follow. By this time, the war in Vietnam was winding down. Others like Denis and John Tomassetti would get the call, but they too soon returned home uninjured.

The war had changed us all.

We had to grow up quickly. We had all served our county honorably. After all was said and done, we had lost a dear friend, others sustained life-changing injuries, both physical and mental, and on Janey Way life would never be the same again.