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October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 1
& OCTOBER 2020
EUGENE O'NEILL FOUNDATION REMAINS UNSTOPPABLE: THE SHOW GOES ON
By Jody Morgan
The Eugene O’Neill Foundation (EONF), Tao House is keeping many 2020 programs going despite disruptions generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Premiered October 3rd, The Lost Plays in a blocking of The Web respects 2020 social distancing Lost Year of Theater Innovative while retaining the magic of live theater. Photo courtesy of EONF. brought innovative online presentations of three of O’Neill’s earliest one-act plays. Travis Bogard Artist in Residence (AIR) and Day-Use Fellows are working on-site even though the National Park Service (NPS) has kept Tao House closed to the public. Progress on digitizing archival materials continues, extending availability of the Tao House collection to serious scholars who are unable to visit in person. Florence McCauley, currently Co-President Elect, has played many roles on the EONF Board. She writes: “I have had such wonderful and rewarding experiences during my long tenure with the Foundation from meeting such luminaries as Jason Robards, Helen Hayes, and Carey Perloff to helping make the Travis Bogard AIR program a reality. My interest was piqued by local residents that saved Tao House from the wrecking ball.” Home to Eugene O’Neill and his third wife Carlotta from 1937-1944, Tao House was rescued from demolition by EONF founders who raised $70,000 as
See EONF continued on page 18
TRASH BUSTERS
By Linda Summers-Pirkle
Suzanne and Conrad Figueroa
Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. ~ Arthur Ashe Longtime Danville residents, Suzanne and Conrad Figueroa can frequently be spotted on the Iron Horse Trail or walking through downtown, animatedly talking to each other, or greeting passersby and shopkeepers. With her pixie haircut, huge eyes, and ready smile (even when behind a mask), Suzanne is hard to miss. I met her about fifteen years ago when she volunteered with the Town of Danville “Drive a Senior” program which provided transportation for people to and from their appointments. Even with her busy schedule
See Trash continued on page 18
Local Postal Customer
PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit 263 Alamo CA
ECRWSS
MANY VOTING OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR DANVILLE & ALAMO RESIDENTS By Sharon Burke
Election Day is November 3, and election experts predict record turnout despite the lingering pandemic. Contra Costa Elections Department provides numerous options, making it convenient for Alamo and Danville citizens to vote. A big change for 2020 is that all registered voters will automatically be mailed a ballot by October 5th. There is no need to fill out a mail-in ballot request. Most Contra Costa County voters already vote by mail. In fact, 72% of Contra Costa residents voted by mail in the March 2020 primary, and the vote by mail percentage in Danville and Alamo is even higher. Check your registration status on the county website cocovote.us, which uses tracking software to reassure voters that their ballot has been received and counted. Once at the site, find the “My Voting Information” box in the upper right corner of the home page. This is where you can confirm your registration status, review a copy of the ballot that will be mailed to you, and verify your ballot was received. If you have changed your name or party affiliation, have moved since the last election, or if you turn 18 years old on or before Election Day, you need to register or re-register to vote. You can register or re-register at registertovote.ca.gov before the October 19th deadline.
See VOTE continued on page 14
LOVE, MILLY
SRVHS STUDENT COLLABORATES TO CREATE CONNECTIONS By Alisa Corstorphine
In a world stuck in COVID-19 limbo, the easiest thing to do is to cut off most interactions with other people, but Milly John, a senior at San Ramon Valley High School (SRVHS), saw an opportunity to use her love of art to inspire kids in Youth Homes’ Transition Age Youth (TAY) and Residential Group Home foster programs. Back in March, Milly began to put together individualized art kits and started a website Milly connects with participants via Zoom. to share the different projects every week. Two Youth Homes social workers became the main point of contact and communication, and acted as the go-between to deliver weekly packages. Milly creatively wraps and labels each package with the recipient’s name. The art project is a personalized gift meant for the foster children and not a random donation left in a collection bin. So far through
See Milly continued on page 8
The Editors Serving the communities of Alamo, Diablo, and Danville
Volume XX Number 10
3000F Danville Blvd. #117 Alamo, CA 94507 Telephone (925) 405-6397 Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher Editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
Facebook: Alamo Today & Danville Today News Instagram:@AlamoandDanvilleToday
Volume XI Number 10
The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do not necessarily reflect that of The Editors. The Editors is not responsible for the content of any of the advertising herein, nor does publication imply endorsement.
PAGE 2 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
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BOULEVARD VIEW By Alisa Corstorphine, Editor
With fall in the air, weather starting to turn, days getting shorter, and a lingering pandemic, the time calls for making our environments as uplifting and inspiring as can be. Just adding a pop of color, a vase of flowers, a bird feeder, a painting, or some small pumpkins and leaves to a table can brighten a day. When our children were young, we read them (over, and over, and over) a beginner book by P.D. Eastman titled The Best Nest. The little jingle written throughout the book is one that sticks in all of our heads: “I love my house. I love my nest. In all the world My nest is best!” Making your environment the “best nest” it can be can bring calm and brighten your outlook, especially in the upcoming colder and darker months. Inspiration for decorating ideas can be found on many online sites such as Etsy.com or Pinterest.com. Local vendors and service providers have the materials for do-it-yourself projects and the skills for things you are unable, or don’t want, to tackle on your own. I admire creative talents. In the drawing department, I am still stuck back in second grade, using stick figure images as people. Some ideas to get you going involve clearing any clutter. Thrift stores and consignment stores have reopened. Please reach out to them to make sure they have room to take in your donations. Many have been overwhelmed with an abundance of items. Make sure your mementos bring pleasant memories. If the shelves are filled with dusty old participation trophies, it’s OK to move them out. Take a picture, and then lighten your load! If you have a jar full of collected shells from a past trip, pick the best one or two of them and make them a centerpiece; purge the rest. Adjust your lighting if need be. Let the sunlight in While none of us may be famous artists, we tried our hand at watercolor painting and added a pop of color to our blank wall. when you can, and change lightbulbs to ones that mimic warm daylight. For four years, I’ve had a picture on my wall from the front page of a garden seed company. While I always delighted in the scene, I am now using it for inspiration. I bought a crimson red chair, and I have plans for some bricks laid by my garden where I am planting some cheery flowers. Even in winter, it is the sight I will see out my window. If your window view is lacking pizazz, check out https://window-swap.com for a view from someone else’s window in another part of the world. You can virtually transport yourself to a sunny day in Burlington, Vermont, the hills of Omeath, Ireland, the breeze in Istanbul, Turkey, the city skyline of Seoul, South Korea, or a rainy day in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It is a fun, virtual escape. Infuse a special scent: make meals in a crockpot, put lavender sprigs in a drawer, or put a rosemary plant in the kitchen. My daughter had the Netflix show The Home Edit playing on TV. The show gives ideas for tidying and sorting our spaces to make them as functional as can be. As a result, our kitchen pantry got a “face-lift.” It is amazing how just the addition of some bins and labels can turn a cluttered space into something way more useful. In addition, it highlighted some foods we had forgotten about and some others that we had unnecessarily bought double and triple quantities of...for right now we have found we have enough honey to keep us going for a decade or two! While 2020 ushered in a lot of unpleasant things, for many it has also created some additional Tri-Valley Trapper time. If you have a few minutes, find your favorite place and carve it out. Just start! Pick a drawer, a closet, a wall, a special box, or a room. Stop looking at the broken handle or the overgrown weeds. Hire some help, like a local student, and get lingering projects off of the “to-do” list. I think these little (or big!) touches will help you make your own “best nest.”
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TOGETHER WE GIVE COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The Alamo Women’s Club is sponsoring a series of donation events over the next few months to help those in need. On Wednesday, October 21st, from 2-5pm, please bring non-perishible food items to the Clubhouse, located at 1401 Danville Blvd., Alamo, for curbside drop off. Donated items will be given to Monument Crisis Center. Please, no items in glass containers. In supporting the community during COVID-19, the Monument Crisis Center has opened its doors to all in need. Their Disaster Plan for Emergency Food Distribution provides groceries and necessities to folks who are struggling. An average of 300 households, about 1,200 individuals, are served daily. In particular need are low-sodium items, peanut butter, cereal, soup, canned or dried beans and lentils, canned tuna and chicken (preferably in water), canned fruits and vegetables, tomato products, rice, pasta, and non-perishable/ready-to-eat meals such as chili and ravioli. Also needed are new and sealed shampoo, deodorant, soap, new socks, diapers and wipes, adult diapers, feminine products, and pet food for dogs and cats. Your generous donations WILL make a difference! Please help feed and take care of the hungry and needy during these difficult times.
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October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 3
FREE VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE HISTORIC ALAMO CEMETERY
The Museum of the San Ramon Valley is now open and following current COVID restrictions. A variety of procedures are in place to ensure your visit is safe and enjoyable. In addition, the Museum is now offering free virtual monthly programs about the history of our area and beyond. On October 22nd at 11:30AM , take a virtual tour of the Alamo Cemetery. This little jewel is tucked away at the bend of El Portal just off Danville Blvd., on the border of Alamo and Danville. You may have passed it on your way to Hap Magee Park without giving it a second thought. Established in the 1850’s, the cemetery is a peaceful place, in a park-like atmosphere, to stroll through and admire the headstones of many pioneer families who established and built this valley. During the program, hear stories of the history of the Alamo Cemetery as well as learn about pioneer families such as the Baldwins, Stones, Woods, and Bollingers. To attend this free online program, please visit museumsrv.org, and go to the “Events” section. Click on “Alamo Cemetery Tour,” and register. If you have any questions, call the museum at 925-837-3750. The Museum of the San Ramon Valley is located at 205 Railroad Ave., Danville.
BIRTHDAYS SHOULD STILL BE SPECIAL
Inspired by a past article in the Alamo Today & Danville Today News paper, Monte Vista High School senior, Hannah Novak decided to find a way to help make birthdays fun for others. Hannah notes, “My friends and I came up with an idea to give back to the community. During COVID, people are social distancing, and this can make birthdays very difficult and sometimes disappointing.” Hannah and friends have found that a car parade is a fun, socially distant way to celebrate someone special on their day. Hannah continues, “My friends and I have surprised the birthday boy or girl with honking horns and decorated cars, and completely turned their day around. We would be happy to give the same experience to anyone who is in need of the thrill of a car parade.” If you are a parent with young children, have a relative in a senior home, or know of anyone that is in need of an extra bit of excitement to brighten their day, please reach out. The only costs involved would be for any decorations you’d want to include. For more information, please contact Hannah at hannahnovak88@gmail.com or 925-918-0911.
DANVILLE POLICE OFFER ‘EXCHANGE’ ZONE
Residents who purchase items via online services such as Craigslist now have a designated neutral ‘Exchange Zone’ in the upper parking lot of the Danville Town offices to conduct their business. Signage has been installed, and the Danville Police Department has designated parking spaces at the Town of Danville offices, 510 La Gonda Way, for residents to conduct transactions in a constantly video-recorded space. With proximity to police headquarters and video recording, the goal is to have Danville of Alamo Todayand 125x625 TS 20923.pdf 1 9/23/20buyers 10:25 while PM an atmosphere safety assurance for would-be dissuading criminals from using online merchandising for criminal purposes. To learn more about the safe zone, contact Sargent Ron Hoekwater at (925) 314-3700 or rhoekwater@danville.ca.gov.
LESS MACHINE. MORE RESULTS. The average tenure of a Danville town councilmember is two decades. Danville business is awarded to businesses from outside the town, even at higher cost. Ironically this includes the Danville logo, newsletter and slogan: Live locally. C
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Danville has the highest fiscal reserves in the state, yet has some of the most outdated communications and processes. Danville businesses are unsupported—even challenged by town ordinances and rules—historically and throughout the pandemic. Town council has yet to create a path forward for businesses to navigate the lockdown or to help support or build resilience through downturns.
K
TURNER STANTON FOR DANVILLE TOWN COUNCIL StantonForDanville.com
Stanton is the leader we need to ensure the Danville we know and love will be here for the next generation. PAID FOR BY STANTON FOR COUNCIL 2020 FPPC #1428726
Alamo Today 10.25 x 6.25
PAGE 4 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
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SONS IN RETIREMENT SAN RAMON VALLEY
Looking for things to do in your retirement? Consider joining Sons in Retirement San Ramon Valley Branch 128. There are monthly luncheons with interesting speakers and good fellowship. Additionally, members have lots of fun participating in a variety of activities including golf, hiking, biking, bocce ball, movies, cooking, finance, reading, computers, and more. Many other activities such as travel, dine outs, excursions, baseball games, and holiday parties include spouses, friends, and guests. NOTE: Due to current Coronavirus challenges, and for the safety and well being of members and guests, the SIR128 October meeting will be a virtual event using Zoom. The guest speaker will be Mr. Dave Carey, former Navy pilot, Vietnam POW, author, and motivational speaker. Dave spent 5 ½ years as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, spending much of that time at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. He has a number of stories he tells about his experiences in jail and how he was treated during that time. Most importantly, he talks about how he survived torture and isolation, and how that applies to our lives. You won’t want to miss this informative and inspirational talk The presentation will be held Wednesday, October 21st at 11AM. If you’re interested in accessing the virtual meeting as a guest, please email membership@sir128.com. To learn more about the Retirement branch, please visit www.SIR128.com.
THE THRIFT STATION IN DANVILLE SEEKS NEW VOLUNTEERS
Live a life well-rounded... Join for the amenities, and stay for the friendships! Limited number of Memberships now available. 18 Holes 15 Courts 3 Pools 2 Bocce Courts 1 Fitness Center Fabulous Food, Endless Fun!
Round Hill Country Club For more information contact Kristine Walton membership@roundhillcc.org 925.934.8211 x 258
Volunteers, 18 years and older, are needed at The Thrift Station in Danville, Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:45AM to 2:15PM. The shop is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10AM – 2PM. The Thrift Station has been a valued member of the local community for more than 46 years, selling new and gently used donations to raise funds in support of theThrift exceptional low-cost, broad-reachThe Station in Danville Seeks New Volunteers ing, mental health services provided by the Discovery Counseling Center, to residents of the San Ramon Valley. The all-volunteer is comprised of Volunteers, 18 years and older, areorganization needed at The Thrift Station in Danville Tuesday – Saturday, 9:45 AM to 2:15 PM. The Shop is open to the public Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM. dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers, many of whom have served for years. The large, loyal customer base loves to visit the store and look for new-found treasures. “HEARTS AROUND HARTZ” CLOSING AND The Thrift Station (the Shop) has been a valued member of the local community more than 46 years selling new The personal safety and volunteers customers paramount. andwellbeing gently used of donations to raiseand funds in support ofisthe exceptional low-cost, broad-reaching mental health ONLINE AUCTION Health and safety devices and procedures have been set up for everyone’ services provided by the Discovery Counseling Center stoprotection. residents of the San Ramon Valley. We are an allthis summer, residents and visitors to the Town of Danville have enjoyed volunteer organization of dedicated and enthusiastic many of whomOver have served us for years. We Are you interested in joining this warm and welcoming volunteer volunteers, family? Please also have a large, loyal customer base who love to visit the Shop treasures. uniquely painted heart sculptures placed all around the downtown area. This complete the application form at www.discoveryctr.net/the-thrift-station. Youlooking can for17new-found public art exhibition, titled ‘Hearts Around Hartz,’ runs through October 20th. Bealso stop by during normal hours submit anvolunteers application in person. Thebusiness personal safety andand wellbeing of our and customers are foremost in our minds. Health and safety The Thrift Station is devices located 486 San Ramon Valley Blvd., protection. Crossroad ginning the week of October 12th, the hearts will be moved from their individual andat procedures have been set up for everyone’s locations to the patio in front Center, Danville. Interested in joining our warm and welcoming volunteer family? Please complete the application form on our of the Village Theatre & Art webpage (https://www.discoveryctr.net/the-thrift-station). You can also stop by the Shop during normal ALAMO DANVILLE NEWCOMERS CLUB Gallery, located at 233 Front business hours and submit an application in person. Are you a new or long-time resident of Danville, Alamo, Blackhawk, or St, Danville, where they can all Diablo? Or are you newly retired, orThe anThrift empty nester interested in making Station, 486 San Ramon Valley Blvd., Crossroad Center, Danville be viewed in one place for the of the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce Non-Profit Business of the Year Award 2018! new friends and participatingWinner in various social activities? The Alamo Danville duration of the bidding. https://www.discoveryctr.net/the-thrift-station Newcomers Club is a woman’s organization whose purpose is to enrich the The online auction takes lives of its members and their families in a social manner. Check out all the place from October 15-20th. club has to offer by visiting www.alamodanvillenewcomers.com. Sixteen of the 17 hearts will be During this difficult time of COVID, the group is currently doing all that available for bidding. Heart #5 they can to offer new and different ways to meet new people, socialize, and will be permanently installed in have fun while staying within the COVID guidelines. front of the Town Offices on La Upcoming virtual “Information Coffee” meetings will be held October 7th Gonda Way. Proceeds from the and November 17th, both at 10AM, via Zoom. This is a great way to find out sale of Heart #2 will go to the more about the club. American Heart Association. To learn more or participate in the Information Coffee, email alamodanThe online auction is hosted villenewcomers@gmail.com. by Auctria. Bidders are encouraged to view the hearts SEARCH AND RESCUE in person and online at www. The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team needs volunteer charityauction.bid/HEARTS. Interested parties are encouraged to register on the members to respond to missing person incidents, disasters, and other critical inci- site ahead of time to make bidding easy. All proceeds from the auction will go into dents. Team members are on call 24/7 year-round. The program provides required a public art fund so that the Town can provide future exhibits. training; including wilderness traveling, first aid, map and compass usage, tracking Online bidding opens at midnight on Thursday, October 15th and remains disaster response, and search skills; and may also include special training for canine, open until 8PM on Tuesday, October 20th. equestrian, technical, mountain bike, or other rescue skills. For information, visit For more information, contact Visual Arts Coordinator Marija Nelson Bleier www.contracostasar.org or call (925) 646-4461. at (925) 314-3460 or email artgallery@danville.ca.gov.
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October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 5
DUDUM REAL ESTATE GROUP W H E R E R E A L E S TAT E I S S T I L L P E R S O N A L
RENDERING
JUST LISTED
JUST LISTED - ALAMO LOT
PENDING - NEW CONSTRUCTION
PENDING - 14 OFFERS
1640 CERVATO CIRCLE, ALAMO 4 BEDS, 5 BATHS, 4,134 SF, 2.05 ACRE LOT
1327 LAVEROCK LANE, ALAMO FINISHED 28,740 SF CUT LOT W/UTILITIES AT STREET OFFERED FOR $999,000 MARY PISCITELLI & PETER GILLIS | 925.765.9095
335 LAS QUEBRADAS, ALAMO 5 BEDS, 6.5 BATHS, 4,900 SF, 3.00 ACRE LOT OFFERED FOR $2,949,000 MARY PISCITELLI & PETER GILLIS | 925.765.9095
160 WESTWICH STREET, DANVILLE 4 BEDS, 3 BATHS, 2,961 SF, 0.25 ACRE LOT
OFFERED FOR $2,299,000 BRYAN HURLBUT, HURLBUT TEAM | 925.383.5500
OFFERED AT $1,499,000 BONNE WERSEL | 510.304.3303
PENDING - IN 2 DAYS
SOLD - MULTIPLE OFFERS
SOLD IN 5 DAYS - $112,000 OVER ASKING
SOLD
3619 CROW CANYON ROAD, SAN RAMON 2 BEDS, 2 BATHS, 1,107 SF, CONDO
2638 ROUNDHILL DRIVE, ALAMO 5 BEDS, 3 BATHS, 3,151 SF, 0.38 ACRE LOT
1098 UPPER HAPPY VALLEY ROAD, LAFAYETTE 3 BEDS, 2 BATHS, 1,883 SF, 0.26 ACRE LOT
3010 MARBLE CANYON PLACE, SAN RAMON 4 BEDS, 2.5 BATHS, 2,444 SF, 0.16 ACRE LOT
OFFERED AT $615,000
SOLD FOR $1,750,000
SOLD FOR $1,510,000
OFFERED AT $1,268,000
DON & PAMELA COLOMBANA | 925.878.8047
DON & PAMELA COLOMBANA | 925.878.8047
DON & PAMELA COLOMBANA | 925.878.8047
BONNE WERSEL | 510.304.3303
SOLD IN 5 DAYS - $117,000 OVER ASKING
SOLD - $140,000 OVER ASKING
SOLD - REPRESENTED BUYER
SOLD - REPRESENTED BUYER
520 FALLEN LEAF CIRCLE, SAN RAMON 3 BEDS, 2 BATHS, 1,739 SF, 0.13 ACRE LOT
31 HERITAGE COURT, WALNUT CREEK 3 BEDS, 2 BATHS, 1,304 SF, 0.16 ACRE LOT
1481 WHITECLIFF WAY, WALNUT CREEK 4 BEDS, 2.5 BATHS, 2,865 SF, 0.19 ACRE LOT
63 HEATHER GARDEN LANE, DANVILLE 3 BEDS, 2.5 BATHS, 1,992 SF, 0.07 ACRE LOT
SOLD FOR $1,135,00
SOLD FOR $1,125,000
SOLD FOR $1,355,000
SOLD OFF MARKET
DON & PAMELA COLOMBANA | 925.878.8047
LESLIE SHAFTON | 925.360.9192
KORY MADGE | 925.366.9899
MARGY LYMAN | 925.963.6380
ALISON J. PETERSEN 925.984.7214
BONNE WERSEL 510.304.3303
BRYAN HURLBUT 925.383.5500
REALTOR® | DRE#01177737
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DON & PAMELA COLOMBANA 925.878.8047 925.482.4142
EVA ELDERTS 925.726.9409
JOHN FONDNAZIO 925.817.9053
JULIE DEL SANTO 925.818.5500
KATIE HENDERSON 925.286.0026
REALTOR® | DRE# 02039328
REALTOR® | DRE# 01938194
BROKER/OWNER DRE# 01290985
REALTOR® | DRE# 02061210
MARY PISCITELLI & PETER GILLIS 925.765.9095 925.765.0629
MEREDITH & BONNIE KUMMELL 925.984.1344 925.980.9952
STEFANIE PASSEY 925.268.0780
TERESA ZOCCHI 925.360.8662
REALTOR® | DRE# 01442889
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REALTORS® DRE# 01426129 / 01364038
REALTORS® DRE# 00905114 / 01364056
REALTORS® DRE# 01979180 / 01979181
KERI FRYER 925.980.9979
KORY MADGE 925.366.9899
LESLIE SHAFTON 925.360.9192
MARGY LYMAN 925.963.6380
REALTOR® | DRE# 02068960
REALTOR® | DRE# 01345227
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DRE# 01882902
WWW.DUDUM.COM
DANVILLE
WALNUT CREEK
LAMORINDA
BRENTWOOD
SIERRA TAHOE
Distinctive Properties
©2020 The information herein was obtained by sources deemed to be reliable by Dudum Real Estate Group. Dudum Real Estate group has not independently verified the information contained herein and therefore, assumes no legal responsibility for its accuracy. Buyer should investigate any matters or items disclosed, identified or about which they have concerns to their own satisfaction. DRE Lic. 01882902
PAGE 6 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF DIABLO VALLEY’S THRIFT SHOP
During these ever-changing times, certain aspects remain constant: one of which is the need to help those in our community who are vulnerable. The dedicated member-volunteers at Assistance League® Thrift Shop at the Way Side Inn, located at 3521 Golden Gate Way in Lafayette, are delighted to announce that this well-known landmark is now open on Wednesdays in addition to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays! Store hours are from10AM to 2PM. “Floor ready” donations are accepted at the thrift shop on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9AM to 11AM as well as on Saturday from 10AM to 2AM, or until full. Please remember that county-approved masks must be worn upon arrival, while waiting in line, and during shopping, check-out, and departure. Likewise, no more than five shoppers are admitted to the thrift shop at any given time. Social distancing is required during the allotted shopping time of 30 minutes. To learn more about “floor ready” donations and the hands-on philanthropic programs that the thrift shop supports, please visit assistanceleague. org/diablo-valley.
DICK OLSEN NAMED ALAMO ROTARIAN OF THE YEAR
Richard “Dick” Olsen has been named the Alamo Rotarian of the Year by the Rotary Club of Alamo. Club President Joan Grimes presented the award to Dick at a recent social gathering. The award was Joan Grimes (right), president of the Rotary Club of Alamo, presents given to Dick for Dick Olsen (left) with the Alamo Rotarian of the Year Award. his outstanding contributions to the Club. “With this honor, the Rotary Club of Alamo is recognizing someone who best exemplifies the goals of Rotary through his or her consistent contributions, and in doing so has brought honor and respect to the Club,” Joan said. Joan continued, “Dick Olsen exemplifies Rotary’s goals. He has been a significant contributor to the success of the Club and its 501(c)(3 ) non-profit Foundation.” Over the past five years, Dick headed up the annual Easter Egg Hunt, which has become the major fundraiser for the Club. This year, even with the pandemic, the Club raised over $47,000 that will be used to support Club projects. For a number of years, Dick spearheaded the 680/Stone Valley interchange beautification project. Besides Dick's work on behalf of the Club, he has been a tremendous asset to the Alamo community for which he was awarded Alamo Citizen of the Year recognition in 2013. Dick has been a member of the Rotary Club of Alamo for 35 years. He and his wife, Maureen, reside in Alamo.
VETERAN SERVICES BRING THE “OFFICE” TO YOU
With the COVID-19 County Health Order making it more challenging to get services from government offices, the Contra Costa County Veterans Services Office is removing barriers by opening a virtual office space. The virtual Veterans Office can give you close to an in-person experience. Veterans can learn about and apply for benefits, access VA health care, receive referrals for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder therapy, and much more. Visit the office website at www.contracosta.ca.gov/vets, during open office hours, for oneon-one assistance. Hours of operation are Mondays through Thursdays from 9am to noon and 1pm to 4pm, and on Fridays 9am to noon. Staffing the virtual office are Veterans Service Manager Sidney Jones, an Air Force Veteran, and Veteran Services Representative Buck Carmichael, a Marine Corps Veteran. Both have long-time experience connecting vets to critical services. For more information, please call the Veteran Services Office at 925-313-1481.
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JOIN THE DANVILLE YOUTH ARTS LEAGUE
HIGH SCHOOL MENTORS TO GUIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ARTISTS
Do you love the arts but need some extra help with your craft? Be a part of the new Danville Youth Arts League, and you’ll be mentored by high school students who enjoy the arts as much as you do! Participants will meet with their mentors and receive guidance on either theatre arts, visual arts, or vocal arts. This program is open to third through fifth graders and is intended for youth who have already displayed an interest and/or talent in the arts. The Danville Youth Arts League meets every other Tuesday (Vocal), Wednesday (Theatre Arts), and Thursday (Visual Arts) virtually via Zoom, until May 20, 2021. The program will culminate in a performance at the Village Theatre, safety guidelines permitting. Each group will meet separately to work on projects specific to their particular interest. To register for the Danville Youth Arts League, visit www.danville.ca.gov/ recguide. Search for #26510 for Theatre Arts, #26511 for Visual Arts, and #26512 for Vocal Arts. The price for the program is $50. For more information, contact Cultural Arts and Marketing Supervisor, Jessica Wallner at (925) 314-3426 or jwallner@danville.ca.gov.
ART GALLERY COMMITTEE SEEKS MEMBERS
HELP SELECT EXHIBITS FOR VILLAGE THEATRE GALLERY
The Town of Danville is looking for creatively-minded people to help guide the future of the Village Theatre Art Gallery by taking part in the Curatorial Committee. Committee members work together to identify, review, and select exhibits for presentation. The Committee meets quarterly to provide guidance and direction of the gallery. Individuals with a professional background in the visual/cultural arts, arts education, municipal cultural arts programs, and/or gallery, museum, or curatorial experience, are encouraged to apply. The meetings for the remainder of 2020 will be held online via Zoom, so it is important to have internet access to be able to attend. Terms are two years long with an option to reapply for an additional term of two years. Interviews will be held in November via Zoom. For more information, contact Marija Nelson Bleier at (925) 314-3460 or mnelsonbleier@danville.ca.gov.
COMMISSION VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT
TOWN RECRUITING FOR SEVERAL COMMISSION POSITIONS
The Town of Danville is looking for residents interested in serving on one of several commissions seeking new members. City Clerk Marie Sunseri notes the following commissions are in the process of accepting applications. • Design Review Board - One member for a four-year term ending December 31, 2024 • Arts Advisory Board - One youth member, for a two-year term ending June 30, 2022 • Heritage Resource Commission - Two regular members for terms ending December 31, 2024; one licensed architect to fulfill term ending December 31, 2023 • Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission - Two regular members to fulfill terms ending June 30, 2021 • Planning Commission - Four regular members and one alternate member for four-year terms ending December 31, 2024 • Contra Costa County Advisory County on Aging - One Danville representative for two-year term ending June 30, 2022 • Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District - One Danville representative for four-year term ending December 31, 2024 Applications are available on the Town website, www.danville.ca.gov/284/ Commission-Recruitment and must be submitted by December 1. Interviews will take place in January, and successful applicants will be appointed by the Town Council at the meeting on January 12th. For additional information, contact City Clerk Marie Sunseri at (925) 314-3401 or msunseri@danville.ca.gov.
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October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 7
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PAGE 8 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
CATCH UP ON SOME “Zs”
VIRTUAL CHATS AND FUN! By Jaime Kaiman, Monte Vista High, sophomore
People today are living through history. The Coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has allowed for realizations to surface about how much we took for granted the little things in life. Two of those things, we’re going to discuss today: social interactions and entertainment. Last issue, I talked about how school looks differently than what it typically did. Within that, I grazed the topic of how certain services and activities have helped me stay in touch with my friends outside of the school walls. Additionally, school was one of the main ways young people could find different activities to entertain ourselves. With clubs, dances, and sporting events, life before the pandemic was nothing short of exciting and fun! All of those aspects have changed now due to the Coronavirus. On Sunday, September 13th, I conducted a phone interview of three of my close friends, Ali W., Matthew C., and Maylin S., all of whom are from Generation Z. I asked them a few questions on how their social lives have changed, and what they’re doing at this time to stay connected and entertained in quarantine. Here is what they said: How have you been spending your time in quarantine? Ali W. - I’ve been doing a lot of reading and writing, especially in the beginning of quarantine. I’ve definitely been trying new hobbies and have been studying French! Do you ever find yourself missing the social interactions of outside life? Matthew C. - Yeah, it’s just an entirely different connection when you’re next to other people! I can’t play as many sports with my friends either. What’s a skill you’ll be able to take away from quarantine? Maylin S. - Well, I’m learning a new language! Does binge watching count? Also, I’m going to say baking because I never really got into that until quarantine! All in all, the social lives and entertainment of this generation, and truly all generations, has shifted. We have to think twice about ideas and activities that we would’ve done in a heartbeat in the past. However, just like what my friends said, although it may be difficult and strange to not be able to have a face-to-face conversation with someone, there are a lot of different ways to communicate and have fun, at a safe distance! Next issue, I will talk about how the holidays might look in these unprecedented times.
SAN RAMON VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY By Jamie Westgate, Principal
San Ramon Valley Christian Academy (SRVCA) is anticipating lots of good news to come in this next month as we make final preparations to welcome all students back for in-person learning. Although we’ve been able to celebrate many successes with distance learning, we recognize that in-person learning provides a better opportunity to master material, build relationships, and disciple students; therefore we look forward to having our Eagles come in for a landing! Beginning October 1, our preschool students (affectionately known as “eaglets”) will begin meeting with teachers and peers for indoor and outdoor classroom activities. Hearing preschool songs float through the hallways will be music to my ears! With special procedures in place, we feel confident about our ability to provide a safe, clean environment with plenty of space to honor social distancing guidelines. Unless there is an unexpected spike in Contra Costa County’s COVID-19 case reporting, our TK-8th grade classes will all resume for full-day learning on campus on Monday, October 19. Many of our procedures and policies have changed in order to comply with county and state guidelines for schools. We’ve hired additional team members to provide supervision and guided play during recess. Students will move into larger spaces on our campus in order to honor the recommended protocol. We’ve even purchased UV lighting equipment and germbuster spray machines to provide ongoing sanitation and cleanliness in classroom, hallways, outdoor spaces, lunchroom facilities, and restrooms. There is still much to do, including training for parents on new apps to help with drop-off and pick-up procedures, assembling of 50 desks to accommodate new students, and adjusting recess and lunch schedules to ensure cohorts are contained.
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Milly continued from front page
the collaboration Milly and the Youth Homes artists have worked on clay, dreamcatchers, growing succulents, paper mache masks, and more. The clients artwork is all so unique and different. Currently the focus is on clay projects which has been a favorite art medium for both Milly and the clients. There is continuity with the clay projects because the youth have to return the items to Milly to fire, and afterwards they get to select glaze colors and return for a final firing. Milly notes, “It gives us all TAY creations. something to look forward to and share with each other. I love opening up the kiln to see what their creations turn out like.” Milly can interact directly with the TAY clients as they are over the age of 18 and considered adults. Most of them live in the Concord, Antioch, and Pittsburg areas. One of them noted, “I like the different activities we get to do. I haven’t painted in a long time, and I am excited. I also like that we get to do the groups from home.” It is tough to consistently engage young people who have transitioned out of foster homes. COVID has worsened some depressive symptoms and has been a problem for young people already struggling with mental illness. Milly hosts an instructional Zoom session to go over the art projects. It allows everyone involved to collaborate, communicate, and connect with each other. She says, “It brings me joy when I see the kids are engaged and having fun. I am grateful for what I have, and I want to share my love for art with other people.” When everyone is able to be out together again Milly hopes to put on an art show with all of the great work to showcase the wonderful creations that have been made. Youth Homes focuses on helping young people rebuild their lives, and infuses hope and possibility into families. Visit their website at www.youthomes.org to learn more. Visit Milly’s blog at https://millyrjohn.wixsite.com/lovemilly. We recognize that God has been so gracious to SRVCA through this pandemic season. Not only has our community experienced good health, but families have created new memories at home, teachers and students have been empowered with new technology skills, and God’s revealed Himself to us in ways we likely never experienced. A scripture that perfectly captures this is Psalm 126:3: “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Overall, we’re thrilled about our opportunity to soon live into our one-word theme for the school year: Together.
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SAN R AMON VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
By Liz Pagano, Interim Principal
October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 9
11 Critical Home Inspection Traps to be Aware of Weeks Before Listing Your Danville, Alamo Home for Sale Danville-Alamo - According to industry experts,
altogether. In most cases, you can make a
I am excited to be there are over 33 physical problems that will come reasonable pre-inspection yourself if you know what serving San Ramon Valley under scrutiny during a home inspection when your you're looking for, and knowing what you're looking High School as interim home is for sale. A new report has been prepared for can help you prevent little problems from growing principal. Since beginning which identifies the eleven most common of these into costly and unmanageable ones. To help homesellers deal with this issue before the position just a couple weeks ago, I have already problems, and what you should know about them their homes are listed, a free report entitled "11 come to love this vibrant and active community. before you list your home for sale. Whether you own an old home or a brand new one, Things You Need to Know to Pass Your Home Even though we all look forward to the day when there are a number of things that can fall short of Inspection" has been compiled which explains the we can return to school safely, remote learning has issues involved. not stopped this community from coming together. requirements during a home inspection. If not To hear a brief recorded message about how to Recently, drive-by activities have replaced our identified and dealt with, any of these 11 items could cost you dearly in terms of repair. That's why it's order your FREE copy of this report call toll-free 1traditional in-person events. We had a drive-by 844-941-0941 and enter 1003. You can call any time, club fair and now have over 60 active clubs on critical that you read this report before you list your 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. campus (remotely, of course). In addition, we had home. If you wait until the building inspector flags these issues for you, you will almost certainly Get your free special report NOW to learn how to a senior celebration in which seniors were encourexperience costly delays in the close of your home ensure a home inspection doesn't cost you the sale aged to decorate their cars as they drove through to of your home. wave to teachers, pick up spirit wear, and, perhaps sale or, worse, turn prospective buyers away This report is courtesy of The Jackson Group-EXP Realty DRE #01763819. Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract. Copyright © most importantly, register to vote! 2019 San Ramon students are shining academically as well. We have had students recognized for their ST. ISIDORE SCHOOL excellent work on the PSAT, for their contributions to Girls and Boys State, and for excelling in computing skills. Our students are truly amazing. By Carol Bender, Principal If this has all happened in my first two-weeks here, I can’t wait to see what THE SEASONS ARE UPON US happens next. Thank you to the entire community for their warm welcome. I look October: the initial invitation commencing the holiday forward to getting to know you virtually and in person over the coming months! season. The leaves on the trees begin to change, and the air becomes crisp. In most recent times, we have learned that we can not control the narrative that will emerge. Our MONTE VISTA HIGH SCHOOL neighboring counties have encountered fires’ affliction, By Dr. Kevin Ahern, Principal devastating their homes and communities. These are As Monte Vista (MV) enters the third month of areas we often escape to for places of renewal and a chance the school year, our students and staff are continuing to get away. From afar, we feel blessed knowing we are not directly impacted, but to work together with distance learning and making we desperately want to know how we can provide outreach. This month, we plan the most of their virtual classrooms. I am happy to to support those affected by the fires with a drive-thru donation day. report that despite the different modality, there is an PARTNERING FOR CHANGE incredible amount of learning going on, which is a Please join the St. Isidore Knights of Columbus on Tuesday, October 20th, true testament to our amazing students and educators. from 4:30pm-8pm, for a “Dine and Donate” event that benefits people with inWith Contra Costa County moving from purple into tellectual disabilities. The “Tips for Change” evening will be held at Gianni’s the red tier, we are excited about the possibility of returning to school in a Restaurant in San Ramon, located at 2065 San Ramon Valley Blvd. All tips hybrid form in January. There a lot of things to prepare, but we are up to the and 10% of sales will go directly to the cause. To place your order, visit www. task, especially if it means seeing our students back on campus. giannissanramon.com or call 925-820-6969. It’s a win-win! In mid-September, six MV seniors were named as National Merit Scholars, RETURN TO SCHOOL UPDATE and an additional 45 earned academic commendations. These recognitions Contra Costa County recently announced an improved Covid-19 status from come with our high success rate on the PSAT, which is a nationally normed purple (widespread) to red (substantial). The number of Covid cases has decreased, exam. Due to COVID, our district plans to offer the PSAT in January 2021. which is excellent news! This designation requires the county to sustain this level We are looking forward to our students’ success on this exam when they have for two weeks for students to return to campus without a waiver. Therefore, we are the opportunity. tentatively planning Opening Day for our students to return safely on campus. While The virtual environment at MV has not clouded our focus on equity either. the logistics are still being reviewed, we plan to return to on-site with a modified This October, Dr. Lori Watson will be working with a select team of students schedule in mid-October. We are thrilled that students will soon return to learn! and staff to see how we can have deeper conversations about race and diversity LIVE WITH PEACE IN YOUR HEART at MV as well as how we can better build a school culture that fully embraces At St. Isidore School, we use the Gospel Values to guide how best to live our lives. our very diverse community. This program will carry on throughout the school In October, our community will explore together the Gospel Value of “peace.” Peace year. We are very excited to welcome Dr. Watson. can come in different forms: peace with God, peace with others, and peace inside In addition, we are partnering with our PTSA in co-sponsoring MV’s first ourselves. All offer a sense of completeness, fulfillment, wholeness, harmony, and ever Monte Vista Reads, a program where we are inviting our entire school well-being that make life better. When we live with peace in our hearts, we truly community to read Stamped, Jason Reynold’s adaptation of Ibram Kendi’s make the world a better place. Stamped from the Beginning and participate in a community building conST. ISIDORE SCHOOL VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE – YOU’RE INVITED! versation around the book. Our virtual kickoff event will be held on October On Friday, October 23rd, at 10am, we will host a virtual Open House for grades nd 22 . I want to thank MV’s Equity TSA Carrie Leadingham and MVPTSA’s TK–8. Open House will be flexible and allow you to engage at your own pace. Heather Shepard and Bridgit Pelley for putting this event together. It’s an opportunity to learn about our school, meet our teachers, and tour our In closing, I would like to thank the MV community for your support campus. A live Q & A will follow. Please RSVP on our website, www.stisidore.org. through this strange time. We look forward to the time we can all see each We always appreciate the opportunity to share St. Isidore School with you and other again, whether on the field or court, or at the theater. look forward to the time when we can welcome you to our campus to participate in one of our community events. We wish you good health and continued safety!
PAGE 10 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
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HELP WANTED: HOW CITIZEN COMMISSIONS AND BOARDS SHAPE COMMUNITIES By County Supervisor Candace Andersen
A global pandemic. Wildfires across the state. Upcoming elections. With so many consequential events currently underway, many individuals are more politically mindful than ever. Some residents, however, are unaware of how to get involved in their communities and make a difference locally. In Contra Costa County, there are a variety of citizen commissions, committees, and other entities formed to advise the Board of Supervisors and County staff on issues and policy. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of these bodies, and how much myself and the other County Supervisors value their work and findings. County commissions and boards are created as a result of state and federal legislation, agreements with public or private agencies, and local needs. They serve as links to our community, expanding the dialogue between the public and the county government, and enhancing the quality of life for our residents. We welcome the participation of our residents and have a wide variety of positions available. Some of our appointed bodies have very targeted, specific focus, while others have broad-based jurisdictional responsibilities. Elected officials, including County Supervisors, sit on some of these entities; most are comprised of people who have an interest in a facet of local government and are to be thanked for giving their time and expertise. For information on Boards & Commissions, including the complete local appointments list and the application process, visit contracosta.ca.gov. Use the District Locator to find out which supervisorial district you live in; many appointments are specific to the boundaries of each district. Alamo and most Danville and San Ramon residents live in District 2. However, Blackhawk, Diablo, and unincorporated Danville residents live in District 3. Applications may be submitted online, by mail, or by email. You are also able to view agendas through the online Agenda Center - Citizen Advisory Body Meeting Agendas. In my district, there are openings for a very important advisory body. The Alamo Municipal Advisory Council, more commonly referred to as the Alamo MAC, currently has vacancies, and we are accepting applications. The Alamo MAC advises me and my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors on issues and concerns related to county services provided to the unincorporated area of Alamo. These issues and concerns address matters such as parks and recreation, lighting and landscaping, land use and code enforcement, public safety, transportation, and other infrastructure. First established in 2009, the Alamo MAC is comprised of nine members, all Alamo residents, with terms of four years. There are seven appointees, one alternate, and one youth representative. When we are not in the middle of a pandemic, the Alamo MAC meets the first Tuesday of every month at 6pm at the Alamo Women’s Club, located at 1401 Danville Blvd. inAlamo. Meetings are open to the public. However, with COVID and Health order restrictions on gathering, the MAC meets via Zoom, and the login information is included with each agenda. There are no term limits, but each of these terms is coterminous with the District 2 Supervisor’s election every four years. Because I was re-elected last March, I officially begin my next term in January 2021. Current terms of MAC members expire at the end of the year, and I am currently recruiting to fill vacancies. Cameron Collins on my staff is the Alamo Representative for my office. You may email her at Cameron.Collins@bos.cccounty.us if you have questions about the work of the Alamo MAC. The MAC website is www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/3595/Alamo. Neighboring Danville also has several commissions and committees that its residents may serve on. These are a great way to get to know your community better and to join others with similar interests in improving the local quality of life. Danville’s boards include Arts Advisory Board, which is responsible for promoting interest and support for the arts within the community at large; the Danville Youth Council, for Middle and High School students; the Design Review Board, which assists the Town Council and Planning Commission in reviewing and evaluating proposed site design, architecture, signs, and landscaping; the Heritage Resource Commission, which establishes the criteria for identifying and protecting historic sites; the Historic Design Review Committee, which reviews proposed alterations to designated heritage resources; the Parks, Recreation & Arts Commission, which advises the Town Council on acquiring, developing, and maintaining park and recreation facilities; the Planning Commission, which serves the Town Council by recommending a comprehensive long term general plan for the physical development of the Town and reviews all planning and development proposals; and the Senior Advisory Commission, which reviews existing programs and facilities serving seniors. Danville residents interested in serving on a commission in a voluntary capacity should visit Danville.ca.gov for application questions, openings, and other information. I began my public service by applying for and being appointed to two City Commissions 29 years ago, back in 1991. I learned very quickly that I did not need to be a Mayor or County Supervisor to make a difference and shape the future of my community. The commissions and advisory bodies our county and local cities have to offer are fun and unique opportunities to give back. I believe the vast majority of individuals will find at least one they feel addresses an issue they feel passionate about. Whether it be concerns over development or an irritating pothole you have to drive over every day, serving on an advisory body is a great way to bring about change in your community and have your voice be heard when decisions are made. To read more information on advisory boards throughout other parts of our county, visit contracosta.ca.gov. If you have any questions, feel free to contact my office at 925-957-8860 or at SupervisorAndersen@bos.cccounty.us.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
White Pony Express (WPE) is a nonprofit group dedicated to helping end hunger and poverty in Contra Costa County. The program has been so well received that additional volunteers are urgently needed to help keep up with its rapid growth. There are volunteer roles available for individuals, families, and groups. Seven days a week, WPE Food Rescue volunteers take trucks to supermarkets, restaurants, and farmers markets where they pick up thousands of pounds of surplus food—high quality, nourishing food including fresh meats, dairy, eggs, produce, and deli items. Most all of this food is distributed free-of-charge to those in need within two hours of the donation. In its first four years, WPE delivered more than 6,000,000 pounds of food (equivalent to 5,000,000 meals) that the hungry would have gone without. In addition to rescuing food, WPE collects donations (by appointment) of new or like-new clothing, shoes, toys, games, and books. More than 400,000 of these items have been distributed to those in need—all free of charge. To learn more, visit www.whiteponyexpress.org, email gsop@whiteponyexpress.org, or call their Hotline at 925-322-0604.
GO '10-8' WITH CHIEF SHIELDS
The ongoing Shelter in Place order has prevented the Danville Police Department from continuing programs like Coffee with the Cops, which allowed police a chance to directly interact with the community in a non-threatening environment. Not to be deterred, Danville Police Chief Allan Shields is coming to you via Facebook Live in a new community program called “10-8.” “10-8” is the radio code every officer says at the start of their shift and every time they finish helping someone and are ready to help someone else. “10-8” seemed to be a great title for the weekly program to reinforce to residents and businesses that the officers in Danville are here in service to the community. Come join the “10-8” meeting every Wednesday at 5PM on Facebook Live. Each program will have updates on what is happening in the Town of Danville, crime prevention tips, and answers to viewer questions. Community members can email questions to mailbag@danville.ca.gov. Questions can also be asked in the comment section on the Facebook Live. The Facebook page is “Danville Police Department.”
10-8
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October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 11
VALLEY VIGNETTE By Beverly Lane
PARKS, PART 4 ~ MODERN LOCAL PARK EFFORTS
In 1970, there were still no local San Ramon Valley parks with the fields, courts, and tot-lots which the new suburban residents expected. One organization, the Valley Committee for Parks, did try to preserve local areas for parks and pursued having housing developers pay a park fee for each new home. San Ramon attorney Byron Athan led these efforts. By 1974, the Valley Community Services District (VCSD) serving Dublin and south San Ramon passed a park dedication ordinance and persuaded Alameda County to do the same. They argued that the local parks would serve the new residents and help sustain the value of the homes. Nevertheless, developers successfully opposed such fees for years. Contra Costa’s fee began in 1971.
LOCAL PARKS BEGIN
The first local parks in the valley appeared in South San Ramon and Dublin as part of the Volk-McLain Communities Inc. developments. Using the vehicle of the VCSD, parks became another government service provided by this bi-county special district. In 1970, a Park and Recreation Bond was passed by district voters which built Shannon Community Center, and several local parks and pools at Dublin and California High Schools. About that time, some recreation programming was initiated by a new San Ramon Valley Community Center Board, funded by a small portion of the property tax which the School District was able to enact (pre-Proposition 13). Beginning in 1970, drug use and youth riots had impelled concerned citizens to organize a variety of services through the Center. There were sport programs, counseling services, plus senior programs. The School District’s Mike Halloran led the way. In the northern part of the valley, a County Service Area for parks, R7, was established at the June 4, 1974, election in which voters approved a $0.25 per hundred dollars AV tax. The boundaries extended from Alamo to the VCSD northern boundary, excluding Round Hill R7committee and staff. Top row: Tom Hanson, Ed Best, and Diablo Country Clubs. When George McCauley, and Dick McNeely. Bottom row: Frankie R7 began, $153,000 was available Ross, Jim Aigeltinger, Sandra Myers, and Ron Crane. from the new park dedication fees. The R7 committee was appointed by the County Supervisor, and they proceeded with gusto to plan parks. The committee hired a plane and generated an aerial map of the valley. Beginning with the most populated parts of Alamo and Danville, Oak Hill and Front Street Parks were established. Grants were also made to schools for field renovations and other improvements. Today’s Hap Magee Ranch Park and the Bartlett Ranch on La Gonda Way (now homes) were also seen as potential parks. In San Ramon, some land for today’s Central Park was purchased, and Bollinger Park land came from developer Carl Dame, which was reluctantly accepted because of land instability. Grants from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund enabled the R7 committee to purchase Oak Hill Park, which became the first park developed, located on the border of Danville and Alamo. VCSD (later renamed the Dublin San Ramon Services District) and the R7 Committee relied on property taxes, and when Proposition 13 passed in June of 1978, funds for parks and recreation programs were reduced by 60%. In San Ramon and Dublin, volunteers tried to make up the difference. When a vote to raise funds for parks in Dublin and San Ramon was attempted in December of 1978, it lost. Park development slowed to a snail’s pace throughout the valley.
IRON HORSE REGIONAL TRAIL
One other facility deserves mention since it provides a recreation and commute amenity throughout the entire San Ramon Valley: the Iron Horse Regional Trail. In 1978, the Southern Pacific Railroad had abandoned its right of way and people were informally using the corridor to walk and hike. There was talk about putting light rail on the right of way, and the County purchased most of it with state funds marked for mass transit. In 1984, Bick Hooper, a biker and hiker, and Beverly Lane, then Mayor of Danville, convened a like-minded group of trail enthusiasts which organized as the Right of Way Trail Advocates (ROWTA). Hooper became the first President. The first members included San Ramon Councilmembers Mary Lou Oliver and John Meakin, Mayor Lane, SRV horseman Al Kaplan, R-7 (Alamo) member Wanda Longnecker, Boy Scout representative Dan Sundeen, park and transit advocate Patrick Whittle, League of Women Voters representative Silvia Lin, biker Phil Coleman, and residents Tim Tinnes, Rich Parsons, R.O.W.T.A. parade banner 1986. Dan Goldstein and Susanne Layden. County Supervisor Bob Schroder was convinced by these advocates to support the trail with the proviso that, should light rail become possible, the trail could be shifted to one side of the right of way. With the support of the two cities, the county and the East Bay Regional Park District, the Iron Horse Trail was established in the right-of-way from Concord to San Ramon. By 2018, the Trail had over one million users, and in 2020, the trail stretches 34.3 miles from Concord to Livermore.
PARKS FOR PEOPLE
After Danville and San Ramon incorporated in 1982 and 1983, parks came under their control, and both communities produced the parks which advocates had dreamed about in the previous decade. Both cities now have outstanding parks. In Alamo, the R7A/R7 committee provided parks and recreational programming, including the popular Livorna Park, sweet downtown Andrew J. Young Park, and the new Hemme Ranch Park. The committee pursued school field renovations and helped finance the Monte Vista High School pool. Today, parks provide what the Health Departments describe as an “essential activity” for people to exercise and recreate in this weird pandemic year. The San Ramon Valley is fortunate to have parks and trails brought to us over many decades, by multiple hard-working volunteers.
PAGE 12 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
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QUICK TRIPS By Linda Summers Pirkle
STORYWALK IN SAN RAMON
The 251 Club in Vermont is just the kind of club I want to join. There is no need to participate in meetings, or pay memberships, and it involves discovering off-the-beaten path destinations in the lovely state of Vermont. It was in 1954 when an informal group was formed after countless readers of a column in Vermont Life Magazine queried, “How can I come to know the real Vermont?” Today, there are over 6,000 members who travel by car, foot, or any other conveyance to visit every one of the 251 towns and cities of Vermont. At the top on my list of cities to visit in Vermont is Montpelier, named Montpelier, Vermont after a town in the southern part of France. The smallest capital in the nation, with a population of just under 8,000, Montpelier is known for its big heart and passionate people. It is home to the state’s largest National Register of Historic Places district. Montpelier’s downtown area, according to Dan Groberg, Executive Director of Montpelier Alive, is especially stunning this time of year with a backdrop of lovely fall foliage. Groberg recommends a visit to the College Hill neighborhood with its beautiful homes as well as Vermont College of Fine Arts campus (founded in 1868) which was once a Civil War hospital. Besides historic buildings, a charming downtown, lovely homes and the oldest operating State House in the U.S., Montpelier is also the birthplace of StoryWalk Project. In 2007, Anne Ferguson, founder of StoryWalk, had a great idea but did not know just how well it would be received. Her idea was simple. She wanted to take the pages from a children’s picture book, attach each on to a stake, and line them up along a path for folks to enjoy and read. Ms. Ferguson, who at the time was working as a chronic disease prevention specialist, knew that she wanted to create something different, fun, and interesting. She had tried various approaches involving children but soon discovered that parents stood around chatting while the children were physically active. She wanted to create something where parents had to be as active as the children. “In order to keep people of all ages moving along on a walk,” Ms. Ferguson explained, “I knew I needed books with minimal text that would appeal to all ages (especially children) and10/1/2020 that could fit into families’ busy schedules. ” She discovered if sheyour usedown books without Word Search Generator that :: Create printable word find altering the text or the page in any way, she could use the book without needing to ask for permission. Her first book was David Ezra Stein’s book Leaves. She started preparing it for posting. She selected the most popular path in a local park in her hometown, Montpelier. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Today, with the help of Kellogg-Hubbard in Montpelier, MAKE YOURLibrary OWN WORKSHEETS ONLINE @StoryWalk WWW.ATOZTEACHER Project has spread to all 50 states and 15 foreign countries. The project is supported solely by donations from the public and is all about promoting early literacy, physical activity, and family time together in nature. NAME:_______________________________ DATE:_____ My daughters, granddaughter, and I recently visited StoryWalk in Central Park, San Ramon. Along a curved pathway starting near the flag poles, we wound our way through a rose garden and under lovely trees to read the book Daniel Finds a Poem by Micha Archer; each page is mounted on a stand at 17 consecutive stations. It tells a sweet story about a little boy’s animal friends who help him discover the poetry in nature, a perfect a choice for Central Park with its stately redwood trees, rose bushes, fountains, and open spaces. Central Park is located at San Ramon Civic Montpelier, Vermont Center, 12501 Alcosta Blvd., San Ramon. Linda Summers Pirkle, a travel writer, Francophile, consultant and long-term R M E M U T S O C N J M A Q R S A Danville resident, has arranged and led tours for the Town of Danville for several years. To share your “Quick Trips” ideas, email Coverthemap@gmail.com. Q A Z E K A R Y I O O K K W S Z K
October OCTOBER WORD SEARCH
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
Neighborhood Watch is a community action and problem-solving program and one of the most effective means available for resolving issues within your community. Through organized problem-solving activities, your block can remove crime from your neighborhood and address any community issues that concern residents. The Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff will be hosting meetings via Zoom. If you have any questions or are interested in finding out more information, please email the Community Services Unit at csu@so.cccounty.us.
MT. DIABLO BRANCH CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB
Christopher Locke will discuss “The Power of Book Reviews and How to Garner Them,” at the next Zoom workshop of the Mt. Diablo branch of the California Writers Club. The workshop will be held on Saturday, October 10th from 9:30AM to noon during a virtual branch meeting. Excellent reviews can greatly increase your book’s success, but garnering reviews can be a challenging endeavor in the saturated book market. Independent Book Publisher’s Association Member Liaison and author-publisher, Locke will discuss strategic planning for obtaining consumer and trade reviews, whether or not to consider paid reviews, and more. Locke worked in television for over a decade before pursuing his passion, the YA book series to inspire the next generation of animal enthusiasts. He also assists members of the Independent Book Publishers Association in their publication journeys. The cost of the meeting is $20 for members and $35 for guests. Register online at https://cwcmtdiablo.org/current-cwc-mt-diablo-meeting. Once registered, you will receive a link for the Zoom meeting. Learn more about the group at cwcmtdiablo.org.
Y X W A G P P K X N B T X V R A Z N F T B
N J L I U Z E J N R E T N A L O K C A J U
• BAT • BOO • CANDY • CIDER • CORN • COSTUME • DIABLO
O L B E R G U B Z J U A R R R B R E D I C
T V W T S E V R A H R E W I U A E I P K X
E F H X T G B T R Q Z R A Z C V W Y K E P
L K A S E I B M O Z N T J T O K T I E K L
E O L S B M M L M O J T H F V V X R T I G
K O L O O C O R N T O S J X R E I M R C K
• EERIE • HALLOWEEN • HARVEST • JACKOLANTERN • LEAVES • MASK • MUMMY
S V O Y E Y Z P E V Q T Y S O E A X T K H
E H W F Y B V K L B P B E W P G P X P X S
R U E X V P U M P K I N A S Q I G J O S J
• OCTOBER • ORANGE • PUMPKIN • RAKE • SCARECROW • SKELETON • SPIDER
C A E S G F J Q F Y S R P P T C D L G M Q
O T N X R Y G E L E A V E S M P B E G A C
E T O G W Y O Y M M U M L V Q A T B R S A
K S H B E S C A R E C R O W I O B E P K N
• SPOOKY • TREAT • TRICK • VAMPIRE • WEB • WITCH • ZOMBIES
L X J Y E S P O O K Y D Z D K I R W E B D
V V B A T R V A M P I R E P W E G O V X Y
See answers on page 26
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October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 13
PAGE 14 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
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ACTION POOL REPAIR
Once you open your ballot, do your homework! Talk to friends and neighbors to get their recommendations on ballot measures and candidates. Watch Serving Alamo & Danville Since 1979! candidates’ forums being conducted via Zoom. A great source of non-partisan information about all candidates and ballot measures is available at www. votersedge.org, sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Fill out your ballot, and seal it in the privacy envelope that makes sure to keep your vote secret. Take the privacy envelope, seal it into the outer envelope, and sign your name where it is requested on the outer envelope. If you are unsure how you signed your name when you registered to vote, look at the signature on your driver’s license as the Elections Department will use www.actionpoolrepair.com that signature for confirmation. Every single signature on every mail ballot yourpoolman@hotmail.com is confirmed by Elections Department staff. You will be notified if your return envelope is missing your signature or if the signature provided does not match the signature on file. You’ll be given a chance to provide or verify your signature so your ballot can be counted. Contractor Lic# 978033-C53 For the first time, Alamo voters have a secure ballot box drop-off location in central Alamo. The box is located in front of the Five Guys restaurant in Alamo Plaza (to the right side of Safeway). Drop boxes are open to accept your ballots beginning October 5th and will be available until 8pm on Election Day November 3rd. County employees check the box daily to retrieve ballots. Danville has two secure ballot box drop-off locations: Danville Park & Ride at the Sycamore Valley Road exit off I-680 and Danville Maintenance Center, located at 1000 Sherburne Hills Road. Danville voters, please note: DO NOT drop your ballot off at Town Hall as you could in previous elections. The office is not open due to the pandemic, and there is no way to leave your ballot as the front door is locked at all times. Please use the two Danville ballot drop-off locations. Voters who are unable to use the ballot drop-off boxes can mail their ballot from anywhere in the U.S., no stamp required. Ballots must be postmarked by November 3rd and received by November 17th in order to be counted. Some voters feel more comfortable voting or dropping off their ballot in person, so the County provides several options. Early voting locations are open from 11am to 7pm on Friday, October 30th, Monday, November 2nd, and from 9am to 5pm on Saturday, October 31st. You must bring your mail-in ballot and surrender it in order to vote in person. If you have lost your mail in ballot, you will be required to vote in a provisional ballot envelope which will only be counted if your other ballot was not received. There is no way for a voter to vote twice in this election due to these security procedures. Poll workers will have electronic polling books with real-time cellular connections to verify whether your ballot was received if there are any questions. You can also drop off your sealed and signed mail ballot at the early voting site during the hours listed. The only early voting site in our area is located at the Stone Valley Chapel of the Latter-Day Saints, located at 2949 Stone Valley Road in Alamo. Masks will be required at early voting sites, and social distancing protocols will be in place. If you are in line at an early voting location when the location closes, you have the right to stay in line, and you will be helped when it is your turn. You can also re-register to vote or register to vote for the first time at an early voting site. Finally is the big day: Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2020. If you’ve been procrastinating and haven’t taken advantage of all of the steps above, you can still register! You can still vote! All polling places will be open. As with early voting sites, you can drop off your signed and sealed mail-in ballot, or you can surrender your mail ballot and vote in person. Polling places are open 8am to 8pm on Election Day. If you are in line at 8pm when the polls close, stay in line, and you will be able to vote. You can also register to vote for the first time at a polling place and cast your vote. If you’re an Alamo resident, your precinct will be one of two polling places: San Ramon Valley United Methodist Church, located at 902 Danville Boulevard, and at the Stone Valley Chapel of Latter-Day Saints, located at 2949 Stone Valley Road. If you’re a Danville resident, there are five polling places including Blackhawk Country Club, Danville Town Meeting Hall on Front Street, Greenbrook Elementary, Peace Lutheran Church, and St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. Check your ballot or the cocovote.us website for your polling place. Diablo voters vote at the Diablo Country Club clubhouse. Your civic duty is done! Put on the “I VOTED” sticker that will be included with your ballot materials, and sit back and watch the election returns.
925.820.3640
ADAS PRESENTS OIL PAINTER
Join the Alamo Danville Artists’ Society for their October meeting with oil painter Deirdre G. Shibano The meeting will be held at the Alamo Women’s Club, 1401 Danville Blvd., on Tuesday, October 13th at 7:30pm. Well known for her beautiful landscape paintings in plein-air, Shibano is also an award-winning artist, specializing in portraiture and figurative work. Her work is in private collections across the United States, and abroad. Originally educated at the Art Students League in NYC, she received the Merit Scholarship Award for Excellence and The Ford Foundation Grant, among other noteworthy recognitions. Art Critic, Brian Sherwin notes, “Artist Deirdre Shibano’s plein-air paintings are marked by an alluring sense of calm. Her work invites viewers to take a step back in order to appreciate the intrinsic beauty of nature. This wonderful sense of calm is carried over when Deirdre explores the human figure, her figure paintings offer a point of introspection. Her body of work is simply a joy to observe.” The meeting topic will be “Portrait Drawing,” also known as “scaffolding the head.” Shibano has often said, “Portraiture is so much more challenging than many genres of art...we can move a barn, a tree, or even a river in a painting, but when we put a person's nose in the wrong place... well, it just doesn't work!" For more information visit adas4art.org.
SYMBOL SEARCH See answers on page 26
Find more puzzles at www. superwordsearchpuzzles.com
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October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 15
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PAGE 16 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
CLIP NOTES
By Jody Morgan
Audubon was intrigued by a Louisville, Kentucky neighbor’s description of a tree that housed numerous roosting swallows. He soon discovered the specimen in question to be a large sycamore. He estimated its height to be about sixty or seventy feet and its diameter to be as much as eight feet. Tapping the trunk, he found the tree to be solid, but hollow. No birds were on site in the daylight, but upon returning that evening, Audubon observed thousands of swallows entering the tree through a hole in a broken two-foot wide branch. In John James Audubon: The Making of an American, Richard Rhodes quotes Audubon’s description of his encounter with the swallows and their sycamore haven at dawn the next day. “Suddenly, I thought the great tree was giving way and coming down upon me. Instinctively, I sprung from it, but when I looked up to it again, what was my astonishment to see it standing as firm as ever. The Swallows were now pouring out of it in a black continued stream.” Anxious to see the interior, the intrepid 23-year-old birder scaled the trunk, but peering through the swallows’ entryway yielded no view of their roosting space. Characteristically undaunted, Audubon enlisted a woodcutter to carve a hole at the base of the tree. The remaining shell was only eight or nine inches thick. Once inside, Audubon used a lantern to light the scene. Swallows clung to the entire interior surface. Audubon estimated the roosting company to be about 9,000 birds. The swallows continued to use the sycamore over the next five summers. Sometime after he had left Kentucky, Audubon learned that the tree was felled by a storm. Customarily called American sycamore, the species Audubon encountered in 1808 serving as a hollow swallow hotel is botanically designated Platanus occidentalis. Although its proper name translates as western plane tree, the species is native to eastern North America. The closely related species commonly called the western sycamore or California sycamore is indigenous to California. Both horticultural cousins are most at home in a riparian habitat along streambanks. However, their aggressive moisture-seeking roots and adaptability to a variety of soils help them tolerate the stressful lifestyle of street trees. They do require adequate water as fast-growing youths, but become drought tolerant as they mature. Sycamores can live in a favorable location for 400 years. Urban situations stunt their growth and shorten their lifespan, but sycamores are still apt to rapidly out-grow a roadside site. Compared to the current sycamore champion trees crowned by American Forests, a non-profit organization, the specimen described by Audubon was of modest proportions. Found in Ohio, the largest currently listed American sycamore is 124 feet high with a crown spreading 88 feet and a circumference of 432 inches. Residing in Stanislaus County, the tree designated California sycamore champion on November 6, 2019, is 106 feet high with a crown spread of 136 feet and a circumference of 355.7 inches. As a living wildlife refuge, the California sycamore provides shelter for red-tailed hawks and woodpeckers. Hummingbirds avail themselves of the fuzz found on the undersides of the large leaves to line their nests. Many types of birds feed on sycamore seed, and the caterpillars of the beautiful Western tiger swallowtail butterfly are nurtured by the foliage. The coarse-grained wood is difficult to split, making it ideal for use in butcher blocks. The wood is also fashioned into veneer and utilized as pulpwood. Native Americans harvested the inner bark for food and medicine. They wrapped bread for baking in the tough palmate leaves which measure as much as 10 inches across (more often seven to eight inches) and five inches long. Lovely to look at in the wild, the multi-colored patchwork of peeling bark often produces an unlovely look scattered across a cultivated landscape. Sycamore anthracnose, a commonly occurring fungal disease, disfigures the first growth of leaves on infected specimens and may cause complete defoliation by early summer. The tree recovers and puts out a second growth of leaves. The homeowner gets a double dose of leaf debris to rake. With the largest leaves of any deciduous native North American species, the sycamore’s fallen foliage is not an insignificant mess. Plant a sycamore if you have a large, ungroomed place where you can admire the golden leaves in the fall, watch the birds and squirrels enjoying the fruit, and witness the winter beauty of the bark. The sculptural effect of the unpredictably spreading and turning branches is dramatic.
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ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS (ADUs)
INCREASE YOUR INCOME, PROPERTY VALUE OR MAKE ROOM FOR LOVED ONES BY ADDING A BACKYARD HOME OR OFFICE By Beth McKnight, Perpetual Homes
It’s no news that there is a housing crisis in California. Most Californians simply cannot afford a decent house at the current price ranges. Many of us grapple with parents or adult children who simply cannot afford to live nearby. In order to solve this housing shortage, California has turned to backyard homes called ADU’s (accessory dwelling units). An ADU is simply a second small dwelling on the same grounds as your regular single-family home which can come in the form of a small house, backyard retreat, or even a home office.
WHO WOULD BE A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR ADDING AN ADU?
• Adults with aging parents who require financial support or in-home care • College students doing virtual learning at home • Kids who return as college grads needing an affordable place to live • Those in need of a home office • Adults that need a quiet space to get-away • Homeowners who need additional monthly income. In Alamo, ADU’s command approximately $3,600 per month.
ARE YOU WORKING FROM HOME?
More companies are allowing their employees to work from home which can be challenging. An air conditioned office shack can provide a perfect quiet retreat for someone that works from home. Prices start at $29,500.
Office shack (above) and interior (right).
The highly regarded ADU builder, Perpetual Homes, specializes in providing affordable, sustainable, turn-key backyard ADU’s in the Bay Area. Assembled off-site to ensure the highest standards of quality, with minimal disruption to the homeowner, Perpetual Homes offers a huge array of floor plans, exterior design options, and dwelling sizes that can range in size from the 120 sq.ft. office shack, a 430sq. ft. 1 bedroom, 1 bath, all the way up to a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,200 sq. ft. dwelling. To find out more about adding an ADU, please contact Kathy Anderson (owner DL1557865) at 925-980-2351 or via email at perpetualhomesadu@gmail.com or visit www.perpetualhomesadu.com. Advertorial
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WHY ADD SOLAR NOW?
BETTER FOR THE EARTH, BETTER FOR YOUR WALLET! By Cameron Grove, Better Earth Sustainability Consultant
There are many compelling reasons to add solar to your home or business. For some people, they love knowing they are doing something to help reduce their carbon footprint. There is a certain peace of mind that comes anytime we help, rather than hurt, our planet. Other people choose to go solar because of the many financial benefits.
A FEW OF THE FINANCIAL BENEFITS FOR ADDING SOLAR NOW
• Take advantage of the incredible tax benefits for adding solar that disappear by 2022. Right now, the federal government is reimbursing property owners 26% of the project cost to go solar in the form of a tax credit. This credit will be decreasing to 22% next year, and will be going down to 10% in 2022 for commercial businesses and 0% for residential. • Tax credits can be applied towards the costs of the new roof and solar as one project. Residences and commercial businesses can usually claim the arrays of the roof that have solar on it. This is a huge savings. • PG&E electricity rates continue to increase every year. Over the past 20 years, consumers have seen an average 6% annual increase of their electric rates. The average current cost of kilowatt hour from PG&E is $0.268. The average 25-year cost per solar kilowatt hour is $0.137. In the year 2020, PG&E electricity rates are scheduled to increase by over 12%. • No upfront money is required to go solar. There are several different financing options that can be tailored to fit individual situations. Take your average monthly utility bill throughout the year, and decrease it by 40-60%. This new payment will replace your PG&E bill and will stay low and fixed while the kilowatt hour rates at PG&E continue to rise and fluctuate throughout the year. • Avoid PG&E power black outs. With PG&E threatening more and more power shut-offs, going solar, along with a back-up battery, can insure that homeowners will have electricity during future outages. At night time, instead of buying energy from PG&E, you can use the energy stored in your battery, saving you even more money. • Increase the value to your home. Do you plan on moving? Homes that have a fully-owned solar system typically sell for 3-4% more in California. You can recoup the majority of the cost paid into a system at the sale of your home. • Monitor appliance energy usage. Do you ever wonder which of your appliances consume the most energy? We offer the CURB monitoring system which allows you to see your individual appliance consumption, helping you to be more conscious and efficient in your home. In addition to doing something good for the earth, there are many valid financial reasons to move to solar. To find out more about going solar, replacing your roof, or adding a back-up battery, email or call Cameron Grove, Better Earth Sustainability Consultant at (925) 216-6193 or cameron.grove@betterearth.solar, or visit www.betterearth.solar. Do it today. Your planet and your wallet will thank you! Advertorial
TREATS FOR THE TROOPS
Service group Delta Nu Psi has been collecting and sending fun foods and coffee to American servicemen and women located in the War Zones. To date, over 42,000 pounds of goodies have been sent! Unfortunately, with COVID in our midst, collections have been halted. However, a few packages are still being shipped. If you know of a service man or woman in the War Zone who would like a package, please send their contact information through the Delta Nu Psi website www.deltanupsi.org.
LAFAYETTE GARDEN CLUB
DIGGING DEEP WITH THE GODDESS GARDENER
The Lafayette Garden Club will host their monthly program on Thursday, October 8th at 10AM. The program will be held online via Zoom. Join the group as a guest, at no charge. Cynthia Brian will be the guest speaker. She is known for her column, “Digging Deep with the Goddess Gardener,” that runs in the Lamorinda Weekly newspaper. Cynthia is an author, actor, radio personality, and speaker. She will educate the group on “firescaping,” which is a very timely concern for all of us. Firescaping is something Cynthia knows and cares about as her home in Moraga was almost lost to wildfire last year. Her award-winning article about that experience was titled “Scary, Scary Night.” For more information, details on how to join the presentation, and membership information please email MaryanneKain@comcast.net.
MEALS ON WHEELS
Seniors in our community need your support! Meals on Wheels Diablo Region has been supporting seniors since 1968. Two of the programs, Meals on Wheels and Friendly Visitors, rely on volunteers. Your help is needed now more than ever. Volunteer drivers deliver meals to local homebound seniors through regular two hour shifts once per week or as substitute drivers. Friendly Visitors volunteers provide weekly one-hour companionship visits to isolated seniors. To volunteer for either program, please call (925)937-8311.
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PAGE 18 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
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EONF continued from front page
a deposit and persuaded NPS to partner with them in completing the purchase and funding restoration. The agreement, finalized in 1976, gives NPS physical ownership of the property and responsibility for public interpretive tours, enabling the Foundation to concentrate on artistic programming. EONF offers a variety of opportunities to area residents intrigued by supporting their mission: “To celebrate and promote the vision and legacy of Eugene O’Neill, America’s foremost playwright.” McCauley, notes: “If you are a practicing artist or a devotee of the arts, interested in programs led by professionals to expose our youth to theater and playwriting or have a love of theater, the Foundation would welcome your involvement at any level. Everyone has something to give.” Volunteer to usher at a play, help with a one-day event, or offer communication skills. Already the recipient of three Pulitzer prizes (Lost Horizon, 1920; Anna Christie, 1922 and Strange Interlude, 1928), O’Neill used funds from his 1936 Nobel Prize in Literature to buy 158 acres boasting unbroken views of Mount Diablo and build Tao House with Carlotta. Thanks to her dedicated care and the faithful companionship of their dalmatian dog Blemie, O’Neill found the peace he needed to compose some of his most famous plays including Long Day’s Journey into Night, for which he was posthumously awarded his fourth Pulitzer prize. “Virtual Gene,” a series of short informative video clips, launched this summer is available on the EONF website. A recent piece features actors and actresses describing their overwhelming sense of the playwright during nighttime performances with the light on in his study, watching and waiting to hear them speak his lines. In another selection, Board member Carolyn McGovern talks about a 1921 article in The Mentor, a monthly magazine, that characterizes Eugene as “the wayward son of a disappointed father.” Disciplined for disorderly conduct, O’Neill left Princeton University at the end of his freshman year (1906-1907) and Blemie and Carlotta celebrate their success in giving Eugene O'Neill spent time living in New York City amongst some rough the peaceful homelife necessary to company before contracting tuberculosis at the end of 1912. Tao House with Mt. Diablo in view. Photo courtesy of EONF. complete some of his most memorable After six months spent recovering at a sanatorium, he began writing plays. His characters and language drawn from life’s plays. Photo courtesy of EONF. most heartbreaking moments represent a complete departure from American theater offerings of the time. Eric Fraisher Hayes, EONF Artistic Director, turned disappointment into opportunity, responding to cancellation of 2020 live performances with a fresh, compelling approach to introducing O’Neill’s genius to an online audience. Dissatisfied by typical Zoom productions, Hayes writes: “A key ingredient to the magic of live theater comes from the dynamic energy exchanged when actors look into each other’s eyes and hear each other speak from the heart. I wanted these plays, despite being recorded, to capture that magic.” Working with the reality of COVID-19 restrictions, Hayes blocked the plays to maintain social distance between the performers, editing the scripts to justify the space between them. Hayes, who has directed 27 of O’Neill’s 51 extant scripts, is proud that EONF is the leading producer of O’Neill’s work both in frequency and range of offerings. He rejects the conventional opinion that only the best-known O’Neill plays are worthy of production. “It is exciting to work on a play with no
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Trash continued from front page
she found a few hours every week to assist those in need. I recently caught up with Suzanne and her husband at the Danville Farmers Market. We chatted about their current efforts to keep downtown Danville and nearby areas beautiful, one bag of trash at a time. Q. How and when did you get started in your pick-up-trash activities? A. Back in mid-June, we were going for our daily “coffee walk” through downtown Danville and noticed how the garbage was piling up around town. We decided that we needed to do something about it. So I did a little online research and purchased some “garbage grabbers” (officially identified as Grabber Reacher Tool for Elderly). The grabbers arrived the first week of July, and our mission to keep Danville clean began. Q. What are the most unique items you have found, and what are the most common items? A. The most unique was a $1,000,000 bill (funny money) and also a plunger. The most common items were paper covers for straws, Lysol wipes, masks, plastic straws, salt/pepper/sugar packets, and empty cans and bottles. Q. You mentioned you took your activities on a long weekend in Calistoga. Can you share your experience? A. We were not planning to take our garbage collecting activities with us on our weekend trip to Calistoga, so our garbage grabbers were left at home. However, because we pick up garbage as often as we do, we couldn’t ignore all the trash we saw as we walked from our hotel towards downtown Calistoga. So we turned back to our hotel and spoke with a housekeeping employee who provided us with plastic bags and gloves so we could pick up the trash. During our weekend stay, we collected 10 bags of garbage. Our actions inspired a local Calistoga resident to run outside (while still in her pajamas!) and inform us that she had a garbage grabber she used to collect errant socks from behind the washing machine, but upon seeing us, she now plans to use the grabber to carry on our efforts and keep Calistoga clean. Q. You say that you are now addicted to picking up trash. Do you look at the streets and trails in a different way now? A. Perhaps “addicted” was too strong of a word. Rather, we are more aware of the pervasive amount of garbage that accumulates in the streets of downtown Danville. We have also made a conscious choice to do something about it -- and we get a great deal of personal satisfaction from doing exactly that. In the 11 weeks that we have been picking up trash, we have collected
(and properly disposed of) 140 paper grocery bags of garbage that is no longer floating around our beautiful town. Q. Do you have any ideas that might raise awareness with the problem of trash around town? A. Perhaps the town should display “Please don’t litter” signs in parking lots, along the Ironhorse Trail, and downtown (similar to the “Mask Zone,” “Social Distancing,” etc. signs currently displayed) to raise awareness about how it is everyone’s responsibility to help keep Danville beautiful. Q. Do you receive any feedback from friends or passersby about your efforts? A. We receive many “thank you” comments and other words of encouragement as we go about our clean-up. One day, we even overhead a little boy proclaim to his mother, “I want to pick up garbage, just like them.” While we are self-motivated, these kind expressions from observers add a positive note to our day. Some of our friends have begun to introduce us to others as “this is the couple that goes around town picking up garbage.” We will need to come up with a more succinct name for our clean-up duo to make introductions easier -- perhaps “Trash-Busters”? If you would like to be a “trash-buster” and are in need of a garbage grabber, please email your contact info to editor@yourmonthlypaper.com, and we will set you up!
SRV GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
The San Ramon Valley Genealogical Society (SRVGS) was organized in 1985 with the idea of providing resources, assistance, and educational opportunities that would allow its members to successfully research their ancestry. To fulfill these goals, the society offers monthly meetings with speakers who present topics covering various aspects of genealogical research. The group publishes a monthly newsletter and offers several groups where members with common interests can meet and discuss their specific areas of research. SRVGS also provides resources ranging from a large selection of reference books, to information on local genealogical libraries. Classes are offered for the beginning researcher and those interested in genetic DNA. There are many educational opportunities and Zoom presentations currently available to explore genealogy from the safety of your own home. To become a member, visit srvgensoc.org, and click on the “Join SRVGS” tab on the left side of the Home page.
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FUNDING YOUR LIVING TRUST – CRITICAL ISSUES
By Robert J. Silverman, Attorney at Law
As I frequently advise, establishing and titling assets in a Revocable Living Trust (“Trust”) is typically optimal, whether you are married or unmarried. Trust titling enables effective access and control of your property and accounts by you, as trustee (and upon your incapacity and/or death, by your appointed successor trustee). Upon your death, your successor trustee will manage and distribute your assets to your loved ones as you have directed in your Trust document. Moreover, if substantially all of your assets are titled in your Trust upon your death, then probate – a long, expensive, and inconvenient court proceeding – is avoided. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for people to establish a Trust but fail to adequately “fund” it (i.e. neglect to formally transfer title of most of their assets into the Trust). If this occurs, a probate proceeding will be required. Fortunately, it’s easy to transfer assets into your Trust with appropriate legal advice, instructions, and forms. Certain kinds of assets, including retirement plans (like 401Ks and IRAs) are not transferable into your Trust. But they avoid probate and are transferred efficiently to the person(s) designated as beneficiaries and on file with the custodian financial institution. It’s very important to submit a proper beneficiary form in which you designate not only a primary beneficiary(ies) but also one or more contingent beneficiaries (in case the primary beneficiary predeceases you or dies with you in a common accident. The manner in which people and/or charities are designated on retirement plan beneficiary designation forms can have substantial consequences for those inheriting beneficiaries, including how the potential distributions will be directed, controlled, and taxed. Accordingly, legal and tax advice should be obtained about these beneficiary designations. Life insurance and annuities are also governed by whom, upon your death, is on file as designated beneficiary(ies) with the respective insurance company.
October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 19
Often, your Trust is the appropriate beneficiary to designate, but this depends on several factors and should be discussed with estate planning counsel and coordinated carefully with your Trust and/or Will. Joint accounts are, by operation of law, automatically owned by the joint owner(s) upon the death of any co-owner. Many married couples have a substantial amount of cash and securities in joint accounts. If one spouse dies, the surviving spouse seamlessly becomes the owner. However, upon the death of the surviving spouse, that account is not protected from probate (if it does not get re-titled in the surviving spouse’s Trust). Fortunately, applicable law provides so that a certain threshold amount of assets are not subject to probate, even if they are not in a revocable living trust - i.e. if inadvertently or intentionally titled in the decedent’s name only (and the account has no joint owner or beneficiary designated). Probate of such nonTrust assets is not required if the aggregate of such assets is under $166,250. In that event, each such non-Trust asset is frozen for forty days after death, and then, an authorized person must present a signed, notarized “small estate affidavit” to the financial institution to collect or take possession of the decedent’s applicable funds, automobiles, etc. Attorneys in my (trusts/estates) practice area must often initiate probate proceedings because a decedent did not fully or properly “fund” his or her Trust. So, you should be sure that your non-Trust assets are limited to those with a very modest value (e.g. automobiles and a very small bank account), well under the legislative cushion of $166,250. These “funding” rules and procedures should be discussed and clarified with your estate planning attorney as part of any comprehensive estate plan. |Estate Planning | Trust Administration & Probate | Real Estate | Business| Please contact me to request a complimentary: i) “Estate Planning Primer”; ii) Real Estate titling brochure; iii) introductory meeting. I am an attorney with R. Silverman Law Group, 1855 Olympic Blvd., Suite 125, Walnut Creek, CA 94596; (925) 705-4474; rsilverman@rsilvermanlaw.com.
This article is intended to provide information of a general nature, and should not be relied upon as legal, tax and/ or business advice. Readers should obtain specific advice from their own, qualified professional advisors. Advertorial
PAGE 20 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
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TECHNOLOGY MATTERS
By Evan Corstorphine, Portable CIO, Inc.
ALAMO IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION (AIA)
By Roger Smith, President BALLOT PROPOSITIONS DESERVE STUDY
There are two propositions on the November ballot which make substantial changes to Proposition 13, commonly known as the Jarvis Gann Initiative which was passed by the voters in 1978. Proposition 15 and Proposition 19 will change the rules regarding the valuation and taxation of certain described real property. AIA urges all residents to carefully review your ballot pamphlet for each measure and vote.
ALAMO CERTIFIED FARMER’S MARKET
The Alamo Certified Farmer’s Market complies with all Health Department requirements. Please wear a mask while shopping. The Market is open Sundays year-round, from 9AM – 2PM, in Alamo Plaza, off of Danville Blvd., near Bank of America. While the annual Harvest Festival is canceled this year, expect its return in 2021! Look for fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, tamales, BBQ, artisan goods, and more! The Market is happy to announce the addition of their newest hot food vendor, Rhose & Glenda’s Lumpia. They have a selection of traditional Filipino food that is prepared onsite including pancit, lumpia, adobo, BBQ pork sticks, and more!
GREAT CALIFORNIA SHAKE-OUT & EARTHQUAKE PREPARATIONS
The Great California “Shake-out” will occur at 10:15AM on October 15th. Wherever you are at that moment, practice for an earthquake by following the DROP (drop to the ground before the earthquake drops you!), COVER (get under a sturdy desk or table), and HOLD ON (grab on to a table leg or something sturdy until the shaking stops) protocols. Stay in this position for at least 60 seconds. Learn more at www.shakeout.org/california/ dropcoverholdon, www.shakeout.org/california, shakeout.org/california/ whyparticipate, and earthquakes.usgs.gov/regional/nca/maps/index.php. In addition, your family may not be together when disaster strikes. It is important to plan in advance for how you will contact one another, how you will get back together, and what will you do in different situations. A Family Emergency Plan should be part of your preparation. To help with this plan, identify an out-of-town contact who can be a communication liaison, make sure each family member knows the contact number and has a way to contact them by cell phone or with a prepaid phone card for use with a land line, teach family members to use text messages in emergency situations, and subscribe to alert warning system services.
COMMUNITY WARNING SYSTEM
The Community Warning System (CWS) is able to send notifications to residents and businesses within Contra Costa County impacted by, or in danger of being impacted by, an emergency or disaster. The system is used to notify areas at risk with information about the event and actions people are advised to take. The system uses the county-wide 9-1-1 database to reach everyone. The CWS message will include basic information about the incident and what specific protective actions (shelter in place, lockdown, evacuate, avoid the area, etc.) are necessary to protect life and health. For information about how to receive alerts, visit the Community Warning System website at cwsalerts.com or www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/2269/Emergency-Information.
EXTREME WEATHER INFORMATION
The fire season in California can start as early as the beginning of May and run through November. The National Weather Service may issue Red Flag Warnings due to extreme weather conditions. To check if any red flag warnings are in effect for your area, visit www.weather.gov/mtr.
AIA MEMBERSHIP
Since 1955, Alamo residents have been joining the AIA and working in support of AIA’s mission statement, which is to “preserve the semi-rural character of Alamo” Now celebrating its 65th year, AIA, a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, has an outstanding history of serving our community. Visit www.AlamoCA.org for information on AIA, articles of local interest, membership forms, and more.
Software updates are one of the leading ways we encounter trouble with technology. Like you, I have been completely wrecked by a poorly implemented update to a product I planned to use, and I’m not talking just about my computer. It’s my phone, the applications on my phone, my thermostat, my network hardware, etc, etc., etc. Everywhere we use a device, there’s some level of a computer running inside, and computers run software. And everywhere there is software, there is a company pushing out new software. This parade of new features and changes to the product often introduces instability into what may have been a perfectly stable and functional product. Rather than unproductive complaining about specific companies, let’s look at why this happens and things you can do to improve the situation. In my experience, the leading reasons why upgrades occur are innovation and interdependency. We’re all familiar with innovation, and I admit I’ve been seduced by new functionality so much that I overlook obvious downsides of implementing the update. There are many cool new ideas and enabling technologies introduced all the time. However, jumping on the bandwagon as soon as new features are made available is not a great idea. Don’t copy me! People like me who are first to try out new functionality are just guinea pigs for the manufacturer, who is often rushing their code to market without having fully tested it. Another aspect of the updating dilemma is that we participate in a highly interdependent web of technology. For instance, when Microsoft or Apple introduces major changes to their operating systems, their changes cause huge ripples of work across thousands of companies to stay in sync with them, much like dropping a stone in a pond. All the pieces of their software that depend on other vendors must be kept in alignment, version to version, and fully tested together prior to general release. This testing they must do for each update is called “regression testing” because not only are they responsible to test all of the new features, but they must also test every one of the old features to ensure nothing was broken by the update. It’s a huge, slow undertaking, and in today’s fast-paced world of high technology, I do think a lot of companies cut corners. When we find a problem as an end-user, it’s easy to complain that the firm did an awful job with testing. Maybe they did; maybe they didn’t. However, they almost always find and correct a huge quantity of bugs during testing. The problem is that there may be a myriad more they don’t find, because all of this software has become so complex, and it takes a lot of time to weed out all the problems. Time is money, and the bigger the programs and interdependence, the more it costs to go through it top to bottom. For example, Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system contains approximately fifty million lines of computer code. With this in mind, and knowing that all of the big websites (Facebook, Google, etc.) and Apple Mac OSX have similar levels of complexity, it’s a wonder all of this technology actually functions as well as it does. The number of ways that things can break are mind-boggling. What can you do? It’s a balancing act. You definitely do not want to be an anti-update curmudgeon because that introduces another huge set of issues. Instead, my suggestion is to turn off “automatic” updates on your phone and computer, and instead, put a quarterly reminder on your calendar to review the list of pending updates these companies would like you to accept. Ask others around you how a particular software works once they update, instead of just plunging ahead. If this sort of review sounds too daunting, firms like PCIO are here to help interpret the situation and to help you make the best decisions for you. When in doubt, give us call at 925-552-7953, or email info@pcioit.com. We’ll always point you in the right direction. Advertorial
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October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 21
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ORGANIZED
By Peter T. Waldron, Managing Partner of Spectrum Wealth Partners
“A good system shortens the road to the goal.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Wouldn’t it be nice to organize your financial life in such a way that things happen perfectly with no surprises? While that dream is not exactly a reality, it is one that many get close to with proper planning. Life regularly varies from the master plan, be it because of changes in the market or tax laws, births or deaths in the family, financial loss, or unexpected windfalls. It is how your plan adjusts to these variations that truly defines your success in having a perfectly planned life. How organized is your financial life? Over the last six months, we have seen substantial swings in the financial markets. Some of these swings have driven people to make uninformed and emotional decisions. While many believe that inaction in the stock market is a fool’s endeavor, I would argue instead that not having a long-term plan in place that prioritizes and organizes one’s goals will lead to foolish decisions. While we can’t control market volatility, we can plan for it. By understanding the impact of volatility, we can adjust spending, saving, and risk to ensure that a plan is achieved regardless of short-term fluctuations in the market. This is important as no one really knows what is going to happen in the market on any given day, and if they tell you they do, ask them to predict the future. While the future of your plan can be impacted by tax laws, and any administration can undo work that has been previously done in the areas of estate and income tax planning, it is how your plan reacts to these changes that determines your success. In organizing your long-term plan, when short-term changes occur that have long-term effects, you should be able to test how these changes will influence your long-term planning. Tax planning, like any other element of your financial organization plan, must be fluid and ever-changing as the environment changes. Being adaptable in a world that is constantly changing is difficult, particularly when a major life event occurs like a death or birth in the family. While each of these events result in very different emotional outcomes, it is important to know how they will influence the life you have created. No one wants to think about death — it is a terrible but absolute thing that occurs. The idea is to proactively consider how a death in the family would impact your financial plan so if, or when, this happens, you can focus all
your energy on the emotional aspects of the event without having to worry about your money. The same goes for one of the arguably greatest parts of life: welcoming a new child into the family. During this time, most people are overcome with joy (and are perhaps very sleep-deprived) and shouldn’t need to worry about college planning, life insurance, or estate planning. In both the case of a new child and the loss of a family member, emotions are naturally high, and the state of your financial plan should be the last thing on your mind as it should already be organized for success. The emotions involved with an unexpected financial windfall or loss can also be substantially debilitating. Preparing and organizing your financial life around the possibility of either a catastrophic or euphoric financial outcome can be daunting because in both cases the mantra of “this could never happen to me” is prevalent. Preemptively having a plan in place to take on these very different outcomes is not only imperative but can also be the difference between future success or failure. Planning gives you a comprehensive picture and a better understanding around what you have, or will have, and can create specific dynamics on which to accurately decide the best course of action. For those who have had the good fortune to create wealth, the expectation that the wealth might eventually evaporate seems statistically irrelevant. But too often this nonchalant behavior leads to catastrophic devastation. As it says in Job 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Whether it be the market, government, life, death, financial ruin or windfall, without proper planning what has been created may very well be taken away. While creating organization within your financial life will not account for or allow you to avoid every possible catastrophic event, with proper planning you can be prepared to handle the majority of events with confidence and increase the likelihood that you will have successful outcomes regarding your financial objectives. Organization and planning will not create perfection, but it can help alleviate the stress of life’s imperfect outcomes. You owe it to yourself to live the most financially successful life possible! “Think ahead. Don’t let day-to-day operations drive out planning.” ~ Donald Rumsfeld To schedule a complimentary review of your financial situation, please contact me at 925-786-7686 or email peter.waldron@lfg.com.
Peter T. Waldron: California Insurance License #0E47827. Peter T. Waldron is a registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors, a broker/dealer, member SIPC, and offers investment advisory service through Sagemark Consulting, a division of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a registered investment advisor, Spectrum Wealth Partners is not an affiliate of Lincoln Financial Advisors. 3201 Danville Blvd, Suite 190, Alamo, CA 94507. Insurance offered through Lincoln Marketing and Insurance Agency, LLC and Lincoln Associates Insurance Agency, Inc. and other fine companies. This information should not be construed as legal or tax advice. You may want to consult a tax advisor regarding this information as it relates to your personal circumstance. The content of this material was provided to you by Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. for its representatives and their clients. CRN3247913-091820 Advertorial
PAGE 22 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
THE EYE OPENER
COMPUTER VISION SYNDROME 2020 By Gregory Kraskowsky, O.D., Alamo Optometry
Since there is an immense interest in computer eyestrain due to the increased computer use we are all facing during the pandemic, I decided to follow-up on last month’s article on digital eye strain. Prior to the pandemic, computer eyestrain affected more than 70% of the approximately 143 million Americans who daily work on a computer, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). Now that our kids are remotely learning, eyestrain and other symptoms of computer vision syndrome is not just isolated to adults. Millions of children are now using a computer for school and homework for multiple hours a day. Prolonged computer and gaming device viewing can stress a child’s eyes and may affect normal vision. Computer eyestrain and computer vision syndrome (CVS) are caused by our eyes and brain reacting differently to characters on a computer screen than they do to printed characters. Our eyes have little problem focusing on printed material that has dense black characters with well-defined edges. But characters on a computer screen don’t have the same degree of contrast and definition. Words on a computer screen are created by combinations of tiny points of light (pixels), which are brightest at the center and diminish in intensity toward their edges. This makes it more difficult for our eyes to maintain focus on these images. If you or your child spend more than two hours per day in front of a computer screen, it’s likely you will experience some degree of computer vision syndrome. Symptoms of CVS include headaches, burning and tired eyes, blurred vision, double vision, and neck and shoulder pain. There are several things you can do to help with the symptoms of CVS. First, attempt to cut down on the glare at your screen by altering the lighting near your desk. Next, keep your head above the level of your monitor. This will allow you
EONF continued from page 18
www.yourmonthlypaper.com | Instagram: @Alamoanddanvilletoday | #atdtnews to be more ergonomically situated and reduce neck and shoulder strain. Permit yourself to take breaks from the monitor. Allow for a short one-minute period of rest about every 30 minutes; look out a window or down the hall, get a drink of water or just close your eyes to allow you to defocus from the monitor. Lastly, stay hydrated. We recommend drinking plenty of water, and using lubricating drops as needed. It is also recommended to reduce your caffeine intake, as caffeine is a diuretic and further dries your eyes out. With all that being said, the most important thing is to make sure you have computer prescription glasses, either single vision, digital, or progressives. Prescription lenses can be tailored specifically to each patient depending on their situation. Having an up-to-date prescription can reduce the amount of strain and focusing necessary for continued monitor work. In addition, lenses with a high-quality blue protect anti-glare coating will not only make your lenses cosmetically look better but will reduce about 95% of the glare from your monitor. Since computers are now a mainstay for working adults and children learning at home, we will be introducing ChemTech over-the counter glasses to the office. We will have several frame options along with lenses that have a blue light coating which will block most of the most harmful blue light being emitted from computer and phone screens. These standardized frame and lens combinations are made for both kids and adults alike who are experiencing some or all of the effects of CVS. CVS requires a multi-factorial approach including ergonomics, current eyewear with coatings, staying hydrated, and taking breaks. These steps will all help to alleviate the problems that arise from staring at a screen. At your exam, we are happy to discuss your optical and ocular health options and come up with a plan that would work best for you. Dr. K. at Alamo Optometry is your hometown eye doctor for outstanding service, vision care, and designer eyewear. He can be reached at (925) 8206622, or visit his office at 3201 Danville Blvd., Suite 165 in Alamo. For more information, visit www.alamooptometry.com, and join in on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @Alamo Optometry. Advertorial
preconceived ideas about how it will turn out. Audiences have come to expect something fresh and unusual from us.” The three 1913-1914 works adapted by Eric for 2020 production deal with issues of the abuse of women’s rights and the abuse of power by the wealthy that are totally current over 100 years later. Running time for each is 25-30 minutes. Following premieres (The Web 10/3; Recklessness 10/10, and Abortion 10/17), each will remain available through the Foundation website www.eugeneoneill.org. Erin Considine, one of four 2020 AIR Fellows, arrived at Tao House September 12th. She reports that being in Eugene O’Neill’s study for the first time “brought me to tears. Here was a man who struggled through his childhood and adolescence, lost his mother to horrible addiction, traveled in unusual and unorthodox ways, and still somehow pulled all of that life experience together to create art.” She describes how decades of experience as an actress have helped her transition into becoming a playwright. “I hear the dialogue in my head like music.” Able to envision scenes complete with set design and props, she describes the focus of her work: “Truth-telling. I put a light on small moments between hopeful humans and let the play unfurl itself.” As AIR’s first Carey Perloff Fellow, Erin is completing The Firefly Plays, a cycle of four scripts focusing on problems confronting Americans across the country, from military families facing a soldier's suicide, to father/daughter relationships, and to losing a parent to Alzheimer’s. “I follow in O’Neill's dark, brooding Irish footsteps; optimism is not always on the menu,” she says. “I am without words to express how grateful I am for the time I have been allowed here at the Tao House. Erin Considine, 2020 AIR Fellow, was startled by how much she felt My writing will reflect these mountain views for many years to come.” O'Neill's presence standing in his study. Photo by Wendy Cooper. Named for Travis Bogard, first EONF Artistic Director, the AIR program he envisioned began welcoming individuals desirous of working on projects relating to the performing arts to Tao House in 2015. Graciously housed and fed by San Damiano Retreat Center, accepted applicants have free access to the Tao House property throughout their one to four week fellowship with transportation provided, a dedicated private workspace, and use of the Tao House Library. Tao House archives contain the largest collection of O’Neill materials west of the Mississippi. A generous donation from Travis Bogard forms the foundation of the documents and photographs establishing the Tao House library. At the behest of Bogard, Sophus Winther, personal friend of Eugene and Carlotta, donated additional significant items. The collection includes the only copy of Carlotta’s diary. EONF board member Mary Camezon has been captivated by working with the archives since she first began helping to maintain the collection and make it accessible to serious scholars in 2014. Volunteers with a background in library skills or the technology needed to continue the project of digitizing the collection are invited to join in the effort and find their own connections to the legacy of America’s foremost playwright. The Day-Use Program launched in 2020 invites local artists to apply for five to ten day fellowships. Danville resident Kathleen Moore completed her first week working on site on her poetry this summer and will return for a second week in January. Recipient of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District’s 2007 Teacher of the Year Award, she enjoyed teaching poetry-writing at Tao House for the annual Student Day. Moore completed the entire draft of a poetry book at the serene setting. She writes: “What surprised me so much about working on my poetry there in August was, first of all, how incredibly lucky I felt. I had the place to myself, and it seemed like something out of a dream. I’d walk to Blemie’s grave, or sit in the barn and wonder what he was thinking there.” Recognizing the resonance of his presence, she’d wonder whether O’Neill ever sat under the tree where she was sitting and heard the voices of his characters in his head. Visit www.eugeneoneill.org to register to see the plays, enjoy “Virtual Gene,” find guidelines for AIR/ Day-Use applications, obtain information on 2021 Student Day and Studio Retreat, and more. To learn more about getting involved as an EONF volunteer, email tao.house.eonf@gmail.com.
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October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 23
PEPTIDE THERAPY THE FUTURE OF HEALING
By Dr. Niele Maimone, DC
When I was a teen, I began my healing journey. I found great pleasure in perusing the health food store, reading about supplements that could help me become healthier, leaner, and more energetic. I would spend hours reading up on ways to help myself and others feel better through the use of vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other supplements. In early adulthood, when I suffered from acne, chronic kidney infections, and an auto-immune thyroid condition, this information proved invaluable when antibiotics and medication failed to heal me. At one point, after much frustration and pain, I asked my doctor, “Why does this keep happening, why aren’t the antibiotics working?” He looked at me and said, “I don’t know. Just keep taking them.” It was at that moment that I realized that I was not going to get “well” with this kind of care, and I needed to take matters into my own hands and educate myself on how I became sick and how to heal. After years of education and board exams, I opened Align Healing Center in December 1999. Now, twenty years later, Dr. Dickens and I have the pleasure of launching Aspire Regenerative Medicine, a medical corporation that runs alongside Align Healing Center to offer a broader range of services addressing people’s wellness needs. I have discovered medical therapies that work as an adjunct to the holistic services Align offers, allowing patients access to exceptional healing tools. One of the most profound healing tools that I have discovered is peptide therapy.
From the comfort of home, join an engaging panel of medical experts as they explore the unique issues faced by breast the cancer patients. The panel insightspanel into the From comfort of home, joinwill anoffer engaging of latest medical treatment options, exciting medical experts as they explore the unique issuesresearch, faced by advances in radiation therapy and the importance of breast cancer patients. The panel will offer insights into the genetic medical counseling. latest treatment options, exciting research, Q &inA radiation session totherapy follow the presentations. advances and the importance of genetic counseling. Q & A Virtual session toZOOM follow the presentations. Seminar
Virtual ZOOM Seminar October 22, 2020 6:30 – 8:30pm October 22, 2020
6:30 – 8:30pm Hosted by: Hosted by:
WHAT IS PEPTIDE THERAPY?
Peptides are made of short chains of amino acids. They can be thought of as a small protein. They bind to receptors on the cell surface and tell other cells and molecules what to do. There are over 7,000 known peptides in our bodies which direct an enormous number of different bodily functions ranging from hormone production, tissue and muscle repair, immune modulation, brain and central nervous system health, libido and sexual arousal, weight loss, inflammation reduction, and DNA repair. They also can have direct antimicrobial effects. Peptide therapy, or the use of specific peptides in treatment, has gained great popularity in recent years due to its extraordinary high levels of safety and uniquely specific effects. As we age, our production of our own peptides decreases. As a result, our bodies begin to show signs of aging and cease to perform at an optimal level. Most peptide medications are administered subcutaneously but can also come in the form of transdermal creams, nasal sprays, and oral tablets.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PEPTIDE THERAPY?
• Improved sleep • Improved immune function • Reduce joint pain • Reduction of abdominal and body fat • Restore energy, stamina, and endurance • Accelerate healing from injury or surgery • Increase lean muscle mass • Promote your body’s natural ability to burn fat • Improve skin texture and elasticity • Reduce recovery time and healing • Improve mental focus • Increase in sex drive and performance • Increase levels of concentration and memory retention • Boost healthy levels of growth hormone • Restore hair loss Peptide therapy is not a magic cure to all of your ailments, but it may significantly help with a great many of them. Peptides must be used in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle and may be paired with other holistic treatments to get the maximum physical benefit. Peptide therapy is generally considered safe and can be used to produce very specific effects. Many peptides have been approved by the FDA, allowing them to be utilized for medical trials and general use. If you are interested in discussing if peptide therapy may be right for you, call us for consultation at 925-362-8283. Dr. Niele Maimone, DC is the founder of Align Healing Center in Danville. Visit www.alignhealingcenter.com for more information. Advertorial
To RSVP visit: https://cancersupport.net/services/calendar/ To RSVP visit: https://cancersupport.net/services/calendar/ CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY’S 6TH ANNUAL HOPE WALK
Cancer Support Community San Francisco Bay Area(CSC) has rescheduled their major fundraiser, the 6th annual Hope Walk. The new virtual event runs October 11-17. CSC has been able to continue bringing support, hope, and healing to cancer patients and their caregivers without interruption during shelter-inplace. “It (cancer) is one of the most isolating of diseases, creating anxiety and fear. We are proud and profoundly grateful that we can continue to be a source of hope, community, and relief for our members,” the staff notes. People can register and walk, hike, ride, or swim with the group virtually. Donations can be made at www.hopewalkbayarea.net. For further information, contact Carol Louisell at clouisell@cancersupport.net.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
RIDES FOR SENIORS AND VETERANS TO MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS
Mobility Matters is a nonprofit agency that provides free rides for ambulatory seniors and veterans who cannot take other forms of transportation. The group is looking for volunteers that are willing to help out our community by driving homebound seniors and veterans to medical appointments. Most volunteers drive once every week or two. Please contact David Benet at (925)284-2215 or david@mobilitymatterscc. com if you are interested in more information about volunteer opportunities. You can learn more about Mobility Matters at www.mobilitymatterscc.com.
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PAGE 24 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
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TURNING BACK THE CLOCK ON SUN DAMAGE
By Dr. Barbara Persons, MD, FACS
Despite our best efforts to mind sunscreen, the treasured summer days outdoors and under the sun take a toll on our skin. By the time your skin shows pink with sunburn, most of the harm has already been done. Sunburns happen when Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun damages the DNA in our skin cells. Over time, these injuries add up and can lead to physical changes like wrinkles and skin cancer. While there are plenty of things you can do to ease the pain, there are only a few ways you can counteract the damage before it’s there for good. While most of us want to take on summer’s final victory lap, these last weeks of the season are a good time to pause, evaluate, and make a plan for damage control. Laser therapy is a non-invasive treatment that uses light energy to repair and regenerate skin cells. Laser can even be used to combat precancerous cells such as actinic keratosis which is a rough, scaly patch on your skin that develops from years of exposure to the sun. Advanced laser technology is used to target your unwanted brown spots on damaged skin. The energy delivered through the laser targets brown or sun-damaged spots, allowing them to disappear through the body’s natural healing process, revealing clearer, more beautiful-looking skin. It also heats the deeper layers of the skin to promote collagen production, creating a more even appearance. Laser resurfacing is an effective tool in improving the appearance of aged skin and in post-surgical or acne scars. In aged skin, one treatment will have significant results in rejuvenating the skin. In severely sun-damaged and aged skin, a series of two to four treatments are often recommended. In these cases, the first procedure can offer 20 to 30 percent improvement with the second session initiating a 30 to 40 percent improvement overall. There is generally very little pain after laser resurfacing; however, effects can vary between individuals. Newly resurfaced skin must be protected from the sun for several months, and one should avoid direct sun exposure during this time. This means avoiding spending a lot of time outside in the sun, wearing sunscreen daily (SPF 30 or greater), as well as wearing sun-protective clothing -- even on cloudy days -- when you do go outside. As you can imagine, this can be difficult and inconvenient during the spring and summer when you want to spend your weekends lounging around a pool, enjoying the park, and taking advantage of the warm weather. For this reason, the cooler months of fall and winter provide the perfect opportunity for patients to minimize their risk of side effects from laser procedures. Fall in love with laser this autumn, and you can turn back the clock on sun damage! We are closely following local and state government guidelines to implement additional measures of safety for our patients and staff. We are also offering COVID-19 antibody tests with results in as little as 10 minutes. Our current hours of operation at our Lafayette location are Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM, and our Brentwood location is open on Saturdays, 8AM-11AM. To schedule an appointment, please call our office at (925) 238-4012. I look forward to seeing you soon! Barbara L Persons, MD, FACS is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and owns Persons Plastic Surgery, Inc., located at 911 Moraga Rd, Suite 205 in Lafayette. She can be reached at 925-283-4012 or drpersons@ Advertorial personsplasticsurgery.com.
TELECARE CONNECTS WITH THE HOMEBOUND
Since 1971, member volunteers of TeleCare, a philanthropic program of Assistance League® of Diablo Valley, have been making daily reassurance calls, Monday through Friday, to seniors and the homebound in our community. Clients can anticipate a friendly exchange of ideas with trained volunteers who provide high quality, consistent communications. If a client cannot be reached, family members will be notified. This service is free! Additional TeleCare activities include an annual holiday party, and they also receive greeting cards from the Assisteens, an auxiliary where tweens and teens learn to participate in a community service at a young age. Make that call to get you or someone you know connected! For more information, call 925-934-0901. To learn about Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s other philanthropic programs, please visit www.assistanceleague.org/diablo-valley.
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Comprehensive Dilated Eye Exams
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Contact Lens Exams
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Prescription Glasses and Sunglasses In many cases, we are able to make your glasses in our office with our On-Site Lab
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FOR ANYONE COPING WITH A LOSS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
For people who have experienced the death of a loved one, the upcoming winter holiday season can be painful, especially for those navigating the first year of loss. Hope Hospice has annually offered a special “Handling the Holidays” workshop, to teach healthy coping strategies to help the bereaved during this difficult time. With physical distancing still essential in our region, Hope Hospice will present the workshop virtually this year via Zoom. As always, the program is offered to the local public at no cost. The program will be offered twice -- once on November 12th, from 6–7:30pm and again on December 7th from 2–3:30pm. The content for both sessions will be the same. Space is limited. Please contact the Grief Support Department at (925) 829-8770 as soon as possible to secure a spot. The program will: • Provide ways to manage grief at family gatherings and social events • Help participants explore fear, anxiety, or strong emotions connected to the holiday season and the loss they may be feeling • Explore exit strategies for unexpected grief bursts • Provide practical ideas to help make holiday preparations less overwhelming • Invite the exchange of ideas to memorialize lost loved ones at holiday gatherings • Present self-care techniques to help make the holidays more tolerable, even enjoyable Hope Hospice is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, proudly serving the Tri-Valley and neighboring East Bay cities since 1980. Learn more about their services and community programs at HopeHospice.com or contact them at (925) 829-8770.
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YOUR PERSONAL NUTRITIONIST
ENJOY SUGAR WITHOUT FEELING OUT OF CONTROL By Linda Michaelis RD, MS
October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 25
Medical & Surgical Dermatology For Healthy Skin
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ONLY Halloween is around the corner. We are still ELECTROMAGNETIC in the midst of a pandemic, so this is not a good ETING TECHNOLOGY TARG time to be out of control with sweets. ABDOMINAL AND FOR BODY Many clients have been consulting with me GLUTEUS MUSCLES PAD CONTOURING, FAT about their lack of control with eating sugar -Offering Cosmetic Treatments for: TT LIFT! REDUCTION AND BU be it candy, frappuccinos, or other dessert items. Tattoo, Moles, Birthmarks, and Scars lpt cu MS DrWilliamTing.com/E Face, Neck, Body Tightening, They berate themselves for having no Lifting, will-power. I tell them people tend to have and Rejuvenation either a sweet tooth or a salty tooth -- craving Frown Lines and Jawline Reduction munchies and crunchies, or a fat tooth -Rosacea, Facial Redness, Veins, and craving fast foods. Post-injection Bruising Pigmentation and Melasma People often set themselves up for failure by Sun Damage and Scars not smartly arranging food in their day. When A place where beauty Body Sculpting you are hungry and your blood sugar drops, Thinning Hair and/or Balding and healthy skin meet Hair Removal there is an immediate desire for sweets. Don’t Visit us at our Center of Technology & Procedures start out by eating a piece of fruit, cookies, or Excellence with a combined Offered other sweet treat. You can solve this craving 12,000 square foot, state Cellfina by having something sweet as part of the meal Cool Mini for neck of the art, newly renovated Coolsculpting® such as adding fruit to a salad. Sweets such as Our Women’s suite. We are dedicated Cryoshape Wellness Center cake and ice cream must come after the meal, to Medical, Cosmetic, and Diolite 532 laser now offers EMSella, EMSculpt as a dessert. Surgical Dermatology and FDA approved noninvasive EMSella To prevent all-day cravings for sweets, you are a place for medical electromagnetic technology Excel V Laser must have a lunch that is balanced with at least treatment (with clothes on) Excimer Laser skin consultation, aesthetic Fractional CO2 Laser for urinary incontinence 4-6 oz. protein, a serving of a carbohydrate such rejuvenation, and face and GenesisPlus Laser and feminine intimate as a 3 oz. red potato, and at least a cup of veggies. body contouring. Infini Microneedling RF rejuvenation! Models are used. If you know you will have a cupcake for dessert, Kybella DrWilliamTing.com/EMSella Liposonix® do not have a potato for lunch. You will have a Visit www.DrWilliamTing.com Microneedling with PRP fullness from eating the lunch, and thus you will for an extensive list of medical, surgical, and cosmetic treatments, MiraDry Mohs Micrographic Surgery be able to stop after eating one cupcake. product lines, lasers, and therapies offered. NBUVB Phototherapy Every day I see people eating skimpy lunches Pico Genesis Schedule your free cosmetic consultation appointment today! such as a small salad, a fruit salad, a bowl of soup, PicoSure Laser William Ting, M.D., PRP for Hair Loss and Rejuvenation or just a bag of chips. You will not be successful Board Certified Dermatologist and Mohs Surgeon Vbeam Laser in slowing down sweet cravings if you continue 2262 Camino Ramon Silhouette InstaLift San Ramon, CA 94583 to eat these types of lunches. Spectra Laser Tel: (925) 328-0255 Superficial Radiotherapy When looking at food products, search the TEXT us at (925) 328-0255 24/7 Thermage™ ingredient labels for hidden sugars lurking Email: staff@caldermcare.com Ultherapy™ within. Look for ingredients such as white and Vaser Shape drwilliamting.com VLase for Feminine Rejuvenation *Welcoming new Medicare patients brown sugar, confectioner’s sugar, corn syrup, dextrin, honey, invert sugar, maple syrup, raw and beet sugar, cane sugar, evaporated cane juice, high fructose corn syrup, malt, molasses, and turbinado sugar. Fruit juice is sugar as well. I teach my clients that when reading the food label the amount of sugar is expressed in grams. One gram of sugar is equal to four calories. I recommend not buying a food product with more than 10 grams of sugar per serving. For desserts, I suggest keeping them under 100 calories, since they are mostly all sugar. Mid-afternoon, around 4PM, is a notorious time for people to crave sweets. Typically, you should be hungry around this time if you ate lunch between 12-1PM. I tell my clients that if their lunch stays with them for three hours, then they have picked a good, balanced meal. If they have a snack around 4-5PM such as tuna stuffed in a tomato, turkey wrapped around a pickle, or cottage cheese and veggies, then they can have a fruit or even a homemade chocolate chip cookie for a treat afterwards. When I first work with a client that has been out-of-control with sweets, they often feel they should just not have any sweets in their home. My work is to help them make sweets their friend and no longer their enemy so they can co-exist. I help my client find desserts they enjoy that are in a proper portion size. I also find tried and true recipes for desserts they can add to their list of favorites. If you are struggling with your nutrition, let me take you by the hand and help get you on a lifetime healthy eating plan that includes your new friend, desserts. I am glad to inform you that nutritional counseling is covered by most insurance companies including Aetna, ABMG, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, CCHP, Hill, Sutter, and UHC. I am happy to call on your behalf and see what coverage your plan offers. Please visit my website www.LindaRD.com to learn more about my services. Feel free to email me at lifeweight1@yahoo.com, or call me at 925-855-0150 to tell me about your nutritional concerns and see how I may help you. Advertorial
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PAGE 26 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
find it a worthwhile investment. In the process, a tube of your blood is drawn and spun in a centrifuge at high speeds. This separates the PRP from other components. We don’t know the exact mechanism of action, but PRP contains a LEARN ABOUT “PRP” FOR HAIR LOSS AND number of different growth factors that stimulate hair growth and may also have rejuvenative properties. OTHER USES Our usual protocol for treating hair loss with PRP is to perform four By Jerome Potozkin, MD treatments, waiting one month in between each. Maintenance treatments are then performed at six month intervals. If you’re suffering from hair loss and want As dermatologists, we are experts in skin, hair, and to do everything possible to help, PRP is a great option. In addition, some of nails. One of the most common complaints from both our patients also use low-level-light or laser stimulation in conjunction with PRP, men and women who we see in the office is hair loss. using a device known as Theradome. This treatment option has become very There are many different types of hair loss. We typically popular. If you value your hair, it is likely worth investing in. divide hair loss into scarring vs non-scarring hair loss. Another area in which PRP is being utilized is for facial rejuvenation. In this The most common type of hair loss that we see is genetically programmed, procedure that has minimal-downtime, we have been combining micro-needling non-scarring hair loss. The good news is that because this is such a common along with the application of PRP to the skin in order to rejuvenate the skin. problem, there is always active research to solve this puzzle. The PRP accelerates the healing process and can give better results than microWe commonly think of hair loss in men. However, in my practice, hair loss needling alone. You might have heard of this procedure also being referred to as is reported more commonly in women, and some studies have shown that up the “blood facial.” This is another option in addition to the laser and light-based to 30% of all women will suffer from hair loss. When women suffer hair loss, it treatments that we offer. usually presents as diffuse thinning of the hair, whereas men usually lose hair at Some people have used PRP injected into the skin. However, most studies the frontal hair line and crown. 10/1/2020 Word Search Generator :: Create your own printable word find worksheets @ A to Z Teacher Stuff have shown limited value injecting PRP into the skin for rejuvenation. At this The treatment of genetic hair loss for both men and women is not covered point, I believe there are better injectables available for skin rejuvenation, but it is by insurance. Topical minoxidil, which had been a prescription drug, is now something we are evaluating. available in most pharmacies with MAKE no prescription required.ONLINE It is sold in a liquid YOUR OWN WORKSHEETS @ WWW.ATOZTEACHERSTUFF.COM If you’re suffering from hair loss and wish to do everything possible to help or a foam. My preference is for the liquid, as the foam can be messy and tacky. keep and regrow hair, call us today. All of the existing evidence shows that the For men, finasteride pills are another option. These are usually great first steps. DATE:_____________ sooner we intervene, the better the results. However,NAME:_______________________________ these aren’t the only treatments. Dr. Jerome Potozkin is a Board Certified Dermatologist specializing in minimally Other treatments include surgery and non-surgical options. Platelet Rich and non-invasive cosmetic procedures. The practice is accepting new patients and Plasma (PRP) is an option that works for most people. Since PRP is coming from can be reached at (925) 838-4900 and www.MyBeautyMd.com. Advertorial your body, it is all natural and allergy free. Most patients respond favorably and
IS IT POSSIBLE TO REGROW HAIR?
October
Word Search answers from page 12 R Q Y X W A G P P K X N B T X V R A Z N F T B
M A N J L I U Z E J N R E T N A L O K C A J U
E Z O L B E R G U B Z J U A R R R B R E D I C
M E T V W T S E V R A H R E W I U A E I P K X
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S Z L X J Y E S P O O K Y D Z D K I R W E B D
Symbol Search answers from page 14 A K V V B A T R V A M P I R E P W E G O V X Y
There are many ways to connect with Alamo Today & Danville Today News!
Facebook: Alamo Today & Danville Today News Instagram:@AlamoandDanvilleToday #atdtnews www.yourmonthlypaper.com editor@yourmonthlypaper.com 925.405.6397
BAT TRICK BOO VAMPIRE CANDY WEB CIDER WITCH CORN ZOMBIES COSTUME DIABLO EERIE HALLOWEEN HARVEST JACKOLANTERN LEAVES MASK MUMMY OCTOBER ORANGE TIPS FOR CHANGE TO BENEFIT PUMPKIN LEAGUE RAKE Assistance League® of Diablo SCARECROW Valley is a nonprofit, member volunteer organization dedicated SKELETON to improving SPIDERlives in our communitySPOOKY through hands-on programs. On Monday, October 19th TREAT volunteers will hold a “Tips for
ASSISTANCE
Change” fundraiser at Gianni’s Restaurant located at 2065 San Ramon Valley Blvd. in San Ramon. Gianni’s sponsors fundraising events called “Tips for Change,” to benefit local philanthropic organizations by donating 10% of their profits for the evening and by encouraging customers to give extra tips on take-out orders for the evening. Visit www.giannissanramon.com, to view the menu and order online. While online, let your eyes feast on the frozen meals also available! Masked Assistance League member volunteers will happily bring your orders to you at curbside. In advance, thank you for your extra tip donation at this takeout event, proceeds will benefit hungry families and children. To learn more about Assistance League® of Diablo Valley, visit assistanceleague.org/diablo-valley.
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FREE CONSULTATIONS TO FAMILY CAREGIVERS WITH DEMENTIA-RELATED CONCERNS
Since Hope Hospice has had to temporarily suspend their Living With Dementia group classes for family caregivers they are launching a new video conference service that is, at this time, complimentary to the public in our area. “Many of the family caregivers who attend our classes find themselves in the caregiver role unexpectedly and without resources,” says program manager Jill Smith, RN. “The face-to-face classes have helped these individuals tremendously in learning about the changes to expect in their loved one and how to adjust techniques as the disease progresses.” Zoom remote-conferencing will be used to conduct private consultations with family members who have questions on specific challenges they are facing in caring for a loved one living with dementia. Submit a meeting request via email to jills@hopehospice.com or via phone at (925) 829-8770. Email is preferred. Learn more at www.HopeHospice.com.
www.yourmonthlypaper.com COUNTY HEALTH INFORMATION RESOURCES
Posted by Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen
Below are some resources to get updated shelter-in-place information in Contra Costa County. • Visit coronavirus.cchealth.org. The site provides the most updated and comprehensive information and answers to the most frequently asked questions about COVID-19 and the County Health Officer’s order to shelter at home. • There is additional resource information of all kinds on the County website at contracosta.ca.gov. • Call 1-844-729-8410. It is an information line to answer questions you may have about the order. The line operates 8AM to 5PM each day. • Email Supervisor Andersen at supervisorandersen@bos.cccounty.us or call her office at (925) 957-8860. The Supervisors office is closed to visitors, but is able to respond by phone or email to questions you have that cannot be answered at the County Health website or information line above.
October 2020 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 27
OPEN ENROLLMENT FOR MEDICARE BEGINS OCTOBER 15
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY HICAP CAN HELP
Medicare beneficiaries can learn about changes to 2021 Medicare plans by attending a virtual “Plan Changes Talk” via Zoom given by a HICAP (Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program) counselor. The HICAP website www.cchipa.org has information on how to register. Beneficiaries can also view a recorded version of the “Plan Changes Talk” on the site. Free assistance is also available for beneficiaries who need help finding a new Medicare Advantage or Part D prescription drug plan. It’s a good idea for beneficiaries to review their coverage on an annual basis to ensure they still have the right plan for their particular needs. Beneficiaries can also view updated material for Medicare Open Enrollment or request a mailed packet of 2021 Medicare Open Enrollment material. In Contra Costa County, HICAP is sponsored by the County Department of Aging and Adult Services Area Agency on Aging. For more information, call 925-602-4163.
C L A S S I F I E D ALAMO OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE
Downtown Alamo Office Space - 3150C Danville Blvd., 450 sq. feet. $1,450/month includes water, PG&E, parking, high-speed wifi, and private restroom. Adjacent to CVS, Peet’s, Safeway, and Wells Fargo. Contact Dennis at 925-899-8059.
HANDYMAN SERVICES Home Services with 30 years experience •Plumbing •Electrical •Drywall repair •New toilets •Carpentry •Caulking •Grab bars •Pressure washing •Ceramic tile •Water heaters •Dead bolts •Faucets •Garbage disposals •Flooring NO JOB TOO SMALL! Call James, owner, at 925-934-0877
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Reach over 28,000 homes and businesses in Alamo, Danville, & Diablo. $50 for up to 35 words,$5 for each additional 15 words. Email editor@yourmonthlypaper.com or call 925-4056397 to place your ad. We reserve the right to reject any ad.
PAGE 28 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • October 2020
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