Kids and Family

Best organization to empower teens
Tower of Youth
(916) 922-0100
Here’s a creative, hard-working organization that actually acts on its belief that “youth are the solution not the problem.” Tower of Youth is an all-teen, regional outfit with multiple and interlocking layers of projects and goals. TOY’s overall program creates a cultural voice for area youth by showcasing teen arts and media projects (especially ones that take advantage of information technologies in film and television). TOY also sponsors terrific, hands-on education forums—in film, technology and digital graphic arts—for area teens. Ultimately, TOY will help build new careers for Sacramento-area youth in telecommunications, arts, entertainment and media. Huzzahs to TOY for all of the above.

Best place to have fun, inspire your kids to athletic endeavors and cheer on the hometown
Kings, Monarchs, Knights and River Cats games
After all these years, we’ve finally got some pro sports teams to brag about, to applaud for and to have a blast watching. With the season spread out across the calendar, you can fill up lots of weekends with activities your kids will love, and you won’t go broke attending. Plus, the garlic fries are to die for.

Best place to go if you figure you’re never going to get around to filling those photo albums
Parker’s Video Productions
4736 J St., (916) 736-9086
In addition to their own videotaping services—they’ll come to the wedding or the birthday party and do all the videotaping for you—Parker’s will also take that huge stack of photos of your 1-year-old and make a great, artistic video out of them. All you have to do is put them in the order you want them in, choose a song or two for the background and vòila! In a couple of weeks—let’s face it: it was going to take you until he was in high school—you’ll have a wonderful record of everything you wanted to remember from that year. And, it’s reasonably priced.

Best nightlife for the 18-and-under crowd
The Rage
1890 Arden Way, (916) 929-0232
Classic Jukebox? Too far. Sound Wave? Too new. Face it: Sactown teens prefer the Rage on Monday nights during summer break. Even though it has a smaller dance floor, it has a good location.