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August 2011
Beck Jurasius, 10, of Lafayette Moraga Youth Association, set a new Lafayette City Meet record for 9-10 year old boys butterfly on July 17th. Photo by Gint Federas gint@gfederas.com.
Junior Achievement By Fran Miller
Preparing today’s youth for a competitive work environment is a lofty goal – one capably fulfilled by the corporate and community volunteers of Junior Achievement. As the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs, Junior Achievement brings the real world into the classroom setting. “At Junior Achievement, we give young people the knowledge and skills they need in order to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices,” says Crystal Lynch, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Development for Junior Achievement of Northern California in Walnut Creek. “Junior Achievement (JA) programs help students make a connection between what they learn in school and how it can be applied in the real world, increasing their understanding of the
See JA continued on page 16
Serving the Lafayette Community Dancers, Music Lovers, and Fans Invited to Lamorinda Seniors Event
Couples and singles, experienced dancers and beginners, social fans and music lovers are invited to join the fun at the only afternoon dance social in the Lamorinda area. The longtime seniors event is held Wednesdays 12:30 to 2:50pm at Lafayette Community Center. “We’re in the large, Live Oak Room, with plenty of space for people to participate in their favorite ways,” dance social board members report. “At the same time, you might see dancers doing their favorite styles and steps, those who like to watch and clap for the dancers, others who enjoy the music and table chat, and still others who take advantage of free corners to practice steps, or just enjoy moving to Peter and Heidi Kuhn of Lafayette. the music. All fit in nicely.” The dance social specializes in ballroom, including swing, fox trot, waltz, and tango, but other styles and choices also succeed, the board emphasizes. “One dancer does solo ballet-jazz, another practices ballroom by herself. We encourage solo dancing as an enjoyable way to get out on the dance floor anytime you want.” A popular feature is ballroom lessons and DJ services by a professional couple, Karen and Michael, who come the first Wednesday of each month. Other weeks, Elroy Holtmann, president of the dance social group, and longtime Lafayette resident, presents selected, recorded ballroom music, compiled by DJ Dan Foley. Some people come quite a distance because they like the friendly atmosphere. The dance social is $2 for members of Lafayette Senior Center and $4 for non-members. It’s just $10 yearly to join the Center and enjoy it’s complete range of activities. For more information, visit https://sites.google.com/site/lafayetteteadance/.
Local Teens at World Jamboree in Sweden
A contingent of Boy Scouts representing the Mt. Diablo Silverado and Marin Councils traveled to attend 22nd World Scout Jamboree in Rinkaby, Sweden. The World Jamboree is held every four years and gives Scouts from around the world a chance to join together in carrying on the traditions of the founder of the Boy Scout movement more than 100 years ago. This year’s theme was “Simply Scouting.” Scouts lived in tents and cooked on open fires. One hundred and fifty separate countries sent Scouts to the Jamboree which had over 38,000 participants. To join a local Cub Scout, Boy PRSRT STD Scout, or co-ed Venture Scout group, U.S. Postage visit https://beascout.scouting.org. PAID Choose the appropriate age group, Permit 21 Lafayette CA and enter in your zip code to see a listing of groups in Lafayette.
Volume V - Number 8 PO Box 1335 Lafayette, CA 94549 Telephone (925) 405-NEWS, 405-6397 Fax (925) 406-0547 editor@yourmonthlypaper.com Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher
The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do not necessarily reflect that of Lafayette Today. Lafayette Today is not responsible for the content of any of the advertising herein, nor does publication imply endorsement.
Page 2 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
Summer Outdoor Movie Series
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The City of Lafayette and the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce announce the last movie, Finding Nemo, of the Summer Outdoor Movie Series to be held Thursday, August 18th starting at 8PM . Here are your instructions: 1. Bring the family downtown. 2. Do some shopping. 3. Have dinner in one of our award winning restaurants. 4. Visit the Farmers’ Market. 5. Stick around for Finding Nemo! And, while you are waiting for it to get dark, enjoy the sounds of Lamorinda’s very own Gypsy Chics! Remember, the Farmers’ Market runs through September.
Lafayette Community Music Festival
Lic# 1100014354; Bay Area Entertainment
Lafayette Flag Brigades’ 9/11 Remembrance and Candlelight Vigil
The Lafayette Flag Brigade’s 10th Annual 9/11 Remembrance and Candlelight Vigil will be held September 11th from 3PM to 8PM. The event will be held at El Curtola Bridge located at the Highway 24 overcrossing at the 680 Freeway in Lafayette. To get to the location, take Highway 24 to the Pleasant Hill Rd. Exit, turn on Old Tunnel Rd, and go to top of hill. Never Forgetting 9/11 is the goal of this event. This will be accomplished by displaying the largest overpass flag in the State, including the arrival of a 40,000 pound trailer holding three large sections of steel recovered from the World Trade Center at Ground Zero*. Our program also features live performances and keynote speakers, as well as the United States Volunteers and their flag folding ceremony, the Blue Star Moms, and local Boy Scouts. Our special 10th anniversary music program, the 9/11 Memorial Theatre, as well as the candlelight vigil at dusk are not to be missed. Schedule of Events: 3:00PM ~ Arrival of 9/11 Artifacts for display at Remembrance 3:15PM ~ Welcome all Groups 3:30PM ~ Presentation of Colors, Boy Scouts 4:00PM ~ God Bless America, Valerie Remley accompanied by Daryl Suzukawa 4:30PM ~ 3rd BN, 31st Reg (CA) United States Volunteers Flag Folding Ceremony 5:00PM ~ Valerie Remley, Daryl Suzukawa 5:30PM ~ Main Speaker, FDNY fireman, retired 6:00PM ~ Valerie Remley, Daryl Suzukawa 6:30PM ~ Lisa Disbrow, speaker 7:00PM ~ Valerie Remley, Daryl Suzukawa 7:15PM ~ Invocation, local pastor 7:30PM ~ Candlelight Vigil begins 7:55PM ~ Taps live by Tony Ligouri 8:00PM ~ Conclusion For more information, see our website at www.nevereverforget911.com. * This historic and educational exhibit is being transported to us by Mike Harris of Harris Trucking, Livermore. Mike will leave Livermore on 9/11/11 with the artifacts in tow and arrive at the El Curtola Bridge at 3PM.
On August 27th, Town Hall Theatre is excited to announce the first annual Lafayette Community Music Festival being held at and benefiting The Town Hall Theatre (THT) in Lafayette. In an effort to support the wonderful theater programs at THT, local musicians are coming together to perform in an all acoustic show. In addition there will be a silent auction and raffle. Highlights of the night include: • The inspirational singer/songwriter and Lafayette's own Mark Stanley, and seasoned, veteran guitarist Dell Burchett from the legendary local band Rock Island • The always entertaining Drew Harrison, who performs as John Lennon from the tribute band The Sun Kings, performing songs from his solo CD • Local favorites, Paul Cotruvo and Toni Bryant from the ever popular Cover2Cover • The uniquely talented and energetic singer/violinist Katy Lawrence • From the legendary Frumious Bandersnatch, Steve Miller Band, and Cold Blood, performing new songs from his soon to be released solo CD, Jack King featuring the versatile and eclectic vocalist Kiki Stack from Dream Posse • From The Yard Dogs Road Show and Les Claypool, performing his own music, the distinctive and edgy guitarist, Lafayette's own Eenor plus special guests This show is not to be missed! Doors open at 7pm and the show begins at pm 8 . Tickets are $40 and are available at www.townhalltheatre.com. Come support local theater and enjoy wonderful music.
Rock the Plaza
The Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, the City of Lafayette and Red House Studios present the summer music series, Rock the Plaza. The Rock the Plaza series will take place Friday nights in August at Lafayette Plaza located at the corner of Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Moraga Road. The headliners start at 6pm and are presented free of charge. Arrive a little early for a good spot on the lawn. This year’s line up includes • Friday, August 12 ~ Stagefrite • Friday, August 19 ~ The Floorshakers • Friday, August 26 ~ Tall Shadows “Lafayette has countless numbers of musicians, both aspiring and accomplished, as well as music fans,” said Raja Singh, owner of Red House and a Lafayette resident. “The Rock the Plaza series is another great way for these musicians to share their music with the local community.” Food and beverage will be available, or you can pack a picnic. For more information, visit www.lafayettechamber.org or call 925284-7404.
Worship Service and Picnic in the Park
Lafayette United Methodist Church is having a Worship Service and Picnic in the Park on Sunday, August 28, beginning at 10am. The casual service takes place at Lafayette Community Park, 480 St. Mary’s Road, just south of the Lafayette Community Center. Chairs will be provided for the service, or those who attend can bring their own. Afterwards a picnic will be provided. Come and enjoy various outside games and activities as well, since the park has been reserved for most of the day. Visitors are always welcome. If more information is needed, please call the church office at 925-284-4765.
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Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 3
Boulevard View
By Alisa Corstorphine, Editor
When I travel the experience is not necessarily about eating at the best restaurants or stopping by all of the tourist attractions. I enjoy seeing how people in other communities live. I like to go to grocery stores, hardware stores, and small shops to see the foods they enjoy and the items for sale in the place I’m visiting. I like to see what is different and what is popular in each community and culture. A recent trip to Mexico brought me back in time. Yes, many people had cell phones, and they sold the latest computers in the stores, but they also sold things I haven’t seen in years. For example, I was amazed to see many displays of gigantic boom-boxes and large speakers, when back home I am thinking of our tiny MP3 players and miniature iPod speaker docks. During a trip to Costco in Mexico I saw many pallets of world globes in the “Back to School” section. There were also 12-packs of grease pencils (the kind where you pull the string and wind down the piece of paper to expose more of the pencil), cases of clear Contact paper, 110mm and 35mm film, and a double pack of recorders - the flute type instrument you may have played with as a kid. A trip to the local mall had your typical Macy’s-like department store, a Radio Shack, Starbucks, Domino’s Pizza, Subway, Gap, a Swarovski crystal store, and a movie theater. But then there was also a casino, a train that drove kids and families around the upper level of the mall, and an indoor circus that looked to be a permanent fixture to entertain shoppers and their families. I was alarmed to go to the grocery store and see the massive amount of plastic containers everywhere. I kept reflecting on the efforts of Sustainable Lafayette and like-minded groups and wondered when, and if, such efforts would make their way to where I was. Soda came in three-liter bottles, fabric softener, cleaning products, and juices were supersized, when here at home manufactures are trying to reduce their use of plastic containers, concentrate more products, and offer reusable bottles. No one carried reusable shopping bags, and plastic bags were the bag of choice. Plastic debris was everywhere, and there were no recycling receptacles in sight. From a recycling standpoint, it was depressing. There were other sites that brought me to the past. While technically illegal, it was common to see most pick-up trucks crowded with adults and children, standing or sitting in the back of the pick-up bed, driving down the street. I don’t think I saw a child riding in a car seat even once, and many children rode helmetless while sitting in front of a parent going down the road on a motorcycle. Seatbelts were rarely worn, and most cars were packed with many more passengers than the cars were designed to hold. I reflected on all the changes that we have gone through in the United States (I’d say mostly for the better) when our driver put an open beer bottle in the cup holder and chatted away on his cell phone while driving us down the street! Another thing I noticed was a lot of broken pavement and incomplete sidewalks, and as a result how they’re not friendly for strollers or wheelchairs. I saw one wheelchair and one stroller during my five day stay. As our friend living there told us, crossing the street is an “extreme sport”! When trying to cross the street, crosswalks are seldom used, and I felt like I was a character in the arcade game “Frogger” trying to cross the eight lane road to the other side. I loved taking the public buses around town, where for about 50 cents you could travel all over the city while often being entertained by a man singing and playing guitar. Other times salesmen trying to sell a product would offer samples, and people would donate whatever they thought it was worth (I think it was eyedrops to “get the red out” that were being pitched). The bus was always interesting! While I enjoyed my trip away, it is always nice to come home to the Bay Area. I like where we live and the appreciate the efforts so many in our community take to make not only where we live, but the world in general a better place. Summer is my favorite time of year in the East Bay. While it hasn’t been quite as warm as usual, my garden is thriving, and life is good! May the rest of your summer days be long, warm, and especially relaxing.
free o char f ge
live rts e c n o c
Lafayette Plaza Downtown Lafayette
August 12th StageFrite www.stagefrite.com
August 19th
The Floorshakers www.thefloorshakers.com
August 26th
Tall Shadows www.tallshadows.net
All Performances start at 6:00pm presented by
Shop Local t Dine Localt Play Local
8th Annual
$25
Thursday, August 25 5:30pm - 8:30pm
ARTISTS :INE TASTING COMMEMORATIVE WINE GLASS LIVE MUSI& 75OLLEY RIDES
DOWNTOWN DANVILLE Danville LIVERY & The ROSE GARDEN SHOPS TROLLEY RIDES BETWEEN ALL LOCATIONS
Tickets available at these locations: Cottage Jewel - 100 Prospect Ave. La Buena Vida - 806 Sycamore Valley Road W. The Studio - 730 Camino Ramon, Suite 200 and online at www.discoverdanvilleca.com
Also coming...
Heartland Danville Antique & Art Faire Monday, September 5th For more information - contact Cottage Jewel at (925)837-2664
Page 4 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
16 Annual Lafayette Art & Wine Festival th
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The 16th Annual Lafayette Art & Wine Festival, featuring art, wine, beer, music, and shopping, is scheduled for Saturday, September 17th from 10am to 7pm, and Sunday, September 18th, from 10am to 6pm, in downtown Lafayette. Free parking is available at the Lafayette BART station, and there is a free event shuttle to take you to and from the BART parking lots. Better yet, take BART! Ride your bike and park in the secure Bike Parking Lot. With more than 250 arts and crafts booths, the fair offers a unique variety of gifts and display pieces created by local and regional artists. Look for ceramics, photography, prints, paintings, blown glass, sculpture, jewelry, and much more. Our “Local Fine Arts Alley” features Lamorinda artists that are members of the Lafayette Gallery and the Lamorinda Arts Alliance. The Gallery and Art Room (next to the Art Stage) will be open throughout the event.
Premium Wine Pavilion
At the Premium Wine Pavilion, you’ll find a selection of high end wines, as well as food provided by Chef Daniel Clayton. Wine Thieves (wine shop) of Lafayette will be providing an unmatched selection of high end wines that most of us never get a chance to taste. Wine Chest will also be on hand to offer flights and very special selections. Music on the Premium Wine Stage will include ML Crisis, Red Wing Blue Grass Band, Pat Nevins and Ragged Glory, Phaddohg and Dream Posse.
Entertainment
The Lafayette Art & Wine Festival attracts name bands playing a continuous mix of jazz, blues, and rock on two stages. We open the festival up this year with a band that will be picked from our summer “Dad’s Band” competition. The winner of the 2011 Covers Cup will kick it off. Local legend Bob Athayde & Friends entertaining you from the Art Stage on Sunday. Also on the Art Stage over the weekend will be Sound Advice, Annie Sampson, The Spazmatics, Leo Vigil, and of course Lafayette’s David Martin and his House Party. The Wine Stage will feature The Sun Kings, Front Street, ZEBOP, Who Too, Chubby’s All Starts, Rock Skool, and the folks from Red House Studios.
KidZone
The family-friendly event also features a “KidZone,” with party jumps, games, arts, crafts, and entertainment. Lamorinda youth bands will play at the end of each day on the KidZone.
Sponsors
The festival, produced by the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce in concert with the City of Lafayette, is a fundraiser for the Chamber, as well as a number of local charities, including the Lafayette Arts & Sciences Foundation. Major sponsors for the event include: Presenting sponsors - Comcast and Solar City, Festival sponsors - Mechanics Bank and Concord BMW, Art Stage Sponsor - Diablo Foods, and our Corporate Sponsors - Wells Fargo, Contra Costa Times, Minuteman Press of Lafayette, Bank of the West, La Fiesta Square, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, NBC Bay Area, Diablo Magazine, Special Events, C&M Party Props, Wine Thieves, Chevron, Safeway, Red House Studios, J.V. Lucas Paving, AMR, Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa, Fox Classic Rock KFOX 98.5/102.1, Oakwood Athletic Club, Petar’s Restaurant & Pub, Champlin Communications, BART, and our Hometown Station KKDV 92.1.
Lafayette Hiking Group
The Lafayette Hiking Group announces their upcoming hike to Tennessee Valley on the Marin Coast. To participate in the hike, meet at 8:30AM in the City parking lot on the west side of Moraga Road. Carpools will be formed. Bring lunch, water, layered clothing, good walking shoes, and money to contribute toward gas, tolls, and parking($5).
Wednesday, August 31 - Tennessee Valley, Marin Coast
We will hike up to Coyote Ridge for great views, then we’ll go down to the coastal trail and Tennessee Cove for cool sea breezes. We will return along Tennessee Valley. The hike is moderate with hills and covers about five miles. The hike leader is Alison Hill. If you have questions, please e-mail LafayetteHiking@comcast.net.
Lamorinda Peace and Justice
The Lamorinda Peace and Justice Group meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month from 7 – 9 PM in the fireside room of Lafayette Methodist Church, 955 Moraga Road, Lafayette. Our group is committed to working to support a healthy planet, a thriving local community, and a safe, equitable world for all. For more information, call 925-946-0563.
Lost Dog!
$50 REWARD If you find him and your name is drawn!
He is very small, so you will have to look hard if you want to find him.
Lafayette Luther is Missing He has become lost in this paper.
To be eligible send a letter telling us where you found him, along with your name and address to: Lost Dog! Lafayette Today, PO Box 1335 • Lafayette, CA 94549
Sharon Meckenstock is our winner! Luther was hiding on page 7 last month.
Contra Costa County Library Launches Discover & Go
Looking for something fun, educational, and free to do with the family? Have guests coming into town and want to show off the area’s cultural highlights? The Contra Costa County Library announces Discover & Go, an exciting new service providing library cardholders residing in Contra Costa County with free passes to local museums and cultural institutions. A first of its kind, Discover & Go provides access to passes that can be printed online rather than traditional physical passes that must be picked up and returned to the Library. Each Discover & Go pass expires immediately after the reservation date – no returns required and no possibility for overdue fines! This unique program allows library users to make reservations online by date or by venue and immediately print out a pass or print later for free at any Library. Customers without Internet access can reserve a pass by telephone or in person. Library cardholders can reserve up to two passes at one time from the following list of destinations: •Asian Art Museum • The Marine Mammal Center • Bay Area Discovery Museum • Museum of Craft and Folk Art • Beat Museum • Museum of the African Diaspora • Bedford Gallery • Oakland Aviation Museum • Blackhawk Museum • Oakland Museum of California • California Academy of Sciences • Pacific Pinball Museum • California Historical Society • San Jose Museum of Art • California Shakespeare Theater • San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles • Cartoon Art Museum • The Tech Museum • Charles M. Schulz Museum • Town Hall Theatre • Contemporary Jewish Museum • UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive • Exploratorium • USS Hornet Museum • Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse • Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum • Habitot Children's Museum • Yerba Buena Center for the Arts • Lindsay Wildlife Museum • Zeum: San Francisco's Children's Museum Exhibit-related recommended reading lists hand-selected by library staff will be available from the Discover & Go website at discover.ccclib.org. To learn more about Contra Costa County Library, visit ccclib.org or call 800-984-4636.
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Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 5
Assistance League of Diablo Valley
Member volunteers at Assistance League® Way Side Inn Thrift Shop, located at 3521 Golden Gate Way in Lafayette, are preparing for the Summer Clearance which begins on Tuesday, September 6 and runs through September 10; that’s if the inventory lasts! On Tuesday, September 6 through Thursday, September 8, ALL merchandise will be marked at half price. Take advantage of the extended store hours on Thursday when the thrift shop will remain open until 7PM to coincide with the Lafayette Farmers’ Market. A return trip might be in order on Friday, September 9, when all merchandise will be priced at $2. Upper body strength will be required on Saturday, September 10, when you can fill a bag, that’s right—an entire bag, for a mere $5. Get plenty of rest that weekend because beginning Tuesday, September 13, fall merchandise will be on the floor. It’s hard to imagine that these summer days will soon be followed by the crisp breezes of autumn. Donations of gently used clothing, toys, small furniture, housewares, collectibles, linens and books are welcomed during business hours, Tuesday through Saturday 10AM to 4PM. Funds from Assistance League Thrift Shop are used to support Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s philanthropic programs such as the Buena Vista Tutorial Program, Operation School Bell, Scholarships These friends get awfully lonely at night while sitting on the shelves of the thriftshop. Bring one and Teacher Grants, and more. into your home! To learn more about Assistance League Way Side Inn Thrift Shop and the Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s eight philanthropic programs, please visit diablovalley.assistanceleague.org. To reach the Thrift Shop by phone, please call 925-284-4781.
Eugene O’Neill NHS “Open Saturdays”
The Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site located in Danville initiated an “Open Saturdays” format for visiting the park. This new format has made it easier to visit the site by allowing the public to see the site without a reservation. On Saturdays, visitors board a National Park Service bus that leaves from the front of the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, located at the corner of Railroad Ave and Prospect Rd. in downtown Danville at 10AM, 12 noon, and 2PM. There is no charge for transportation or touring the site. The facilities at the park include a limited number of picnic tables, drinking water, and restrooms along with a visitor center and bookstore for informational materials.
CAN THIS THING GO
FASTER? live your life to the fullest at every stage
Post Acute Care & Rehabilitation 348 Rheem Boulevard Moraga, CA 94556 ph 925-376-5995 marquiscompanies.com
Heartland Danville
Antiques& Art Faire
Live Music Unique Boutiques Great Food
Monday, Sept. 5, 2011
Don’t Miss...
• During your self-guided tour through Tao House, look for Eugene and Carlotta’s influence with courtyard paths that lead to nowhere, a hidden front door, Asian antique furniture, and mysterious wall recesses. • Enter the most private room in O’Neill’s home, his study, where he turned his tragic life experiences into a healing art form and revolutionary theater. • Pay your respects to Silverdene Emblem O’Neill (Blemie), the O’Neill’s faithful and beloved Dalmatian who was buried behind the barn. • Enjoy the spectacular view across the San Ramon Valley toward Mt. Diablo. Eugene O’Neill, the only American playwright to win both the Nobel Prize for Literature and four Pulitzer Prizes, grew up backstage in the theatre of his father, well known actor James O’Neill.
See O’Neill continued on page 24
9am-3pm
downtown Danville
along Railroad Ave. & Prospect Ave.
D iscover the timeless
treasures offered by 80 antiques merchants, vintage vendors and folk artists while you stroll thru historic Downtown Danville. Informal Antiques Appraisals at the Museum 10am-2pm for $10/item donation Sponsored by:
For vendor booth information, call 925-837-2664
Page 6 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
The Bookworm By Joan Stevenson
My granddaughter Amanda spent a day with me last week. She is counting down the days until school begins, and she told me what she had planned to wear that first day in middle school. I told her I was on countdown as well anticipating the Celebrate the Magic th Gala on September 10 , but I haven’t a clue what I will wear! If you want just a snippet of what the evening of 9/10/11 holds, visit www.lafayettelib. org and find the raffle and auction links. There are an amazing variety of opportunities! How about a harvest of your own honey? The value is a Queen’s ransom! Or, what about your personal chef creating a special dinner for a dozen of your closest friends? Perhaps you will leave the gala as the new owner of a 2012 Volkswagen Beetle or Passat! No sorcery or witchcraft, just A Magical Night to celebrate the Lafayette Library and Learning Center and to raise funds to keep our programs alive is what you’ll experience at the gala. The funds support many events. The Bookworm is a regular at the Summer Classic Film Series which this summer highlights four queens whose stories are brought to the silver screen by four fabulous actresses. The final two films on August 17th and 24th will feature Betty Davis as the aging Elizabeth I and Judi Dench as the grieving Queen Victoria. You might also want to check out two Commonwealth Club presentations. The first presentation on August 25th from 6:30 – 7:30 features a panel of East Bay urban wine gurus presenting an intoxicating discussion followed by a wine tasting. On September 13th from 6:30 – 7:30 author and former CNN anchor, Donald Van de Mark will discuss personality traits of super high achievers. Osher Lifelong Learning Institute returns on September 15th from 1:30 – 3:00 with Joe Lurie giving an insiders peek at communications and miscommunications at UC Berkeley’s International House.
www.yourmonthlypaper.com If a job interview is in your future, you will not want to miss Mary Ellen Williams who will tell you how to Ace the Interview on September 7th from 6:30PM to 8:30PM. You will leave knowing what to expect and how to anticipate and respond to questions in a way that will wow the interviewer. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the LLLC. Funding for programs like this comes from your patronage of the Friends Corner Book Shop…the books you contribute and the ones you purchase. It is the best recycling in the county! One final reminder - your purchase of the Gala tickets must be made by August 26th. Please call 925-283-6513, and don’t wait because event is sure to be a sellout! All we need is YOU to assure that the MAGIC will continue.
NOTE: New library hours begin September 12th, and will be Monday – Thursday 10-8, Friday and Saturday 10-5, and Sunday 1-5.
Rotary Charity Golf Tournament Monday, August 29th
This year’s Rotary Charity Golf Classic will be held on August 29th at the Rossmoor Golf Course. The golfing format will be a Scramble. The golfing fee will be $150 which includes driving range time, a box lunch, refreshments, cocktails, and dinner catered by Susan Foord Catering held in the Dollar Picnic Area. There will be prizes and awards! Every Par 3 will feature a “hole-in-one” prize including a new BMW sponsored by Concord BMW. Dinner only guests are $30. Registration starts at 10am, Shotgun start at 11am, cocktails at 4pm and dinner at 5pm. Applications for golf are available at the Pro-Shop for both golf and dinner only guests. All proceeds benefit local and International Rotary charities. The Lafayette Rotary Club is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donations are appreciated. If you would like to be a sponsor, there are many opportunities available. For more information, please call Gene Wilson 925-935-5785 or Polly Bernson 925-283-6610. You can download a registration form by visiting www.rotarylafayette. org. Please mail applications and payment to: Polly Bernson,1014 Oak Hill Road, Lafayette, CA 94549.
editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
Environmentally Friendly Options for Getting to School
Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 7
By Sustainable Lafayette
In 1964, 50% of kids in the U.S. rode their bikes to school. In 2004, only 3% of kids rode their bikes to school. Biking and walking have been replaced by parents zipping their kids to and from school and to other activities by car. This may seem safe and hassle-free for the kids, but it prevents kids from getting needed exercise, adds considerably to traffic congestion (think Moraga Road at 8:15AM!), sends a cocktail of pollutants into the air that we all breath, and emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Considering all of these factors, the “true cost” of driving our kids everywhere is more expensive than we might think. Check out the “True Cost of Driving” calculator at www. commutesolutions.org/calc.htm. Fortunately, there are many environmentally friendly options for getting your kids to school and many compelling benefits for those that try them. Bike or Walk – Walking and biking are great alternatives for students that live within 1-2 miles of their school. These activities can promote responsible behavior, awareness of the outdoor environment, and physical fitness for the student. Lafayette has a number of bike trails and routes which are located near our schools. Investigate possible biking or walking routes. If you live far away from the school but want your child to start to experience walking/riding, find a safe place to drop them off, and pick them up as far away from school as is appropriate for their ability. If your child plans to bike, take one or two trial runs with him or her, and make sure he or she has the right size helmet, working brakes, properly inflated tires, appropriate attire, and enough time to get to school. Also, pay attention to weather reports for back-up plans in case of bad weather at the end of the school day. Help your child learn the rules of the road, and ride in specially designated areas when possible. For bike safety tips, go to www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/bike/kidsandbikesafetyweb/index.htm. Form a “Walking School Bus” or “Bicycle Train” – A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. The bus leaves when the farthest family begins to walk the route and pick up kids along the way. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school or as structured as a planned route with meeting points, a timetable and a schedule of trained volunteers. A variation on the walking school bus is a bicycle train where a group of children and adult leaders ride together to school. Learn more about how to create safe routes to school at www.saferoutesinfo.org/. Form a “School Pool” – This takes a little coordination, but it reduces your drives per week and definitely cuts down on energy use and air pollution. Carpooling also fosters a sense of community among riders. A carpool can give students a sense of responsibility about being on time and an arena where they can practice their pleases and thank-yous. Conversations in the car allow parents a chance to get to know what’s happening at school in a way a single child rarely shares. Learn more about carpooling to school at https://www.CarpooltoSchool.com/. Take a Public Bus – Riding the public bus can be a wonderful experience for a child. Safe and reliable, there are public CCCTA buses in town that stop at or near many of our schools. The CCCTA school bus routes can be seen at http://cccta.org/maps-schedules/school-routes-forlafayettemoragaorinda/. Youth bus fares for CCCTA are $20 for a 12-ride pass and $60 for a monthly pass. One great source for free bus tickets is 511 Contra Costa www.511contracosta.org. They will give 2 - $20 bus tickets to a handful of kids who apply in the beginning of the year in exchange for filling out a survey at the end of the year. Lamorinda School Bus Transportation Program – A popular school bus alternative in Lafayette is the Lamorinda School Bus Transportation program. Twenty 2009 model clean diesel buses have been bought to service the Lamorinda area. These buses meet the latest federal standards • PC or Mac • Repairs • Upgrades • Office Moves and Networking • • Virus/Spyware/Adware Removal • Internet/ Cloud Computing • and run on ultra-low sulfur fuel. Emissions are similar to buses running • Data Recovery • Back-up Solutions • Maintenance • on natural gas. Stops are convenient to a student’s house. The bus fares • Email Solutions • Remote Phone Support • Free Recycling • are reasonable as a majority of the revenue for the bus program comes from Measure J in Contra Costa County which, when passed, posed a half-cent sales tax to support the program. The service offers a 4:45 bus for Stanley students involved in extra-curricular activities. For information about the bus program, call (925) 363-7327 or visit www. lamorindaschoolbus.org. Other Tips – If you do drive (hopefully in a carpool), please remember to turn off your car while waiting. An idling engine operates far below its peak temperature, creating fuel residue in the engine, and generating air pollution right where kids are congregating. Another suggestion is to try to combine a trip to school with errands that you need to run. This will save time, reduce your total driving, and reduce the number of times you need to start a “cold car.” Starting a car after it has been sitting for more than an hour creates up to five times more pollution than when the engine is warm. Preserving Quality Time – Many parents consider one-on-one time Portable CIO is an information systems consulting firm, with their kids in the car to be a special time to visit. But there may be focused on implementing stable, reliable, and efficient solutions, alternatives that are just as special or even better. You may consider intelligent investment in technology, and building long talking with your child about alternatives which could preserve this term relationships. How can we help you? specialness, knowing that such a change might enhance your child’s development while at the same time improving the future health of your child’s natural environment. To read success stories about how families in Lafayette are getting www.ThePortableCIO.com their kids to school and living more sustainably, please visit www. Join Portable CIO, Inc. on Facebook! sustainablelafayette.net.
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Page 8 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
Lafayette Recreation Now Registering for Fall!
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The Lafayette Recreation Fall Brochure is now available online at www.LafayetteRec.org. We had an awesome summer, and now we are looking forward to seeing you back at the Lafayette Community Center for more fun programs this fall! There are many exciting new classes being offered such as Tap Dancing, Lafayette Fall Ball, Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Italian and Spanish, Cake & Cookie Decorating, and more. Don’t miss the free Kung Fu Action Demo on Saturday, September 10th at 10:30am and 1pm at the Lafayette Community Center. Come see this performance of traditional Chinese Kung Fu forms featuring Bare Handed Shaolin, Five Tigers Broad Sword, 8 Immortals Double Edged Sword, and 8 Directions Spinning Palm. This is fun for kids, teens, and adults too!
Lafayette Recreation and Lafayette Little League present Lafayette Fall Ball!
Big League Fundamentals for Little League Players - All the Training, Without the Travel! Lafayette Recreation and Lafayette Little League team up with college and professional level coaching experts Mike McCormack of St. Mary’s College and reputed pitching coach Jeff Pick to offer a fall baseball program designed to improve the abilities of players at ALL skill levels. Learn the mechanics, get the repetitions, and see improvements that will make the game more fun. From the basics of catching, hitting, and fielding to the complexities of team defense and base running, this program will break it down to simple steps that can be worked on at home. Hardwork in the fall will pay dividends in the spring season. This program is for kids 5-14 years old and runs for two sessions, September through November. Visit www.LafayetteRec.org or call 925-284-2232 for schedule details and to register for this exciting new program.
Special Events in September at the Lafayette Community Center
Growing Natives: Inspiring and Enduring Gardens - 9am - 5pm, September 17th, and 9am - 2pm, September 18th. This is a two-day symposium featuring talks, workshops, book sales, plant and seed sales, a garden tour, and more! Participants will learn about plant selection, garden design, installation, and maintenance of a native garden. It’s sponsored by the California Native Plant Society, Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden, and Pacific Horticulture Society. The September 17th event will be held at the Lafayette Community Center located at 500 St. Mary's Road in Lafayette. The cost is $150 - $170. The event September18th will be held at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park. The cost is $55 - $65. To register, visit http://gns.cnps-scv.org.
The Wonderful World of Putting (Golf) – a Special Program for Seniors
The American Golf Program for Seniors is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the wonderful world of golf to baby boomers and seniors. Supported entirely by volunteers passionate about the sport, these experts take you “from Green to Tee,” through putting lessons based on videos and hands-on instruction with on-the-spot putting greens and putters (all provided). Whether you’ve never held a golf club or are a seasoned player, you’re bound to have a great time. Fun prizes will be given, and light refreshments will be served. The program will be held Tuesday, September 27th from 10:30AM-Noon at the Lafayette Community Center, Elderberry Room. The fee is $1 for Lafayette Senior Services members and $3 for non-nembers. To sign-up call 925-284-5050.
An American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry survey reveals that 92% of adult respondents say an attractive smile is an important social asset. 74% believe an unattractive smile can hurt a person’s chances for a successful career. More than any other facial feature, a smile can reflect trust, comfort, confidence and the shortest path to reflecting your personality. Dr Rader is a graduate of the prestigious Las Vegas Institute (LVI), a renowned center for cosmetic,TMJ, and Neuromuscular dentistry. He is one of a few dentists nationwide to complete Full Mouth Reconstruction curriculum at LVI.
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Lafayette’s Long Love Affair with Horses By Julie Sullivan, Lafayette Historical Society (LHS)
According to word of mouth, the year was 1913 when the first horse show, a bronco riding event, was held in Lafayette. Other similar events followed, and in 1933 the first Fiesta de Lafayette Horse Parade was held. Later renamed La Fiesta Day, the horse centered parade was held each fall for more than 50 years until around 1990, when it was replaced by today’s Art and Wine Festival. The most vividly remembered horse event from mid-twentieth century Lafayette, even though it was only held for 10 years, from 1935 until World War II brought it to a close, was the Lafayette Horse Show. First held on September 23, 1935, the inaugural show was sponsored by the Contra Costa County Horse Show Association, and later shows were sponsored by the
Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 9
never be stamped out of humans while they still have red blood in their veins.” The LHS History Room in the Lafayette Library and Learning Center has more than 60 photos of the early Horse Shows, along with original programs for almost every year. For more information, call (925) 283-1848 or visit www.lafayettehistory.org. The History Room is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 10AM – 2PM.
Cinema Classics By Peggy Horn Renaissance Man
Sheriff Richard R. Veale (Contra Costa Sheriff from 1895-1935) is in the dark coat on the left at the 1935 Horse Show.
Lafayette Horse Show Association. It was held on property owned by Dr. Oliver Hamlin near Moraga and St. Mary’s Roads. Dr. Hamlin was one of five successive generations who lived on the same ranch in Lafayette, where today his grandson, Ollie Hamlin II, lives. That first Horse Show was a one-day event beginning with a parade at 11:30AM. By mid-morning traffic jammed downtown streets. Beautifully groomed horses, colorful wagons draped with bunting, and humorous floats advertising local businesses lined up “bumper to bumper” for more than a mile down Moraga Road. That year, 216 horses took part in the parade, which must have been quite a sight. At the horse show arena other riders joined in, bringing the total number of horses on display to 300. Attendance was estimated at 2,000 people. That’s not bad for a town with a population of 3,000. Groups that participated in those early shows include the Aahmes Temple Shrine Riders, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Posse, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Posse, Rancho El Camino of Burlingame, the San Mateo Riders, the Happy Valley Riders Club, and the Hill Top Riders. Horse Show managers were Dave Findlay, Paul Albert, Charles Shuey, and J. J. Claunch, with announcers Ernie Smith and George Brooks. Past Presidents of the Horse Show Association include George S. Meredith, R. C. Franke, George B. Sturgeon, and Dr. O. D. Hamlin. By 1944, the last year the Horse Show was held, it had become a two-day affair, with opening parades on both Saturday and Sunday and 28 separate equestrian events for both adults and children. After World War II, the character of Lafayette changed rapidly; large ranches were converted to subdivisions for the growing post-war population. Horses, once a common sight in downtown, gradually disappeared from dayto-day life, but colorful stories still survive of the grand exhibition of Western horseflesh that was the Lafayette Horse Show. The first edition of Western Horseman Magazine stated in January 1936, “Love for horses is not strange in any normal human. It is his heritage through the generations by people who conquered and invaded and explored, and looked beyond the next hill from the back of a good horse. We may fly, or sail or glide over the roads on pneumatic tires but the love for good horseflesh will
This month’s film classic is, Renaissance Man, (1994) starring Danny DeVito and directed by Penny Marshall. This movie presents Mr. DeVito as Bill Rago, a Princeton educated advertising executive who graduates from self-importance to actual importance when he becomes a teacher to eight Army recruits that, according to their superiors, need to learn comprehension skills. Rago accomplishes this objective by guiding his students through an in depth study into the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. You may ask, “How can a movie from 1994 be a classic?” To this I reply that a classic film may be defined as one that has lasting significance or serves as an outstanding representative of its kind. This movie achieves classic status for its discussion of contemporary problems in a realistic and humorous, yet profound, way. For instance, every one of these recruits has talent and ability but all suffer from some form of neglect, abuse, or difficult circumstances that has handicapped their ability to succeed. Rago works with these young people, shows interest in their predicaments, and leads them to richer more enjoyable lives. Still, you may ask, “How can profound issues be humorous?” Here I make a declaration that humor is a natural and powerful vehicle for profundity. One of our famous American social commentators, Will Rogers, was adored for his humorous maxims. In earlier times, Academy Awards were enthusiastically given to comedies (It Happened One Night, (1934), You Can’t Take It With You, (1938), and The Sting, (1973) have all won Oscars). Here is a salute to humor and its restoration to importance in the American way of life! You may ask where you can buy this thought provoking movie. Renaissance Man, is available for purchase inexpensively online and at select DVD rental establishments. I’m glad we had this conversation!
International Film Showcase
For a minimum of seven days each month the International Film Showcase will screen a feature film that has never been released commercially in the Bay Area and is not currently available through any other medium. You will not be able to download, rent, or see these features anywhere else. The International Film Showcase at the Orinda Theatre returns August 19-25 with the USA Commercial Premiere of Loose Cannons, an Italian family “dramedy.” Tommaso has come home for a family dinner and has plans to finally announce that he is gay. But just as he begins to say “silence please,” he is upstaged by his brother who, to everyone’s surprise, reveals his own secret in this highly entertaining film. The trailer, showtimes, and ticket information are available at www.lfef. org, www.lamorindatheatres.com, or on the International Film Showcase Facebook page. Please check these sites regularly for information on upcoming films.
Page 10 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
Wanted: Creativity, Optimism and Courage By Daniel A Barnes, CFA Recently
Today the Dow Jones Industrials fell 600 points, capping an impressive 1900 point slide over the last 20 days. If somebody tells you they saw it coming, ask them how much money they made on their keen insight. I’d like to say something definitive, either “This is a buying opportunity,” or “A vicious circle has engulfed the developed world’s financial markets,” but I can’t. Nothing is definitive or clear. The perception of risk has increased. For a more in-depth view on the questions at hand, take a look at Barnes Capital’s Insight Newsletter in the next weeks.
My Outlook
What’s my outlook? Expect investment returns in stocks and bonds to be modest. Own some gold bullion or the equivalent, and expect real estate returns to be negative over the ensuing decade.
The Social Contract
As we rewrite the social contract between the young and the old, the rich and the poor, in the course of the next many years, the current imbalances and joblessness will become more balanced. The stage for a great decade of prosperity is being set. Just don’t hope or assume this decade might still be economically great, that’s statistically virtually impossible. What I hope is that the politicians can act with courage, imagination, and creativity to develop solutions. I’m discouraged by their lack therein.
Gaming
I have biases. I’ll explain…I have a confession to make. I play board games. Always have, always will. Other people escape to the challenge and tranquility of bass fishing; I re-fight WWII on the top of a table. A silly escape? Perhaps. But I’m more exhausted by a marathon 14-hour game than I am managing investment portfolios. So while the ratings agencies were downgrading debt and European and U.S. markets were melting down, I observed these happenings within the
www.yourmonthlypaper.com bubble of a bunch of hobbyists at WBC (World Board Gaming Championships) in Lancaster, PA. At WBC, I had some insights that offer me hope as to why we should not fear the challenges of this era. Have you ever seen a bunch of serious hobbyists? War gamers re-enact the grand conflicts of the ages, refighting the last war or the Crusades, trying to put themselves in the positions of the leaders of those days and times. Why do they do it? I think it’s 1) to escape, in a way that consumes the mind and spurs creative thought, 2) to have social fun, and 3) to compete. What does gaming have to do with portfolio management and wise investment counsel? Answer: everything! I play two types of games. One type is economic expansion games, which have few or no luck elements. The other games I play are strategic war games. What economic business games and strategic warfare games have in common is that each are fully focused on marshaling your resources and managing risks – and those are the very same things we are doing when we handle real-life investment capital. Recently, the investment markets have been reacting to well-known risks. In the headlines this week, this movement was manifest in the move to take risk “off the table.” This means that all “risk” assets declined. Your investment portfolio and asset allocation is a complex business game. How your assets are allocated constitutes many strategic decisions designed to avoid all the many risks.
The Next Generation: The Millennials
I think that this new generation is learning - through things like all-night roleplaying games - practical, communicative skills that they will ultimately use to be creative, imaginative, and optimistic. They will see solutions to the great financial and economic problems of our time. The world is getting ever richer but ever more competitive. Creative solutions and pragmatic approaches are mandatory. While the decline of Rome, err I mean Pax Americana may seem at hand, I’m inspired by the communicative intelligence and mental agility of the next generation. The problems we face are the financing of health care benefits and retirement entitlements. I know we can adjust to this reality. And I believe in the power of a billion middle-class consumers worldwide to get up every day and figure out what they need to do to make money and pay the bills. Capitalism has been embraced worldwide. If only politicians could employ more imagination, optimism, and courage. Maybe they should play more games in their free time? Barnes Capital LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor located in downtown Lafayette in the Bay Area. We manage trusts and retirement income portfolios. Financial planning is an integral part of our process. We protect client capital using municipal bonds, high-quality dividend-increasing companies and precious metals, which have protected wealth in every epoch spanning five millennia of bankruptcies, inflation and other forms of attrition. Advertorial Call 925-284-3503 and visit www.barnescapital.com.
Backyard Bounty
Backyard Bounty
Is your garden exploding with produce? Are your fruit trees about to bear a bonanza of excess fruit? Have you planted so many zucchini, tomatoes, and other vegetables that you may find yourself with more than you can eat? For the fourth year, Lafayette Today invites you to participate in our Backyard Bounty program. Last year over 3,000 pounds of fresh produce was collected by our readers and passed on to those in need. The need for food, especially fresh produce, is great. Our goal is to gather over 4,000 pounds of produce this year. We wish to provide produce at its optimum ripeness so nothing goes to waste. A call a week before your produce will be ripe will help us provide the fruits and vegetables at their prime. To coordinate picking or pick-up of food for donation to local food banks, contact Greg or Lise Danner at 925-552-7103 or email thedanners@ aol.com. Please share your bounty with those who are less fortunate.
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A Few Tips to Get That House Sold!
By Art Lehman, Village Associates Realtors Photos of Your Home Must Be the Very Best
Buyers and agents decide if they are going to look at a home based on the photos that they see online. Nine out of ten home buyers search for homes on the Internet. When the photos are not good, the buyers don’t show up. The more good photos they see online the better. On average, a minimum of 15 photos of your home will generate four times more leads than 6-10 photos. The best photos are those taken with a Digital SLR Camera, Ultra Wideangle lens, and enhanced with special photographic software by someone who really knows how to photograph a home.
Remove Your Personal Photos
I know your kids or grandkids are cute, but buyers need to see themselves living in the home, and that does not happen when they see photos of “your” family throughout the home.
Best to Keep Your Favorite Sports Teams and Religious Affiliations to Yourself
We know you are a true fan of your favorite sports team, but don’t display their memorabilia in your home. Fans of an opposing team may reject your home immediately if they see reminders of the team they like to hate. Likewise, displaying religious art and objects will brand your home as being fit only for someone with those same beliefs. You do not want to limit your market.
Remove the Clutter
Clutter detracts from a home, cheapens it, and is a turnoff to buyers. You are going to need to pack up or throw away all that “stuff” anyway when you move, so do it now. You would “detail” your car to get a better price if you wanted to sell it, so why not “detail” you home?
Your Political Statements Can Cost You
Keep you political leanings and statements out of view. This includes books in your bookcase. You don’t know what the buyer’s politics are, so remove anything that hints of an opinion. A buyer’s money is neither conservative nor liberal.
You Love Your Cat, You Love Your Dog; Best To Send Them Away
We love our pets, but they may limit how quickly a home can be sold and for how much. Barking dogs scare or annoy many buyers making them want to leave as quickly as possible. Cats especially can be bad for resale. Many buyers are allergic and the pet odors will drive them away. Nothing can kill the equity in your home as much as unpleasant odors.
Learn To Love Light and Bright
When your home is shown, open the blinds and window treatment all the way, and turn on all the lights. A bright house appears larger and more inviting. If you have any questions on selling or buying a home in the area, please contact me at Village Associates at (925) 200-2591 or by email at art@artlehman.com. If you’d like a free automatic email update of current listings and sales, visit my website to sign up www.artlehman.com or call! Also, if you have any topics for future articles, please let me know! Advertorial
San Ramon Valley Genealogical Meetings
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. A speaker is at every meeting. Everyone is welcome. For information, call Ed at (925) 299-0881, or visit http://srvgensoc.org.
Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 11
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Reach out to over 11,000 LOCAL homes and businesses. For more information contact us at:
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Page 12 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
Enjoy Your Yard With Help From The Patio & Fire Place
The calendar may say August, but since the warm weather was a bit late in arriving, you may have just noticed that your patio furniture isn’t as inviting as it was when you stored it last winter. If sprucing up your outdoor living space is on your “to-do” list, head to The Patio & Fire Place and spend the rest of summer and early fall cushioned in luxury.
Roger Hill, owner of The Patio & Fire Place With two stores conveniently located in Danville and Alamo, The Patio & Fire Place has offered customers the highest quality furniture at the best price since 1975. They carry everything you need to complete your outdoor living space, including chairs, coffee tables, ottomans, recliners, loveseats, sectionals, wedge units, rockers, canopies, umbrellas, and more. Owners Roger and Beth Hill sell brands made in the United States and beyond that are designed to provide long-lasting enjoyment, such as Lane Venture, Patio Renaissance, Gold Crest, Gloster, Windham, Tropitone, AluMont, Hanamint, and OW Lee. Most furniture can be custom ordered with the color and fabric grade of your choice. All will provide years of luxurious comfort. Roger says, “If you have a large family, you’ll love our hard-to-find dining sets that seat eight to twelve.” Although the Hills price everything at 30 to 50% off retail, Roger will tell you that the most important thing they do is provide exceptional customer service. They welcome custom orders, don’t charge extra for them, and will assist with any needs long after the order has been delivered. Cooler nights are perfect for gathering around a fire pit, and The Patio & Fire Place carries a selection with hearth tops designed to blend in with any outdoor living space. If you must head indoors, you can still enjoy a fire with a Rasmussen gas log set. The Patio & Fire Place sells sets in different shapes and sizes as well as fireplace glass doors. Find everything you need to furnish your outdoor living space at The Patio & Fire Place, located at 3426 Camino Tassajara in Danville (925.648.0293) and at 3189 Danville Blvd. in Alamo (925.820.8492), open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm and Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Advertorial
Lic# 1100014354; Bay Area Entertainment
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Good Intentions
By Evan Corstorphine, Portable CIO, Inc.
I go through life with a bit of a Pollyanna-ish point of view. That means that I think people are basically good; they’re always trying their best to get through life, they don’t mean to hurt others, and problems are usually just the confluence of circumstances and honest, but differing agendas. I’m grown-up enough to know it’s not always this way in life, but if I get really frustrated with someone, it helps me to revert to this point of view. If you believe everyone is trying their best, it’s hard to carry a grudge or simultaneously believe they’re trying to make you miserable. This is the very attitude one of our customers needed to retain after dealing with the phone support with a major network product manufacturer. He couldn’t connect his laptop to the wireless network in his home. He called Comcast, who correctly identified that it wasn’t a problem they could affect. They suggested he call the manufacturer of the router he owned. He did this and he was connected with their free product support. When he spoke with the support technician, who happened to be residing in another country, he explained his problem connecting to the network, and then the trouble began. There were several factors at work here. 1) My customer isn’t a technical person, 2) the support tech wasn’t very experienced, and he definitely wasn’t cautious, 3) the support technician spoke English as a second language, so there was a gap in the communication, and 4) the problem was actually extremely simple, but it became overly complicated by the first three factors. When the technician began looking into the situation, he took the word of the inexperienced customer instead of following protocol to first understand the situation before suggesting changes. Then he started advising his customer to make some changes on his system that were completely outside of the process at hand. The support tech was flailing, and he began over-reaching his abilities. I think the correct terminology is that he started making decisions “outside his pay grade.” When it was all over, the technician had advised our customer to make a change that completely wiped out the personal user profile on his computer. He lost access to all his files, his email – everything. That’s when he called us, as he was completely locked out of his computer. I wasn’t sure I could undo what the fellow had done remotely, but luckily we had enough passwords and access to his computer to effectively put him back together again. It took over two hours of concentrated phone support to fix the technician-caused problem. It took just another 10 minutes to fix the original issue he had wanted to fix. The lesson I want you to draw from this is that you should be extremely skeptical when you’re dealing with free remote telephone support. You are getting exactly what you pay for. Those technicians are well-meaning, but they’re paid minimum wage, they aren’t accountable to you if they make a mistake, and you’re dealing with language barriers and a host of other factors that all work against you. Half the time, I think manufacturers just stick people there to say they have support available, but they don’t staff the support center with truly capable people because it’s too expensive. I don’t want to sound negative here, but when one of these guys messes you up, who do you call to complain? Who hears you scream? All you’re going to hear is, “That’s too bad; you should’ve had better backups.” Seriously. What should you do? You should always call Portable CIO first. When people call us, we give a lot of free advice. Will we troubleshoot your problem remotely for free? No. If we connect to your system, we’re going to start the clock for remote support, which is billed in 15 minute increments. In this case we could have solved it in 15 minutes. The basic problem was that our customer thought he had a wireless profile setup on his laptop for his home network, and he didn’t. That’s why he couldn’t connect to his home network. That technician went way off track, and almost cost our customer a ton of money and inconvenience with his well-intentioned but extremely bad advice. Don’t make the same mistake; give Portable CIO the first call, and let us help you avoid a lot of trouble and unnecessary expense. Do you have a technical problem that needs attention? The best way to work with us is to call 925-552-7953, or email us at helpdesk@theportablecio. com. We’ll do our best to help you, point you in the right direction, and get Advertorial you back to full productivity in the shortest possible time.
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Shop Talk from Urban Suburban
Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 13
Back to School By René Aguirré
Can you believe it? August is half over, school specials are everywhere and Fall is right around the corner! As you head back to school or back to work, it is time for Fall maintenance to get ready for winter fun! Safety checks and the brakes - We are lucky in the Lafayette community to have many auto repair shops to service your maintenance needs. It is time to take a moment to visit with your favorite mechanic to check on the health of your vehicle – is it time for a service? When was René Aguirré the last time you had your brakes checked? Has your car been sitting out in the sun all summer? Maybe those windshields wipers are a little dried out. Time to check on all your lights, and make sure your heater is working. All of these things can be taken care of with a quick trip to your favorite local auto repair shop. All of us are ready to help you get into the Fall and Winter weather safely. Team Urban is off to the races! Yes folks, I am officially heading to Bonneville! After many months of preparation, we are ready to hit the road to the infamous Bonneville Salt Flats outside of Wendover, Utah. Speed Week is an amazing event that has been held every August for many decades. People from around the world visit the Salt Flats for the racing events, the scenery, and the people. It is an amazing compilation of machines and the people who want to make them go as fast as they can. I always knew about Speed Week, hearing the stories of Jim Moffet, Burt Munro, and many other people going speeds to break world records. A few years ago, Krysten and I headed out to see this fantastic event for ourselves. When we arrived we were completely surprised by what we saw. Every hotel room and every campground site were booked. At one of the hotels, a “rat rod” car show was in full swing. We saw so many eclectic and imaginative vehicles from all over the United States. Many people had driven their prized vehicles across the country to be there. I was amazed at all the people who had turned out for this event! On the first day out to the salt, I had no idea what we were in for. We made our way out with all the other spectators each day since camping is not allowed on the flats for preservation purposes. I have never seen anything like it anywhere I have traveled. As far as the eye can see, miles of white lay out in front of you. The salt flats were a barren yet beautiful and calming vision to see. Nothing, no vegetation, just white, flat salt lay between you and what seemed like the edge of the world. Four courses were laid out for speed trials- four miles or seven miles long. The race involves one person and their machine of choice – streamliner, 500CC motorbike, classic car, gas, electric, diesel, roadster. You name it- there was a class for every kind of vehicle imaginable. The driver sets up at the start line for a timed trial – how fast can their vehicle go? The driver has seven miles or four miles to try to beat the record for their class of vehicle. For the next few seconds, the driver is working through the gears to get to a record breaking speed. The whole experience is exhilarating. Now it is my turn. All my life I have raced something – four wheels or two wheels, it did not matter. In my younger years, it was drag racing whatever car I had at the time – modifying it to make it go faster. More recently, I got involved with motorcycles and the American Federation of Motorcyclists which (AFM) hosts an amateur racing league. Now it is time to take it out to the Salt Flats. I will be racing a Suzuki 750, hopefully getting to 165 mph. Ever since I saw the World’s Fastest Indian, I knew I had to try this out for myself! Check out Facebook and our website for pictures of the event. If you have any questions about this or any other Shop Talk issues, call US today at 925-283-5212 or visit our website www. urbansuburban.com. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 7:30am - 5pm. At Urban Suburban we work on all makes Heartfelt & and models, foreign and Supportive domestic. You drive it, we fix it! Urban Suburban is At All Times... Your Dealership Alternative! We provide free shuttle service www.excellentcareathome.com to the local area. Advertorial
Saint John’s Anglican Mission
Member World-wide Anglican Communion
Sunday Worship 11am
at Chapel of Santa Maria Church, Orinda
Visit us on Back-to-Church Sunday, September 18th
925.386.6393
info@saintjohnsanglican.org www.saintjohnsanglican.org • http://anglicanchurch.net
Our mission is to provide personalized care, help maintain independence and enhance our client’s quality of life on a daily basis. • Free in-home assessments • Regular home visits ensure the right care plan • Hourly care for you • Live-in care • Fully bonded and insured • Geriatric care mgmt. • Elder referral and placement 3645 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Suite D Lafayette, CA 94549 (beside Trader Joe’s)
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Page 14 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
The Art of Screening By Brende & Lamb
Trees and shrubs provide many valuable services in the urban ecosystem. One of the most important, from the perspective of homeowners, is screening for privacy and to hide undesired objects. Well-placed foliage can keep out prying eyes and enhance personal safety; and a view of beautiful leaves and branches gives more pleasure than the view of a neighbor’s garage. Over the long run, preserving a living screen requires planning and judicious pruning. Plants grow toward the sun; they maximize foliage where there is most light, in the canopy. As trees mature, the density of the canopy can act as an umbrella and shade out the interior lower branches, which causes them to die. To see a clear example of this, look at a mature oak in the forest. The majority of foliage is in the outer shell; the interior is bare. This natural phenomenon works well for plants in the wild, but may not succeed well for your screening needs. Luckily, there are ways to avoid this loss of valuable screening. All strategies for maintaining screen involve keeping sunlight flowing to interior branches. Sufficient light on the leaves reduces dieback. It is best to act before the screen is compromised (an ounce of pruning is better than a ton of replanting). In plants with latent buds, English laurels for example, trunks can re-sprout even after interior branches have withered. However, many species lack latent buds and are incapable of re-sprouting, and for those species preventative medicine is the only medicine. Even for species with latent buds, keeping branches healthy is much easier, and more effective, than reinvigorating them. • Eliminate light competition from surrounding plants. Evaluate the plants growing near your screen plants to see if they are casting a shadow
Gardening With Kate By Kathleen Guillaume
I found another great collection of resources brought to us by The Contra Costa Sanitary District. Check out their “Healthy Garden Guide” at the lower left of the home page at www.centralsan.org. It has some great links to places which cover subjects such as the care of fruit and nut trees, pesticide use, and pest management. One of the great concerns that we all face is the growing amount of pesticides and fungicides that get into our water supply and the Bay from runoff. There are so many natural ways we can deal with garden pests whether it is the aphids we face in spring, or the rust and blackspot on our roses, or peach curl. If you care about your children, grandchildren, or you beloved family pet, you should really think about doing a little homework before you make a purchase of any product. Cide (-cides) is the Latin suffix for kill, to cause death. Thanks to some great manufactures we now have products that perform well that do not do the level of damage to either ourselves or our environment. When you go to your nursery, ask about “green” products for garden use. Share information with the gardeners in your neighborhood...they often have great solutions. I use Windex for aphid control, the amount of ammonia suffocates the little buggers and doesn’t damage the new growth on my roses that they gravitate to. The most useful item in my arsenal is Horticultural Oil, which I use to suffocate funguses like rust, blackspot, the stuff that causes peach curl, the eggs that are in the soil, and leaf litter around fruit trees. When I bring a bag of peaches to a friend that are warm and sun-ripe, it is with great pride that I can also announce that they are not only the most delicious peaches you will ever taste, but they are totally pesticide and fungicide free. I just harvested the last of my white peaches and canned up some great peach mango salsa. Get a copy of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, it is the home canning bible. Ball is one of the major manufacturers of canning jars and equipment. Canning is a fun activity with children or friends. You can get canning equipment from WalMart, local hardware stores, or online. The best place for tools is online. The salsa I canned took only six minutes
www.yourmonthlypaper.com on branches critical to screening. Plants shading out important screen plants can be removed, or they can be thinned and shaped to increase illumination of screening branches. • Thin the screen plants themselves. This may seem counterintuitive, but the exterior of the screen plant may be shading its interior. It is not uncommon to see 40-foot pittosporums that look like balloons, with the only green occurring in the canopy. To revitalize, it is generally best to remove all dead wood, thin the top heavily, and even thin the screen area. The goal is to maintain layers of green from the edge of the canopy through the interior. A thick, multi-layered screen is less prone to failure. If it is not acceptable to lose any bottom screen, even temporarily, a good compromise is to thin those portions above the screen area. Thinning only one portion of the tree is an aesthetic challenge, but it can be done. • Shape the tops of screen plants. It is sometimes possible to shape back the tops of screen plants to allow more light to reach the lower branches. Our philosophy of pruning requires that the overall beauty of the plants be considered in all pruning cuts. Because health and beauty are often synonymous, we have found that bringing light into the interior usually enhances tree aesthetics. What do you do if you have already lost the screen? It is difficult to get branches to grow back once they have died, but radically thinning or lowering the plant may induce growth in lower foliage. Unfortunately, this is hard to achieve without sacrificing the aesthetics of your trees and shrubs. Sometimes it is possible to fill the gap with shade-loving plants. Other times the only solution might be to remove the plant and start over. Each case is different. If you need help, do not hesitate to give us a call, for advice or to do the work. At Brende and Lamb, we have 20 years of experience balancing the aesthetics of your trees and shrubs and maintaining your screening needs. If your trees and shrubs need a little TLC - call us at 510-486-8733 or email us at bl@brendelamb.com to schedule 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 cooking time and 15 minutes in the canning bath. For me, it isn’t even summer until I’ve tasted my first peach. Everyone wanted to know the name of the most aromatic and drop dead taste of my favorite home grown peach...it was of course my Semi-dwarf Early Alberta Peach. Alberta’s are beyond divine, especially when they aren’t harvested green so they can handle shipping. You can also find them at your Farmer’s Markets. If you are going to have just one peach tree in your garden this is the one. Now is the time to think about which bed you would clear to make room for that bare root peach tree that you are going to treat yourself to this winter when the nurseries get in their bare root stock. I am still thinning out my garden, trying to make more room for edible crops and also to make a little less work for myself, as far as general maintenance goes. By this winter I hope to have far fewer plants in my garden, the hard part is deciding which of my beloved plants I can do without. I have tagged a few roses for removal as they are starting to be shaded by my new almond trees and will not perform well in the new shade. The great thing about gardens is that they are always a work in progress, much like a poem, always under revision. Enjoy the last days of summer. Happy Gardening, Kate
Class at The Ruth Bancroft Garden
Drip Irrigation: What to DO and what NOT to do: Saturday, August 20th. 10am - 1pm. $20 RBG or Garden Conservancy Members; $25 General Admission. Installing a drip-system in your garden is a great way to save water! Come to this workshop, taught by Lori Palmquist, to learn how to install a system in your yard and how to avoid the most common mistakes. You will also learn how to do regular system maintenance checks and make repairs in a drip system. Register for this event by calling (925) 944-9352, or for more information visit www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/rbgarden/pages/programs.html. The class will be held at The Ruth Bancroft Garden: 1552 Bancroft Road, Walnut Creek. The Ruth Bancroft Garden is a foremost example of the art of garden design with drought-tolerant plants, and it is known as one of the finest dry gardens in the world. The Garden displays an expansive collection of plants through exceptional garden design. The Ruth Bancroft Garden, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization that owns the garden and raises the funds necessary for its preservation.
editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
Life in the Lafayette Garden
Swimming Pools By John Montgomery, ASLA, Landscape Architect #4059
Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 15
Summer is finally officially here although it has been a cool one. I assure you that the summer heat is on the way. One way to keep you cool during those blazing hot Lafayette summers is to have a swimming pool. With the “HOTTER” months yet to come, Lafayette residents are finding creative ways to keep cool in their backyards. If you don’t already have a swimming pool you might be knocking on your neighbor’s door offering 25 cents a head to take a dip, or is it more like $5 bucks now? Getting out the “Kiddy” pool, Slip n’ Slide, Crazy Daisy or just running through the sprinklers are some other creative ways to stay cool without a pool. If you are considering a swimming pool as major asset to your home environment, here are some things to consider before jumping off the diving board. Pools in today’s terms are a major investment. No longer can you get a simple rectangular pool for less than $70,000. Most pools today are falling into the range of $70,000-$100,000 plus. Why? The high cost is due to the complexity of the pool designs, accouterments, and locations they are being constructed. Some key considerations in designing and constructing a pool are the engineering and accouterments that accompany today’s pool. Most flat lot pools can be constructed with standard engineering. Most of Lafayette’s soil is either expansive clay-type or sandstone bedrock or both. If your pool is going into the clay-type soil potential problems such as expansion, settlement, and drainage are major issues to consider. If you are digging into sandstone, that’s a good thing. You may pay more for digging, but most likely your pool will stay put. Popular additions to the pool design are spas, waterfalls, water slides, automatic covers, solar heating panels, in-floor cleaning systems, plasters such as pebble-Tec, Satin Matrix and quartzite, custom masonry and tile, and of course, computer systems to run the whole thing. Your computer can manage your pool temperature, lights, waterfall, filtering system, landscape lights, cleaning system, solar, and even turn on your spa to warm it up hours before you even get home for that late night dip. For those with a view, the ever-growing popularity of the vanishing edge or negative edge pool is changing the way pools have been used in the traditional sense. With high-tech engineering, pier-holes drilled thirty feet into the ground allow you to hang a pool off the edge of almost any hillside lot. Of course, only if you are willing to spend what the average Lafayette home cost in the 1990’s. V-edge pools are simply breath-taking. Depending on the degree of difficulty you can expect these pools to start at $125,000. If you have the opportunity to design one of these babies into your home environment, you will be totally awe-struck by the beauty of your surroundings being reflected into the mirror glass reflection of your vanishing edge. If you are planning a pool as part of your home environment, it is best to integrate the pool design and the landscape design as an integrated master plan design. Pool companies design pools but often end up plunking a pool into your backyard without consideration of your lifestyle and the rest of the project. Start by creating the environment as a whole integrating a cohesive design of pool, hardscape, and softscape. Do you want a more naturalistic or formal setting? Installing a pool also makes you think about what other elements you want in your backyard. What kind of pool decking do you want? Should you use concrete, flagstone, slate, etc? What other additions to your pool-side entertaining do you want? What is your budget? As you can see, designing a pool into your yard is a serious commitment and investment with a lot at stake. Swimming pools can certainly be the magnet of joy and good times, as well as a liability. If you decide that a pool should be in your backyard, always consider safety first, be vigilant, make sure your children are pool safe, and never, ever leave them unattended, not even for a moment. A hot tip from your local Landscape Architect: Always hire a state licensed contractor to build your project.. Check their license status and referrals. Make sure they have done projects similar to your own. You can verify the status of a contractor at the California State License Board (CSLB). You can check on-line at www.cslb.ca.gov. Gardening Quote of the Month: “I can't fly, but swimming is the next best thing.... The water is my sky.” ~Author Unknown If you would like me to write on any particular subject, email your ideas to Advertorial jmontgomery@jm-la.com or visit www.jm-la.com.
Page 16 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
Got a Wine Question? By Monica Chappell
In addition to writing about wine, I teach wine appreciation classes, and one of my favorite things about teaching is answering students’ questions. During my wine classes, we take a non-intimidating attitude to learning about wine, and we focus more on wine discovery. My hope is that these commonly asked questions encourage you to pull many corks in the quest for higher knowledge. Q: Does the temperature at which wine is served matter? In a word, Yes. The temperature at which you serve your wine will affect its aroma, taste, and presentation. The volatility of wine's flavor compounds are important, so getting it right will improve the drinking experience. Wine should be chilled to 50-55 degrees for white and rose wines, and it should be just below room temperature for red wines, about 65 degrees. Q: What’s the best way to store opened wine? I don’t face this problem often, but know that if you’re going to drink the rest of the wine within a day or two, simply recork it and store at the temperature at which it’s normally served - see answer above for more on this. Exposure to oxygen makes the aroma and flavor of wine deteriorate, so if you want to keep it longer, pour the leftovers into a smaller bottle – the less air space, the longer the wine will continue to taste good – and store in the fridge. Q: What does the term terroir mean? Terroir is the French term for soil, often used as a comprehensive term to describe the characteristics of a vineyard’s soil and microclimate and the resulting flavor profile of the wine made from its grapes. All of these factors contribute to giving the wine its specific personality. Q: What does Malolactic Fermentation do to a wine?
Ask Dr. Happy Dear Dr. Happy,
I hear people all the time talking about being happy, but with all the terrible things happening all around us like wars, human cruelty, tsunamis, and rape, just to name a few, I don’t see how it is possible for me to be happy. And, under those circumstances, I would feel guilty if I were. ~Too Much Tragedy to Be Happy
Dear Too Much,
I wonder if you could tell me of a time in the history of the world when there weren’t calamities happening. Frankly, I don’t believe there ever was such a time. Because the news media thrives on telling negative rather than positive news stories, it feels like the majority of what goes on worldwide is bad; it’s not. In fact, the good and the bad are pretty well balanced. But delaying happiness, waiting for a better world, is foolish; the world always has been, and most likely always will be, a mix of the good and the bad. The important point here is that you not hold your happiness hostage to world events. Go get happiness now, and, ironically, that will put you in a much better position to fix life’s ills than you could when you were paralyzed by unhappiness; happiness will give you the strength and the will to tackle problems while unhappiness will rob you of the energy for doing much of anything.
Happiness Tip
The world really is neutral, yielding both good and bad. Withdrawing from life because bad exists is both self-defeating and foolish. It is not for us to judge life; rather we should all do our best to make changes that improve things for ourselves and the rest of humanity while, at the same time, enjoying what is already working well. And being happy is the best way to be for both enjoying the good and improving upon what we call bad. Please send questions/comments for Dr. Happy to Pollyannan@aol.com.
www.yourmonthlypaper.com Secondary fermentation is otherwise known as Malolactic Fermentation – MLF for short. MLF converts tart-tasting malo acid, naturally present in grape must, to softer-tasting lactic acid. MLF tends to create a rounder mouth feel and a creamy texture in wine. Q: What does the pucker you might feel in your mouth when tasting a red wine come from? Tannins are chemical compounds in grape skins let loose into the wine by extended skin contact. Additionally, during the aging process oak barrels infuse tannin into the juice. Tannins are a natural preservative and also give wine structure, texture, and an important flavor dimension in wine. Tannins are good! Q: Do all wines get better with age? The short answer is NO. Some wines are meant to be consumer while they are young, and bad wines never get better. No matter where you stand on the learning curve, even the most expert oenophiles agree: For those who are willing to learn, wine is a teacher for life. Monica Chappell is a Wine Writer and Educator. To register for upcoming classes please visit www.wineappreciation101.blogspot.com.
JA continued from front page
value of staying in school.” During the 2010-2011 school year, JA served 997 school students in Lafayette in grades kindergarten through high school, JA programs are relevant to today’s workforce, and prepare students to proactively manage their finances, become entrepreneurs, and develop valuable skills that will be recognized in a global workforce. JA impacts students’ knowledge, skill development and attitudes. JA delivers its programs through school programs, at afterschool programs, via student competitions, and in the workplace. JA volunteers, who have an interest in serving their communities while impacting a future workforce, deliver hands-on experiences that provide students with financial literacy and entrepreneurship. “Junior Achievement places an emphasis on reaching students at earlier and earlier ages,” says Lynch. “The majority of our programs currently being run in Alamo, Lafayette, and Danville are for Kindergarten-5th grade students. While students can participate in JA for the first time during any grade, the sequential lessons build on each other, with those receiving it year after year receive the deepest impact.” Lynch notes that due to the challenged economy, middle school and afterschool programs have, in the last few years, seen an increase in both demand and participation, as have high school programs and Job Shadow opportunities. The demand by teachers, administrators, and parents for JA programs typically exceeds the Walnut Creek branch’s capacity and funding, and thus, JA is always looking for new partnerships with foundations, donors, and corporate partners to expand services and deepen impact. “Our educator partners value and recognize the impact of JA programs,” says Lynch. Sample JA programs include: Our Families (1st grade) - By engaging students with activities about needs, wants, jobs, and interdependence, this program emphasizes roles of those in the local economy and how they work together to create a community; Our City (3rd grade) - Students learn about zoning, resources, economic institutions and consumers, producers, and entrepreneurs. Our Nation (5th grade) - Students are introduced to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers as well as production, marketing, profit, and how to write a resume. This program illustrates high-growth, high-demand jobs and the educational pathways to fulfill them; JA Economics for Success (middle school) - In addition to introducing the concepts of credit, debt, income, risk, and insurance, this program explores personal finance and students’ education and career options based on their skills, interests, and values; JA Job Shadow (high school) - After completing in-class lessons and creating resumes, students are hosted at a local business for a full “day in the life” of an employee where they tour the facility, talk with employee mentors, and participate in teambuilding job-related activities. “JA has given me many things,” says JA alumnus Devin M, UCLA Class of 2015. JA has given me job skills and the vision to become a
See JA continued on page 24
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Top Ten Estate Planning Mistakes By Robert J. Silverman, Esq.
Sometimes we learn from our own mistakes; sometimes from those of others. I hope you’ll learn from at least one, if not more, of the top ten common estate planning mistakes – five in this article and the next five in September’s article. If you have already avoided all of these mistakes, congratulations – you’re in great shape estate planning-wise! 1) Not having a valid Will. If you die without one, State law and the court will dictate (rather than you choosing): to whom your assets go, who will administer your estate, and, if you have minor children, who will be appointed as their guardian. 2) Not having a valid Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney (POA) is a binding written designation of an agent you trust to handle your finances if you become unable to do so. Without a POA, if you become incapacitated, a family member or friend will need to initiate an expensive, inconvenient and time-consuming conservatorship proceeding to obtain court authority to transact financial business on your behalf. Adding insult to injury, the appointed conservator may not be a person you would ever want in that role. 3) Not having a valid Advance Health Care Directive. An Advance Health Care Directive (AHD) is analogous to a POA, except instead of designating a financial agent, you designate a health care agent. It also gives you an opportunity to make your wishes known so that during any period of incapacity, your medical care can be administered (or withdrawn) by your agent per your wishes. Not having an AHD has the same disadvantages as not having a POA, and another serious one - treatment may be given or withheld in a manner that’s inconsistent with your wishes. Frankly, every adult should have a Will, POA, and AHD. 4) Not having a valid Revocable Living Trust. Having just a simple Will is often not enough. Though a Will has substantial value, if you don’t also have a Living Trust (which is, for most purposes, a Will substitute), you are likely doing your loved ones a major disservice. With just a Will, probate – a long, bureaucratic, expensive and public, court-supervised estate administration process – is virtually guaranteed. A statutory exemption for Living Trusts allows probate to be avoided for any assets properly titled in the trust on one’s death. A Living Trust also affords privacy for your loved ones. Unlike probate administration, your Living Trust can be administered on your death without publicly exposing personal information about your family and assets. A properly drafted Living Trust also has more flexibility and functionality than a simple Will. It can, among other things, potentially help: a) eliminate or minimize estate tax liability for a married couple; b) control distribution of your assets in a customized manner for all or selected beneficiaries, including: minors or young adults, a spouse (particularly useful with “blended” families), and grandchildren, and c) preserve, rather than jeopardize, the ability of a disabled beneficiary to continue receiving public benefits (requires “special needs” trust provisions). Finally, trust administration is usually significantly less expensive and time-consuming than probate administration. 5) Not titling your assets properly. Frequently, people do not title their assets, such as real estate and bank/securities accounts, optimally. For example, “joint tenancy” and “community property” are the most common methods of holding title for married couples; however, the benefits of such title vesting are generally far fewer than titling assets in a Living Trust. The “right of survivorship” (ROS) feature of joint tenancy is often highly touted because when one joint tenant (co-owner) dies, title automatically vests in the surviving joint tenant. But joint tenancy has a major shortcoming, even for married couples. On the survivor’s death (which hypothetically could be simultaneously with the other joint tenant), the asset will be subject to probate. Unintended consequences can occur when unmarried people hold assets in joint tenancy and don’t understand that joint tenancy trumps whatever (contrary) provision they may have in their Will or Living Trust. Mr. Silverman is an attorney with Shapiro 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. Please call for 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
Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 17
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Page 18 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
The 21st Century Woman
By Michael Ruscio, D.C., Johnson Chiropractic
Mood swings, anxiety, depression, hot flashes, bloating and low libido… sound familiar? PMS and menopausal symptoms have become part of our culture. Why is this? Why are so many women affected with these issues? It really boils down to hormonal imbalances. The trick is figuring out what is causing these hormonal imbalances. One thing is for certain though; it is not a deficiency in Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, or Lexapro. Unfortunately, lifestyle and Natural Medicine options are not st readily offered to the 21 Century Woman. Many women used to get symptomatic relief from hormone replacement therapy. Then with some of the research findings from the Women’s Health Initiative (one of the largest studies ever to evaluate the safety of hormone replacement therapy for women), women stopped using hormones. The Women’s Health Initiative found that synthetic hormones derived from horse urine left patients at an increased risk for cancer, heart attack, and stroke. The travesty of this is that the media did not clarify that there are other options to synthetic hormones. For example bio-identical hormones (identical to what your body makes) and herbs can both be safely used to help women feel better. Key concept: synthetic hormones are vastly different from bio-identical hormones and herbal remedies. So what about birth control for symptomatic relief? According to the National Cancer Institute, birth control may increase your risk of heart disease and breast cancer. Birth control is generally in the form of synthetic hormones. While improvements have been made in synthetic hormones since the Women’s Health Initiative findings, not all the problems have been worked out. Additionally, your brain
Brainwaves by Betsy Streeter
www.yourmonthlypaper.com controls and monitors levels of hormones in your body. There is a delicate control loop between your brain and ovaries which is damaged from using birth control. If you’re taking birth control solely for symptomatic relief, then you may want to seriously consider finding a cause-based care plan. Back to the causes of PMS and menopausal symptoms. Diet of course plays an important role. For women who are willing to have a chicken salad instead of chicken salad sandwich for lunch you might find near complete relief from diet and nutrition alone. All you may need is the guidance of someone who knows how to use nutrition clinically. Toxins are another pervasive issue. The reason women should be concerned about toxins is because many toxins function as estrogens in the body. Pesticides, fertilizers, plastics, and household chemicals have all been proven, in a plethora of studies, to function as estrogens in the body and have been correlated with cancer of the breast and brain, depression, anxiety, obesity, infertility, and thyroid problems just to name a few. So does this mean that every woman with PMS and menopausal symptoms has to be on a diet of wheat grass and rice cakes and live in a bubble devoid of toxins? No, of course not. However, for ideal results a patient would want to eat healthier to feel better, practice toxin avoidance, do some detox work, and use some herbal medicine if needed. Although, even for the woman who isn’t willing to make any changes, there are options. Try an herbal medicine before going on birth control or an anti-depressant (which can have serious side effects). This is not to say medications are bad, they have their time and place. Key Concept: medications (including synthetic hormones) should be the last choice after diet/lifestyle, nutritional medicine, herbal medicine, and bio-identical hormone replacement are tried. We are now realizing that health isn’t something a doctor does to you. Health is something you participate in with your doctor or health professional. With this in mind, it is my goal to help educate people so that they are empowered to take control of their health. I invite you to attend one of my public lectures where I review new scientific research and discuss how we can implement this new information in order move from a dogmatic, symptom and pharmaceutical based model towards that of a patient centered, cause-focused, participation based approach. Upcoming topics include: women’s health, diabetes, toxins, gluten allergies, and high blood pressure. I hope to see you there. For more info, go to www.movepastyourpain.com, visit us on Facebook, or contact Dr. Michael Ruscio at Johnson Chiropractic Group, 115 Town & Country Dr., Suite E in Danville. 925.743.8210. Advertorial
Mended Hearts
The John Muir Chapter of Mended Hearts will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, September 8th at 7PM in the Lesher Auditorium at John Muir Medical Center-Concord Campus located at 2540 East Avenue in Concord. The speaker will be Ruby Long, Home Health R.N. Mended Hearts is a national organization providing support for cardiac patients, their families, and caregivers. For further information about Mended Hearts, contact Nancy Mitchell at 925-943-7549.
Is Food a Problem for You?
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. Meetings are for anyone suffering from a food addiction including overeating, under-eating, and bulimia. The fellowship is free. The group meets Wednesdays at 6PM, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Lafayette. See the website for additional meetings and more information at www.how-oa.org.
Stroke Support Group
The Stroke Support Group Of Contra Costa County will hold its monthly meeting in the Ball Auditorium at John Muir Medical Center- Walnut Creek Campus, 1601 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek on Monday, September 12th from 7-9pm. The speaker will be Harvey Brosler, a member and caregiver, on a topic entitled “Being Partially Paralyzed- An Analogy For Stroke Survivors.” After his talk, attendees will break up into three coping groups: stroke survivors without aphasia, stroke survivors with aphasia, and caregivers and families of stroke survivors, each group led by a trained professional. For further information about the Stroke Support Group, contact Ann Dzuna at 925-376-6218. Meetings are free and open to the public.
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Join Us for a Beer and Conversation About Prostate Cancer
Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 19
By Sachin Kamath, MD, Radiation Oncologist and Matthew Sirott, MD, Medical Oncologist - Diablo Valley Oncology
“Pints for Prostates” is a grassroots campaign that uses the universal language of beer to reach men with an important health message about their prostate health. Founded by a prostate cancer survivor who was diagnosed at the age of 48, this non-profit campaign raises awareness among men about the need for regular health screenings and PSA testing. In partnership with Pyramid Brewery and Pacific Urology, Diablo Valley Oncology brings the first ever Pints For Prostates fundraiser event to Walnut Creek on September 7, 2011. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in American males today (220,000 cases in 2010) and is the second leading cause of cancer death (32,000 in 2010) in the United States. One in six men is at a lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer. Age is the strongest risk factor for prostate cancer. The disease is rare in men younger than 45, Dr. Sachin Kamath but the chance of getting it goes up sharply as a man ages. Also, a man’s risk of prostate cancer doubles if his brother or father had the disease. Prostate cancer is more common in African American men and less common in Asian and Native American men. Early-stage prostate cancer may not be associated with any obvious signs or symptoms, or it may cause symptoms that can be mistaken for those of other disorders. The signs and symptoms of more advanced prostate cancer may include frequent need for urination, difficult or painful urination, blood in the urine, pelvic pain, painful ejaculation, and/or loss of appetite/weight and bone pain. If detected early, prostate cancer is treatable and curable. Today, there are more than two million prostate cancer survivors in the US. Treatment for prostate cancer can include active surveillance, surgery, image-guided radiation therapy using Calypso GPS technology, hormonal therapy, immune therapy, and chemotherapy. The American Cancer Society’s guidelines recommend that men should get routine PSA screening at age 50. However, Dr. Matthew Sirott if you are under 50 and experience any of the above symptoms or have a close relative who has had prostate cancer, it is reasonable to discuss earlier prostate cancer screening with your primary care physician. Join us at Pints for Prostates, guaranteed to be a fun and informative evening on September 7 th, 6-8 pm at Pyramid Alehouse, 1410 Locust Street, Walnut Creek. The “Pints Package” includes a custom beer glass, beer, heavy hors d’oeuvres, and raffle tickets. Space is limited, so RSVP at 925-677-5041, extension 260. Dr. Kamath and Dr. Sirott practice at Diablo Valley Oncology in the California Cancer and Research Institute located at 400 Taylor Blvd in Pleasant Hill. They both specialize in treating prostate cancer. www.DiabloValleyOncology.md. Advertorial
Mom to Bomb
By Barbara Persons, MD, Persons Plastic Surgery, Inc.
I absolutely love being a mom. Still, when my baby girl turned two, the roll of my tummy made my jeans not fit well, and breast feeding gave me healthy kids but less full breasts. It was time for a Mommy Makeover, or as my friends prefer to call it, “Mom to Bomb.” Having a breast lift, tummy tuck, and lipo of the outer waist (flanks) helped me to feel great and wear a bikini a few months later. Yes, you will wear a bikini! Any scars are designed to be completely hidden in the bikini lines, and the new belly button usually looks much better than the stretched belly button. The breast enlargement with the tummy tuck can sometimes be done without scars on the breasts. A breast lift will require scars on the breast but the improved shape is worth it! The Mom to Bomb surgery at Persons Plastic Surgery takes place at the Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery Center in Lafayette and takes about three hours. It is performed with light sleep anesthesia. You will be able to go home that afternoon with two drains in place and post surgical garments. You must have two weeks off from work and other duties for recovery. I am in close contact with each patient and out of town patients will be accommodated at the Lafayette Park Hotel for 48 hours. We can provide an overnight nurse if desired. “Mom to Bomb” is not just one procedure, but it is a combination of individualized procedures outlined below that help lift, tighten, and shape your body to help reverse the rapid changes that occur during and following pregnancy and breast feeding. Breast surgery can be considered as early as six months following the completion of breast feeding. A mastopexy, or breast lift, restores the shape of the breast and also the size and location of the nipple. Although a breast lift without implant may be just right for many women, some women may want a mastopexy augmentation for additional size and projection. The augmentation can be achieved with a silicone or saline implant, or with autologous fat grafting. An abdominoplasty, commonly called a “tummy tuck,” is a plastic
surgery procedure which flattens the abdomen by tightening the muscles of the abdominal wall, and it involves removing excess skin, fat, and stretch marks. The abdomen tends to take on a rounded appearance as we age, as our weight fluctuates, and after such events as childbirth. The muscle and tissues of the abdomen are weakened, and the skin becomes stretched, so no amount of sit-ups or leg raises can remove this shape. A Tummy Tuck can re-contour and reposition these tissues with the added benefit of removing any pre-existing scars from the lower abdomen. A trained plastic surgeon with the right tools is able to use liposuction techniques to alter the shape of the body through the removal and transfer of fat. An alternative to traditional liposuction, Vaser Lipo uses advanced ultrasound technology designed to gently reshape the body. Sound energy is transmitted through small probes that diffuse the ultrasound waves and liquefy the fat for easy removal. I combine Vaser Lipo with Laser Lipo to achieve a result which is natural appearing. The trauma experienced during natural childbirth can alter the shape and aesthetics of the female pelvic floor. When these structures fail to resume their pre-childbirth shape and it concerns you, vaginal rejuvenation surgery is an option. This can be used to improve the aesthetic appearance of the labia and can also rejuvenate the inside of the canal to improve sexual function. There is also a G spot shot and a C spot shot of natural filler that may improve satisfaction. Motherhood is wonderful, and my children are the joy of my life. I am so thankful that I have personally been able to take advantage of some of the above procedures to go from Mom to more like I was before they came into my life. I also enjoy helping my patients achieve realistic goals through plastic surgery. My patients tell me every day that they are thankful for the changes we accomplished together. They tell me they wish they had done it sooner. Going from “Mom to Bomb” can help us to feel better in our own bodies and thus a little happier as women and moms. Barbara Persons MD owns Persons Plastic Surgery, Inc. located at 911 Moraga Rd in Lafayette. Please call 925-283-8811 or email at drbarb@personsplasticsurgery.com. Advertorial
Page 20 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
What is a Neurologist? By Dr. Michael Nelson
www.yourmonthlypaper.com Neurologists in particular have to treat patients who may have a disease that has no treatment. Medical advances are occurring, but neurology is the last frontier. We are also the end of the line for medical mysteries. A lot of physicians feel that if everything else has been ruled out, it must be neurological. As such, we help patients and families through these difficult situations. Sometimes it is just reassurance that every horrible disease someone reads on the internet has been ruled out. It can also include giving a prognosis and also guidance of when someone needs more help at home or should be in an assisted living environment. I hope after reading this article you may better understand what I do and why your primary care physician may have you see a neurologist. After all, August in Neurologist Awareness Month! Dr. Michael Nelson is a board certified adult neurologist who has been serving general neurology patients in the East Bay for the past nine years. His office is located at 970 Dewing Ave, Suite #300 in Lafayette. He can be reached at (925) 299-9022 to schedule and appointment and can also be found on the web at www.michaelnelsonmd.com. Advertorial
Having lived and breathed neurology for the past decade or so, I forget that some people do not understand exactly what I do. Even here in Lafayette with a very highly educated population, I routinely get questions like, “Oh, so you don’t do surgery,” or “What’s it like taking care of nut jobs all day?” But I can’t really complain because, for example, I have very little understanding of jobs in the computer industry. Work for Google? Great. Can I ask you any follow up questions other than, “I hear you have a great cafeteria?” No. My short reply when asked what I do is, “If you know I’m not a neurosurgeon and not a psychiatrist, you’re in the right ballpark.” In the hospital, I may introduce myself as “the brain doctor.” In the office, sometimes I say, “I’m the electrician for the body.” The official answer is I diagnose and medically treat neurological diseases. These diseases are rather broad and include stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, seizures, migraines, other headaches, pinched nerves, neuropathy, CONTRA COSTA ONCOLOGY Bell’s palsy, myasthenia gravis, ALS, cervical dystonia, trigeminal neuralgia, vertigo, temporal arteritis, concussion, brain tumors, and multiple others. Neurologists work in the office and in the hospital. We are also the physician who would perform an EMG/NCV or read an EEG. While we typically review the MRI’s and CT scans we order, the scans are officially interpreted by a radiologist. I would like to explain my short reply with two examples. I may diagnosis a brain tumor and send you to a neurosurgeon, but I won’t be doing the surgery. You may need to continue to see me if you develop seizures from the tumor, and also I tend to do a lot of patient and family education. Separately, psychiatric conditions are very commonly associated with neurological conditions, but you would not see me purely for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or depression/ anxiety without some neurological condition. As neurologists, we haven’t helped ourselves with this confusion very much. For example, a pediatric neurologist would treat ADHD in childhood and adolescence, but then as an adult you would see a psychiatrist. Historically, neurology and psychiatry are related which shows in my board certification that is from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Medical management is treating symptoms with medicines and different therapies. For example, I may prescribe a medication to treat your migraines. We AT CONTRA COSTA ONCOLOGY, we are committed to providing WALNUT CREEK aren’t “pill pushers” though, and it is not the highest quality care. Specializing in comprehensive cutting-edge treatment SAN RAMON that uncommon to help certain conditions programs for all forms of cancer and blood disorders, our nationally recognized CONCORD like dizziness by removing medications. oncology experts and specialized oncology nurses are dedicated to providing A thorough review of your medications is ROSSMOOR the best possible care experience. We understand the wide array of concerns part of our examination. We also prescribe and challenges faced by you and your family, so we ensure the most sophisticated DANVILLE [ Opening this Fall ] physical therapy, acupuncture, occupational levels of medical oncology and hematology care, while providing you with the contracostaoncology.com therapy, speech therapy, psychological utmost support, compassion, and respect. 925.939.9610 counseling, etc.
With Them
my story Continues.
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Can Acupuncture Help My Headaches? By Elliot Wagner, O.M.D., L.Ac. Lafayette Acupuncture Center
There are headaches and there are headaches. Nobody wants one, but some are clearly worse than others. Those I’m concerned with in this column are the ones that can stop normal life in its tracks. Unfortunately, too many people suffer from those headaches that can be depended upon to show up whenever the going gets hard or simply appear every day to wreck your plans or send you to bed. These headaches are classified as chronic or episodic headaches: migraines, cluster headaches, persistent daily headaches, and many others. If you suffer from one of these, you have already tried every possible way to deal with them using the available Western medications, and know more than you want to about them. Acupuncture works by a method that is entirely different from conventional medication approaches. It is a powerful tool to help headache sufferers, and it works for almost every type of headache. We know this because often we have been able to help patients with medication-resistant headaches after they have exhausted other possibilities. Acupuncture for headaches focuses on the area of the body – the head, face and neck –where tension, poor posture, trauma, motor vehicle accidents, or sports injuries have created imbalance and deficiencies in the normal blood flow. Acupuncture has the capacity to relax and open the
Five Tips to Ruin Your Skin in the Sun By Dr. Shanny Baughman
Summer -- long days filled with sun and frolicking outdoors. We know sun protection is important, but sometimes we just don’t want to bother with it. The result? Sunburn, blisters, brown blotches, leathery wrinkled skin, and most importantly skin cancer. I’m going to tell you five easy ways to damage your skin in the sun, but please, ignore my advice, (as do my children). TIP 1: A baseball cap protects your head from the Dr. Shanny Baughman, Alamo sun. WRONG – A baseball cap basically protects just your scalp and forehead and shades your eyes, leaving the rest of your face, neck, and ears exposed. Sunscreen will help protect, but often people miss their ears and neck, resulting in dangerous exposure to the sun. The tips of ears are particularly at risk for skin cancers. TIP 2: Never reapply sunscreen- Assume that one quick application is enough. WRONG - Sunscreen provides protection for only limited time- two hours at most. For best results, apply it 30 minutes before you are in the sun, and use enough. One ounce is needed to cover your entire body. Estimate an ounce, by filling your cupped hand with sunscreen, and then apply. Waterproof sunscreen doesn’t exist- if sunscreen were waterproof, then one application would protect while swimming, and also while showering, bathing, or hot tubbing, and it would suffice for life. Beginning in 2012, new sunscreen labeling required by the FDA will indicate if sunscreen is water resistant and for how long. Water resistant sunscreen will be labeled as protecting for either 40 minutes or 80 minutes of water exposure. Follow the recommendations for swimming when involved in vigorous outdoor activity and sweating. TIP 4: Don’t use Broad Spectrum (Full Spectrum) Sunscreen. WRONG - Broad spectrum sunscreen protects against UVB and UVA rays. While SPF 15 is adequate for daily use, if sun exposure is less than 15 – 30 minutes, use SPF 30 for prolonged outdoor activities. Is a higher SPF better? SPF 85 or SPF 100 don’t protect more than SPF 30. This SPF inflation creates confusion about the best SPF to use. Beginning in 2012, any SPF greater than 50 will be labeled as SPF 50+. TIP 4: Avoid sunscreen on babies. WRONG - Previous advice had been to avoid sunscreen for babies younger than six months of age. Protective clothing and sun avoidance was preferred. In the past two years, the American Academy of Dermatology and American Academy of Pediatrics have relaxed their rule, admitting that small amounts of sunscreen on an infant’s face and hands is safer
Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 21 small blood vessels and drive blood into the targeted area. The remarkable thing is that it relieves pain not by simply suppressing symptoms, but by doing what medicine should do – healing the body. It does this by stimulating the immune system. Think of it this way: If you or I get a splinter, the immune system immediately sends out messages throughout the body to bring to the site of the splinter everything needed to heal the wound. It sends in substances to reduce the pain, to increase blood flow and inflammation, and then to send in anti-inflammatory substances and move out waste products when the inflammatory phase is over. By stimulating life-giving oxygen and natural pain-killers, hormones, anti-inflammatories, and mood-stabilizers that are transported in the blood, the body can heal itself. The ancient Chinese designed acupuncture to use this natural immune response to heal many painful conditions and, in addition, they discovered the key to acupuncture: how to direct and focus this response to any area of the body. The result is to reduce pain, spasms, and inflammation, and to restore normal balance and homeostasis. While healing the body, it also goes to work on your symptoms immediately, and you may find your pain to be much less when you leave the office. If you suffer from headaches, please call our office to make an appointment for a free consultation. It will give you a chance to see if you feel comfortable with us and if your path to healing includes allowing us the opportunity to help you get healthy and pain free. Private consultations with Dr. Wagner are available, at no charge, to discuss your headaches or any health condition. Call Gizelle at 925-9622287 to make an appointment. Dr. Wagner can also be reached online at Advertorial elliot@lafayetteacupuncture.com. than an accidental sunburn. TIP 5: Get a ‘healthy tan.’ WRONG - Do you think a ‘healthy tan’ will protect you from sun damage? Really? ‘Healthy tanning’ is the term used when people get tan while avoiding a sunburn. A misperception is that sunburn equals skin damage, and no sunburn means no skin damage. Actually, a tan is the body’s attempt to protect itself from ultraviolet injury. Burns are caused by UVB (Ultraviolet B) rays which damage the top of the skin. UVB rays are potent in the Dr. Kelly Hood, Lafayette summer in North America and diminish in the winter. Aging is caused by UVA (Ultraviolet A) rays, the tanning rays, which penetrate deeper causing brown spots and wrinkles. UVA rays are constant year round. Clouds and windows don’t block UVA rays. Tanning beds use UVA bulbs, delivering a concentrated dose of UVA radiation, up to 12 times more than sunlight. Both UVB and UVA rays suppress the immune system and promote the formation of skin cancers. Dr. Ian Stephen, a professor at the University of Nottingham, recently conducted a study which showed that a diet high in fruits and vegetables may color our skin more than tanning. Carrots and tomatoes contain large amounts of carotenoid antioxidants and give these vegetables their bright hue. These carotenoids build up in fatty tissue and can give light skin a golden luster. That’s what I call a healthy tan. In conclusion, practice ‘safe sun.’ • Minimize sun exposure between 10AM and 4PM. • Seek shade when outside in mid-day, particularly young infants less than 6 months of age. • Insist on Broad Spectrum sunscreen. EltaMD is one outstanding brand which uses zinc oxide in high concentrations. It calms and protects sensitive, acne prone skin and is fragrance, paraben, and sensitivity free. • A brimmed hat and sun-protective clothing along with sunscreen will give better protection than just sunscreen alone. • Sun protective clothing can be pricey, yet your investment will last for years. If the clothing is not in your budget, consider SunGuard - a laundry product which provides sun protection for clothing for up to 20 washings. https://sunguardsunprotection.com/. • Avoid tanning beds. If you want to be brown, apply self-tanners, get a spray-on tan, or start eating more carrots. • Review the recent FDA sunscreen update http://www. fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm258416.htm. To schedule a consultation with one of us, contact Dr. Shanny Baughman at Alamo Oaks Dermatology, 3189 Danville Blvd, suite 130, Alamo, 925-362-0992, shanny.derm@gmail.com, or Dr. Kelly Hood, 970 Dewing, Suite 301, Lafayette, 925-283-5500, khoodderm@yahoo.com . Advertorial
Events for Lafayette Seniors
www.yourmonthlypaper.com junction with Opera San Jose’s production of Idomeneo, September 10-25.
The Importance of Fiduciary and Conservator Relations - the Definition, the Need, the Cost, and the Wisdom Friday 8/19
Alternate Fridays 9/9, 9/23, 10/7, 10/21, 11/4, 11/18, 12/2, 12/9 • 1:30 – 3:30PM • Elderberry Room, LCC Write to explore issues around aging, emotion, and perception–or get support to write on any topic! Workshop sessions include writing prompts, feedback and encouragement, and information about the world of writers, writing, and publishing. Take a seat around our table! Presented by Judith Rathbone, Creative Writing and English Instructor
Page 22 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
All classes are held at the Lafayette Senior Center located at 500 Saint Mary’s Rd in Lafayette unless otherwise noted. Space is limited. Please call 925-284-5050 to reserve a spot. Annual Membership fee: $10 per person. General Event fee: Members $1; Non-Member $3. Special Concerts fee: Members $3; Non-Members $5. Ongoing Caregiver Support Group: Members: no charge; Non-members $1.
Self-Discovery and Aging, Creative Writing Workshop
• 10:30-Noon • Elderberry Room, Lafayette Community Center Dad lives with only a part-time caregiver and is beginning to show signs of significant dementia. He refuses to let anyone else write checks to pay the PG&E bills, the monthly mortgage payments, and car repair bills. Aunt Jane fell in her driveway, and her recuperation in the nursing facility from serious head injury may take months and, in fact, she may never fully recover. When is a fiduciary the logical solution to the family dilemma? Should a conservatorship be considered? How about the expense? Bob Kain from Diablo Valley Foundation for the Aging will explain it all in clear, down to earth terms and there will be time for a Q & A.
Listen Up – Update on Hearing Loss and the Hearing Aid Technologies Today Wednesday 9/14 • 10:30 - Noon • Elderberry Room
What’s the Latest with Medicare and Why You Need to Know It!
Thursday 8/25 • 10:30-Noon • Elderberry Room, Lafayette Community Center Believe it or not, several recent changes in the Federal Medicare program have evolved which are not only new, but they are an enhancement to this critically important program. For example, the annual enrollment date has been pushed up in the calendar year, some exams previously not covered are now covered, and there is more. If we know by August how Congress has responded to the partisan wrangling over health insurance, Leah McIntosh, Volunteer Outreach Coordinator for HICAP, Health Insurance, Counseling and Advocacy Program, will bring you up to date. Join us.
Discovering Opera: Mozart’s Idomeneo
Tuesday 9/6 • 10:30 – noon • Elderberry Room, Lafayette Community Center Idomeneo is perhaps the finest opera serial ever written, and the first of a string of masterpieces that established Mozart as one of the greatest opera composers of all time. The story is from classical Greek mythology, in the aftermath of the Trojan wars, but Mozart transcended the genre with music that burst the conventions of its day. Lecturer Bradford Wade, opera lover for over 30 years, will give a guided tour of the opera, with a description of the plot interspersed with musical examples. This lecture is given in con-
Come Taste Our Award Winning Wines! Tasting Room Open! For private parties please call 510-861-2722 5700 Greenville Rd, Livermore, CA 94550 www.redfeatherwinery.com
Detecting hearing loss early to avoid missing out, maintaining quality of life, costs and processes entailed with bringing the latest hearing aid technologies into your life, how to find the best hearing professionals, and avoiding scams so prevalent in the industry – these are only a few of the topics “Dr. Mimi,” Dr. Mimi Salamat, Ph.D Audiology, will cover during this morning session.
Town Hall Theatre Presents...Behind the Scenes of Picasso at the Lapin Agile Thursday 9/15 • 10:30-Noon • Town Hall Theatre
“Why do all the nuts show up in one evening?” Join us as Artistic Director Clive Worsley leads us into a sneak preview of the upcoming September production of comedian Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile. In this intelligent and touching farce from one of America’s most loved comedians, Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein meet in a Paris café and muse upon the nature of life, love, and creativity. Meet the actors and production crew, smell the grease paint, and stand on the hallowed floorboards in the charming, restored Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette. Light refreshments provided by At Home Care and Companion Services.
Anne Randolph Workshops
• Pain Management, Friday 8/26 • 11:30AM – 12:30PM • Sequoia Room Learn how improving posture and muscle strength can reduce or eliminate pain altogether. Stop suffering and take control. Following the Anne Randolph Workshops... • Free Blood Pressure Screening - John Muir Senior Services At 12:30 PM, Blood Pressure screening is brought to you through John Muir Medical Center Senior Services and is available for a one-time check or to assist individuals who monitor their health status regularly. • Free Memory Screening (by appointment) - by Caring Solutions There are many reasons for memory loss including simple age-related decline to more serious conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Early diagnosis and intervention provide the best outcome. Call 284-5050 for an appointment. Appointments at 12:30, 12:50, and 1:10PM Bi-Monthly Caregiver Support Group Mondays 8/22, 9/12, 9/26, 10/17, 10/31, 11/7, 11/28, 12/12 • 1:30–2:30PM Sequoia Room, Lafayette Community Center Caring for frail older adults in the home often creates great stress and emotional anguish for spouses and family members. Licensed Geriatric Care Manager Carol Shenson, M.A., CMC, offers a bi-monthly support group for family members who will be or are involved with the direct care of an older relative. Drop-ins welcome. Lamorinda Dance Social Every Wednesday 12:30 – 3PM • LCC: Live Oak Room - Enjoy afternoon dancing every Wednesday, and learn some great new dance moves. On the first Wednesday monthly, professional dancers Karen and Michael will provide a dance lesson and live DJ services, playing your favorites and taking requests. $2 Members/ $4 non-members. Positive Living Forum (a.k.a “Happiness Club”) - Positive Living Forum features eminent speakers on a wide range of topics that will stimulate and guide participants towards a more ideal and positive life experience. Drop-ins are welcome. Thursdays 9/8, 10/13, 11/10, 12/8 • 10:30 – noon. Moderated by Dr. Bob Nozik, MD. Lafayette Senior Services Commission - The Commission meets on the 4th Thursday of the month at 3:30 – 5:30PM at the Lafayette Senior Services Center. View agendas at the City of Lafayette office or at www.ci.lafayette.ca.us.
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Philosophy and Physics
Seniors, Economics, & the Debt Ceiling By Mary Bruns, Program Coordinator Lamorinda Senior Transportation, an Alliance of Transportation Providers
The driving force and joy behind Lamorinda Senior Transportation is to help seniors improve the quality of life and maintain their independence by making transportation available to essential activities of daily living: grocery shopping, errands, medical appointments, and social outings. As I listened to the arguments about raising the debt ceiling and what should be cut from the Federal budget, I realized that the Republican and Democratic positions are not very different from a husband and wife’s discussion of their household budget and what they can afford versus what they can’t. Rarely in a relationship do both people hold the same beliefs about financial priorities. We often live or interact with people who think differently than we do, giving us an opportunity to look at both sides of a point of view. This can create polarization and conflict or an opportunity to understand the other viewpoint, learn from it, and make a compromise that takes into account both sets of needs and the good of the whole. In a relationship, we may find someone who prefers to buy nice things living with someone who thinks it’s more important to save for retirement or for a rainy day. If their money is joined, this leads to discussion, greater understanding, and compromise or repetitive escalating arguments. As a single person, we may be forced to embrace and balance both positions within ourself – learning to evaluate spending priorities with saving, taking responsibility, and using good judgment in decision-making. The single person has no choice but to accept accountability for the results. In Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics, we find, “… atoms…consisted of vast regions of space in which extremely small particles moved, and now quantum theory made it clear that even these particles were nothing like the solid objects of classical physics...The subatomic units of matter are very abstract entities which have a dual aspect… appear(ing) sometimes as particles, sometimes as waves;…As we penetrate into matter, nature does not show us any isolated ‘basic building blocks’, but rather appears as a complicated web of relations between the various parts of the whole. These relations always include the observer in an essential way… Quantum theory thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe.” (Page 67-68) Just as our body is composed of many cells that make up various organs that fulfill a variety of functions, we can think of each of us as a single cell or unit of consciousness that group together with other units of consciousness to form
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BARTON TUTOR
BARTON - Reading, Spelling, and Writing - Certified and credentialed tutor in Dyslexia and ADD/ADHD. Phoenemic Awareness for Kindergarten-Adults. Contact janecberger@sbcglobal.net or 925-788-4533.
LESSONS
MUSIC INSTRUCTION with Robbie Dunbar. Bach to Beatles and beyond. Piano, guitar, other instruments. All ages and levels welcome! I travel to your home. Decades of experience, including Masters of Music Composition. Also PIANO TUNING. (925) 323-9706, robbiednbr@gmail.com
Lafayette Today ~ August 2011 - Page 23 families, communities, countries, and the world – to learn, grow, and fulfill a variety of functions. For health, a cell in your heart must work together with all the cells in your heart, and your heart must work together with all the other organs of your body. Science and philosophy are reaching the same conclusion that all of life is connected, a web of relationships that can produce harmony or disharmony, health or illness. Whether we look at an individual, a family, a community, or a country, there are competing needs and viewpoints. When we try to meet our individual needs without consideration of the needs and viewpoints of the greater whole of the family, community, country, or world, the individual and the greater whole suffer. In The Laws of Manifestation (page 80), David Spangler suggests that when we want to manifest something for ourself, we consider the physical and motivational context within which that manifestation takes place. We become quiet and aware of our own needs, and then we see ourself as one with the source of meeting our own needs. In our imagination, we reach out to those in our circle of loved ones and become aware of their needs – not worrying at this time about how those needs will be fulfilled. We continue by reaching out to our community, country, and world, becoming aware of those needs. We bring our awareness back to ourself, peace, wholeness, and oneness, knowing that our intuition will show us the way to play our part in meeting our needs and the needs of the larger community.
Lamorinda Senior Transportation An Alliance of Transportation Providers
How can I play my part in meeting the needs of the community?
Lamorinda Spirit Van
283-3534
Serving Lamorinda Seniors with transportation to medical appointments, special events, grocery shopping and lunch at the C.C. Café. $10 round trip; rides to lunch are free. Reserve your seat two business days ahead of time by 1PM.
Contra Costa Yellow Cab and DeSoto Company 284-1234 20% discount for Lamorinda seniors.
Volunteer Driver Program
Volunteers driving their own cars provide free rides for seniors.
Orinda Seniors Around Town
402-4506
Senior Helpline Services Rides for Seniors
284-6161
Serving Orinda seniors with rides for appointments and errands.
Serving Contra Costa County seniors with rides to doctors’ appointments during the week, grocery shopping on Saturdays.
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FOR SALE
SAUNA - Beautiful two person sauna. Great condition. If you are interested please call 925-283-3449.
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Page 24 - August 2011 ~ Lafayette Today
JA continued from page 16
lawyer. Most importantly, JA has given me the push to overcome my obstacles and plan for a lifetime of achievement.” “The criterion for volunteering is simply being a caring adult who is interested in inspiring students and sharing their personal and professional story,” says Lynch. “Most of our volunteers find that they receive as much as they give. Dhira V. was a volunteer this spring in our local schools. She had the most The Walnut Creek offices for AAA hosted high school students for a Job Shadow during the school year. amazing time with the kids in her class. “I will never forget all of the hugs I received from the students,” says Dhira. “Junior Achievement’s material was outstanding. It was so much fun for the kids, and for me! I will continue to be involved with the great work the organization is doing.” JA’S biggest challenge is meeting the demand for programs. “We are always interested to meet new partners who wish to make an impact within local schools and to help prepare students to succeed,” says Lynch. “Now, more than ever, in a time of economic challenges, high unemployment, and global competitive pressures, it is critical to help equip our children with the basic economic skills they will need to be successful in life.” For more information on Junior Achievement, please visit www.janorcal.org.
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O’Neill continued from page 5
O’Neill believed that the theatre should be taken as serious art rather than pleasant diversion. He freely used experimental techniques to pull in his audiences, make demands on them, and commit them to the experience. From the start, O’Neill was interested in the inner drama of his characters more than their physical or social world. His innovations and revivals of ancient techniques were legion: masks and other expressionist devices, great length, the casting of black actors, taboo subject matter, and serious dramatic treatment of the poor and powerless. In 1937 after already receiving much success and critical acclaim, Eugene and his wife Carlotta moved to Danville, where they designed and built a home. O’Neill’s interest in Eastern thought and Carlotta’s passion for Oriental art and decor inspired the name Tao House. From 1937 -1944 O’Neill dedicated his time to his craft and transformed his past into the autobiographical plays that made him America’s most important playwright. O’Neill wrote nearly 60 plays in a career spanning three decades but it was at Tao House that Eugene wrote his final and most significant plays The Iceman Cometh, Long Days Journey Into Night, and A Moon For the Misbegotten. A reservation is still needed to tour the historic home on Wednesday through Friday and on Sunday but not on Saturdays. Shuttle bus transportation is always required for access to the gated community where the site is located. For more information visit www.nps.gov/euon/index.htm, or call (925) 838-0249.