DEC 12 Clayton Pioneer 2014

Clayton’s quaint and pictur-esque town park was lit up Sat-urday night for the annual Car-oling and Tree Lighting. Theevent, which drew hundreds ofspectators from Clayton and thesurrounding communities, wasthe perfect way to kick off theholiday season.

The entire downtown wasclosed to traffic, and was insteadfilled with scenes of carolers,horse and carriage rides, andchildren holding cups of ciderand the hands of their mothers.

“It’s like a Thomas KinkadeChristmas,” said one manwatching the horse drawncarriages outside of Moresi’s

Chophouse. Others smiled andnodded in agreement.

The carriages took familieson a lovely loop around townwhile those waiting in line weretreated to the sounds of Vin-tage, a quartet of Claytonsingers. The clip-clop of thehorses’ hooves added nicerhythmic backup to the tradi-tional and original Christmasmusic of the group led by Santi-ago Martinez.

This is the fifth year that theDynamic Real Estate Group, theMoresi Family and P2C Founda-tion have teamed up to providethe rides.

By 6 p.m., the Mt. DiabloElementary Chorus was in place

The Clayton City Councilshifted seamlessly into 2015 lastTuesday when City Clerk JanetBrown administered the oath ofoffice to newly elected councilmembers Keith Hayden andDavid Shuey; Hayden for thefirst time and Shuey for thefourth.

After signing the oaths, thetwo took their seats on the daisand outgoing council memberand mayor Hank Stratfordaddressed the council and thecity staff.

Stratford, by nature quietand somewhat uncomfortable inthe spotlight, thanked the citystaff and his fellow councilmembers. “I’ve learned some-thing from every one of you, hesaid. “It’s been an honor toserve the city for eight years.”

As Stratford prepared toleave the dais for the last time,

See Mayor, page 9

See CVCHS Win,, page 10

IT’S YOUR PAPER

www.claytonpioneer.com December 12, 2014 925.672.0500

TAMARA STEINER

Clayton Pioneer

ARIEL HENLEY

Special to the Pioneer

New mayor givesthanks for Clayton

DAVE SHUEY

MAYOR’S CORNER

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CLAYTON, CA94517

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ActivityGuide Inside.

Eagles to go Bowl-ing again

Jason Rogers

TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS AND IT WAS CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL that won the North Coast Section football champi-onship last Friday in an historic showdown with cross-town rivals Concord Minutemen, prompting an on-field celebration atDiablo Valley College. It was the first time two Concord schools had faced off in the NCS finals. The Ugly Eagles won 33-6 toclaim their second NCS Division II title in three years. Concord won Section in 2010 and was also runner-up in 2011.

Undefeated Diablo ValleyAthletic League and NorthCoast Section champion Clay-ton Valley Charter High Schoolwill be hosting its most signifi-cant home football game everthis Saturday evening at 7:30p.m. when the Eagles have arematch with Oakdale (13-1) inthe Northern California Divi-sion II Regional Bowl.

To reach this game that dan-gles a berth in the CIF StateBowl Dec. 20 to the winner,coach Tim Murphy’s team useda stunning defensive display todefeat arch-rival Concord High33-6 in the NCS finals last Fri-day at packed, rain-drenchedDiablo Valley College. It was the14th straight win for CVCHS asthey continue to rack up schoolrecords and remain among thenation’s top high school offens-es with over 7400 total years thisseason.

Clayton Valley is No. 1 in thestate in scoring, rushing andtotal offense. Nationally, theUgly Eagles are No. 2 in rushing

As we round out 2014 andhead into 2015 there is a lot tobe thankful for in Clayton.

First, thank you to all whovoted in the November election.Despite common pessimism,your vote does matter and youoverwhelmingly voted to renewour downtown park revenue forthe next 20 years, ensuring ourbeautiful park will remain thecenterpiece of downtown.

In addition, you voted meback in for which I am grateful

See Council Election, page 9

See Tree Lighting, page 3

Everyone is reading the PioneerPut your business on the FRONT PAGE of the community newspapers everyone reads and reach35,500 potential customers with our FREE doorstep delivery toConcord and Clayton.

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Tree Lighting begins holiday countdown

Two Clayton scouts earn Gold Awards with innovative projectsClayton is fortunate that its

culture of “giving back”extends to its younger residents.And nowhere is that as apparentas in prestigious scoutingawards. Just recently, two youngClayton girls received their GirlScout Gold Award for twounique projects.

COMBATING BULLYING

Justine Del Monte, a 14-year-old resident of Clayton,combined her love of reading,writing and fighting bullyinginto a unique project that

earned the Athenian Schoolninth grader the prestigiousGirl Scout Gold Award.

It started when Justinewrote the book, “Drew’sDancing Drum” at age 11 as aclass project while attendingPalmer School.

Artist Brandon Chappell,volunteered to illustrate thebook and then created a chil-dren’s interactive app. The appis available in three languages:English, Spanish and Mandarin.

Fans of the first bookinquired about a second book,

which inspired Justine at age12 to write, “Drew MeetsBoo.” Brandon volunteeredagain to illustrate the secondbook and created a children’sinteractive app for the bookthat is available in three lan-guages as well.

The first app for “Drew’sDancing Drum” is free – thesecond App for “Drew MeetsBoo” is $1.99 and all the moneygoes to charity — food banks,Girl Scouts, an Autistic

Gavel goes toDave Shuey inCouncil reorg

See Gold Awards, page 3

CITY COUNCILMEN KeithHaydon and David Shueytake oath of office

SANTA, ACCOMPANIED BY DAVE ATKINSON (LEFT) AND MAYOR DAVE SHUEY and two Clayton kids,heads down Main Street to flip the switch on the town tree, officially kicking off the holidays.

JUSTINE DEL MONTE CAPS SCOUTING YEARS with Gold Award forher “Drew” anti-bullying children’s books.

Around Town Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com December 12, 2014

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Pioneer TravelsSHANGHAI

“Free home delivery” took on awhole new meaning last month, whenChris Halliday personally deliveredthe latest issue of the Clayton Pioneerto the Barnes family in Shanghai.

Chris is a Clayton resident andpilot for United Air Lines.

“I’ve always enjoyed our localpaper and always get a kick out of thephotos of people holding the Pioneerfrom all over the world,” writes Chris,who recently flew an airline trip to

Shanghai. While on layover, he visitedthe Barnes family, former Clayton res-idents that moved to Shanghai threeyears ago.

“I delivered the paper to them,personally,” wrote Chris.

The photo is taken in “The Bund”located on the bank of the HuangpuRiver in Shanghai. That’s the OrientalPearl TV Tower in the background inPudong, which is the district oppositeThe Bund on the other side of theHuangpu River.

Judith Wilson (holdingpaper) brought the Pioneeralong on an Avalon river cruiseto Amsterdam, Germany,France and Switzerland withlong time friends from Cross-roads Covenant Church inConcord. Pictured in Mainz,Germany are Clayton andConcord residents (from left,front row) Steve & Carla Stew-art, Judith Wilson, Mig Willis,Janet & Frank Rossini (backrow) Steve & Ruth Fuller, PaulWilson, Debbi & Ron Lawsonand Bonnie Jolly.

Arts foundation to increase school fundingThe Clayton Valley/Concord Sun-

rise Rotary Club donated $1000 to theMichelangelo D’Onofrio Arts Founda-tion, the foundation’s board announcedlast week.

The donation will enable the foun-dation to add two more schools to their2015 Annual Art Awards Program. Inaddition to medals and certificates, thefoundation will now be able to increasetheir first prize cash awards to studentsexcelling in the visual and digital arts inpublic schools throughout the commu-nity.

College Park and Ygnacio ValleyHigh will be invited to participate in the2015 program. Already Concord andNorthgate High schools, Clayton ValleyCharter High School, Pine Hollow, ElDorado and Diablo middle schools areparticipants and recipients of theawards. Northgate and Concord Highpresent their student awards at theirschools annual awards ceremonies.Clayton Valley Charter holds an ArtExpo where awards are presented attheir school’s Open School night.

The foundation was founded in2010 by a family of artists deeply com-

mitted to careers in art, architecture andanimation. They felt it was their obliga-tion to shine the spotlight on studentswith outstanding artistic skills just asthey all received awards for their talentsthroughout their public school years.

Besides the daughter of Michelan-gelo D’Onofrio, the board is comprisedof three more family members. SusanBennett, the daughter, is a graphicdesigner and senior project manager ofthe GNU Group in Lafayette. Profes-sor Michael Silver, the son, teachesarchitectural design and emerging tech-nologies that include humanoid robot-ics, automated fiber placement andmobile design apps at the University ofBuffalo. CJ Bennett, the grandson, is afreshman at the Academy of Arts Uni-versity in San Francisco.

To learn more about this program and thefoundation please send email [email protected].

Students recognized for Respect and ResponsibilityThe library meeting room was

packed with proud parents and siblingsat the City Council meeting on electionnight, Nov. 4. Some were there to cheeron their candidates, but most were proudparents and siblings of nine local stu-dents who were receiving Certificates ofRecognition as part of the community-wide Do the Right Thing character-building initiative.

The students were nominated bytheir teachers for showing great respectand exceptional responsibility. Eachreceived a certificate and congratulationsfrom Mayor Hank Stratford.

Back row: Mayor Stratford, Lauren Gloek-ler, Cesar Ledesma and Katelynn Van Tuylfrom CVCHS; Middle row: Alex Dyer, UrielRodriquez, Emillee Rabago from DVMS;Front: Lauren Uttne, DVMS, Corinne Jeand-heur, Logan Remington from MDES.

Mike, Jennifer, Kristen and Emily Barnes, former Claytonians with ChrisHalliday, far right in Shangai, China.

ROTARY PRESIDENT IRENE DAVIDS-BLAIR AND JOAN D’ONOFRIO

EUROPEAN RIVER CRUISE

Children’s Program and anorphanage in Nicaragua.

Justine’s Gold Award con-sists of Drew’s Books, Theapps, and discussion points.The discussion points she wroteto assist educators and parentsto create dialogue with the chil-dren when addressing bullying,acceptance, friendship, self-esteem, kindness, empower-ment, and other life lessonswith their children. She feelsthese issues should be taughtand discussed when the chil-dren are young instead of wait-ing until middle school and highschool, because the behaviorsseem to escalate into more vio-lent and devastating forms ofbullying.

Justine’s Gold Award Pro-ject is unique because most chil-dren’s books do not come withan interactive app and discus-sion points — tools that can be

used to teach children aboutbullying.

The books teach anti-bully-ing in a fun and subtle way withrhymes because children loverhymes, Justine says.

Justine has donated 255books to schools, religious chil-dren’s programs, children’scamps and libraries nationally.The discussion points can bedownloaded for free at Drews-books.com. The apps have beendownloaded in 76 countries.

Her work has not goneunnoticed by the nationalmedia. Justine and Brandonhave been interviewed byKVCR in Los Angeles and alsowere taped reading the twobooks for a short story time forKVCR’s televised children’sprogramming. KVCR has com-mitted to run their interviewevery year for National BullingPrevention Month.

Justine has been a Girl Scoutfor 10 years. She has earned herBronze and Silver Awards aswell. She started at age 4 as aDaisy.

MUSIC IS GOLDEN

FOR THIS SCOUT

The tunes of Broadwayshows are being sung by youngand old in Clayton and Concordthese days, as part of KaylaElwy’s Girl Scout Gold Awardproject.

Kayla’s love of music sinceage four has culminated into acommunity project of 11singing events that she has beenthoroughly enjoying along theway.

“My project is called ‘Bridg-ing the Generation GapThrough Music,’” says Kayla.“Young Girl Scouts ages 6-12years old have learned popularshow songs to sing for the sen-iors that include, ‘My FavoriteThings,’ ‘We’re Off to See theWizard,’ and ‘Anything Goes.’ Iarranged all of the songs myself

with the help of my projectmentor and voice teacher of 13years, Loree Capper.”

Kayla has coordinated morethan 80 young scouts on herevent dates at Diamond Terrace

and Montecito assisted livingfacilities to perform for the sen-iors. Following their singingperformances, Kayla and thescouts help the seniors makemusic-related crafts. The crafts

have varied with rain-stickinstruments, musical note ban-ners and Halloween tam-bourines. Kayla also has puttogether CDs and song lyricsfor the troops that are partici-pating so that they can contin-ue to sing on their own in thefuture.

“It has been such a joy to seethe seniors singing along withus. The songs bring back goodmemories for them and theyoung scouts love beinginvolved,” says Kayla. “This ispersonally very rewarding and Ihave established wonderful rela-tionships with many people ofall ages in my community now.”

As an extra award for theirsinging, Kayla has presentedeach of the girls with a musicpatch to display on their GirlScout vests.

“Hopefully the girls willremember these fun times withall of us singing together andwill do a special communityproject when they are older,too,” Kayla says.

December 12, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com

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Final project for ScoutsFive girls from Girl

Scout Troop 32386 havebeen scouting together fornine years and are now intheir final year. For a finalproject, they organizedtheir own coat drive forthe “One Warm Coat”project. They distributedfliers within their neigh-borhoods in Clayton andcollected over 225 coats.Pictured are KaytlynCoyne, Kayla Elwy,Noelle Correa, LaurenGloekler and BethanyAnzelone.

GIRL SCOUT KAYLA ELWY (far right) will win her Girl Scout GoldAward with a project that bridges the generation gap throughmusic performances at the senior homes in the area. She ispictured at Diamond Terrace with Annika Nelson and residentFrances Corbolotti.

Gold Awards, from page 1

on the Gazebo for their annualconcert before Santa’s arrival.

The suspense built as thechildren chanted “Santa, Santa,Santa,” until he arrived in style,chauffeured by Clayton’s policechief, Chris Thorsen.

The crowd then headed upMain Street to the official citytree, past the Clayton Commu-nity Church where membersstood ready to serve the donutsand hot cider provided by theCBCA. A Jewish menorah and aChristian nativity stood side byside next to the church, areminder of the season’s twotraditions.

At the tree, it was finally timefor a couple of off-key verses of

Jingle Bells and the countdown.Santa pulled the switch and thestately tree glowed.

“This is really a wonderfulway to start the season,” saysClayton resident Dave Bush,who attends the event every yearwith his family.

His children agree.“I really liked when the kids

were caroling and the count-down to the tree lighting,” says8-year-old Olivia Bush. “I likewhen everyone is gatheredaround the tree.”

“My favorite part was thecarriage ride and watching theMount Diablo ElementarySchool students play theirinstruments,” added her sister,

Mackenzie, 10.The annual event is spon-

sored by the Clayton Businessand Community Association.

Tree Lighting, from page 1

Photos by Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer

SHAWN ROBINSON, pastor ofClayton Community Church,stands ready to serve the hotcider and donuts.

It’s time again for the annualClayton Christmas Home Tour,where five homes will open theirdoors to Clayton residents,showcasing everything from ele-gant holiday decorating towhimsical family fun.

Sponsored the by the Clay-ton Historical Society andMuseum, the homes will featurefireplaces, staircases and bal-conies adorned with bows, lightsand all the trimmings. There willbe chandeliers, gorgeous diningroom settings and severalChristmas trees in each home.

Tour goers will immediatelybe put in the Christmas spiritwhen entering the home ofShawnda and Marc Lopez.Shawnda is a decorator and hertalent shows. The home featuresseveral Christmas trees, eachwith a different theme, and two

fully decorated master bed-rooms. The kitchen, diningroom, all bedrooms and bath-rooms are decorated with ele-gance and style. “Christmasthrough the house is incrediblybeautiful and bright,” saysShawnda.

Julie Mancini has always hada passion for design and deco-rating. She had so much fundecorating her own home overthe years that she recentlyopened her own interior deco-rating and staging business.

At the Centurion home, thefirst thing seen is the 10-footChristmas tree in the front pic-ture window. Carlos and KristieCenturion have collections fromRussia, ornaments from Italy,France, England, as well as citiesthey have lived in throughoutthe United States. The diningroom hosts a variety of mischie-vous elves. Carlos surprisedKristie last year over the 12 daysof Christmas by bringing her anew elf each day, along with aChristmas tree decorated withsugar plums, candy canes, andsugary confections. Kristie saysthere will be a unique surpriseoutside for those after-sunsetvisitors.

Carol van Vaerenberg wasborn on Christmas Eve and hermiddle name is Noelle. In herhome is a family room full oftheir daughters’ homemadeornaments and those collectedfrom their travels. “Our fourdaughters have always receivednutcrackers and snow globesevery year from Santa. So wehave many treasures to share.”

Denis and Barbara Weil’shome has always been about thechildren. Barbara comes from a

family of artists, and their art-work can be seen throughouttheir home, intermingled amongtheir holiday decorations. Santafigures, elves and fairies arecomplimented with poinsettiasand cyclamen.

The Fifth Annual ClaytonChristmas Home Tour will beheld Sunday, Dec. 14, from 12 to7 p.m., rain or shine. The $30

tour ticket donation is taxdeductible and the proceeds goto the Historical Society towardmaintaining the museum.

The self-guided tour begins at themuseum at 6101 Main Street indowntown Clayton. Tickets can bepurchased at the museum on the day ofthe tour until 6 p.m. For more infor-mation visit www.ClaytonHistory.orgor call 925-672-7680.

Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com December 12, 2014

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Annual Historical Society hometour shares elegance, whimsy

THIS ELEGANTLY DECORATED TREE in the entry hall greets visitors tothe van Vaerenberg home, one of the five on the ClaytonHistorical Society’s Annual Holiday Home Tour, Dec.14.

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Police Activity for two weeks ending Dec. 4, 2014

ACCIDENTS:None.

ARRESTS:NNoovv.. 2211,, Clayton Rd./Oakhurst Dr. DisorderlyConduct: Alcohol. 31-year-old Pleasant Hillmale.

NNoovv.. 2255,, Mountaire Cr./Mountaire Pkwy. DriveWhile License Suspended for DUI; Driving aVehicle While Driving Privilege Suspended. 35-year-old Pittsburg male.

NNoovv.. 3300,, Mt. Olympus Pl. Battery: Spouse/Ex-Spouse/Etc. 44-year-old Clayton female.

NNoovv.. 3300,, 5400 Clayton Rd. Warrant. 31-year-old Pittsburg male.

DDeecc.. 22,, 5400 Clayton Rd. Out of StateWarrant. 58-year-old Discovery Bay male.

DDeecc.. 22,, 5400 Clayton Rd. Drive While LicenseSuspended for DUI; Driving a Vehicle WhileDriving Privilege Suspended. 32-year-old SanRamon male.

DDeecc.. 33,, 5400 Clayton Rd. Possess ControlledSubstance; Warrant. 35-year-old Concordmale.

BURGLARIES/THEFTS:NNoovv.. 2299,, Blue Oak Ln. Burglary – VehicleNNoovv.. 3300,, Feather Cr. Burglary – Residential. DDeecc.. 11,, N. Mitchell Canyon. Burglary –Vehicle.

VANDALISMS:None.

Automotive

Clayton Valley Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-3900

Beauty and Pampering

Bella Mia Spa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .680-7792

Clayton Mind and Body Connections . . . . . . . . . .673-0686

Hair’s the Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-6180

Business Services

Rising Moon Marketing & Public Relations . . . . .672-8717

Construction and Trades

Appliance Repairs by Bruce, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-2700

Belfast Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .457-5423

Burkin Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-1519

Diablo View Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .822-5144

Gary’s Home Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .787-2500

J.A. Ronco Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .872-3049

Schaefer’s Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .260-6065

Tipperary Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216-2679

Dining and Entertainment

Clayton Club Saloon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .673-0440

El Molino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .963-7472

Los Rancheros Taqueria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .685-7110

Oakhurst Country Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9737

Scousers Fish’n Chips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .521-1962

Events

Clayton Business and Community Association . .672-2272

Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market . . . . . . . . . . .800-949-3276

Financial, Insurance and Legal Services

Archvest Wealth Advisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215-5600

DuRee, Daniel – The Law Office of . . . . . . . . . . .210-1400

Littorno, Richard – The Law Office of . . . . . . . . .432-4211

Van Wyck, Doug – State Farm Insurance . . . . . .672-2300

Funerals

Ouimet Funeral Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .682-4242

Groceries

Doorstep Farmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349-4568

Health

Foresight Optometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-4100

Walnut Creek Orthodontics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .946-1951

Home and Garden

Clayton Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .686-2299

Diablo Lawnscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381-3757

Interiors Panache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-7920

Just Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .681-4747

Nichols Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9955

R & M Pool, Patio, Gifts & Gardens . . . . . . . . . . .672-0207

Soto HVAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .497-7426

The Floor Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .969-9890

The Maids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .798-6243

The Royal Rooster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-2025

Utopic Gardens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .524-0055

Waraner Bros. Tree Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .831-2323

Waraner Tree Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250-0334

Mailing Services

The UPS Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .689-6245

Pet Services

Peace of Mind Pet Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9781

Real Estate and Mortgage Services

French, Lynne – Windermere Real Estate . . . . . .672-8787

Gray, Heather – Windermere Real Estate . . . . . .765-3822

Hayes, Diane and Bill – Better Homes Realty . . .890-4701

Howard, Don – Better Homes Realty . . . . . . . . . .408-3184

Howard, Emily – Better Homes Realty . . . . . . . .408-1871

Klock, Leigh – Coldwell Banker . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212-5593

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

Anytime Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-6700

Diablo FC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.diablofc.org

Diablo Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304-2127

Earthquake Arabians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .360-7454

East Bay Regional Park District . . . . . . . . . .888-327-2757

SNAP Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .693-0110

Senior Services

Courtyards at Pine Creek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .798-3900

Services, Other

A Floral Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .705-3088

Clayton Valley Frameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-6066

ComputersUSA! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9989

Cutting Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304-2200

Diaz, Jim – Councilmember . . . . . [email protected]

HobbyTown USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .685-3802

Net Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-6029

Recycling Center & Transfer Station . . . . . . . . . .473-0180

Rochellez Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .510-677-4170

Travel

Travel to Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9840

Worship

Concord United Methodist Church . . . . . . . . . . . .685-5260

Eternal Life Lutheran Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .524-0295

St. Bonaventure Catholic Community . . . . . . . . .672-5800

Directory of Advertisers

P.O. Box 1246

6200 Center Street, Suite H, Clayton, CA 94517

TAMARA AND ROBERT STEINER, PublishersTAMARA STEINER, EditorPETE CRUZ, Graphic DesignPEGGY SPEAR, Copy Editor JAY BEDECARRÉ, Sports PAMELA WIESENDANGER, Administration, Calendar Editor

STAFF WRITERS: Peggy Spear, Pam Wiesendanger, John Jackson, Jay BedecarreWe remember Jill Bedecarré - Her spirit is our muse

PIONEER INFOCONTACT USTel: (925) 672-0500Fax: (925) 672-6580

Tamara [email protected]

Send ads [email protected] Sports News to

[email protected] Club News to

[email protected] School News to

[email protected]

CLASSIFIEDSClassified rates per insertion:$48 for first 30 words, 40 cents

each additional word Non-profit: $24 for first 30

words, 20 cents each additional word To place your classified ad over thephone, call the office at (925) 672-0500between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.All classifieds must be paid for inadvance by credit card (Master Card orVisa) We will not accept any ad thatdiscriminates on the basis of race,color, sex, religion, nationality, familystatus or disability. The Clayton Pio-neer reserves the right to reject anyadvertising we believe is unsuitable.

LET US KNOW Weddings, engagements, anniver-

saries, births and deaths all weavetogether as part of the fabric of ourcommunity. Please let us know of theseimportant events. We ask only that theannouncement be for a resident in ourhome delivery area. Submit on ourwebsite and be sure to attach a JPGphoto that is at least 3 MB but not big-ger than 6MB. You can also mail orbring your print to the office and wecan scan it for you.

Also on the website are forms forcalendar items, events & press releases.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORBoth Pioneer newspapers wel-

come letters from our readers. As ageneral rule, letters should be 250words or less and submitted at leastone week prior to publication date. Let-ters concerning current issues will havepriority. We may edit letters for lengthand clarity. All letters will be publishedat the editor’s discretion. Please includename, address and daytime telephonenumber. We will not print anonymousletters. E-mail your letter [email protected].

Letters must be submitted via E-mail.

CIRCULATION as of Sept. 2014Total circulation of the Clayton

Pioneer is 5,500 to ZIP code 94517, alldelivered by US Mail to homes, busi-nesses and post office boxes. We can-not start or stop delivery to individ-ual addresses. This must be donedirectly through the Post Office

The Concord Pioneer is deliveredmonthly to 28,000 in Concord by carri-er. Papers are delivered once a monthon a Friday morning near the end ofthe month. To stop delivery for anyreason, call the office at (925) 672-0500or [email protected].

If you are NOT receiving the Pio-neer, please check the distribution mapon the website. If you live in the shad-ed area and are not receiving the paper,please call us or send an email to [email protected]. If you arenot in the shaded area, please bepatient. We will come to your neigh-borhood soon.

SUBSCRIPTIONSTo subscribe, call the office at

(925) 672-0500. Subscriptions are$35/year for each paper, $60/year forboth.

Police ActivityReport


A Celebration of Life washeld on Dec. 3 for RonaldJames Clark, 88, who passedaway on Nov. 21in Claytonafter a courageous battle withcancer.

A loving husband, father,grandfather and great grand-father beloved by all, Ronaldwas born on March 17, 1926in Berkeley. He was a corre-spondent for the U.S. Armyduring the Korean conflict.He graduated from Arm-strong College, earning hisdegree in business. Ronaldworked for more than 40years for Chevron Corpora-tion.

Ron is survived by hiswife, Claire, four children, sixgrandchildren, and two greatgrandchildren. Ron will bedearly missed by his familyand many friends who haveenjoyed his loving and givingways — accompanied by his

huge smile.He is preceded in death

by his parents, Leslie Clarkand Ruth Wright-Clark;brothers Ralph, Leslie andDaniel, and sister Ruth.

Memorial donations canbe made to Hospice of theEast Bay.

Obituary

Ronald James ClarkMarch 17, 1926 – November 21, 2014

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Q. My wife and I aregoing to get prequalifiedfor a mortgage to buy ahome. Is there a benefit toputting a higher amount asa down payment? We havethe ability to do that but wewould like available cash tofix up our new home.

A. Determining what sizemortgage is right for you is apersonal decision that youshould make based on yourcurrent and anticipatedincome, your overall invest-ment strategy, and the proper-ty in question. One benefit ofbuying real estate is that youcan use someone else’s moneyto finance your purchase. Rel-ative to the purchase price ofa property you tie up a smallamount of your own money.This is called leverage. The

less money you put down themore you can leverage yourmoney. If the price of theproperty goes up you earnappreciation on the entireasset. A percentage of thetotal price of the property notjust a percentage of themoney that you actually putdown.

A higher mortgage can

also be more risky. As realestate prices go up and down,(though historically they goup) if you only put 5 percentdown and the market goesdown 5 percent you will loseyour cash investment untilprices go up again. For manyhomeowners, having a largemortgage is well worth therisk when tax relief is takeninto account. With somerestrictions, the federal gov-ernment allows homeownersto write off interest (andproperty taxes) paid on theirhome mortgages. The largerthe mortgage the larger thewrite off. Let’s say you are in a28 percent tax bracket, youcan write off 28 cents foreach dollar of interest paid.

Another thing to consideris if you are putting down lessthan 20 percent down you

could have to pay mortgageinsurance. For instance on anFHA (government insuredloan) they will allow you toput as little as 3.5 percentdown but all of their loanshave mortgage insurance.These FHA loans usually havelower interest rates. Youwould have to do the calcula-tions with your mortgagebroker.

When you are deciding onthe amount of your downpayment, make sure you haveenough cash reserves to coverunexpected expenses repairsand maintenance.


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

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CCllaayyttoonn CCiittyy HHaallll HHoolliiddaayy CClloossuurreessClayton City Hall offices will be closed the following days:

• Dec. 24, 25 and 26 for the Christmas holiday

• Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 for New Years

• The police department offices will be closed Dec. 25 and Jan 1.

Regular city police services remain unaffected by these holiday closures.

City maintenance crews are on standby in the event of emergencies

It’s hard to believe, butChristmas is right around thecorner. As I write this, there areabout 21 days of shopping left.Each year, more of us are shop-ping online for gifts. In 2012,Internet holiday shopping rep-resented nearly $100 billion insales. With more and more of usshopping online, the inevitableissue of package theft arises.Last year, the Clayton PoliceDepartment took severalreports of packages being deliv-ered to our residents only tohave them stolen from theporch. There are a few thingsyou can do to minimize thechances of your packages disap-pearing off the front porch.

If you aren’t home duringthe day, send the package to aneighbor or relative who ishome. Be sure that personknows ahead of time so she canbe at home to accept the deliv-ery.

Request a signature confir-mation on each delivery so a

package will not be left at itsdestination unless someone ispresent to sign for it.

If your company allows,have packages delivered to yourwork address instead of yourhome. Check with your shipperfor options.

UPS offers My Choice, aservice that alerts you by text ore-mail a day before the packageis scheduled to arrive. You canreschedule the delivery for a dif-ferent day or reroute the pack-age to be delivered to a differentaddress (a neighbor, for exam-ple) if you won’t be home.

FedEx offers similar servic-es, including allowing you tohold the package at a FedExretail location for pickup, or youcan go online and request tohave the package delivered toyour home within a specificdelivery time window.

You can help us by usingthese practices. Additionally,please keep an eye out for suspi-cious people or cars in your

neighborhood. If you witnesssuspicious activity, please callthe Clayton Police Department.Whenever possible, provide adetailed description of the per-son or vehicle (including licenseplate) involved in the activity.

We appreciate the continuedsupport from the Clayton com-munity. Happy Holidays!

Chris Thorsen is Clayton’s chiefof police. For questions and com-ments, call him at (925) 673-7350.

CHRIS THORSEN

BEHIND THE BADGE

Be alert for package thieves


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Refreshment Destination for Clayton’s Christmas Home TourDec. 14, 12-7 p.m. Tickets $30. Available at Royal Rooster

or Clayton Historical Society, www.claytonhistory.org

Club News

Creekside Artists Guild

Guests are invited to bring afavorite dish and join the Creek-side Artists Guild’s annual

“Barter, Buy or Sell” HolidayPotluck on Sunday, Dec. 14from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Dia-

mond Terrace, 6401 Center St.,Clayton. Featured local author,Lisa Fulmer, will guide youthrough creating a quick and funholiday craft project to takehome from her latest book,“Craft Your Stash.” Signedcopies of her books will be onhand along with music, singalongs, local art, greeting cards,jewelry and other gift items tobarter, buy or sell.

The Creekside Artists Guildmeets at 7 p.m. on the second Wednes-day of the month at the ClaytonLibrary. For more information, con-tact Arlene Kikkawa-Nielsen at(925) 673-9777, [email protected] [email protected].

CBCA hears how Claytoncombats boar-ish behavior

Clayton is the second-safestcity in the Bay Area, accordingto the latest FBI “Crime in theUnited States” report for 2013.Clayton registered 0.18 violentcrimes per 1,000 residents, sur-passed only by Hillsboroughwith zero.

But apparently the FBI didnot take into considerationcrime by the pig community.

Members of the ClaytonBusiness and CommunityAssociation were taken abackby Councilmember DavidShuey’s “City Report” that the

City of Clayton has hired alicensed pig hunter to huntdown and do who-knows-whatto rampaging porcine lawn-wreckers.

Shuey hogged the spotlightwith this news at the Nov. 20CBCA meeting held atOakhurst Country Club. Clay-ton residents are urged toreport any pig damage to thecity, so that the RazorbackRanger can be dispatched toconfront the “boarish” miscre-ants and, hopefully, bringhome the bacon. Rumor has itthat a hotline may be estab-lished at 1-800-321-OINK.

In other news, CBCAmembers voted the funds to

the Clayton Historical Societyfor museum repairs, displays,and educational programs. It isassumed that repair funds willcover any pig depredation.

In addition, the club passeda request for funds fromChristmas for Everyone tohelp provide presents, blan-kets, and food for 3,000 work-ing poor in central ContraCosta County.

CBCA, now with 199 mem-bers, exists to benefit the entireClayton community throughfundraising activities and otherevents. To join CBCA or to volun-teer for an event, visit www.clayton-CBCA.org.

Lisa Fulmer, author of the Craft Your Stash

GARY CARR


‘Tis the season for gifts andgiving — the holidays are nowin full swing. Retailers andadvertisers are all making thepitch for your hard earned dol-lars. The power of persuasionis at play tempting one to re-categorize his/her wants withneeds.

Banks and credit card com-panies are continuing to enticeborrowers with low-interestteaser rates as well as zerointerest promotional periods.As cash is often times in shortsupply this time of year, youmight be considering utilizinga promotional credit line.Before agreeing to a promo-tional offer, be sure you knowwhat you’re signing up for.

Get an understanding offinance charges. For example,after most promotional peri-ods end, if there is a balancedue, typically interest ischarged on the balance from

the date of purchase; not thedate the promotion ends. Thisinterest rate associated withthe finance charge is oftendouble digits and can cause thedebt to grow quite rapidly ifno plan is in place.

A good rule-of-thumb tofollow would be, if you don’thave the cash on hand, be surethere is a spending plan. Gen-erally, the plan should be real-istic, with attainable goals min-imizing the amount of debttaken, if any. In my next col-umn, I’ll discuss in greaterdetail how to establish aspending plan as well as tipsfor tackling debt.

LONG-TIME TAX

STRATEGY EXPIRED

In the spirit of gifting, keepin mind there was a tax-advan-taged strategy that is stillexpired. For those subject toRequired Minimum Distribu-

tions (RMDs) there was astrategy known as the IRARMD charitable rollover,which expired at the end of2013. Under this legislativeprovision, individuals who areat least 70½ would have beenable to directly transfer up to$100,000 of their annual IRARMD to a qualified charity.

This strategy was a two-fold bonus: it allowed IRAowners to meet the RMDrules, which hold a steep taxpenalty if ignored, as well asnot be subject to any tax liabil-ity on the withdrawn amountbecause the funds would gostraight to the charity. It’s quitepossible this legislation couldbe reinstated retroactively for2014, but Congress needs toact soon.

The IRA RMD charitablerollover has been in effectsince 2006, originally as a tem-porary measure, set to expire

in 2007. It was subsequentlyextended each year due to itspopularity among IRA ownerswho don’t need the annualwithdrawal amounts to live on,and the charities that havebenefited from the transfers.

Please be sure to confirmthe best gifting strategy foryou by speaking with a tax pro-fessional or meet with a certi-fied financial planning profes-sional to learn more or createthe right spending plan.

John Wenzel is an investmentadvisor with Archvest WealthAdvisers. Send questions and com-ments to [email protected]

The Bay Area is known forits microclimates. Due to theunique geography of the Cali-fornia coast weather variableslike cloud cover, temperature,wind and rain patterns canvary significantly from town totown.

Microclimates are notunique to our area. Recentlythe western New York areanear Buffalo was pummeled bya record-breaking “lake effect”snowstorm that formed overLake Erie.

Lake effect storm cloudsdumped more than six feet ofsnow on the southern suburbsof Buffalo. Surprisingly, thenorthern suburbs recordedless that one foot of snow.That is a type of microclimatewe’ll never experience here.

Lake effect snowstormsform over Lake Erie if a com-bination of atmospheric con-ditions develop. First, a nearlystationary north to southdirected jet stream must persistfor several days over west-cen-tral Canada. This jet currentwill steer a frigid Arctic airmass southward across Canadaand into the central UnitedStates.

Second, the jet streamneeds to turn toward thenortheast and carry the coldair slowly into the Great Lakesregion. West-southwesterlywinds are ideal for triggeringlake effect conditions overLake Erie since they providethe greatest over-water trajec-tory.

Finally, the lake water tem-perature needs to be severaldegrees above freezing. Asfrigid air moves across warmerwaters, the lower atmospherebecomes very unstable.Updrafts form in unstable airmasses. During extreme Arcticcold air outbreaks vertical tem-

perature differences can pro-duce very strong updrafts.

Once all these ingredientsare in place the atmosphericsnow machine is complete.When these conditions devel-op over Lake Erie it’s like hav-ing a giant snow blower point-ed directly at the southern sub-urbs of Buffalo.

During a five-day periodjust before Thanksgiving thatis exactly what happened.Nearly ideal lake effect stormconditions developed overLake Erie. Heavy snowfallresulted as a snow-laden airmass was blown into the Buf-falo area.

Blizzard conditions lastedfor hours at a time during thestormy period. November’sArctic air mass became sounstable that rare “thunder-snow” cells formed. Lightningflashed and thunder rumbledas snow plied up on theground. Besides the usualstorm related road closuresand power outages, this lakeeffect event was also deadly asseveral deaths were reported.

As mentioned earlier, thisevent resulted in large varia-tions of snowfall amounts

over very short distances.Local area geography wasresponsible for the varyingsnow depths. Suburbs to thesouth of the city were directlyin the path of the 250-mileoverwater fetch of the lake.Northern suburbs were just farenough removed from themain fetch to record substan-tially less snowfall.

Unique meteorological andgeographical conditions com-bined to produce the recentlake effect snow storm thatstruck Buffalo, and illustratethe snow microclimates of thethat area. It makes the BayArea microclimates seem verybenign.


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Local painting contractor, Bryan Schaefer, got fourcalls the first two weeks his ad was in the Pioneer.

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Microclimates can have chilling effect

Where to go for LOCAL newsFor fast, on-the-spot coverage of the latest police action, traffic jams, emergency information

and chat, social media and local blogs, like CLAYCORD.com are often good sources of break-ing news.

For more complete, in-depth coverage of local news, readers turn to their independentlyowned community newspapers. With news that people care about – local politics, schools, sports,events and stories about their friends and neighbors, the community newspaper is social mediathe old fashioned way.

To find out what is happening in neighboring cities, check out these Contra Costa CommunityNews Group newspapers

Clayton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Clayton Pioneer . . . . . . . . . . .claytonpioneer.comConcord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Concord Pioneer . . . . . . . . . . .concordpioneer.com

Pleasant Hill, Martinez . . . . . . . . . . . .Community Focus . . . . . . . . . .ourcommunityfocus.com

Lafayette, Orinda and Moraga . . . . . .Lamorinda Weekly . . . . . . . . .lamorindaweekly.com

San Ramon, Danville, and Alamo . . . .Valley Sentinel . . . . . . . . . . . . .valleysentinel.com

The Contra Costa Community Newspaper Group is a consortium of independent, locally news-papers with a combined circulation of more than 150,000. To advertise in all five papers with just onephone call, go to www.cccommunitynewsgroup.com or call 844.457.7665

Julie Pierce commended himfor his calm, well-considereddecision making. “He’s one ofthe most honorable electedofficials I’ve ever workedwith.”

Howard Geller has knownStratford since boyhood. Herecalled when he “was a rattylittle kid washing my car andmowing my lawns, and I could-n’t be prouder of the manyou’ve become.”

Shuey has also knownStratford since they were class-mates at Clayton Valley HighSchool. “Hank has alwaysdone the right thing for theright reason,” Shuey said.“Hank is the leader I’d like tobe when I grow up.”

Stratford was a catalyst in theformation of the Do the RightThing character initiative thathas been embraced by the policedepartment, the city and thelocal schools. “Do the RightThing” will be Hank’s legacy,”noted Councilman Jim Diaz.

Stratford then joined theaudience and the council unan-imously elected Shuey mayorand Julie Pierce vice-mayor. It

is Shuey’s third time holdingthe gavel.

Hayden comes to the coun-cil having served on the Plan-ning Commission for 16 years.He is a strong supporter ofdowntown development and

was instrumental in the forma-tion of the Ipsen Family BoccePark. Hayden is a retired attor-ney. He and his wife Cindy livein Westwood.

Shuey, also an attorney, hasbeen an outspoken supporter

of the Clayton Valley CharterHigh School, both at theinception and during the cur-rent turmoil on the board. Helives in Clayton with his wifeShelley and an internationalhousehold of five children;two adopted from China, onefrom Russia, and the “bigs,” –their two oldest.


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I’d been on a Steinbeck jag(reviewing “Steinbeck’sGhost,” rereading “The LongValley,” browsing through“Harvest Gypsies,” and final-ly reading “ObsceneExtreme, the Burning andBanning of John Steinbeck’sThe Grapes of Wrath”) whenI saw UNR Press had pub-lished “Carol and John Stein-beck, Portrait of a Marriage.”I immediately begged for areview copy. SusanShillinglaw’s book about ayoung Steinbeck bursting atthe seams, romantically, intel-lectually and politically, isanother reason never to passup what university presses, inthis case, University of NevadaPress, offer the general reader,as well as the academic.

Shillinglaw, scholar in resi-dence at the National Stein-beck Center in Salinas, is aprofessor of English at SanJose State University, andfrom 1987 to 2005 was direc-tor of its Center for Stein-beck Studies. Had she writtenher Steinbeck book when Iattended San Francisco State,I might have better under-stood why no Steinbeck titles,

not even his short stories,were included in any of theAmerican Lit classes I took.Why most universities leaveSteinbeck’s work to be stud-ied in high schools is beyondme. If you are a Steinbeckfan, “Carol and John Stein-beck” is a book you will notwant to miss.

Salinas is the town mostoften associated with Stein-beck, but what about PacificGrove, Los Gatos and othernearby Bay Area communi-ties? Carol Hennings Stein-beck (born 1906) was a localgirl, born and raised in SanJose. In her day, “Carol rein-vented herself, undergoing a

metamorphosis from gawkyhigh school wallflower tocareer girl.” In the 1920s“New Women were ambi-tious, sassy, and sexually lib-erated.” Carol was a “hell-raiser . . . she smoked freely,swore energetically,” and ingeneral was just right forJohn Steinbeck when theymet at Lake Tahoe in 1928.Steinbeck himself was allabout breaking rules. “Theonly advantage I can seeabout writing at all is to try tooverturn precedent.”

The book’s title is mostappropriate becauseShillinglaw paints a portrait, avery intimate one, of the

years of John Steinbeck’s firstmarriage. The young couplelived “pared-down” in PacificGrove for five years. Carolworked, John wrote. Carolwas the driving force behindJohn’s early writing. The cou-ple’s life opened up in waysscientific and philosophicalwhen marine biologist EdRicketts entered their circleof friends.

We know that Steinbeckmarried three times, thatCarol Hennings was his firstwife. But first times for any-thing are important: the din-ner parties with their closestfriends, indiscretions, argu-ments over money, dealingwith writing successes andfailures. Shillinglaw does notflinch from the couple’sflaws, both John’s andCarol’s, but neither does shehide their strengths. Theirswas a marriage almost asfated to succeed where it did,as to fail where it failed. Carolwas the keystone of Stein-beck’s early writing life. Withgreat depth and warmth,Shillinglaw profoundlyenriches our appreciation ofthe man, John Steinbeck.

Steinbeck fans will crave thisglimpse into his first marriage

SUNNY SOLOMON

FOR THE BOOKS

Sunny Solomon is a freelancewriter and head of the Clayton BookClub. Visit her website at bookinwithsunny.com to ‘talk books.’

JOHN STEINBECK WITH FIRST WIFE CAROL

(on most days) and electedKeith Haydon. Keith has a longtrack record of service to thecommunity and will be a valu-able addition. Great job Clay-ton and welcome Keith. As forme, you will have to put up withmy wit and wisdom (or lackthereof) for another four years.

It is with sadness that we saygoodbye to eight-year council-man and mayor, Hank Strat-ford. I have known Hank sincehigh school and without doubthe is the true embodiment of aservant leader. We have benefit-ted greatly from his moral com-pass and leadership. We saygoodbye and thanks to Hankon the council, but hope he

continues to be a force in ourcommunity.

We can be thankful thatClayton Valley Charter HighSchool has been granted a fiveyear re-authorization from thecounty and we look forward tocontinued improvement andinnovation in the education ofour high schoolers!

Let’s continue to give thanksto our own Clayton Businessand Community Association,which year after year gives backits members time and money tothe community. Almost 200members strong, they canalways use enthusiastic newmembers who want to giveback to this community and

also get to know a great groupof friends. Go to www.clayton-cbca.org.

We are thankful that Clay-ton has continued to weatherthe recession and money grabsfrom the state and that ouremployees provide wonderfulservice to the community. Ourpolice force is back at fullstrength, with some great newadditions and returning officerswho are testament to how greatour department is. We alsorecently ranked the #2 SafestCity, so bravo to all. Our mis-cellaneous employees continueto provide great service on ashoestring budget and with asmile. Our city manager contin-ues to run a well-oiled machineand likes us enough to continueto turn down constant job

offers in bigger cities, a testa-ment to his love for our smalltown. Great job to all andthanks!

As we move into 2015, wecan expect (but hope against)issues that come up that maythreaten our idyllic life andpotentially divide our city. Let’sall remember that we are neigh-bors first and we can differ onissues without rancor and get-ting personal. As a city we willcontinue to thrive. Reach me [email protected].

Finally, for those thatremember, I like to close withhumor to make it clear I don’ttake myself or this position tooseriously. In honor or sadnessof my first bifocals, “Frustra-tion is trying to find your glass-es without your glasses.”

Council Election, from page 1

Mayor, from page 1

Clayton Valley Charter HighSchool football players Jax Carterand Miles Harrison and record-setting water polo goalie KatieVan Tuyl were recognized fortheir outstanding seasons as mostvaluable players in their sports byDiablo Valley Athletic Leaguecoaches.

Veteran Eagles aquatics coachDennis Bledsoe reports that sen-ior Van Tuyl set two school

records this year with the mostgoals blocked in a season at 157(the previous mark was set in1994 by Tyanna Neil) and mostcareer saves at 389 (old recordwas Katie Johnstone 2002-03).She was first-team all-DVAL as ajunior and honorable mention asa sophomore.

Van Tuyl shared team MVPhonors with Katie Kommer. Bothplayers were chosen to participatein the North South All-Star gamelast Sunday.

Harrison was tabbed DVAL

MVP during his undefeated sen-ior year while the Eagles wontheir third successive league title.He was first-team all-DVAL as ajunior runningback and rushedfor over 4000 yards over two sea-sons. “Miles is one of the bestrunning backs in the state. He hasthat rare combination of speed,vision and power...and just asimportant as all of those, he takescare of the ball.” His coach TimMurphy continues, “He is a greatkid and I’m going to miss coach-ing him.”

Murphy says of Carter, “Jax isan outstanding all-around player.He was linemen of the year lastyear in our league and this year heis the defensive player of the yearfor his play at linebacker anddefensive line. But his best posi-tion may actually be fullback. Heis one of the best blockers andhard running FBs I have ever had.He is actually being recruited [bycolleges] more as a fullback/h-back. Bottom line is the kid is aflat out good football player.”

Northgate grabbed four MVPawards with Dymphna Ueda(golf), Kristina Lencesova (ten-nis), Jade Lee (volleyball) andLiam Williams (boys water polo)snagging top honors. DVALchamp Parker Burr of Concordwon the cross country award forboys and College Park’s JamieBusby for girls. Malik Blackburnof Concord was the footballoffensive MVP.

Junior Busby and freshmanUeda were the only non-seniorwinners. Williams was the onlyrepeat MVP.

CVCHS ATHLETES GET

ALL-DVAL HONORS

CROSS COUNTYBoys: Second team- Sam Givens, Opeyany;Honorable Mention- JJ Perez,Brandon Clement Girls: First team- Osterkamp,Olivia Villa; Second team-Natalie Ruzicka, Sarah Verder-ame; Honorable Mention- Lynette Cox, Claire Olson

GIRLS GOLFFirst team-Delong, Walsh; Sec-ond team- Reyna Khalilieh,Annie Park

GIRLS TENNISFirst team- Maria Sparvoli; Sec-ond team- Erin Wardle, PreetNijjar; Honorable Mention-Ciera Cathcart, Dalia Anwar

GIRLS VOLLEYBALLFirst team- Jessica Stratton;Second team- Erika Scheafer;Honorable Mention- ShainaSteinberg, Sarah Williams

WATER POLOBoys: First team- Scott Meylan,Ben Robinson; Second team-Tanner White; Honorable Men-tion- Ryan Levy, Liam Calkins

Girls: First team- KayleighRohrbach; Second team- BaileyReading, Rebekah Reynolds,Caitlin O’Leary

FOOTBALLFirst team offense- ShimonRosenblatt, Joe Levine, Chan-dler Wakefield; Second team-Harrison Boyle, Justin Zapanta,Brandon Estrada, Nate Keisel First team defense- Jake Peralta,Daniel Ferrell, Rich Peralta,Sean Vaisima; Second team-Drew Crabbe, Lucas Ostalaza,Elijah Breon, Ryan Cooper

Sports Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com December 12, 2014

3 Eagles get DVAL recognition as league MVPsJAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

Jason Rogers photo

CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER WENT THROUGH ITS THIRD STRAIGHT

undefeated league season this fall and Eagles football was ledby seniors Miles Harrison (left) and Jax Carter. Harrison wastabbed DVAL MVP while teammate Carter was defensive MVP.

See Fall Sports, page 12

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SENIOR KATIE VAN TUYL SET SEASON AND CAREER RECORDS for shot blocking for the Clayton ValleyCharter High girls water polo team. The senior goalie and co-captain was named DVAL MVPfor her play this fall.

and fourth in scoring with 110touchdowns.

This Saturday’s matchup inConcord is a replay of thefirst-ever NorCal DII Bowlgame that Oakdale won 27-24over the Eagles in 2012. SeniorGrifin Bentley was all-leagueas a sophomore and saw lotsof action against Oakdale. Starrunning back Miles Harrisonreturned one kickoff for 21yards while a few other currentseniors were reserves thatevening in Stockton.

The local prep footballscene continues to sizzle withDe La Salle going to its ninthconsecutive State Bowl game.The 13-0 Spartans were seededdirectly into the open divisiongame against Centennial ofCorona (12-2), the fourth timethe schools have met in thefinal game of the year with theSpartans holding a 2-1 edge.

The Concord-Clayton Val-ley NCS finale was unlike thelast two high-scoring matchupsbetween the intra-city rivalsthat was each decided on thegame’s final play with theEagles defense holding off theMinutemen (12-2) from scor-ing a winning or tying touch-down.

Brian Hamilton’s Concordteam has been to three NCStitle games in the past fiveyears including a 2010 champi-onship. The Eagles won the2012 Section title, ending a runof three failed Section finalefforts over the years forCVCHS. This was Murphy’sfifth section title spread overthree schools since 1999.

Harrison continues to carrythe load for the Eagles offense.He rushed for 287 yards andthree touchdowns againstConcord. CV raced out to a

27-point lead before Concordwas able to score just beforehalftime. Harrison has run for

2140 yards from scrimmageleading the Eagles’ double-wing offense to 81 rushing

TDs in 14 games.Gonsalves Stadium hosted

three NCS games this year, alllopsided victories for thehome side. The field was thesite of the Section semi-final ayear ago when Miramonteupended CVCHS 44-38, theschool’s only home loss duringMurphy’s three years in charge.The Eagles have posted a 37-4mark since start of 2012 sea-son.

Oakdale trailed Underkumof Sacramento 20-0 last Satur-day at halftime of the Sac-Joaquin Section championshipgame with the Clayton Valleycoaching staff in the standsscouting both teams. The Mus-tangs roared back to take thelead in a nine-minute third-quarter burst and won 27-23.“Oakdale is very similar to theteam we played two years ago.Tough, hustle to the ball, teamoriented. They run the wing-Tfrom the time they are in youthfootball,” Murphy said.

CVCHS Win, from page 1

Jason Rogers photo

Junior quarterback Nate Keisel (11) has been the field generalfor the undefeated high-powered Clayton Valley Charter Highfootball team this fall. He has rushed and passed for nearly1500 yards combined while throwing 19 touchdown passes ononly 92 pass attempts. Concord’s Donald Hollars (4) tried tocorral the Ugly Eagles QB during last Friday’s NCS champi-onship game at Diablo Valley College.

North CoastSection actionconcludes fallsports season

The fall sports seasonwrapped up in November andearly this month with NorthCoast Section, NorCal and statecompetitions. Clayton ValleyCharter high school athletes andteams competed along withleague rivals in several sectionmeets.

CROSS COUNTRY

CVCHS freshman KellyOsterkamp led the Eagles toeighth place in the Division IIfinals. She was 28th overall andthe seventh frosh. LindsayMondloch was the next CV fin-isher and the only senior among

Summer Olympic bronzemedalists Erin Dobratz McGre-gor and Kara Kohler headlinethe list of inductees to the Clay-ton Valley High School AthleticHall of Fame. The Class of2015 will be honored on Satur-day, May 16, at Centre Concord.

Dobratz (Class of 2000) andKohler (2009) were both Eagleswimming standouts who wenton to achiever international suc-cess in other sports. Dobratzwent to Stanford and made the2004 United States Olympicsynchronized swimming teamwhich was third at the 2004Athens Olympics. Kohler got ascholarship to Cal in crew and

finished up her Golden Bearcareer earlier this year. She waspart of the bronze medal USAquad four boat in London 2012.

Derrell Hoschouer (Class of1967 wrestling) , Tom McCarty(1972 football and baseball ),Paul Belluomioni (1974 football,wrestling and track), JohnMahloch (1986 basketball), MikeWojciehowski (1996 cross coun-try and track), Tiffany Edwards(1990 soccer, tennis , softballand track), Lori Hokerson (1991volleyball, soccer and track) andLindsay Kiyama (2005 waterpolo, basketball and swimming).

The 1977 girls volleyballteam and its coach, Gary Gard-ner, are being inducted. Gardnerled the Eagles to three NCStitles in 1976, 1977 and 1979

and four straight league titlesfrom 1976-79. The ’76 teamwon the inaugural Sectionchampionship and are membersof the first CVHS Hall of Fameclass from 2008.

The 1967 wrestling team,which won 30 consecutive dualmeets and the North Coast Sec-tion title and was North Staterunner-up, is also being feted.The community/leadershiphonoree is Matt Mazzei, aCVHS alum who has been amajor supporter of the baseballprogram as well as the rst of theschool’s athletic teams.

The Hall of Fame began in2008 during the school’s silveranniversary year. Additionalclasses were added in 2010 and2013.


Sports

OOllyymmppiiaannss hhiigghhlliigghhtt ffoouurrtthh ccllaassss ooffiinndduucctteeeess ttoo CCVVHH’’ss AAtthhlleettiicc HHaallll ooff FFaammee

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

In his short high school career, JeffWilliams has already done quite a lot. Oneof the youngest players on the undefeatedEagles Section championship varsity foot-ball team, he has shown excellent sports-

manship, teamwork and dedication to notone, but three sports. For the 2013 seasonhe was on frosh football. In the winter hespends his time shooting hoops with thebasketball team. Last year he was on the

Eagles frosh before moving up to JVs andthen on varsity level over the summer. Tocomplete a busy freshman year Williamsmade varsity track and field in the shot putand discus. This current football season hemoved up from JV (honored as teamdefensive MVP) to varsity. He says, “I lovefootball because it teaches you about thesense of respect you should have towardsothers.

CVCHS student journalist Celine Herreracontributed to this Spotlight

AthleteSpotlightJeff WilliamsGrade: Sophomore

Sports: Football, Trackand Field, Basketball

Team: Clayton ValleyCharter High School

The Clayton Pioneer congratulatesJeff and thanks Athlete Spotlightsponsors Dr. Laura Lacey & Dr.Christopher Ruzicka who have beenserving the Clayton and Concord areafor 25 years at Family Vision CareOptometry.www.laceyandruzicka.com

Do you know a young athletewho should be recognized? Perhapshe or she has shown exceptionalsportsmanship, remarkable improve-ment or great heart for the sport.Send your nomination for the PioneerAthlete Spotlight today [email protected].

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Two new members of the Clayton Valley High School Athletic Fame achieved world-wide recog-nition by winning Summer Olympic bronze medals. Erin Dobratz McGregor (Class of 2000) wasa synchronized swimming medalist in 2004 at Athens while Kara Kohler (2009) won herOlympic honors in rowing at London in 2012. Both women were swimming standouts while atthe Concord school. They will be honored with the other new inductees next May 16 at CentreConcord.

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the seven Eagle runners. CollegePak was fourth, Carondelet fifthand Northgate sixth at NCS.

Junior Sayed Opeyany wasthe leading boys runner forClayton Valley as the Eaglestook 13th, one spot ahead ofNorthgate. College Park wasfifth. Soph Michael Cox wasthe second Eagles runner atSection.

WATER POLO

Clayton Valley Charter fell 8-7 to Alameda in the Eaglesopener of the Division I waterpolo tournament to end the sea-son 14-13.

Northgate’s boys (25-3) lostthe DII NCS finals against Red-wood 13-7. De La Salle lost in thesecond round to eventual boyschampion Miramonte in DI.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Clayton Valley Charter lostits NCS opening match 25-16,25-19, 26-24 to Las Lomas. TheKnights eventually reached thesemi-finals before losing toNCS champion Redwood.DVAL champs Northgate werea losing semi-finalist to MariaCarrillo in five sets.

GIRLS GOLF

DVAL runner-up CVCHSadvanced to the NCS Tourna-

ment of Champions whereRachel DeLong shot 87 for thelow Eagles score to concludeher high school career.

DeLong was 15th individual-ly shooting 84 at Lone Tree inAntioch leading the Eagles inthe NCS Division I qualifyingmeet. CVCHS was 15th in teamscoring with Rebecca Walsh,Annie Park, Ana Said and ReynaKhalilieh posting scores for theEagles to grab the final teamspot and advance to the TOC.

WINTER SOCCER ACADEMY REGISTRATION OPENDiablo FC is now taking registration for its 14th annual Winter Soc-

cer Academy held on Mondays and Thursdays at Willow Pass Park inConcord from Jan. 5 – Feb. 19. The program is part of the San JoseEarthquakes Regional Development School and is open to boys andgirls of all skill levels ages 5-11. Players receive an Earthquakes Acade-my t-shirt. For more information and to register visit diablofc.org.

WINTER YOUTH VOLLEYBALL, SPRING PROGRAMS

REGISTRATION OPEN AT ALL OUT SPORTS LEAGUESWinter youth volleyball signups are open for the season that runs on

Saturdays from Jan. 3-Feb. 21. Spring leagues for youth basketball, teeball and adult softball are now open. For complete information on AllOut Sports programs, visit alloutsportsleague.com.

CV HOLIDAY YOUTH BASEBALL PROGRAM DEC. 22-23CVCHS baseball coaching staff and players are offering a holiday

baseball clinic Dec. 22-23. The program focuses on the skills neces-sary to be a successful player including batting, fielding, pitching,throwing, catch play and speed/agility drills each day. Sessions areheld from 9 a.m. – 12 noon at the Clayton Valley Varsity BaseballFacility for boys and girls ages 5–14. Contact Eagles head coachCasey Coakley at [email protected] with questions orto register.

CV LITTLE LEAGUE ACCEPTING PLAYER REGISTRATIONRegistration for Clayton Valley Little League is now open for the

spring 2015 season. Baseball programs for players ages four to 14 andsoftball for girls four to 14 are both open for registration. The CVLLprogram began in 1964 and includes a Challenger Division for playerswith physical and mental special needs. Players must reside within theCVLL boundaries. Go to cvll.org for complete info and to register.

DIABLO FC U9-U12 SOCCER TRYOUTS BEGIN JAN. 18Diablo FC tryouts for the 2015 season for under 9 through under 11

boys and girls competitive teams are Jan. 18, 22 and 25 in Concord. Try-outs for U12 girls and boys are Jan. 31 and Feb. 4 and 8. Older tryoutsfor U13-14 players will be held Feb. 15, 18 and 21. There is no chargeto try out and players can pre-register today at diablofc.org. For moreinformation on the club and tryouts contact director of coaching BrianVoltattorni at [email protected].

DIABLO FC BENEFIT CRAB FEED FEB. 6, CENTRE CONCORDThe 12th annual Diablo FC benefit crab feed and raffle is set for Fri-

day, Feb. 6, at Centre Concord. Tickets are now on sale for the event thatbenefits programs for the local competitive youth soccer club affiliatedwith the San Jose Earthquakes. For the second year they are also havinga Super Raffle in conjunction with the crab feed featuring a four-dayshopping trip to New York City as the grand prize. Visit diablofc.org formore details and to purchase crab feed and raffle tickets.

Three Concord high schoolfootball teams—-De La Salle,Concord and Clayton ValleyCharter—last week competedfor North Coast Section champi-onships in the same season forthe first-time ever, so you’d thinkthings have never been better onthe local high school footballscene. And with local schoolsholding Section titles in the twobiggest divisions it is quite a time.

Adding to the local luster,Ygnacio Valley, Mt. Diablo,Northgate and Berean Christianwere in the 2014 playoffs as well,the first time all seven localschools have been in NCS foot-ball post-season play in the sameyear. Despite this auspiciousaccomplishment each of thelocal schools has had periods ofgridiron glory that match orexceed what is unfurling this fall.

CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER

HIGH SCHOOL

Tim Murphy took over theClayton Valley Charter team in2012 and brought the school itsfirst-ever NCS football title thatfall, just missing a trip to the CIFState Bowl game and matchingDe La Salle’s title that season.Last year CVCHS was a semi-finalist in section and they were

No. 1 seed this year.Herc Pardi led the Eagles

football program for 16 yearsthrough the 2011 season. Histeams three times reached theNCS championship game but fellshort each time of winning thetitle, including an incredible tripleovertime 2003 game against LasLomas that ended 37-36. TheEagles were in the playoffs 12 ofthose 16 years. In 2004 ClaytonValley and De La Salle tied 17-17.

North Coast Section did nothold football playoffs from 1931to 1974. Ironically, in ’74 ClaytonValley had one of its best everfootball teams that culminatedthe season by defeating Alham-bra of Martinez 14-7 at DiabloValley College in the final TurkeyBowl. The Eagles led by theschool’s Hall of Fame coachRoger Zino were ranked No. 1 inthe final East Bay writer’s polland were 10-1 overall, giving up42 points all season.

CONCORD

Coach Brian Hamilton’s Con-cord Minutemen won the 2010NCS title and took second a yearlater so this was the third time infive years Concord reached theNCS finals. He moved over fromhis assistant coaching position atClayton Valley to Concord in2004 and with a strong offensivebent has developed the Minute-men into a DII power. His teams

were league champs three yearsrunning from 2009-11.

Concord opened in 1966 andDon Lockyer was the first headcoach. In 1969 Lockyer’s teamwon the DVAL championshipover Ygnacio Valley. The titlewas decided in a classic Fridayafternoon game at Ygnaciobetween the two unbeaten teamswhere a very strong wind playeda major factor in the game.

Concord had a resurgence offootball prominence in the late1980s featuring future Cal quar-terback Dave Barr, who led histeam to the NCS championshipgame in 1989.

DE LA SALLE

You could fill volumes talkingabout the Spartans under coachBob Ladouceur. In fact, twobooks and then a major motionpicture this year based on one ofthem, “When The Game StandsTall” have chronicled some ofthe DLS exploits.

Ladouceur stepped down fol-lowing the 2012 season andturned the reins over to assistantcoach Justin Alumbaugh. Hetook over at DLS in 1979 and bythe time he retired from theheading coaching spot he hadwon 399 games while losing 25.Compare the 25 losses to theteam’s 28 section championshipsin his 34 seasons for some meas-ure of their success.

Of course, the Spartans andtheir coach are most heralded fortheir 151-game winning streakthat spanned from the beginningof the 1992 season though theend of the 2003 campaign. Thestreak would have been evenlonger had not Pittsburg,coached by Pardi, upended DLSin the 1991 NCS finals, the lasttime De La Salle has lost to aNorthern California team.

MT. DIABLO

The DVAL was long consid-ered among the very best highschool football leagues in thegreater Bay Area. Pittsburg andAntioch battled with the Con-cord and Pleasant Hill schoolsfor league honors year after year.

Mt. Diablo High had a seriesof outstanding coaches includingRod Franz, Hart Fairclough,Herb Criner and Jerry Coakley.Among the assistant coacheswere NFL and Rose Bowl-win-ning coach John Ralston andBoise State head coach LyleSetencich.

Teams from various eras canclaim their title as MDHS’s great-est but the 1952-53 teams hadonly a tie with Pittsburg in ’52marring back-to-back perfectrecords. Future NFL player DanColchico was on those Diabloteams. Fairclough’s Red Devilsran off five league titles in sixyears from 1958-63.

YGNACIO VALLEY

Ygnacio Valley won its firstNCS title with Murphy at thehelm in 1999. They won leaguechampionships that year andagain in 2001. Coached by MikeIvankovich the Warriors won theNCS 2A finals against Mira-monte in 2005. They shared theDVAL co-championship withConcord in 2009.

The Warriors had two earlierstrong eras of football withcoaches Dick Ryan and KentRobie.

Ryan was the coach when theschool opened in 1960 and wasconsidered one of the top offen-sive minds in high school foot-ball. His 1969 team lost that

heartbreaker to Concord but theWarriors won the DVAL title thenext two years. His teams fea-tured offensive standouts likeSuper Bowl winner GordonGravelle, all-America quarter-back Mike Sullivan, Scooter War-ren, Dan Fitzpatrick, OregonDucks coach Mike Bellotti andWorld Series hero Kiko Garcia.YV won the inaugural TurkeyBowl in 1971 32-19 over SanRamon.

Robie made his mark at theschool later with league titles in1979-81-83-86-87. Among histop players were future NFL starChris Walsh, current CVCHSbasketball coach Eric Bambergerand Ivankovich.


Fall Sports, from page 10

Sports

Sports Shorts

Clayton Valley Charter HighSchool basketball player HaileyPascoe heads a list of over adozen seniors who recentlycommitted to colleges duringthe fall National Letter of Intentsigning period.

Pascoe formalized a commit-ment she had announced a yearago by signing her national LOIto Lehigh College in Pennsylva-nia. The Mountain Hawks playin the Patriot League.

CVCHS head coach PaulKommer speaks glowingly ofthe player who will be leadinghis Lady Eagles this winter.“Hailey Pascoe is the first playerin my memory at Clayton Valleythat will play Division 1 collegebasketball. There is not a playermore deserving. Watching herplay since fifth grade, you could

see her passion and love for thegame.

“She just simply tries harderthan most players. Each year inhigh school, she has broughtsomething new to the table,

which she has worked at exten-sively in the off season. Aboveall, she is a quiet leader, wholeads by example. Hailey is oneof the best student athletes tohave ever attended Clayton Val-ley.”

Pascoe was an all-league vol-leyball player last year forCVCHS but didn’t play this fallas she prepped for her seniorbasketball season.

Kyle Rodney of De La Salleis headed to Rhode Island andthe Bryant University lacrosseprogram next fall. The Spartansenior will be joining formerteammate Cade Bailey. The duohelped DLS to the North CoastSection championship lastspring.

Four Spartans firming uptheir college plans from the2014 NCS champion DLS base-ball team were Myles Coston(Fresno State University), Justin

Hooper (UCLA), Tyler Lonestar(Saint Mary’s College) andMichael McAdoo (University ofCalifornia Santa Barbara).

Carondelet led the way witheight athletes from seven differ-ent sports signing LOI.

The Cougars were CorinneLafayette (San Diego Statelacrosse), Allie Barry (HolyCross volleyball), Kayla Hohen-stein (Sacred Heart Universitysoccer), Lindy Clute (Stanfordcrew), Marcella Hughes (LoyolaMarymount basketball), Aman-da Barton (Colorado Mesa Uni-versity lacrosse), Taylor Blair(Arizona State softball) and Sab-rina Virtusio (Academy of ArtUniversity golf).

Northgate NCS finalistswimmers Mason Tittle(freestyler-butterfly) and CalvinKirkpatrick (backstroke) will beteammates again next year atUC Santa Barbara.

The Golden State Warriorsare off to the greatest start infranchise history, finding them-selves among the elite teams inthe NBA while setting numer-ous team records. It is no smalltask to be competitive in theWestern Conference, playingagainst teams like the Spurs,Grizzlies, Rockets and Clippers,let alone the Thunder once theyare fully healthy.

The Warriors’ new coachingstaff so far has been giving theteam the extra push towardsgreatness that it seemed to belacking last year.

Steve Kerr, who signed afive-year, $25 million contractthis year to become the Warriorshead coach, has shown himselfto be up to the task of being aneveryday coach during the earlypart of the schedule.

There were some questionmarks about Kerr coming intothis season. He is a first-timecoach and, although he was along-time player and then televi-sion analyst, not all NBA playersbecome great NBA coaches.Kerr has answered those ques-tions so far, with improveddefense and offense beingshown by the Warriors early on.

A huge problem for the War-riors last year on offense wasball movement. The offensewould tend to stagnate into one-on-one basketball with virtuallyno ball movement between theplayers. This year the ball hasbeen moving for the Warriors,giving Stephen Curry and KlayThompson easy, open shots.

It is great to see the teamplay with a crisper, more threat-

ening offense, but there is stillroom for improvement. TheWarriors still have some thingsto address before they can seri-ously consider making a run atthe title this year.

The Achilles heel of theWarriors has been turnovers. Itis hard to win basketball gameswhen you turn the ball over 20times a game and once the teambegan trimming that numberthey went on a winning streak.

Turnovers are somethingthat will be constantly addressedas the year goes on and certain-ly Kerr and his excellent staffare working hard to make theWarriors players more conscien-tious about their ball handling.

The Warriors decided tostart Harrison Barnes at smallforward over veteran AndreIguodala, who has been a starterhis whole career. Iguodalaseemed to have a hard timeadjusting to coming off thebench during the early schedule.

In a perfect world Iguodalawould be the leader of the War-riors second unit. He has neverbeen an immense scoring threatin his career but he needs to bemore aggressive on offense. Toomany times he wants to beunselfish and facilitate the ballwhen he should just be takinghis open shots.

The Warriors weathered theinjury to all-star David Lee, par-tially due to the great bench playof Mo Speights who helpedAndrew Bogut hold down themiddle.

Overall the Warriors arelooking great to start the season,capped by a franchise record 12-game winning streak. The teamis definitely better than it waslast year and if they can shoreup a few issues, the sky is thelimit for the Warriors.

TYLER LEHMAN

SPORTS TALK

Tyler Lehman is a junior at SanFrancisco State University and a2012 CVHS graduate. He is major-ing in print/online journalism andwants to be a sports writer. Emailyour comments or questions [email protected].

Warriors sizzling to start the season

Is this the Golden Era for area high school football?JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

Pascoe formalizes college commitment to Lehigh

HAILEY PASCOE CLAYTONVALLEY CHARTER BASKETBALL

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

One year after the new boardwas appointed to the Clayton K9Coalition, the dog park hasbecome a beautiful haven fordogs and their owners to enjoy.

Saturday Nov. 1 marked thecompletion of three Eagle Scoutprojects that began earlier thisyear to help enhance the dogpark. In February the boardmembers met with three BoyScouts Of America memberswho presented individual proj-ects for the park. Each projectwould not only help beautify thedog park but also help each scoutearn his title of Eagle Scout. Thethree projects were carefully con-structed to be utilized by bothdogs and their owners.

Scout Jared Vance created anew entrance using crushed rockdue to the tendency of theentrance being flooded during

the rainy seasons. A new shadestructure was constructed byscout John Blatter in the centerof the park where the large pic-nic table stood. With the comple-tion of the shade structure, thedog park now has a total of four,which help dog owners relax andstay cool in the summer months.These shade structures also serve

as memorials where plaques arehung in honor of sponsors, fam-ilies and dogs who have passed.

The third and final scoutproject was recently installed andcompleted earlier this month.Scout Andrew Knauer designedand constructed a new sign andbulletin board for the dog parkthat could be seen from MarshCreek Road. The new sign,which stands much larger thanthe previous one, has an over-hang to protect it from the sunand rain as well as a strongerclear case for announcementsand bulletins. This allows guestsof the park to read everythingclearly without the weather get-ting in their way.

“It gives the dog park a newidentity and marquee look. It isbuilt to last several decades,” saysStan Hansen, Troop 492 Com-mittee Chairman, regarding thenew sign. All three projects costthe Clayton K9 Coalition a totalof $1,500, which was paid forthrough fundraising and dona-tions from the community. Therest of the project costs werepaid for by the Boy Scouts ofAmerica.

These were the first scoutprojects since 2010 to be con-structed at the Clayton Dog Park.Previously the scouts have builtall other arbors in the park aswell as worked on the water linesand planted trees throughout thepark. The Boy Scouts of Ameri-ca and Clayton K9 Coalitionhave worked closely for morethan 10 years to help improve thedog park and will continue towork closely to further advancethe park for years to come.

For more information and newsabout the dog park please visit the newwebsite at www.claytondogpark.org aswell as the Facebook page athttps://www.facebook.com/Clayton-DogPark. You may also email [email protected] for anyadditional questions.

2-year-old Kix is a sweet funloving dog that would love to gofor fun hikes and runs as soonas her front leg is better. Shealso loves her toys and her

favorite thing to do is to throwthem up in the air. We recom-mend Kix take a Basic Mannersclass where she can start a newlife with you with the best pawforward. She currently weighs73 pounds.

The adoption fee for adultdogs is $225 and includes 50%off one 7-week dog training ses-sion.

4-year-old Jewel is a beauti-ful kitty who can be a tad shy atfirst, but gets over that quickly!She is affectionate and super-playful once settled in. Jewel isbonded to her sister Lavender,and they are seeking a hometogether! She is suitable for afirst time cat guardian. Jewelmust be an indoor only cat.

The adoption fee for adultcats is $50.

Meet your forever friend atTony La Russa’s Animal Rescue

Foundation, 2890 MitchellDrive, Walnut Creek, duringadoption hours: Noon to 6 pmWednesday & Thursday, Noonto 7 pm Friday, and Noon to 6pm Saturday & Sunday. The pri-mary caretaker must be presentto adopt. 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.

Everyone loves the magic ofthe holidays, but nothing bringsthe festivities to a crashing haltlike a trip to the emergency vetclinic. Dangerous decorations,forbidden foods, poisonousplants, and more are all thingsthat could turn your holidays intohorrors for your pet if you’re notcareful. Fortunately, ARF has thescoop on keeping your animalshappy, safe and healthy this andevery holiday season.

It wouldn’t be the holidayswithout festive decorations, but afew smart tweaks will keep your

decor stunning AND safe. Ifyou’re putting up a Christmastree, keep it securely anchored soyour pet can’t easily knock itover. While you’re at it, keep thetree water out of reach, as stag-nant tree water contains fertilizer,bacteria and other unhealthythings. Be aware of the types ofornaments you’re putting up —glass ornaments could shatter ifdropped. Don’t string lights onlower tree lower branches as theymight get hot and burn your cator dog as they brush by, and besure all electrical cords are tuckedsafely out of reach. Cats areespecially captivated by tinsel andribbons, which are easily swal-lowed and can lead to anobstructed digestive tract, so it’sbest to skip those.

The tree isn’t the only decorto keep an eye on. Lit candlescreate a cozy glow, but can be

quickly knocked over by a wag-ging tail. Be safe and keep all can-dles up high and out of reach.Holiday plants like holly, mistle-toe, poinsettias, and lilies shouldalso be displayed with caution.All are poisonous to animals, sothink twice before bringing theminto your home.

Wrapped gifts can also betempting for pets, especially ifthere’s food or something forthem inside. Keep gifts awayfrom curious noses by not leav-ing them unattended.

Aside from the usual suspectslike chocolate and foods includ-ing the artificial sweetener xylitol,turkey (or other leftover meat)can be a huge holiday blunder foryour pets. Bones pose a chokinghazard, and fatty, spicy foods cancause pancreatitis which can leadto abdominal pain, bloody diar-rhea and vomiting. Keep your

furry friends away from the feast,and be sure your garbage withfood scraps is well contained andsecured. A good rule of thumb?No “human food” for Fido orFifi - period.

Consider creating a safe spacefor your pets away from the fren-zy of the festivities. Take a quiet,secure room and leave freshwater, bedding to snuggle in, anda few of their favorite toys forcomfort. This room might beespecially helpful on New Year’sEve, when fireworks or noisefrom revelers or party favorscould scare sensitive pets.

With these small changes, youand your pet should be all set fora happy holiday season.

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Kix and Jewel are ARF’s Adoption Stars

KIX JEWEL

ASHLEY SHAFFER


Elena Bicker is the Executive Directorof Tony La Russa’s Animal RescueFoundation. She can be reached at (925)256-1ARF (1273)

ELENA BICKER

PET PALS

Donate pet food locally oronline November 28 -December 28

ARF’s annual Holiday PetFood Drive will once again lenda paw to the four-legged mem-bers of local families this holi-day season. ARF will collect catand dog food donationsthrough December 28 to helphundreds of low-income ContraCosta County pet guardians feedtheir pets during a time of yearwhen so many families arestrapped. Donations will be dis-tributed through a partnershipwith the Salvation Army.

Last year, more than 10,000pounds of pet food were col-lected, enough to feed more

than 500 dogs and cats. Thisyear, with the help of the com-munity, ARF hopes to feed evenmore.

ARF asks the public fordonations of unexpired,unopened cat and dog food orPet Food Express gift cards.Food donations can be droppedoff at ARF, located at 2890Mitchell Drive in Walnut Creek,from 9 am – 5 pm on weekdaysand noon – 6 pm on weekends.In addition, online donationsthrough YouGiveGoods.commake it possible for anyone inany location to donate pet fooddirectly to ARF without leavingtheir home! Please visitwww.arf.net for details or todonate online.

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Scouts help Dog Park with tail-waggin’ improvements

Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer

THE NEW DOG PARK SIGN IS THE LATEST IN A TRIO of projects toearn Eagle Scout status to three local scouts. Back: StanHansen, Troop 492, Kurt Knauer, Brian Blatter, Kevin Vance,Vickie Bogut’ Front Row: Lori Rehn, John Blatter, Jared Vance,Andrew Knauer, Susan Sappington, K-9 Board President.

EAGLE SCOUT ANDREW KNAUER

received recognition from MayorHank Stratford for his sign proj-ect for the Clayton Dog Park.

Pet safety for a purrfect holiday

ARF’s Holiday Pet Fooddrive keeps pets home

Everyone knows that whenyou break a bone, it grows backstronger. Jonah needs to bestronger, not just for himself,

but for his family also. That’swhy Jonah McNab is on a mis-sion to break every bone in hisbody.

In “Break” by HannahMoskowitz, Jonah has all differ-ent kinds of techniques onhow to break his bones: “fall”of his skateboard, hit his toeswith a hammer, even punchinga wall, and his best friend,Naomi, films each and everybreak.

Jonah’s family isn’t really asight to behold. With a teenage

brother who is deathly allergicto the basic food groups, aneight-month old brother whohasn’t stopped crying since hewas born, and dysfunctionalparents who are on the vergeof divorce, Jonah doesn’t reallyenjoy his time spent at home.

After dozens of emergencyroom visits, his family is finallystarting to take notice. So doeshis school. It didn’t take longfor Jonah’s family to sign himinto a recovery institution.There, he meets other teens

who are facing their own chal-lenges, like anorexia, burningand depression. But will Jonahheal or accidentally inspire theother teens to follow in hisfootsteps? This novel is a per-fectly worded narration ofJonah and his slow but steadyroad to recovery. Moskowitzdid a wonderful job at creatinga story with such danger yetsuch elegance.

If you listen to what comesout of the Clayton Valley Char-ter High School instrumentalprogram, you’ll hear more thanbeautiful music. You’ll hear a lotof praise.

“I am inspired by the kidsand professionals that playmusic and I want to be able todo the same thing,” says studentAustin Schiffman.

“Mr. Scott has createdalmost like a home for us and itlets us be ourselves,” says AbbyHargreaves.

“Daniel Jones says it best:“Music is our life!”

That’s high praise for Joseph.P. Scott, the director of theinstrumental program atCVCHS. As the CVCHS foot-ball team is hoping to make it tothe State Championship Gamein Carson, California, theCVCHS Marching Band is con-tinuing to provide excitement,enthusiasm and spirit for theschool.

On Oct. 13, the CVCHSMarching Band won third placein the Marine Band Challenge inSan Francisco during the FleetWeek activities and received$4,000 for the music depart-ment. This is a first-time win inthe Marine Band Challenge.

CVCHS Instrumental MusicProgram is made up of APmusic theory, jazz band, orches-tra, symphonic band, windensemble, Color Guard and themarching band.

In the spring, interested stu-dents can apply to be sectionleaders of drum, woodwind,brass, Color Guard or percus-sion. Students are interviewedand the chosen attend a Leader-ship Retreat that provides inten-sive teaching skills.

Four years ago when Scottstarted teaching at Clayton Val-ley there were only about 32 stu-dents in Marching Band. Thisyear 90 signed up to join, with78 becoming actual participants.

“CVCHS has been a hugesupport providing additionalfinances to purchase more uni-forms for the ever growingband,” said Scott.

So far this year, the Band hasperformed at UC Berkeley forthe Cal Band Day, the Home-

coming Parade in downtownClayton, the Del Oro HonorBowl, and the Vintage BandReview. Last week, the bandtraveled to Stockton for the Lin-coln Band Review after a nightof playing for our Ugly Eaglesfootball team’s home game atCVCHS.

CVCHS’s Music Departmentis thriving with dedicated amaz-ing students. Much of the creditgoes to the Music Boosters andother parent support.

Tina Laiho

CLAYTON VALLEY'S MARCHING BAND WON THIRD PLACE IN THE MARINE BAND CHALLENGE in SanFrancisco on Oct. 31 during the Fleet Week activities and received $4,000 for the music depart-ment. in the Marine Band Challenge. This is a first-time win for CV in this competition.


Emily York is a sophomore atCVCHS.

EMILY YORK

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Bands making beautiful music at CVCHS

CVCHS National Merit scholars named

‘Break’ will break your heart

Executive Director, DavidLinzey of Clayton Valley Char-ter High School recognized AnaChena Davila, Michael Dong,Samuel Givens and CaseyMitchell as a Commended Stu-dent in the 2015 National MeritScholarship Program.

Approximately 34,000 Stu-dents throughout the nation arebeing recognized for their excep-tional academic promise. Thesestudents placed among the topfive percent of more than 1.5million students who entered the2015 competition by taking the

2013 Preliminary SAT/NationalMerit Scholarship QualifyingTest (PSAT/NMSQT(r)).

It is critically important torecognize academically talentedstudents as they will play a fun-damental role in the advance-ment of educational excellencewithin our nation. The youngpeople recognized as Com-mended Students representsome of the best and brightestminds in the country today andexemplify the outstandingachievement young people arecapable of.

CV NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS Ana Chena Davila, SamuelGivens, Michael Dong and Casey Mitchell.

MaryMac Propersi

Clayton Pioneer

Happy New Year. Two-thou-sand-fifteen is shaping up to bea technology year so we willexplore some interesting devel-opments today that will affectyour life for years to come. Forexample, Apple Watch, GoogleGlass 2, Microsoft Windows 10,SSD’s , 4 and 5K monitors, dashcams, and more are on their wayin 2015.

APPLE WATCH

There have been a few bulky“geek-looking” tech watchesreleased that look as if they wereprototypes pasted together withchewing gum, but so far nonehave gained enough acceptanceto be noteworthy, until now.Apple, the king of consumertech products, will be introduc-ing their watch soon and it issleek, fast and useful. Best of all,it looks great on your wrist.

According to Tom’s Hard-

ware (top authority in the techbiz), “The device changes froma watch to a phone peripheral bysensing that you’re looking at it.There is subtle haptic [sense oftouch] feedback when getting anotification. You can sendquick, fun messages using thewatch face as a drawing board.You can even send your heart-beat to another user.”

Okay Dick Tracy, it hasInternet, sport apps, gyros,accelerometers, GPS and, ohyeah, it’s a watch that looks first-rate on your wrist. (To view,www.apple.com select “Watch.”)

WINDOWS 10According to Tom’s, “With

the public release of Windows10 on the horizon, leakedscreenshots from Neowin sug-gest that Cortana may be a keyaspect of the upcoming experi-ence. The confirmed authentictaskbar image alleges that theCortana search assistant iconhas replaced the magnifyingglass that Windows 8 users areaccustomed to.” Whoa, babythis is big, really big. Cortana is afictional character in theMicrosoft game Halo. (Halo ismy personal favorite game, bythe way.)

In the game Halo, Cortana isa computer-generated guide tothe game; she will be your guidein Bing and Search.

Neowin suggests, “it may bepossible to use commands like‘open that Excel document Icreated two weeks ago’ to findfiles when their names are for-gotten.”

Windows 10 consumer Pre-view Edition is due first quarter2015, according to our sources

4K AND 5K MONITORS

Current video display tech-nology is limited to 1920 x 1080resolution, very nice but not asgood as 4K that increases theresolution to 5120 x 2880. Thehigher the numbers the morefine the dots are on the screen.This is the most detail you’veever seen on a monitor. Theyare priced around $1,000, butexpect this price to fall quicklyas more models are made avail-able.

SSDS OR SOLID

STATE DRIVES

SSDs are not new to theindustry, being available for twoyears now (meaning the con-sumer can actually afford one).They have proven their worthby providing lightning-fast dataresponses from three to 10times faster than the hard diskdrives it is designed to replace.Next year expect the very, verybest drive, the Samsung 850 Pro,to provide 1 terabyte (1TB) ofdisk space for under $1000.

GOOGLE GLASS, V2.0Google has a new version of

Google Glass debuting in 2015sporting a new CPU (centralprocessing unit – brain) by Inteland replacing the Texas Instru-ment (TI) CPU. The Intel chip issaid to provide about double thelifespan of the battery, provid-ing both longer operational timeand faster performance.

According The Wall StreetJournal, “While it’s unclearexactly which Intel chip Googlewill choose for the next versionof Glass, sources claim thedevice will likely have longerbattery life. Endurance has been

one of Google Glass’ biggestweaknesses. The companyclaims that the current versioncan get up to one full day ofbattery life with ‘regular use.’ Inour testing, the headset diedafter just five hours of mixeduse.” No announcement yet onprice reductions, as it’s still at$1,500.

DASH CAM ANYONE?“I’ve been eying dash cam

systems for a while now, thanksto all those Russian YouTubevideos - from car accidents, tostreet fights, to explodingcomets. I am now seeing dashcam recording as an importantautomotive feature...” said JulioUrquidi.

Dash cams are priced around$250.00.

In summary, 2015 will be apretty cool year for technologyand gadgets. What’s truly amaz-ing is most of the advancementsare where they are most neededand, well, useful. Have a greatand prosperous new year.


WILL CLANEY

TECH TALK

William Claney is an independenttech writer and former owner ofComputers USA in the ClaytonStation. Email questions or commentsto [email protected].

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One of the strengths ofClayton Valley Charter HighSchool is its staff. With morethan 125 teachers and staffmembers, CVCHS has a talent-ed army of dedicated and posi-tive staff members who put thefocus on kids.

I would like to recognize ahandful of the many staff mem-bers who go above and beyondto make a real difference in thelife of a school or who demon-strate exceptional talent. I donot want to single them out toembarrass them. Rather, I want

to shine a spotlight on a fewremarkable staff members whouniquely impact CVCHS andthe students who attend.

HELEN BENDOYRO –ADMISSIONS OFFICER

Helen is truly a differencemaker on campus. Her consis-tently positive, warm, humorousapproach causes her to standout as a real joy for others toassociate with. I applaud hertireless efforts to register stu-dents, communicate with par-ents, print transcripts, handlereport cards, meet deadlines,and do so much more.

KEO PIERCE –MEDIA ASSISTANT (LIBRARY)

Keo is dedicated to gettingthe job done well. Ordering allthe textbooks, scheduling class-es in the library, managing ship-ments and orders and workingclosely with students and par-

ents is an endless job. Yet Keomanages all of this with class,organization and teamwork.

GARY STOFER – FINANCIAL

LITERACY TEACHER

Gary has taken the FinancialLiteracy program to greatheights, winning awards for hisstudents, bringing in the bank-ing community to hold FinancialLiteracy Fairs, etc. He is student-centered and always growingand learning as an educator,even after his recent 74th birth-day! He is truly a pleasure tohave on our CVCHS team.

ALEX GELLER – SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER

Alex is only in his third yearof teaching at CVCHS and yethe has the skills of a veteran.His passion for teaching andmotivating students is com-mendable and his volunteerismin serving as the advisor to the

Senior Men’s program andfundraising for worthy causes istruly exceptional.

SARAH LOVICK –AVID TEACHER

In her third year as theAVID (Advancement Via Indi-vidual Determination)Teacher/Coordinator, Sarah hasdeveloped a world-class pro-gram that motivates and inspiresher students to prepare for col-lege. She teaches them collegeprep skills that dramaticallyimprove students’ grades, atti-tudes and skills. She takes herstudents on field trips to variousuniversities, such as Stanfordand UC Davis, and these experi-ences are life-changing.

As I said, there are so manyteachers and staff members toshine a spotlight on for goingabove and beyond, so I will con-tinue to share these highlightsfrom time to time. It is truly a

privilege to work with such a tal-ented and positive group ofeducators who truly make a dif-ference in my life and the life of

our staff and students.David Linzey is executive director

of CVCHS. Contact [email protected]

Staff that helps CVCHS soar

Does your little one cheerfor chess? Pine for piano? Gosilly for science? Online registra-tion is now open for after-school enrichment classes forfirst through fifth graders, spon-sored by Concord Parks andRecreation Department.

The array of programs —which are held at elementaryschools throughout Clayton andConcord — include Peer Piano,Chess Wizards, Flag Football,Mad Science and drawing class-es, among others.

One of the more popularclasses is Peer Piano. NadinePetersen, the piano teacher for

Mt. Diablo Elementary andAyers after-school enrichmentclasses, says she hopes parentswill sign up early because theclasses only accommodate sixstudents at a time. She says shehas spoken with the ConcordRecreation department aboutadding a second class at Mt.Diablo or Highlands elementaryschools on Wednesdays, if theTuesday classes fill up.

For more information on after-school enrichment classes, to view aschedule or to register your child, call925-671-3404 or visit [email protected].

DAVID LINZEY

VOYAGE OF THE EAGLE Sign up for after-school classes

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IN CLAYTONThru Dec. 28A Heart for ChristmasWalk-through Christmas musical light show to raise funds forKatie-Grace Groebner fund of the Children’s Organ TransplantAssociation. 1185 Pine Lane, Clayton. Free admission. aheart-forchristmas.com.

Dec. 13Dessert with Mrs. ClausPrizes, party favors. Visit with Santa. Bring camera. Children mustbe accompanied by an adult. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Endeavor Hall,6008 Center St., Clayton. Donations appreciated. ClaytonBusiness and Community Association 672-2272.

Dec. 14Christmas Home TourSelf-guided tour of five homes in Clayton beautifully decoratedfor the holidays. 12 – 7 p.m. Rain or shine. Starts at ClaytonMuseum, 6101 Main St. $30. Proceeds benefit the ClaytonHistorical Society. claytonhistory.org. Call 672-7680 or [email protected].

IN CONCORDTuesdays Farmers’ MarketTuesdays year round. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Todos Santos Plaza,downtown Concord. cityofconcord.org.

3rd Sundays Antique FaireAntiques, collectibles, handmade arts and crafts. 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.Todos Santos Plaza, downtown Concord. Free admission. concor-dantiquefaire.com.

Thru Dec. 21Holiday Home TourSee the Galindo House decorated in holiday splendor by theConcord Historical Society. Refreshments. Weekends 1 – 4 p.m.Wednesdays 7 – 9 p.m. 1721 Amador Ave., Concord. 685-8203.

Dec. 13SantaCrafts and refreshments. Take your own pictures with Santa,music by DJ Lou, photo booth pictures $1. 9:30 a.m. – 12:30p.m. Concord Senior Center, 2727 Parkside Drive. $8 for chil-dren over 2 years old; adults are free. Registration required: con-cordsanta.eventbrite.com.

ON THE MOUNTAINMount Diablo Interpretive Association programs listed are freewith the exception of park entrance fee. Go to mdia.org and clickon Events Calendar for more information.

Dec. 14Winter HikeCool winter hike around Mount Diablo’s summit. 11 a.m. – 1p.m. Registration required: [email protected].

Dec. 21Winter Solstice HikeExplore the slopes of Mount Diablo in search of (Santa’s) beardlichen, romantic mistletoe and colorful Christmas berry. 9:30a.m. – 2 p.m. Registration required: [email protected] [email protected].

EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENTThru Dec. 14Disney’s “Mulan Jr.”Action-packed stage adaption of Disney’s film. CaliforniaTheatre, 351 Railroad Ave., Pittsburg. $10-$25. pittsburgcalifor-niatheatre.com. 427-1611.

Thru Dec. 14 North Pole RevuePresented by Center Stage Theatre of Diablo Valley. Lesher Centerfor the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $15-$17. lesherarts-center.org. 943-7469.

Thru Dec. 21“A Christmas Carol”Brimming with music and dance, love and laughter and scaryghosts. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek.$41-$49. centerrep.org.

Dec. 12 – 13Holiday SweetDiablo Women’s Chorale serves up a delicious show. Mt. DiabloUnitarian Church, 55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek. $10-$20. dia-blowomenschorale.com.

Dec. 12 – 13Home for the HolidaysHoliday concert performed by San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.Nourse Theatre, 275 Hayes St., San Francisco. $25-$65.sfgmc.org.

Dec. 12 – 14“Christmas at the Biltmore”Original play by Brentwood author Steve Kinsella. Edna HillTheater, 140 Birch St., Brentwood. thebrentwoodtheater.org.

Dec. 12 – 14“Cinderella”Glass slippers are so back. Performance by Diablo TheatreCompany. The Village Theatre, 233 Front St., Danville. $15-$20.diablotheatre.org.

Dec. 12 – 14#NEWMAGICAnnual family-friendly holiday magic show by Alex Ramon. LesherCenter for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $20-$25.lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Dec. 12 – 14“The 12 Dates of Christmas”This heartwarming, one-woman play offers a hilarious and mod-ern alternative to the old standards of the holiday season. DeltaGallery of the Arts, 2485 Sand Creek Road, 128, Brentwood.$16-$20. thebrentwoodtheater.org.

Dec. 13Darren CarterA comedy experience unlike any other. 8 p.m. California Theatre,351 Railroad Ave., Pittsburg. $17-$20. pittsburgcaliforniathe-atre.com. 427-1611.

Dec. 13Handel’s “Messiah”With orchestra, community chorus and guest soloists under thedirection of Susan Stuart. 7:30 p.m. El Campanil Theatre, 602 W.Second St., Antioch. $12. elcampaniltheatre.com.

Dec. 13VintageConcert to celebrate the season. 7:30 p.m. St. Bonaventure,5562 Clayton Road, Concord. Free. vintagetrio.com.

Dec. 17Student Art ShowAnn Nakatani’s Annual Holiday Student Art Show. Refreshments.6 – 8 p.m. Concord Senior Center, Room A, 2727 Parkside Drive.Free admission. Contact Ann: 825-2453.

Dec. 18 – 21“The Biggest Gift”Presented by Fantasy Forum Actors. Lesher Center for the Arts,1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $14. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Dec. 19Mobius TrioPerforms for Walnut Creek Guitar Series. 7:15 p.m. Lesher Centerfor the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25. lesherartscen-ter.org. 943-7469.

Dec. 19 – 20“Hansel and Gretel”A fairytale adventure of a mystical forest, two lost children, anenticing gingerbread house and a wicked witch. Presented bySolo Opera. Del Valle Theatre, 1963 Tice Valley Blvd., WalnutCreek. $25-$40. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Dec. 19 – 21“The Nutcracker”Performed by the Brentwood Children’s Ballet Theater. ElCampanil Theatre, 602 W. Second St., Antioch. $16-$20. elcam-paniltheatre.com.

Dec. 20‘Twas the Improv Before ChristmasPresented by Trapped in a Rumo Improv. 7:45 p.m. Lesher Centerfor the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $12-$15. lesherarts-center.org. 943-7469.

Dec. 22Home for the HolidaysConcert by Diablo Symphony Orchestra featuring The AshmoleanSingers. 7:30 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr.,Walnut Creek. $12-$28. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Dec. 23Home for the HolidaysConcert performed by California Symphony and The PacificBoychoir. 3 and 7:30 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 CivicDr., Walnut Creek. $70. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Dec. 24ConcertChristmas Eve concert performed by San Francisco Gay Men’sChorus. 5, 7 and 9 p.m. Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., SanFrancisco. $25-$35. sfgmc.org.

Dec. 27Comedy Show XXIIBig Fat Year End Kiss Off comedy show presented by Worst ofDurst. 8 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., WalnutCreek. $22-$25. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Beginning Jan. 15Ham Radio Licensing CourseSeven-week course to learn what you need to earn yourTechnician Class FCC Amateur Radio License. Held by SalvationArmy and Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club. 6:30 – 9 p.m.Salvation Army, 3950 Clayton Road, Concord. Class is free. $7materials fee plus textbook. Registration required. [email protected].

FUNDRAISERS2nd and 4th SundaysPancake BreakfastVeterans of Foreign Wars serve breakfast to the public: Eggs,pancakes, sausage, beverage. 8 – 11 a.m. VFW Post 1525,2290 Willow Pass Road, Concord. $5, $3 children under 12. vfwpost1525.org.

Dec. 13Toy DriveThe Clayton Valley Charter High School Men’s Lacrosse team iscollecting new, unwrapped toys for children up to 11 years old todonate to Bay Area Crisis Nursery. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Grove ParkGazebo, Main Street, Clayton. Contact Tracey Morse: 207-0382.

Dec. 20Holiday PartyA night of dance led by ballerina Rosselyn Ramirez; food, wine,punch. Proceeds benefit Diablo Ballet and its Performing ArtsEducation and Enrichment for Kids Program. 7 – 9 p.m. SteinwayPiano Gallery, 1605 Broadway St., Walnut Creek. $50. diabloballet.org/events.

Dec. 20 – 21Country KitchenBaked goods for your holiday feast. Some kitchen craft items.Proceeds benefit St. Bonaventure Food Pantry. Open to the publicapproximately one hour after service. Mass times: Sat. 5 p.m.Sun. 7:30, 9 and 11 a.m.; 12:45 and 5 p.m. St. BonaventureFoyer, 5562 Clayton Road, Concord. 672-5800.

Jan. 9ARF Comedy NightAn evening of laughter benefiting the Animal Rescue Foundation’slifesaving programs. 7:30 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $20, $40, $60. lesherartscenter.org.943-7469.

Jan. 10ARF Stars to the Rescue XXIVProceeds allow ARF to save dogs and cats that have run out oftime at public shelters and bring people and animals together. 7p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek.$45, $100, $250. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Jan. 31Crab FeedSt. Agnes School and St. Agnes Knights of Columbus host thiscrab feed to raise funds for the Parent Association and programsfor the students. 5:30 p.m. Garaventa Center, Carondelet HighSchool, 1133 Winton Drive, Concord. $55. Tickets available untilJan. 19 at the school or parish offices, 3886 Chestnut Ave.,Concord. For questions or tickets, contact Danielle Grimesey at330-7317 or [email protected].

AT THE LIBRARYThe Clayton Library is at 6125 Clayton Road. Programs are freeunless otherwise noted. See full schedule of events at claytonli-brary.org or call 673-0659.

Jan. 7Winter Business SeriesCharlie Michelson discusses his experience growing a small shipsupply company to the international level. 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 12Clayton Library Book ClubSunny Solomon leads book discussion. Book to be announced.Open to anyone who wants to join. 7 p.m.

GOVERNMENT1st and 3rd TuesdaysClayton City Council7 p.m. Hoyer Hall, Clayton Library, 6125 Clayton Road. 673-7304 or ci.clayton.ca.us.

2nd and 4th TuesdaysClayton Planning Commission7 p.m., Hoyer Hall, Clayton Library, 6125 Clayton Road. 673-7304 or ci.clayton.ca.us.

Clayton Community CalendarPLEASE SUBMIT YOUR CLAYTON COMMUNITY CALENDAR EVENTS BY 5 P.M. DEC. 31 FOR THE JAN. 9 ISSUE. ITEMS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY EMAIL TO [email protected]

Meeting dates and times for local clubs and organiza-tions are listed at claytonpioneer.com. Click on ‘Links’

A Heart for ChristmasMusical Light ShowSchedule of EventsDDeecc.. 1122,, 7 p.m.Grammy-Nominated Artist Judy PancoastDDeecc.. 1177,, 7-8 p.m., Christmas Concert

Savanha’s Singing ElvesPerforming in-between scheduled shows onDDeecc 1133,, 1144,, 1199,, 2211Visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus DDeecc 1133 aanndd 2200

OOppeenn WWeedd.. –– SSuunn.. ffrroomm TThhrroouugghh DDeecc.. 2200 OOppeenn eevveerryy ddaayy ffrroomm DDeecc.. 2211--DDeecc.. 2288Unless otherwise indicated,show times are every 30minutes from 6-8:30 p.m.11119955 PPiinnee LLaannee,, CCllaayyttoonnAheartforchristmas.com

Garden lovers are a uniquebunch of folks that it can beperplexing to find just theright gift, especially if you —the gift-giver — lack the samepassion for gardening.

Gardening canbe hard; andany item thatcan be usedto ease thejob for thegarden-loveris a valuablegift to give.

Here are someideas:

High qualitysteel forged handtools with solidash wooden han-dles are some ofthe hardiest toolsto give. This type ofquality and longevitymakes this tool a specialpiece in a garden-lovers toolarsenal.

Three or five tine cultiva-tors make an ideal gift for thegarden-lover that works color-ful beds and borders. For thegarden-lover on your list thatgardens dramatic containerdisplays, consider gifting thema forged steel hand fork. Theshape of the fork makes foreasier aeration of the contain-er’s surface. Both the forkshape and the cultivator can be

used to loosen the root balls ofplants.

The experienced garden-lover will cherish a farmer’sdagger in their gardening shed.A farmer’s dagger can be usedto aid in diving clumps ofdaylilies, peonies and iris, or inremoving root bound plant-ings from valuable containers.

A quality shovel is anothergift that a garden-lover

will wish for.

Those who find joy wheninstalling one-gallon or smallerperennials into a garden bed orborder crave a shovel that’shead isn’t too large, and a han-dle that isn’t too long. A headthat measures around seven-inches tall and five-inches wideis perfect for accessory plant-ings. Notice if your consideredshovel has a sharp head with aslight curve. This shape willcut into our clay soil withgreater ease. Handles areimportant. Solid wood handles

made of ash are superior instrength. Festively wrapping ashovel is also a good time.

Dramm released a new rainwand last year called the OneTouch. After a season ofwatering at the nursery we cansay this watering wand is anexceptionally easy way towater. The One Touch shut-off is simple to use, takes little

strength to open andwon’t cramp your

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G a r d e njewelry, bird-

baths and bench-es also make exciting gifts.Garden jewelry are those dis-tinct pieces that adorn thelandscape or garden. Metalbutterflies and celestial wallhangings, ornate panels andoutdoor canvas’ can be hungon fences, or house walls toadd special touches. Large out-door clocks and thermometersare an appreciated token ofthe season. Birdbaths andbenches are heavy, and hard towrap, but they make great giftsfrom a group to buy for some-

one special.Spending time in the gar-

den with a garden-lover isalways a treasured gift. Acoupon, or a promiseenclosed in a card to helpplant, prune or fertilize isvery desirable. Add a gift cardto the envelope and you’resure to please.

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at a place where you knowquality and freshness comefirst. From baking ingredientsto delicious gifts to meal plan-ning, the farmers’ market is theplace to come for the bestingredients.

Holiday baking: This willbe easy with sweet local honey,crunchy almonds and walnuts,very fresh eggs, and sweet tartcitrus in the mix. Lemon cook-ies, almond crescents, nut bars,honey nut chews and more willdisappear as fast as you canbake them.

Holiday Gift Baskets:These can be created and filledwith fresh citrus, honey, nuts,bakery items, sauces, pasta,jams and jellies, local wine,flowers, and so much more.The possibilities are endless —and delicious.

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1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese,shredded, divided

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Assorted crackers or pitachips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Mix half of the cheese with themayonnaise, seafood seasoning,Worcestershire sauce andground mustard until wellblended. Gently stir in the crab-meat.

Spoon mixture into 1-quartcasserole. Sprinkle with remain-ing cheese. Bake 12 to 15 min-utes or until dip begins to bub-ble around edges. Serve hot withassorted crackers or pita chips.


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Nicole is the Garden Girl at R&MPool, Patio, Gifts and Garden. Contacther with questions or comments [email protected]

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Captain Grammar PantsSome rules for apostrophe usage should be obvious, such as the

rule about not using it to pluralize a noun, a verb, or a name thatends in the letter s. Chair's, Yeat's, and like's are all incorrect. Topluralize MP or CD or ATM, do not use an apostrophe; write MPs,CDs, and ATMs. In discussing the 1950s or 60s, do not use an apos-

trophe. In contrast to these rules, however, is the need to use an apostrophe forclarity. For example, the word "riiiiiiiight" has too many i's in it. Without the apos-trophe, it would read "too many is in it." The the sentence I'm writing has toomany the's in it. Does it help? Yes. Does it still look a little odd? Yes.

Sean Williams is a professor of ethnomusicology at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. Sheis currently working on a Captain Grammar Pants book. Follow her regular postings on Facebook.

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Most science fiction filmshave characters that inundatethe audience with explanationsof complicated scientificthemes or theories.Christopher Nolan’s“Interstellar” lets its incrediblevisuals and performances domost of the explaining. Sure,there are a few scenes wherethey discuss theoretical worm-hole physics and time dilationphenomena. But knowledge ofeither is not necessary toenhance the viewing experi-ence.

The visuals combined witha fascinating story and com-pelling characters are quiteenough to prove Nolan hasachieved a near-masterpiece.

Matthew McConaugheyplays Cooper, a farmer andfather of two, living in the not-too-distant future. The earth’sfood supply has been all butexhausted as nothing plantedwill grow. Not much time is

given to discussions on why wecan no longer plant crops, nordo we see any environmentsoutside of the dust-bowl, sowe must take their word for it.Cooper works long days toraise his farmer-to-be son,Tom (Timothée Chalamet) andprecocious daughter Murph(Mackenzie Foy). Yet, heknows his efforts are fornaught as his children are like-ly to be the last generation onthe planet to survive. Thisgives him reason to follow upon bizarre signs his daughterhas been noticing.

Cooper and Murph discov-er that NASA still exists.NASA is currently planning onsending a follow-up mission toestablish the validity of habit-able worlds outside our galaxy.After being briefed on thelogistics of the project byProfessor Brand, played noblyby Michael Caine, Cooperdecides to go on the mission.Murph is smart enough to real-ize that this will be quite alengthy trip, her father may notreturn until she is older thanhis current age. However, by

only spending a very brief timeon Cooper’s decision to leavehis family, Nolan misses achance to delve deeper intotheir relationships.

The remainder of the filmtakes the viewer to severalstrange worlds, across time andspace. The science involved ismostly theoretical but it doesnot matter. Nolan gives us ourseat on the spaceship and wego along for the ride.McConaughey continues hisrecent string of terrific acting.Anne Hathaway shines as a co-pilot on the mission. As agrown-up Murph, JessicaChastain delivers a perform-ance with all the gravitas need-ed to save the world. In theend, Interstellar wows with itscharacters, visual effects andstory. It also leaves the viewera lot to think about regardingour own not-too-distant possi-ble future.

Choosing a color schemejust right for one of your livingspaces can push some of usright off the edge.

First you have to choose theanchor color for a sofa or anarea rug, then accessory colorsfound in your accent furnitureor drapery, and then highlightcolors found in accessories thatare perfectly placed throughout.

You’d like the colors in yourliving space to coordinate, but atthe same time, also appear as ifyou casually found interestingitems and fabrics that just hap-pen to look amazing pairedtogether. And of course, don’tforget the wall color, a beautiful,chic backdrop.

Coordinating color is one ofthe greatest challenges whencreating a living space. So, let’slook at color in a different light.Have you ever thought of usingjust one color in a living space?

ONE COLOR FAMILY

One single color may be a lit-tle bit of a stretch. It’s more of adesign concept. For example,let’s focus on using the colorwhite. If you’ve ever been to alocal paint store, you know thatthere is no such thing as a basicwhite; Cameo White, Bone,White Dove, Linen White,Atrium White, Super White,Antique White…and the listcontinues. The thought here isthat you can build an entire liv-ing space using all of these dif-ferent shades of white.

Picture this: a linen-white to

be used for a sofa or pair oflounge chairs. Ivory-white drap-ery panels with a decorativeclear crystal beaded trim on theleading edge. A warm cozycaramel-white for the wool wallto wall carpeting. And a softcandle-lit-white wall color. All ofthese different shades of whitecreate a very warm and quietsetting, providing depth with asparkle here and there as youintroduce wood, metal or glassin the form of accent furnitureor accessories. Determine yourfavorite color and experimentwith the color values for yourliving space.

PLAY WITH PATTERN

Pattern is definitely your

friend when it comes to usingjust one family of color in a liv-ing space. Find fabrics that havea subtle or bold patterns. Maybea large geometric pattern foryour drapery panels, or a quietpin head dot for an upholsteredottoman. Try large stripes foryour sofa, or a wild floral pat-tern for your bedroom coverlet.Like any fabric, with one coloror many colors, it needs to coor-dinate with the other fabrics andgeneral aesthetics in your livingspace.

CONTEMPLATE TEXTURE

A variety of one color, aninteresting collection of fabricpatterns, and a wonderful handof textures definitely makes for

an eclectic and personalized liv-ing space. Try a chunky wovenchenille lounge chair paired witha lovely raw silk lumbar pillow,sheer Belgian linen bed draperysurrounding a wool coverlet andshams, or an embroideredottoman sitting on a wild shagarea rug. When you’re using justone family of color to create adesign scheme, playing with tex-tile textures and interesting pat-terns will help you achieve avery interesting and dynamicsetting.


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‘Interstellar’: Science that’s not fiction? JEFF MELLINGER

SCREEN SHOTS

Jeff Mellinger is a Concord resi-dent. He holds a BA in Film Studiesand an MFA in Film Production.Send comments [email protected]

Weary travelers Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), Brand (AnneHathaway) and Romilly (David Gyasi) inspect the lifepod oftheir colleague, Dr. Mann.

A FloralExperience

Mitzie Richardson [email protected] Facebook/afloralexperience.biz

Mitzie Richardson [email protected] Facebook/afloralexperience.biz

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Movie Review

It may not be visions ofsugarplums dancing in theirheads, but youngsters will findSolo Opera’s production of“Hansel and Gretel” just assweet as the familiar Christmaspoem. Especially designed foryounger theatergoers, theopera performs at 7:30 p.m.Dec. 19 and at 2 p.m. Dec. 20at the Del Valle Theatre, 1963Tice Valley Blvd, in WalnutCreek.

“I’m so excited to put thisopera on,” says artistic directorSylvia Amorino. “It was one ofthe first operas I saw as a childand has always been in myheart,” adds the Concord resi-dent.

Amorino has done morethan make her dream cometrue, she has transformed itinto a community collabora-tion with the Contra CostaChildren’s Chorus performingthe Gingerbread ChildrenChorus and Lori Buffalow’sThe Next Step Dancersappearing as the FourteenAngel Ballet.

“We are honored to collab-

orate with Solo Opera,” saysChildren’s Chorus artisticdirector Andrew Brown. “We

have 14 young singers playingthe role of the children cap-tured by the witch and held

captive under her spell. Theyare enthralled by the story andlove being a part of this show.”The lucky 14 secured theirroles through a summer audi-tion. More than 125 singerscurrently participate in thechorus with several fromConcord and Clayton.

The performance not onlyincludes local communitymembers but it also benefitsother residents through theFood Bank of Contra Costaand Solano. “We’re askingpatrons to bring non-perish-able food items to the show,”says Amorino, whose husbandvolunteers at the Food Bank.“With the show’s themes ofhunger and poverty, it’s a goodmatch. The show also featuresstrong children’s charactersthat save the town in the end.We thought having childrenbring canned goods to theshow would also empowerthem. They might not be sav-ing a town, but they are help-ing and giving back to theircommunity.”

Audience members attend-ing “Hansel and Gretel” willreceive lots in return, includinggorgeous music sung by pro-fessional singers, excitingdancing and an elaborate setby award-winning designerPeter Crompton. “Peter is aphenomenal set designer,”Amorino says. “His design forour show is very colorful andbright, exactly what I wanted.This show is extremely visual.We need to see trees, a ginger-bread house and lots more.”

Amorino notes thatEngelbert Humperdinck’s

opera differs greatly from thestory found in Grimm’sFairytales. “Our mother isn’tthe awful character in Grimm’sversion. She’s a good motherwho’s just having a bad day,”Amorino explains. “Our witchisn’t scary either, and we havefun characters like theSandman and the Dew Fairy.”

According to Amorino,children as young as preschoolwill enjoy the opera, whichlasts approximately two hoursincluding a 15-minute inter-mission. “As long as the chil-dren can sit for 45 minutes at atime, they should be fine. Andfor intermission, Safeway andother stores have donatedcookies,” she adds.

Tickets to “Hansel and Gretel”are $25 (youth 17 and under), $35(seniors) and $40 (adults). Forreservations, call 925-943-SHOWor go to www.lesherartscenter.org.

The Diablo SymphonyOrchestra’s annual holiday“Home for the Holidays” con-cert returns with a festive reper-toire featuring the gorgeous“Die Natali” ChristmasPreludes by iconic 20th centuryAmerican composer SamuelBarber. The orchestra will alsoperform several holiday choralfavorites with The AshmoleanSingers, directed by StevenMullins. “Home for the

Holidays” will be presented onMon. Dec 22 at 7:30 p.m. at theLesher Center for the Arts.Tickets to the Lesher Centerconcert can be ordered at 925-943-SHOW (7469), online atLesherArts.org, or at the LesherCenter Box Office

On Dec. 18, the DiabloSymphony will join with TheAshmolean Singers for a specialholiday event at the RossmoorEvent Center at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at the door. The Ashmoleans were

formed in Rossmoor in thespring of 2005 from a group of16 hand-selected men andwomen singers. Choristers nownumber over sixty.

The Diablo Symphony Orchestrais a Central Contra-based communityorchestra it its 52nd season. For moreinformation about the DSO, go todiablosymphony.org


Performing Arts

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‘Hansel and Gretel’ a visual delight for young audiences

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SOLO OPERA’S ‘HANSEL AND GRETEL’ gives a non-traditional twistto the famous Grimm’s Fairy Tale. The children's’ opera will beat the Lesher Center Dec. 20.

SALLY HOGARTY

Clayton Pioneer

Rossmoor’s ‘Ashmoleans’ join DiabloSymphony Orchestra for special holiday concert


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DEC 12 Clayton Pioneer 2014

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