IIDA Golf Tournament

Robi and Mark with George Dellwo and Steve Art from the City of Lincoln.

Andrea (second from left)

James and Terry with Ryan from ALR lighting.

Friday, August 15th was the 9th Annual IIDA golf tournament. The tournament benefits the IIDA Sacramento State Interior Architecture Scholarhips. The weather was a little warm but all in all the event was a great success and all had a great time. The 2007-2008 scholarship winners were in attendance and their winning work was on display. There were lots of great raffle prizes and a lot of happy winners. W + P had several players on the course: Robi, Mark, Andrea, Amber, Jim E. and Terry all showed up to play.

- Robi

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Ride for a Reason

Brian + Abbie, Robi + Mark, and Paul before the ride.

Kim and her friend Janice.

Jeff and Kim Navarro and Anne DellaRosa (Kim's Mom)

The primary objective of Ride for a Reason is to make a difference in the lives of those affected by Parkinson's and cancer. By improving their quality of life. It was great to see Team WP out and participating in this local charity event. WP also donated all the Kids raffle prizes including a Wii...because we all know how much fun it is to play Wii! Below are a few of the reasons we choose to ride...

This was a great event and a fun ride but the purpose really became clear for me on three occasions.
1. When one of the opening speakers (owner of Bicycles Plus – John Crews)shook uncontrollably with Parkinson’s.
2. A young cancer survivor who looked about 10 years old had been one of the largest individual fundraiser and credited a visit from Lance Armstrong for getting him motivated to help others...AND HAS BEEN CANCER FREE FOR EIGHT YEARS!
3. Kim Navarro’s Mom, also a cancer survivor, was there as a testimony of how far cancer research has come. She is now free of cancer.
Also, a big thanks to all the volunteers like Andrea and husband Chris who I’m sure would have rather been riding.

-Paul Walsh

At the ride I meet a fella named Don who is a two time cancer survivor and is currently battling his third. A true testimate to the never give up attitude necessary to survive such life changing events. He and his wife ride 3 times a week and will soon be heading to Austria for a cycling vacation. He said, "you just gotta keep going and try to stay healthy. The Doc gave me 5 years to live and I'm in my 4th...and you know, I'm going to beat it."

- Brian L.

This is my second year participating in Ride For A Reason and it is just as humbling and emotional as the first year. My reason is my mom who was diagnosed and treated for colon cancer early last year (she also survived cervical cancer when she was in her early twenties). She is a survivor and is now cancer free. She is a strong and incredible woman and a wonderful inspiration for me. She is my reason and I will continue to participate in Ride For A Reason to honor her.

- Kim N.

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Meeting of the Minds

The Williams + Paddon Young Professionals (WPYPs) made their first presentation to the Board last Monday evening regarding The Exchange mentorship program. The discussion was very successfully as it generated a lot of interest and ideas from everyone who attended. The Exchange will provide an important structure to bring together professionals from throughout the office to share intellectual, professional and any other ideas the pair would like to discuss. Terry was kind enough to host the event at his home and had a great selection of wine and cheese. The Exchange is slated to be rolled out to the office during the month of September.

- Bill

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It's simple when you think about it...

I think pretty much sums up the architectural process...
- Brian L.

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WP travels - Oregon

This is definitely a first for the blog...a WP employee that contributes to the blog without actually having officially started work! That's exactly the case with Tom Ventura, who will be joining us in a few weeks from the great state of Oregon. Thanks for the pics...see you in September!

Camping along the John Day river somewhere in Eastern Oregon.

Interactive Public Art - Eastern Oregon Style

- Terry

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Your House, Your Sandwich

I stumbled across this little article that I had seen in Dwell Magazine a while back. It comes to us from El Dorado Architects in Kansas City. An interesting little firm with innovative urban work and a refreshing "don't take yourself to serious" sense of humor (I like that). And that humor is evident in their writing. Check out the article below and see how the architectural process is compared with making a ham sandwich...crazy but it really makes a lot of sense.

For the full article CLICK HERE

- Brian L.

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Guess Who Turned 50 This Week...

Rose Cottle (although she only looks 39)

James Engler (although he looks well over 50)

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SacTown Magazine - Eames Presentation at DWR

A few months ago a large WP contingent (Kim S., Jeff and Kim N., Terry, Andrea, Amber, Brian L.,Naaz, Mark and Robi) attended a celebration of Charles and Ray Eames at the Downtown DWR showroom. Charles and Rays daughter Lucia and grand daughter Llisa Demitrios were in attendance and shared stories about growing up with arguably the greatest modern designers to ever put pencil to paper.

...and that's WP's Shannon Griswold in the bottom right picture.

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SacTown Magazine - AIA Grand Opening

Linda Green and WP's Andrea, Amber, Brian getting a shout out in SacTown Magazine. Also pictured is ALR's Ryan (Little Engler) Culver.

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Tye Brown's off to College (again)

In celebration of Tye's last day, everyone (and I do mean everyone) dusted off their favorite T-shirt and Tie. You see...Tye's about the goofiest guy we know, so it was only fitting that we support his fashionably challenged wardrobe by wearing our most uncoordinated t-shirt and tie combination.

Jeff and I (Brian L.) wanted to prepare Tye for his second trip to college. We compiled a 'college starter kit' of sorts including Ramen noodles, a hacky sack, spaghetti O's, Cup-O-Noodle, A beer helmet, and an Aminal House Poster...becasue no college apartment is complete without one.

The 'Root Beer' helmet...so he can fit in at all those crazy college parties.

Tye's moving rendition of 'Sabotage' by the Beastie Boys.

I'll leave out the all the sentimental stuff...suffice it to say that we miss his great personality and talented graphics skills but wish him all the best in a certainly bright future.

- WP

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Dave King's Last Day (for now)

There's nothing more enjoyable than seeing a man who really loves his job! Come back soon Mr. King... our computer, CAD, and printing questions will be anxiously awaiting your return.

Things found during the cleaning:
124 rubber bands
2 tickets to the River Cats (2005 season)
2 forks (used)
1 dead mouse (the computer kind)
46 post-it notes on and around his computer monitor

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Architects Seperated at Birth (3)

Stanley Tigerman and an Ewok

Zaha Hadid and Ursula from The Little Mermaid

- Brian L.

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Words of Wisdom...

...from the late great George Carlin. Kinda makes you think...and laugh!

- I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
- Is there another word for synonym?
- Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do practice?
- How do blind people know when they are done wiping?
- What was the best thing before sliced bread?
- One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people.
- If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest drown too?
- Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?
- Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?

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Blazzing Saddles in Iowa

Renee Green's (Terry's daughter) RAGBRAI experience w/ her Team W+P jersey. From all of the bike ridding maniacs at WP, thanks for keeping Blazzing Saddles alive and kickin'...in Iowa of all places!

The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) , is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state and is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world.

- Terry

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AIA Headquarters Grand Opening

Terry + Linda, Robi, Andrea, Brian L., and myself all attended the grand opening of the new AIA Headquarters in Sacramento. It was a bit on the warm side that day but nonetheless they had all of their doors and windows open letting all of us designers/architects spill in from off of the street and roam through their premises; exploring everything from their private offices down to their kitchen cupboards. In their main gallery was a showcase displaying local architects/designers… everything from archaic sketches to elaborate 3-D graphic stands told the stories of the various projects being dreamt up by firms in the Sacramento region. Williams + Paddon had a great showing with the Avalon at Palm Springs Village graphic board, not only was it showcasing an innovative project but it also was a tribute to the caliber of our company’s graphic skills.

- Amber

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Forget The Who and Zeplin...We've got Driever!

A few weeks ago we witnessed one of the greatest Rock 'n Roll performances of all time. Eric "Mick" Driever performing his version of classic Stones tune 'Gimme Shelter'. I could write a novel on how great his signing was or how impressive his dance moves were but I'll let you decide for yourself.

Now, I must warn you that what you are about to witness is incredibly embarrassing (for Eric) and absolutely hilarious (for us). Check out the now world famous performance on YouTube...click here

-Brian L.

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