The SpaceX Falcon 9 exhaust plume stretches across the evening sky as seen from a Moreno Valley neighborhood on Valentine's Day. (Bob Sirotnik) Have a photo that captures the spirit of Riverside? Share it with us and help celebrate the beauty of our community!
Sunday Gazette: March 1, 2026
Hello Riverside, and Happy Sunday! Welcome to March — and happy National Barista Day to the folks who keep us caffeinated and smiling. You know the one: they see you walk in and your order's already in motion. If your favorite barista deserves a little extra recognition, nominate them for our Neighbor of the Week feature We'd love to highlight them!
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Thank you to the Subscribers who became paid supporters this week: Lisa Soccio. Your ongoing financial support is vital to our success in serving Riverside with the news it deserves!
Zona Gale won the Pulitzer Prize, planted a tree in Riverside, and became the first to chronicle the life of Mission Inn founder Frank Miller.
Postcard photo of Zona Gale. (Author's Collection)
Like Frank Miller, Zona Gale was a native of Wisconsin. Unlike Miller, she continued to return to live in her home state. Her mother, Eliza Beers Gale, wrote in her journal:
…A Darling Blessed daughter – Little Zona, to gladden our hearts and make our home O so bright with her glad voice and sweet smiles. Yes, we have a daughter, born on the 26th of August 1874, and O how we love her, how good that God should send us such a treasure. (Derleth, Still Small Voice, page 3).
Born in 1862 to Charles and Eliza Gale in Portage, Wisconsin, a small village at the confluence of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, Gale returned repeatedly to her roots. As one biographer wrote: "The two words: 'Portage, Wisconsin' signified life to Zona Gale. There she was born, and there she was secured by ties of home and parents. These two words, written by her thousands of times, became charged, she said, in a way unknown to the casual visitor."
Raincross Rundown: The Best of Riverside in March 2026
A curated list of upcoming events and happenings The Gazette team is most excited about.
An aerial view of Andulka Park and the Riverside cityscape — a reminder that March's packed calendar of events is spread across a city that never runs out of room to gather. (Titus Pardee)
March arrives with a lot to say. Women's History Month fills the calendar with voices worth hearing — poets, photographers, painters, and community builders who remind us that art has always been how Riverside tells its own story. Throw in a few unforgettable nights of live music, some hands-on creativity, and a one-year anniversary worth celebrating, and you've got a month that moves. Check our community calendar for even more ways to get out and get involved.
This month has something for everyone — catch the Body of Freedom exhibition opening, see RUSD students take the Fox stage for REEF's ninth annual showcase, make your own mosaic Raincross stepping stone with the Mission Inn Foundation, or spend a Sunday afternoon at Fairmount Park for International Women's Day. Farmhouse Collective turns one, Riverside Reads kicks off, and the Heritage House gardens are going full fairy tale. The full list is below.
Our next creative nudge is less about what gets you through the door and more about door mechanics; our nudge this week is a hinge. Not the glamorous part of the door. The hinge hides in plain sight, screwed into place, doing the humble work of allowing movement. It only gets your attention when it’s in bad shape. All that open, close, repeat business wears down this true team player.
I don’t think much about hinges until one starts failing. A high-pitched squeal from the bathroom door at three am reminds everyone in the house that it’s time to buy some WD40. A squeaky front gate can give you time to pretend you are not home before a solicitor approaches. But the sounds they make are the least interesting things about hinges.
See something? Say something. Your tips and ideas are what fuel The Raincross Gazette. If you know of something newsworthy happening in our city, please share it with us.
