Four stars to be memorialized in Midtown Sacramento
After being approved for development in August 2015, the Sacramento Walk of Stars is finally underway, and the first four honorees were announced on May 9. Stars honoring LeVar Burton, Dr. Balazs “Ernie” Bodai, Gregory Kondos and Debbie Meyer will be the first placed into the ground.
“I’m more than humbled and honored to be the recipient of this incredible star,” Bodai said in a statement. “I hope it is the beginning of a long and valued tradition for the people of Sacramento as well as the state of California.”
The stars will be placed on L Street in Midtown Sacramento, where tourists and residents will be able to view the terrazzo and bronze monument stars awarded to each honoree.
Sacramento Walk of Stars chair and Crocker & Crocker co-founder Lucy Eidam Crocker first thought of the idea for the project while visiting Los Angeles and wished to recognize Sacramento’s best and brightest.
“It was my husband’s, who is also my business partner, idea and mine. Along with some friends […] we were down in Hollywood a couple of years ago, walking down the Hollywood Walk of Fame [when we thought of the idea],” Crocker said.
As Crocker states, the idea was to honor people who have made a positive change in the community, as well as to celebrate the achievements of the city of Sacramento.
“[The idea is] to boost community pride, to bring economic development to the restaurants and businesses in the area, to bring notoriety to the Sacramento region and celebrate the successes of the people who have gone on to great things, with their roots in Sacramento,” Crocker said.
The stars have garnered support from all areas of the community, including the Sacramento City Council and the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau. Angelique Ashby, a councilmember for Sacramento District 1, supports the idea as a lasting way to honor the community.
“The Sacramento Walk of Stars is a great opportunity to celebrate people from our city who have made significant contributions to society in a variety of areas,” Ashby said. “Our community is rich with talented, high achieving professionals. Any chance we get to honor the people who make us proud is an occasion to celebrate who we are as a city.”
The recipients of the stars were carefully chosen and had to meet a specific set of criteria. Recipients must have been born in or have spent a portion of their lives in Sacramento, have national or international recognition and have had a positive influence throughout their careers. Stars will be awarded to honorees within five categories: Entertainment and Arts, Business, News, Sports and Science and Technology.
“We wanted to make sure we were diverse in the categories, the types of people within the categories. There are some that still live in Sacramento and some who are living outside of the area. [We wanted to] have a well-balanced group that represent that Sacramento region as a full,” Crocker said.
All of the honorees except LeVar Burton were in attendance at the unveiling of the honorees.
Honoree Debbie Meyer, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, was overjoyed to be honored by the city.
“The idea of a walk of stars in Sacramento is fantastic. Growing up in Sacramento was a true joy,” Meyer said in the statement.
Honoree Gregory Kondos, a nationally acclaimed artist, was also in attendance.
“Sacramento has always supported me beautifully and I am so grateful for what this community has done for me,” Kondos said in the statement. “I truly appreciate this wonderful tribute.”
Written by: Samantha Solomon – city@theaggie.org
