The calendar says summer begins at the summer solstice on June 21. But, Clayton keeps its own calendar. Here, summer will begin on Saturday, May 10 when the Farmers Market opens and The Grove starts rockin’ with the first of the summer concerts featuring Mike Amaral’s California Beach Boys. (Editor’s Note:) This is the second in a series on the growth and development of Concord. In this issue, we look at who lives in Concord; the people and lifestyle. Next, we’ll look at where people live and why. In 1834, Don Salvio Pacheco received an 18,000-acre land grant from the Mexican govern- ment, which owned California at the time. Thirty years later, he and Francisco Galindo, his son- in-law, created a little town right in the middle of the rancho, calling it Todos Santos. To populate their town, they enticed settlers from nearby Pacheco to come to Todos San- tos by giving them free land. Concord city councilman Edi Birsan calls this “affirmative action by the Mexicans to get the white guys here.” Within months, the town’s name magically changed to Con- cord and the demographic jour- ney began. Today that small town is the largest city in Contra Costa County boasting a thriving and lively scene that is filled with diversity and opportunity. ETHNIC AND CULTURAL CHANGES The town has also taken on a cultural mix that is both Con- cord’s greatest strength and its biggest challenge. Sit for 20 minutes on any afternoon in Todos Santos Plaza. Within earshot, one can pick up five or six different lan- guages. The city is home to a wide array of ethnic groups that bond because of culture, not geography, creating a challenge for a city trying to build a strong community identity. Concord’s explosive growth has come since WWII. After the war, people came because A growing tension between users of Clayton Valley Charter High School's baseball and soft- ball fields boiled over recently when a weekend high school girls softball recruiting program bumped the local little league’s scheduled Challenger program to one small field on Sunday, April 13. CVCHS has three baseball and softball fields off Academy Road that have served Clayton Valley Little League for 40 years, as well as the high school and a club softball program. In recent years a growing stress between the users com- peting for time on the fields has frayed nerves, resulted in Title IX complaints. Last month's incident has been extensively reported and debated in social media and local blogs with the two “sides” having very differ- ent perspectives on what hap- pened that Sunday afternoon, when the CVLL Challenger pro- gram was moved onto a single field during the 2-4 p.m. time slot they had reserved to host games for five teams, including two from outside their league. Several years ago, while I was stopped at the intersection of Cowell Road and Treat Boule- vard, a school bus slowly passed me as it made a left turn on to Treat. As the bus passed I heard something hit my back window followed by the sound of shat- tering glass. Knowing that the projectile came from the bus I began fol- lowing it down Treat. As I was driving behind the bus I could see different heads pop up and See Mayor, page 9 Turn to page 4 for more on this summer’s events IT’S YOUR PAPER www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014 925.672.0500 JOHN JACKSON & TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer Bocce park heads toward finish line Concord: Culturally diverse but still connected High school, Little League field turf issues challenging for most needy user HANK STRATFORD MAYOR’S CORNER It takes courage to own up to actions Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Club News . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Community Calendar . . . . .14 Concord City Beat . . . . . . . . .5 Concord News . . . . . . . . . . .5 Design and Décor . . . . . . . .17 Directory of Advertisers . . . . .7 Fit with Levity . . . . . . . . . . .15 Garden Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 MDES Reporter . . . . . . . . . . .8 Performing Arts . . . . . . . . . .16 Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Pine Hollow Reporter . . . . . .8 Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Sports Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Tech Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Teen Reads . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Teen Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Weather Words . . . . . . . . . .12 PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID CLAYTON, CA 94517 PERMIT 190 Postal Customer ECRWSS Like us on Facebook What’s Inside As the dust flies, anticipation builds for the opening of the Ipsen Family Bocce Park set for early June. The four court park is a joint effort between the Clayton Business and Community Associ- ation and Kent and “Skip” Ipsen, founders of Skipolini’s Pizza, with the CBCA funding the $175,000 construction costs on Ipsen’s vacant lot at the corner of Main and Oak Streets. The CBCA will operate and manage the park after it opens in June. Construction of the park is in tandem with Skipolini’s major kitchen and patio remodel. The idea of a bocce park has been percolating in the Clayton community for the better part of a decade. In 2008, plans for a park on the city owned land adjacent to City Hall bombed when estimat- ed construction costs topped $1 million. But bocce lovers are nothing if not tenacious. See Bocce Park, page 4 See Diversity, page 6 See Little League, page 12 JAY BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer Rodie’s Annual Event Saturday, May 17 9 to 2 FREE PROPANE See back page for details Jay Bedecarre photo MANAGER ALAN HATCHER (left) is one of the founders of the Clayton Valley Little League Challenger Division. In the 1990s he relocated from the East Coast and brought a love for the Challenger program with him after he first was exposed when asked to umpire a Challenger game and “was hooked.” Raymond Butler of Concord, Christine Butler mother. Between/behind them is Kat Kreft (sitting on her walker) with her father Brian Kreft, both live in Clayton. Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer THE IPSEN FAMILY BOCCE PARK, CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION ON THE GRAVEL LOT AT THE CORNER OF OAK AND MAIN STREETS, is expect- ed to bring some much needed customers to the downtown during the week when things are pretty quiet. The city hopes the park and the infusion of people will help generate developer interest in the vacant parcels on Main Street and Oak Streets. Market and concerts wait for nothing, not even the solstice Pete Cruz/Clayton Pioneer CONCORD’S CULTURALLY RICH TEXTURE is reflected in celebrations like last Sunday’s Annual Diversity Spring (Baisakhi) Festival in Todos Santos Plaza, which featured dancers from The Tianjin Children's Palace. Here, dancers practice on the grass, prepar- ing for their performance. High school's softball showcase bumps Challenger program games
May 9 Clayton Pioneer 2014
Mar 06, 2016
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The calendar says summer begins at the summer solstice onJune 21. But, Clayton keeps its own calendar. Here, summer willbegin on Saturday, May 10 when the Farmers Market opens andThe Grove starts rockin’ with the first of the summer concertsfeaturing Mike Amaral’s California Beach Boys.
(Editor’s Note:) This is thesecond in a series on the growth anddevelopment of Concord. In this issue,we look at who lives in Concord; thepeople and lifestyle. Next, we’ll lookat where people live and why.
In 1834, Don Salvio Pachecoreceived an 18,000-acre landgrant from the Mexican govern-
ment, which owned Californiaat the time. Thirty years later, heand Francisco Galindo, his son-in-law, created a little town rightin the middle of the rancho,calling it Todos Santos.
To populate their town, theyenticed settlers from nearbyPacheco to come to Todos San-tos by giving them free land.Concord city councilman EdiBirsan calls this “affirmativeaction by the Mexicans to getthe white guys here.”
Within months, the town’s
name magically changed to Con-cord and the demographic jour-ney began.
Today that small town is thelargest city in Contra CostaCounty boasting a thriving andlively scene that is filled withdiversity and opportunity.
ETHNIC AND
CULTURAL CHANGES
The town has also taken on acultural mix that is both Con-cord’s greatest strength and itsbiggest challenge.
Sit for 20 minutes on anyafternoon in Todos SantosPlaza. Within earshot, one canpick up five or six different lan-guages. The city is home to awide array of ethnic groups thatbond because of culture, notgeography, creating a challengefor a city trying to build a strongcommunity identity.
Concord’s explosive growthhas come since WWII. After thewar, people came because
A growing tension betweenusers of Clayton Valley CharterHigh School's baseball and soft-ball fields boiled over recentlywhen a weekend high schoolgirls softball recruiting programbumped the local little league’sscheduled Challenger programto one small field on Sunday,April 13.
CVCHS has three baseballand softball fields off AcademyRoad that have served ClaytonValley Little League for 40 years,as well as the high school and aclub softball program.
In recent years a growingstress between the users com-peting for time on the fields hasfrayed nerves, resulted in TitleIX complaints. Last month'sincident has been extensivelyreported and debated in socialmedia and local blogs with thetwo “sides” having very differ-ent perspectives on what hap-pened that Sunday afternoon,when the CVLL Challenger pro-gram was moved onto a singlefield during the 2-4 p.m. timeslot they had reserved to hostgames for five teams, includingtwo from outside their league.
Several years ago, while I wasstopped at the intersection ofCowell Road and Treat Boule-vard, a school bus slowly passedme as it made a left turn on toTreat. As the bus passed I heardsomething hit my back windowfollowed by the sound of shat-tering glass.
Knowing that the projectilecame from the bus I began fol-lowing it down Treat. As I wasdriving behind the bus I couldsee different heads pop up and
See Mayor, page 9
Turn to page 4 for more on this summer’s events
IT’S YOUR PAPER
www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014 925.672.0500
JOHN JACKSON &
TAMARA STEINER
Clayton Pioneer
TAMARA STEINER
Clayton Pioneer
Bocce park heads toward finish line
Concord: Culturally diverse but still connected
High school, Little League field turfissues challenging for most needy user
HANK STRATFORD
MAYOR’S CORNER
It takes courage toown up to actions
Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Club News . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Community Calendar . . . . .14
Concord City Beat . . . . . . . . .5
Concord News . . . . . . . . . . .5
Design and Décor . . . . . . . .17
Directory of Advertisers . . . . .7
Fit with Levity . . . . . . . . . . .15
Garden Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
MDES Reporter . . . . . . . . . . .8
Performing Arts . . . . . . . . . .16
Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Pine Hollow Reporter . . . . . .8
Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Sports Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Tech Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Teen Reads . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Teen Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Weather Words . . . . . . . . . .12PRSRTSTD
US POSTAGE
PAID
CLAYTON, CA94517
PERMIT190
Postal Customer
ECRWSS
Likeus on
What’s Inside
As the dust flies, anticipationbuilds for the opening of theIpsen Family Bocce Park set forearly June. The four court park isa joint effort between the ClaytonBusiness and Community Associ-ation and Kent and “Skip” Ipsen,founders of Skipolini’s Pizza,with the CBCA funding the$175,000 construction costs onIpsen’s vacant lot at the corner ofMain and Oak Streets. TheCBCA will operate and managethe park after it opens in June.
Construction of the park is intandem with Skipolini’s majorkitchen and patio remodel.
The idea of a bocce park hasbeen percolating in the Claytoncommunity for the better part ofa decade.
In 2008, plans for a park onthe city owned land adjacent toCity Hall bombed when estimat-ed construction costs topped $1million. But bocce lovers arenothing if not tenacious.
See Bocce Park, page 4
See Diversity, page 6
See Little League, page 12
JAY BEDECARRÉ
Clayton Pioneer
RRooddiiee’’ssAAnnnnuuaall EEvveennttSaturday, May 179 to 2 FREE PROPANESee back page for details
Jay Bedecarre photo
MANAGER ALAN HATCHER (left) is one of the founders of the ClaytonValley Little League Challenger Division. In the 1990s he relocatedfrom the East Coast and brought a love for the Challenger programwith him after he first was exposed when asked to umpire aChallenger game and “was hooked.” Raymond Butler of Concord,Christine Butler mother. Between/behind them is Kat Kreft (sitting onher walker) with her father Brian Kreft, both live in Clayton.
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
THE IPSEN FAMILY BOCCE PARK, CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION ON THE GRAVEL LOT AT THE CORNER OF OAK AND MAIN STREETS, is expect-ed to bring some much needed customers to the downtown during the week when things are pretty quiet. The city hopes thepark and the infusion of people will help generate developer interest in the vacant parcels on Main Street and Oak Streets.
Market and concerts wait fornothing, not even the solstice
Pete Cruz/Clayton Pioneer
CONCORD’S CULTURALLY RICH TEXTURE is reflected in celebrationslike last Sunday’s Annual Diversity Spring (Baisakhi) Festival inTodos Santos Plaza, which featured dancers from The TianjinChildren's Palace. Here, dancers practice on the grass, prepar-ing for their performance.
High school's softball showcase bumpsChallenger program games
More than 300 turned outfor the annual Clayton CleansUp honoring Earth Day 2014on April 26. The morningdawned clear after two days of(much needed) rain and thetrash was waiting. Volunteersdonned their designer T-shirt,grabbed an orange bag andheaded out to scour and scrubthe streets and trails of cigarettebutts, beer cans, Coke bottlesand other assorted grubby itemsbefore returning to the City Hallcourtyard for BBQ lunch.
The annual event is spon-sored by the Clayton Pioneerand the city of Clayton withgenerous donations from TravisCredit Union, Republic Ser-vices, CBCA, Peets’ Coffee,Fresh and Easy, Orchard SupplyHardware and TMT Branding.
Clockwise from top left: Event coordina-tor, Pamela Wiesendanger; DebraMeylan on recycle patrol; Rich Ludlowand Julie Todd head back to City Hallwith two bags full; Grillmeisters HowardGeller, Steve Pierce and Fred Repettocook up lunch for the clean-up crew.
Page 2 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014
Spring cleaning in Clayton honors Earth Day
Around Town
CCllaayyttoonn MMaarrkkeett UUppddaattee pprroovviiddeedd bbyy BBeetttteerr HHoommeess RReeaallttyy
508 Suisun Court .................$535,000 . . . .1939 . . . . .3/2.5 . . . . . .4/25/14
267 Mountaire Parkway .......$725,000 . . . .2694 . . . . .5/2.5 . . . . . .4/23/14
76 El Molino Drive ...............$695,000 . . . .2369 . . . . .4/2.5 . . . . . .4/22/14
34 Barcelona Way ...............$635,000 . . . .2427 . . . . .5/2.5 . . . . . .4/18/14
4 Mount Wilson Wy..............$340,000 . . . .966 . . . . . .2/2 . . . . . . .4/18/14
9013 Elk Drive .....................$876,000 . . . .2879 . . . . .4/3 . . . . . . .4/16/14
309 Saclan Terrace..............$504,500 . . . .1749 . . . . .3/2.5 . . . . . .4/16/14
3607 Coyote Circle ..............$439,950 . . . .1554 . . . . .3/2.5 . . . . . .4/16/14
1809 Yolanda Circle.............$680,000 . . . .1780 . . . . .4/2.5 . . . . . .4/11/14
1068 Mitchell Canyon Rd ....$580,000 . . . .1600 . . . . .3/2 . . . . . . .4/11/14
329 Ahwanee Ln..................$855,000 . . . .2944 . . . . .4/2.5 . . . . . .4/11/14
212 Mountaire Circle............$660,000 . . . .2141 . . . . .4/2.5 . . . . . .4/10/14
9003 Elk Drive .....................$775,000 . . . .2879 . . . . .4/3 . . . . . . . .4/3/14
5944 Herriman Dr ................$595,000 . . . .1709 . . . . .3/2 . . . . . . . .4/2/14
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July 4 date set for Michelsen/Styskal vowsIt’s unlikely that Danielle
Michelsen and Brian Styskal willever have trouble rememberingthe two most important romanticanniversaries in their lives. Thepair became engaged on Christ-mas Eve 2013 when Brian pro-posed in front of the ChristmasTree, and Danielle said yes. Andthis July 4, there will be extra fire-works when they marry in Napa.
Danielle is a homegrownClaytonian. The daughter ofEasley Estates residents, David
and Barbara Michelsen, she grad-uated from CVHS in 2006 andwent on to UC Berkeley, graduat-ing in 2010. She currently worksfor Nextdoor.com in San Fran-cisco in marketing and commu-nications.
The son of Dr. Steve andDiane Styskal, Brian grew up inLakewood, Wash. where hegraduated from Lake HighSchool before attending ArizonaState University. He is an ITconsultant for a healthcare firm. DANIELLE MICHELSEN AND BRIAN STYSKAL
May 9, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com Page 3
What’s happeningAround Town?Send your news and pho-
tos of your births, engage-ments, weddings, specialrecognitions, etc. [email protected].
Saturdays 6 to 8:30 p.m.
At the Gazebo in The GroveSet up chairs and blankets on the lawn after 4 p.m.
Concertsin The Grovein The Grove
May 10 Mike Amaral’s California Beach Boys They will bring you back to the days of sock hops, drive-in movies, beach parties and clean living.
May 24 Boys of Summer –Eagles tribute band
June 7 Houserockers –10 piece Rock and Soul band brings together elements of rock, swing, blues, 60s Soul and R & B
June 21 City Swing Big Band featuring the big band sounds of the 40s,
50s and 60s including era greats like Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Glen Miller
July 5 The Fundamentals - R&B, rock, pop and soul tunes.
July 19 Rachel Steele & Road 88 - modern country and rock and roll High energy dance music.
Aug 2 Diamond Dave – sings the classics of Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Justin Timberlake and even Lady Gaga
Aug 16 AJA VUplays the music of Steely Dan and Chicago
Aug 30 Apple Z –high energy rock and roll spanning the decades from Rolling Stones to Lady Gaga
Sept 13 East Bay Mudd - 10-piece cover dance band with a powerful 4-man horn section
For more band information, go to
www.cityofclayton.org. Chairs and
blankets may be set out after 4 p.m.
on concert days.
Around Town
Concord $219,980Townhome – 2BD/1BA with fresh neutral paint, carpet and wood lam-inate flooring that makes the home light and airy. Spacious dining areaadjacent galley-style kitchen. Open living room out to patio area.Laundry & pool nearby.
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Clayton $444,950Downtown – Single story 2BD/2BA on a wonderful lot down a privatelane. Beautiful, open floor plan with over 1,100 sq. ft. Master suite withorganized closet, master bath with dual sinks, and access out to backpatio. Walk to schools and downtown!
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Over 55 Community
Markles welcome baby boy
Hunter Savage Markle wasn’teven born yet and he was caus-ing his mom and dad grief. OnDec. 28, 2013, at Kaiser Hospi-tal in Walnut Creek, Hunterdecided to make his appearance,but he was coming “sunny sideup” (face up)and doctorscalled for anemergency C-section. Thetall little dudewas deliveredsafely — all22.5 inches,8.13 poundsof him.
Hunter issurrounded byloving family,including grandpa and step-grandma, Byron and MildredSavage, who live in Concord.Grandma and step-grandpa Jeffand Linda Oransky are in Anti-och. Jared’s mom, who lives inHerndon, VA, visits often andwhen she can’t, the family Face-times together. Jared’s fatherand stepmom, Alvin and LynnMarkle, live in Texas and areplanning a summer visit.
Jennifer and Jared ownDiablo Lawnscape in Clayton.
HUNTERSAVAGEMARKLE
If you weren’t downtown Clayton last week-end, you were likely the only one in town thatwas not. With the sunshine and cool breeze,the day was perfect for strolling, glass of wineor beer in hand, and browsing the more than150 artisans, artists and purveyors of uniqueitems that lined Main Street for the 19th annu-al Art and Wine Festival.
New to the festival this year was PrincessAisha, a true African princess from the villageof Tamale in Northern Ghana. Alongside theshea butter products that make up her businesswere brightly woven handmade baskets,drums and musical instruments made by thewomen from her village from the local Ghan-ian hardwoods. The proceeds from the sale ofthese items are all sent back to Aisha’s village
to support the school and help the women starttheir own businesses.
The Art and Wine Festival is sponsored bythe Clayton Business and Community Associa-tion and is one of three major fundraisers eachyear. Proceeds from all events-Art and Wine,the Clayton Classic Golf Tournament andOktoberfest — are returned to the communityas grants and scholarships.
This year, CBCA the city of Clayton and theHistorical Society all celebrate milestone birth-days. This summer, CBCA will hang new ban-ners on the downtown lightpoles honoring 50years for the city of Clayton, 40 years for theHistorical Society and and 30 for the CBCA.For membership information, go to claytoncb-ca.org or call 925.672.2272.
Another mighty fine
Art and Wine
The Clayton Farmers’ Mar-ket will open for the season at 8a.m. on Saturday morning. At9:30, local dignitaries will be onhand for the official ribbon cut-ting. Many of the vendors fromseasons past will be back andseveral new ones will appear asthe season (and the bounty) pro-gresses.
Look for Cecchini & Cecchi-ni Farms with awesome aspara-gus, Gotelli Farms with freshsweet cherries and Clayton’sMarElla B’s with local honey.The market opens the day
before Mother’s Day and therewill be ample opportunity topick up some flowers and hand-made soap from Mt. DiabloSoap Company.
Along with all the freshfruits and veggies, look for bak-ery items and goat cheeses. Themarket will be open throughOctober 25. For more informa-tion on the market, go topcfma.com.
At 4 p.m. (and not a minutebefore, say city officials), con-cert-goers can stake out theirterritory with lawn chairs and
picnic blankets in The Grove forthe first of the season’s concertswhich begins at 6 p.m.
Mike Amaral’s CaliforniaBeach Boys will kick off the sea-son with a tribute to the greatBrian , Dennis and Carl Wilson,Mike Love and Al Jardine. Theclose harmonies of “Surfin’USA,” “Surfer Girl” and “LittleDeuce Coupe,” recall the clean-living and simpler days of thesock hop and drive-in movies.For photos, sound clips andmore information on the band,go to californiabeachboys.com.
The concerts begin at 6 p.m.at the Gazebo in The Grove.
For a complete concert schedule,see page 3.
The pent up demand wasspectacularly evident on the firstday of the Clayton Leaguesignups on April 5, when morethan 500 players filled up the first10 teams before the end of theday, forcing the League to addtwo more teams to the alreadypacked play schedule. Ed Hartley,CBCA member heading up thebocce effort, says close to 70 per-cent of the players are Claytonresidents.
The courts should be com-plete by early June. League play isset to begin June 16.
The park is expected to bringupwards of 80 people to down-town Clayton five evenings aweek, providing a much neededstimulus to local business. “Buildit and they will come,” saysCBCA’s Ed Hartley, president of
the Clayton Bocce Federation.“The players have to eat some-where,” he says, “We have theplaces for them.”
John Canesa, owner of Cane-sa’s Brooklyn Deli, immediatelynext door to the park, expectsbusiness to “boom” when leagueplay starts.
The excitement is coming notjust from the local eateries. SaraSkow, owner of the Royal Roost-er gift store on Diablo Street, isalready planning to add eveninghours this summer.
BOCCE BUZZ JUST
THE BEGINNING
The bocce park may just bewhat’s needed to jump-start busi-ness in the economically sluggishtown center.
Last month the city of Clay-
ton listed three downtownparcels with a commercial realestate broker with hopes ofattracting one or more develop-ers. The largest parcel, a 1.67-acre piece next to the ClaytonCommunity Church offices sitsbetween Main St. and ClaytonRd. The other piece is on OakStreet and is comprised of twoadjacent parcels totaling .75 acre.The Oak Street property hasbeen approved for a mixed useproject with 7,000 sq. ft. of retailspace on the ground floor andseven apartments upstairs. It’sfully entitled and ready for ham-mer and nails. There is a poten-tial developer interested in theproperty, but no firm deals, yet.
The city properties are listedwith Transwestern PropertyCompany West, Inc.
“The challenge,” says Tran-swestern’s managing broker, EdDel Beccaro, “is to turn Clayton
into a destination.”The most promising sce-
nario, he says, is for mixed usewith 7,000-10,000 sq. ft. ofcommercial combined with con-dos and apartments.
“Restaurants, a wine bar,some form of entertainmentand maybe a high-end retail –say a saddle shop – are at the topof our list,” he says. The compa-ny has sent over 70 solicitationsto potential developers. About a
third of those have shown inter-est enough to ask for moreinformation.
Until last year, the Main St.property was owned by theClayton Community Church,which had plans to build a wor-ship center downtown. Thechurch sold the lot to the city ofClayton last year when a bettersite on the hill above Mt. DiabloElementary became available.The church still owns approxi-
mately 1.4 acres next door thatis used for offices which is cur-rently listed with Colliers.
The two properties com-bined are just about three acres,big enough to attract some realcommercial interest, says DelBaccaro.
Shawn Robinson, pastor ofClayton Community Church,says they are open to workingwith the city’s broker to marketthe two parcels together.
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Bocce Park, from page 1
Summer, from page 1
Page 4 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014
THE LISTING AGENT FOR THE 1.67-ACRE CITY OWNED DOWNTOWN PROPERTY is actively marketing theproperty for mixed use, commercial and residential.
May 9, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com Page 5
The financial situation inthe City of Concord is not ina crisis; however we are facingseveral challenges. On May 13,the council will have a budgetworkshop to address our Fis-cal Year 2014-15. The majorissue is that we have $68 mil-lion in revenue and $74 mil-lion in expenses. It doesn’ttake a math expert to see wehave some work to do.
Here is some background:To balance its budget, theState of California took fromConcord more than $7 millionannually of redevelopmentmoney. We also are carrying$10 million in deferred main-
tenance and unfunded liabili-ties. This would have been acrisis had it not been for thepassage of the Measure Q, the
half-cent sales tax that is gen-erating $10.6 million annually.Concord is using this extrasales tax money to close thebudget gap of $6 million inthe city’s shortfall the currentyear’s 2013-14 budget.
To resolve our budget’sstructural deficit we are plac-ing about $4.5 million into ourreserves. Unfortunately theMeasure Q sales tax willexpire in March 2016. Whenthat happens, unless we findsome additional fundingsources to stabilize our Gen-eral Fund budget, we will needto cut additional services thatour community receives.
The council has alreadymade a number of hard deci-sions to reduce our city’sbudget. We’ve cut out all ofthe fat and inefficiencies. Wehave reduced our workforceby 25 percent (144 employ-ees), reduced our GeneralFund expenditures by $10 mil-lion (from 2007 to 2011),reduced some programs andeliminated services, out-sourced some selected servic-es, increased employee contri-butions to health and retire-ment benefits, and we’ve used$24 million from our reserves
RON LEONE
CONCORDCITY BEAT
Concord schedules important budget workshop
A grassroots effort is wellunderway in the city of Concordto sponsor an Independence Dayfireworks show and festival thatwill fill the void left by CalvaryTemple Church’s discontinuedSinging Flag program.
The Todos Santos BusinessAssociation in partnership withlocal blog Claycord.com is leadingthe charge to raise significantfunds from the Concord commu-nity and is well on its way to see-ing the $50,000 event become areality this summer at Mount Dia-blo High School.
After 25 years of presentingthe Singing Flag, a patriotic varietyshow performed each year atDave Brubeck Park in Concord,Calvary Temple, which is donat-ing $500 to the Concord fire-works effort, announced inMarch the cancellation of thebeloved show.
It didn’t take long for locals tovoice their dismay and their wishfor a Fourth of July fireworks cel-ebration in the city. Tim McGal-lian, president of the Todos San-tos Business Association, was oneof these citizens. His dreambegan small, with a push to raisethe $15,000 it takes to launch aspectacular holiday fireworksshow. Using an online donationwebsite to gather funds, McGal-lian’s dream quickly began togather steam. Claycord.com con-tinued to publish articles aboutthe progress of the fundraisingand before long, the cost of thefireworks piece was covered.
This is when McGallian decid-ed to take the day of celebrationone more step. “As the ball start-ed to roll, people are going to besetting blankets out, they’re soused to the festivities of the Flag,we decided to put together asmaller type festival.” This addssignificantly to the cost of theevent, but McGallian feels thatthe day will be a tradition goingforward for the city.
“It will start with the 5K runin the morning (downtown), andthen move into the parade,” hesays. McGallian explains that thefestival will take place beginningat about 4 p.m. at Mount Diablo
High School on the grass fieldand run into the evening until thefireworks are launched at 9 p.m.The day’s activities are still in theearly planning stages, but are setto include a big stage with livelocal bands, a kids carnival andfood vendors. “At about 9 p.m.we’ll cap the evening off with thefireworks,” he says.
The fireworks effort will befully funded by Concord residentsand businesses as a grassrootseffort. But, it has also received thesupport of the Concord CityCouncil. Councilman Edi Birsan,has pledged $100 to the cause.
“It’s something that I lookforward to becoming a regularfeature,” he says. “I want it tobecome a tradition. This is a testa-ment to the fact that we live in‘Concordance’ with each other.That’s what July 4 is all about.”
McGallian says that with theinclusion of the festival, there isstill plenty of fundraising left todo for the event to be successful.For costs, McGallian sites fire-works, entertainment, securityand other fees that he says add upquickly for an event of thisnature. “We are probably in theballpark of $35,000 raised so farand we still need another$15,000,” he says.
To donate to the Concord Fire-works effort, go towww.crowdtilt.com/campaigns/save-concords-4th-of-july-fireworks .
Concord News
Concord: No booze sales at 99 Cents Only storeThe city of Concord put the
cork in efforts to sell more alco-hol along a troublesome tract ofClayton Road.
At its April 22 meeting, theConcord City Council unani-mously upheld an earlier zoningdenial of a request by the 99Cents Only store at 4465 ClaytonRoad, which had in February peti-tioned the city to sell beer andwine from its shelves.
“What it comes down to…isthis is not the time or place to sellalcohol at this location,” saidcouncil member Laura Hoffmeis-ter. “It’s just not needed.”
The appeal was brought to thecity by Steve Rawlings, a consult-ant with 99 Cents Only storesthroughout California, who dis-
puted police department claimsthat there was a high concentra-tion of alcohol-related crimes inthe area.
Rawlings cited an earlier crimereported that alcohol-relatedcrimes were down in the shop-ping center’s area, which alsoincludes a Beverly’s Fabrics and aTJ Maxx store.
He even amended the store’searlier application, offering sever-al concessions. The alcohol areawould be limited to 12 linear feetat the store, and would notinclude drink coolers to buychilled beers and wine. No “sin-gles” — solo bottles of beer ormalt liquor — would be sold,unlike what’s offered at some ofhis other stores, and employeeswould be trained on responsiblesales techniques mirrored afterAlcohol and Beverage Control
methods.But Concord Police Officer
Russ Norris said that none ofthese concessions would changehis recommendation to deny thealcohol permit. “There is a signif-icant amount of alcohol-relatedproblems and crime in that areaand at that specific shopping cen-ter,” he said.
He said many people buybooze elsewhere and bring it tothe shopping center to drink.
Nearby homeowners alsourged the council to keep the 99Cents Only store from sellingalcohol. “I have seen first-hand”the problems of vagrancy andalcohol-related problems, saidIsaac Kern, a member of theNewhall Village HomeownersAssociation, which is locatedacross the street from the shop-ping center. “There’s no reason to
add one more store to the mix, ifit may increase problems we arealready dealing with,” he said.
Neighbor Ray Barber agreed.
“I don’t know what benefit to thecity this would bring.”
Sgt. Norris said that in thecrime-reporting area of which 99
Cents Only is a part, there arealready five liquor licenses, twomore than ABC allows.
Vice Mayor Ron Leone wasquick to compliment Rawlingsand 99 Cents Only store for thevalue the low-price sundry andgrocery store brings to the com-munity, without needing to sellbeer and wine. “I hope it contin-ues to prosper,” he said. “Butcommunity safety is my number-one concern, and I rely on policeexpertise and defer to them.”
99 Cents Only stores openedin 1982, but since then, manyitems sold there have cost morethan 99 cents. Rawlings said thatthe store has emerged as a popu-lar grocery option for peopleseeking good bargains, and hasbeen expanding its food and veg-etable sections due to the demandof its customers.
The Concord Ambassadorswill step up in downtown Con-cord on Saturday, May 10, to pro-mote the upcoming visit fromresidents of Concord’s Sister City,Kitakami, Japan, participating inthe AAUW Art and Wine (andBeer) Walk.
The Ambassadors will behosting an “Art Stop” at the Bren-den Theatre, where participantswill see the origami crane sculp-ture by Oakland artist SeanOlson, created in honor of Con-cord’s Sister City, and the work ofAlice Martinez, a local artist whois best known for her tropicalwatercolors.
The Concord Ambassadorsorganization is the local nonprof-it that supports Concord’s SisterCity program. The Kitakami con-tingent will be in Concord fromOct. 2 through 5.
Participants in the Art andWine (and Beer) Walk, whichbenefits the AAUW scholarshipprogram, will stroll around down-town Concord and Todos SantosPlaza while enjoying wine, micro-brew beers, and local art. The AllArea Music Festival, featuringmusic students from Mt. Diabloelementary, middle and highschools, will be taking place inTodos Santos Plaza.
Tickets to the Art and WineWalk are $20 per person inadvance or $25 at the door; partic-ipants must be 21 or older. Theevent takes place from 1 to 4 p.m.and begins at E.J. Phair Alehouse,2151 Salvio St. For more informa-tion, call 925-363-4438 or visithttp://concord-ca.aauw.net/.
Residents who would like tobecome a member of the Ambas-sadors or host visitors from Kitakamiduring their October stay should con-tact Concord City Clerk Mary RaeLehman, 925-671-3495. For moreinformation, visit www.concordambas-sadors.org.
Rochellez Photography
Origami sculpture by Oakland artist Sean Olson will be ondisplay at the Brenden Theatre in Concord, May 10.
The popular Thursday NightMusic and Market series returnsto Todos Santos Plaza in down-town Concord on May 22. Theseries continues through Sept. 11with the Farmers’ Market in theplaza from 4 to 8 p.m. and musicon the Todos Santos stage from6:30 to 8 p.m.
The 26th annual Music andMarket Series is one of thelongest-running civic concertseries in the Bay Area. The seriesis funded through donations col-lected from attendees during the2013 concert series and by localsponsors.
MUSIC AND MARKET
HIGHLIGHTS
This year’s calendar includes anod to the 50th anniversary of
the British Invasion with the SunKings, the Bay Area’s best Beatlesband, on June 19, and The Rave-Ups performing hits by the Yard-birds, The Animals, and Creamon July 17.
Foreverland, a very popularMichael Jackson tribute band,performs July 24 and Zepparella,the all-female rocking tribute toLed Zeppelin, appears Aug. 21.Stealin’ Chicago (May 29), JamesGarner (Aug. 14), and The PurpleOnes (Sept. 4) compliment theschedule with their authentic rep-resentations of the sounds ofChicago, Johnny Cash, andPrince, respectively.
Multi-cultural highlightsinclude Da Island Way with itscolorful Polynesian music anddance revue, and Dakila’s Latin
Rock with a Filipino twist, a dou-ble bill on June 12.
The Lafayette Studio BigBand will close the Thursdayseries on Sept. 11 with a movingmemorial salute to 9/11 featuringBig Band classics and songs thathonor New York.
SPECIAL EVENTS
In addition to a year-roundFarmers’ Market on Tuesdaysfrom 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and thesummer Thursday Night Music& Market series, downtownConcord’s Todos Santos Plazafeatures a number of specialevents this summer.
Concord celebrates Mother’s Dayon Saturday, May 10 in TodosSantos Plaza. The event includesthe Mount Diablo Music Educa-
tion Foundation’s fifth annual AllArea Music Festival, featuringmusic students from Mt. DiabloUnified’s elementary, middle andhigh schools. The musical per-formances will take place from 11a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free.
KidFest is May 24-26.DadDay in the Plaza on Sun-
day, June 15 will feature JamesClark and the Jailhouse Rockerspresenting an Elvis Presleyrevue, as well as a chili cook-offfeaturing chefs from local fireand police departments.
The Tuesday Night Blues Seriesreturns for the month of Julyfrom 6:30 to 8 p.m. Bay Areafood trucks from Off the Gridwill bring “brews, blues andbarbecues” to the plaza eachTuesday.
PEGGY SPEAR
Clayton Pioneer
Fireworks,festival sparkinterest inConcord
JOHN JACKSON
Clayton Pioneer
Concord Ambassadors promote Kitakami visit
Summer music returns to Concord
See Budget, page 6
Concord had jobs and housing.They came with no-down-pay-ment VA loans, easy FHAfinancing and decent jobs. Thehousing “tracts” started pop-ping up all over town —Colony Park, Holbrook, Glen-brook, Canterbury Village,Dana Estates, Clayton ValleyHighlands — and continueduntil Concord’s populationswelled from 6,900 in 1950 totoday’s 123,000 souls of all col-ors and cultures.
In the 1950 census, raceswere categorized only by NativeWhite, Foreign-born White,Negro, and Other Races (Indi-ans, Japanese and Chinese), andWhite Persons of Spanish Sur-name; nothing for Hispanic orLatino. And the town was 94.3percent white.
In 1960, the census added aline for Filipino; still no Hispan-ic count and whites were now99 percent of the population.
Fifty years later, those num-bers are dramatically different.Hispanics make up a third ofConcord’s population. At 11percent, Asian’s are the city’sfastest growing ethnic group;non-whites, multi-racial andother races are 25 percent ofthe population and whites nowaccount for just 63 percent.
A rapid influx of any ethnic-ity can challenge a city’sresources both in the short- andthe long-term. Eric Moldonado,the Community GovernmentRelations Director for TravisCredit Union and a member ofthe Hispanic Chamber of Com-merce, says that it can often bedifficult for ethnic groups torelate and assimilate in certainsituations.
“The makeup of the Con-cord City Council has not shift-ed to reflect Concord’s diversepopulation,” he notes. “Thiscould be improved.”
Council member Birsanagrees. All but three of the last50 council members live or havelived in the affluent and mainlywhite 94521 ZIP code, says Bir-san. “I’m the only member ofthe council that can walk toMonument Boulevard.”
A POPULAR CITY
Nevertheless, most Concor-dians are happy with their city.
A March survey conductedby Godbe Research showedthat an astounding 80 percentof residents rated their qualityof life either “excellent” or“good.” Additionally, 83 per-cent were “very or somewhatsatisfied” with the job that thecity is doing in providing cityservices.
“For a city this size, we don’tfeel like a city this size,” says citycouncil member LauraHoffmeister. “It still has thatneighborhood feel and it’s aclean community, where crimeis relatively low compared toother communities.”
Crime is always a concern ina big city and Concord is noexception. Hoffmeister blamesthe meteoric rise of socialmedia for feeding a negativeperception.
“Some of the things thathave always been happening inthe community are just nowmore prevalent and available tothe community to know about,”she says. “We want people toknow what’s happening so theycan keep a look out. But at thesame time, when they say ‘Wenever ran into that in the past,’they’re wrong. It was still there.”
Public perception has been afrustrating hurdle to overcome.Statistics clearly show a contin-uous drop in crime since 2000,but Concord Police Chief GuySwanger says that people simplyaren’t aware of these greatgains.
“We're actually doing reallygood work,” he says. “There areso many good things happeningregarding public safety in ourcommunity, but how we marketthat is really that next step forus.”
The perception that Con-cord has a big gang problem issimply not true, adds Council-man Edi Birsan. “We've got toget the word out about gangsbecause it keeps showing up.It's the biggest fear factor peo-ple have and it just doesn't existhere in Concord."
Recent years in Concordhave seen a boom of sorts inrestaurant, retail and entertain-ment activity, which adds to theappeal of the town for manyfolks. With new restaurants inthe Willows Shopping Center,city-sponsored events in TodosSantos Park, the array of inter-national eateries and markets inthe Park-n-Shop center, andnew and refreshed car dealer-ships lining the Market Streetand Concord Avenue areas, res-idents have few complaintsabout malaise. There has alsobeen a concerted effort to revi-talize the Monument Corridorarea. Giving support to currentbusinesses and adding new ven-tures that may be positive forthe local economy is strength-ening the entire corridor.
Paul Arendsee, a local real-tor who migrated to Concordfrom Hercules 10 years ago, isvery pleased with the progressthe town has made since hisarrival and he has no complaintsabout finding things to doaround town. “It’s nice that therestaurants in Concord havebecome more and more quali-
ty,” he says. “I like what they’vedone with Todos Santos.There’s just something aboutthat plaza. You go there andthere’s just a family aura. It feelslike a fun place to go and there’splenty of places to eat, havecoffee and just sit and relax. Itjust feels like home.”
IS CONCORD A
MELTING POT?“No,” says Clayton Pioneer
publisher and 60-year Con-cord/Clayton resident BobSteiner. “In a melting pot,everything tastes the same.Throw some gouda, some ched-dar, some feta in a pot, heat itup and when it’s done, it’s justcheese.”
He equates Concord to atossed salad. “A big bowl withradishes, lettuce, onions, toma-toes, all cut up together. Tossthem with a little vinegar and oiland you have a salad sharing abowl. But, everything keeps itsown taste, color and texture.”
And there is Concord’s chal-lenge, says Birsan. “For us all tolive in concordance.”
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Page 6 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014
City Beat, from page 5
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from between the 2007-08and 2010-11 fiscal years.
We have some long-termissues we must address:
Unfunded liabilities: Thecouncil is trying to addressour unfunded liabilities ofretired city workers. The Cityof Concord Retirement Sys-tem (CCRS) is currently fund-ed at only 62 percent; fullfunding requires another $2million. Our CalPERS pen-sions currently are reasonablywell funded at 76 percent(best practice is 75-80 percentfunded) and our city paysCalPERS the full annualemployer contribution of $9million. Our city employeespay their full share. However,an additional $1.7 million isneeded to fully fund this pen-sion program.
Roads and maintenance. Inaddition we not only mustwork to maintain our existinginfrastructure and facilities ina safe and operational condi-tion, but we also have a back-log of deferred infrastructuremaintenance, for signs, road-ways, city buildings and parksof $8 million per year.
It will cost $10.5 million tofully fund our post-employ-ment liabilities and infrastruc-ture backlog.
We are currently workingon developing an ordinance toaddress the use of one-timeand surplus funds that comeinto the city to be used onlyfor our unfunded liabilitiesand infrastructure backlog.
At our budget workshopwe will need to explore waysto answer these long-termbudget concerns. The counciland leadership staff must also
develop ways to continue towork with our employeegroups on controlling employ-ee-related cost increases, con-tinue to focus on economicdevelopment to enhanceproperty tax and sales tax rev-enue, continue to look formore program efficiencies tosave money, continue torespond appropriately tochanges in financial condi-tions, assist in the economicvitality of the community,work to understand communi-ty service priorities to guidefuture service cuts, and wemust continue to identifyappropriate new revenuesources.
The budget workshop willbe held on Tuesday, May 13, at6:30 p.m. in the City CouncilChambers, located at 1950Parkside Drive, and will be tel-evised live on Concord CableTV channel 28 (Comcast),channel 29 (Astound) andchannel 99 (AT&T U-verse).The broadcasts are also avail-able online at www.cityofcon-cord.org, both in real-timeand archived for future view-ing. Two public hearings arescheduled in June for consid-eration of the budget. Thefirst is on June 3 and the sec-ond is on June 24. Both willbe held in the City CouncilChambers and will begin at6:30 p.m.
For more information, contactthe City Clerk’s Office, 925-671-3495.
Ron Leone is vice mayor and aformer mayor of Concord. Emailcomments or questions [email protected], or call(925) 680-1776
Diversity, from page 1
“Building on a Billion”
Saturday, May 10 marks the22nd anniversary of America’slargest-single day of giving —the National Association ofLetter Carriers Stamp OutHunger Food Drive in Partner-ship with the U.S. Postal Ser-vice, Campbell Soup, FeedingAmerica and other partners.
Currently, 49 million Amer-icans, one in six, are unsurewhere their next meal is com-ing from. Sixteen million arechildren who feel hunger’simpact on their overall healthand ability to perform in
school. Nearly 5 million sen-iors over age 60 are food inse-cure, with many who live onfixed incomes often tooembarrassed to ask for help.
In 2013, 74 million poundsof food was collected byPostal carriers nationally, feed-ing an estimated 30 millionpeople. Over the course of the21-year history, the Stamp OutHunger Food Drive has col-lected well over one billionpounds of food.
The food drive’s timing iscrucial. Food banks andpantries often receive themajority of their donationsduring the Thanksgiving and
Christmas holiday seasons. Byspringtime, many pantries aredepleted, entering the sum-mer low on supplies at atime when many schoolbreakfast and lunch pro-grams are not available tochildren in need.
To participate, leave anon-perishable food dona-tion in a bag by the mailboxon Saturday, May 10, andthe Postal carrier willdo the rest. It’s thatsimple and millions ofAmericans will behelped.
For more informa-tion, go to nalc.org.
2014 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
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DuRee, Daniel – The Law Office of . . . . . . . . . . .210-1400
Littorno, Richard – The Law Office of . . . . . . . . .432-4211
Travis Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .888-698-0000
Van Wyck, Doug – State Farm Insurance . . . . . .672-2300
Funerals
Ouimet Funeral Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .682-4242
Groceries
Doorstep Farmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349-4568
Home and Garden
Clayton Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .686-2299
Diablo Lawnscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381-3757
Interiors Panache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-7920
Just Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .681-4747
Navlet’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .681-0550
Nichols Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9955
The Floor Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .969-9890
The Maids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .798-6243
Utopic Gardens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .524-0055
Waraner Bros. Tree Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .831-2323
Waraner Tree Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250-0334
Mailing Services
The UPS Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .689-6245
Optometry
Foresight Optometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-4100
Pet Services
Cat Hospital of Clayton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-2287
Monte Vista Veterinary Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276-5744
Pittsburg Pet Resort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .432-7387
Rodie's Feed and Pet Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-4600
Real Estate and Mortgage Services
French, Lynne – Windermere Real Estate . . . . . .672-8787
Howard, Don – Better Homes Realty . . . . . . . . . .408-3184
Howard, Emily – Better Homes Realty . . . . . . . .408-1871
Hudson, Cait – Coldwell Banker . . . . . . . . . . . . .451-6844
Klock, Leigh – Coldwell Banker . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212-5593
Landgraf, Linda – Prudential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .876-0311
Laurence, Pete – RE/MAX Realty . . . . . . . . . . . .890-6004
Lopez, Stephanie – Coldwell Banker . . . . . . . . . .932-7329
Mazzei, Matt – Mazzei Realty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .693-0757
Stojanovich, Jennifer – Better Homes Realty . . .567-6170
Vujnovich, George - Better Homes Realty . . . . . .672-4433
Recreation and Fitness
Doodleton Ranch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .510-207-7467
Earthquake Arabians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .360-7454
Schools
Hope Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .687-7555
Senior Services
Courtyards at Pine Creek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .798-3900
Diamond Terrace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .524-5100
Montecito – Oakmont Senior Living . . . . . . . . . . .852-6702
Services, Other
ComputersUSA! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9989
Net Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-6029
Recycling Center & Transfer Station . . . . . . . . . .473-0180
Travel
Travel to Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9840
Directory of Advertisers
P.O. Box 1246
6200 Center Street, Suite H, Clayton, CA 94517
TAMARA AND ROBERT STEINER, Publishers
TAMARA STEINER, Editor
PETE CRUZ, Graphic Design
PEGGY SPEAR, Copy Editor
JAY BEDECARRÉ, Sports
PAMELA WIESENDANGER, Administration
STAFF WRITERS: Denisen Hartlove, Lou Fancher, NicciShipstead, Pam Wiesendanger, Mike Dunn
We remember Jill Bedecarré - Her spirit is our muse
PIONEER INFOCONTACT US
Tel: (925) 672-0500Fax: (925) 672-6580
Tamara [email protected]
Send ads [email protected]
Send Sports News [email protected]
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Send Church News [email protected]
Send School News [email protected]
Send Classified Ads [email protected]
CLASSIFIEDSClassified rates per insertion:$48 for first 30 words, $.40 each
additional wordNon-profit: $24 for first 30
words, $.20 each additionalword
To place your classified ad over thephone, call the office at (925) 672-0500 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.Mon.-Fri. Or, you may fax your type-written ad and credit card informa-tion to (925) 672-6580. All classifiedsmust be paid for in advance by creditcard (Master Card or Visa)
We will not accept any ad that dis-criminates on the basis of race, color,sex, religion, nationality, family status
or disability. The Clayton Pioneerreserves the right to reject any adver-tising we believe is unsuitable.
LET US KNOWWeddings, engagements, anniver-
saries, births and deaths all weavetogether as part of the fabric of ourcommunity. Please let us know ofthese important events. We ask onlythat the announcement be for a Clay-ton resident. You will find the appro-priate form for your announcementon our Website. Attach your photo tothe form. Make sure the image sizeyou are about to send is at least 3 MBbut not bigger than 6MB. The onlyformat we accept is JPG. You can alsomail or bring your print to the officeand we can scan it for you.
Also on our Website are formsfor submitting Community Calendaritems and press releases for yourorganization.
LETTERS TO THE EDITORThe Clayton Pioneer welcomes
letters from our readers. As a generalrule, letters should be 250 words orless and submitted at least one weekprior to publication date. Letters con-cerning current issues will have prior-ity. We may edit letters for length andclarity. All letters will be published atthe editor’s discretion.
Please include your name, addressand daytime telephone number. Wewill not print letters from “anony-mous.”
E-mail your letter in a Worddocument to [email protected]. Letters MUST be sub-mitted via E-mail.
GARDENING
Flower Gardening
by Nicole Hackett
Perennial, ornamental, rose and
container care. Keep your garden
in flowers this year with monthly
fertilizing and pruning visits.
Email for consultation or details.
FOR LEASE
Office and retail space for lease
in Historic Clayton City Center:
Village Oaks Center, 6200 Center
St., Clayton. Call Nick Adamson at
(408) 371-8770, ext. 21.
HELP WANTED
Computer Tech
Growing business has position for
onsite pro computer tech in Contra
Costa County. Must have experi-
ence in Windows and Mac OS, net-
work repair and troubleshooting.
ComputersUSA! 672-9989.
Park District
Summer job openings for students
as well as openings for park police
officers. Go to
www.ebparks.org/jobs.
Sales Associate
Retail feed and pet supply store,
full or part time. Apply in person at
Rodie's Feed, 8863 Marsh Creek
Road, Clayton.
Come join Mazzei Realty!
Currently interviewing and hiring
new and experienced real estate
agents. Call 693-0757 for details.
Real Estate Agents
Be Successful! Lynne French is
expanding and interviewing for a
few agents. Call her today 672-
8787.
VOLUNTEERS
NEEDED
Help Fight Hunger
Anna Chan – AKA: The Lemon
Lady needs your help! Weekly
commitment appreciated. For more
info and contact numbers, go to
thelemonlady.blogspot.com.
Clayton Historical
Society Museum
Needs a greeter for two hours per
month from 2-4 p.m. Wednesdays
or Sundays. Call the museum at
672-0240 and leave your name.
Clayton Community Library
Needs volunteers. Minimum age
13. Minimum commitment is 6
months. Some training provided.
Contact Arlene at 673-9777 or
Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels is looking for vol-
unteer drivers one day a week
between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Make a tremendous difference to
seniors in your community.
Contact Sharon Fitzgerald at 932-
8607 or [email protected]
today!
Classified
CourageDo the Right Thing
FOR RENT
Clayton, charming one bedroom
cabin on Mt. Diablo. Four miles
from town.
No dogs. $795/mo. Call 672-5225.
FOR SALE
Refrigerator. Whirlpool. Ten
months old. Stainless, top freezer,
ice maker, glass shelves, two
crispers, 21.5 cu. ft. Like new. $750
cash. 673-6223.
TUTOR
Teacher/private tutor available
for K-6 tutoring in Clayton, all
subjects. In-home or Clayton library.
Patient and kind. Creates custom,
interactive lessons. References
available. Email Natalie at clayton-
May 9, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com Page 7
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Seeking Volunteersfor the 2014 ContraCosta County Fair
The Contra Costa County Fair is currently looking forindividuals interested in volunteering at the 2014Contra Costa County Fair, May 29 through June 1.Here’s a chance to attend the Fair, while also beingpart of the Fair. Contra Costa County Fair volunteersplay an important role in helping make the annualFair a success. Plus, the Fair is a great place to giveone’s time, learn something new and have some fun.
The Fair is looking for volunteers to help in theexhibit department, livestock area, agricultural edu-cation, Fairgrounds classroom and museum, gardensand office. Teen and adult volunteers are encour-aged to participate. Volunteer applications are nowavailable online. They are due at the Fair office byFriday, May 16.
For more information, go to contracostafair.com orcall the Fair Office at 757-4400.
It is a typical day: you getready in the morning, go towork and expect to come homeand relax the rest of theevening. However, when youarrive, you find your front doorslightly ajar. There is no onehome, of this you are sure, andyou cautiously walk in to see
your belongings strewn aboutthe floor and everything in amess. Every drawer is open, thebeds overturned, a windowbroken and your precious itemsgone.
You call the police and tryto make sense of what has justhappened. The police arrive,start asking questions, inspectyour house thoroughly andleave. You, still in somewhat ofa daze, try to calm your familyand recover from this tragedy.Days go by and the last timeyou have heard from the policewas the day your house wasrobbed. No matter how muchyou clean your house andrearrange furniture, the feeling
of insecurity persists.Soon, you hear similar sto-
ries being told; more houses arebeing robbed, more families arebeing targeted. With every newstory you realize that this is notrandom; every victim is some-one you know.
The event I am describing isone that my family and extend-ed relatives have experienced.Over the course of twomonths, about 10 houses havebeen robbed in the Clayton,Concord and Antioch areas.Every family victimized comesfrom a small town in Mexicowhere my parents are from andwith who we regularly convene.Those who have not been hit
are asking the question: Who isnext?
If you have ever had yourhouse robbed, you wouldunderstand the tumult of emo-tions that follows this crime.Your home is sacred, it is aplace where you feel safe, pro-tected and nurtured. However,when someone violates thatand enters your home forceful-ly, it throws away many levels ofsafety you felt in your homebefore. You become paranoidof the cars that seem to driveby slowly in front of yourhouse, become alert at theslightest sound, and maybeeven regret that you hadn’t pre-pared yourself with that state-
of-the-art alarm system withcameras and sensors. I can sayfrom personal experience thatwhen this happens you are waryof leaving your house, yet youwant to run away from it andforget anything ever happened
I understand that those ofus from Mezcala are not theonly ones who have becomevictims of burglaries in thisentire area during these twomonths. However, it is notmerely coincidence that thesefamilies are all being targeted.The police and detectives can-not turn their backs on the con-nections we have found. It isthe police’s job to keep ourcommunities safe, and whenthese situations arise for any-one, it would be comforting toknow that they are followingthrough on the investigations.The safety of all of our homesshould be a priority, one thatthe police should focus onmore and not shrug off as mereinconclusive cases.
If you think about it, ourlives revolve around family. Weoriginate from them, we learnfrom them, and they (hopefully)are by our sides during our lastmoments. Unfortunately, some
people aren’t blessed with amaz-ing families. Sadly, that’s the casein “Finding Bliss” by Dina Sil-ver.
Chloe Carlyle grew upfatherless and stuck with analcoholic mother who found joyin ignoring her daughter’s exis-tence. After sobering up (a lit-tle), Chloe’s mom becomessomewhat tolerable. In desper-ate need of some well-deservedrecognition, Chloe starts work-ing as a nanny for the Reeds, abusy, hardworking family, andautomatically becomes a vital
part of their lives.Chloe has had a schoolgirl
crush on Tyler Reed, therenowned Notre Dame quarter-back, for as long as she canremember. In hopes that he willeventually notice her, Chloecontinues being the caretaker ofSam and Sarah Reed. When theReeds invite Chloe to come upto their summer beach house inLake Geneva, Washington, withthem for a few weeks, she final-ly starts to get the kind of atten-tion from Tyler she’d been wait-ing for, but not exactly the kind
she had anticipated.This novel is filled with
mind-blowing plot twists, unbe-lievable betrayals, and life-changing events. I assure youthat once you finish this master-piece, you will be begging theauthor for a sequel. Silver beau-tifully sculpts the ideas of love,yearning, disappointment anddishonesty into this electricpage-turner.
Recently, the students with-in the Mount Diablo UnifiedSchool District have been tak-ing the new Common Corefield tests. Although these testresults will not be shared, thetests will be used to form theofficial tests that will be takennext year when Common Corestandards kick in.
In order to prepare the stu-dents for the Common Coretests, teachers have had toapply the Common Core stan-dards to the curriculum. Forsome students this may havebeen challenging to switch theway they learn. It also mayhave been challenging forsome students to adapt to tak-ing a test on the computer. Forgood or bad, different studentshave different opinions on theCommon Core tests and stan-dards.
In my personal opinion, Ithink the Common Core stan-dards should have beenenforced more at the begin-
ning of the year because it isdifficult to switch the way youare learning in the middle ofthe year. I also believe theyshould have enforced the stan-dards at the beginning of theyear because it was difficult forour teachers to prepare us onstandards that would takemore than a few days of study.
For instance, the math stan-dards for eighth grade Algebrahave changed. The CommonCore practice test includedquestions that were not taughtin Algebra I. This made it hardfor the students who did notunderstand the material.
Eighth grader Sam Buch-holz says that there is a lotmore work involved with theCommon Core tests, but thereare less problems to solve,which makes it easier. “Thetests aren’t as difficult to adaptto as you would expect. It iseasier for me because I havebeen working on computers allthroughout my schooling,” hesays.
The format of the testsmay impact some students, aswell. “Taking the tests on thecomputer was different foreach student,” says sixth grad-er, Melvin Jacobo. “Some stu-dents may like the paper testsbetter. I think they should givestudents the option on whichformat they would like totake.”
Although the CommonCore tests are new and will notbe used until next year, thereare many differing opinions on
the new curriculum. Teachershave been changing the waythey teach, and students havebeen changing the way theylearn. Although it may be chal-lenging for some, the Com-mon Core tests will providenew and more efficient ways oflearning for the students. Manyat Pine Hollow Middle Schoolare glad to accept these new
standards and are hoping theyreceive even more amazingresults than they have in previ-ous years of STAR testing.
Have you ever been bulliedor has a person you know beenbullied before? Everyone canget bullied and anyone can be abully. Even adults can findthemselves in a situation wherethey are being bullied or bully-ing someone else. It hurts to bebullied, not only physically, butemotionally as well.
Recently Kaiser Perma-nente’s theater group visitedMt. Diablo Elementary Schoolto perform a skit for the wholeschool and a special workshopfor MDE Student Council andleadership members. Kaiser’stheater group performs skits atschools every year. This pro-gram has been around for morethan 25 years. The skits theyperform can build confidencein children and encourage themto role-play.
The skit looked at the reper-cussions of bullying. Bulliesoften start because they havebeen bullied in the past orbecause of home situations.Bullies think that bullyingsomeone else will resolve theirproblems.
Kaiser’s theater groupdescribed different home situa-tions that may have caused thechildren’s behavior. The type ofbehavior ended in a bullying sit-uation, such as one child teas-ing another. This hurt the otherchild’s feelings. After talking toa trusted teacher, the conflictwas resolved.
Bullying, whether emotionalor physcial, is not okay. It canhappen at school, or throughsocial media or even text mes-sages. Even using foul languageto describe a person can hurtthem. The effects of bullyingcan become even worse thanwhen the conflict started ifnothing is done to stop it.
If you or a person you knowis being bullied, talk to a trust-ed teacher or adult to helpresolve the situation. Bullyingcan happen to anyone and any-one can be a bully. Stand up forwhat is right and don’t be abully. Bullying doesn’t resolveproblems, often times it justmakes everything worse.
For their Senior Project,three Clayton Valley CharterHigh School seniors organizedthe first CVCHS Improvagan-za!, an improv competitionbetween four area high schools:Northgate, Benicia, Californiaand CVCHS.
Organizers Megan Coppa,Max Renner and Kyle Metzhope that this successful show,which drew an audience ofmore than 250, will be enoughto carry on with future year-endcompetitions.
Proceeds of this fundraiser,which topped $2,500, are slatedto fund a scholarship in thename of Tom Wills, co-founderof the Clayton Arts Academy,and former department head ofthe drama department. Wills,who retired three years ago,passed away in April, 2013. Heinspired students at Clayton Val-ley High School for more than30 years, so it is only fitting thathe continues to inspire throughthis new scholarship in hisname, the seniors said.
Each year the scholarshipwill be awarded to a deservingCVCHS Arts Academy studentto further their education. Themoney raised came from the $8admission price, as well asonsite snack sales by fellowCVCHS clubs and sales of alimited-edition t-shirt. The spe-cial t-shirts were donated byClayton resident Sean Boyle ofPacific Advertising Specialty Co.
The seniors were able toschedule former CVCHSImprov Team members to comeback to help judge the competi-tion. Kyle Newacheck (CVHS’02), creator, director and actorin the current hit comedy series“Workaholics” on Comedy Cen-tral, was one of the judges,along with local San Franciscoactor Teddy Spencer (CVHS‘02), and Kyle’s older brotherMike Metz, Jr. (CVHS ‘04), pro-gram director for Corpus ChristiSchools. Mike’s writing partner,William Saporito, a Chico StateAlumni, was the fourth judge.Megan Coppa and Ryan Metz(CVHS ’09) were the Masters ofCeremony.
Benicia took home the
crown with CVCHS as the run-ner-up. Of course it was neverabout winning or losing butabout raising money for a greatcause and for the man whoworked so hard for so long toinstill a love of the arts intothousands of CVHS students.
Megan, Max and Kyle saythey “couldn’t have done it”without the help of JenniferDeangelis and Kevin Cline,Arts Academy upper coreteachers and all the volunteersthat worked so hard to makethis event a huge success. Theseniors are looking forward toseeing how their “baby” growsas they hope they have beenable to establish a new CVCHStradition.
Summer Programat Hope Academy
For children in grades 1-7 who have struggled with reading, writing orspelling. Offering an in-depth focus on languagearts with a very smallstudent/ teacher ratio.
June 16 — July 11
M-F 9-12:30
$1000 for
4 weeks
Hope Academy
for Dyslexics
5353 Concord Blvd. in Concord
925-687-7555
www.hopeacademyconcord.org
Page 8 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014
Emily York is a freshman atCVCHS.
EMILY YORK
TEEN READS
NATALIE PURSCHE
MDES REPORTER
‘Finding Bliss’ may not be easy
Home burglary strikes fear, anger
CARLIE BEESON
PINE HOLLOWREPORTER
Carlie Beeson is an 8th grader atPine Hollow Middle School. Sheenjoys reading, playing soccer, andsinging. Questions or comments? Sendher an Email at [email protected]
Liliana Hernandez is a Senior atClayton Valley Charter High School.She loves to read and plans to pursueher interest in writing in the future.Send email to her at [email protected]
LILIANA HERNANDEZ
TEEN SPEAK
Studentslearn bullyingis not OK
Design • InstallationMaintenance
Commercial & Residential
Spend time enjoying your landscape…not working on it!
License # 958849
Natalie Pursche is a fifth grader atMt. Diablo Elementary School who isan avid reader, enjoys writing, loves theoutdoors, and is a member of theMDE school council. Send commentsto [email protected].
Common Core assessments test students
photo: Diana Barba (CVCHS 2013)
CVCHS IMPROV TEAM & IMPROV-A-GANZA MC. Front Row: SaraKommer, Ashley Freeman and Veronica Renner. Back Row:Brody Rogers, Megan Coppa (MC), Max Renner and Kyle Metz.
CVCHS seniors stageimprovisation fundraiser
Why advertise in the Pioneer? Here’s one reason:
Local painting contractor, Bryan Schaefer, got four callsthe first two weeks his ad was in the Pioneer.
“The two things I hear most from [new customers] are ‘I wanted to use someone local,’ and ‘Nice ad in the Pioneer.’”
- Bryan Schaefer, Schaefer’s Painting
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May 9, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com Page 9
• EXTERIOR: painting, windows,
doors, decks,
outdoor structures.
• INTERIOR: plumbing, drywall, electrical,
trim, tile.Gary Romano
787-2500Reliable & Professional Service
Owner operated
Over 35 years of experience
Everything from home repair &
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Lic. 979406
Cait HudsonRealtor CalBRE#01948905
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Email:[email protected]
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• Design consultations• Custom draperies• Major furniture brands
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contractor• 21 years experience• Clayton resident, 15 yrs
Full-ServiceDesign Firm925-672-7920 6160 Center St, Clayton CA
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Call or email for an appointment
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Interiors Panache
Q. What should I look forin a home so it is not only ahome my family will enjoyliving in but as a goodinvestment for resale? Dothe number of stories makea difference?
A. It sounds like you don’tintend to stay in the house thatyou buy for the long-term.When that is the case you def-initely should look for resalevalue.
Location is and always willbe one of the most importantfactors of resale value. Goodpublic schools in a neighbor-hood seem to raise propertyvalues the most. Other thingsthat raise or keep property val-ues high are neighborhoodswith good public transporta-tion; proximity to the free-ways; and those predominatelyowner-occupied as opposed toabsentee owners who renttheir homes out. The locationwithin a neighborhood is alsosomething to consider: a cul-de-sac location, a great view ora premium lot that is large, flatand private.
The home itself is alsoimportant, of course. A goodfloor plan such as a single-
story is high in demand. Theseare popular for older homebuyers and many young buyersas well. In many neighbor-hoods there are usually afraction of single story homesbuilt compared to two-stories.Two-story homes are oftenpreferred by young families,though. Homes that are three-stories or more tend to sell forless as they are least popular.Within the floor plan, goodindoor-outdoor living, a bedand bath on the main floorand master on the main floorin a two-story home is impor-tant.
So if you are not planningto stay for the long term andare worried that the housingmarket is overdue for a correc-tion, these things are especial-ly important.
Q. The furniture andaccessories in my home aredated and in ratty condition.Should I sell my housevacant?
A. If you are thinking ofselling your home, imagineyourself as a buyer and forceyourself to examine it with acritical eye. I know this can be
overwhelming. You mightdecide that the only way todeal with all the renewing thehouse needs is to move out,paint and carpet and sell itvacant.
Floor refurbishing andpainting are one of the mostcost effective improvementsyou can make to increase yournet proceeds. The reason forthis is that a first impressionplays a big part in getting valueout of the home. When buyerswalk into a vacant home theyfeel something is missing.They have trouble visualizinghow a room would look fur-nished. A strategically fur-nished house creates a morepleasurable viewing experience
and reduces the stress of buy-ing.
There is one type of buyerthat, whether a home is vacantor staged, couldn’t care less.They are usually engineers,architects or people who canvisualize their furniture in anempty space. But it is best toappeal to the larger audienceof buyers. You will get moremoney.
Your realtor may offer stag-ing of your home as part oftheir service. They also can putyou in touch with a designerwho stages homes for sale.You might be able to removeoutdated pieces of yours butleave some in to mix with thestager’s items. The mostimportant rooms to concen-trate these staging efforts arethe master bedroom, diningroom, living room, familyroom and kitchen.
Send your question and look for youranswer in a future column. [email protected]. French is thebroker/owner of Windermere LynneFrench & Associates. Contact her at672-878 7or stop in at 6200 CenterSt., Clayton.
LYNNE FRENCH
REAL ANSWERS
What’s the story on resale?
Ballots for the June 3, 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Electionwere mailed the week of May 5, 2014 to those registered voterswho previously requested to be mailed a ballot and to those votersliving in precincts designated mail ballot only.
Registered voters expecting to receive a ballot and who havenot received it by May 14 should call (925) 335-7800, to request areplacement ballot.
Elections office encourages voters to return their vote-by-mailballots as early as possible. Ballots must be received in the Elec-tions Office by 8 p.m. on Election Day, June 3, in order to qualifyfor counting.
Any voter who wishes to become a permanent vote-by-mailvoter for future elections may obtain information from our web-site at http://www.cocovote.us/voting/vote-by-mail/ or may callthe Elections Office at (925) 335-7800 or (877) 335-7802. Votersmay also sign and return the vote-by-mail application on the lastpage of their Sample Ballot Booklet.
Ballots are in the mail, deadline is June 3
look back to see if I was follow-ing it. I knew that the kids in thebus were aware of what hadhappened.
When we reached the ele-mentary school, I got out andexplained to the unknowing busdriver what had happened. Oneof the school administratorsentered the bus and asked if thechild responsible would raise hisor her hand and come forward.
I was doubtful that we wouldget a ready confession, but tomy surprise a small, tremblinghand rose above the crowd. A
young, visibly shaken boy cameforward to take responsibilityfor his actions. I was soimpressed by this boy’s couragethat this incident has stayed withme as an example of characterin action.
During the months of May,June, and July the characterfocus of our Do the RightThing campaign is on Courage.I would love to hear your storiesof examples of courage.
Feel free to contact me with ques-tions and comments by email [email protected].
Mayor, from page 1
ACCIDENTS:None.
ARRESTS:None.
VANDALISMS:None.
BURGLARIES/THEFTS:
Apr. 20, 5400 Clayton Rd.Petty Theft.
Apr. 22, El Camino Dr.Petty Theft.
Police ActivityReport
PPoolliiccee AAccttiivviittyy ffoorr ttwwoo wweeeekkss eennddiinngg MMaayy 11,, 22001144
The Clayton CommunityLibrary Foundation has greatgifts for Mother’s or Father’sDay, graduation or any specialoccasion. Check out the bookson the new shelves in the storenext to the circulation desk fordonated books on sale. Adultbooks are $1 and children’sbooks are 50 cents. Look oftenas books are replenished weekly.
Shop ornaments, T-shirts,cookbooks, book bags, hand-turned wooden earrings and giftcards. Volunteers or staff mem-bers are available for assistance.
For a personalized gift, Buy-a-Brick or Buy-a-Book. Bricksare $55 for three lines of
engraving, 20 characters perline. Books are $50 for a bookplate bearing the giver’s andreceiver’s names for a non-fic-tion book and $25 for a fictionbook. Order forms are availableon the library’s website.
All proceeds from sales go tothe purchase of new materialsfor the Clayton CommunityLibrary.
All items are available in theLibrary during business hours:Mondays and Wednesdays from1 to 9 p.m.; Tuesdays, Thursdaysand Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5p.m. For more information, goto claytonlibrary.org.
Used Book Store atthe Clayton Librarymakes great gift stop
The high school year is rap-idly approaching its conclusionbut for spring sports athletesand teams they need to remainfocused on the task at hand asleague, section and state honorsare at stake. This is definitely notime for coaches to detect anysenioritis.
Northgate and Clayton Val-ley Charter high schools are inthe thick of many battles as theDiablo Valley Athletic Leaguebaseball, softball, swimming anddiving, track and field, tennis,volleyball and golf seasons runtheir course and North CoastSection playoffs and tourna-ments take over.
BASEBALL
The new DVAL baseballplayoffs are next week. The topseed was determined this weekwhen Clayton Valley and Col-lege Park battled in a home andhome series. The Falcons hadone league loss heading into thematchups with CVCHS andneeded to win both games toclaim the No. 1 post over the21-1 Eagles whose only losscame in the championship gameof the Elite 8 tournament inMountain View against top-ranked St. Francis.
The winner of the DVALplayoffs will get the automaticbid to the NCS playoffs butboth teams are assured post-sea-son play, the 16th year in a rowfor the Eagles. Northgate willalso be in the DVAL playoffswith semifinals (#1 vs. #4 and#2 vs. #3) on Tuesday and the
finals on Thursday. Games willbe played on the home field ofthe higher seeded team.
NCS playoffs begin May 20-21 and conclude May 30-31.
SOFTBALL
A surprise 6-5 loss to BereanChristian last week stoppedClayton Valley Charter fromclinching a DVAL playoff berth
so that the Eagles needed onewin in their two games this weekwith College Park to ensurethem a spot in the playoffswhere the other teams will betrying to unseat undefeatedConcord High.
The softball playoffs forboth DVAL and NCS mirrorthose of baseball. The softballplayoffs area also new to the
league and add a twist to theseason. CVCHS coach KristinMorley has a relatively youngteam following in the footstepsof their senior-laden 2013squad that lost to Concord inthe NCS finals. She hopes thefull season’s experience willprepare the Eagles for a poten-tial rematch with Concord sincethe teams met in the opening
week of the league schedule.
TRACK & FIELD
Clayton Valley has hopesthat the familiar surrounds ofGonsalves Stadium facilities willbe the magic touch to bring theEagles their first DVAL champi-onship in over a decade thisThursday and Saturday. TheEagles edged Northgate in the
boys dual meet last week whilethe Broncos won the girls dual.
In the closely contested boysmeet the CVCHS 4x100 meterrelay team was led off by soph-omore Jordan Velasquez. Hehad just returned from twoweeks on the sidelines due tohip pain. He slowed at about the60-meter mark and started tohobble with an injury to hisright hip. Velasquez continuedwith a severe limp for theremaining 40 meters to get thebaton hand off to Nate Ewing.Coaches estimate the Eagleswere at least 30 meters behindNorthgate at the first exchange.
Ewing made up a sizable por-tion of the gap and Alex King’sthird leg closed the gap. Anchorrunner and senior Xavier Craw-ford not only caught the finalrunner from Northgate, heended up winning the race byfive meters. Velasquez suffered aseason-ending injury but hiscourage will serve as inspirationto his team in the league and sec-tion meets.
NCS meets are May 24 and30-31 before the CIF State finalsJune 6-7 in Bakersfield.
SWIMMING & DIVING
The DVAL swimming anddiving meet is this Friday andSaturday at College Park. In thefinal dual meets of the seasonNorthgate swept the boys andgirls dual meet with Clayton Val-ley. The teams will renew theirbattle at the league met andfinally May 15-17 at ConcordCommunity Pool for the NCSchampionships, which is among
Sports Page 10 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014
See Titles, page 12
High school titles awarded, on the line this month
David Chin photo
CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL SET A SCHOOL RECORD with 19 consecutive victories to open the season and it does-n’t take a sabermetrician to see how the Eagles pitching has been critical to the team’s success. The staff had an earned runaverage under 1.30 with a pair of righthanders, Austin Cannedy (left) and Riley Smith [see photo, page 12], doing yeoman work.Cannedy won his first eight decisions as a starter while Smith has a glossy 0.50 ERA in nine relief appearances. A third senior,Gabe Taylor, playing second base here, is also undefeated as half of the starting rotation with Cannedy.
JAY BEDECARRÉ
Clayton Pioneer
MDSA FALL SOCCER REGISTRATION OPEN
THROUGH MAY 31Boys and girls 4-18 years of age wanting to play in Mt. Diablo
Soccer Association fall league can register for guaranteed placementuntil May 31. After that date players will be placed on wait-list. Fallleague play begins in August. Families are requested to sign up forvolunteer duties to help the organization offer its AYSO program.For complete information visit mdsoccer.org.
DANA HILLS SWIM TEAM REGISTRATION ONGOINGDana Hills Swim Team is still accepting online registrations for
the summer recreation season. New members are given the optionto sign up for the team on a free, one-week “trial” basis. Dana Hillshas won 21 of the past 22 Concord Swim Championships. TheOtters time trials are Sunday, May 18, and their first Tri-Meet Satur-day, May 31, in Clayton. For additional info and to register, visitdanahillsotters.com.
UGLY EAGLES BASKETBALL CAMP COMING IN JUNEHead coach Eric Bamberger and his Clayton Valley Charter High
School coaches and players are offering a pair of Ugly Eagles Bas-ketball Camps in June for boys and girls. The two sessions forincoming third through ninth graders are June 16-20 and 23-27. Ses-sions run from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. with the gym open an hour beforeand after the formal camp for pickup play. The camp includes offen-sive and defensive instruction and games. For more information andto register contact coach Bamberger by phone (925) 726-9999 oremail [email protected].
DIABLO FC SOCCER PLAYER EVALUATIONS CONTINUETryouts for U9-U19 players with Diablo FC are complete but play-
ers who missed formal tryouts can contact the club for an individualevaluation and possible placement on a competitive team for the 2014season. Visit diablofc.org to register for free tryouts in all age groups.
CLAYTON VALLEY FOOTBALL CAMP JULY 21-24Two-time DVAL champion Clayton Valley Charter High School
hosts its Future Champions Full-Pad Youth Football Camp July 21-24 from 1-5 p.m. at the Concord school for players in second
through eighth grades. Camp Director Michael Dominquez andEagles head coach Tim Murphy explain that the camp has individualand group instruction and team competition with fundamentals andtechniques of football taught by the CVCHS staff. To register, [email protected] or call (925) 726-1503 for an application.
CONCORD CUP XXI SOCCER RETURNS MAY 17-18The 20th anniversary edition of Concord Cup youth soccer tour-
nament which began in 1994 returns to many local fields May 17-18.Concord Cup is a rare tournament that includes both AYSO and clubteams in the under 10 through U19 age groups for boys and girls. Dia-blo FC, MDSA and Concord AYSO are the host leagues. For the tour-nament schedule and more information visit concordcup.com.
3 BASEBALL CAMP SESSIONS
AT CLAYTON VALLEY THIS SUMMERClayton Valley Charter High School coach Casey Coakley has put
together a staff of current CVCHS coaches and players as well asEagle alumni to provide baseball instruction to youngsters 6-13 yearsof age at the school. Summer baseball school sessions will be heldJune 16-19, June 23-26 and June 30-July 3. Each daily session runs 9a.m.– 12 noon. Fee is $120 for one session with discounts for mul-tiple weeks. To reserve a baseball school spot or to get more infor-mation email [email protected].
WALNUT COUNTRY SWIM TEAM READIES
FOR NEW SEASONBoys and girls up to 18 years of age (as of June 15) are still being
accepted for the Walnut Country Swim Team online atwcstingrays.com. Team time trials are Saturday, May 31. The annualBlue-Orange meet is June 4 and the Stingrays then host GehringerGators June 7 in Concord.
SUMMER PROGRAMS REGISTRATION OPEN
FOR ALL OUT SPORTS LEAGUESSignups are still available for All Out Sports League summer pro-
grams at Clayton Gym. Youth basketball (May 31-July 26) and vol-leyball (May 17-July 12), flag football league (June 21-Aug. 9), foot-ball academy camp (June 24-26) and weekly basketball camps (June30-July 4 and July 7-11) have various registration deadlines in Mayand June. For complete information on all the Clayton programs,visit alloutsportsleague.com.
FOOTBALL, CHEER SIGNUPS FOR CLAYTON VALLEY
FALCONS JUNE 7Registration is open for Clayton Valley Youth football and cheer.
Football is for ages 7-14 while cheer accepts ages 5-14. The next in-person registration day for the CVAA Falcons is Saturday, June 7, 12noon-3 p.m. at Mountain Mike’s Pizza by Clayton Bowl. The seasonstarts July 28. For more information and online registration visitCVAAFalcons.com.
OAKHURST ORCAS SIGNUPS FOR
UPCOMING SEASON STILL ACCEPTEDOakhurst Orcas summer recreation swim team is getting ready
for team time trials on May 31 and the first dual meet of the seasona week later at Springwood in Concord. Registration and informa-tion is available at oakhurstorcas.com.
Sports Shorts
Photo courtesy MDSA
THE MDSA HEAT U12 GIRLS HAVE PLACED IN THE TOP THREE at five tournaments this year including titles in the Area 2C/2DSelect, Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper and El Palo Alto events. The team includes, front row from left, Samantha Schauman,Lauren Wickham, Micaela Davis, Alana Young, Reagan Bowerbank, Anne Patterson, Leilani Fabriquer; back row, coach MarkKelly, Alaina Lindsey, Kailee Rice, Caleigh Olgeirson, Morgan Kelly, Giselle Lange and coach Marvin Davis. Not pictured,Farah Anwar. The heat was also second at the PHMSA SoccerFest and third at the San Jose Presidents Cup.
The Heat is on for MDSA U12 girls soccer team
Athletes from all seven Dia-blo Valley Athletic League highschools will be competing thisThursday and Saturday on thenew all-weather track at ClaytonValley Charter at the annualDVAL track and field meet.
The Eagles of coach DarrenNewell are slight favorites to winthe boys title for the first time inover a decade after an undefeat-ed dual meet season capped by a74-62 victory last week overNorthgate. The CVCHS girlswere dropped from the unbeatenranks 80-56 by Northgate.Xavier Crawford (right) has beena mainstay in the sprints andboth relays while junior BrianneNewell (center) has been a longjump, relay and 200 meter stand-out. Senior Anthony Fuentes hasbeen scoring points in the 400and 800 meters.
May 9, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com Page 11
Clayton Valley hosts DVAL track andfield championship finals Saturday
BRIANNE NEWELL
Golden State Warriors vs.Los Angeles Clippers: a greatNBA playoff series overshad-owed by a great misfortune.
Instead of being remem-bered as the back-and-forth,well coached, intense and overallfun-to-watch series, the War-riors-Clippers playoff will beremembered by two words:Donald Sterling.
The Warriors and Clippersboth played well during theseries, but their accomplish-ments on the court are unfortu-nately overshadowed by theactions of a racist, selfish owneroff the court.
On April 29, NBA commis-sioner Adam Silver officiallyimposed a lifetime ban on Clip-
pers owner Donald Sterling,who was also fined $2.5 million,the maximum amount theleague can fine.
Sterling received the lifetimeban because of some extremelyracist remarks he made to hisgirlfriend, which were recordedand leaked to the media. One ofhis comments in particular saidthat he didn’t want blacksattending “his” games.
Sterling’s remarks were origi-nally published by TMZ Sportsand the backlash against himwas tremendous. What Sterlingsaid was disgusting and vil, andencompasses more than justsports, it is now a national issue.
Groups such as the NAACPhave spoken up and taken actionagainst Sterling. He was slated tobe awarded a lifetime achieve-ment award, but shortly after hiscomments were made public theNAACP revoked the offer.
This isn’t the first time thatSterling has had problemsinvolving prejudice and racism.In 2011 he was sued by his for-mer general manager Elgin Bay-lor for wrongful termination.Baylor said that Sterling, asreported by the HuffingtonPost, had a “plantation mentali-ty” about the team.
The situation with Baylor isjust one of many in a long list ofracial issues that Donald Sterlinghas been involved in. It was longoverdue for him to face reper-cussions for his racist behavior.
Silver took a swift and strongapproach against Sterling andthe new commissioner has hadnothing but support from play-ers, coaches and owners for hisdecision.
Miami Heat superstarLeBron James was supportive ofthe stance, and Warriors ownerJoe Lacob also tweeted his sup-
port for Silver’s decision.The repercussions to Ster-
ling aren’t over as the NBAowners still have to work force asale of the Clippers franchise.
Sterling is currently thelongest tenured owner in theNBA, having owned the Clipssince 1981. He reportedly willfight to retain control of owner-ship rights over the Clippers.With his extensive backgroundin law, it won’t be easy to legallytake the team off his hands.
Despite the trials ahead, it isimportant that Sterling losescontrol of the team. His com-ments were disgusting and hehas no right to own a team inthe NBA.
TYLER LEHMAN
SPORTS TALK
Tyler Lehman is a sophomore atDiablo Valley College and a 2012CVHS graduate. He plans to majorin journalism and wants to be a sportswriter. Email your comments or ques-tions to [email protected].
Donald Sterling - racist, fooland major distraction to NBA
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Jason Rogers photos
XAVIER CRAWFORD
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Sports
Photo by Michael J. Burns, GoldenBearSports.com
CLAYTON VALLEY HIGH GRAD TIM BRUNO is finishing up hissenior year at Cal as the Bears try to make a late-seasonpush to qualify for the NCAA Tournament which beginsMay 30. The Bears final Pac-12 home series is next week-end, May 16-18, against Arizona. Bruno missed last yearafter hip surgery and has seen lots of action this season inleft field. Former CVHS teammates Bruno and DarrelMatthews were part of Cal’s 2011 College World Seriesteam.
Vince Bruno wrapping upCal Bears baseball career
Jason Rogers Photos
Are you ready for El Niño? Arecent National Weather Serviceclimate forecast indicates thatthere is a 50 percent chance ofan El Niño development by theend of this summer, with a near-ly 65 percent probability by theend of this year.
El Nino events are part of alarge-scale weather phenomenonformally known as the ElNiño/Southern Oscillation, orENSO. The three componentsof ENSO are El Niño, La Niñaand ENSO-neutral.
To be considered as an offi-
cial El Niño, three month aver-age sea surface temperatures inthe equatorial Pacific must be atleast one-half degree Celsiuswarmer than normal for a mini-mum of five consecutive three-month periods. Cooling trendsof similar strength and durationare classified as La Niñaepisodes.
El Niño events vary instrength and duration. Eventstrength is classified as weak,moderate or strong dependingon the highest average tempera-tures over three consecutivethree-month seasons. Weakevents are between 0.5 and 1.0degrees above normal, moderatebetween 1.0 and 1.5 degreeswarmer, or strong if above 1.5degrees Celsius warmer.
According to the NationalWeather Service, there have been19 El Niño episodes (and 17 LaNiñas) since 1950 when suffi-
cient sea surface temperaturemeasurements began. Sixepisodes are classified as weak,seven as moderate and six asstrong.
All six strong El Niño eventslasted more than one year. Mostof the weak events lasted ninemonths or less. It’s too early totell what the strength and dura-tion of the upcoming El Niñowill be, if in fact one does form.
Recent observations indicatethat sub-surface water tempera-tures in the tropical Pacific aremuch warmer than normal. Infact, this warming is very similar
to values observed prior to the1997-1998 El Niño which is thestrongest of the 65-year record.
Many people associate ElNiño conditions with wet weath-er in California. Unfortunatelythat is not always the case. Aboutas many dry years, defined as lessthan 80 percent of normal rain-fall, have followed El Niñoevents as wet years. Three of thefive strong El Niños producedwetter than normal rainfall in ourstate.
All the statistics aside, thereare certainly good reasons tohope that an upcoming El Niño
will help break the drought pat-tern affecting California over thelast few winter seasons. One isthat the main atmospheric effectof an El Niño is a change in thejet stream.
For most of the last year-and-a-half the jet stream over theEastern Pacific and western U.S.has been locked in a pattern thatshifts the jet north and builds dryhigh pressure domes over Cali-fornia. Almost any change in thejet stream pattern would seem tofavor an increase in the numberof wet weather systems our statereceives.
Another reason for hope isthe potential for the upcomingevent to be similar to the strong1997-1998 El Niño. Nearly theentire state received above nor-mal rainfall associated with thatepisode.
I think we are all ready for anEl Niño, as long as the end resultis to close the door on the cur-rent drought. Time will tell.
the very fast ffprep meets in thecountry.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Final DVAL matches are thisweek before placement for NCSis done this Sunday. The sectiontournaments begin Tuesday andWednesday with the finals May23-24 leading into other North-ern California championships.
BOYS TENNIS
Peter Masters of Northgatemade it to the DVAL singlestitle match but wasn’t able tomatch former teammate RyanNakagawa as league champion.The Clayton Valley Charter duoof Kevin Dong and JimmyYoung won the double crown.
The NCS singles and dou-bles finals are this Friday andSaturday at Cardinal Newman
high School in Santa Rosa. Theteam section meet is next week.
BOYS GOLF
Northgate won the DVALgolf tournament team champi-onship with co-medalist KyleAustin leading the way. CollegePark’s Dominic Salamone tiedAustin as both shot 77 atBoundary Oak in Walnut Creek.Billal Achekzai, Cody Jones(2013 co-medalist), EthanHelms and Matthew Carter allfinished in the top 8 as they wonby 30 strokes.
Clayton Valley golfers LiamCalkins and Tyler Blazer earnedat-large berths to the NCS meet.Coach Jen Moore’s application forthe tem to be an at-large entrantwas turned down. The Eagles fin-ished third in the DVAL for thesecond year in a row.
AGREEMENT TO SHARE FIELDS
Little League Internationalestablished the Challenger Divi-sion in 1989 as a separate divisionof Little League to enable boysand girls with physical and mentalchallenges, ages 4-18, or up to age22 if still enrolled in high school,to enjoy the game of baseball.More than 30,000 children partic-ipate in Challenger Divisionsworldwide and locally CVLL hasfive Challenger teams that playgames among themselves andwith teams from neighboringleagues in District 4.
On the weekend of April 12-13, the high school’s varsity soft-ball coach, Kristin “Mo” Morley,was running a two-day CVCHSCollege Showcase for girls fromeighth grade to juniors in highschool. The showcase allowedthe girls to be evaluated in a num-ber of skills, similar to what youwould see at a pro football com-bine. The program attractedabout 150 players coming fromUtah, Nevada, Arizona and Ore-gon as well as throughout Cali-fornia.
Morley has been part of theCVCHS softball program forfive years. She also runs a girlssoftball club, the Bears, whichrents the high school fieldsextensively.
On April 1, high school ath-letic director Amber Lineweavercontacted little league represen-tatives by email requesting theyrelinquish their permits to usefields on the showcase weekend.By April 4 little league officialswere able to reschedule every-thing set for the on-campusfields except for the Challengergames on Sunday, partiallybecause those games need to beon fields that are ADA com-plaint. The league suggested thatthe showcase conclude by 1:30Sunday in order to solve the fielduse issue.
School and CVLL officialsmet on Monday, April 7, primari-ly to discuss a financial settle-ment for the league to vacate itssnack shack and storage buildingon the high school grounds. Afigure of $18,000 was verballyagreed to by both parties. Execu-tive Director Dave Linzey andadministrator Pat Middendorf,who oversees CVCHS opera-
tions and athletics, were on hand.Representing CVLL were presi-dent Kevin Christiansen, VPKevin Dern and long-time boardmember David Shuey, a Claytoncity council member.
It was inevitable that at thatpre-scheduled meeting the week-end showcase was discussed andit was agreed again that the Chal-lengers would have use from 2- 4p.m. of two fields the league des-ignates as Minor B and MajorDivision. (CVCHS calls theMajor Division field its varsitysoftball field and a third field thatCVLL calls Minor A as the juniorvarsity softball field.)
It is not a new relationship.For the past 40 years the littleleague has developed and main-tained those fields. Due to theTitle IX issues raised at the end oflast year CVCHS spent about$10,000 upgrading the JV softballfield before this spring’s season.
The expansion of the highschool campus by an estimated500 students for the upcomingschool year was proposed earlythis year to take place where theMinor B and Major (varsity)fields are located. Those plansresulted in CVLL reschedulingmany of its practices and gamesfor the current season at othersites due to the uncertainty overthe expansion project. That proj-ects has since been shelved bythe CVCHS Governing Boardfor the 2014-15 school year,according to Linzey.
COMMUNICATION GAPS
ON GAME DAY
The showcase went on asscheduled on Saturday, April 12,with about 40 girls taking part.Sunday’s showcase turnout wasnearly triple that with 110 playersin attendance. The showcasebegan at 8 a.m. using both fields.
Knowing the size of Sunday’sexpected turnout and seeing theactual setup of the showcase, onSaturday evening Morleyattempted to contact people shehad worked with in the past withthe Challenger program. It turnsout none of those people aredirectly involved with CVLL andshe never connected with anyoneto discuss consolidating or can-celing the Challenger games onSunday.
A little after 1 p.m. on Sun-day, with the showcase wellunderway, Morley didn’t see a lotof Challenger families or playersat the site so she approachedsome parents in the parking lot.She said she "got the feeling thatsometimes there were not asmany players as originally antici-pated at games" so the highschool coach asked if the Chal-lengers could combine their twogames onto the smaller Minor Bfield so the showcase could con-tinue on the two larger softballfields.
Eventually as 2 p.m.approached, the Challengerscrowd grew. Players and familiesfrom five teams (four werescheduled for the two games andanother CVLL team, the Cardi-nals, also came out to take part)arrived. CVLL teams were the A’s#1, A’s #2 and Cardinals.
By then Board memberShuey had been called and JimBrophy, who now manages theA’s #1 and was the driving forcebehind the league’s Challengerprogram for nearly 20 years, hadphone and in-person discussionswith Morley, some of which havebeen described as heated.
Morley told them that shehad the authority to move theChallenger program onto thesingle smaller field if that wouldaccommodate the players onhand so that the softball show-case could be maintained on thetwo larger fields they had beenusing all weekend.
CVLL REPS 'STEAMING'Eventually the Challengers
played only on the Minor B field;the visiting Walnut Creek Giantsteam left and CVLL officialswere left steaming about themove. The league’s board subse-quently met, drafted a letter toLinzey and then issued an 850-word open letter to all its mem-bers and the media outlining howthey felt strongly that an agree-ment made just six days beforethe Challenger games had “beenbreached” by the high school.
Since then Linzey has mettogether with Morley, assistantCVCHS softball coach DaveCooney and Brophy. Both par-ties remain firm in their versionsof the day. Linzey says he andMorley have been preparing a let-ter to send to CVLL and the
Challenger families. The leaguesays it “cannot move forward”until the incident has been “for-mally reviewed, acknowledgedand accounted for.”
Morley says “she feels horri-ble” about the final outcome.
Linzey says he has a prettygood understanding of whathappened and that “I’m broken-hearted that the Challenger fam-ilies had this negative experience.They were entitled to use twofields that day.”
He added that he doesn’tbelieve Morley had any “badmotives’’ when she made herdetermination that the Chal-lengers would fit on one field.Linzey notes that she discussedthe situation at 1:15 p.m. withpeople she thought were in aposition of authority to make adecision about field use.
LEAGUE SUPPORTS HIGH
SCHOOL EXPANSION
The little league boardthanked Linzey is its open letter:“We have full confidence in Mr.Linzey as he has demonstratedhe is a person of high characterwho puts the needs of studentsfirst.” CVLL says it is “verymuch behind CVCHS’s contin-ued growth, expansion andensuring that every student-ath-lete is able to participate in equalsettings.”
The little league has tableddiscussions about the financialsettlement with the school ontheir move. Christiansen saysthey have spent more than$30,000 this year preparing,equipping and moving to differ-ent fields in Clayton and Con-cord due to the loss of those onthe CVCHS campus. (The schoolis not charging them for on-cam-pus field use this year due to thetiming of the changes.) Hisboard was especially troubledsince the agreement and followup about the Challenger scheduletook place only six days beforeApril 13 so that there should nothave been any misunderstanding.
The conflicting interpreta-tions of what did and shouldhave happened April 13 varytremendously between the twogroups but mending those fencesmay be even more of a MajorLeague challenge than reconcil-ing the facts of the Challengerincident.
Little League, from page 1
Page 12 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014
Titles, from page 10
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The Pacific Coast Farmers’Market Association is providingmore than succulent fruits andvegetables this summer. Onceagain, PCFMA is offering its Mar-ket Match program, giving cus-tomers an extra $5 in free producewhen they spend at least $10 inthe farmers’ market with theirCalFresh-EBT card.
Market Match will be offeredat most farmers’ markets, includ-ing Concord and Clayton, begin-ning in the weeks ahead.
Market Match helps low-income families who rely on thestate’s CalFresh program toincrease their buying power whilepurchasing fresh and healthyfoods for their families. ThePCFMA has been offering Mar-ket Match incentives to CalFreshcustomers in its farmers’ marketssince 2009.
“The Market Match programis an important way that we serve
the communities in which weoperate farmers’ markets,” saysAllen Moy, director of communi-ty-based programs at PCFMA.“Market Match helps to keepfarmers’ markets affordable andaccessible for everyone and helpsto ensure that all families, regard-less of their financial situation,have access to fresh and healthyfoods.”
The Market Match programalso benefits the farmers who sellin PCFMA’s farmers’ markets. Asof 2013, CalFresh redemptionshave increased by more than 450percent in PCFMA farmers’ mar-kets that have been in operationsince 2009 or earlier. John Silveira,director of PCFMA, says thisimpact is a big part of whyPCFMA is so supportive of Mar-ket Match.
“Our farmers’ sales to Cal-Fresh customers were over$100,000 greater in 2013 than in
2009,” he says. “As PCFMA existsto support small farmers, sup-porting the Market Match pro-gram is an easy way to supportour farmers while also benefitingthe communities served by themarkets.”
In 2013 the PCFMA’s farmers’markets in Contra Costa Countyserved more than 1,225 CalFreshcustomers, an increase of 25.2percent from 2012. Total Cal-Fresh sales were nearly $48,500,while Market Match incentiveswere more than $10,825.
Additional support for theMarket Match incentives is pro-vided through a partnership withFresh Approach, PCFMA’s sisterorganization, and the financialcontributions of WholesomeWave. Fresh Approach conductsoutreach and nutrition educationactivities to help support the Mar-ket Match program and increaseits impact in communities served
by PCFMA’s farmers’ markets.For more information on
PCFMA’s farmers’ markets, or tofind another farmers’ market in yourarea, please contact PCFMA at 800-949-FARM or go towww.pcfma.com.
1 1/2-year-old Chaco is abusy guy who has places to goand people to see! He loves toplay with toys, chew rawhides,explore the neighborhood, andwould probably make an excel-lent hiking buddy. Chaco ismentally active too, and wouldbenefit from dog sports like
noseworks, tricks training, orwork-to-eat “puzzle toys.” Wesuggest taking him through aBasic Manners class in order torefine his civilized canine actand give him some positive out-lets for his energy. He currentlyweighs 38 pounds
Chaco’s adoption fee has
been prepaid by a generousdonor.
11-year-old Faye is a gor-geous lady who is affectionateand sociable. She would love tobe your new best friend. It isunknown whether Faye hasprevious experience with chil-
dren. She is suitable for a firsttime cat guardian
Faye’s adoption fee has beenprepaid by a generous donor.
Meet your forever friend atTony La Russa’s Animal RescueFoundation, 2890 MitchellDrive, Walnut Creek, duringadoption hours: Noon to 5 pm.Wednesday, 3 to 7 pm. Thursdayand Friday, Noon to 5 pm. Sat-urday and Sunday. The primarycaretaker must be present toadopt. ARF also encourageskids 16 and younger and caninefamily members (dog adoptionsonly) to be present during theadoption process.
Would you like to be part of theheroic team that saves the lives of res-cued dogs and cats? Can you shareyour talents to connect people and ani-mals? ARF volunteers are making adifference! For more information seeour website, www.arf.net, or call925.256.1ARF.
ARF’s annual Pets on Broad-way celebration will continuethis year a few miles away, atHeather Farm Park on Sunday,May 18. The change of venue isdue to the construction at Wal-nut Creek’s Broadway Plaza,where the event is usually held,but organizers say it will still bethe cat’s meow.
The free festival includes afundraising Pet Walk, adoptionsand rescue groups, a Pet Well-
ness Fair, vendor booths, KidZone fun and more.
At the Pet Walk, participantscan help raise funds to meet theorganization’s $75,000 goal.Walk with Fido individually, orwith friends in a “pack.” If youcan’t make it that day, ARF sug-gests setting up your ownunique fundraising event online.
The festival will also includea Pet Wellness Fair, as well as aBest Dressed Pet contest. ARF’s
Adoption Mobile will be onhand and other rescue groupswill have furry friends of allsizes available for adoption.
There will also be groomingbooths as well as raffle prizes.Bring a bag of dry cat or dogfood for ARF’s FoodShare pro-gram and receive a free raffleticket.
The event runs from 10:30 a.m.to 4 p.m. To register for the Pet Walk,visit ARF’s website at
http://www.arf.net/about/events/2014/pet-walk.php. For more infor-mation, vending booths and sponsor-ship opportunities, visit the ARF siteat www.art.net.
Set against the rugged back-drop of the east side of themountain, Doodleton Ranchbrings kids and critters together inthe woods that border Mt. DiabloState Park.
In one-week sessions, kidswill connect creatively withnature. Whether hiking withGizmo the donkey, catching tad-poles, detecting tracks in themud, or studying a rotten log,campers utilize their senses andhone their ability to see and deci-pher nature’s offerings. Andthey have fun. And it’s close.
There are five one-week ses-sions during July and August.Cost is $210 per week. See photosof last year’s camp and the critters
of Doodleton at doodleton-ranch.org. Before and after campdaycare available.
For registration form and fullbrochure, email [email protected] or call (510) 207-7467.
The Concord Senior Centerand the Contra Costa HumaneSociety (CCHS) invite animallovers of all ages to attend theFurry Pet Faire from 10 a.m. to4 p.m. on Saturday, May 31 atJohn Baldwin Park on ParksideDrive in Concord, near the dogpark. The purpose of the faire isto provide pet adoptions at amulti-generational event and toeducate the community on thebenefits of having a pet.
“We are thrilled to announcethat this year we are combiningthe event with a Maddie’s PetAdoption Day, where the adop-tions are free to qualified homes,”said Concord Senior Center staffmember and event organizerDario Sanchez. “This program issupported by Maddie’s Fund andis the single largest animal adop-tion event in our area.”
The day will feature not onlyadoptions but activities for thewhole family focusing on theimportance of pet adoption,care, training, services and theimportance of being a responsi-ble pet owner.
For more information, contactSanchez at 925-671-3017, or [email protected] orvisit www.cityofconcord.org/petfair.
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May 9, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com Page 13
Chaco and Faye are ARF’s adoption Stars
CHACO FAYE
Pets on Broadway moves to Heather Farm
Scamper on over toConcordPet Fair
Kids and critters make best friends at nature camp
DOODLETON RANCH’S HEAD BELL RINGER leads the campers in aspirited rendition of “Mary Had a Little Goat.”
Match program helps low-income buyers at area farmers’ markets
Page 14 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014
IN CLAYTONSSaattuurrddaayyss SSttaarrttiinngg MMaayy 1100FFaarrmmeerrss’’ MMaarrkkeett8 a.m. – 12 p.m. Diablo Street between Main and Center streets,downtown Clayton. pcfma.com/clayton.MMaayy 1100PPllaanntt SSaalleeAnnual plant sale by Clayton Valley Garden Club. 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.Endeavor Hall parking lot, 6008 Center St., Clayton. claytonvalley-gardenclub.org.
MMaayy 1100,, 2244CCoonncceerrttss iinn tthhee GGrroovvee6 – 8:30 p.m. Grove Park, downtown Clayton. Free. For a completeconcert series list, see Page 3.
MMaayy 1177AArrtt SShhooww
Local artist Homing Cheung greets guests at this reception displayinghis watercolor paintings. Technique demonstrations. Art for sale. 12 –4 p.m. Sponsored by Paula Johnstone at Mazzei Realty, 6160 CenterSt., C, Clayton. Free admission. Contact Paula [email protected] or 381-8810. Paintings on display allmonth.
MMaayy 1199GGoollff TToouurrnnaammeennttClayton Business and Community Association’s Clayton Classic. 10a.m. – 8 p.m. Oakhurst Country Club, 1001 Peacock Creek Drive,Clayton. Contact [email protected] or 672-2272.
MMaayy 2266MMeemmoorriiaall DDaayy OObbsseerrvvaanncceeProgram to honor our lost heroes, sponsored by VFW Post 1525.Huey helicopter fly over and Huey on display. 10 a.m. VeteransMemorial flagpole monument, Main and Oak Streets, Clayton. Free.
IN CONCORDTTuueessddaayyss FFaarrmmeerrss’’ MMaarrkkeettTuesdays year round, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Todos Santos Plaza, down-town Concord. cityofconcord.org.
MMaayy 99 –– 1111SSpprriinngg TTeeaaSponsored by the Concord Historical Society at the historic GalindoHome. 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 12:30 p.m.Sunday. 1721 Amador Ave., Concord. $30. Call Kathie for reserva-tions at 686-0430.
MMaayy 1100MMOOMMDDaayyCelebrate Mom and Bay Area music education at the All Area MusicFestival featuring performances by Bay Area student musicians. 11a.m. – 6 p.m. Todos Santos Plaza, downtown Concord. Free. cityof-concord.org.
MMaayy 1155CCoommppoossttiinngg WWoorrkksshhooppLed by Todd Sutton, aka the Waste Sleuth, and hosted by the city ofConcord. 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. City Council Chamber, Civic Center,1950 Parkside Drive, Concord. Free. Registration required. ContactJoan Ryan at [email protected].
MMuussiicc aanndd MMaarrkkeettThursday night live music and farmers’ market. Market 4 – 8 p.m.;music 6:30 – 8 p.m. Todos Santos Plaza, downtown Concord. Free.cityofconcord.org.
MMaayy 2222::CCoonnccoorrdd HHiigghh JJaazzzz EEnnsseemmbbllee
ON THE MOUNTAINMount Diablo Interpretive Association programs listed are free withthe exception of park entrance fee. Go to mdia.org and click onEvents Calendar for more information.
MMaayy 1100FFiirree RReeccoovveerryy HHiikkeeMary Bowerman Trail. 10 – 11:30 a.m. Meet at Lower SummitParking Lot. Registration required.
MMaayy 1100FFiirree RReeccoovveerryy HHiikkeeNorth Peak Trail. 12 – 2:30 p.m. Meet at Lower Summit Parking Lot.Registration required.
MMaayy 1111BBuutttteerrffllyy WWaallkkWalk up Mitchell Canyon to Red Road looking for butterflies andflowers. Return via Globe Lily Trail. 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Meet atMitchell Canyon Trailhead. Registration required.
MMaayy 1188RRoouunndd tthhee MMoouunnttaaiinn HHiikkeeThis classic loop provides views in all directions circling the park viaDeer Flat, Prospector’s Gap and Oak Knoll. Pass through burnareas; wildflowers should be abundant. 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Meet atJuniper Camp Trailhead.
EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENTTThhrruu MMaayy 1111““AAddjjuussttiinngg tthhee LLeennss””Presented by Company C Contemporary Ballet. Lesher Center for theArts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $10-$48. companycballet.org.
TThhrruu MMaayy 1111““TThhee RReeaall HHoouusseewwiivveess ooff WWaallnnuutt CCrreeeekk:: TThhee MMuussiiccaall””Secrets, lies and betrayal are at the center of this hilarious rompinspired by the infamous reality series. Lesher Center for the Arts,1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25-$41. centerrep.org.
MMaayy 99SSpprriinngg CCoonncceerrttPresented by Winds Across the Bay. 7:30 p.m. Lesher Center for theArts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $12. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.
MMaayy 99 –– 1100““GGrreeaatt MMaasstteerrss””Performed by Diablo Ballet. Shadelands Arts Center Auditorium, 111N. Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek. diabloballet.org.
MMaayy 99 –– 1111““TThhee MMoouussee TTrraapp””A group of strangers is stranded in a boarding house during a snowstorm and one of them is a murderer. California Theatre, 351Railroad Ave., Pittsburg. $10-$20. pittsburgcaliforniatheatre.com.427-1611.
MMaayy 1100LLeett’’ss GGeett LLoossttPerformed by the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra featuring gui-tarist Julio Reyes. 7:30 p.m. El Campanil Theatre, 602 W. Second St.,Antioch. $5-$10. elcampaniltheatre.com.
MMaayy 1111LLeett’’ss GGeett LLoossttPerformed by the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra featuring gui-tarist Julio Reyes. 7:30 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 CivicDr., Walnut Creek. $10-$30. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.
MMaayy 1122SSttrrookkee SSuuppppoorrtt GGrroouuppGuest speaker Alayne Balke of Fall Prevention Program of ContraCosta County. 7 – 8:30 p.m. Sequoia 1 Meeting Room, John MuirMedical Center, 1601 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek. Free.Contact Ann Dzuna 376-6218.
MMaayy 1166 –– 1177XXXXCCEENNTTRRIICCPresented by Smuin Ballet. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr.,Walnut Creek. $70. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.
MMaayy 1166,, 1188““WWiinnnniiee--TThhee--PPoooohh””A comedy based on the book. Presented by El Campanil Children’sTheatre. El Campanil Theatre, 602 W. Second St., Antioch. $8-$12.elcampaniltheatre.com.
MMaayy 1166 –– JJuunnee 11““SShhiippwwrreecckkeedd!!””The amazing adventures of Louis de Rougemont as told by himself.Performed by Onstage Theatre. Martinez Campbell Theatre, 636Ward St., Martinez. $12-$18. 518-3277.
MMaayy 1166 –– JJuunnee 2211““TThhee 2255tthh AAnnnnuuaall PPuuttnnaamm CCoouunnttyy SSppeelllliinngg BBeeee””Riotous musical comedy about six adolescent outsiders vying for thespelling championship of a lifetime. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $37-$65. centerrep.org.
MMaayy 1177FFoorr tthhee LLoovvee ooff CCllaassssiiccaallAn evening of classical piano and classical guitar. 8 p.m. CaliforniaTheatre, 351 Railroad Ave., Pittsburg. $7-$15. pittsburgcaliforniathe-atre.com. 427-1611.
MMaayy 1188CCoonncceerrttPerformed by Diablo Symphony. 2 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts,1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $12-$28. diablosymphony.org.
MMaayy 1188JJoohhaann ddee MMeeiijj LLiivvee!!Performs with the Contra Costa Wind Symphony. 7:30 p.m. LesherCenter for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $18-$25.ccwindsymphony.org.
MMaayy 1188MMoovviinngg OOnnAnnual spring concert and reception by the Walnut Creek Chorus. 2p.m. Trinity Lutheran Church, 2317 Buena Vista Ave., Walnut Creek.$10-$12. [email protected].
MMaayy 1188TThhee BBiirrddss aanndd tthhee BBeeeessA flight of fancy of folk, pop, modern and Broadway songs per-formed by Diablo Women’s Chorale. 4:30 p.m. Mt. Diablo UnitarianChurch, 55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek. $10-$20. diablowomen-schorale.org.
MMaayy 2200CCoonncceerrttNorthgate High School performs this Spring Instrumental MusicConcert. 7 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., WalnutCreek. $5-$14.75. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.
MMaayy 2211TThhee BBeeaatt GGooeess OOnnJoin the Blackhawk Chorus in celebration of music composed in thehistorical Brill Building in New York City in the 1950s through 1970s.8 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek.$20-$28. blackhawkchorus.com.
MMaayy 2222AAnn EEvveenniinngg ooff AAmmbbrroossee BBiieerrcceeSelect readings by Butterfield 8 Theatre Company. 8 p.m. MartinezCampbell Theatre, 636 Ward St., Martinez. Free; donations wel-come. b8company.com.
MMaayy 2255MMaaccyy BBllaacckkmmaann aanndd TThhee MMiigghhttyy FFiinneessMultifaceted ensemble of accomplished professionals presented by
Red Legged Frog Productions. 2:15 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts,1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.
MMaayy 2266MMeemmoorriiaall DDaayy CCiivviicc RReemmeemmbbrraanncceePerformance by the Walnut Creek Concert Band. 10 a.m. Civic Park,1375 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Free. walnutcreekband.org.
MMaayy 3300HHooppee ffoorr tthhee HHoommeelleessss BBeenneeffiitt SShhoowwHosted by Dana Carvey. 8 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $95. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.
BBeeggiinnnniinngg JJuunnee 55HHaamm RRaaddiioo LLiicceennssiinngg CCoouurrsseeLearn everything you need to upgrade your Amateur Radio License toAmateur Extra Class. Sponsored by The Salvation Army and Mt.Diablo Amateur Radio Club. 10 weeks. 6:30 p.m. The SalvationArmy, 3950 Clayton Road, Concord. Materials and textbook fees.Registration required. [email protected].
CHURCHES AND RELIGIONMMaayy 1100FFeelllloowwsshhiipp aanndd DDiissccuussssiioonnTopic: Spiritual Perspective on the Environment. Speaker: Jeff Price.7:30 p.m. Free. For directions, call 672-6686. Sponsored by theBaha’is of Clayton.
FUNDRAISERSMMaayy 1155 –– 1177RRuummmmaaggee SSaalleeItems for sale include household, electronics, furniture, bedding,tools, jewelry, collectibles, books, movies and CDs. No shoes orclothing for sale. Drawing for gift baskets, specialty food baskets,restaurant gift certificates, valuable services and more. One ticket for$1 or 6 tickets for $5. Do not have to be present to win. Proceedsbenefit the church’s general fund. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Thursday andFriday. 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday. Concord United MethodistChurch, 1645 West St., Concord. concordumc.org. 685-5260.
MMaayy 1177IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall WWiinnee TTaassttiinnggWine, appetizers, auction, raffle. Benefits C.O.P.E. Family SupportCenter. 5 – 7:30 p.m. Oakhurst Country Club, 1001 Peacock CreekDrive, Clayton. $45/person, $75/couple. Contact [email protected] or Joan Carolan at 672-5954.
MMaayy 1177RRuunn MMaallaarriiaa OOuutt ooff AAffrriiccaaJoin this 5K fun run/walk to save lives in Africa. CVCHS Senior proj-ect for Hayley Herrera. All proceeds go to World Vision to sendmalaria nets to Africa. 9 a.m. Clayton Community Church, 6055Main St., Clayton. $25 adults; $15 kids; includes free T-shirt. Registerat runmalariaoutofafrica.weebly.com. Contact Hayley with questionsat 219-6732.
MMaayy 2244SSpprriinngg SSoocciiaallCoffee or tea with slice of pie. Homemade pie and cake auction.Hosted by VFW Post 1525 Ladies Auxiliary. Proceeds benefit AuxiliaryRelief Fund. 2 – 5 p.m. Veterans Memorial Building, 2290 WillowPass Road, Concord. $5. Contact Priscilla at 687-3637.
TThhrruu MMaayySSttuuddeenntt FFiillmm FFeessttiivvaallDonations needed for first East Bay Student Film Festival. CVCHSSenior project for Ashley Freeman and Alaina Campbell. Entirely stu-dent-run film showcase and competition. Contact Ashley at [email protected] or 360-5554.
AT THE LIBRARYThe Clayton Library is at 6125 Clayton Road. Programs are freeunless otherwise noted. claytonlibrary.org or 673-0659.
TTuueessddaayyss TThhrruu MMaayy 1133PPaattttyy CCaakkeessStory time for babies to 3-year-olds. Child attends with caregiver. 11a.m.
WWeeddnneessddaayyssBBooookk BBuuddddiieessA volunteer will read stories for children 3 and older. 2 - 3 p.m. Callin advance.
MMaayy 1122CCllaayyttoonn LLiibbrraarryy BBooookk CClluubbSunny Solomon leads the discussion of “Earth Abides” by George R.Stewart. The book club is open to anyone who would like to join. 7p.m.
MMaayy 1155GGaarrddeenniinngg SSttoorriieess aanndd CCrraaffttWith a special reading from “Where’s Your Grandma Today,” a bookabout volunteering shared by the Assistance League of Diablo Valley.Ages 3 – 7. 11 a.m. Registration required.
The Concord Library is at 2900 Salvio St. ccclib.org or 646-5455.
MMaayy 1144AAllll EEaarrss RReeaaddiinnggAdults with disabilities read to furry friends from ARF. 1 – 2 p.m.
MMaayy 1199MMoovviiee MMoonnddaayyCome see a rated G or PG movie. Kids 5 – 11. 7 – 8:30 p.m.
GOVERNMENT11sstt aanndd 33rrdd TTuueessddaayyssCCllaayyttoonn CCiittyy CCoouunncciill7 p.m. Hoyer Hall, Clayton Library, 6125 Clayton Road. 673-7304or ci.clayton.ca.us.
22nndd aanndd 44tthh TTuueessddaayyssCCllaayyttoonn PPllaannnniinngg CCoommmmiissssiioonn7 p.m., Hoyer Hall, Clayton Library, 6125 Clayton Road. 673-7304or ci.clayton.ca.us.
11sstt,, 22nndd aanndd 44tthh TTuueessddaayyssCCoonnccoorrdd CCiittyy CCoouunncciill6:30 p.m., Council Chamber, Concord Civic Center, 1950 ParksideDr. cityofconcord.org.
Clayton Community CalendarPLEASE SUBMIT YOUR CLAYTON COMMUNITY CALENDAR EVENTS BY 5 P.M. MAY 14 FOR THE MAY 23 ISSUE. ITEMS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY EMAIL TO [email protected]
Clayton Valley Garden Club Annual Plant Sale, May 10
Mousetrap opens May 9 in Pittsburg,
“Computer: tea, Earl Grey,hot.” It seems natural to watchCaptain Jean-Luc Picard of Star
Trek fame using a “replicator”to make – no, to create – his tea,and it all seems pretty natural onTV or the big screen. Just howfar-fetched is it? Has the timecome for a replicator? Or is thethought of replicating or creat-ing something embraced only inscience fiction?
Well, we could say the mod-ern day manifestation of the“Star Trek” replicator is 3Dprinting. A 3-D printer createsmodels, shoes, artificial limbs,gun parts, human skin graftsand candy. So, it is a replicatorexcept that rather than pure
energy, it uses a filament. 3D printing is relatively new
to consumers, but it has beenaround for a decade in the pri-vate manufacturing sector. Thebiggest reason you and I don’town a 3D printer is price. Those
commercial printers cost$100,000 or more and I wouldrather have an RV instead ofspending that kind of money ona printer. Engineers have beenhard at work trying to create ahome version of a 3D printer,and they seem to have had somesuccess with an entry levelmodel costing only $800.
While 3D printing isn’t amust-have for most people,those of us who like to tinker,invent or prototype an idea cannow do it in minutes and on thecheap. Several Wall Street wagsare predicting an end to China’sreign of manufacturing. It couldhappen, but really, not soonbecause most of you will firstneed to acquire the printer andthe AutoCAD skills to make it ahome-user hit.
I can’t think of anything moredelicious than diving into thedecadence of an historic romancenovel – unless of course it is thefirst novel of a dear friend. Imag-ine this reviewer’s delight then, inDuncan Alderson’s “MagnoliaCity” (Kensington, March 2014),set in the landscape of 1920sTexas.
Hetty Allen is a heroine easyto love. Not just because she is ahellfire young woman of privi-lege. Not because she is rumoredto be a character based on Alder-son’s own mother. Not becauseshe spits in the eye of stuffy old-money Houston convention andruns off with the bad boy love ofher life, earning herself a disinher-itance to boot, but because of allthat and more. She has a heartthat is true and pure and com-pletely worthy of her man. Addrum – er, tequila – running, flap-pers, underground jazz clubs,smoking, and dripping SouthernGothic old school duplicity, andyou’ve got the adventure of aromance in which to lose yourself.
The man in question is Gar-rett MacBride, or Mac, for short.A refugee from Montana andnewly arrived in Texas to becomea wildcatter in the oil fields, Mactakes a shine to Hetty right away.And why not? Hetty’s a hottie.But seriously, Mac might not beso tempting, so gloriously mes-merizing, if her parents were a lit-
tle less strict and if Hetty’s moth-er wasn’t such an unrepentantsocial climber. But who can ques-tion the motives of love? Hetty’sparents are disapproving of theswaggering young stranger, andHetty is smitten. When faced withthe twin options of an arrangedmarriage with proper, safe,stuffed-shirt Lamar Rusk — andthe ambitious, devil-may-carerisk-taking Garrett MacBride,Hetty makes the only choice shecan.
This doesn’t mean the rest ofHetty’s life is all sunshine and jellybeans. In fact, her marriage is thebeginning of one giant cosmictest of her character. Hetty sufferspoverty, humiliation and betrayal,but she digs deep to find the stuffshe’s really made of. She mayhave been born with a silverspoon in her mouth, but Hetty isa survivor. Prohibition may be the
law of the land and liquor may bethe devil’s work, but Hetty knowsan opportunity when she seesone. She and Mac become boot-leggers and make a handsome liv-ing at it. When their business part-ner is arrested and imprisoned,they turn to make their fortunesin the Texas oilfields. But thwart-ed there too, Mac reaches the endof his steel and takes off.
Hetty does the only thing shecan. She can’t return to the manse,so she flees to her aunt, her moth-er’s sister, for comfort. Cora is anartist with an artist’s tempera-ment, and helps to heal her niece’swounds. Of the more importantdiscoveries Hetty makes in Cora’skind hands is the reason that hermother is such a snob, and whyher spoiled, lighter-skinned sisteris the favorite of the family.
True to herself to the end,Hetty makes one last bootleggingventure in order to settle her andMac’s debts from their oil fielddisaster. Debts resolved, she takesoff in search of the man sheloves. It wouldn’t be a romance ifHetty didn’t find Mac in the end.And this is a romance, so guesswhat? Love, (and a good story)prevail.
Plucky heroine shines in ‘Magnolia City’
3D printing isn’t science fictionMay 9, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com Page 15
Book Review
CYNTHIA GREGORY
FOR THE BOOKS
Cynthia Gregory writes bookreviews, award-winning short storiesand a blog. Visit her blog at PersephonesStepSisters.Wordpress.comor send email to her at [email protected]
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TECH TALK
Every movement we make —from walking to driving —involves our muscles. Muscles areunique. They have the ability torelax, contract and produce force.They are metabolically active,meaning that the more muscleyou have, the more calories yourbody uses at rest and during exer-cise. Your muscles are highlyresponsive to strength training,which helps them to become larg-er and stronger.
Strength training is theprocess of exercising with pro-gressively heavier resistance forthe purpose of strengthening themusculoskeletal system. Regularstrength training increases the sizeand strength of the muscle fibers.It also strengthens the tendons,ligaments and bones. All of thesechanges have a positive impact onyour physical fitness, appearanceand metabolism, while reducingthe risk of injury and decreasingjoint and muscle pain.
Muscle is metabolically-activetissue. This means that the moremuscle you have, the faster yourmetabolism is while at rest. So,strength training is an importantcomponent of weight loss andweight maintenance.
Follow these four principles ofstrength training and your guaran-teed success.
1. The Tension Principle:The key to developing strength iscreating tension within a muscle
(or group of muscles). Tension iscreated by resistance. Resistancecan come from weights (likedumbbells), specially designedstrength-training machines, resist-ance bands or the weight of yourown body. There are three meth-ods of resistance:
a. Calisthenics (your own bodyweight): You can use the weightof your own body to developmuscle, but using body weightalone is less effective for develop-ing larger muscles and greaterstrength.
b. Fixed Resistance: Thismethod of resistance provides aconstant amount of resistancethroughout the full range ofmotion (ROM) of a strength-training exercise.
c. Variable Resistance: Duringexercises with variable resistance,the amount of resistance changesas you move through the range ofmotion.
2. The Overload Principle:In order to build strength, yourmuscles must work harder thanthey are accustomed to. This“overload” will result in increasedstrength as the body adapts to thestress placed upon it. Everyonebegins at a certain level ofstrength. To become stronger,you must regularly increase thetension (weight or resistance) thatyour muscles work against, caus-ing them to adapt to a new level.As the muscles respond to an
overload, they will grow in sizeand strength.
3. The Specificity of Train-ing Principle: This refers to thefact that only the muscle or mus-cle group you exercise willrespond to the demands placedupon it. By regularly doing bicepcurls, for example, the musclesinvolved (biceps) will becomelarger and stronger, but curls willhave no effect on the muscles thatare not being trained (such as yourlegs). Therefore, when strengthtraining, it is important tostrengthen all of the major mus-cle groups.
4. The Detraining Princi-ple: After consistent strengthtraining stops, you will eventuallylose the strength that you built up.Without overload or mainte-nance, muscles will weaken in twoweeks or less. This is the basisbehind why individuals lose mus-cle mass as they age — becausethey are detraining by exercisingless frequently.
Ilima Heuerman holds fitness certi-fications. She trains at Levity Fitnessstudio in Clayton. Email Ilima [email protected]
See Tech Talk, page 19
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Contra Costa WindSymphony presents “Johan deMeij Live!” with a rare Bay Areaappearance by the Dutch com-poser, who will conduct several ofhis works, including the WestCoast premiere of his SymphonyNo. 4, “Sinfonie der Lieder”(Symphony of Songs) at the May18 concert at the Lesher Center ofthe Arts, in Walnut Creek.
According to Contra CostaWind Symphony conductorDuane Carroll, de Meij, who isbest known for his SymphonyNo. 1, “The Lord of the Rings,”is “one of the most recogniza-ble names in the world amongcomposers of music for windsymphony.”
Carroll added that SymphonyNo. 4 was “inspired by a variety of19th century German poems andpremiered last year at the annualMahler Festival in Dobiacco-Italy.
The first three movements uselyrics from the same source asGustav Mahler’s“Kindertotenlieder,” poems byFriedrich Ruckert.
“We are honored to haveJohan de Meij and mezzo-sopra-no Kristin Gornstein from NewYork, along with members of thePiedmont Easy Bay Children’sChoir, led by Sue Bohlin, as guestperformers with us, and to havethe pleasure of giving this workits fourth performance ever —which is the West CoastPremiere,” said Carroll, adding
that the concert is an outstandingway to conclude CCWS’s 2013-2014 season. Carroll believesWind Symphony audiences willunderstand why de Meij is inter-nationally acclaimed. “His work isinnovative, and thoroughly acces-sible. Audiences will hear a sym-phony influenced by Mahler, thesounds of a polka-like variant in aSwedish folk song and the lilt ofan Irish jig in Johan’s arrangementof “Highlights from Riverdance.”
Tickets for “Johan de Meij Live!”range from $18 to $25, with compli-mentary tickets for all students. Callthe Lesher Center ticket office at 925-943-SHOW (7469) or visitwww.lesherartscenter.org. The LesherCenter is located at 1601 CivicDrive, Walnut Creek. For concertdetails visit the Contra Costa WindSymphony website atwww.CCWindSymphony.org.
The Diablo Theatre Companyis offering two scholarships formembers of its acclaimed Stars2000 teen theater company, aswell as its mainstage performers.
The Rhoda Klitsner “FollowYour Dream” Scholarship wasestablished in memory of RhodaKlitsner, former artistic directorof the Diablo Theatre Company.Klitsner, who died April 19, 2003,guided the company for 42 years.This annual scholarship fundhelps individuals who love theperforming arts follow their ownprofessional theatrical dream.
The Aaron AntonaliMemorial Scholarship recognizesexcellence in the performing arts,technical arts, design and stagemanagement. It is awarded to stu-dents who participated in STARS2000 and are now pursuing theirtheater arts education at a college,university or vocational school.
The deadline to apply for scholar-ships is May 23, 2014. Visitwww.diablotheatre.org for more infor-mation.
de Meij conducts Wind Symphony finale
Innovative staging, haunting music hallmarks of A.C.T.’s ‘The Suit’
Performing Arts
From legendary theatrical innovators PeterBrook, Marie-Hélène Estienne, and Franck
Krawczyk comes the internationally acclaimedmusic-infused production, “The Suit.”
Fresh from sold-out runs in New York, Paris,and London, “The Suit” is a tragic tale of betray-al and resentment adapted from the short story ofthe same name by South African writer, CanThemba. When a husband catches his beautifulwife in the arms of her lover, the lover flees—butleaves his suit behind. As her penance, the hus-band makes his wife “treat the suit as an honoredguest,” to accompany her wherever she goes.From the dinner table to walks around the neigh-borhood, the suit becomes a whimsical yet cruelreminder of her infidelity. Traditional Africanmelodies interweave with jazz standards to under-score this simple yet surprising tale, set inApartheid-era Johannesburg
“The Suit” will perform at A.C.T.’s Geary Theater(415 Geary Street, San Francisco) through May 18.Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased online atact-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228.
Onstage presents old-fashioned seafaring yarnOnstage Repertory Theatre Company presents
“Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, The AmazingAdventures of Louis De Rougemont (As Told byHimself)” May 16 through June 1 at the MartinezCampbell Theater.
Written by Donald Margulies, directed byRandall Nott and produced by Helen Means,“Shipwrecked” is a good old-fashioned yarn ofhigh seas and exotic islands about a Victorian gen-tleman whose colorful past as a seafaring wander-er unfolds and the line between fact and fictionblur. Funny and full of surprises, audiences watchas the small cast creates all of the charactersinvolved, even the dog, in this adult but kid-friend-ly production. Costume design is by C.C. Cardinand set design by Randall Nott.
Tickets are $18 general, seniors $16, students $10.(Thursday, general/seniors bargain price is $12.) They areavailable by calling 925-518-3277. For more information,visit the Onstage Theatre website atwww.Onstagetheatre.homestead.com. The MartinezCampbell Theatre is located at 636 Ward Street, inMartinez.
‘Spelling Bee’is buzzingwith delightHow do you spell F-U-N?
Center REPertory Companypresents “The 25th AnnualPutnam County Spelling Bee” asthe final mainstage production oftheir 2013/2104 Season, runningMay 17 – June 21.
A hilarious tale of over-achievers’ angst, “Spelling Bee”chronicles the experience of sixadolescent outsiders vying for thespelling championship of a life-time. A Tony-award winningmusical about trying to stand outand fit in at the same time, thisriotous musical comedy is guaran-teed to have you cachinnating (useit in a sentence, request a defini-tion?).
All performances are held atthe Lesher Center for the Arts inWalnut Creek in the MargaretLesher Theatre. For more infor-mation go to CenterREP.org orcall 925.943.SHOW (7469). Youcan also visit the LCA TicketOffice at 1601 Civic Drive or theTicket Office Outlets at Barnes &Noble in Walnut Creek and theDowntown Walnut Creek Library.
Center REPertory Company, theresident professional theatre companyof the Lesher Center for the Arts(LCA), will be celebrating its 47thSubscription Season of high-qualitytheatrical productions during2013/2014.
Johan Persson
NONHLANHLA KHESWA STARS AS THE WIFE in “The Suit”now at A.C.T. in San Francisco through May 18.
“SHIPWRECKED”, ONSTAGE REP’S TALE of the highseas, plays at the Campbell Theatre in Martinezthrough June 1.
DDTTCC ooffffeerrsssscchhoollaarrsshhiippss ffoorr ppeerrffoorrmmeerrss
Floating ever so chicly with-in the open space of yourkitchen, the island offers spacefor all sorts of kitchen activities.
Whether you are designing akitchen from scratch or lookingto add an island into your exist-ing kitchen layout, here is somefood for thought on creating afunctional and, of course, styl-ish, kitchen island.
THE OVERACHIEVER
An island can really do it allin terms of kitchen needs.Depending on its size, the islandcan accommodate any appliancefrom a prep sink, cook top orrange, microwave, dish washer,refrigeration drawer or winecabinet, to providing a full rangeof custom storage solutions forvarious kitchen gadgets andtrash and recycle receptacles. Ifyou’re looking to redesign yourkitchen, and an island is calledfor in the plans, really thinkabout what appliances you canincorporate into the design toalleviate the surrounding cabi-netry to create open space foranything from food to dishes topots and pans and so on.
DON’T WASTE REAL ESTATE
If you’ve gone through theexciting drama of a kitchen orbathroom remodel, or redeco-rated one or both of theserooms with new colors and afew building materials, youknow that every square inch isvaluable real estate. Not only dowe want to stretch our dollar asfar as possible, we also wantevery surface, every cabinet anddrawer, every nook and crannyto have a functional purpose. Akitchen island should be regard-ed in this same way. Somekitchen islands are certainlyself-sufficient when it comes tothe typical tasks that take placewithin a kitchen, and somekitchen islands have a lesser skillset, but are still an importantelement to a well-functioningkitchen. Whatever the size ofyour island is or will be; reallythink about the purpose ofevery inch.
FUNCTION, FUNCTION,FUNCTION
How would you like to useyour island? Do you need adedicated prep space which
would include a new sink?Maybe a breakfast bar for thekids in the morning? Howabout just extra storage whichwould also consist of installingthat wine refrigerator you’vebeen wanting? Some islands dohave functional appliances andstorage, and then some are trulyjust decorative accents that haveone or two functions. For exam-ple, you’ve recently visited anantique fair and you found anamazing, authentic butcher-block table from the 1920s. Theblock top has been worn downdue to continual chopping anddicing, and there are no realstorage options, but wow, whata unique centerpiece this willmake.
Another example would beincorporating an island on cas-tors. Maybe this island is a petite24-inch square that you rollwherever you need extra count-er space when you’re cooking.Or maybe, it’s so significant insize that the castors becomemore of a design statement andthe shelves and counter are fullof baskets, housing decorative
and useful tools. Whatever yourfunctional needs may be in thekitchen, take time to explore,create and implement a designthat will work for you.
May 9, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com Page 17
JENNIFER LEISCHER
DESIGN & DÉCOR
Jennifer Leischer is the owner ofJ. Designs Interior Design based inClayton. Contact her with questions,comments and suggestions [email protected].
Sunday, May 11 • Two Seatings at 10:30 a.m. & 1 p.m.
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Pioneer Photo Album
The Pioneer is proud to spotlight our readers’ photos. Email your photo in a high-resolution format [email protected] with a description of the photo, where and when it was taken and a little about why you like it.Include your name and phone number. Then look for it in the next Pioneer.
Natalie Powell tookthis photo of Mt.Diablo at theMountaire Parkwaytrail entrance.
“I wanted to dra-matically portray thedifferent layers andtopographic featuresof the mountain. Weare spoiled with naturalbeauty in Clayton!”
- Natalie Powell
The Clayton Valley Woman’sClub hosted their Ninth AnnualFestival of Tables and Fashionon April 26 at Concord UnitedMethodist Church. The eventwas coordinated by chairperson
Priscilla Manlove and her com-mittee. The attendees enjoyedlunch catered by La VerandaCafé of Clayton and were wait-ed on by husbands, sons andfriends of club members outfit-ted handsomely in black slacks,white shirts and black bow ties.
Chico’s of Walnut Creekpresented the fashion show withfive club members modeling amix of summer fashions.
A silent auction raised fundsto benefit local charities andscholarships.
The Clayton Valley Woman’sClub meets at 10 a.m. on the secondTuesday of the month, except Julyand August, at Holy Cross LutheranChurch, 1092 Alberta way, Concord.For more information, call 672-9448or go to claytonvalleywomansclub.org.
Withthe hot summer daysin our future, garden-lovers should do theirplants a favor. They shouldmulch every square inch of bareand thinning soil areas, as well asplanting areas. Mulch helps theground retain its moisture byprotecting its surface from theharsh sun and drying winds.
I know that many in ClaytonValley have weekly gardenersthat spend their visits blowingthe soil clean. This ridiculouspractice has robbed our groundof its protective layers. The lay-ers of leaves that have fallenbeneath trees and shrubs createtopsoil. When “gardeners” blowdirt clean they are really blowingaway your topsoil. Topsoil isyour plants protective coating. Itshelters their roots by keepingthe ground cooler in the sum-mer and warmer in the winter.Now more than ever we shouldget out and spread whatevertype of mulch you are attractedto.
Are you a bark person?Shredded bark, micro or medi-um? Do you prefer spreadingtopdressing of soil conditionerwith a good percentage of red
cedar?S t r a w ?
Whatever it is, our land-scape, veggie/flower beds, andbare areas would benefit fromthree-to-four inches of product.
Micro bark is the most pop-ular mulch sold. The size is veryappealing. Micro bark is avail-able dyed or natural. Dark colorbarks can create contrast to theplants in the yard; over time thecolor of the dyed barks washesout with sun and rain. Naturalbarks start off light and agesdarker. Regardless of color,both selections will have to betouched up annually to keepdesired thickness.
Shredded bark or gorilla hairis a perfect selection for hills, orhilly areas. The shape of theshreds can grip the soil better,preventing frustrating slipping.Slipping is more obvious on soilthat hasn’t had mulch applied inyears. After time, and layers,you’ll find that the slippage tonot be a problem anymore.
Straw is an excellent top-dressing for our vegetable beds,either raised or in the ground. Athick three-to-four inches of
straw will absolutely help theground from water loss throughevaporation. We want to be ableto water our vegetable gardenswithout as guilt, and using strawwill help us.
Some folks don’t like thelook of traditional bark andmulch. Spreading layers of soilconditioner throughout land-scape and garden beds satisfiesthe plants needs, too.Reapplication of this process isnecessary more often. The finerorganic matter in soil condition-er allows for faster breakdown.Reapplication can be expensive,so some use this process mostlyon the perennial flowerbeds.
One final thought regardingthe importance of mulching ourlandscapes: Mulch makes thesoil surface darker, preventingmany weeds from germinating.Also, weeds that germinate atopmulch are easier to pull.
Nicole is the Garden Girl at R&MPool, Patio, Gifts and Garden. Contacther with questions or comments [email protected]
NICOLE HACKETT
GARDEN GIRL
Page 18 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014
Festival of Tables and Fashion
CHICO’S ASSOCIATE ELIZABETH JONES, Chico’s Store Manager Kobi Said and club member mod-els Mary Markow, Jean Doward, Linda Pasini, Sheila Driscoll and Carole Gardner shared sum-mer fashions with the guests.
Clayton ValleyWoman’s Club holdsSpring Fundraiser forLocal Charities
Club News
Boy Scout Troop 262, alongwith parents and some GirlScouts, got high-flying fun whileworking on Aviation Merit Badgesand welcoming new scouts.
The troop called in help fromClayton’s Rich Batchelder, a PilotExaminer for the F.A.A. whotests and certifies pilots at theBuchanan Airport. He is also anAviation Merit Badge Counselor.He stepped up and organized theadventure.
First, Batchelder put togethera detailed syllabus and packet foreach of the scouts, who learnedabout lift, drag, the Bernoulliequation, and practiced chartingcourses on actual aviation charts.
They alsolearned com-pass work,chart reading,p r e - f l i g h tcheck outs,instrumentsand airplane
controls.On Sunday
April 13, thescouts gathered at the BuchananAirport for some real fun. First,Batchelder brought the scouts onthe tarmac to show them theflight patterns they would beusing. A representative from theConcord Airport FireDepartment gave them a presen-tation of fire safety, with a look atthe fire engine followed by a dis-cussion of fire suppression , gearand training. He then showed thescouts a display of the incrediblerange the fire truck can shootwater. The scouts learned thatwhile aviation is very safe, theBuchanan Field Fire Departmentis constantly preparing for anycontingency.
The scouts then got a tour ofthe Control Tower with Kurt
Rutledge, the tower supervisor. Atleast two scouts walked out con-sidering a career as Air TrafficControllers.
The scouts then visited theoffices of Pacific State Aviation(PSA). Arthur Thompson, theowner of PSA, is also an EagleScout. They then broke into threegroups, or stations.
Batchelder ran the academicclassroom, which was workingwith the mathematics of flying.The “wind triangle” is a funda-
mental calculation for pilots, usinggeometry to determine the effectof the direction and force thewind has on where you end upwhen you fly. It was good for thescouts to see that the math theylearn in school is critical.
The full motion FlightSimulator station was led byRashid Yahya, who is the ChiefFlight Instructor for PSA. Thescouts said it really felt like flying.
The third station was on thetarmac, and in the air. First there
was pre-flight inspection of anairplane, and then actually flying aplane. The scouts had help fromtwo flight instructor pilots,Barathi Chidambaram and DougDraper, as well as assistantStewart Schuster. The instructorsdid the take-offs and landings, butthe scouts — and a lot of parents— got a chance to take the con-trols and fly.
It was a great experience, andTroop 262 is lucky to be so wellsupported by our community.
May 9, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com Page 19
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BOY SCOUT TROOP 262 SPENT A DAY AT BUCHANAN AIRPORT working on their Aviation MeritBadges: Back , Keith Branger-Butler, Emma Leong, Barathi Chidambaram , Charlie Pesmark,Charlie Wullenweber, William Kates, Dave Kates, Jackie Hayes, Alexander Leong, AshleyBarrows, Doug McGee, Tony Thongurai, Doug Draper. Front: Garrett McGee, Ethan Butler, RyanAparicio, Andrew Pesmark, Daniel Minuk, Glory Minuk, Jon Casson, Nolan Crua, ShaneBarrows, Lisa Crua.
SCOUT WILLIAMKATES gives athumbs up toflying
Boy Scouts ‘wing it’ at BuchananDAN CONDON
Special to the Pioneer
There is hope as Hewlett-Packard readies its entry into theprinter market. Mass productionwill bring prices down and makethe printers affordable to every-one. It fits the HP mold as well.Like Gillette (razors), they giveaway the appliance and make it upon the supplies. HP does thatnow with ink. (Care to guess whatthe gross margin is on HP ink?An ink cartridge costs about adollar to manufacture.) This time,though, HP will make its marginon filament.
Filament is the raw materialthat feeds the printer. You shouldthink “hot glue gun” when youthink of 3D printing. The printhead melts the filament so it canbe deposited on the object it isprinting one layer at a time.
“For HP, printers are a high-profit business,” says BasicsMedia. “It makes sense, therefore,that HP should be leading theinnovation in 3D printers. A lot ofmostly small companies are at themoment bringing 3D printerproducts to the market. But the
giants like HP and General Elec-tric are also taking a serious inter-est in the field. 3D printing willnot replace mass manufacturingany time soon; however, it offersspecific advantages in certaintypes of industrial as well ashome/personal manufacturingthat will lead to growth and com-mercial availability.”
I will keep you updated on thepending release of HP’s firstreplicator, err, 3D printer.
William Claney is an independ-ent tech writer and former owner ofComputers USA in the ClaytonStation. Email questions or commentsto [email protected].
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$20 OFF
Starter Kits include:
Tropimix, Millet,
cage paper,
cuttlebone,
Prime supplement
& bird care guide
First 30 customers will get a Coupon for 1 FREE bag of:
Safe Choice Horse Feed (15) orLoyall Dog Food (15)
Nutrena
SafeChoice Horse Feed
Our Passion is Pets.
Saturday, May 17 • 9 am to 2 pm8863 Marsh Creek Road, Clayton, CA • 925-672-4600
• Vendor Booths
• $5 Pony Rides11:30 am to 1:30 pm
• FREE LUNCHWith $10 Purchase
• DISCOUNT SHOT CLINIC
10 to 11:30 am
• FREE DOOR PRIZES
$325 GRAND PRIZE*
Deluxe, 2-burner stoveincludes a filled new tank*Donated by Suburban Propane
All Natural Dog & Cat Food
$72.99 Med. Starter
Kit #82938
Reg. Price $56.99
$2 OFF
Reg. Price $39.99 Reg. Price $32.99
Page 20 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com May 9, 2014
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