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October 2012 Nancy Dommes Named 2012 Alamo Citizen of the Year at Alamo Music Festival
Serving Alamo and Diablo
The weather was beautiful at the 30th Annual Alamo Music and Wine Festival held in September. The wonderful food and new music headliners were well received. A highlight of the evening was the Rotary Club of Alamo naming Nancy Dommes as the 2012 Alamo Citizen of the Year.
A trail ride is part of Mounted Patrol certification. Photo courtesy of EBRPD.
Volunteer Trail Patrols Put Safety First in East Bay Regional Parks By Jody Morgan
Nancy Dommes (center) receives awards from local community leaders.
This is the 28th year that the Club has presented this award. The Club selects the Citizen of the Year based on service, integrity, and citizenship. The person must have also demonstrated a unique commitment to the Alamo community that places her/him in a special place to be deserving of this recognition. All members of the Alamo community are encouraged each year to nominate that person who best meets these criteria. Nancy has worked tirelessly for over 20 years to make Alamo a better place to live and work. She is a former member of the Alamo Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) and the P2B Citizens Advisory Council. Nancy has served the Alamo community holding numerous positions with the National Charity League where she was Diablo Valley Chapter president 2000-2001, R-7A Committee member, Zone 36 Committee member, Alamo Community Foundation treasurer, and Alamo Women’s Club Co-President 2012-2013. She was also the founder of the Scrip program at Rancho Romero Elementary School. Nancy has been described by those who worked with her as “the ultimate organizer” and an “asset to any group that she involves herself with and there have been many over the years.” Also mentioned was “what makes her special and unique is not just that she can lead and see the big picture of what is important for a group, but that she gets in and helps at every level as needed with compassion for all.” One of her friends mentioned Nancy and her daughter cleaning the cat cages for ARF for several years each Saturday, showing not only compassion but working where many do not want to volunteer. This empathy for animals and the community is illustrated by her theme of “Sharing Hugs” she enlisted when she was president of the Diablo Valley National Charity League. The Rotary Club of Alamo was founded on May 7, 1971 and has 50 members. Each year, the Club sponsors the Alamo Music and Wine Festival, which supports the music programs at Alamo and Rancho Romero Elementary Schools, Lucille Mauzy School, Stone Valley Middle School, and Monte Vista and San Ramon High Schools as well as other community and international service projects. The Club meets on Wednesdays at 12:15PM at Round Hill Country Club, located at 3169 Roundhill Road in Alamo. To learn more about the Rotary Club of Alamo and its many activities, visit www.alamorotary.org or Facebook and search alamorotary.
Local Postal Customer
PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit 263 Alamo CA
ECRWSS
Keeping multi-use trails safe throughout the 112,000 acres of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a daunting task. With 65 parks and only 60 sworn officers to supervise the more than 1,100 miles of trail open to the public, the 200 members of the Volunteer Trail Safety Patrols contribute significantly to ensuring the courteous sharing of this exceptional open space by park visitors. Volunteers currently serve on Mounted, Bicycle, Hiking and Companion Dog Patrols and may also qualify for Search and Rescue. Heather Gilfillan, EBRPD Volunteer Coordinator, meets with prospective volunteers to assess their qualifications. A few are too interested in being enforcers, a role reserved for Park Police. Others lack the communication skills to turn an encounter with a visitor violating park rules into a cordial educational experience rather than a hostile confrontation. Some will not commit to remaining on patrol for at least a year. Each patrol has its own certification testing. “Once we get them on patrol,” Heather laughs, “they stay on board a long time unless they move out of the area! Some have been on patrol for 30 years.” The concept began with four John Moffat, Cathy Overmeyer, and Bodie. Photo civilian riders who wanted to courtesy of Carl LaRue. make a difference. In 1979 they formalized their vision as the Volunteer Mounted Patrol. Bicycle Patrol followed in 1989, Hiking Patrol in 1994 and Companion Dog Patrol soon after. While each of the patrols makes its own unique contribution to promoting safety and preserving natural resources, all share the mission of observing, reporting and educating. “We are the friendly face of the Volume XII - Number 10 parks,” says Cindy Shon who has been on 3000F Danville Blvd. #117, Mounted Patrol for the past decade. “Our Alamo, CA 94507 role is to be friendly, helpful, and informa- Telephone (925) 405-NEWS, 405-6397 Fax (925) 406-0547 tive.” Patrol members answer questions, share maps, and advise visitors about Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher park regulations. They report downed Editor@yourmonthlypaper.com Sharon Burke ~ Writer trees, animals left unattended in trailers sburke@yourmonthlypaper.com or cars, and situations that may require The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do intervention by sworn officers. Before not necessarily reflect that of Alamo Today. Alamo Today not responsible for the content of any of the advertising going on patrol they call in their plans to isherein, nor does publication imply endorsement.
See EBRPD continued on pg. 22
Page 2 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
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Boulevard View By Alisa Corstorphine, Editor Fall is here! The holidays are right around the corner, and soon our calendars and “to do” lists will be overflowing with things to accomplish. The season can be stressful, or it can be wonderful with the right attitude, so I’m going to share my secret with you; I’ve decided to stop sweating the small stuff. While “perfection” sounds great, it isn’t worth being stressed out. I think it’s time to work a little harder at not worrying about “getting it all done” and instead accept that it’s never all going to get done. If the laundry doesn’t get folded and sits on the couch for a few days, that’s OK. If there are a few dirty dishes in the sink, that’s OK too. I am a big fan of quick-repair items such as duct tape, super glue, and Sharpies. For example, my son and his friend were riding their motorcycles on some twisty roads. His friend laid his bike down going about 40mph, and both he and his bike were banged up. The bike had been in new, immaculate condition. He babied it, he polished it, and it was beautiful. The accident changed all that. It was scraped and dinged and broken. He brought the bike to our house for repairs, where we all labored on getting it back into working condition in time for an upcoming riding event. The time and expense dictated that aesthetics be sacrificed in lieu of making the bike “10 foot good,” or good enough if viewed from ten feet away. Everyone who sees it now doesn’t notice that some of the blue “paint” is actually a scrape colored over in blue Sharpie. To the casual eye it is truly ten-foot-good. The whole experience has been liberating for our young friend, who even asked us to bring our collection of Sharpies to our last get together for some touch-ups. While I am not a big fan of the statement sometimes chanted by college students, “C’s get degrees,” it does somewhat convey the same message. A “C” degree might not be good enough for grad school or scholarships, but a student getting a degree with a report card filled with a variety of grades may be busy with fulfilling and life-changing extracurricular activities that cannot be reflected with a grade. Is college just about the grades, or is it about the entire experience? An article found on the website http://happiness-project.com notes there are two types of decision makers. There are “Satisficers” who make a decision once their criteria
are met. When they find the product or service that has the qualities they want, they’re satisfied. Then there are “Maximizers” who want to make the best possible decision. Even if they see an object that meets their requirements, they won’t make a decision until they’ve examined every option. “Maximizers” drive “Satisficers” nuts because they take so long to make a decision. Not unsurprisingly, “Satisficers” tend to be happier than “Maximizers.” “Maximizers” expend more time and energy reaching decisions, and they’re more anxious about their choices. On the other hand, “Satisficers” have figured out that good enough is good enough, and have learned to move on. In an article by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, spiritual leader of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, New Jersey, he notes, “One of the secrets to a happy life is the recognition and appreciation of things that are ‘good enough.’One of the primary curses that plagues man, families, communities, countries and much of civilization is the cynical dismissal of things that are not ‘good enough’ only because they are not ‘perfect’ – a literal fulfillment of Voltaire’s dictum that ‘the perfect is the enemy of the good.’” Life becomes more enjoyable when we embrace the “good enough” model. Much as a person can be a slave to their video camera instead of enjoying the live event they’re attending, a perfectionist misses the same event by not allowing themselves to participate in and enjoy the beauty of what is by obsessing over what isn’t. Some might argue that the acceptance of “good enough” is tantamount to enshrining mediocrity. Absolutely not! Mediocrity is complacency with failure. The life properly lived always strives for continuous improvement, even if perfection will never be achieved. The real difference between the virtue of “good enough” and the vice of mediocrity is how we handle the present. “Good enough” appreciates the present, and hopes to improve it, but it does not obsess over the deficiencies, even if they are not fixed. The individual has a concept of the “perfect,” as the standard, but lives in a state of gratitude and acceptance. Conversely, the mediocre do not idealize the perfect and are content with that which is commonplace. They see no need to push themselves, and perhaps even discounts the value of success or denigrates those who succeed. The realization that what is “good enough” is actually “very good indeed” makes for happier people and more fulfilling lives. The byword is gratitude for all of our blessings. Someone once said, “The rich man is not the one who has what he wants, but rather the one who wants what he has.” I agree. So that’s the secret. Be in the moment and enjoy life, and accept that life’s imperfection is its beauty. It is OK to focus on just being good enough.
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 3
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$1,399,900 $1,200,000 $999,000 $1,089,000 $949,000 $1,399,000 $1,549,950 $1,249,500 $775,000 $999,000 $1,384,000 $1,248,000 $1,199,950 $1,875,000 $1,329,000
$1,354,200 $1,135,000 $985,000 $1,160,000 $949,000 $1,350,000 $1,515,000 $1,225,000 $818,000 $995,000 $1,384,000 $1,215,000 $1,179,000 $1,850,000 $1,325,000
The North East corner of Stone Valley Boulevardcurrent home of the Shell Gas Station.
*All single family homes sold in Alamo 8/21/12 thru 9/21/12
Photos courtsey of the Virgie Jones Family collection
Stone Valley Boulevard circa 1908, showing Silas Stone’s house in the background.
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Huge Library Book Sale Friends of Danville Library will hold a sale of gently used books, all priced at 50 cents or $1. Included are children’s books, CDs, and DVDs. The sale will be held at the Danville Library, located at 400 Front Street. Hours on Friday, October 12 are 9AM-10AM for members only and from 10AM5PM the public is invited. The public is also invited Saturday, October 13 from 10AM-4PM and Sunday, October 14 from 12:05PM-3:45PM. Sunday is “bag day,� and all the items you can carry in a one bag cost $5. Admission is free.
ChrisCampbellRE.net
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O R C H E S T R A 01&/*/( $0/$&35 '03 063 5) 4&"40/
Alamo Sheriff’s Station Seeks Volunteers The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Station in the Alamo Shopping Center is looking for volunteers to assist in law enforcement in our community. The volunteers are assigned duty at the Station's lobby to greet visitors, answer phones, participate in the “If I Were a Thief� program, and assist in law enforcement sponsored events. Adults who do not have a criminal history and who can serve five hours a week should call Lieutenant Tom Chalk at (925) 646-6180, or visit the office at 150 Alamo Plaza #C to pick up an application.
Sunday, October 14 2:00 p.m. 4)045",07*$) #BMMFU 4VJUF /P 1PMLB GSPN 5IF "HF PG (PME )":%/ 5SVNQFU $PODFSUP +PZDF +PIOTPO )BNJMUPO TPMPJTU 3*.4,: ,034",07 4DIFIFSB[BEF
SonRise Equestrian Foundation Holds Fundraiser On Saturday, October 20th at Round Hill Country Club in Alamo SonRise Equestrian Foundation will hold its 6th Annual Wine and Equine Fundraiser. Enjoy estate grown wines, dinner, dancing, and entertainment. SonRise will also be offering a wine cellar raffle of premium wines and exciting live and silent auctions. SonRise continues to seek donors and sponsors for this event. All proceeds will provide support to children who are facing social, emotional, and physical challenges as well as help rehabilitate horses in need. Tickets cost $125. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 925-838-RIDE (7433) or visit www.sonriseequestrianfoundation.org.
About SonRise SonRise Equestrian Foundation is a volunteer-based non-profit organization making a positive difference for children ages 6 to 18 living with social, emotional, or physical challenges including life limiting illnesses. Participating children develop confidence, integrity, and responsibility through mentoring and peer relationships centered around the care and enjoyment of horses.
+PZDF +PIOTPO )BNJMUPO 5SVNQFU 4PMPJTU
o $FMFCSBUJOH ZFBST PG HMPSJPVT NVTJD www.DiabloSymphony.org
925 943-SHOW (7469) www.LesherARTScenter.org
.BUJMEB )PGNBO $POEVDUPS
Season tickets available at the Lesher Center for the Arts box office, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA
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Page 4 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
SRVRWF Presents Brent Jones The Importance of Enthusiasm, Motivation and Excitement in Politics San Ramon Valley Republican Women Federated (SRVRWF) are proud to present Brent Jones as our October 23rd evening meeting speaker. Brent, his wife Dana, and two daughters live in Danville. His motivational speech comes as we close in on an extremely important election. He has already shown his strong support for our candidates, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Among his many activities, Mr. Jones now manages his business, Northgate Capital, and also coaches and gives sports commentary. Brent is a highly recommended speaker and legendary 49er. We look forward to his presentation on Tuesday, October 23rd at Crow Canyon Country Club located at 711 Silver Lake Drive, in Danville. A social time begins at 5:30pm followed by the dinner and speaker at 6pm. For reservations, call Mary at 925-837-5465 or e-mail srvrwf.lunch@gmail.com. Reservations are due by Thursday, October 18th. For more information, visit www.srvrwf.org. We hope to see you there.
Danville-Alamo-Walnut Creek AAUW The Danville-Alamo-Walnut Creek branch of the American Association of University Women (DAWAAUW) is sponsoring two events that are open to the public. On October 11th from 7pm-9pm at the Shadow Hills Cabana located at 1001 El Capitan Drive in Danville, please join us for a debate on the pros and cons of the California State Ballot measures. Hear the ballot initiatives debated. The debate will be presented by the League of Women Voters and sponsored by DAW-AAUW. Club ub b Z! 1-On-1 Tuttorin ng On Saturday, October 20th at 10am at the Diablo Country Club located at 1700 In Your Home! Clubhouse Road in Diablo, join DAW-AAUW as we participate in a nonpartisan s All Subjects s PreK-Adult Next 10 Budget Challenge simulation of the tough choices that face our California lawmakers. s Reading s Writing s Math California has experienced large budget shortfalls for the last decade and faced a s LD/ADD/ADHD s SAT/ACT Prep $15.7 billion dollar budget gap for the 2012-13 fiscal year. Budget solutions affect s Study Skills Program s Affordable Rates us all. Take the Challenge and decide how much should be spent on programs and s Degreed Professionals s Flexible Schedules where the money should come from. Luncheon tickets are $25 and available at aauw-daw.org. Click on the October Call to Reserve Your Tutor Today! 20, 2012 Lunch link. AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, phiwww.clubz.com lanthropy, and research. DAW-AAUW offers scholarships and supports women for personal and professional growth, community leadership, and friendship. AAUW membership is open to all graduates of accredited four-year colleges or universities and those holding an Associate Degree or equivalent. For questions or prospective membership, contact Tena at 925-837-0826 or membershipvp@aauw-da.org.
Need A Tutor?
925-786-7149
From Gold to Diamond Reminiscent of the gala opening ceremonies of the recent London Olympics, Joyce Johnson Hamilton passed the conducting baton to Matilda Hofman as the new Music Director and Conductor of the Diablo Symphony at a recent reception. The reception had the dual purpose of welcoming Matilda Hofman and celebrating the Symphony’s 50th Anniversary.
Halloween Parade (Saturday 10a.m. in front of Faz Restaurant) Safe Trick-or-Treating Prospect Merchant Activities Bike Station First Annual Fall Crafts Festival Show
Left to right: Pat Campbell, Diablo Symphony board president; Joyce Johnson Hamilton, retiring conductor; Matilda Hofman, new conductor of the DSO; and Mary Ann Osborne, board member and reception hostess. Photo by Paul Fillinger.
Hofman, 33, selected by the orchestra musicians from five candidates, will open the Symphony’s 2012 - 2013 five-concert season with dual concerts on Friday, October 12th at 8PM in Rossmoor and Sunday, October 14th at 2PM at the Lesher Center for the Arts, located at 1601 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek. Hofman will lead
See Symphony continued on page 18
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 5
Alamo ~ Fabulous 1 level creek side estate in oak studded park-like setting. Almost 1 acre w/1000 sf guest house, pool & Koi pond. Home is approx 2973 s.f. & exquisitely remodeled throughout. $1,899,000
Stephanie Stadtler Todd Carter
800.977.8985 925.914.5844
Alamo ~ European– inspired 6 bedroom, 5.5 bath Alamo Estate nestled on the end of knoll. This gorgeous .85 acre property boasts cheerful view, 5400 s.f., amazing ambiance and elegance. Price reduced to sell! $2,499,000 Michael S. Hatfield
925-984-1339
Alamo ~ 4 bdrm, 3 bath, 2556 sf, custom home near Roundhill CC, updated kit & baths, hrdwd flrs, French doors, Lg entertaining lot, fruit trees, spa, gardens, 3 car gar, & RV or boat parking. $1,250,000
Pam Berce
925.699.8090 www.pamberce.com
Alamo ~ Gorgeous, private-gated, Westside Alamo. 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath, 4000 s.f. home on 1.27 acres. Featuring an Italian-style gourmet kitchen, wine celler, cul-de-sac and fantastic Alamo Schools. Potential Short Sale. $1,439,000 Michael S. Hatfield
925-984-1339
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Page 6 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
Alamo Women’s Club Alamo Women’s Club, established in 1916, is a philanthropic service organization with current focuses on Women, Health, and Children and Families. Among the philanthropies previously and currently supported are: Hospice of the East Bay, local schools and libraries, Red Cross of America, Canine Companions for Independence, Youth Homes, George Mark Children’s House, STAND! for Families Free of Violence and Vestia. On October 24th we present Jeanne Woodford. The title of her talk will be “My Journey: From San Quentin to the Present.” Jeanne is former Undersecretary and Director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and Warden of San Quentin State Prison, where she oversaw four executions. Beginning her career as a California correctional officer at San Quentin, Jeanne was appointed warden at San Quentin in 1999, where she was responsible for 5,800 prisoners, 1,500 staff, and a budget of $110 million. She developed programs for prisoners while warden including The Success Dorm, the first reentry program in a California prison. She is currently a Senior Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice, teaches at Stanford and Hastings Law School, and is Executive Director of Death Penalty Focus. The luncheon program begins at 11:30AM at the Women’s Club located at 1401 Danville Blvd., Alamo. Luncheon fees are $20 for members, $25 for non-members. There is no luncheon program in November. The December program, on December 12, will include a musical program and the lighting of the Hospice tree. Club events include speaker luncheons, volunteer work with local nonprofit organizations, scholarship programs, excursions, book clubs and other activity groups. For more information on the Club, membership, and upcoming programs, please visit www.alamowomensclub.org. For membership information, please contact Jerilyn Strong at 718-5800.
Alamo-Danville Newcomers Club Please join the Alamo-Danville Newcomers Club at a free Welcome Coffee on Thursday, October 25th from 10AM to noon to learn about Club membership. Both those new to the area or long time residents will be able to learn about the numerous activities and events sponsored by the club. We hope you’ll join us at this casual get-together where you can meet current members, find new friends, and discover the many activities offered through Newcomers. For further information, call us at (925) 281-1307, email us at alamodanvillenewcomers@yahoo.com, or visit our website www.alamodanvillenewcomers.com.
AARP Tax-Aide Call for Volunteers Do you like working with people? Are you good with numbers? Contra Costa County AARP Tax-Aide is looking for volunteers to become members of a team providing free tax preparation for individuals of all ages. Volunteer positions include Tax Counselors who are trained by Tax-Aide and certified by IRS and Client Facilitators who schedule appointment and assist clients at tax sites. If interested, call LaVerne Gordon, District Coordinator, at (925) 726-3199 for information and to apply. Orientation is in November 2012, and classes for tax counselors start in January 2013.
Mt. Diablo Branch California Writers Club Rick Reed will present Put Life Experiences into Your Writing at the next meeting of the Mt. Diablo Branch of the California Writers Club (CWC) on Saturday, October 13th at Zio Fraedo’s Restaurant, located at 611 Gregory Lane in Pleasant Hill. Rick will discuss true crime vs. fiction, pace and tone in both fiction and nonfiction, and anxiety vs. humor. Two other pieces of advice he’ll share: never let the truth get in the way of a good story, and “Never turn your back on a naked lady!” Mr. Reed spent 26 years as a policeman and detective, and he began his writing career with a contract from Kensington Books to write a true-crime novel, Blood Trail, about his capture of serial killer Joseph Weldon Brown. His other books include The Cruelest Cut and The Coldest Fear. Sign-in is from 11:30am - Noon, the luncheon runs from Noon-12:45pm, and the program is from 12:45-1:30pm. Registration is $20 for CWC members, $25 for guests. Reservations are required and must be received no later than noon on Wednesday, October 10. Contact Jeannie Georgakopoulos at jeaniegpops@comcast.net or by phone at (925) 934-5677. For more information, visit http://cwcmtdiablowriters.wordpress.com.
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2395 Monument Blvd., Suite J Concord (925) 680-4433 (Across from Costco Gas Station, next to Harvest House)
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 7
Alamo Police Services District P-2, Zone B
Booktoberfest! Project Second Chance, the Contra Costa County program for adult literacy is holding a fundraiser on October 26th from 6 to 8pm at the Lafayette Library Community Center, located at 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette. Tickets are $25. Ale Industries brewery of Concord will serve their craft beers, author Ken Weaver will discuss his new book The Northern California Craft Beer Guide, beer-related books will be sold, and there will be a drawing for prizes. Serving of substantial appetizers, and Ale Industries beer (and wine for non-beer drinkers) will precede the literary events. Guests must be 21 to attend. To purchase tickets with cash or check, contact Project Second Chance at 925-927-3250 or send payment to Project Second Chance, Inc., 1750 Oak Park Blvd. in Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. Credit card payments can be made over the phone to Maria at 925-930-7249. For more information, call Project Second Chance at 925-927-3250 or visit www.ccclib.org/psc.
Delta Nu Psi Collection Delta Nu Psi is approaching 1,000 boxes of items sent to the Troops. We have now mailed 24,552 pounds of “gourmet junk food” and coffee. Our next collections will be held from 11am to 2pm on October 5th at CVS in Alamo and October 12th at Lunardi's in Danville. We appreciate your continued support. For more information, visit deltanupsi.org.
Rally for the Cure Golf Tournament The San Ramon Women’s Golf Club is sponsoring Rally for the Cure Golf Tournament to benefit breast cancer research and local community outreach programs. A two-best-ball tournament will be held at the San Ramon Golf Club on Tuesday, October 9th with a 7AM check-in and 8AM shotgun start. Entry fee is $80 which includes 18 holes of golf with cart, lunch, goody bag, magazine subscription, and prizes. For information and entry form, contact Kay at srbctournament@yahoo.com.
Deputy Mike Carson, Alamo Resident Deputy, activities for August 2012
Deputy Carson Completed: 6 Moving citations • 2 Field interview cards • 5 Reports
Deputy Carson Responded to or Conducted 2Alarm calls • 20 Patrol requests/security checks • 1 Suspicious vehicle • 1 Suspicious subject • 1 Found properties • 2 Suspicious circumstances • 2 Civil issue • 4 Service to citizens • 4 Disturbances • 7 Vandalism • 1 Lost property • 3 Outside assists • 1 Possession of drugs • 1 Grand theft • 7 Petty thefts • 1 Battery • 2 Burglaries • 2 Identity thefts
If I Were a Thief Program (Crime awareness and prevention) 577 Streets covered • 261 Flyers distributed
Reported Incidents • Viking Place - Felony Battery - Valley Station Deputies responded to a report of a fight that had broken out during a graduation party. During the fight, a subject was struck in the face with a 2x4 and received a broken jaw. All parties involved were uncooperative with the investigation. No arrests have been made. • Golden Meadow Place - Residential Burglary - Unknown suspects forced entry into the home through a rear sliding glass door. The interior of the home had been ransacked with a multitude of personal items being stolen. Pictures and latent finger prints were collected at the scene. Deputy Mike Carson is Alamo’s full time resident deputy. His position is funded by Alamo’s P-2B police services district, which includes approximately 60% of Alamo household. District households pay an $18 annual parcel tax plus a portion of the 1% property tax. The Alamo Police Services Advisory Committee advises Sheriff David Livingston on the resident deputy and his services. The Committee is composed of Alamo residents within the district and it meets on the first Monday of each month at 5pm in the offices of the Alamo Chamber of Commerce, located at 120B Alamo Plaza. Alamo citizens are welcome to attend the meetings.
Danville Lions Club The Danville Lions Club invites you to be our guest for dinner and to learn more about how our club serves the community. Meetings are held at the Brass Door, located at 2154 San Ramon Valley Blvd in San Ramon, on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month at 7PM. For more information, please call Dr. Brent Waterman at (925) 275-1900.
The Cox Team REAL ESTATE
950 Forest Lane, Alamo
312 Ensley Court, Alamo
Westside Alamo! Absolutely charming home with 5BR, office, huge bonus room & 6BA. Hdwd floors, French doors, crown moulding, parklike grounds with pool, spa, sport court & a cabana home! Offered at $2,388,000
The Trails! 3BR, 2 offices (1 can be converted to a BR), sunroom & 3.5BA. Fresh interior paint, new carpeting, island kitchen & volume ceilings. ~.50 acre lot with lush landscaping, pool & spa! Offered at $1,319,000
Pat Cox 925-963-6404 pat@thecoxteam.com
DANVILLE
www.thecoxteam.com 601 Sycamore Valley Road West
925.314.1111
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Page 8 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
Rancho Romero Elementary School
Alamo Elementary School
By Skye Larsh, Principal
The Road to Independence By Stan Hitomi, Principal
Reading aloud and sharing stories with children are two of the most important activities we can do to ensure their future success. The tradition of reading to children and selecting good books is a healthy pastime and helps with personal development that no child should be without. Recently, author, Patricia Polacco illustrated this message for the students at Rancho Romero. Through the efforts of one teacher at Hidden Hills and four elementary schools, Patricia Polacco interacted with approximately 3,000 students via Skype from her home state of Michigan. Patricia Polacco writes about family relationships, friendships, understanding differences, and everyday heroes. Polacco has written over 50 children’s books and has received multiple literary awards for books that include Thank You, Mr. Falker, The Keeping Quilt, and Chicken Sunday. During the Skype Ms. Polacco talked about her own struggles in school because she was unable to read until age 14 due to dyslexia. She found relief by expressing herself through art. Ms. Polacco endured teasing and hid her disability until a schoolteacher recognized that she could not read and began to help her. Her book Thank You, Mr. Falker is Polacco’s retelling of this encounter and its outcome. Although we had hoped to meet Patricia Polacco up close and personal, her presence and storytelling on the screen captivated every student in the room. She summarized parts of her stories and told the students how she collects ideas until she can actually see the book. She stressed the importance of loving books and appreciating the richness of a well-told story and the accompanying artwork. Students from all four schools were able to ask questions. She listened carefully to each and then responded, often through another story. In preparation for this event, students had read and reread many of her books. Moving forward students are making personal connections to their own lives, writing and illustrating their own life experiences and deepening their passion for reading. The integration of core character traits found in each of her books sets the stage for the remainder of the year. Ms. Pollaco left an indelible impression that within each of us lies amazing potential waiting to be tapped. Imagine, such a powerful message through a story and a book.
When we think about the challenges of a new school year, we generally think about kindergartners who are beginning their first year in school. However, those of us in education know that the transition to 1st grade can be one of the most challenging – and rewarding. At Alamo School we have a pair of veteran teachers holding down the 1st grade program, Beth Summers and Clarissa Scott. They both see teaching 1st grade as the opportunity to lead students down the road to independence. Both Mrs. Summers and Mrs. Scott agree that the longer day is one of the biggest challenges for 1st graders. Early in the year 1st graders are exhausted by the end of the day, and it is not uncommon for them to ask, “Is it time to go home?” by morning recess. Along with the longer day comes an increase in both freedom and responsibility. No longer are they isolated in their own play area with their own bathrooms. Now they eat in the cafeteria with older students and play at recess with the BIG kids. Sometimes if they are not careful they will eat their entire lunch at snack time! As parents, many of us wonder what a 1st grader should be able to do, and how can we as parents prepare them. According to our teachers, less than 10% of them can tie their own shoes, and most are not truly reading at the start of the year. However, by the end of 1st grade some will be reading real chapter books, and they will know how to tell time and count money. Those who could read before 1st grade will have become more sophisticated readers, able to make inferences, predictions, as well as compare and contrast. It is truly a magical year! The advice our teachers give to prepare students for 1st grade is to encourage students to be independent at home. This would include giving them chores and responsibilities. Let them clean up after themselves, even if it is easier for adults to do it for them! This will help them on the road to independence, allowing them to manage their time and solve their own problems. Being independent means being able to read directions on a page rather than being told what to do by the teacher. By mid-year most 1st graders can work independently. This provides them with the opportunity to work with technology, including iPads and “clickers.” And they love those iPads! They also get to attend specialty classes, including science, PE, music, technology and library. One of the most memorable experiences in 1st grade at Alamo School is “Manners Tea,” a special activity where students learn to practice good table manners. As principal, I am amazed how far our students travel down the road to independence in 1st grade. One of the best parts of 1st grade is being able to look back and say, “Remember when you couldn’t...?” But now you can! Independence is empowerment, and it leads to developing skills in leadership and collaboration. As parents, try to be as much a part of your child’s year in 1st grade as you can.
Important Dates in October: October 5 October 14 October 15-19 October 25 October 31 8 Lic# 1100014354; Bay Area Entertainment
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Upcoming Meetings and Events AIA - Alamo Improvement Association - October 16th , 7pm - Creekside Community Church -1350 Danville Blvd. Alamo MAC (Municipal Advisory Committee) - First Tuesday of each month 6pm - Alamo Chamber of Commerce Office 120-B, Alamo Plaza P2B - Police Services Advisory Committee - First Monday of each month, 5pm - Meets at Alamo Chamber of Commerce Office located at 120 -B, Alamo Plaza P5 - Round Hill Police Services Advisory Committee - Second Wednesday of each month, 7pm - Meets at Round Hill Country Club - Lower Level Meeting Room CERT classes - Community Emergency Response Team - Visit www. firedepartment.org/community_outreach/cert/upcoming_classes.asp
Alamo Zoe is Missing Alamo Zoe has become lost in this paper... Search through Alamo Today and see if you can find her! She is very small, so you will have to look hard if you want to find her.
To be eligible send a letter telling us where you found her, along with your name and address, to: Lost Dog! ~ Alamo Today 3000F Danville Blvd #117 • Alamo, CA 94507
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 9
How Much are my Coins and Collectables Worth? Many coins and collectables are worth more today. But how much more are they worth? The 16th annual Contra Costa Coin and Collectables Show is the perfect place to get informal, free appraisals from over 30 West Coast dealers. The show will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 13th and 14th, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel located at 45 John Glenn Drive in Concord. Doors open to the general public at 10AM each day. The show dealers will also buy, sell, and trade a variety of items including coins, tokens, medals, paper money, estate jewelry, and watches. “The general public can really benefit,” said Bill Green, with the Diablo Numismatic Society, the non-profit coin club hosting the show. “There’s no better way to make sure you get fair value for your coins and collectables than at a show like ours, and our safe, secure venue offers a fun, fascinating, and educational experience for the entire family.” Admission to the show is $3 and good for both days. Children under twelve are admitted free. There will be drawings for valuable coins and other prizes. Also, Boy Scout Troop #465 will host a youth exhibit that includes free coins for children. Contact Bill Green of the Diablo Numismatic Society for more information at (925) 351 – 7605, or visit the club’s website at diablocionclub.org.
Exchange Club of San Ramon Valley The Exchange Club of San Ramon Valley meets for lunch the second Wednesday of every month at Faz Restaurant in downtown Danville. The Club’s sign-in and social time begins at 11:30AM. The meeting starts promptly at noon and ends promptly at 1PM. The one-hour program features guest speakers and a business networking speaker. Guests are welcome. Price is $16 for members and first time guests and $20 for returning guests. For more information, call Karen Stepper, President, at (925) 275-2312, email coachstepper@yahoo.com, or visit www.srvexchangeclub.org.
Stone Valley Middle School By Shaun K. McElroy, Principal What’s trending in education? In 1980 I read my first book about the education system in the United States, A Place Called School by John Goodlad. Goodlad researched the classroom and school structures of the era, and his work coincided with the Regan administration’s A Nation at Risk report. The consensus of Goodlad’s work and A Nation at Risk report was that our schools were failing our children. The age old structures and methodologies did not support progress by American children. In California, then State Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig (1983-93) followed with a standards-based education system. Honig’s tenure yielded primary documents called Frameworks. The Frameworks described in detail what students should know and be able to do in every subject from home economics to calculus. In 2001, The George W. Bush era created a national reform called “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB). States were asked to put a fine point on standards by measuring how well students met the requirements of the standards. Measurement systems were put in place to clearly delineate how schools’ were making progress. In California progress was measured by the results of the annual STAR tests. The general public was made aware of individual schools progress (adequate yearly progress or AYP) by the Academic Performance Index score. API ranged from 200-1000, the baseline goal for all California Schools is 800. All schools in SRVUSD are near or over the 900 mark.
Fast Forward to 2014-15 School Year: Common Core State Standards In 2010 the Common Core State Standards* movement takes a step towards a national curriculum. Parents, teachers, school administrators, and experts from across the country, together with state leaders, through their membership in the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), worked cooperatively to create National standards for language arts and math. The unique feature of CCSS is the use of a common thread that links a single standard from kindergarten through 12th grade. Each grade level has a progression that requires a higher level thinking skill. The CCSS movement will require a differently structured classroom. Students will be asked to communicate ideas and problem solve with peers
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at a deeper and more engaging level than anything else we have ever done in the past. The CCSS vocabulary includes the term Depth of Knowledge or DOK. DOK provides teachers and students with a background for measuring complexity of a skill of task. Four levels of DOK include: Level 1 - Recall - Recall of a fact, information or procedure Level 2 - Skill/Concept - Use information or conceptual knowledge, two or more steps Level 3 - Strategic Thinking - Requires reasoning, developing a plan or sequence of steps, some complexity, more than one possible answer Level 4 - Extended Thinking - Requires an investigation, time to think and process multiple conditions of the problem This is an exciting change for educators all over the country. To date, 45 states have adopted the CCSS. I predict that students will find the CCSS engaging and exciting. A peek into the 2015 classroom will find students engaged in a high level of dialogue with their peers and the teacher assisting in guiding the conversation to an outcome. For the lay person, think of the scene in Apollo 13 where five scientists are engaged in a problem solving exercise where failure is not an option. *The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort to establish a shared set of clear educational standards for English language arts and mathematics that states can voluntarily adopt. If you have more questions visit www.corestandards.org/frequently-askedquestions.
What’s Up in the SV Community Garden? On the north side of campus is a plot of land that is the SVMS’s garden! In 2009, Mr Hager and his Environmental Science students created the garden and the outdoor classroom. Last spring, Mr. Hager established a Garden Committee to develop the potential of this valuable teaching resource. Just a few months later, there are many exciting things happening. This week our students met with local Landscape architect, John Montgomery, who explained the process of landscape design so the students will be able to create their own design for the garden. Mr. Montgomery will use the student generated plans to inspire a master plan for the garden that we can then begin to implement. This week we also accepted a generous donation from Tuff Shed that will house our garden tools and supplies. If you are interested in helping with the garden, there are a variety of opportunities. Please contact Rachel Day at rachel.day31@gmail.com.
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Page 10 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
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Monte Vista High School By Janet Terranova, Principal At Monte Vista we are excited about the many fall activities in which our students can participate. Studies tell us over and over that one of the best ways for students to ensure a successful high school career is to get involved in school activities. Luckily for students at MV, there is an abundance of activities for our students to join. Sports, drama, instrumental music, vocal music, and speech and debate are some of the co-curricular activities that draw large numbers of students, but we offer more. We have over 75 clubs on our campus. Students recently had the opportunity to learn about all the clubs at the Monte Vista Club Faire. Our club offerings range from a mountain bike club, to scholastic clubs such as California Scholarship Federation (CSF) and National Honor Society (NHS) to service clubs such as Habitat for Humanity, Friends of Special Olympics, and Alzheimer’s Awareness, to name just a few. Even if students did not sign up at the Club Faire, our clubs welcome new members any time during the year. Amazingly, we are in our fifth week of school. Students have settled into their classes and are hard at work taking a wide array of required and elective courses. While the physical structures of schools are much like those 20 or 30 years ago, the courses our students take and the expectations for students today are far different. Students have the opportunity to study courses that were not part of a school curriculum a generation ago. Our students can enroll in courses such as engineering, environmental science, forensic science, video production, graphic arts, hospitality management, and other classes to help them explore a variety of career paths. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the generosity of our community. On Friday, September 7th, we traveled to Pittsburg High School for a football game (we won!). Some of you may know that Pittsburg High has a wonderful marching band that has been invited to perform around the country. They have recently been invited to perform in England for the 2014 New Year’s Day Parade. Our football families learned of their fundraising efforts and rallied round to collect over $1,300 from the Monte Vista Community. How fortunate we are to live and work in such a generous community. If you would like more information about Monte Vista High School, please visit our website at www.mvhs.schoolloop.com.
San Ramon Valley High School By Ruth Steele, Principal Technology is playing a more and more important role in our classrooms and educational practices. As we move through the second month of school at SRVHS, the challenge of educating our tech savvy youth is high on my list of priorities. There are now a variety of technology related terms that dominate current educational jargon: 21st century learners, digital natives, flipping the classroom, cyberbullying, iLearners…to list but a few. Our students now learn differently that we did (and by “we” I mean anyone born before 1981!). They belong to “Generation Y” and are the newest members of our educational community which now spans four generations which includes - Veterans or Traditionalists - 1922-1945, Baby Boomers - 1946-1964, Generation X - 1965-1980, and Generation Y or Millennials - 1981-present. This range presents some very significant challenges. In the business world, managers are being provided with training to help them to work with and motivate “Generation Y” employees. They are the most rapidly growing segment of the workforce, and most are working for managers or leaders who belong to “Generation X” or the “Baby Boomer” generation. These groups have little in common and are motivated very differently. Their priorities, attitudes, and approach to learning differs too. Our students belong to “Generation Y” – which could equally be “Generation Why?” They love to collaborate and multi-task, and they are tenacious, goal focused, and want meaningful tasks to complete. These are different from the skill-sets and aptitudes of the previous three generations and not only present challenges for future employers but also for educators. How do you engage, interest, and motivate students that are constantly switching between media and don’t seem able to focus on any one thing for more than a moment? One of the simple answers is to try and bring elements of their world into the classroom. Our students love to create content and get feedback from an audience. This is why Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites have become such an integral part of our students’ world. They upload videos to YouTube, pictures to Instagram, messages to Facebook, and notes to Twitter. They are constantly connected to their cell phones because these devices allow them to stay connected to their friends and their world of entertainment. They are validated by the responses to their messages, posts, tweets, and pics. By sharing their world with others, they connect and interact. One of the keys to successfully engaging students in school is to recognize why they behave the way they do and find a way to re-create some of those interactions in the classroom. This is the single biggest challenge facing not only high schools, but elementary and middle schools as well. Many established and experienced teachers are members of “Generation X” or the “Baby Boomers.” We are termed “digital immigrants” because while we may use a range of technology and be fairly comfortable with it, we are not innate users. “Generation Y” are digital natives. They intuitively understand how to use technology and seem to have become seamlessly connected to it 24/7. Our responsibility as educators is to try and find ways to integrate this into our classrooms where possible, but we must also balance the use of technology with rigorous and relevant instruction. This is one of the major goals at SRVHS this year, and it will continue to be as we prepare our students for the workplace beyond school.
The Magic of Music The Contra Costa League of the San Francisco Symphony will present it’s annual luncheon, The Magic of Music - It’s in the Cards on Monday, October 29th at Crow Canyon Country Club located at 711 Silver Lake Drive in Danville. Lunch includes bridge, games, and magic. There will be a silent auction and a musical presentation by the Matlock Duo. The cost is $65 per person. If you are interested in attending please reply to Carolyn Bybee at 925-2855292 or carolynbybee@gmail.com by October 19th. The League provides docents for the schools in Contra Costa and surrounding counties which introduce students in first through third grade to classical music through concerts for kids. The League personally sponsors two schools by buying tickets and supplying transportation with accompanying volunteer docents.
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 11
What Does “Superscore” Mean?
Art in the Park
By Susan Sokat, Club Z Tutoring
The 14th Annual Art in the Park festival will be held October 6th and 7th from 10am to 5pm each day at a new, expanded location - San Ramon’s Central Park located at Alcosta Blvd and Bollinger Canyon Road. Admission to the event is free. There will be 70 booths of fine art, live music, food and wine, and children’s activities. Don’t miss the judged art show in the Fountain Room of the Community Center and the professional Chalk Artists showing their talents. Fine art booths include painters in all media, clay, fine jewelry, art photography, textiles, sculpture, and more from artists around the Bay Area and Northern California. The artists will be happy to talk to you about their techniques and experiences, and many will be demonstrating. Live music both days includes the Monte Vista High Jazz Group, Gary Chulla Trio, Cal High Jazz Band, Diablo Dixie Devils, San Ramon Valley High School Jazz Band, and San Ramon Strochkova Music Studio. There will be art tables set up near the tennis courts for kids to create a painting or a project to take home. Materials and supplies are free of charge, compliments of Alamo Danville Artists’ Society (ADAS) and help from the National Charity League. The San Ramon Library will have a table in the children’s area and a bubble station will be supplied by Valley Parent Preschool. A kids’ train (supplied by the Museum of the San Ramon Valley) will take children for rides around the sports fields. The event is sponsored by ADAS, the San Ramon Arts Foundation, and the City of San Ramon. Art in the Park is a fundraiser for San Ramon art programs and Art in the Schools of the San Ramon Valley School District. Over $125,000 has been raised over the years by ADAS for grants which go directly to the elementary and middle school art programs in the district. For more information, contact Norma Webb at normawebb@comcast.net or 925-828-9170.
“Superscoring” is fairly new. Superscoring involves college admissions departments taking different sections of the SAT test and counting the best individual sections from each test while reviewing a student’s college application, rather than just looking at one individual test date’s score. It’s to a school’s advantage to “superscore” because the college can report higher SAT scores of its admitted students to make their institution appear more exclusive. Therefore, if you took the SAT on three different test dates, such as March, May, and October, the colleges will mix and match your best sections. Example: March; 580 critical reading, 480 math, 640 writing May; 540 Critical reading, 580 math, 600 writing October; 640 Critical reading, 550 math, and 620 writing In this example you would need to submit all three tests to the school. The admissions office would then “superscore” and take the best sections from each test date. Therefore, your “superscore” would be 640 Critical reading + 580 Math + 640 Writing, making your “superscore” an 1860 out of a possible 2400. Traditionally colleges and universities have not “superscored” the ACT. As always the best way to improve your SAT score is private tutoring. With this approach you are working on your weak areas, not just taking a class. Club Z! In-Home Tutoring provides tutoring for the SAT, as well as any other subject grade K-12, in the convenience of your home. Contact Club Z! Advertorial at 925-786-7149 or visit www.clubztutoring.com/danville.
Wind ‘n Sea Sailing Club The non-profit Wind ‘n Sea Sailing Club is holding a sailing training class at a member’s home in Danville, Wednesday, October 10th at 7PM. This class will be “General Sailing Skills, Knots, and Terminology” and will be followed by further sailing classes. Contact Jan at (925) 837-3381 for further information.
Baskets Exhibit: Basic, Beautiful, Bold A new exhibit featuring Washoe Indian baskets continues through November 4th at the Museum of San Ramon Valley. These are not just any baskets. These are baskets woven by California Indians who were, and are, some of the most accomplished basket weavers in the world. Twenty baskets from The Gatekeeper’s Museum in Tahoe City have been loaned to the Museum. Most of the baskets were created by Washoe Indians from the Lake Tahoe Basin area which includes both California and Nevada territories and extended to about 10,000 square miles of land. Archaeologists trace the Washoe back around 2,000 years. Today there are approximately 1,500 enrolled members of the Washoe Tribe of California and Nevada. Indians used baskets for everything, from baby carriers to cooking. Some were made quickly for utilitarian tasks, but many were planned in advance by gathering the correct materials, choosing a shape and patterns, and weaving thoughtfully and prayerfully. Indian weavers continue to create baskets today, although they face challenges in finding the basket materials when areas develop or private landowners refuse gathering permission. Museum hours are 1-4 Tuesday-Friday, 10-1 Saturday, and 12-3 on Sunday. This exhibit will accompany the Museum’s Indian Life Program for fourth graders. Please contact the museum directly to enroll a class in these programs at 837-3750 or go to the website at museumsrv.org for further information.
Lafayette Reservoir Run – October 28th “The fastest 5K and the toughest 10K in the land” The Lafayette Reservoir Run is the city’s most popular “family affair,” involving kids, parents, grandparents, and hundreds of serious runners from all over the Bay Area. Over 2,500 participants compete in a 10K, 5K, or 2 mile race through the heart of downtown Lafayette, around the reservoir, and back. Sprinters, walkers, the “stroller brigade,” and many four legged friends share the streets on the last Sunday morning in October. Race times begin at 8am and “day of” registration begins at 6:30am. Enjoy music provided by Stanley Middle School and a pancake breakfast provided by the Lafayette Rotary Club. Parking is available at the BART parking lot. Walk down to Plaza Center (Mt. Diablo Blvd. at Moraga Rd.) where all the fun is taking place. Pre-registration can be done by visiting the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce website, www.lafayettechamber.org, or www.active.com.
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Page 12 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
Contra Costa County Supervisor, District 2 Realignment – What is the Best Way to Keep our Community Safe? By Supervisor Candace Andersen, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, District 2
Livingston was hoping to utilize some of these funds to add 150 beds to the existing West County Detention Facility, a jail that not only holds inmates but also provides a variety of services to help with successful reentry. However, many citizens and community groups came to the September CCP meeting and argued that we don’t need more jail beds, that the monies would be better spent on community-based programs which should help keep the released inmates from going back to jail. The Sheriff has taken the addition of the 150 jail beds off the table for the time being. Realignment is a significant undertaking, and all parties involved realize that having never done this before, it will remain a work in progress. As our County is given these new responsibilities, the highest priority should be to keep our communities safe. We are relying on the experts who make up the CCP to come up with a plan of how to best use the $19 million to serve that purpose. If you want to weigh in on how the County spends the $19 million allocated to it, attend future meetings of the Community Corrections Partnership, or learn more about Realignment, visit www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=3113. If you have other County issues you wish to discuss or would like to contact me, please don’t hesitate to do so. I’m elected to serve you. I can be reached at Candace.Andersen@bos.cccounty.us or 925-957-8860.
Something you may be hearing about lately in County news is “Realignment.” In an effort to reduce State Prison overcrowding, the Public Safety Realignment Act (Assembly Bill 109) was signed into law last year. This law transfers the responsibility of supervising lower level--non-violent, non-serious, non-sex offenders–both inmates and parolees, from the State to local counties. This unprecedented change in how California handles those convicted of felony crimes greatly impacts the justice system. For example, some felony violations will be redefined resulting in shorter sentences. These sentences won’t be served in State prison but in our local jails which weren’t designed, or previously used, for lengthy stays. Some low-level inmates released directly from prison to community supervision will no longer be monitored by State Parole Officers, but by County Deputy Probation Officers. Parole violators won’t be sent back to prison but housed in County jails. Each California County has been allocated a certain amount of money and is required to create a Community Corrections Partnership (“CCP”) to oversee the realignment process. After the CCP makes its decision on how to proceed, its budget must be approved by the County Board of Supervisors with a 4/5 vote. The State Realignment legislation defines which County leaders or agencies should be on the CCP Committee. In Contra Costa, the members of the CCP Executive Committee are Chair, Chief Probation Officer Phil Kader, Sheriff David Livingston, District Attorney Mark Peterson, Public Defender Robin Lipetzky, Chief of Police Chris Magnus, Richmond Police Department, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Diana Becton, and Our payout rates are: Cynthia Belon, Director of Behavioral Health for Contra Costa Human Services. Agencies represented on the CCP are considered “reentry stakeholders” in that they need to develop a plan to bring inmates who were previously housed and supervised by the State into County custody and probation supervision. A Community Advisory Board (“CAB”) was also developed to assist formerly incarcerPayout rates include interest and return of principle, effective as of 07/23/2012 ated individuals return to the community by collectively Based on life-only annuity income, male annuitant with $100,000 premium. Payout amounts for female applicants, who providing job training opportunities, literacy skills trainhave longer life expectancies, are lower. In the states of MA and MT, payout amounts do not differentiate male and ing, affordable housing, behavioral and physical health female life expectancies. Payouts are subject to change and will vary dependent upon age, gender, payout option and premium amount, and interest in effect at time of policy issue. 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New York Life Insurance Company Contra Costa County was initially allocated about 3000 Danville Boulevard, Suite L Agent Alamo, CA 94507 $4.5 million for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011/12 925-552-7152 www.MagbitangFinancialGroup.com through AB 109 funding. Fortunately, this amount was magbitangjm@ft.newyorklife.com increased, and for the next two years, Contra Costa will be allocated just over $19 million. This is supposed to be S&P - AA+, Fitch - AAA, Moody’s - Aaa, A.M. Best - A++, as of 1/25/12. Issued by New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation (NYLIAC) (a Delaware Corporation), a wholly owned subsidiary of New York used to implement the reentry plan, expand services, and Life Insurance Company. 51 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Products available in jurisdictions where approved. Guarantees are secure County coordinated community-based programs. based on the claims-paying ability of the issuer. There are no funding guarantees past June 30, 2014. 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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 13
Is it Scrumdidilyumptious? By Cynthia Ruzzi, President Sustainable Danville Area
Sunday, October 28, 2012 8am Downtown Lafayette Parking available at BART
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I still remember seeing the movie Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory as a child. The magical world with a river of chocolate, a drink that made Charlie and his Grandpa float in the air, and ‘the most amazing, fabulous, sensational gum in the whole world’ containing a three-course dinner captured my heart! But, would we chance such biotechnological confections if they were available to us? Would you risk turning your child blue and blowing up like a blueberry, similar to the nit-wit character Violet in the movie, just to save time in the kitchen? Dinner in a piece of gum would surely be the end to family meals, and aren’t our teachers already dealing with ‘floating students’ on five hour energy drinks? In my effort to eat healthier, I’ve been shopping the outside aisles of the grocery stores for the past few years. The perimeter is normally where you find the ‘real food,’ or at least where you find produce, the meat and fish counter, dairy products, and breads. Processed foods like sugared cereal, bottled juices and sodas loaded with corn syrup, packaged cookies, chips, and even power bars dominate the middle aisles of most stores. Entering this dominion I need to arm myself with reading glasses to check labels for sugar and fat content and use a ‘chemicalspeak’ dictionary to understand the rest of the packaged ingredients. Recently, Proposition 37, the GMO Food Labeling Initiative, has me wondering whether my shopping technique is the best defense for purchasing the healthiest foods. GMOs or ‘genetically modified organisms’ is the term for plants or animals created through the gene splicing techniques of biotechnology. Biotechnology, also known as generic engineering (GE) combines DNA from different species, mixing plant, animal, bacterial, and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding. Nearly 80% of processed foods available in the US contain GMOs. These include products that contain corn, soy, canola, flax, and rice as well as sugar beets, papaya, zucchini and yellow summer squash. However, it’s not always obvious since ingredients listed in ‘chemical-speak’ may be derived from these crops like (but are not limited to) Xanthan Gum, Sucrose, Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrins, Citric Acid and of course High-Fructose Corn Syrup. Even milk, meat, eggs and honey can contain GMOs because of feed for animals and other inputs. Most GMOs are designed to produce their own insecticide to fight bugs or survive the farmer spraying herbicide to kill competing weeds. GMOs promise drought tolerance and increased yields to make food more plentiful. Opponents connect GMOs with environmental damage and cite cases of large seed companies going after farmers for growing crops that have been hybridized by wind and/or birds. I’d love a solution to end world hunger, but I’m worried about the unknown, long-term impacts of GMOs on people and the environment. If nearly 50 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union have restrictions or bans on the production and sale of GMOs, then why do US manufacturers’ consider GMOs safe for us to eat? I depend on my food producer to be transparent about their ingredients. We ask the farmer how they fertilize and combat pests, and the butcher if antibiotics or hormones were used raising the meat. We check if the fish is sustainable, and we definitely check labels on packages carefully before purchase. If a manufacturer can list sugar, fat and ‘new and improved,’ then certainly they can list GMO-derived ingredients and allow me the choice to decide if the product is right for my family. Currently, the Non-GMO project offers the only third party verification for products. Their website, www.nongmoproject.org, and their nifty iPhone app offers a complete list of Non-GMO verified foods which I use to decide what trade-offs to make when shopping. Interested in learning more about GMOs and food? Join San Ramon Valley High School Environmental Club and Sustainable Danville Area for a showing of the documentary, Future of Food on Wednesday, October 10th at 6:30pm in the San Ramon Valley High School Performing Arts Center located at 501 Danville Blvd. in Danville. There is a suggested donation of $5. For more information, please visit www.sustainabledanville.com. Help Breath of Hope Chiropractic and Sustainable Danville Area fight local hunger. Now there are two places in Danville to donate fresh vegetables and fruits to our local food pantries: Wednesdays 7:30am – 3pm 822 Hartz Way (Inside lobby of office building behind Burger King) Saturdays 9am – 1pm Loaves and Fishes at Danville’s Farmers Market, Prospect and Railroad Ave.
Page 14 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
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Whom Can You Trust? By Evan Corstorphine, Portable CIO
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On September 8th Danville Troop 236 launched the first Boy Scout swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco. Twenty-two swimmers were sponsored and trained by the Nadadores Locos swim club. Pictured above are participants in the Alcatraz Ultimatum.
Mustang Comets recently won the Mustang Devil Mountain U14 Soccer Championship. Coached by Garth Riopelle and Rob McAdam, the Comets team includes Tomer Fieldman, Bradley Gonsalves, Blake Harrison, Jack Kennedy, Nick McAdam, Davis McAlister, Henry Powell, Noah Prince, Michael Quinn, Matt Riopelle, Connor Schaumburg, Joe Sullivan, Danny Tovani, Alex Zapata, and Billy Facteau.
In past articles I’ve covered some of the intricacies of privacy and the changing landscape we find ourselves living in. One aspect I’ve not covered is how we at Portable CIO treat privacy and the implications of this in the way we work with you. For example, what happens to your computer when it comes into our shop? I must confess some irritation when someone whom we’re digging out of a terrific mess suddenly gets paranoid and questions the safety of their data in our hands or the motivations of my technicians. It’s a little like someone who’s having emergency surgery suddenly asking the doctor if he’s washed his hands and knows what he’s doing. I like to point out that it is they who called us, and that digging into their personal lives is just about the last thing anyone is interested in doing. In the course of a major system repair, we’re going to copy your system into a safer environment so that we safeguard that which cannot be replaced. The data is held securely on a locked and password protected server in an alarmed facility, and this data is deleted when your computer has been returned to you. Computers come and go, but your data is precious, and it’s our first responsibility to ensure that it is safe when it’s in our care. The average computer, whether it be for business or home use, has thousands of pieces of data on it. There’s browser information, cached passwords, Word and Excel documents, pictures, music, email database files, address books, and countless other bits and pieces that make your computer uniquely yours. While backing up data is always the customers responsibility, in cases where the customer has not taken that step, our challenge is to safeguard data, because so much of it is irreplaceable. Our office is not unlike a busy emergency room at a trauma hospital. When a patient comes in for treatment, we’re not worrying about the modesty of the patient as we cut off a garment to gain access to the “wound.” To paraphrase your mother, who walked in on you when you were changing as a teenager, “We’ve seen it all.” And by all, I mean ALL. Porn? Check. Cheating husbands? Check. Corporate intrigue? Check. We’re a bit numbed by it. As we’ve begun conducting HIPAA privacy and security audits for medical practices, and we’re working with financial firms who are governed by the SEC rules and guidelines for computer security, it’s become quite clear that a new day has dawned. We have composed our own Portable CIO Privacy and Confidentiality statement, available upon request, that explains our practices, methods, and commitments to client privacy. In the medical arena, physicians are called “covered entities,” and they are governed by a strict set of guidelines in how they handle and safeguard patient information. Patient information is called PHI, or Patient Health Information. In its electronic form, it’s called ePHI, for electronic Patient Health Information. When a company like ours works with a medical office, we must legally sign a type of contract called a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). This agreement extends the reach of PHI and ePHI compliance from the covered entity all the way to Portable CIO. This means that when we are working with the medical community, we are just as responsible, and just as liable, for the safeguarding of all patient information in any form, wherever and however we might come into contact with it. It’s a very big deal, and when data is accidentally released, it can costs thousands, even millions of dollars in fines. Now, in reality it’s rare to come across any of this data. It’s stored on electronic systems at the medical practices, and we don’t have (and don’t want) access to those systems. However, the potential exists that we might run across an extract of that data located on one of these systems, and we are bound to the confidentiality rules to ensure this data never sees the light of day. It’s part of what we do to ensure that secure data stays secure, and if we ever see anything, we’re to forget it immediately and move on to the next task. The same thing goes for when we’re working with a financial firm governed by the SEC’s rules on privacy or when working with Joe and Mary Smith down the street. It’s our job to ensure that everyone’s secrets stay secret and that computers get fixed in the most expeditious and secure way possible. Do you have questions or concerns about data privacy? If you do, you should give us a call or email, because we’d love to help you make sense of it all. Either call 925-552-7953, or email helpdesk@theportablecio.com. Advertorial
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 15
Danville Fall Crafts Festival, Fall into Fun! Get ready to fall into fun when the 21st annual Danville Fall Crafts Festival returns to beautiful downtown Danville on Saturday and Sunday, October 20 and 21. Hosted by the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Danville, this admission-free, family-friendly event on Hartz Avenue features something for everyone including the return of the popular Glass Pumpkin Patch with over 1,000 glass pumpkins of every size and shape. Festival-goers can meet and mingle with 200 talented artisans as they display work ranging from ceramics, fiber, wood, leather, and metalwork to jewelry, glass, photography, and mixed-media art pieces. Street corner musicians will be playing country, blues, Americana tunes, Caribbean steel drum rhythms, and the lively sound of marimba music for you to enjoy while strolling though the colorful festival booths and attractions. The youngsters won’t want to miss the annual Halloween Costume Parade on Saturday, October 20, starting at 10AM at the corner of School and Hartz Avenue as the start of the parade when children and their parents enjoy safe trick-or-treating with the merchants and artists along Hartz Avenue. Other children’s activities include face painting, inflatables fun and train rides. For adults, the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce Beverage Garden offers wine and microbrews. Along with the many Prospect merchant activities, new this year is the first annual Fall Festival Car Show held along Prospect near Front Street. The festival also offers plenty of free parking in city-owned lots and curbside spaces (the two-hour parking limit will not be enforced). Or bring your bike and take advantage of the convenient Bike Station located near Hartz Way. For more information, call (925) 837-4400 or visit the festival website at www.mlaproductions.com.
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Page 16 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
Quick Trips
By Linda Summers Pirkle San Juan Bautista
WE DELIVER 838-1122
San Juan Bautista State Historical Park is 90 miles southeast of San Francisco. The park includes several structures built in the 1800’s. These buildings, the 18th century Mission San Juan Bautista and several other historical buildings, surround the only original Spanish Plaza remaining in California. State Park Senior Aide, Marcos Raul Vizcaino says, “San Juan Bautista State Historical Park exists to preserve the rich legacy of the ancestors of San Juan Bautista. You can see the progression in time from the Native Americans known as the Amah Mutsun people, the Spanish era, the Mexican era, and then the American Gold Rush era.� Allow about an hour to visit the four main historic museums; the Plaza Hotel, the Zanetta House/Plaza Hall, the Plaza Stables, and the Castro-Breen Adobe. The Mission, an active Catholic church since 1797, is also open to visitors. In the cemetery behind the church, look for the large red cross which is the burial spot of the last indigenous Native American from the area. San Juan Bautista is a charming town. The wild chickens that roam the streets add to the ambiance of bygone days. “If you want a real sense of what it was like living during the 1800’s,� says Vizcaino, “come to our Living History Days; a hands-on historical event which is held every first Saturday of the month (except November).� * The hours between 10AM and 2PM on school days can be crowded with up to 300 children visiting the site during the week. A good time to visit the park is after 2PM on weekdays, or it is even better to go on weekends. *Portions of the film Vertigo, by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak, were filmed in the Plaza Stable and the Zanetta House, and there is a scene when Miss Novak runs across the plaza. Rosie Murray, secretary at the Mission, says that people from all over the world come to the Mission to see the famous tower in the film. She explains the tower sequence was actually “Hollywood.� San Juan Bautista has some nice restaurants. Our group of 40 people dined at Jardines de San Juan Mexican restaurant. We sat outside in the gorgeous patio, which is really a large garden. Service and food were excellent. On Friday nights the house regional specialty at Jardines is Huachinango ala Alicia, fresh snapper served Veracruz style, and the Sunday special is Pollos Borrachos, or drunken chicken, an old pueblo recipe - chicken simmered in a sauce with ham, sausage, almonds, raisins and a hint of sherry. Jon Clark, manager at Jardines, recommends calling in your order for the weekend specials. “Our house specialties have been on our menu for years. We have people coming in from miles around for them, and we do sell out.� Jardines de San Juan is open daily (closed Christmas and Thanksgiving). Hours: 11AM to 9PM Sun. –Thurs. and 11AM-10PM Fri.—Sat. They can be reached at (831) 623-4466. San Juan Bautista Park is open Tuesday through Sunday 10AM to 4:30PM. Guided walking tours can be arranged with reservations. Call (831) 623-2753. Linda Summers Pirkle, travel consultant and long term Danville resident, has been arranging and leading tours for the Town of Danville for several years. Inspired by the many wonderful places to visit in the Bay Area, she organizes day trips, +HU]PSSL either for groups or for friends and family. *HTPUV ;HZZHQHYH “If it's a trip for my husband and me, my husband drives and I talk (he’s a captive audience) - the perfect combination! What (SHTV a great place to live, so much to see, so Open Tues thru Sat 10 to 6 much to do.� To share your “Quick Trips� +HU]PSSL )V\SL]HYK :\UKH` [V ‹ *SVZLK 4VUKH` ideas, email Coverthemap@gmail.com.
END OF SEASON CLEARANCE SALE ON PATIO FURNITURE Sale Ends 10/30/12 or When Stock Runs Out
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 17
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Page 18 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
Symphony continued from page 4 the symphony in Dances from Ballet Suite No. 1 and Polka from the Age of Gold by Shostakovich and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Hoffman is a native of Oxford, England. She studied at Cambridge University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Eastman School of Music. In addition to symphony orchestras, she has conducted operas throughout Europe and was assistant conductor at Sacramento Opera. She is a regular guest conductor of the Empyrean Ensemble at UC Davis and the Bay Area’s Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. In 2003 Hofman formed the Kreisler Ensemble, a group of seven Bay Area-based musicians, and she serves as its artistic director and conductor. While quiet-spoken in conversation, she wields the baton with power and authority. She is a diamond in the rough, about to be cut and faceted by her experiences with the Diablo Symphony. Joyce Johnson Hamilton, who retired as Music Director in 2011 after 31 years of leadership, was a master weaver of people and music, demonstrating a sensitive ear in communicating with the musicians. She has been described as a gold nugget finely burnished by her tireless enhancement of performers and programs. Also a trumpet virtuoso, Hamilton will be featured in the opening concerts as the guest artist, playing the Haydn trumpet concerto. As a composer, she brings adventure to the audience and players, and the Symphony will honor her again in the March 22 and 24, 2013 concerts which will premiere her special composition celebrating the orchestra’s 50th anniversary. These concerts will also feature the season’s winner of the Yen Liang Young Artist Competition, a symphonic Junior Olympics with outstanding young performers. The Diablo Symphony is the oldest symphony orchestra of professionally trained musicians in Contra Costa County. Hofman becomes the sixth conductor of the Diablo Symphony since its founding in 1962. Tickets ($10-$25) are available at the Lesher Center for the Arts box office, by calling (925) 943-7469, Matilda Hofman. Photo by Christoph Trestler or at lesherartscenter.org.
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The county fair meets The Ruth Bancroft Garden in an event full of charm and fun on October 6th from noon to 4PM. Whether you come for the scarecrows, pumpkins, free admission or just a day of family fun, there will be plenty to do and see at the Fall Festival. Meet chickens and goats, play games, get crafty, and learn about plants, pollination, and this special garden in Walnut Creek. Enjoy special varieties of pumpkins and gourds grown on site, and cast your vote in our scarecrow contest. Admission is free with learning stations, voting stations, and other fun activities available for no additional charge. Participate in carnival games and fall crafts for $1 each. On October 20th from 10am-11:30am explore the tasty side of the Ruth Bancroft Garden at the Exotic Fruit Tasting Tour. Never tasted a prickly pear fruit? They are quite intimidating with lengthy spines and stubborn glochids. Become a prickly pear fruit connoisseur while comparing several of the varieties we grow at The Ruth Bancroft Garden. The Garden has an abundance of fruit-producing plants which we will sample on this tour including palm fruit, dragon fruit, and other unique cactus fruits. Pre-registration is required. Participants must purchase garden admission for the day and pay an additional $8 fee to participate in the tasting tour. The Ruth Bancroft Garden, located at 1552 Bancroft Road in Walnut Creek, is open to the public daily, 10am to 4pm. The 3.5 acre Garden is filled with hundreds of stunning succulents. The Ruth Bancroft Garden, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit which owns the Garden and raises funds for its preservation. The Garden is an outstanding example of a water-conserving garden and houses important collections of aloes, agaves, yuccas, and echeverias. For more information, visit www.ruthbancroftgarden.org or call (925) 944-9352.
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Enjoy a relaxed Sunday afternoon of tango on October 7th at the Blackhawk Plaza Rotunda, located at 3499 Blackhawk Plaza Circle in Danville. A beginners’ tango class will be held from 2-2:45PM, an intermediate tango class from 2:45-3:30PM, and Milonga will be held 3:30-7PM. Live music will be performed by Redwood Tango Ensemble, and Emilio Flores will DJ. This free event is hosted by the Blackhawk Milonga and the Bay Area Tango Association. For more information, contact Carlin Ghahraman at carlinsf@ gmail.com or call (510) 406-4583.
San Ramon Valley Genealogical Society
SINCE
1993
LAFAYETTE
SAN RAMON
3340 Mt. Diablo Blvd.
2151 San Ramon Valley Blvd.
925.283.3133
925.837.3000
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The San Ramon Valley Genealogical Society meets at 10AM the third Tuesday of every month, except August and December, at the Danville Family History Center, 2949 Stone Valley Road, Alamo. There will be a speaker at every meeting. Everyone is welcome. For information, call Ed at (925) 299-0881, visit www.srvgensoc.org, or email SRVGS@SRVGenSoc.org.
Zachary Scherman of Alamo recently traveled to Nettuno, Italy on behalf of the Northern California Travel Ball Association and the USSSA to participate in the World Baseball Classic “Mundial Hit 2012.”
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 19
Fall Pruning By Blaine Brende & Joe Lamb Now is a great time to prune your trees to protect them against winter storms. There are three kinds of tree failure: branch, column, and entire tree. Judicious pruning reduces the likelihood of all three kinds of failure. Selective removal of weight from leggy branches makes it much less likely that a branch would fall, causing injury or damage to property. It takes a lot of “in tree” experience to identify branches with weak crotches and/or with unsafe weight distribution. Thinning the canopy to reduce friction from the wind greatly reduces the odds of a column breaking, or of the entire tree falling over. When done correctly, a tree pruned for safety should still look natural, even after 30% of its foliage is removed. Many evergreens, such as cedars, cypresses, and redwoods, and many species of deciduous trees, such as valley oaks, can be pruned in this time of year. Monterey Pines should only be pruned between October 15th and February 15th unless compelling safety reasons dictate otherwise.. The timing for pruning is restricted because sap from pruning cuts attracts bark beetles that are destructive to pines. These beetles become dormant during the fall and winter months. Some species of beetles carry pine pitch canker, an increasingly common fungal disease that disfigures pine trees, sometimes killing them. If your tree has dead tips scattered throughout the canopy it probably suffers from pine pitch canker. To prolong the aesthetic life of a diseased tree, prune out the infected tips before February 15th. October is also a good time, if you haven’t already, to make your landscape more fire safe. It is not uncommon for the East Bay to experience hot, dry, and gusty winds in the fall due to sinking air from the bay combining with inland high-pressure systems. The Oakland Hills fire of 1991 occurred on October 20th, its precursor, the 1923 Berkeley Fire, started on September 27th. Removing dead wood, breaking up fire ladders, and limbing vegetation back from your home can greatly improve the chances of your home surviving a wildfire. Brende & Lamb knows how to fire prune your landscape in a way that improves fire safety, without sacrificing the natural aesthetic. Clearing some under-story trees and removing dead wood usually enhances the natural feel of a landscape by making it look more like a mature forest. Pruning trees for safety is a craft requiring study and experience. A wellpruned tree should not only be safer, but it should look beautiful. At Brende & Lamb we take great pride in both the science and the art of pruning. Each plant has a natural growth pattern, and our trimmers are expert at accentuating the shape given the plant by nature. Our trimmers are well practiced in aesthetic pruning and are attuned to the artistic flow inherent in tree forms. One form is weeping, as with Willows and Chinese Elms. In some species, such as the Monterey Cypress, branches ascend at acute angles to the trunk, giving the tree an upswept look. Branches in the Coast Live Oak bend and twist, forming complex arcs. Each tree species has a unique form and flow. When necessary, trees and shrubs can be reduced in size, but crown reduction requires a good eye: a poorly reduced tree looks like a thicket of stubs. Topping is almost always a bad idea. However, the crown of many trees can be reduced by cutting back long branches to the crotches formed by shorter branches growing in the same direction. If the branch doesn’t fork, we cut back to the lowest growth point that will neither create a thick stub nor undermine the arching quality of the branch. When a tree or shrub has been reduced in this way, it’s difficult to detect the cuts or tell that the branches have been shortened. If your trees need a little TLC to protect them against winter winds, or if your property could use a little fire protection, please call 510-486-TREE (8733) or email us at bl@brendelamb.com for a free estimate. Additionally, go to our website www.brendelamb.com to see before and after pictures, client testimonials, and work in your neighborhood. Advertorial
Walnut Creek Garden Club “California Native Plants” will be the program presented by Katherine Greenberg at the October general meeting of the Walnut Creek Garden Club. The meeting will be held on October 8th at 9:30AM at the Gardens at Heather Farm located at 1540 Marchbanks Rd in Walnut Creek. Katherine has served as president of the Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden, the Mediterranean Garden Society, and the Pacific Horticulture Society. Guests and prospective members are welcome.
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What’s in a Glass? By Monica Chappell Do some wine glasses enhance the wine better than others? Should you invest in expensive wine glasses? Are all ‘good’ wine glasses expensive? These are some of the questions I often receive from my wine students. In my opinion, yes, the glass makes a difference. Why is this so? The shape of the glass can have a big effect on taste. Experts claim that the depth of the bowl and the curve of the rim changes the amount of air exposure and directs the flow of wine onto the tongue to enhance or mute flavors.
Wine Glasses 101: 1. The size and shape of the bowl - The larger the bowl, the better the wine’s aromas can circulate. Glassware intended for red wine tends to be bigger, since red wines need more time and air to open up. 2. The stem length - The stem of the glass allows us to hold the glass without having our hand on the actual bowl which can ‘interfere’ with the wine’s temperature. No more, no less. 3. Stemless - Stemless wine glasses have become very popular. This is a good thing, as they are practical, especially for everyday and casual winedrinking occasions. I am a total convert. 4. Fine lead crystal or regular glass - The finer the crystal, the thinner the glass. This does make a huge difference. Fine, lead crystal really does enhance the wine drinking experience. However, these are expensive glasses. 5. Plain, colored or etched - In general plain, unadorned glasses are better for serious tasting, as they allow you to examine all the visual aspects of the wine such as the color -- its intensity as well as viscosity. However, most wine drinking situations are not ‘serious tastings’ so feel free to have some fun, add some color. 6. Champagne/sparkling wine flutes - The ‘flute’ shaped glass has long been considered the best for Champagne and sparkling wines as it allows the wine to manifest its bubbles with greatest intensity and duration. Try it for yourself. Pour the same wine into two different glasses, and taste the difference. Monica Chappell, Wine Writer and Educator, offers wine appreciation classes. For a list, visit www.wineappreciation101.blogspot.com.
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Page 20 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
Life in the Alamo Garden Autumn Color Ablaze in Alamo By John Montgomery, ASLA, Landscape Architect The autumn months of September, October, and November bring a joyful change to the gardens of Alamo. Autumn marks the change from the growing season to the cycle of rest and rejuvenation. As your plants prepare for a period of rest and rejuvenation, a whole new life cycle brings vibrant colors, scent, texture, and calmness to your garden. Creating garden environments that take advantage of the seasons enhance the all-year-around pleasure of your garden. Autumn is a wonderful time in a garden. Trees, shrubs, ground covers, and grasses bring a whole new dimension of color, scent, and texture as they prepare themselves to rest. As I work with my clients in creating their landscape, I think about how we can have the garden be active all year around. So, I select a plant palette that takes advantage of the seasons. The characteristics that can be used in the palette include color, texture, structure, scent, and movement. A good all-year-around plant palette has a diverse mix of trees, shrubs, perennials, ground covers, and ornamental grasses. Color can be provided either by flower or leaf. Colorful trees like Nyssa Sylvatica (Sour Gum), Red Sunset Maple, and Chinese Pistache are vibrant as the evening snap of chill fills the air. Red-twig Dogwood or Sango Kaku Japanese Maple has vibrant bark color. As winter approaches, Autumn and Mexican Sage bloom profusely. Texture can be found in leaves, seeds, and bark. As plants prepare for rejuvenation during the winter, they begin a last spurt of growth, bloom, and seed head expenditure. Crape Myrtle wonderfully flowers and turns to spent seed heads and bark peel. Other shrubs bloom and seed in a last ditch effort to propagate. Structure is an element of design that can really be taken advantage of during the fall. Multi-branching trees and shrubs with intricate or bold branching can provide a dramatic accent that will add pizzazz to any garden. Multi-branching trees like Crape Myrtle, Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diabolo,’ and Buckeye can accent the drama of an autumn garden. As leaves drop and begin to expose the bold and intricate branching, new garden accents are created for new focal interest. Autumn is time to take in the wonderful aromas your garden can create. The heat of our Indian summer brings the strong scent of California Bay, sage, rose and forest floor. Often times you will see roses springing to bloom as fall daytime temperatures sore. Most sages bloom during the autumn. I like to take advantage of deciduous trees and shrubs when they begin to drop their leaves. Besides the vibrant leaf colors, they can dapple the landscape floor adding texture and scent as the leaves begin to decay. When the first rains of fall arrive the aroma of the forest floor can fill the air. Autumn also brings soft warm Nor-easterly breezes through Alamo. Movement is an element I like to take advantage of in your garden environment. Ornamental grasses such as red fountain grass, California fescue, and Morning Light Miscanthus are profuse by now with seed heads that gracefully sway and add gentle movement to your landscape. Perennials that are spent and dying back can also provide interesting movement if left uncut as they move into winter. Alamo’s unique climate allows for a long growing season yet brings forth a good autumn and winter for rejuvenation. Planning for seasonal change is an important aspect of my design philosophy. A hot tip from your local Landscape Architect: If you’re looking forward to installing your landscape project in the spring, fall and winter is a great time
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to start the design process for your garden so you’re ready to enjoy it next summer! Gardening Quote of the Month: “I am rich today with autumn’s gold, All that my covetous hands can hold, Frost-painted leaves and goldenrod, A goldfinch on a milkweed pod, Huge golden pumpkins in the field, With heaps of corn from a bounteous yield, Golden apples heavy on the trees, Rivaling those of Hesperides, Golden rays of balmy sunshine spread, Over all like butter on warm bread, And the harvest moon will this night unfold, The streams running full of molten gold, Oh, who could find a dearth of bliss, With autumn glory such as this!” - Gladys Harp If you would like me to write on any particular subject, email your ideas to jmontgomery@jm-la.com or for design ideas visit www.jm-la.com. Advertorial
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 21
Shop Alamo By Ed Baxter The so called “shop local” initiative is spreading like wildfire in California and beyond. One of the leaders is the ShopAlamo94507.com movement. It has grown since its inception because of the support between a core of local merchants and the Alamo Chamber of Commerce, and because it makes sense. I do a radio commentary everyday that asks ideas, issues, and programs to stand up to the question “Does this make Sense?”. Let’s hold the Shop Alamo 94507 campaign’s feet to the fire. Does it make sense to have money we spend here at home stay at home to fund local services? YES! Does it make sense to support the merchants who support local programs? YES! Does it make sense that local purchases support local jobs? YES! Does it make sense you save time, money, and the environment by shopping local? YES! It looks like the Alamo Chamber of Commerce is on to something. It’s about community... More and more merchants are jumping on board the Shop Alamo express. Most of the shopping centers are on board and the hope is that those who haven’t joined as of yet, will see the light and we’ll be at 100% community. Not to do that makes no sense. The Shop Local campaign also teams with great community groups like the Rotary Club of Alamo which just completed it’s Alamo Music and Wine Festival and honored Nancy Dommes citizen of the year award. We are community. We are a business community. We are a caring community. We are a wonderful community. ShopAlamo94507.com YEEEEEEEEES! IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE.
Clip Notes
By Jody Morgan
Can you extract gold from Goldenrod? Five freight cars loaded with Goldenrod arrived in Fort Myers, Florida a month or so after the stock market crashed on October 24, 1929. Thomas Edison considered that the cargo of American native plants was destined to make a significant contribution to the nation’s future economic success. In agreement with the value of their friend’s assessment, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone had invested in the research project. But what kind of wealth could the common roadside wildflower possibly have to offer? Luther Burbank seems to have planted the seed that grew in Edison’s imagination. During a visit to the self-styled “plant engineer’s” Santa Rosa, California home in 1915, Edison, Ford, and Burbank discussed the country’s dependence on foreign sources for rubber. Dramatic fluctuations in availability and cost during World War I underscored the vulnerability of a nation lacking its own means to satisfy ever-increasing demand. After revisiting the issue repeatedly in conversation, Edison, Ford, and Firestone founded the Edison Botanic Research Corporation in 1927 specifically to discover a domestic source for the organic substance from which natural rubber is produced: latex. Many plants contain the sticky, milky fluid, but few yield sufficient amounts to be used for large-scale production. The tropical Para rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), the main source of commercial natural rubber, is native to South America. Charles Marie de La Condamine introduced rubber to France in 1736 and penned the first scientific paper on the properties of rubber in 1751. In 1770 Englishman Joseph Priestly remarked on the ability of the material to rub out pencil marks from whence comes the word rubber. The Indian rubber plant, Ficus elastica, commonly grown as an indoor ornamental specimen, was also used at one time to produce rubber. Edison sent forth field men in Ford roadsters to collect plants. He tasked himself with reading and re-reading all 3,639 pages of L.H. Bailey’s Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture to identify every possible natural source for latex that could be grown in the United States. He studied specimens of Ficus and species of Euphorbia at the New York Botanical Garden. From western states he received plants gathered by Union Pacific Railroad foremen.
After analyzing 17,000 different horticultural candidates, including Milkweed and Dogbane, Edison announced the discovery of an all-American winner with leaves capable of producing up to 12 percent latex. From the 100 species of Goldenrod, Edison selected Leavenworth’s Goldenrod (Silidago leavenworthii) as the focus of his experiments. Inspired by Burbank’s skill in breeding plants for a particular attribute, Edison maximized the latex output by re-engineering the shrubby four-foot Goldenrod endemic to the Southeastern Untied States into a 12-foot golden giant. He planned to use parts of the plant leftover from latex extraction to produce paper. Although Edison did get to drive a Model T outfitted with Goldenrod rubber tires, production of synthetic rubber proved less costly. But now the biomass research abandoned in 1934 is enjoying rejuvenation. This time Goldenrod’s lowly cousin Dandelion looks like the likeliest source for latex. The species Edison bred to produce up to 300 pounds of rubber per acre is named for Melines Conklin Leavenworth (1796-1862). A Yale graduate, Leavenworth collected plant specimens from the Southeastern Untied States to Central America while serving as an army surgeon. Goldenrod is dependent on insects to carry its pollen, which is too heavy to be wind-wafted. Once the mistaken belief that Goldenrod causes seasonal allergies had been disproven, horticulturalists began breeding garden worthy cultivars as well as prolifically flowering varieties for the floral trade. The genus name Solidago comes from the Latin “solido,” meaning to heal or make whole. Various species have been used to treat everything from snakebite to sore throats and even asthma. Natural dyes made from the flowers range from mustard yellow to orange, olive, and brown. Migrating butterflies will thank you for growing Goldenrod. Songbirds enjoy the seed. The roots exude a substance that suppresses soil pathogens. Laboratory studies suggest that Goldenrods also produce pre-emergent herbicides that prevent the growth of seeds sown by their competition. Deer have no interest in ingesting any part of these native plants. My personal favorite for the garden is Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks.’ Unlike some Goldenrods that spread invasively on runners, this cultivar forms compact three-foot clumps. Wands of sparkling golden blossoms create a dazzling late summer to early fall display. Western Goldenrod (Solidago californica) is native to our area and drought tolerant, but will colonize on creeping rootstock.
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Page 22 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
Real Estate Succession Planning I
Tax Talk
By Robert J. Silverman, Attorney at Law
By Bob Shalon, IRS Enrolled Agent H&R Block in Danville Open for Extensions
Between your home and any vacation and/or investment property you own, a meaningful percentage of your total assets is likely comprised of real estate. It follows that serious consideration should be given to the succession of this property. People are often inclined to structure their Living Trust (or Will) in an “asset specific” manner. For example, they may dictate which children or other loved ones will inherit certain specific properties and/or financial accounts. They may also require that certain assets be sold upon their death so that the sale proceeds, rather than the assets themselves, are distributed to the beneficiaries. The problem with these inclinations is that a highly asset-specific estate plan is often impractical. Over time, asset values, the lives of your loved ones, and the economic marketplace for certain kinds of assets are likely to change significantly. This frequently throws a wrench into a very asset-specific (i.e. “micro-managed”) plan. A less asset-specific estate plan provides useful flexibility. It gives the successor trustee of your Living Trust the discretion to work with the beneficiaries in a practical manner that best suits their interests based on the circumstances at that time. This is typically accomplished by leaving all or nearly all of your assets in the “residue” of your trust – to be split up among your beneficiaries in the respective percentages you allocate to each person. With real estate, however, certain circumstances make it compelling for a property owner to designate a given piece of property to one particular beneficiary. Here are some situations, among others, in which careful consideration should be given to making a specific bequest of a property: 1. When one of the beneficiaries lives at the property. 2. When one of the beneficiaries would likely want to live in the property after the owner dies. 3. When one of the beneficiaries already owns a fractional interest in the property; or 4. When the owner is only the legal title holder - having gone on title for convenience purposes (e.g. to qualify for a purchase or refinance) - and one of the beneficiaries is really the true owner (“equitable title” holder). Absent a specific testamentary bequest of a property, it is possible, if not likely, that the successor trustee will decide to either a) sell the property and split up the proceeds among the beneficiaries, or b) distribute fractional interests in the property to each beneficiary. In either case, the beneficiary who lived in, and/or who could potentially reside in, or best use the property might need to try to buy the interest(s) of the other beneficiary(ies). In such situations, objections, complications and disputes can arise, and it’s never certain that the buy-out will happen. Furthermore, such a buy-out may be detrimental from a property tax standpoint. In any one or more of the above situations (1-4), and other similar ones, if you are the property owner, you don’t need to (and probably shouldn’t) leave it to chance that the property will end up in the right beneficiary’s hands. Instead, consider making a specific property bequest. By examining all potentially relevant factors and ramifications, including personal and familial issues, and tax aspects (including property tax, income tax, and estate and gift tax), and discussing these with your estate planning attorney and other professional advisors, you can come up with a customized Living Trust design that is most certain to accomplish your objectives. In my November article, I’ll outline a number of interesting, and not well known, property tax reassessment rules that can provide substantial help in shaping a real estate succession plan. I’ll present a hypothetical example of how a specific property bequest can be very advantageous for the inheriting individual. Mr. Silverman is an attorney with Buchman Provine Brothers Smith LLP, 1333 N. California Street, Suite 350, Walnut Creek, CA 94596; (925) 944-9700; rsilverman@ sbllp.com. His practice emphasizes Estate Planning, Trust Administration & Probate, Real Estate, and Business. Mr. Silverman offers a free introductory consultation. This article is intended to provide information of a general nature, and should not be relied upon as legal, tax, financial and/ or business advice. Readers should obtain and rely upon specific advice only from their own qualified professional advisors. This communication is not intended or written to be used, for the purpose of: i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code; or ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any matters addressed herein. Advertorial
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EBRPD continued from front page dispatch and report in again when they return home. While on patrol, volunteers are covered by the same insurance as park employees. Hiking Patrol member Larry Fong remarks, “You have to be a mellow person to do this job. Your role is to make people feel safe and to educate the public. Not everyone responds politely to ‘education.’” Although volunteers are asked to spend 6-8 hours a month on patrol, most gladly work more time as last year’s total of 24,100 hours indicates. For Larry, “Being on patrol is a kind of ‘double-dipping.’ You get to be physically active and at the same time help other people.” Fong, also on Search and Rescue, always carries emergency supplies: first aid equipment, extra water, and power bars. Many of the problems he observes come from one type of trail user misunderstanding the needs of another. To a pedestrian, a cyclist passing at the 15 mile per hour speed limit on a paved trail seems to be speeding. To a cyclist, a bunch of pedestrians walking side by side appears to be hogging the trail. On multi-use trails, equestrians have the right of way over pedestrians and bicyclists. People unfamiliar with horses don’t know how dangerous the effect of startling a green mount with an inexperienced rider can be. Horses can be spooked by seeing a strange figure in a flapping poncho or being approached without warning by a cyclist whizzing around a blind curve. Pedestrians have the right of way over cyclists. With the exception of wheelchairs and electric-powered bicycles for the disabled, no motorized device is permitted on any trail. Volunteers attend monthly patrol meetings and also help with at least one special event a year. Favorite happenings include parades, safety fairs, and fishing derbies for children. Barbara Boehme enjoys sharing her mount with children at EBRPD Fishing Derbies. She brings carrots so they can feed as well as pet her horse. Barbara rides with her husband Dale in many of the more remote parks officers seldom have time to cover. “We are out there anyway,” Dale explains. “Why not take it to the next level? Ride and perform a service.” Annual recertification ensures Mounted Volunteers are fully in control of horses sedate enough to shrug off unexpected sensory experiences: balls kicked at their feet or thrown by their ears, firecrackers, a police car with flashing lights and blaring siren. A trail ride and timed testing in an arena are part of the process. Newly certifying partners can keep retesting until they qualify. Canines and their owners on Companion Dog Patrol go through a similar cer-
See EBRPD continued on page 28
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 23
Talking Taxes Brought to you by Peter, Jim, Bob, & Paul In conjunction with Spectrum Wealth Partners, a division of Lincoln Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor.
Historically, many people don’t think about taxes until they’re facing the April 15 deadline. But by then, it’s too late to do any productive planning. One of the best ways to save on income taxes is to max out your 401(k). You can contribute up to $16,500 into your 401(k) in 2011, and if you are over age 50, you can make an additional “catch-up” contribution of $5,500. But this is just the beginning. At the end of the year, you should also review with your financial planner the “nuts-and-bolts” things that can impact taxes: estimated tax payments, the sale of a residence, distributions from qualified plans or IRAs, as examples. In addition, reviewing your estate plan with your financial advisor before the end of the year may help reveal some additional tax-reduction strategies appropriate to your situation. For example, one thing that could help save taxes is to shift passive income-producing assets like rental real estate to a family limited liability corporation (LLC) or a family limited partnership (FLP). Gifting can also be a sound tax-savings strategy. Instead of giving cash to a charity, consider gifting appreciated assets. You don’t have to pay any tax on the gain—and neither does the charity. So you get the deduction for the gift subject to certain limitations, and you circumvent the capital gains tax.
The “Stealth” Tax Perhaps the biggest tax issue going on right now is the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The AMT, originally designed to prevent the superwealthy from avoiding a tax bill, has begun to hit a growing number of earners because the tax was never indexed for inflation. Under the so-called “stealth” tax, you lose parts of certain deductions—medical expenses, interest on second mortgages, state and local taxes, and charitable gifts, among them—once your adjusted gross income reaches a certain level. One of the things you can do that may help avoid the AMT is to exercise your employee stock options wisely. There are two types of employee stock options: incentive stock options (ISOs) and nonqualified stock options, with the tax implication being the biggest difference between them. While nonqualified stock options are taxed as ordinary income when they are exercised (then if you exercise and hold the stock for a year, you can pay 15% capital gains tax on the appreciation), ISOs are subject to the AMT when they’re exercised. The highest federal income tax rate is 35%; the highest AMT is 28%. In tax preparation, your income is run through both calculations and you pay whichever one is higher. (So, if your federal tax is $90,000 and the AMT is $100,000, you pay $90,000 federal tax and $10,000 for AMT.) To be strategic about taxes, try to balance your ordinary federal income tax with your AMT tax amount. If you can increase your ordinary income on one side, say by exercising nonqualified stock options, it may leave room to exercise ISOs on the AMT side without incurring AMT penalties.
Think About the Future The popular 529 college savings plans have emerged as terrific college funding planning tool for families who can front-load up to five years’ worth of contributions per child. Under a special election, a 529 account owner can choose to front-load up to $65,000 per beneficiary, or $130,000 for married couples, into the college savings plan without generating a taxable gift—assuming no other gifts are made to the beneficiary over the five-year timeline. Keep in mind that the current estate tax and capital gains rates will be under the political purview in 2012. So, if you think these tax rates will change and sunset as scheduled, you may want to take advantage of the tax breaks while you still have them. Please contact Peter Waldron to schedule a complimentary review of your financial situation, call 925-659-0383, or email peter. waldron@lfg.com. Peter T. Waldron, James R. Westermeyer, Paul Solorzano & Robert J. Waldron Jr. are registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors, a broker/dealer, member SIPC, and offers investment advisory service through Sagemark Consulting, a division of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a registered investment advisor, Spectrum Wealth Partners, 3000 Executive Parkway, Ste 400, San Ramon, CA 94583. Insurance offered through Lincoln affiliates and other fine companies. This information should not be construed as legal or tax advice. You may want to consult a tax advisor regarding this information as it relates to your personal circumstance. The content of this material was provided to you by Lincoln Financial Advertorial Advisors Corp. for its representatives and their clients. CRN201103-2051965
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High Functioning Autism & Asperger’s Syndrome By William Shryer, LCSW, DCSW Clinical Director, Diablo Behavioral Healthcare Asperger’s disorder or “syndrome” is not a new diagnosis. In fact it was described in the 1940’s. Asperger’s Syndrome was first identified in 1944, but it was only officially recognized as a diagnostic category in the Fourth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1994. As a result, many children were misdiagnosed over the years as having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism, Obsessivecompulsive Disorder (OCD), or even Schizophrenia. While Hans Asperger was describing this disorder in Austria, Leo Kanner was describing something else a half a world away. Kanner described Autism at almost the same time. The two disorders share some symptoms, but the degree of disability can vary widely.
Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 25
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What is Asperger’s Syndrome? Asperger’s Syndrome is a neurobiological disorder that is classified as one of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). It is characterized by impairment in social interaction, as well as the development of repetitive and restricted fields of interest and activities. Those with Asperger’s can often look like children with PC / Mac/ Laptops/ Desktops/ Tablets/ Smartphones/ iPads|Repairs OCD, however they really have more of a type of stuck thinking and don’t seem as Upgrades| Maintenance|Office Moves and Networking | Data Recovery anxious about their special thoughts. The difference is really very simple. OCD Virus/Spyware/Adware Removal|Back-up Solutions|Internet/ Cloud Computing Email Solutions|Remote Phone Support |Free Recycling children are anxious about their thoughts while those with Asperger’s are having a good time inside their head and just become angry when you ask them to stop. The complete immersion into video games, anime, bugs, and vacuum cleaners are but a few of the fascinations that have been seen in these children and teens. While there are some similarities with Autism, people with Asperger’s usually www.ThePortableCIO.com have average to above average IQ, and they do not demonstrate clinically significant delays in language or self-help skills. Their use of eye contact is frequently impaired, Join Portable CIO, Inc. on Facebook! and they often seem to look to the right or left of the person or down at the floor. While they may have an extremely good command of language and have a very rich vocabulary, those with Asperger’s are unable to use language appropriately in a social context and often speak in a monotone with little nuance and inflection in their voice. They also frequently fly into rages if they feel misunderstood or at times seem to believe that if they understand something, you should understand it exactly the same way. This is called “Mind Blindness.” Children with Asperger’s may or may not seek out social interaction, but they always have difficulty in interpreting and learning the skills of social and emotional interaction with others, leading to significant impairment in relationships and peer interaction. They are often bullied at school and sometimes don’t even realize it, believing that the other children like them. They often have few friends and are not asked to attend parties and so forth. Although parents often notice problems at an early age, diagnosis is usually made during preschool age or later. While both boys and girls can have Asperger’s, the syndrome is more common in boys. The likelihood of proper diagnosis, even in this area, is rare. For more information on Asperger’s or any other developmental concern, simply call our office at (925) 648-4800, and we will take the time to talk with you. To Advertorial learn more about behavioral disorders, visit www.behaviorquest.com. as he ran in a circle of friends that were tight and giving the impression was that Community Chaplain’s Corner everything was okay...normal, as he and all the friends where attempting to figure Don’t Assume Everything is All Right out life. Fun was the idol. My friend said, “Don’t assume everything is all right.” By Chaplain Nick Vleisides, Community JV was not very unlike his dad and me. When his father and I were both the Chaplain Specialist same exact age, after years of partying hard and living what we thought was the “Don’t assume everything is all right.” That is what good life, we came back to our roots of faith and love for God and started to turn my best friend from childhood told me on the phone as our lives around. JV might have very well been in the same place, but he was livI was walking on campus at San Ramon Valley High ing in a world much different than the one his father and I grew up in. This is a School to speak at a parent workshop. My friend had lost generation more lost and uncertain about their own future than ever before. They JV, his 20 year old middle son of three sons, just a few don’t see how to fit in or how to find their way in a future that is fast becoming weeks earlier. In many respects, JV was a typical SoCal exclusively “high tech.” Substance abuse is sophisticated. In the last nine months boy growing up in a beach community very similar to our community minus the I have been involved with four tragic cases of young men in their twenties losing beach. JV loved the beach...surfing, body boarding, and being a part of a very tight their lives where substance abuse or alcohol was involved. A deadly combination group of friends. He and his friends liked to party and were caught up in the scene is created from “lost-ness” and the allure of high risk behavior. of alcohol and substance abuse, which is so prevalent in our community. He was There were over 1,000 people in attendance at JV’s memorial. It was a very flirting with trouble but really looking for adventure, excitement, fulfillment, and difficult day as my heart was breaking for my dear friends and their heavy loss. purpose. It all seemed kind of normal. JV had the same girlfriend since 8th grade. My friend eulogized his own son with some of the most beautiful words you could She was the love of his life, and she felt the same way about him. She was with ever hear about a son. I had the sacred privilege of addressing the crowd, and God him the night he died. Something was broken inside of JV which caused him to gave me the grace to proclaim how to have hope in such a tragic affair. My brother, impulsively leap from a freeway bridge into oncoming traffic late at night. He who pastors a church in San Clemente, has young people coming to dialogue about had an accident of the mind. Even though he grew up in a Christian home with how to reach their own generation. Some of JV’s friends have come forward to parents who love God, and even though JV had come to faith in God as a young accept an invitation to address their issues and perhaps save their own lives, both teen, he was troubled in his spirit. But, you may not have ever have guessed it. It physically and spiritually. Someone left a note on the freeway overpass memorial was virtually impossible to detect that something may have been terribly wrong See Chaplain continued on page 26
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Chaplain continued from page 25
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which stated that they were going to take their own life too, but the witness of outpouring of love and support for JV changed their mind. Sometimes it takes a life to save a life. None of us would ever want to give up a son to save life. Friends in the San Ramon Valley...parents...don’t assume everything is all right. Always go with your gut. If you have any inclination something is not right with your children, pursue finding out what is going on. I am not suggesting we treat our kids like suspects, always assuming something is wrong, but do not be fooled by the seemingly normalized behavior of our kids if your gut is speaking up. Get help if you suspect something is wrong and feel overwhelmed with knowing what to do. There are many resources available in our community. The school district has formed a Community Resource Network which is a consortium of organizations and agencies all dedicated to saving our kids from high risk behavior. They will have a website coming out soon. Feel free to email me if you would like to discuss anything related to this subject. Nick Vleisides is our local Fire and Police Chaplain contact him at nvleisides@yahoo.com or see his website www.communitychaplainspecialist.com.
By Roger Smith, Board President Emergency Preparedness On September 15 th, the San Ramon Valley Emergency Preparedness Fair was held. The goal of the Fair is to provide residents with information on the various services available to our area. Visit www.BeReadySRV.org for more information on this annual event. If you did not attend this year, you missed an opportunity to become more informed about local Emergency Services. To start preparing your family to survive an emergency, visit www. Ready.gov. There is information on basic items for a Family Emergency Kit along with a supplemental list of additional items to consider based upon health, age, entertainment, and pet ownership. There is even information on an Emergency Financial First Aid Kit. To learn how to keep food safe during and after an emergency, visit www.FoodSafety.gov. Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan in advance. Know how you will contact one another, how you will get back together, and what you will do in different situations. A “Family Emergency Plan” should be part of your preparation. 1) Identify an “out-of-town” contact. It may be easier to make a longdistance call than to call across town. The contact can act as a communication coordinator for your family. 2) Make sure each family member knows the contact number and has a way to contact them by cell phone or prepaid phone card. Don’t forget to program your cell phones with the contact’s number. 3) Teach family members to text message (if they do not know how to do so already) as the Short Message Service (or SMS) used for text messaging is often more reliable in an emergency than the wireless or ground based telephone system. 4) Subscribe to “Alert Services” that send instant text alerts or emails about bad weather, road closings, and local emergencies (more on this in next month’s article).
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) CERT is a training program that prepares you to help yourself, your family, and your neighbors in the event of a disaster. During an incident, emergency service personnel may not be able to reach everyone right away. By being trained in CERT, you will have the skills to help emergency responders save lives and protect property. CERT training is provided at no cost by the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District (SRVFPD). A series of six sessions totaling 20 hours of instruction comprise the training. Visit www.firedepartment.org/ INCE community_outreach/cert/ for more information on this valuable program. Over 100 Alamo residents have already received their CERT training, so why not you?
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Public Safety Committee AIA is interested in attracting Alamo residents with suitable career experience in “First Responder” categories to volunteer time to our Public Safety Committee. Please contact Roger Smith at President@AlamoCA.org.
Neighborhood Watch Interested in enhancing communication with your neighbors and neighborhood groups? AIA is interested in helping to establish a network of interested representatives from various neighborhoods and neighborhood groups in Alamo to discuss the Neighborhood Watch program and its benefits. Please contact Roger Smith at President@AlamoCA.org. Not a member of AIA? Consider joining and “help us, help you” and the rest of the Alamo community. Visit www.AlamoCA.org for more information and a membership form. Alamo Improvement Association is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
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The Eye Opener By Gregory Kraskowsky, O.D., Alamo Optometry Macular Degeneration Of all the possible eye issues and conditions that affect vision, this one seems to be the one that generates the most questions and concerns on the part of my patients. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the most common causes of functional vision loss as we age. Your likelihood does increase as you age as 1 in 5 over age 70 and 1 in 3 over age 85 are affected. At this time the exact cause is not well understood, and therefore there is no cure. However, our detection methods and treatment options are improving to help maintain vision. The macula is the center part of the retina in which light that enters the eye is focused. This area only measures about 5 millimeters in diameter, contains only cones (no rods), and is therefore the only place on the retina where color vision and your 20/20 vision is processed. Light focused outside of this area will see a sharp drop-off in acuity, and the images will be best viewed in dim light. First, let’s discuss the positive; you will never go blind from AMD alone, and your peripheral vision will remain intact. However, your peripheral vision will not be great. Because of this, you might have noticed some people looking off to the side when they are trying to look at you since they are using their peripheral vision to focus on an object instead of using their macula. There are two types of AMD, dry and wet. Depending on the severity and type of the disease, vision loss will vary. Dry macular degeneration causes less vision loss but there are few treatment options. At this stage vitamin supplements, home monitoring, and regular eye exams is the standard of care. Wet AMD develops when blood vessels around the macula start to leak which deposits blood and fluid in and around the macular tissue and causes a drop in vision. Most treatment options are aimed at this stage of the disease. Recent advancements in wet AMD treatment include direct injections into the eye with drugs that attempt to halt the process that leads to leaky blood vessels. These new drugs have shown great results with minor side effects compared to past treatments. Even though a large percentage of patients have regained some lost vision, the goal of treatment remains to keep the status quo and prevent further vision loss.
Transitions Art Exhibit Alamo Danville Artists Society (ADAS) will host the opening of Transitions, featuring 50 gallery member artists exhibiting oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, photography, sculpture, ceramic, glass, wearable art, jewelry, and note cards. The exhibit will be held at the Blackhawk Gallery through November 11. All exhibits are free to the public and will be on view seven days a week, Monday – Saturday 10AM – 8PM and Sunday 11AM – 6PM. Blackhawk Gallery is located at 3416 Blackhawk Plaza Circle, in Blackhawk Plaza. Blackhawk Plaza is located at the corner of Camino Tassajara and Crow Canyon Road in Danville. Participating artists include James Aarons, Anita Angel, Lee Audia, Juan Cantavella, Joe Cleary, Elena Doronkina, Don Eagling, Soussan Farsi, Judy Feins, Jack Garaski, Bobbi Garrop, Lynn Glenn, Beryl Glen-Reiland , Gene Gracey, Janet Groza, Gwen Harris, Debby Koonce, Roseann Krane, Walter Krane, Tom Lemmer, Lisa Liu, Mary Lloyd, Andrea Markus, Divya Mavalli, Chikako McCann, Judy Miller, Elena Morris, Linda Nearon, Mitchell Neto, Wendy Oliver, Harika Piccone, Nola Pardi Proll, Vicky Richardson, Paula Riley, Michael Rizza, George Robertson, Diane Rodriguez, Betty Rothaus, Pat Smith, Susan Parkhurst Sudia, Leslie Swartz, Julia Watada, Norma Webb, Kim Webster, and Charles White. For more information, contact Victoria Richardson, Gallery Director at (925) 395-1036 or vickyarichardson@aol.com. Founded in 1977, ADAS is a non-profit corporation providing monetary contribution in support of art programs in the San Ramon Valley School District. Gallery artists donate a percentage of their sales to support the Art in the Schools Program. ADAS has donated over $125,000 to art teachers of SRVSD over the last ten years. Find out more about ADAS at www.adas4art.org, and follow us on www.facebook.com.
Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 27 Since there is no cure for AMD, the question that arises is, “What can we do to decrease our chances of getting AMD?” As of right now, there is a large genetic component to the disease, so there is little we can do there. The number one thing that can be done is to not smoke. There is a 4 to 6 fold increase risk of developing macular degenration for smokers than non-smokers. Vitamin supplements specifically for the eyes have been conclusively shown to slow down the process in early stages of this disease. What has not been shown is if you take these vitamins now, what will happen in 20 to 30 years? It appears that if there is no reason why you can’t take them, there is no reason why you shouldn’t. The last thing I would recommend is to maintain your personal health. If you are diabetic or have high blood pressure, it is paramount to keep those diseases under good medical control. As always, regular eye examinations will help diagnose any early changes, and appropriate treatments and referrals can be made. Dr. K. at Alamo Optometry is your hometown eye doctor for outstanding service, vision care, and designer eyewear. He can be reached at 820-6622 or visit his office at 3201 Danville Blvd., Suite 165 in Alamo. Visit our newly updated website at www.alamooptometry.com, and become a fan on our Advertorial Alamo Optometry Facebook page.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is Here Again! By Tiffany Svahn, MD It seems like just yesterday that we were honoring Breast Cancer Awareness in 2011. While the year has gone by quickly, it has not done so without leaving its mark in the advancement of breast cancer treatment. We all know that breast cancer is a very important health issue for women as it is the most common cancer in women and the second most common cause of cancer death. In 2011, there were more than 220,000 new diagnoses and more than 40,000 deaths due to breast cancer in the United States. But, the most important statistic is that there are more than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in this country right now! That is due to improvements in screening, leading to earlier diagnosis, as well as advancements in treatments that increase the cure rate. We often hear the phrase that we need to “find a cure for breast cancer,” when in reality we actually cure more than 90% of women diagnosed with this disease. Although there are some women whose breast cancer cannot be cured, we now live in a time when incurable breast cancer can be treated as a chronic disease, like diabetes and heart disease. There are many different treatment options for women with metastatic breast cancer, and these treatments lead to longer survival and improved quality of life. In the past year, three new drugs have entered the arena for breast cancer treatment, making it a record year in breast cancer advances. Two of the drugs, pertuzumab (Perjeta) and TDM-1, target HER2-positive breast cancers, while everolimus (Afinitor) treats hormone-responsive breast cancer. Both pertuzumab and everolimus are already FDA-approved, and we anticipate approval of TDM-1 in the near future. We are fortunate to live in a time and a community in which there is a great focus on breast cancer awareness. Locally, there are some important events in the upcoming weeks. Sunvalley Mall in Pleasant Hill will host the second “Surviving in Style” fashion show in conjunction with their “Pink Up the Mall” campaign on October 7th. “The Many Faces of Breast Cancer,” a program that focuses on the issues of breast cancer survivorship, will see its fourth year of an auditorium filled with breast cancer survivors on October 13th at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek. On October 18th, John Muir Health Center will have “An Evening in Pink” stroll that begins at the Women’s Health Center and continues through downtown Walnut Creek. These are just a few of the events occurring in our community throughout the month. Whether you are a survivor, a loved one, a caregiver, or just one who cares, we hope to see many of you out there this month supporting the cause! Tiffany Svahn, MD is a Medical Oncologist and Hematologist with Diablo Valley Oncology. Dr. Svahn specializes in breast cancer. Diablo Valley Oncology’s comprehensive cancer center is located at the California Cancer and Research Institute in Pleasant Hill. For more information, Advertorial call (925) 677-5041.
Page 28 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
Sports Injuries and Chiropractic Care By Dr. Angela McCracken Athletic participation is a great form of exercise for children these days. It is a perfect opportunity to get them out of the house and away from the television. Once they have chosen a sport that they like, it is easy for them to get into the routine of always thinking about playing. The big question is what do you do when your child gets an injury? Chiropractic care deals with many types of injuries. Soft tissue injuries are the most common type that are seen in a chiropractic clinic. These injuries can be from running, throwing, tackling, tumbling, and many other quick movements. Children are still growing, and while they go through the growth process, they can start to develop pain in certain areas because the soft tissue has not had the time to accommodate the growth. Three of the most common soft tissue injuries are those to the feet/ankles, the knees, and the shoulders. These are all places where the growth plates are located in the body. Common injuries of these areas are better known as plantar fasciitis, Osgood-Schlatters, and bursitis. All three of these injuries can be easily treated with chiropractic care and rehabilitation. Using chiropractic care as a form of treatment helps bring and keep motion in those areas in order to help the healing process. Keeping motion allows for proper blood flow to the growth plates and the surrounding tissues. There is also less of a possibility for scar tissue formation in the injured area. When scar tissue does form, it weakens the joint or area in the body, and it becomes more prone to further injury as time goes on. Along with chiropractic care there are different modalities that can be used for the rehabilitation of the injury. The main one being cold laser therapy, this form of therapy was developed to be non-invasive, easy to use, and to have no side effects. It can be used for many different injuries. Some of them are ligament sprain/strains, muscle sprain/strains, tendonitis, bursitis, carpal tunnel
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www.yourmonthlypaper.com syndrome, and acute/chronic pain. The cold laser has many properties to it that are beneficial to these types of injuries. The goals of cold laser therapy are to: • Increase healing time • Increase metabolic activity • Decrease inflammation • Increase blood flow • Reduce scar tissue formation • Pain relief Another rehabilitation step would be to use orthotics and/or bracing in order to stabilize an injury. Plantar fasciitis is a condition where the tendon on the bottom of the foot is tight, causing there to be heal pain and pain during walking or running. Plantar fasciitis is best stabilized using orthotics to increase the arch of the foot. The increase in arch allows for the relaxation of the tendon allowing the person to have proper biomechanics and less pain with activity. Osgood-Schlatters is a condition where there is an inflammation of the bone, cartilage, and/or tendon at the top of the shinbone (tibia), where the tendon from the kneecap (patella) attaches. Most often only one knee is affected. This can cause pain in the knee region with movements such as bending and jumping. Proper treatment is to use a Cho-pat brace. This brace is placed right below the knee joint and it helps to stabilize the patellar tendon on its attachment site. This stabilization allows for healing and proper joint motion when doing activities such as jumping and bending. Chiropractic care, cold laser therapy, and bracing combined together provide the best form of rehabilitation for these injuries. It is very common for children to get injured playing sports, and if they want to continue these sports, rehabilitation is important. Our office, Kenny Family Chiropractic and Massage Center, is located at 185 Front Street, Suite 107 in downtown Danville (near the public library). Call our us today for a complimentary consultation. Our phone number is (925) 838-9355. Please also visit our website at danvillecachiropractor.com. This month we are offering 50% off of sports injury treatment for anyone under age 18 (This offer expires October 31). Dr Malia Kenny, Dr Jerry Kenny, Dr Angela McCracken, and our super staff look forward to taking care of you. Advertorial
are called in first, and Search and Rescue is not usually contacted until it’s tification process each year. Cathy Overmeyer and John Moffat signed up after already dark. All parents should know that a simple device can save a child’s seeing a television show about the program. They find the appreciation EBRPD life. I was called out to look for a five-year old girl. She was at a campground shows its volunteers rewarding. Although they enjoy most of their meetings with her parents and church group counselors. Something frightened her and with dog walkers, they have encountered problems with off-leash dogs. Cathy’s she ran off. When the CHP helicopter flew over the pitch-black area with night leashed German Shepherd was attacked on patrol by off-leash animals. She saw vision, they spotted the child in a deep gully almost immediately because her mother had put a glow-in-the-dark necklace around her neck.” He continues, an off-leash Weimaraner lured away by a coyote never to be found. “We probably have the most liberal dog policy in the US,” Gilfillan com- “On another search, the EBRPD helicopter with night vision was able to find ments. “We have parks where dogs can be off-leash if they are under voice a senior hiker in one of our parks using the light on his key ring.” For information on EBRPD, the largest park and open space system in the control. Unfortunately, not all owners understand voice control as we at the Regional Parks do.” On paved trails dogs must be on a leash not exceeding United States below the state level, visit www.ebparks.org. To volunteer click six feet in length. Extension leashes, not always visible to cyclists or even on “Get Involved.” pedestrians, can cause accidents. EBRPD holds helmet and bell give-away days and training events for cyclists. Bicycle Volunteer Jerry Buck sometimes brings a cracked helmet to demonstrate what would have happened to his head if he hadn’t been wearing it. Even though cyclists must call out or ring a bell when passing other trail users, Jerry cautions that children learning to ride may be startled and topple off their bikes. Awareness of the vulnerabilities of fellow trail users is important. “My number one rule is to keep the trail as safe as possible for all users. If I see someone engaged in an unsafe behavior, I stop, talk, educate, and persuade. Tact is one of the skills volunteers have to have.” Volunteers choose the areas they prefer to patrol. Buck regularly rides the Iron Horse Trail accessible near his Danville home. Monthly patrol meetings offer information on everything from snakebites to park history. Search and Rescue meetings concentrate on training. Volunteers already certified on Mounted, Bicycle, Hiking, or Companion Dog Patrol must attend six meetings of Search and Rescue before they can be sworn in. As co-captain Walt Headley explains, skills not practiced regularly are quickly lost. Eighty percent of Search and Rescue volunteers are Certified Medical First Responders, the level just below Emergency Center Front Mike Hagan, Co-Captain Search & Rescue; L to R standing: Larry Fong, Thu-Lan Delestrez, Alon Medical Technicians. “When someone goes missing,” Headley relates, “the police Ilann, Jean-Yves Delestrez at Healthy People, Healthy Parkes event. Photo courtesy of EBRPD.
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Your Personal Nutritionist
Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 29
By Linda Michaelis, RD. MS.
Teen Weight Loss the Healthy Way I often see teens wanting to lose weight and look their best. I have a particular empathy with them since I too was overweight as a teen because of my own personal problems, which was a major cause for me to major in nutrition in college and develop my own approach that allowed me to lose weight and keep it off. Let me tell you about my teen client, Debbie, who attends a local high school, is in leadership, and plays soccer. Debbie is certainly quite active. Because of her busy schedule, she ends up eating most of her food at the end of the day. Her diet during the day could so do we! best be characterized as low fiber, low protein, and high sugar. Breakfast consisted of Honey Nut Cheerios. During the middle of the day she consumed smoothies, Think Thin and Cliff bars, and yogurt. For dinner, with her family, she ate double servings of meat and starches and skipped the veggies because they Alamo Today did not taste good to her. Late at night, she constantly snacked with bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios thinking they readers call NOW for were a healthy choice. I calculated her nighttime snacks alone contributed over 1,000 calories to her daily intake. In my initial session with Debbie, I evaluated a food diary and showed her where her meals were lacking protein and special offer! fiber. I taught her how to read food labels for serving size as well as percentage of calories from fat, grams of protein, fiber and sugar. I always tell my clients that the food label is really backwards – we don’t use the metric system nor go Watch a short video by grams, and protein is listed as the last item where it should be first along with dietary fiber. After telling Debbie that 1 oz. of protein is equal to 7 grams, she could see her Honey Nut Cheerios has a skimpy 2 grams of protein compared to the king of cereals, Kashi Go Lean, that has 13 grams of protein or about 2 oz. of protein. When you add a cup of milk to cereal you get an additional ounce of protein and thus a breakfast can have 3 oz. of protein. I adamantly made the point that Debbie must consume at least 8 ounces of protein and 15 grams of fiber before dinner to function well during the day and not be starved for dinner. After looking at a list of her favorite foods, we put together a meal plan. For breakfast Debbie agreed to have oatmeal or Kashi Go Lean with some fruit after trying a sample at my 499B San Ramon Valley Blvd. • Danville, CA 94526 925-743-0802 • danville.kokofitclub.com office. Debbie liked the idea of taking to school a mid-morning snack of an apple with peanut butter, beef jerky, or a small pack of almonds. Debbie tried Trader Joe’s fresh grilled chicken strips cut up with a cup of mixed beans and salsa and a leftover chicken breast with veggies and brown rice which she enjoyed. Now, as a routine, she takes the second serving that she used to have for dinner and saves it for lunch the next day and adds tasty veggies that she likes. When she comes home from school, before soccer practice, she now likes to have a hearty soup such as lentil or black bean, or even oatmeal. Debbie has traded in all her smoothies for fresh fruit, is drinking more water than ever, has eliminated bars, and is substituting low sugar Greek yogurt instead of high sugar Yoplait. She now tells me she goes to practice at 5PM feeling better than ever with high energy. She no longer comes home famished and can control her portions at night. Best of all she does not feel the need to snack endlessly at night. Now she is happy with a fat-free fudgicle or creamsicle or even some sorbet. Debbie and I have worked together through several follow-up phone and email sessions where we discuss strategies for eating at parties, social events, and restaurants with friends and family. The number one lesson for Debbie was not to go to a party hungry and avoid filling up on unhealthy junk food that is usually available at teen gatherings. When at a buffet, which her family and friends enjoy, I taught Debbie to first scan the choices and set up a plan instantly in her mind, and then keep to it. It is fine if she makes room for dessert as long as she eats less starch and fat. I am glad to inform you that Debbie has lost 10 pounds in one month, and we are still working together via phone and e-mail. Her goal is to lose 10 more pounds before the holidays. The good news is that Debbie’s visits were covered by Sutter Select insurance with a small copay. Please feel free to call me at (925) 855-0150 or email me at Lifeweight1@yahoo.com and tell me about your nutritional concerns. Refer to my website www.LindaRD.com for past articles, recipes and nutrition tips in my blog section. Advertorial
Hate Gyms?
Stroke Support Group
Our mission is to provide personalized care, help On Monday, October 8th, the Stroke Support maintain independence and enhance our Group of Contra Costa County will hold its Octoclient’s quality of life on a daily basis. ber meeting in the Ball Auditorium at John Muir • Free in-home assessments • Regular home visits Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus, located ensure the right care plan • Hourly care Heartfelt & at 1601 Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek for you • Live-in care Supportive • Fully bonded and insured • Geriatric care mgmt. from 7-9pm. The speaker will be Sherwin Sheik, • Elder referral and placement Founder of CareLinx, an online resource for hirAt All Times... 3645 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Suite D ing affordable and compatible caregivers. After Lafayette, CA 94549 the program, attendees will break up into three (beside Trader Joe’s) www.excellentcareathome.com 925-284-1213 coping groups: stroke survivors without aphasia, stroke survivors with aphasia, and caregivers and families of stroke survivors. Grief Support Group Helps People Cope with Each group will be led by a trained professional. the Death of a Pet For further information about the Stroke Support Group, contact Ann Dzuna When you lose your pet, you often feel like a part of you is lost. The death of your at 925-376-6218. Meetings are free and open to the public. beloved animal companion is one of the most difficult losses you may ever feel. This
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loss is sometimes made more painful by society’s seeming lack of support for pet grief. Hospice of the East Bay and the Tony La Russa Animal Rescue Foundation is offering a support group where participants can share memories and feelings and talk to others who truly understand and care. Meetings will be held the first Tuesday of each month from noon - 1:30PM at the Tony La Russa Animal Rescue Foundation, 2890 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek. For further information and/or to register, please call Bereavement Services at Hospice of the East Bay (925) 887-5681. Pre-registration is required. Hospice of the East Bay Bereavement Services are provided free of charge to all community members in need. However, donations are greatly appreciated.
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Page 30 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
Breast Cancer and Melanoma are Associated By Dr. Shanny Baughman Wading through medical literature can be confusing and overwhelming. Exhaustion can set in from conflicting medical reports, some touting an obscure herb as a cancer cure, and others decrying the same herb as a carcinogen. Before you give up on medical reports completely spend the next five minutes with me - it may change your life. Dr. Shanny Baughman, Alamo If you have had melanoma (the most serious form of skin cancer) or breast cancer, you have a higher risk of developing the other cancer.
Historical Associations Early associations between breast cancer and melanoma appeared in the 1970s when five patients with breast cancer and melanoma were documented. An increased association between the two cancers was found in a larger group analysis of a Connecticut cancer registry in 1980. A total of 835 women with melanoma and 18,010 women with breast cancer were followed. The rate of diagnosis of both cancers in the same patient was 60% higher than the predicted rate.
Recent Findings Gillian M. Murphy, MD, a photobiologist, in Dublin, Ireland, and her team of investigators examined 6,788 cases of melanoma and 27,597 cases of breast carcinoma between 1994 and 2004 documented in Ireland’s National Cancer Registry. They found a four-fold increase in the number of patients with both melanoma and breast cancer compared to the predicted rate. Mathematically, if there were no relationship between the two cancers, 30-35 patients would be expected to have both cancers, but the actual number of people with both cancers was 127. “In general, patients with melanoma or other skin cancers are always at higher risk of developing other malignancies,” Dr. Murphy commented. “But this is about a fourfold increase, which raises the possibility of a genetic predisposition linking the two cancers.”
Exploring Possible Links Potential genetic and/or hormonal factors contributing to the breast cancer and melanoma association are being explored. Mutations in CDKN2A, a gene that indicates high risk of developing melanoma, also puts carriers at up to 3.8 times greater risk of breast cancer. Mutations in the gene for breast cancer susceptibility, BRCA2, increase carriers’ risk of melanoma by as much as 2.58 times as well.
Shared Experiences By Barbara Persons, MD, Persons Plastic Surgery, Inc. This month I decided to stray away from my usual article relating to a reconstructive or cosmetic procedure and write about shared experiences— events we endure as a community. The last several weeks have been marked by several life-altering events for me. I experienced the death of a kindergarten classmate of mine, and friend to many, and the death of a young local boy. These loses, combined with trials occurring in my own life, left me feeling quite thoughtful. Ultimately, I asked myself what I wanted to say in the simplest terms. It was, “Thank you, to my community.” Thank you for teaching my children, who in turn teach me. Thank you for being a community when I needed a community - at a festive gathering one day and a touching memorial the next. Thanks for coming into my office and bringing cupcakes for my staff, and for giving me the opportunity to do what I love every day. Thank you for sharing a sunny day at the Art and Wine festival with me and for exclaiming, “I never knew you did such wonderful things at work!” These moments remind me that, despite how hectic our lives may be, life is utterly fulfilling. It is easy to get caught up with our crazy schedules, but it is essential to take the time to realize how blessed we are. It takes more than skill to perform delicate surgeries and more than a kind heart to be a compassionate doctor every day. Thank you, in short, for inspiring me, for inspiration is of great worth in my profession, and it is something I find from many people I am inspired by teachers whose lessons have taught me a great deal
However, as Dr. Murphy observed, “Only a minority of melanoma cases have identifiable genetic mutations.” Just five to 10 percent of melanomas occur in families with multiple cases of the disease, and in only 20-40 percent of these families is there a mutation in CDKN2A. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are enzymes that breakdown proteins in both normal and pathological processes. There are over 23 MMPs, with MMP1 and MMP8 associated with both melanoma and breast cancer. A study performed in 2011 showed that having the MMP8 variant increased the risk of melanoma but not Dr. Kelly Hood, Lafayette breast cancer (in genotype A/G, but not G/G). There was no strong association between MMP1 and either melanoma or breast cancer. Hormone replacement therapy is associated with a slight increase in breast cancer and in melanoma, but the risk is statistically significant only for breast cancer. So far there is no data linking estrogens to both cancers in the same patient.
Conflicting Reports Although compelling, there is not complete agreement about the association between melanoma and breast cancer. Two studies did not show an increase in melanoma in breast cancer patients, or an increase of breast cancer in melanoma patients.
Key Points Despite inconsistencies in the data, evidence suggesting that an association between breast cancer and melanoma exists. A woman diagnosed with one is at higher risk of developing the other. All patients with a history of breast cancer should have a thorough skin exam annually by their dermatologist and perform skin self-exams regularly. All female melanoma patients, particularly those with a personal or family history of melanoma, should comply with the American Cancer Association’s recommendation for annual mammography, undergo breast self-examinations, and be examined at regular intervals by their primary physician or in a breast clinic. References Schoenberg BS,ChristineBW.Malignant melanoma associated with breast cancer.South Med J,1980,73(11):1493-7. Murphy,GM,Ho WL, Comber H, et al. Malignant melanoma and breast carcinoma; a bidirectional correlation. Irish Journal of Medical Science. Online First, March 2009. Debniak T, Jakubowska A, Serrano-Fernandez et al. Association of MMP8 gene variation with an increased risk of malignant melanoma. Melanoma Res,2011;21(5)464-8.
For any questions about your skin or nails please contact Dr. Shanny Baughman at Alamo Oaks Dermatology, 3189 Danville Blvd, suite 130, Alamo, 925362-0992, shanny.derm@gmail.com or Dr. Kelly Hood, 970 Dewing, Suite 301, Lafayette, 925-283-5500, khoodderm@yahoo.com. Advertorial and will not be forgotten. I am inspired by my patients whose courage astounds me and whose gratitude make every extra hour at the office worthwhile. Most importantly, I am inspired by family, they are my greatest support system and can turn a long, stressful day around with a simple smile. No matter what the inspiration, I am grateful for it. It’s a reason to listen a little more, to perfect that suture, and to make that extra stop at the hospital. While there are moments when all of this is nearly overwhelming, somehow the people who need me are also the ones that inspire me. I hear my father, when asked if he needed anything sitting in his hospital bed at John Muir, simply respond, “Will you pray with me?” I hear a patient, who is facing difficult challenges, say wisely, “I learned a long time ago not to lose my cool, it doesn’t get me anywhere.” I hear my son say, “Mom, it’s important to hold hands and stick together.” So, in summary, thank you for inspiring me to be a good surgeon, a good physician, and good person. Thanks for making my job wonderful. Thank you for brining community to me and letting me serve you. Plastic Surgeon and owns Persons Plastic Surgery, Inc. located at 911 Moraga Rd, Suite 205 in Lafayette. She may be reached at 925.283.4012 or drbarb@personsplasticsurgery.com. Advertorial
Diablo Singles Dance Club Diablo Singles Dance Club holds a public dance the last Wednesday of each month from 7:30pm-10:30pm at the Shadelands Art Center located at 111 N. Wiget Lane in Walnut Creek. There is live music, refreshments, and free parking. The cost is $7 for members and $9 for non-members. For information, call 925-837-2851.
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Alamo Today ~ October 2012 - Page 31
Family, Cosmetic, and Full Mouth Rehabilitation Dentistry • General Dentistry • Implants • Endodontics • Veneers • Periodontics • Oral Surgery • Orthodontics • FREE CUSTOM WHITENING FOR LIFE
Some restrictions apply. Offer is valid upon completion of the treatment plan recommended by the doctor. Ask for details. $600 value.
Dr. Turner & Dr. Stephanos,orthodontist
925-831-8310 220 Alamo Plaza, Suite E, Alamo www.alamoplazadentalgroup.com
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Overeaters Anonymous offers a fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience and mutual support, are recovering from compulsive overeating. This is a 12-step program. The free meetings are for anyone suffering from a food addiction including overeating, under-eating, and bulimia. The group meets Wednesdays at 6PM at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Lafayette. Visit www.how-oa.org for more information.
Hearing Loss Association Come to meetings of the Diablo Valley Chapter of Hearing Loss Association of America at 7pm on the 1st Wednesday of the month at the Walnut Creek United Methodist Church located at 1543 Sunnyvale Ave., Walnut Creek Education Bldg., Wesley Room. Meeting room and parking are at back of church. All are welcome. Donations are accepted. An assistive listening system is available for T-coils, and most meetings are captioned. Contact HLAADV@hearinglossdv. org or 925-264-1199 or www.hearinglossdv.org.
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Gala to Benefit Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Research
Is Food a Problem for You?
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Join the Rossmoor Rotary Foundation’s 27th annual gala event which will benefit Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research. The event begins at 5PM on October 13th and will be held in the Sierra Room of the Del Valle Clubhouse within Rossmoor. Featured will be a French-themed cocktail hour with music by The Baguette Quartette and a headline show with International Cabaret Star Lua Hadar and her four-piece backup band. A formal, elegant dinner will be presented by Susan Foord Catering. Tickets cost $125 per person, and black tie is optional. For tickets or more info, contact Debbie Williams (925) 942-0545.
Mended Hearts The John Muir Chapter of Mended Hearts will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, October 11th at 7PM in the LesherAuditorium at John Muir Medical Center-Concord Campus located at 2540 East Street in Concord. Featured will be speaker Maura DeGeorge giving a “heart presentation.” Maura is an R.N. in Cardiac Education. Mended Hearts is a national organization providing support for cardiac patients, their families, and caregivers. For more information contact Nancy Mitchell at (925) 943-7549.
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Page 32 - October 2012 ~ Alamo Today
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The Combs Team Professionals You Can Count On
Nancy
Joe
Call the Combs Team
®
925- 9 8 9 - 6 0 8 6 www.TheCombsTeam.com Alamo Home Market Roaring Past Last Year
becoming a more normal market about three years ago. The other two keys being low interest Last month I wrote that the road to a full real estate recovery is proving to be a bumpy one espe- rates which we now have, and easy Big money, that we may never see again - emphasis on Easy, cially for Luxury homes. Looking at the overall Alamo market for all homes including Luxury homes as the well qualified buyer can still get Big money. Easy money is the really big one and its lack year-to-date compared to 2011 is proving just the opposite. The Alamo market, fueled by extremely largely explains why an average house in Alamo in 2007 sold for $1.5 million vs. $1,162,000 low inventory of homes for sale, and incredibly low and yet again historically low interest rates, is on today. I am fairly certain that with new lending restrictions in place, we will not see a rapid return fire. What is happening is truly exciting. A mortgage broker told me yesterday that he could deliver a to that those 2007 average prices. “Easy just ain’t comin’ back.” I suspect this will be a drag on the 3.37% loan on a conventional mortgage. My Dad had a 3% mortgage in 1956. That was well before $1.5 million and up market for a long time to come. We will return to those average price levels mortgage rates were tracked. again, of this I am sure, but at a more measured pace of about 3-5% growth over the long haul. Last year through September 25th a total of 130 homes, both multi- family and detached, sold in Another “good news number” is average price. The average price is somewhat less dramatic our market. This year a total of 190 homes closed in the same time period. That’s a 46% increase in than the upward shift of median price. I will take a 5% annual return on my real estate investment home sales. Those waiting for the right moment to sell, really have no reason to wait. Good homes any time. If you purchased a million dollar home in Alamo in 2011 you are theoretically ahead sell and sell fast. Nancy and I put two homes in contract today. One received 32 offers, the other $50k on the year. That’s a whole lot better than the credit union. While far less impressive at three offers. Both homes went pending above asking price. There are a lot of buyers out there. only 1% growth, dollars paid per square foot is also up. I like this number because it represents We still have not found homes for a buyer looking for a home up to $1.2 million, a buyer true growth at the lowest common denominator and is not impacted by the price mix of homes looking for a home around $1.6 million, and another for a home above $2 million. From the sold. It is however impacted by distressed property sales which are selling at about $310 per things you see on TV it’s hard to imagine that there is that much pent up demand. I remind square foot and still exerting significant downward pressure on the overall market number. myself periodically that all real estate is local. What is happening in Modesto has no bearing on Increasingly I am seeing non-distressed homes sell at $400 per square foot and above. There what is happening here. have been more than 50 so far this year compared to only 25 last year. That is really good news. Let’s look at some really good news. The median price is moving up. I am forced to believe If you are thinking about buying or selling a home in 2012 or 2013 and you would like to talk that low interest rates are responsible. Lower rates give buyers more purchasing power for the it over please give us a call at 925-989-6086 or send me an email to joecombs@thecombsteam. same monthly payment; that enables them to buy more expensive homes. The median price is up com. Nancy and I will be happy to visit with you in your home and help you decide how to best 9% over last year. Average home size moved up from 2,901 square feet to more than 3,100 square prepare and price your home for the market. feet and further confirms this belief. Another perspective on this nice price advance which can’t be quantified but is Alamo 2011-2012 Sales Comparison Jan 1-Sept. 25 more of a perception is that buyers are becoming less fearful of the risk of losing their Units Sold DOM $$ AVG $$ Median Avg. Sq. Ft. $$ Sq. Ft. jobs, so with greater income security buying a home feels less risky to them. I truly Homes 2011 130 68 $ 1,162,568 $ 1,065,000 2,901 $ 367 sensed that feeling of optimism this weekend when Nancy and I talked to more than 100 potential buyers. 2012 190 64 $ 1,225,293 $ 1,162,500 3,125 $ 372 I described this change to a more positive attitude as one of the three big keys to % Chg. 46% -6% 5% 9% 7% 1%
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Data presented in this column is based in whole or in part on data supplied by the Contra Costa and Alameda MLS service and other quoted sources. Joe and Nancy Combs, J. Rockcliff and the MLS service do not guarantee the accuracy of this information. DRE #0144125.
Completely renovated single story on Golf Course. $1,399,000 J. Rockcliff Realtors 15 Railroad Ave., Danville CA. 94526