editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
June 2016
Serving the Lafayette Community
Mount Diablo Interpretive Association: Unmasking the Mountain’s Marvels By Jody Morgan
Mount Diablo Interpretive Association (MDIA) partners with the California Department of Parks and Recreation to promote awareness of and accessibility to the remarkable resources available within Mount Diablo State Park. An all-volunteer, non-profit MDIA produces publications and interpretive materials, provides guided hikes and educational programs, and supports the work of rangers to enrich the experience of every visitor. Roving docents and hike leaders are clearly identified by their VIP vests. Although they are both very important and very informative people, these dedicated individuals wear the VIP designation as graduates of Volunteers in
Alzheimer’s Association By Fran Miller
While the purple that you see adorning local storefronts this month might indicate a proprietor’s fondness for a certain musician, the presentation is more likely a show of support for Alzheimer’s Awareness month. The colorful show of June solidarity is one way the Alzheimer’s Association promotes brain health; a Reservoir walk followed by a picnic on June 20, the longest day of the year, is another way the Association seeks to bring awareness to the disease. For the past ten years, Desco Plaza in Lafayette has served as home to the Alzheimer Association’s East Bay office. Serving all of Contra Costa County, Alameda and Solano Counties, the Alzheimer Association works not only at our local level, but it also works globally to enhance care and support for all those affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementias and is the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support, and research. Lafayette’s local office oversees 26 different support groups for those in early stages and for caregivers, provides oneon-one care consultations, and helps families to create road maps for the future. “Alzheimer’s is a complicated disease,” says East Bay site director, Grace Liu. “It’s not like other diseases. Half of those ultimately
See Alzheimer’s continued on page 22
Ken Lavin leads a hike with frequent stops to spot wildflowers and wild creatures. (Photo courtesy of Jim Mitchell)
the Park training. On January 30, 1974, Sam Stoker, Executive Director of the Lindsay Wildlife Center, hosted a gathering to explain his vision for an organization that would awaken the public to the value of Mount Diablo’s natural assets. Among those present was Mary Bowerman, who co-founded Save Mount Diablo (SMD) in 1971. While SMD concentrates on preservation through acquisition of parcels of private land within the state park boundaries as well as adjacent properties essential to sustaining the area’s biodiversity, MDIA focuses on disseminating information about the mountain’s ecological, geological, and recreational significance. Just as the park has tripled in size since the early 1970s from 6,788 to about 20,000 acres, MDIA has grown from 29 enthusiastic members in 1974 to several hundred today. MDIA President Mike Woodring explains, “The MDIA mission is preservation through education. When we see things where we can make a difference, we get involved.” That response ranges from updating signage to marking the 6.25-mile “Trail Through Time” with twenty interpretive panels elucidating the mountain’s geological history. MDIA Board member Ken Lavin notes, “Mount Diablo displays much of the geological history of the Bay Area, though the history is upside down. A vertical fault under Mount Diablo has shoved older rocks up and over younger rocks.”
Local Postal Customer
Meals on Wheels and Senior Outreach Services By Fran Miller
Senior citizens aged 80 and older are the fastest growing population segment in Contra Costa County. Many are homebound and unable to cook or otherwise obtain daily meals to maintain their health and remain independent in the comfort and security of their own homes. Since 1990, Meals on Wheels and Senior Outreach Services (MOWSOS) of Contra Costa and its coalition of volunteers has been ensuring that these homebound seniors receive daily nutritious meals. “Our services are free and there are no financial restrictions,” says Volume X - Number 6 3000F Danville Blvd #117 See MDIA continued on page 17 Leigh Shughrou, Public Affairs Alamo, CA 94507 Specialist for MOWSOS. “We Telephone (925) 405-6397 PRSRT STD coordinate care for older adults Fax (925) 406-0547 U.S. Postage editor@yourmonthlypaper.com (60+ years) in Contra Costa PAID County who have a wide range of Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher Permit 21 opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and needs. Our six programs (Meals The Lafayette, CA do not necessarily reflect that of Lafayette Today. Lafayette on Wheels, Friendly Visitors, Fall Today is not responsible for the content of any of the adECRWSS
See Meals cont. on page 19
vertising herein, nor does publication imply endorsement.