Castro Valley News - Year 5, Number 2 (v.37)

CASTRO VALLEY NEWS free Community news and information Magazine

Online @ www.castrovalley.news

- We Are All In This Together -

Castro Valley is not go-

ing to let the virus pandemic get the best of us.

While all schools across our town may be closed, students, parents and teachers are persisting and adapting through online distance education. Many businesses may be shuttered due to the shelter in place, but innovation has come from the Chamber of Commerce and merchants to attract customers.

Sure, lines at just about every grocery store seem to be as long as a county mile, but there are also folks making trips for neighbors and seniors who could or would not venture out to shop. Neighbors are helping neighbors! Clockwise: sidewalk chalk art on Seaview Avenue, CV neighborhood “freebie� shelf, marquee at the Chabot Theatre.

There have also been free item cubbies and bins set up on streets in Castro Valley.

To be clear, this is more of a letter of admiration to our community for staying strong than a news story.

Our shelter in place may go longer than expected and things could get tougher, but our strong community will overcome. Together.

Please stay home as much as you can, wash your hands often for twenty seconds and maintain the six foot social distancing rule.

These things are vital to flatten the curve of this virus so that we can stay healthy and return to work and normal life. You got this, Castro Valley.

Castro Valley Author - Mac Barnett Mac Barnett has written dozens of award winning childrens books. He also grew up in Castro Valley, which appears in some of his wildly popular stories.

Barnett based his “Mac B - Kid Spy” series on his childhood in Castro Valley and featured some of our landmarks in those four books. Places such as Rudy’s Donuts and Golfland appear in the books and in Barnett’s memory:

“My mom and I moved to Castro Valley in 1983, when I was a year old, and I lived there until I left “The places in Castro for college. (I came back Valley that loom largest for a year after I graduatin my past in CV show ed, too.) For a few years up in the books—Rudy’s we lived in an apartment Donuts, the arcade at building off the BouleGolfland—and when I’ve vard. Then we moved up done readings in Castro near Proctor ElementaValley, it’s really cool to ry,” Barnett told CVN see kids cheer for those during an email interview. spots,” Barnett added.

Turn to the back page of this magazine to see some of the illustratons of Castro Valley featured in Mac’s books.

The Future and Past of the Redwood Road Library

While

the tug of war between the county and community continues on the future of the old library building, we’d like to take you back in time to when the building opened in 1962.

These photos show the well remembered 10,239-squarefoot library building located at 20055 Redwood Road at its infancy, with spacious bookshelves and room for many, many library patrons.

For the past three years, volunteers with the American Legion Post 649 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9601 have pushed for a combo use of a veterans community center and veterans library at the site.

That plan was shot down in March when the Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to demolish the building to make way for 40-60 affordable units for veterans.

CVN Restaurant Review with Chef Igor - Doug’s Place

WHAT’S HIDDEN UNDER THE GOLFLAND DRAGONS?

We have a doozie of a his-

tory lesson for you about the area where Golfland is now.

Dating back to the 1930’s, the land was used as a circus lot and was also home to dog kennels owned by Mr. Froberg. Hanging in his office was a framed certificate from MGM movie studios stating the original “Lassie” collie - a male pup named “Pal”- came from Froberg!

Doug’s Place is accepting takeout meal orders at (510) 538-9155 during the mandatory shelter in place

Almost

any conversation about dining out for breakfast in Castro Valley will surely include mention of Doug’s Restaurant in the Lucky’s shopping center.

Before the shelter in place, CVN Food Editor Chef Igor paid Doug’s a visit to sample their biscuits and gravy and a breakfast platter with two eggs, toast and home fries.

“Doug’s is special. The feel here is like going to Grandma’s house, as soon as you walk in you are immediately welcomed with open arms of wonderful aromas,” Igor explained.

View a Full Length Video Review by Scanning this QR Code with your Smart Phone: So, how was the food? For the abbreviated story here, we can tell you he thought just about everything was cooked and seasoned just right. The highlight of the visit was the “Igor Special” where he stacked an entire cooked egg yolk on top of a flaky biscuit with another spoonful of gravy.

As always, scan the QR code above to watch the video review to get Chef Igor’s full response.

But what about that blob of cement the dragons are situated on? According to local historian Lucille Lorge, there is a steel walk in safe in there!

Dating back to the 1950’s, a Real Estate agent named Mr. Payne ran his business there.

His motto was “clean deals in dirt” and his personal safe was the unofficial bank for CV businesses. pensive crane to move it, they opted to bring in a cement truck and cover the safe in cement.

When the property was sold to the minigolf company, construction crews could not That’s how they got the “volcano” the grinning move the gargantuan safe. What did they dragons are now perched on. While we may nevdo next? Barring the plan of renting an ex- er know for sure, Lorge insists the safe is empty.

Bay Area Weatherman is Castro Valley Native

H

e’s the man in demand from media outlets to accurately forecast the Bay Area’s often wacky weather.

After graduating from Canyon High he had plans to become a Physics teach-

T

he gem of our downtown is 70 years old!

Our single screen theatre opened on April 26, 1950 with these two motion pictures “When Willie Comes Marching Home” starring Dan Dailey and “The Nevadan” starring Randolph Scott.

But did you know that Jan Null is a Castro Valley native?

His fondest memories of our town are his high school years at Canyon High as a sophomore when the campus opened to his graduating class in June of 1967. “Besides an excellent education that prepared me well for my career, I have lifelong friends in Castro Valley who I still see or keep in touch with on a regular basis,” Null explained.

celebrating 70 years of the Chabot Theatre

After the Chabot theatre opened it quickly became the premier entertainment destination for Castro Valley. er that were interrupted by a tour for 45 years, the first 23 years with the US Army in Vietnam. with the National Weather Service in the Bay Area and the When he returned to Castro Val- last 22 as a Certified Consultley in 1970, Null went to Chabot ing Meteorologist and owner of and then transferred to UC Da- Golden Gate Weather Services. vis where he became interested in the Atmospheric Science De- Null has been on all Bay Area telepartment and graduated with a vision stations at one time or anothdegree in Meteorology in 1974. er, as well as CNN, The Weather He has been a meteorologist Channel and CBS National News.

Present day, the theatre is just as important and popular as it ever was. The new owners, Smalltown Society, have made improvements to the sound system, heating and air conditioning systems, roof and concession stand.

During this difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the theatre has had most of its operations shut down due the shelter in place. To help them not have to go completely dark, feel free to visit their website at www. thechabot.com where you can purchase gift cards, make a donation to their ongoing operations or buy a t-shirt with the classy and modern theatre logo at left.

RICKEY CHANG’S TRAVEL ADVENTURES

CVN Restaurant Review with Chef Igor -Banh Mi @ Wend’s Cafe

A sandwich by any other name certainly does not taste the same.

Before the covid crisis, I took a road trip along the Mediterranean Sea in Spain. Highlights of this trip - hiking on the cliff wall of Caminito del Rey (The King’s Path) in El Chorro, The Rock of Gibraltar, visiting Bull Rings, and seeing the Holy Grail in the Valencia Cathedral. Follow me on FB at : “Rickey’s Travel Adventures” -Rickey Chang

Just ask Chef Igor, who sampled some Banh Mi sandwiches at Wend’s Cafe before the shelter in place. You may ask what makes these French influenced Vietnamese sandwiches unique... For starters, they are packed with cooked and warm marinated meats and contain more ethnic toppings such as cucumber, chiles and cilantro.

So, how did French tastes and preferences permeate cooking in Vietnam? A wealth of cultural and gastronomic influences were adopted Wend’s shelter in place takeout - (510) 210-8352 during the French occupation in 1862. That’s how View a Full Length the Banh Mi incorporated such ingredients and comVideo Review by ponents like baguette bread, pâté and mayonnaise. Scanning this QR With the history lesson over, lets get back to the review! Igor was wowed by the pork and chicken Banh Mi sammies at Wend’s.

“The meat is to tender and juicy, and both pack a lot of flavor,” he said. Of course - to see and hear more review - scan the QR code and watch the full video review.

Code with your Smart Phone:

illustrations from mac barnett’s books

Here are a few of the super cool Castro Valley locations seen in Mac Barnett’s popular “Mac B. - Kid Spy” book series. Above left is Rudy’s Donut House on Castro Valley Boulevard, above right is Golden Tee Golfland, Below is the Golfland arcade. Illustrations : Mike Lowery.