JUL 25 Clayton Pioneer 2014

It’s a Tuesday night in down-town Concord, and things arehoppin’.

A couple hundred peoplelounge in Todos Santos Plaza lis-tening to a blues band, coupled

with the sounds of childrenlaughing in the playground. FoodTrucks from Off-the-Grid lineSalvio Street, while patrons oflocal restaurants – including thenew Hop Grenade taproom —pack outdoor seating areas.

The Tuesday Night Bluesseries has become a trendy eventin July, second only to the wildlypopular Thursday Night Musicand Market series, which drawsthousands to the area around theplaza, and it’s no secret why.

“The quality of the entertain-ment, coupled with the restau-rants and businesses, make

downtown Concord a great placeto be,” says John Montagh, thecity’s Economic Developmentand Housing Manager.

And if the city has its way,this will be the norm for decadesto come. The city council lastmonth adopted the DowntownSpecific Plan, which will directgrowth and development in theblocks in and around the historicplaza. The plan envisions a dis-trict as bustling, transit-oriented,urban space serving as both amagnet of activity for the city, aswell as a more regional com-muter hub for central Contra

Costa County.It has a good start, Montagh

says, if only because the plazaanchors the downtown, andmuch of the city’s events andactivities are held there. And notonly do Concord residents flockto downtown, it’s pulling fansfrom neighboring communitiesas well.

“We come every Thursdaynight,” says Walnut Creek resi-dent Sandi Hollander. “We lovejust hanging out in the plaza withfriends, listening to music. It’sbecome ‘the thing’ to do duringthe summer.”

VIBRANT DOWNTOWN

But it’s not just in the summermonths that Todos Santos Plazahosts activities.

“Downtown Concord hasbecome more vibrant thanever,” says Concord planningcommissioner Carlyn Obringer.She attributes that to a numberof things. “There is practicallyalways something going on,from the Winter Brews Festivalin January, to the AAUW-Con-cord Art and Wine (and Beer!)Walk the day before Mother’sDay, to the summer Music andMarket events, to the Tree

Lighting Ceremony in Decem-ber. Downtown Concord hasbecome an attractive place to be,year round.”

She says that “with more peo-ple living downtown moving herefrom other parts of the Bay Area,the demand for interesting, spe-cialty places to eat and drink isgrowing.” She points to the suc-cess of La Sen Bistro, Naan-n-Curry, Ravioli’s, E.J. Phair Con-cord Alehouse, The Pig & ThePickle, The Hop Grenade andSweet Tart. “The addition of

For the first time in two-and-a-half years, new recruitsattending the Contra CostaCounty Fire Protection Dis-trict Academy had an opportu-nity to experience a full-scalesimulation training, completewith fire engines and heavyequipment, at a parking garagein Concord.

On Friday July 18, the cityof Concord allowed the acade-my to temporarily shut downthe upper floors of the parkingstructure at the corner ofSalvio and Colfax streets sothe soon-to-be firefighters

could practice techniques withmore space than the 25-by-25foot training tower area theyusually have. There was alsothe added benefit of experi-ence out in the community andin a new environment.

“It doesn’t have a fire orsmoke, but it does have a train-ing tower with a smaller set up.It gets us into a realistic situa-tion, dealing with traffic, andpeople,” Brent Boling, a fire-fighter academy instructor,explained. “The main goal isjust more hands on training forthe new recruits. We try to pre-pare them for the possibilitiesfrom day one.”

Here is a brief update on pub-lic safety in Clayton. Our policedepartment is fully staffed. Offi-cers Borman, Wayne and Fraggaare progressing nicely throughtheir field training. Once fieldtraining is completed each officerwill be able to fill a work shift,which will relieve some of thepressure on our fully trained offi-cers. In the meantime, ChiefChris Thorsen continues to sad-dle up and patrol during the day.

For nearly two decades ourpolice department, along with themajority of police departmentsaround the country, has usedFord’s Crown Victoria PoliceInterceptor as its patrol car. In

See Mayor, page 3

IT’S YOUR PAPER

www.claytonpioneer.com July 25, 2014 925.672.0500

See CCCFPD, page 3

EMILY WRIGHT

Correspondent

See Mercurio, page 4

HANK STRATFORD

MAYOR’S CORNER

Keeping Clayton’sstreets, homes safe

Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Community Calendar . . . . .12

Concord City News . . . . . . . .5

Food for Thought . . . . . . . .14

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MDES Correspondent . . . . . .6

Performing Arts . . . . . . . . . .13

Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Pioneer Photo Album . . . . .15

Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

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What’s Inside

Clayton’s first Fitness Fair and5k run to be an annual event

TAMARA STEINER

Clayton Pioneer Fire district staffs up as Station 11 reopening set for Dec. 1

Mercuriopleads guiltyto felony DUI

A 22-year-old Claytonwoman, charged with a felonyDUI after hitting and criticallyinjuring a motorcyclist last yearappeared in a Martinez court-room last week where shechanged her plea from not guiltyto guilty and was sentenced tothree years in state prison.

Jessica Mercurio, then 21, wasdriving with a blood alcohol near-ly four times the legal limit onJune 27, 2013, when she lost con-trol of her Toyota Corolla onClayton Road at the Oak Streetramp. She jumped the median,crossing into the eastbound lanewhere she hit 51-year-old MarkTomaszewski head on beforecrashing into a light pole in frontof Clayton City Hall. Witnesses at

Photo: Emily Wright

THE UPPER FLOORS OF CONCORD’S SALVIO ST. PARKING GARAGE served as training groundslast week for CCCFPD firefighters-in-training as they learned to manage the fire hosein a multi-story structure fire scenario.

Julie Pierce

CLAYTON SAW ITS FIRST 5K RUN AT CLAYTON COMMUNITY PARK LAST SATURDAY. The event included a Fitness Fair withZumba demonstrations by Kaia Fitness and CPR instruction by CERT volunteers.

More than 300 adults andkids– some in strollers–gatheredin the early morning at the Clay-ton Community Park last Saturdayfor the town’s first 5K Run andFitness Fair. The turnout far sur-passed expectations for Girl ScoutSarah Owen who is organized theevent for her Gold Award.

The event was free, butrequired a donation for the Con-tra Costa and Solano CountyFood Bank. By 8 a.m., volunteershad collected at least eight barrelsof food and more donations werecoming.

The first ten to finish receiveda pat on the back and a water bot-tle. Surprising even her parents,11-year-old Emma Coflin finishedamong the top ten.

“She was running along wayback with her mom,” said dadDan Coflin. “Then she suddenlytook off.”

One of the requirements forthe award is to organize a commu-nity event that will be ongoing,said Owen. Sharon Cuff, whosecompany Calex was one of themajor sponsors, has agreed toorganize next year’s run.

Concord’s downtown plan targets business, housingPEGGY SPEAR

Clayton Pioneer

See Downtown Plan, page 5

Front PageAdvertising IItt WWoorrkkssPut your ‘sticky note’ here

& listen to the phone ring.Call Clayton Pioneer

925-672-0500

Clayton resident Patsy Sher-man, a recent recipient ContraCosta Community College Dis-trict “Unsung Hero” award, washonored at the recent Wine Tast-ing Benefit for a local agency sup-porting low- or no-cost parentingclasses throughout the county.

The Counseling Operationsand Parent Education’s (C.O.P.E.)annual wine event, held May 14 atthe Oakhurst Country Club, fea-tured a raffle and silent auction,with the proceeds benefitting theorganization and the classes andservices it offers to families whodo not qualify for governmentfunding assistance. C.O.P.E.hopes to soon expand its servicesto families with special needschildren.

Together with community

partners such as Contra CostaFirst Five Commission, CountyMental Health Services and Clin-ics, Juvenile Hall, and Head Start,C.O.P.E. works with case man-agers, social workers and lawyersto enroll some parents in specificparenting classes.

Sherman was feted for her 50-plus years of service in ContraCosta County. She started hercareer as Director/teacher atClayton Valley Preschool Co-op;currently she is Director of Con-tinuing Education for Foster,Adoptive and Kinship CareProviders at Los Medanos Col-lege. Sherman has worked withother non-profits such as theFamily Stress Center, EMQ Fam-ilies First, Contra Costa Children& Family Services, Independent

Living Skills Program and manyother community organizations.

She also serves on an advisoryboard for Counseling Options &Parent Education for C.O.P.E.

As an adopted child herself,she says she is well aware of theneeds of families adopting chil-dren and the children themselves.

For more information onC.O.P.E., including parenting classesand anti-bullying presentations, contactAshley Ryan at 925 689-5811 [email protected].

Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com July 25, 2014

Around Town

What’s happeningAround Town?We want to know what’s

happening in your families andin your neighborhoods.

Send your news of births,engagements, weddings, specialrecognitions, etc. to [email protected].

Please attach your photosto the email as JPEG files between between 3MBand 6MB and include a caption to identify people inyour photos.

GEORGE VUJNOVICH Number #1 Broker in Clayton 2013*

Representing more Buyers and Sellers than any other agent!*data provided by Paragon MLS

CCllaayyttoonn MMaarrkkeett UUppddaattee pprroovviiddeedd bbyy BBeetttteerr HHoommeess RReeaallttyy

3205 Coyote Cir...................$334,000 . . . .1026 . . . . .2/2 . . . . . . .7/16/14

5880 Herriman Dr ................$629,900 . . . .1652 . . . . .3/2 . . . . . . .7/11/14

17 Tiffin Ct............................$615,000 . . . .1500 . . . . .4/2 . . . . . . .7/11/14

1541 Haviland Pl .................$380,000 . . . .1256 . . . . .2/2 . . . . . . .7/11/14

22 Eagle Peak Place ...........$749,000 . . . .2467 . . . . .4/3 . . . . . . .7/10/14

616 Julpun Loop ..................$564,000 . . . .1904 . . . . .3/2.5 . . . . . .7/10/14

279 Mountaire Cir ................$685,000 . . . .2544 . . . . .4/2 . . . . . . . .7/9/14

1834 Eagle Peak Ave ..........$640,000 . . . .1877 . . . . .3/2.5 . . . . . . .7/9/14

401 Condor Place................$455,000 . . . .1595 . . . . .3/2.5 . . . . . . .7/8/14

3 Pardi Lane ........................$1,075,000 . .3035 . . . . .5/3 . . . . . . . .7/8/14

2380 Morgan Terr ................$600,000 . . . .1848 . . . . .3/2 . . . . . . . .7/3/14

3803 Coyote Circle ..............$413,000 . . . .1252 . . . . .2/2.5 . . . . . .6/26/14

1171 Shell Lane ...................$450,000 . . . .1355 . . . . .3/2.5 . . . . . .6/26/14

3058 Windmill Canyon.........$735,000 . . . .2315 . . . . .5/2.5 . . . . . .6/20/14

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(925) [email protected]

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1052 Pebble Beach Dr. – Clayton

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Emily Howard Realtor-Associate

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5718 Verna Way – Clayton Rarely availableflat lot! Tucked

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3205 Coyote Circle – Clayton Diablo Ridge atOakhurst CountryClub! 2 bedroom, 2

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3043 Windmill Cyn. Dr. – Clayton

Windmill Canyon at Oakhurst Country Club! 3 bed-

rooms, 2.5 baths, approx. 1877sf. Gorgeous hardwood

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3385 Aspara Dr. – Clayton

Best of both Worlds! Country living yet close to town! 8

acres! Views! & meandering creek! 3 bedrooms, 3 baths +

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Clayton woman helps families C.O.P.E

Gary and Susan Barton of Clayton and Mitch and Marianne Roy-bal of Concord all headed to the Midwest last May to Marianne’shometown of St. Louis to watch the Giants best the Cardinals threegames out of four in Busch Stadium. Busch Stadium in late May.Sorry Marianne...the Giants took 3 of 4.”

From left: Marianne, Susan Gary and Mitch.

Pioneer Travels

The brother and sister teamof Jeff McCarthy and JoyceKeller, both of Clayton, recentlytook a road trip to the “AntiquesRoadshow” event in Santa Clara.

Only one in 3,000 applicantsreceive tickets, and McCarthyentered the show’s lottery sixtimes before he snagged one, sayswife Debbie McCarthy. In tow

was his family’s old French parlorclock that once belonged to hisrelative, Senator Aaron Sargent.The trip was worth it, as the clockwas valued at $1,500.

Time for the ‘Antiques Roadshow’

Tom and Kira Lass took us along last month when they headedsouth – waaaay south – to the tip of South America to Torres delPaine National Park in Patagonia, Chile.

The Pioneer in Patagonia

The Giants in St. Louis

Cathy Botello, C.O.P.E. Executive Director with honoree PatsySherman C.O.P.E. volunteers, Sharon DeVillers, Dee Luce, AnnSherman, Sheelah Gehring, Marilyn Simonsen, LynnGudnason at the ‘Unsung Heros’ awards celebration May 14.

July 25, 2014 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com

Concord $799,000Crystyl Ranch – Exceptional home has 4BD/3BA within a 2,797 sq. ft.floor plan. Marvelous backyard offers patio, lovely gardens, and huge koipond w/waterfall. 1BD/BA downstairs and up is a large loft for flexible useand a huge master suite with veranda & views.

Clayton $679,000Dana Hills – Single story 4BD/2BA with many updates. Kitchen hasbirch cabinets & stainless appliances. Living, dining and family roomsplus upgraded wet bar area. Huge sunroom for summer living! Enjoy abeautiful yard and patios with privacy.

Clayton Resident & Broker Owner

AAssssiissttiinngg MMoorree BBuuyyeerrss && SSeelllleerrss tthhaann AAnnyyoonnee EEllssee***Statistics based on Clayton closed by sales volume (1/2012 – 12/2012). Data by Trendgraphix

Antioch $399,000Eagleridge – 4BD/2.5BA with wonderful curb appeal. The dining andliving room have vaulted ceilings and plantation shutters. Family roomoffers a cozy fireplace. Nice bay window & tile floors in the kitchen.Private backyard with flourishing landscaping.

Walnut Creek $469,980Skywest Townhome – 3BD/1.5BA home with a living/dining comboand a family room. Neutral carpet and flooring plus freshly painted cab-inets in the kitchen. Two car garage is a fantastic perk. Fantastic HOAamenities including pool and tennis courts.

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242 El Pueblo Place, Clayton Regency Meadows – Stunning views from this beau-tiful, updated 4BD/3BA Mediterranean home. 2,643 sq.ft. open floor plan could be easily converted back to5BD. Sought-after neighborhood close to Mt. Diablotrails. $759,000

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4775 Morgan Territory Rd,ClaytonSerene, creekside 4BD/3BA home on 1.1 flat acres.Generous rooms with windows that bring the scenery in!Spacious kitchen, dining nook and family room w/stonefireplace and wet bar. Lovely deck overlooks property.Studio/workshop in back. $839,000

Kelly McDougall, (925) 787-0448KellyMcDougall.comCal BRE#01156462

Saturdays6 to 8:30 p.m.

At the Gazebo inThe Grove

ConcertsClayton

in The Grove

Aug 2Diamond Dave –

sings the classics of FrankSinatra, Elvis, Justin

Timberlake and even Lady Gaga

Aug 16AJA VU

plays the music of SteelyDan and Chicago

Aug 30Apple Z –

high energy rock and rollspanning the decades

from Rolling Stones toLady Gaga

Sept 13East Bay Mudd -

10-piece cover dance bandwith a powerful 4-man

horn section

Thursdays 7 to8:30 p.m.

July 24,Plan B (Rock)

August 7CROSSMAN COUNTRY

(Country)

August 21PHD’s (Latin Jazz R&B)

For more band

information, go to

www.cityofclayton.org.

Clayton skateboarders nail benefit ride

Devin McHugh alwaysknew his love of skateboard-ing would pay off, and thissummer it did for the youngpatients at Children’s Hospitaland Research Center in Oak-land.

McHugh, the son of Clay-ton residents Brian and LizaMcHugh, and five friendscompleted Skate-for-Bay-Area,a two-day “wheel trip” benefitfrom Clayton to Santa Cruzthat raised $750, which theboys used to purchase toys forchildren at the hospital.

“It was awesome,”McHugh, a UC Davis student,says of the trip – and the expe-rience of giving toys to thechildren.

“We kind of got carriedaway buying toys,” he saidsheepishly.

McHugh was joined on his

ride by fellow Clayton resi-dents Michael Kerr, TylerRiessen and Zach Zuercher,UC Davis student JoshuaBrown, and McHugh’s cousinDylan Lee. The skaters left onJune 15, traveling south onbackroads through Dublin,Castro Valley and Milpitas.“Once we got going we sort ofmodified the route, so weended up taking Mission Blvd.all the way to San Jose,”McHugh said.

“I didn’t text or call mymom as much as I should havefrom that part of the trip,” hesays. “I know she’d be wor-ried.”

Daunted by the hills of thewinding Highway 17 to SantaCruz, the skaters decided tohop a bus instead. But oncethey got over the mountainthey got back on their skate-boards, where they finished upat McHugh’s sister Tristin’shome.

McHugh says the trek was

an opportunity to showcase hislove of skateboarding, while

helping out kids who may nothave been so fortunate as he.

To raise funds, McHugh setup an online fundraising siteon YouCare.com.

Now that the skateboardtrip is over, McHugh says hehopes to make Skate-for-Bay-Area an annual event.

“The Clayton troublemak-ers will be at it again,” he says.

CLAYTON SKATEBOARDERS DEVIN MCHUGH AND TYLER RIESSEN poseby some of the toys they donated to Children’s Hospital &Research Center following their Skate-for-Bay-Area benefitride.

PEGGY SPEAR

Clayton Pioneer

On each floor of the park-ing lot, a group of firefighterscould practice different skills.On the fourth floor there wasa chalk drawing of an apart-ment building so the traineescould practice hurrying down ahallway, and on the fifth floorthey simulated a fire, givingthem a chance to use the firehoses. While some firefighterspracticed using the hoses as ifthere was a fire, many morelooked on, ready to deal outmore hose if necessary, andawaiting their turns.

Boling pointed out that,during training, the soon-to-befirefighters use as little wateras possible because of thedrought. Boling also explainedthat these recruits were carry-ing 100 to 200 feet of hose, 28gallons of water, 65 pounds ofgear, and were wearing a suitconsisting of three layers: Amoisture barrier layer, a quiltedlayer and a fire resistant layer.

In addition to all they car-ried, the firefighters frequentlyhurried up and down the stairsfrom the second floor, where

the stand pipe was located forplugging in the hose, to thevarious floors where theywould do their training. Belowthe parking lot, more recruitswaited for their shift besidethree older model fire enginesthat are used for training.

“We’re required to teachthem from Firemen One Stan-dard,” Boling said, “We doeverything from medical tobreathing to smoke [training].We get them ready.”

STATION 11 TO OPEN DEC. 1And that’s a good thing, as

far as the fire district and resi-dents are concerned. CCCFPDChief Jeff Carmen told the

Clayton City Council earlierthis month that the district isstill too understaffed to reopenStation 11, Clayton’s only firestation, in August as had beenpreviously announced, and willinstead reopen Dec. 1.

Besides the 18 traineesready to graduate the academy,a new academy begins in four-to-six weeks, Carmen said.

It was originally hoped thatthe $9.6 million SAFER grantawarded to the district in Feb-ruary would have allowed Sta-tion 11 to reopen, but insteadthe money was funneled toConcord’s Station 6, thebusiest station in the district.

CCCFPD, from page 1

Mayor, from page 1

2011 Ford discontinued thismodel and police departmentseverywhere are having to adapt.

We just approved the pur-chase of a new Ford Police Inter-ceptor utility vehicle, basically apolice version of the FordExplorer. You may have seenthese police cars popping up insome of the neighboring cities. Itmay be a month or so before thevehicle is outfitted and on ourstreets.

Fire safety: At our last citycouncil meeting Chief Jeff Car-man from the Contra CostaCounty Fire Protection Districtaddressed the city to let us knowthat Station 11 in Clayton isscheduled to be opened inDecember. There had beenrumors that the station would re-open in August and the chiefwanted to set proper expecta-tions.

Council race update: Just areminder that the nominationperiod is open for anyone who isinterested in running for ClaytonCity Council. Elections packetscan be picked up at Clayton CityHall.

Contact Mayor Stratford at [email protected]

A fast-moving brush firecharred 80 acres on Marsh CreekRoad at Bragdon Way on July 12.The fire started when a car hit apower pole, knocking power linesinto the tall grass next to the road.

John Ghia was watching TVin his home on Marsh Creekabout 10 p.m. when he heard acrash and the lights went out. Hegrabbed a flashlight and he and

his nephew ran to help. A womanand her baby were out of the car,and the flames were alreadyclimbing up the hill across fromhis house.

Firefighters from CalFire andEast ECCFPD and CCCFPDresponded. Five homes on Brag-don Way were evacuated andflames threatened the MarshCreek Springs event center.Marsh Creek Road was closed inboth directions until late after-noon the next day. The fire start-ed less than a quarter-mile from

the CalFire Sunshine Station.Ghia said the driver, a Sacra-

mento woman, told him sheswerved to miss something in theroad, probably a deer. “It hap-pened so fast,” Ghia said. “Shedidn’t even know what it was andshe never saw the pole.”

The front and side airbags alldeployed, said Ghia, and no onewas injured.

CalFire first estimated the fireto be 100+ acres, but adjusted thetotal downward to 80 acres afterre-mapping the burn area.

With three years of drought,the wildland fire risk is at an all-time high. Says CalFire BattalionChief Mike Marcucci.

There are only five homes onBragdon Way, but the propertiesare large and spread out.

Marcucci credits the residentsfor clearing a wide defensiblespace around their properties. “Itcould have been a whole lotworse,” Marcucci said. “Theymade it easy for us. They did a lotof the work.”


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7 Nottingham Place

Breathtaking Builder's View Home in Dana Hills 5 bedrooms/3 full baths plusbuilder's option office/ sixth bedroom! Vaulted ceilings, crownmolding, spa-like masterbath with rain shower andsoaker tub. Fabulous yardwith patios, hot tub, gasfirepit, and AMAZINGMount Diablo Views!! Offered at $839,000

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Downed power lines spark Marsh Creek fire

Grab your bags and a camerahead down to the market as thePacific Coast Farmers’ MarketAssociation (PCFMA) is celebrat-ing National Farmers’ MarketWeek from Aug. 3 to 9, and hold-ing a photo contest the entiremonth of August.

PCFMA will celebrate withthe second annual “Love MyMarket” photo contest. To partic-

ipate, shoppers are asked to snapa photo of what they love abouttheir farmers’ market – whetherit’s unusual produce, a favoritefarmer, hanging out with the fam-ily or anything else farmers’ mar-ket related.

Contestants will have a chanceto win the Grand Prize of a onenight stay for two at the CapayValley Bed & Breakfast and tick-

ets to the nearby Hoes Down Fes-tival at Full Belly Farm. Secondplace prize will be two tickets tothe Farm to Fork Dinner present-ed by CAFF at the GuglielmoWinery in Morgan Hill. Thirdprizes include “Carrot Cash”(which is good at any farmers’market that PCFMA operates)and a reusable bag filled withfresh seasonal produce.

Submit the photo to: [email protected] or post thephoto on Instagram with thehashtag #lovemyPCFMAmarketbetween Aug. 1 and 31. One entryper person, and include the nameof the farmer’s market in the cap-tion or email. For more informa-tion on Pacific Coast Farmers’Market Association call 800-949-FARM or go to www.pcfma.com.

Love your market? Snap a photo

Please let our advertisers know you saw them in the Pioneer

the scene say they overheard hertell officers she was texting on herphone at the time of the crash.

According to witnesses, Mer-curio had been drinking heavilymost of the day. Clayton Clubowner Steve Barton said his bar-tender had stopped serving heralcohol and offered to call her ataxi more than an hour beforeshe left the bar. A patron in thebar offered to give her a ridehome. She refused both offers,saying she already had a ride.

“She sat out in front for over45 minutes on her cell phone,”Barton said. “And then she left.As far as anyone inside knew, sheleft with a ride.” Surveillancevideo shows her getting into hercar and driving off.

The sentencing was an emo-tional moment for Tomaszewski,who was in the courtroom, butdid not address the court. Mercu-rio had prepared a statement butdeclined to read it. Instead, shegave it to Tomaszewski. She

apologized and expressed adetermination to use her time inprison to “become a betterwoman.” She asked for his for-giveness and requested a meetingwith him.

Tomaszewski was criticallyinjured in the crash, sufferingmultiple internal injuries, brokenbones and head trauma. He lostthe sight in his left eye and is deafin one ear. He was hospitalizedfor five months before his releaselast October, continuing therapyas an outpatient. In June, a yearafter the crash, he returned to hisjob as a surgical technician at the

Sequoia Surgery Center inWalnut Creek.

Tomaszewski has agreed tomeet with Mercurio before shesurrenders on July 25.

“I want to encourage her touse her time in jail to get her edu-cation so she is ready to go in apositive direction when she getsout. She’s still young.” He hopesshe will be a positive influenceon others.

“People drive drunk a lot andnothing happens,” Tomaszewskisaid. “And people drive drunk andextreme things happen. This time,something extreme happened.”

Mercurio, from page 1

TAMARA STEINER

Clayton Pioneer

patios to many of the businessfronts has also made dining anddrinking downtown a more excit-ing and inviting experience,” shesays.

And it’s not just for peopleseeking a good time after work.Montagh says he has seen anuptick in the number of inquiriesfrom businesses and developers

eager to move downtown.Both Obringer and Montagh

are quick to point out that thenew specific plan doesn’t justencompass the streets surround-ing Todos Santos, but stretchesdown Salvio Street to the backside of the Park and Shop center,north to Mt. Diablo High School,and south to include the down-town BART station.

HOUSING ANCHORS PLAN

The revitalization plan adopt-ed by the city council in June cul-minates 18 months of staff andcommunity meetings, said SeniorPlanner Joan Ryan. “It’s a tool tojumpstart development, improvetransit, and increase business andhousing.”

The plan calls for “leading

with rooftops,” a phrase thatmeans that the multi-family hous-ing created will drive other devel-opment. The city envisions 3,120new apartments, 96 townhomesand 250 live-work lofts, with amix of affordability.

It will be supported by “alter-native” transportation methods,which means BART and new bikeand pedestrian walkways that willconnect to the transit station,Todos Santos Plaza, the Park andShop Center and Ellis Lake Park.

“There will be wider sidewalksfor pedestrians and more bikepaths,” Ryan told the council.

The vision also calls for a mixof retail, business and officespace, often occupying the lowerfloors of the mixed-use housing.

The plan, which was support-ed by the Association of Bay AreaGovernments (ABAG) and theMetropolitan TransportationCommission, is designated as a

Priority Development Area, oneof just a handful in the Bay Area,and will be eligible to receive fed-eral and state grants, Montaghsays.

The downtown plan waseagerly embraced by councilmembers. “I never thought I’d seethis day 40 years ago, when wewere just starting to plan for thedowntown,” says council memberDan Helix, who served on the citycouncil back in the 1970s. “It’sbetter by far than I ever imag-ined.”

Vice-mayor Ron Leone, whoserved as chair of the DowntownSteering Committee, says he ispleased that there is finally avision for parts of the city that areunderdeveloped and under-uti-lized. “This doesn’t end haphaz-ardly,” he says. Obringer says thatas a resident and a planning com-missioner, the one thing she is dis-appointed in about the plan is thatit doesn’t include all of the Parkand Shop center, but concedesthat it would have been difficultfor the steering committee toinclude so many business ownersin the process.

“With that said, I think thatthe plan includes a good compro-mise of connecting the TodosSantos area with the back side ofPark and Shop, by activatingSalvio Street,” she says.

Now the city will seek to getgrants and find funding to startthe long-term developmentprocess, which will stretch to theyear 2030.

But already, if the vibrantsummer of 2014 is any indication,downtown Concord is on its way.

For more information on the Down-town Specific Plan, visit the website at www.ci.concord.ca.us/downtownplan/.

On July 8, the City of Con-cord approved an amendmentto the Development Codewhich added Micro-brew-eries/Micro-distilleries andTasting Rooms as a permitteduse within certain areas of thecity. The need for such anamendment surfaced over thepast year as two new craft beertaprooms, The Pig & The Pickleand The Hop Grenade, openedto slake the thirst of local beerenthusiasts, who have flocked,in increasing numbers, to theexisting E.J. Phair Concord Ale-

house and Black Diamond Tap-room for years.

Concordians’ love of craftbeer and microbrews is not anew phenomenon. MoreBeer!, aDetroit Avenue-based companythat specializes in “AbsolutelyEverything for Beer-Making,”opened in 1995, spawning anuptick in the number of homebrewers in the area. Five yearslater, award-winning homebrewer J.J. Phair opened a brew-ery next door, due to his friend-ship with the MoreBeer! owners.After noticing that downtownConcord lacked a place to buycraft beer, bottled or draft, Phairopened E.J. Phair Concord Ale-house, which has served craftbeers and pub fare since 2005.Black Diamond Breweryopened its brewery and taproomin North Concord the sameyear, quickly attracting an enthu-siastic following.

E.J. Phair relocated its brew-ery operations to Pittsburg, and

beer and ale company AleIndustries moved into theDetroit Avenue space, drawingbeer lovers from across the BayArea. After relocating theirbrewery operations in February2014, Ale Industries opened ataproom in downtown Concord,The Pig & The Pickle, which hasOakland and San Francisco hip-sters seeking it out via BARTand bike. The Pig & The Pickleand E.J. Phair were recentlyjoined by The Hop Grenade, acraft beer taproom and bottleshop, and headquarters of TheBrewing Network — a live radiostudio and organizer of theannual Winter Brews Festivalheld in Todos Santos Plaza.

Attracted by the WinterBrews Festival and the othercraft beer taprooms and brew-eries already located in Concord,Epidemic Ales, an up-and-com-ing micro-brewery with award-winning beers, is searching forbrewery and taproom space.

“My husband and I have lived inConcord for over 15 years,” sayspartner Erin Schally. “We lovethe idea of bringing our busi-ness to our city. A lot of thingsgo on festival-wise here, like theWinter Brews Festival. Why notbuild on that?”

When asked about thepotential competition created byseveral taprooms locating closetogether, the consensus is, “Themore the merrier.”

“Craft beer drinkers are notmonogamous,” explains TheBrewing Network founderJustin Crossley. “They want tohave choices, and they want totry them all.”

E.J. Phair General ManagerChris Wheeler adds, “After drink-ing, craft beer enthusiasts won’tgo just anywhere for dinner. Theywant to go someplace like E.J.Phair that has 17 rotating craftbeers on tap and good food.”

Looking to the future,Crossley predicts: “I see these

downtown vacancies filling upwith similar artisan models. Peo-ple love food and drink made insmall batches, and the personal-ization of being able to meet theartisan or brewer.”

Concord News

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Concord Concert Schedules


Carlyn Obringer chairs the Cityof Concord Planning Commission.Professionally, she focuses on Califor-nia education issues as an EducationPolicy Analyst. Carlyn resides inConcord with her husband, Justin,and dog Crystal. Contact her [email protected].

New trash collection trucks raise the bar on energy efficiency

Concord adult softballleague registration now open

Team registrations are nowbeing accepted for Concordfall adult softball leagues.Men’s, women’s, and co-eddivisions are offered on vari-ous nights throughout theweek, Sunday through Friday.

Concord softball’s fallleague is a seven game seasonwith playoffs scheduled tostart in September and runthrough early November.

The registration deadline isAugust 15.

Registration and informa-tion packets are available atWillow Pass Community Cen-ter, 2748 E. Olivera Rd. at thecorner of Salvio and E. Oliv-era, or on-line at www.cityof-concord.org/softball.

To receive the packet bymail or to join a team by beingplaced on the free agent list,call (925) 671-3423.

Register forfall adultsoftballleagues byAugust 15.

Locals buzzing over craft beer

CARLYN OBRINGER

CONCORDCITY NEWS

Downtown Plan, from page 1

This month, Concord Dispos-al Service is introducing a newconcept in collecting and recy-cling trash as part of its continu-ing effort to increase efficiencyand decrease the company’s envi-ronmental footprint.

These new state-of-the-arttrucks are split body, meaningthere are two compartments: onefor recycling and one for garbage.This type of truck helps reducethe number of trucks drivingthrough Concord’s neighbor-hoods. Now there will be onetruck for your garbage and recy-cling and another for your yard

waste. Some of the benefits of asplit body are fewer emissions andless wear and tear on the roads.This is the second phase in Con-cord Disposal’s effort to replaceits entire fleet.

In addition to the split body,the new collection trucks arepowered by compressed naturalgas (CNG). CNG trucks emit lessgreenhouse gas and their enginesare quieter than the older dieseltrucks.

“Being a good environmentalsteward, as well as cutting downon residential noise and wear andtear on neighborhood streets, are

top priorities for Concord Dis-posal,” said Joe Garaventa, CEOof Garaventa Enterprises. “Wevalue our Concord customers andare looking forward to getting ournew trucks out on the road.”

Concord Disposal Service, aGaraventa Company, is the localrecycling and garbage company inthe City of Concord, and hasserved the needs of Concord res-idents for over 75 years. TheGaraventa Company also ownsand operates Mt. Diablo Recy-cling in Pittsburg – one of thelargest state-of-the-art recyclingfacilities in Northern California.

CONCORD DISPOSAL’S NATURAL GAS POWERED split body collectionstrucks are quieter and more efficient. The new trucks are partof the second phase to replace the entire fleet.

EXISTING GRANT STREET

streetscape looking northtowards Todos Santos Plaza

Artist rendering courtesy of the city of Concord

A FUTURE GRANT STREET VISION includes multi-family housing and will be more pedestrian and bicycle friendly.

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Big O Tires

Jims California Auto Body, Inc.

Anywhere Automotive

Clayton Valley Bowl

West Coast Muffler

Oakhurst Country Club

Sherwin-Williams

Dampney Company, Inc.

R & M Pool, Patio and Gardens

Drive Magazine

Kleen Blast Abrasives

Tred Shed Tire Pros

D & H Enterprises

Doug Van Wyck State Farm

Insurance

Kelly-Moore Paints

Aurora Refreshments

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Located at 6055 Main St in Clayton

(925) 673-9060 www.claytoncc.com

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Q. We are buying a housethat is new construction.What should we be sure toinclude in the backyard forour own enjoyment as well asfuture sale? I get transferredquite a bit.

A. Current owners andfuture buyers of a home thesedays have a continuing love

affair with their backyard. It hasbecome an extension of thehome’s living space.

Create a colorful gardensuch as an herb garden with avariety of plants and trees thatare drought-resistant.

Nightscape the yard withlights highlighting gatheringspaces for entertaining afterdark. Also highlight importantareas of the yard such as trees orplanting beds.

Shade areas of the yard withoverhangs, gazebos andretractable awnings to give youflexibility to enjoy when youhave full sun overhead.

Have a water feature such asa fountain to help you connectwith nature. They project a tran-quil sound that most peopleenjoy.

Have a portable firepit orfireplace to extend the time dur-ing the year that you can enjoythe yard.

Put in an outdoor kitchen –it is often the center of familylife in the summer. It can be aselaborate or scaled down as yourbudget allows.

And remember, when yousell your home, staging the back-yard is a must.

Q. How is all the bicker-ing in Washington affectingthe housing market thesedays?

A. Have you heard thephrase “Politics makes strangebedfellows”? Well, not disturb-ing what works in the housingmarket is an idea both partiesembrace.

Two strategists, each from adifferent side of the coin,shared a stage at the Realtorsparty convention in Washing-ton. Steve Schmidt, an advisorfor John McCain when he ran asa presidential nominee, andDavid Plouffe, top campaign

advisor for Barack Obama,shared the stage.

Schmidt said “lawmakers onboth sides of the aisle under-stand the centrality of home-ownership to the economy andare likely to proceed cautiouslyon any changes that couldimpact the market.” He doesn’tsee the tax benefit for owning ahome going away.

Plouffe says “efforts toimprove the federal govern-ments financial picture doesn’thave to come at the expense ofhome ownership.” There are alot of other places to lookbefore you make changes to themortgage interest deduction,said Plouffe.

Send your question and look for youranswer in a future column. [email protected]. French is thebroker/owner of Windermere LynneFrench & Associates. Contact her at672-878 7or stop in at 6200 CenterSt., Clayton.

LYNNE FRENCH

REAL ANSWERS

Backyard beauty counts for resale

Mayors’ Cook-off serves up healthy lifestylesThe county’s mayors usual-

ly face off about such issuesas housing, transportation andzoning issues. On July 31, atleast 1l local officials will becompeting for something a lit-tle more mouth-watering andsome would say even moreimportant: healthy communi-ties.

The Sixth Annual ContraCosta County Mayor’s HealthyCook-off pits a city’s top gunor vice mayor, along with theirselection of a chef from theircity, in a contest to prepare thebest healthy meal. The event issponsored by the Wellness

City Challenge, an East Baynon-profit that promotesbuilding healthy communitiesvia fitness and nutrition, aswell as the City of Concordand several other local busi-nesses.

Each team will be given agrocery bag containing a pro-tein food item, grains fromConcord Grocery Outlet andfresh produce from PacificCoast Farmers’ Market Asso-ciation. Along with the city’schef, each team will include a“sous chef,” a student fromMt. Diablo High School’s Sus-tainable Hospitality program.

The competition will be “iron-chef ” style for the grand prize.

Judges will include KishRajan, Director of the Gover-nor’s Office of Business andEconomic Development forthe State of California, andother notable leaders from thecommunity who will decidethe winning entry based onhealthiness, taste, creativityand presentation.

Both Concord and Claytonwill be competing in the event,although at press time it wasunclear what chefs from thecities would be participating.

The cities of Antioch,

Concord, Clayton, Danville,Martinez, Moraga, Pittsburg,Pleasant Hill, San Pablo, SanRamon and Walnut Creek havesigned up to participate.

The Sixth Annual ContraCosta County Mayors’ HealthyCook-off will be held a 4 p.m. atTodos Santos Plaza in Concord onThursday, July 31. The public isinvited to observe the competitionand learn more about healthy eat-ing. For more information on Well-ness City Challenge, visit www.well-nesscitychallenge.org.

CourageDo the Right Thing

HELP WANTED

Administrative Assistant

Seeking part-time Administrative

Assistant. Strong math, computer

and phone communication skills

required. Must be able to work

Thursdays and Fridays 8 hours

each. Email resume to

[email protected]. No phone

calls please.

Computer Programmer

Wanted to code simple software

in Visual Basic, working with

Excel files. Call Bob at (925)

963-8608.

Sales Associate

Retail feed and pet supply store,

full or part time. Apply in person

at Rodie's Feed, 8863 Marsh

Creek Road, Clayton.

Tech, Computer

Growing business has position for

onsite pro computer tech in

Contra Costa County. Must have

experience in Windows and Mac

OS, network repair and trou-

bleshooting. ComputersUSA!

672-9989.

Come join Mazzei Realty!

Currently interviewing and hiring

new and experienced real estate

agents. Call 693-0757 for details.

Real Estate Agents

Be Successful! Lynne French is

expanding and interviewing for a

few agents. Call her today 672-

8787.

VOLUNTEERS

NEEDEDHelp Fight Hunger

Anna Chan – AKA: The Lemon

Lady needs your help! Weekly

commitment appreciated. For

more info and contact numbers,

go to thelemonlady.blogspot.com.

Clayton Historical Society

Museum The Clayton Historical

Society Museum needs a greeter

for two hours per month from 2-4

p.m. Wednesdays or Sundays.

Call the museum at 672-0240 and

leave your name.

Clayton Community Library

Needs volunteers. Minimum age

13. Minimum commitment is 6

months. Some training provided.

Contact Arlene at 673-9777 or

[email protected].

Meals on Wheels

Meals on Wheels is looking for

volunteer drivers one day a week

between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30

p.m. Make a tremendous differ-

ence to seniors in your communi-

ty. Contact Sharon Fitzgerald at

932-8607 or sfitzgerald@mow-

sos.org today!

GARDEN

Flower Gardening

by Nicole Hackett

Perennial, ornamental, rose and

container care. Keep your garden

in flowers this year with monthly

fertilizing and pruning visits.

Email for consultation or details.

[email protected].

FOR LEASE

Office and retail space for lease

in Historic Clayton City Center:

Village Oaks Center, 6200 Center

St., Clayton. Call Nick Adamson

at (408) 371-8770, ext. 21.

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

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

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

Dining and Entertainment

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

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

Subway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .693-0621

Events

City of Clayton – Concerts . . . .http://www.cityofclayton.org

Moonlight Movies, Derby –

Clayton Community Church . . .http://www.claytoncc.com

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

Financial, Insurance and Legal Services

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

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

SAFE Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . .800-733-7233, ext. 2772

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

Funerals

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

Groceries

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

Home and Garden

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mailing Services

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

Pet Services

Monte Vista Veterinary Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276-5744

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

Pittsburg Pet Resort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .432-7387

Rodie's Feed and Pet Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-4600

Real Estate and Mortgage Services

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

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

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

Hudson, Cait – Coldwell Banker . . . . . . . . . . . . .451-6844

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

Landgraf, Linda – Prudential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .876-0311

Laurence, Pete – RE/MAX Realty . . . . . . . . . . . .890-6004

Lopez, Stephanie – Coldwell Banker . . . . . . . . . .932-7329

Mazzei, Matt – Mazzei Realty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .693-0757

Stojanovich, Jennifer – Better Homes Realty . . .567-6170

Vujnovich, George - Better Homes Realty . . . . . .672-4433

Recreation and Fitness

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

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

Mt. Diablo Soccer . . . . . . . . . . . . .http://www.mdsoccer.org

Services, Other

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

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

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

Travel

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

Directory of Advertisers

Classified

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

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]

Send Sports News [email protected]

Send Club News [email protected]

Send Church News [email protected]

Send School News [email protected]

Send Classified Ads [email protected]

CLASSIFIEDSClassified rates per insertion:$48 for first 30 words, 40 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) 672-0500 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. All classifieds must be paid for inadvance by credit card (Master Cardor Visa) 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 ofthese important events. We ask onlythat the announcement be for a resi-dent in our home delivery area. Sub-mit on our website and be sure toattach a JPG photo that is at least 3

MB but not bigger than 6MB. Youcan also mail or bring your print tothe office and we can scan it for you.

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITORThe Clayton Pioneer welcomes

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The American Red Cross isurging eligible blood donors toroll up a sleeve and give to helpprevent a summer blood short-age. Blood donors with types Onegative, B negative and A neg-ative are especially needed.Locals can donate at these Con-cord locations on: July 30 fromnoon to 6 p.m. at The Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-daySaints, 1360 Alberta Drive; Aug.8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at ParisBeauty College, 1655 WillowPass Road; Aug. 12 from 9 a.m.to 2 p.m. at John Muir HealthMt. Diablo Center, 2540 East St.and Aug. 13 from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. at United Health Care,2300 Clayton Road, 10th Floor.

The Red Cross is seeingfewer appointments at its blooddonation centers and blooddrives this summer than what isneeded to ensure blood and

platelets continue to be availablefor patients. During the summermonths of June, July andAugust, on average, about twofewer donors make an appoint-ment to give blood at each RedCross blood drive than whatpatients need. This can add upto more than 100,000 fewerdonations during the summer.

Blood and platelet donationsare needed every day forpatients with many serious med-ical conditions. Accident andburn victims, heart surgerypatients, organ transplantpatients and those receivingtreatment for leukemia, canceror sickle cell disease may allneed blood.

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Amidst some turmoil, CVCHSprepares for new school year


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Traveling the rocky road to true loveNowadays there are a lot of

stories about star-crossed loverswho are “meant to be together”and they all have predictablescenarios and endings. Butthere are not a lot of booksabout lovers who started offhating each other. Set in 1986,Eleanor Douglas, in “Eleanor &Park” by Rainbow Rowell, is anoutsider. She never wears theright things, she’s overweight,she is the laughing-stock of herschool and her huge, curly, redhair doesn’t help her blend in

very well.Eleanor is terrified of Tina,

the meanest bully you couldever come across. Not only isher school-life a wreck, she alsogoes home to a beyond-tinyhouse and her dysfunctionalfamily consisting of an abusive“father,” Richie, kind-heartedmother Sabrina, and unusualsiblings Maisie, Mouse andRichie Jr.

Despite everything, ridingthe bus is probably one of theworst parts of Eleanor’s day.

She is forced to sit by this “stu-pid Asian kid.” Later on shefinds out his name is ParkSheridan and that he is not whoshe thought he was. As theybond over comic books andmusic, the two unlikely misfitsstart to become friends andeventually fall in love.

This novel is so interestingbecause you never really see thetwo fall for each other. It kind ofjust happens and there’s nowarning signs or hints. It comesout of nowhere and every page

contains untold surprises. Neverwas there a story of this muchspark than the one of Eleanorand her beloved Park.

The beginning of the newschool year is less than threeweeks away and Clayton ValleyCharter High School is still inthe midst of several construc-tion projects. While all of thiswork is geared for the Aug. 13first day of school, the CVCHScommunity is huddled under acloud of controversy due to a aninvestigation into a number ofcomplaints filed towards the endof the 2013-14 academic year.

Tensions arose betweenexecutive director Dave Linzeyand administrator Pat Midden-dorf and some teachers thatresulted in a number of com-plaints. Middendorf was termi-nated in May.

CVCHS Governing Boardchair Tom Branich, who waspulled into some controversybecause of his personal friend-ship with Middendorf, assignedvice chair Ted Meriam as theboard’s point person in theprocess. Oracle InvestigationsGroup is researching all theissues brought up in the spring,including the eventual termina-tion of Middendorf.

Meriam reported that, “theinvestigation is still ongoing andneither the Board nor I havereceived any findings. Once theinvestigation is completed, theGoverning Board will receive aformal report and will take

action, as appropriate, at thattime.” Meriam said that Oracletold him the investigationshould be completed by thebeginning of the school year.

Linzey gave an upbeat reportto the board last week at theirmonthly board meeting, theshortest in the board’s history at38 minutes. He reported about400 students took part in sum-mer school programs and manyfaculty and staff have beeninvolved with professionaldevelopment programs. Severalare working on Common Corematerials.

FACILITY UPGRADES

But it was the facilitiesimprovements that were put tothe front burner. They includeupgrades to Gonsalves Stadiumand the surrounding grounds,converting the wood shop to afitness studio, adding a newoutdoor weight room and mak-ing technology updatesthroughout the campus.

The board approved instal-lation of flooring in the build-ing that has housed the school’swood shop dating back to the1950s. He explains that danceand aerobics classes were con-stantly looking for space whilethere were only two periods ofwood shop last year. Mirrorsand rails will be installed in thenew studio and Linzey says it’spossible the wrestling programmay utilize the space as well.

“We need to maximize theuse of our facilities and pro-grams during the entire schoolday,” Linzey said. He addedthat with so many students tak-ing college prep courses woodshop has been taken by fewerand fewer students. The schoolstill has an auto shop program.

New director of operationsGreg Hile says that the woodshop equipment at CVCHS isowned by Mt. Diablo UnifiedSchool District and he under-stands it will be relocated toYgnacio Valley High.

In addition, an outdoorweight room is being addedwhich will be primarily used forphysical education conditioningclasses for both boys and girls.All ninth and 10th graders aremandated to take PE. Sopho-mores can choose from a vari-ety of PE courses includingconditioning, aerobics anddance.

NEW LUNCH SERVICE

Clayton Valley students buy-ing lunch on campus will beserved by the third food servicecompany in as many years sincethe charter started in fall 2012.The board approved Linzeyfinalizing negotiations withChartwells, a company theexecutive director says handlesthe same responsibilities at DeLa Salle. He estimates about400 students buy hot lunch oncampus each day and a similar

number buy a la carte items, sothat 40-50 percent of the stu-dent body is engaged daily withthe food service.

“We visited De La Salle andwere impressed withChartwells,” Linzey said. “Theywill be revamping our opera-tion with more food optionsand more service lines to speedup service.”

A large Measure C project atGonsalves Stadium includesconstructing a new snack shackthat will be open about Sept. 1.Linzey says discussions havetaken place with Chartwellsabout helping with that opera-tion at sports events and per-haps during the school day.

The school currently is atmaximum enrollment of 1,999students. Linzey expects asmany as 20 students amongthat total will not show up forregistration. Freshmen, sopho-mores and juniors still on thewaiting list will fill any vacan-cies. He adds that there is oneunfilled faculty position to befilled.

The board also approvedmodifications to its bylaws,mostly concerning its electionprocess. Outside counsel PaulMinney lauded the board forconstantly examining the char-ter’s bylaws and updating asneeded.

The next governing boardmeeting is on the first day ofschool, Aug. 13.

This summer, I decided, isabout trying new things andbeing bold and brave.

Recently, I broke my recordfor summer firsts while on afamily field trip to the NorthBay. First stop was Sonoma,where I counted several differ-ent firsts.

For starters, I visited theMission San Francisco Solano,or as more commonly known asMission Sonoma. My familytook the tour at the mission andI learned so many interestingfacts, like Padre Jose Altimirafounded this mission becausethe location was near fourprominent Indian Tribes: theWappos, Coast and LakeMiwok, Pomo and Patwin tribes.The buildings looked very oldand the structures were beauti-ful. The mission tour was amaz-ing with the original ovenscalled “hornos,” which stillwork!

Next, my family went to JackLondon State Park and visitedJack London’s grave, the famousWolf House and the Jack Lon-don Museum. Jack London wasborn in 1876 in San Francisco asJohn Griffith Channey. Londonwas a well-know writer andalthough he died young at age40 (1876 – 1916), he wrote “Callof the Wild,” “White Fang,” and“Valley of the Moon,” amongmany others. London also wrotea series of short stories includ-ing “How to Build a Fire” and“Love of Life.”

My favorite London visit wasthe Wolf House that burneddown after construction. It waseerie as the only standing rem-nants were the stone walls. TheWolf House was built in 1910and was almost finished in 1913when it burned to the ground.

With grandparents in tow,we next visited the Jelly BellyFactory in Fairfield. The Her-man Goelitz Candy Companystarted in 1869 and is still a fam-ily-run business today. In 1976,the family was asked to make aJelly Bean of “natural ingredi-ents.” All Jelly Belly creationsstart with actual ingredients likeraspberries or coconut to createthe perfect flavored beans.Unlike other jelly beans, JellyBellies have flavor inside the

bean as well as the shell of thebean.

Of course, we took the JellyBelly tour and enjoyed sometasty jelly beans, but since thissummer is about summer firsts,I was brave and bold and triedsome of the funky Jelly BellyBeans flavors. On my list ofsummer firsts was “Barf,”“Stinky Socks” and “BabyWipes.” Yuck! I spit them outand went back for more of myvery favorites that includeCoconut, Buttered Popcorn andCherry.

As evening approached, myfamily had dinner at Moresi’s in

Clayton. My grandmotherordered Escargot, which isFrench for “snails” and is con-sidered an appetizer, and verypopular in France. It has beenconsumed since prehistorictimes. Today, Escargot is cookedin butter and olive oil with lotsof garlic and served with slicedbread. I actually liked it andwould try it again.

Emily York is a sophomore atCVCHS.

EMILY YORK

TEEN READS

Savoring a summer of ‘firsts’

NATALIE PURSCHE

MDES CORRESPONDENT

Natalie Pursche is in the sixthgrade at Diablo View Middle School.She is an avid reader, enjoys writing,and loves to spend time with herfriends and family. Send comments [email protected].

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AMONG ‘FIRSTS’ THIS SUMMER was a visit to Jack London’s WolfHouse in Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, Calif.

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The college experience cameearly for three Diablo ViewMiddle School students thissummer.

Alex Brown, HannahMacaulay and Sydney Skowattended the one week TechTrek math and science camp atSonoma State University inJune. The camp is designed foryoung women entering eighthgrade to encourage their interestin science, technology, engineer-ing and math (STEM) fields. Asa result, going forward with herstudies and career options, Han-nah says, “I will keep my mindopen to new possibilities.”

Each camper was assigned toone of four core subjects:physics, math, wildlife or genet-ics. They attended classes intheir core subject as well as labsand field trips in the other cate-gories. One field trip was to theLuther Burbank Home andGardens where the girls dis-cussed plant genetics. Hands-onactivities such as dissecting acow’s eye, examining bones andbuilding a robot showed thatmath and science are fun as wellas educational.

The teachers and staff wereall women. Women with careersin math and science were guestspeakers. Alex interviewed onespeaker, a physical therapist, atdinner and then introduced herto the group. Alex was surprisedto learn that the therapist does alot of traveling, including toEurope. That piqued Alex’sinterested in studying abroad.

All three girls favor the sci-ences and aim to attend college.Alex plans to be a labor anddelivery nurse. “I know scienceis a big part of that,” she says.Tech Trek helped her see thateven math has its place in givingbirth.

Sydney would like to studygenetics. She admits that whileshe likes school and learning,she sometimes forgets the mate-rial as soon as the test is over.Tech Trek motivated her to con-nect learning with problem res-

olution. “I’m always going toreally try to stay on topic and seeif I can take it further,” she said.

Hannah did not pinpoint afield of study, but by experienc-ing so many possibilities forapplying math and science atcamp, she says, “Once I’ve madeup my mind, I can still do otherstuff.”

The girls stayed in thedorms and ate their meals as agroup, getting a taste of collegein their future. All three mostenjoyed meeting new people

and are already keeping intouch through texts and socialmedia. Hannah says eventhough her new friends havethe same interests, theirthoughts vary. “It was cool tosee a different perspective.”

Tech Trek was developed in1998 by the American Associa-tion of University Women(AAUW) to help young girlscontinue their interests in theSTEM fields, which are stillunder-represented by women.The Clayton AAUW and Clay-ton Business and CommunityAssociation co-sponsor theClayton students. Clayton’sAAUW has an annual springspaghetti feed to raise their por-tion of the money.

Five students are nominatedby Cynthia Brewington, aDVMS science teacher. The stu-dents submit an essay on aselected topic, the local AAUWinterviews them and choosesthree to attend the camp. Brew-ington says in addition to beingon top of their academic game,the nominees are chosen basedon “leadership, ability in theclassroom and a desire to helptheir peers succeed.”

For more information, go to clay-tonaauw.org or aauw-techtrek.org.


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He currently weighs 92 pounds.The adoption fee for adult

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Three-year-old Big Ben is ahandsome, social boy who lovesattention, and also enjoys play-time with a cat wand toy. An all-around great boy! He is suitablefor a first time cat guardian.

Big Ben’s adoption fee hasbeen prepaid by a generousdonor.

Meet your forever friend atTony La Russa’s Animal RescueFoundation, 2890 MitchellDrive, Walnut Creek, duringadoption hours: Noon to 5 pm.Wednesday, 3 to 7 pm. Thursdayand Friday, Noon to 5 pm. Sat-urday and Sunday. The primarycaretaker must be present toadopt. ARF also encourageskids 16 and younger and caninefamily members (dog adoptionsonly) to be present during theadoption process.

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Local girls thrive at Tech Trek

ALEX BROWN, HANNAH MACAULAY AND SYDNEY SKOW, incomingeighth grade class president at DVMS, arrive at Sonoma StateUniversity for a week of math and science fun at this year’sTech Trek camp. Sonoma is one of eight locations in Californiahosting the camp.

PAMELA WIESENDANGER

Clayton Pioneer

The recreation swim seasonclimaxes over the next fourweekends with invitational,league, city and county meetscoming one on top of anotherfor Clayton and Concordteams. Coaches look for swim-mers to post their best times ofthe year at these final meets asa way of concluding months’of practices and competitionson a positive note.

For Dana Hills Swim Team,second-year head coach JohnTsubota will have the Ottersseeking their 22nd ConcordCity Championship in 23 yearsat Concord Community PoolAug. 8-10 and then vying for ahigh finish at the 54th annualContra Costa County MeetAug. 16-17 at Acalanes High inLafayette.

Oakhurst Orcas, WalnutCountry Stingrays and Spring-wood Sprinters are also in thehome stretch of their seasons.

The 48th City Meet, as thethree-day Concord champi-onships is now called, hasexpanded in recent years to addPleasant Hill teams to thosefrom Concord and Clayton.

Many local teams tuned upfor the end-of-season logjamof meets by taking part in the20th annual Devil MountainPentathlon this month hostedin Clayton by Dana Hills. Theunique format has each athleteswimming five events withtheir cumulative time deter-mining award winners in A andB divisions.

Tsubota has 240 swimmerson his Orcas squad andexpects about 200 going toCity Meet. “Our strongest agegroups include 7-8 girls, 11-12girls, 13-14 boys/girls and 15-18 girls/boys. There will be afew team records that will fallthis season. The 15-18 boysbutterfly record has been bro-ken by Anthony Vines and Ianticipate Ryan Iannacconebreaking one or more 13-14boys records,” the head coachsays.

“Looking ahead to theConcord City meet, we areexcited at the improvementsthe team has made from begin-ners to the seasoned swim-mers. I am so impressed withthe dedication from my coach-ing staff, the parents that vol-unteer countless hours for our

program, the supportive boardand the swimmers that haveput in the work.”

He adds, “Last year weplaced well in both A and Blevels and I expect even moredepth than the previous year.Last year we had a great CityMeet but I expect Dana Hillsto surpass last year’s perform-ance.”

11 OTTERS WIN GOLD

Dana Hills always has thelargest contingent of swim-mers at its own Pentathlon anddoesn’t take part in the teamscoring which saw SycamoreStingrays of Danville finishfirst again, followed by WalnutCountry Stingrays, PleasantHill Aquatics Penguins, Mar-tinez Community Otters andBishop Estates Barracudas.

The Otters ended up witheight swimmers winning ADivision first-place medals andthree earning B titles. CoachTsubota will be especiallypleased with the depth shownin many age groups wheremultiple Otters were in the topeight, foreshadowing strongrelays for the city and countymeets where those eventsscore double points.

Dominic Celetano (6 &under), Colton Seastrand (7-8),

Karlie Seastrand (9-10), Isabel-la Samardzic and ClaytonSeastrand (11-12), EricaduLong and Iannaccone (13-14) and Abbie Kubota (15-18)won A division top honors forDHST. Finishing second wereGianna duLong (11-12), GabiMancini (13-14) and AnthonyTrimble (13-14).

Also winning medals withthird-place finishes wereAlyssa Dern (13-14), JacksonTrimble (13-14) and Vines (15-18).

DHST ribbon winners bytaking 4th through 8th placeswere Avery D’Arcy, CamiMcGee, Molly Boland, ZoeLahanas, Stephanie Iannac-cone, Serafina Celentano,Paige Lindstrom, Logan Sher-man, Ryanne Boland, JennaEwert, Camille Cline, JuliaWickware, Lily Stagner, KaylaConger, Sean Thomas, NiklasWeigelt, Scott Iannaccone,Xander Friedman, ShawnBoland, Ethan Cline, LoganMeyer and Diego Castaneda.

B Division champs fromDana Hills were Joey Dern (9-10), Collin Ringier (6 & under)and George Simpkins (7-8)while Megan Shipstead (9-10),Madelyn Cottam (6 & under),Anjali Ahluwalia (6 & under)and Henry Beckett Sheridan (6

& under) also garnered medals.Other B placements for thehosts were by Alayna Cloven(7-8), Keaton Curtis (11-12),Kiernan Moss (11-12), LindseyWelker (11-12), Cole Edmon-

ston (6 & under), Alex Ringier(9-10) and Lily Webster (9-10) .

ORCAS POST BEST TIMES

Head coach Jasmine Millansaid of her Oakhurst swim-mers, “The Orcas continue towork hard throughout the sea-son to improve stroke tech-niques, build endurance anddevelop self confidence in allaspects of swimming. We arelooking forward to numerouslifetime best times being swumby the end of the season andcontinuing to grow our Orcafamily with pride.”

Orca swimmers collectingA Division awards were GraceSmith (4th 9-10), Kai Parker(2nd 6 & under) and LindsayTreppa (7th, 15-18). In B divi-sion Taylor Silva won 13-14girls while earning ribbonswere Hannah Macaulay (13-14), Caitlin O’Leary (13-14),Carolyn Silva (15-18), SarahPadilla (15-18), Benin Lingua(6 & under) and William Lin-gua (11-12).

The team hosts GehringerPark next Wednesday beforegearing up for city and countymeet action to conclude theseason next month.

Walnut Country SwimTeam more than tripled its topfinishers at the Pentathlon thisyear. Medalists in A Division

were Tanner Lustig (6 &under), Brandon Delizo (11-12), Daniel Lewis and OwenFruchtenicht (7-8) and RyanLevy (15-18). Also placing in Afor the Stingrays were 6 andunder boys Tyler Summers,Joaquin Hernandez and MarcoTredinnick.

SOLARI WINS 11-12 BLexie Solari won 11-12 girls

B Division while her team-mates who won ribbons wereCharlotte James (6 & under),Ian Wright (9-10), Marisa Deli-zo (15-18), Troy Beckon (15-18), Kennedy Kissack (7-8girls) and a trio of 7-8 boys,Mason Wendler, Brady Can-non and Maxime Anum.

The Stingrays are in theWoodland Invitational thisweekend in Walnut Creekalong with Dana Hills and thenare in the Diablo CommunitySwim League championshipsnext Saturday along with fel-low Concord team Spring-wood.

Springwood’s John Finckand Harley Estrella got rib-bons in 11-12 boys A while inB Division Kimi Svoboda wasthird (15-18) and KimberlyGonzalez (13-14) and Ange-line Masongsong (9-10)nabbed ribbons.

Sports Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com July 25, 2014

Big swim meets come in a wave to conclude summer season

Photos courtesy Dana Hills Swim Team

THE 6 AND UNDER BOYS from A and B Divisions shared their just rewards at the conclusion of the20th Devil Mountain Pentathlon. The top finishers included, front row from left, Shawn Keifer(MCST, 4th A), Dominic Celentano (Dana Hills, 1st A), Tanner Lustig (Walnut Country, 3rd A), HenryBeckett Sheridan (DHST, 3rd B), Benjamin Lingua, (OCC, 4th B); standing, Collin Ringier (DHST, 1stB), Kai Parker (OCC, 2nd A), Marco Tredinnick (WCST, 7th A) and Tyler Summers (WCST, 5th A). Notpictured, Joaquin Hernandez (WCST, 6th A) and Cole Edmonston (DHST, 6th B).

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

KARLIE SEASTRAND (TOP LEFT) OF THE HOST DANA HILLS SWIM TEAM was the overall winner in the 9-10 girls age group at the 20th annual Devil Mountain Pentathlon in Clayton. Top finishersincluded, front row from left, Lily Webster (Dana Hills, 7th B), Stephanie Iannaccone (DHST, 5thA), Serafina Celentano (DHST, 6th A), Grace Smith (Oakhurst, 4th A); standing, Seastrand,Dana Hills board member Joe Celentano, Audrey Jullien (PHD, 8th A), Kailen O’Rell (SSST, 7thA), DHST president Eric Skow and Maile Andresen (Ygnacio Wood, 2nd A). Not pictured, MeganShipstead (DHST, 2nd B).

Photo courtesy Walnut Creek Bulldawgs

Clayton had a quartet of players representing the WalnutCreek Bulldawgs in a 12U tournament in Cooperstown, NYlast month. Cooperstown is the home of the NationalBaseball Hall of Fame and, from left, David Yonemura,Patrick Gillespie, Thomas Kearney and Mason Covalt tookpart in the tourney with 104 12U teams. The boys and theircoaches stayed in dorms with teams from across the UnitedStates as the Pony League Bulldawgs completed their springseason. Covalt is part of the WC Blue team that ended upplaying eight games in New York, one more than theBulldawgs Red team. The team’s fall season begins in Sept.The Clayton boys sport commemorative rings after the play-ers were inducted into the American Youth Baseball Hall ofFame.

Clayton baseball quartetvisit Cooperstown with Walnut Creek Bulldawgs CONCORD ADULT SOFTBALL LEAGUE

REGISTRATION NOW OPENTeam registrations are being accepted for Concord fall adult soft-

ball leagues. Men’s, women’s and co-ed divisions are offered Sundaythrough Friday. Concord softball’s fall league is a seven-game seasonwith playoffs Sept. through early Nov. Registration deadline is Aug.15. Registration and information packets are available at WillowPass Community Center or online at cityofconcord.org/softball. Toreceive info by mail or to join a team by being placed on the freeagent list call 671-3423.

CVCHS ATHLETIC BOOSTERS ELECT NEW OFFICERSA new slate of officers was elected last week for the Clayton Val-

ley Charter High School athletic boosters club. Alicia Farr is newpresidents with Dave Cooney (VP), Stephanie Sproul (treasurer) andGrant Bazan (secretary) other officers. Outgoing president Matt Hilland secretary Michele Hill will be working with the new officers toensure a smooth transition. For more information visit their websitecvhsboosters.org or email [email protected].

MDSA FALL SOCCER LATE REGISTRATION

THROUGH JULY 31Boys and girls 4-18 years of age wanting to play in Mt. Diablo

Soccer Association fall league is open until July 31 for wait list andlate registration. Fall league play begins in August when registrationcloses. Families are requested to sign up for volunteer duties to helpthe organization offer its AYSO program. For complete informationvisit mdsoccer.org.

PROGRAM REGISTRATION OPEN

FOR ALL OUT SPORTS LEAGUESSignups are available for All Out Sports League free football

camp next Monday, July 28 (2nd-9th graders). All fall programs at

Clayton Gym including youth volleyball and basketball and adult co-ed softball this fall are also accepting applications. Tryouts for BlazeUSSSA baseball teams (11U-13U) are Aug. 3 and 9 from 9 a.m.-3p.m. For complete information on all the Clayton programs, visit all-outsportsleague.com.

DIABLO FC RECREATIONAL LEAGUE,CAMP BEGIN IN AUGUST

Diablo FC is rolling out a youth soccer recreational league pro-gram starting next month that will focus on individual technicaldevelopment, building confidence in young soccer players, improv-ing cognitive development and increasing imagination by allowingplayers to learn the game gradually in a fun, engaged environment.Diablo FC is the area’s premier youth soccer program and is offer-ing open registration to all players ages 4-10, regardless of ability orprevious experience. A mini-camp will be held Aug. 18-22 and theleague runs through Oct. 11. Refer to diablofc.org for more details.

Sports Shorts

Clayton Pioneer wants to hear your sports story

We get plenty of information from local high schools,sports leagues and clubs. What we don’t hear about so oftenare from our neighbors who are competing below that radarscreen. There are Claytonians who are participating in sportsand recreational endeavors that we don’t normally hear aboutbut we’d like to tell their stories too. If you know of someone—-or even if you are that someone—-let us know what you’redoing and perhaps we’ll find it something our readers wouldlove to read about!

If you’re running, jumping, hiking, biking, swimming, sky-diving, bowling, golfing or participating in any of dozens ofother sports and recreational activities let us know. Give us abrief rundown and your contact information and we might bein touch with you. It’s as simple as sending an email [email protected].

Clayton Valley Charter HighSchool has had its full scheduleof football games restored afterthe controversy surroundingsome June pre-season practiceswhich were mistakenly heldbefore the summer windowallowed by the North Coast Sec-tion.

The Diablo Valley AthleticLeague had originally ruled thatthe Eagles would have to give upsix practice days in August,which would have made themineligible to play in the HonorBowl Aug. 30 in Loomis againstCarson High of Carson City,

NV. Schools are required tohave a minimum of 14 practicedates prior to their first officialgame.

Head coach Tim Murphyand the school went back toDVAL commissioner Craig Leeand the league hearing panelrequesting that the six disal-lowed practice days be splitbetween August and Sept. Theleague agreed and the Eagleswill not be allowed to practiceAug. 11-13 and on three consec-utive Mondays, Sept. 8-15-22.

In addition Murphy will notbe allowed to coach or attendthe school’s first two games, theHonor Bowl and the homeopener Sept. 5 against Tracy.Murphy stated, “It wasn’t the

players that messed up. I’ll paythe price. It was 100 per cent myfault.”

Clayton Valley Charter wasalso in the news this monthwhen defensive tackle transferKahlil McKenzie announced hewill be following in the foot-steps of his dad and uncle andplaying for the University ofTennessee next fall. The 330-pound McKenzie recently trans-ferred to CVCHS along with hissophomore brother Jalen.

He is rated as one of the top10 recruits in the country andpotentially No. 1 before the sea-son is over. His immediate play-ing eligibility is in the hands ofthe NCS office, which typicallyrules on all transfers at the

beginning of August, Murphyexplained. It’s conceivable NCSwill rule that McKenzie must sitout one or more games beforebecoming eligible for his seniorseason.

McKenzie made his collegeannouncement on national TVat “The Opening.” The event atNike headquarters in Oregonpresented by Student Sports isfour days of competition for thenation’s most elite high schoolfootball prospects. McKenziewas the defensive line MVP atThe Opening.

Clayton Valley hopes to haverenovations to Gonsalves Stadi-um completed before the Tracygame. Additional bleachers,paving and a snack shack arefunded by Measure C and tar-geted for a Sept. 1 completiondate.

Ben Linzey and DannyCondon entered Clayton Val-ley High School in the fall of2010 and ended up spending alot of time together as they let-tered all four years together incross country and track. The2014 grads each earned twoother varsity letters and thusqualified for the prestigiousblue CV by earning 10 lettersduring their prep careers.

Athletic director AmberLineweaver says these “twosuperstar athletes and individ-uals” were the only boys orgirls from the Class of 2014 tobe honored with the blue CV.Both were also involved withBoy Scouts earning seniorpatrol leader status with differ-ent troops.

Condon lettered inwrestling twice while Linzey,who played club soccer withDiablo FC 96 throughout highschool, was a two-time soccerletter winner. Linzey will beginhis college career this fall atColorado Mesa University inGrand Junction, CO on a lead-ership scholarship studyingsports medicine. Condon isheaded for Northeastern Uni-versity in Boston as a mechan-ical engineering student with amerit scholarship.

Both intend on continuingto compete as runners on the

collegiate level.Condon competed in

North Coast Section champi-onships 10 times. He was theEagles team MVP twice andMost Inspirational and teamcaptain once. Condon wonDiablo Valley Athletic Leaguechampionships this spring inthe 1600 and 3200 meter runs,critical to CVCHS earning the

first boys league track and fieldchampionship since 1996. Thisyear he went on to the NCSMeet of Champions.

In cross country Condonled the boys team to secondplace last fall and was captainof cross country once. Hegraduated from CVCHS with a4.14 grade point average.

Linzey played three sports

a year plus his Diablo FC clubsoccer duties during his entirehigh school career. He wasco-captain of the cross coun-try team and was awarded theEagle Award for track thisyear. A distance runner hisfirst three years in track, as asenior he discovered a flair forhurdling, competing in the300M hurdles, 4 x 400M relayand 400 meter races upthrough NCS.

He was 2014 CVCHS Lead-ership Altair.

As their parents said, “Benand Danny have truly enjoyedtheir years at Clayton ValleyCharter High School and thegreat friends they made overthe years. In many ways it hasbeen magical. The support ofthe teachers, coaches and staffat CVCHS as well as the sup-port from their Boy Scouttroops have encouraged andcheered on both Ben andDanny to set high goals andwork to achieve them. Benand Danny have much tothank the community of Clay-ton for.”

Both boys feel their scout-ing experiences were impor-tant in their development asyoung men, teaching them lifelessons in confidence, team-work, leadership, responsibilityand tenacity. Linzey was inTroop 484 and Condon Troop262.

The 50th anniversary ofAmerican Youth Soccer Organi-zation was celebrated at itsbirthplace of Torrance inSouthern California with theNational Games that drew 7000players and nearly 500 teams.MDSA Arsenal under 10 boysoutdid 23 other teams to winseven consecutive games fortheir age group championship atthe National Games earlier thismonth.

Arsenal began the competi-tion by beating squads fromRancho Cucamonga 3-0 andMaui 7-0, to finish atop its initialpool. The local boys thenadvanced to the winner’s brack-et, beating San Pedro 5-0 andKey West, FL, 2-1.

The third day of action sawArsenal defeating Bullhead City,AZ 4-0 and then its first taste ofinternational competition,blanking a side from theCaribbean nation of Trinidad &Tobago 4-0.

Arsenal went into the finalday of competition first in thefield and met Arcadia, alsoundefeated throughout the tour-nament. Alex Braginsky got thescoring started in the finalmatch with a long shot from thetop corner of the penalty areahowever Arcadia tied the scoreminutes later.

After halftime, Arsenal keep-er Noah Paschall started thenext scoring sequence with along outlet pass to Ryan Mori-moto, who switched the ball toRyan Ross, who got it past acouple Arcadia defenders to

Braginsky, who beat the keeperat the far post. Moments later,Garrett Alton sealed the Arsenalvictory by making a long shotoff a free kick from AdamRychtecky.

Arsenal’s back three ofAlton, Logan Gonzales andLuke Maynard then played sti-fling defense to keep Arcadiafrom answering back to pre-serve the final 3-1 margin.Defender Dominick Rodriguezand Keegan Boustead playedroles for the champions.

Earlier in the year Arsenalwas second in Bakersfield at theAYSO California State Cup andwon Comstock Shootout andConcord Cup XXI.

Coach K. C. Ross and Zby-sek Rychtecky were in charge ofArsenal.


Clayton Valley Shopping Center

5434 Ygnacio Valley Rd., Ste. 130, Concord

[email protected]

925-672-6700925-672-6700

Join Today! Receive your First

Month FREE!

Online Registration is now open for the...

Mt. Diablo Soccer - AYSO Region 223serving Clayton, Concord, Walnut Creek and the surrounding communities

Everybody Plays. . . Everybody Wins!

[email protected]

Mt. Diablo Soccer - Fall 2014Open to Boys & Girls, Ages 4 -18

(U5 players must be 4 by July 31, 2014 to play)

Fun, affordable memories that last a lifetime.Mt. Diablo Soccer has been the first name in youth soccer in the Diablo

Valley since 1980. Every child plays at least 50% of EVERY game.We are an ALL VOLUNTEER league and our Vision is to provide

world-class soccer programs that enrich children’s lives.

Late registration open through July 31

If you have any questions please send email to:

2014 Fall Season!

Register online today at www.mdsoccer.orgTeams will be formed mid July and balanced to ensure ‘fair play.’ Practices will begin early August

and the season will run through the second week in November.

2014 Registration Fee - $130

or check out some our website for more info

Sports

Photo courtesy CVCHS

CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL 2014 GRADS BEN LINZEY

(LEFT) AND DANNY CONDON spent four years together on theEagles varsity cross country and track teams and they eachearned two other varsity letters to qualify for the prestigiousblue CV by earning 10 letters during their prep careers. Linzeywill begin his college career this fall at Colorado MesaUniversity in Grand Junction, CO while Condon is headed forNortheastern University in Boston.

MDSA Arsenal cap season withAYSO National Games U10 title

Two 2014 Eagle grads each collect10 Clayton Valley varsity letters

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

CV football’s Honor Bowl game restored

FREERegular6” Sub

when you buy a 6” Sub of equal or greater price & 21 oz. drink

Plus tax. Excludes premium and supreme subs.

May not be combined with any other discounts, coupons & greatmeal deals. Valid only at this location.

Comes to the East Bay

Sat., July 26 –– 8 p.m.••TThhee SSaann FFrraanncciissccoo BBooyyss CChhoorruuss,, uunnddeerr tthhee ddiirreeccttiioonn ooff IIaann RRoobbeerrttssoonn••MMeezzzzoo--SSoopprraannoo AAnnnnaa YYeelliizzaarroovvaa••PPiiaannoo CCoonncceerrttoo iinn DD MMiinnoorr,, ••SSeeyymmoouurr LLiippkkiinn,, ppiiaanniisstt

First Congregational Church,Berkeley, at 2345 Channing Way

Tickets $30-65. Student/Teacher discounts available

40th Annual

MozartFestival

For tickets & full program info: www.midsummermozart.org

George Cleveconducts the Midsummer

Mozart Orchestra

6096 Main Street, Clayton, 673-0440

July 25, 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shillz

August 1, 2 . . . . . . .Barefoot Country

August 8, 9 . . . . . . . . . . . .Tone Pony

www.claytonclubsaloon.com

Entertainment from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Now

Karaoke also

on Mondays

8 pm to 11 pm

2 for the price of 1Beer only. Good anytime withoriginal coupon. Exp. 7/24/14

Karaoke Mon. & Wed. nights Open Mic Thur. nights, 8-11 pm

Aug. 910 am - 6 pm

Rib Cook-off


IN CLAYTONSSaattuurrddaayyss tthhrruu OOcctt.. 2255FFaarrmmeerrss’’ MMaarrkkeettMusic: July 26, Kevin Kooyumjian. Aug. 2, Lacey Baker. Aug. 9, Tony deGrassi. 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. Diablo Street between Main and Center streets,downtown Clayton. pcfma.com/clayton.

JJuullyy 2255,, AAuugg.. 11MMoooonnlliigghhtt MMoovviieess Bring a lawn chair, blankets, invite friends and neighbors and join us atsunset for a surround sound spectacular evening: July 25, “The GamePlan;” Aug. 1, “The Princess Bride.” Activities begin at 7:30 p.m. Moviesstart at dusk. Clayton Community Church, 6055 Main St. Free admis-sion. claytoncc.com.

AAuugg.. 22,, 1166SSaattuurrddaayy CCoonncceerrttss iinn tthhee GGrroovvee6 – 8:30 p.m. Grove Park, downtown Clayton. Free. For a complete con-cert series list, see Page 3.

AAuugg.. 77TThhuurrssddaayy CCoonncceerrttss iinn tthhee GGrroovveeFeaturing local talent. 7 - 8:30 p.m. Grove Park, downtown Clayton.Free. For a complete concert series list, see Page 3.

AAuugg.. 99RRiibb CCooookk--OOffffRib cook-off sponsored by the Clayton Business and CommunityAssociation. Family event with live music, food, drink. 28 teams competefor trophies and cash prizes. Attend or sign up to compete. 10 a.m. – 6p.m. Clayton Club Saloon, 6096 Main St., Clayton. Raffle tickets avail-able for chance to be People’s Choice Judge. claytoncbca.org.

AAuugg.. 99PPaaiinntt tthhee TToowwnn PPuurrpplleeRelay For Life committee and team members decorate downtown Claytonwith Relay color purple to promote awareness of upcoming Relay For Lifeevent. 9 a.m. Grove Park, downtown Clayton. Removal of purple onAug. 17 after Relay.

AAuugg.. 1166 -- 1177RReellaayy FFoorr LLiiffeeAmerican Cancer Society fundraiser. Join a team or walk as an individ-ual. Activities for participants and spectators. 10 a.m. Saturday to 10a.m. Sunday. Clayton Valley Charter High School, 1101 Alberta Way,Concord. Register at relayforlife.org/claytonca.

AAuugg.. 3300DDeerrbbyy aanndd CCaarr SShhoowwClayton Community Church’s 11th Annual Labor Day event. Kids 7 – 14race derby cars down Main Street. Car show and parade. 9 a.m. – 3p.m. Main Street, Clayton. Free. Register kids at claytoncc.com and carsat claytonderbycarshow.org.

IN CONCORDTTuueessddaayyss FFaarrmmeerrss’’ MMaarrkkeettTuesdays year round, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Todos Santos Plaza, downtownConcord. cityofconcord.org.

TTuueessddaayy NNiigghhttss iinn JJuullyyBBlluueess SSeerriieessSome of the best blues in the Bay Area. July 29, Annie Sampson. 6:30 –8 p.m. Todos Santos Plaza, downtown Concord. Free. cityofconcord.org.

MMuussiicc aanndd MMaarrkkeettThursday night live music and farmers’ market. Music: July 31,Concord’s Killer Karaoke Contest and Mayors’ Cookoff featuring PUSHwith Dan Ashley. Aug. 7, The Rubinoos. Aug. 14, James Garner’s JohnnyCash Tribute. Market 4 – 8 p.m.; music 6:30 – 8 p.m. Todos SantosPlaza, downtown Concord. cityofconcord.org.

BBlloooodd DDrriivveessHelp the Red Cross prevent a summer shortage in blood supply bydonating. redcrossblood.org.JJuullyy 330012 – 6 p.m. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1360Alberta Way. AAuugg.. 8810 a.m. – 4 p.m. Paris Beauty College, 1655 Willow Pass Road.AAuugg.. 11229 a.m. – 2 p.m. John Muir Health Mt. Diablo Center, 2540 East St.AAuugg.. 113310 a.m. – 3 p.m. United Health Care, 2300 Clayton Road, 10th Floor.

AAuugg.. 55NNaattiioonnaall NNiigghhtt OOuuttCelebrate the Todos Santos Downtown District with music, Farmers’Market and great restaurants. 6:30 p.m. Todos Santos Plaza, downtownConcord. cityofconcord.org.

AAuugg.. 99 –– 1100JJaappaanneessee SSuummmmeerr FFeessttiivvaallJapanese American Club’s annual event featuring Japanese food, bonsaiexhibits, Kendo and Judo demonstrations, Taiko drum performances,Japanese folk and classical dance performances and calligraphy demon-strations. Sat. 1 – 9 p.m. Sun. 12 – 8:30 p.m. Concord JapaneseCultural Center, 3165 Treat Blvd., Concord. Free admission, parking atYgnacio Valley High School, 755 Oak Grove Road, and shuttle to festi-val. www.diablojaclub.com, [email protected] or 682-5299for more information.

ON THE MOUNTAINMount Diablo Interpretive Association programs listed are free with theexception of park entrance fee. Go to mdia.org and click on EventsCalendar for more information.

AAuugg.. 11RReeggiissttrraattiioonn OOppeennss ffoorr TTaarraannttuullaa HHiikkeessSearch for Mount Diablo’s giant arachnids. Check the website fortarantula hike dates and times. Reservations are required and fill upfast.

AAuugg.. 99TThhiinnggss TThhaatt GGoo BBuummpp iinn tthhee NNiigghhttNature hike as darkness falls. Search for owls, bats, scorpions, taran-tulas, poor-wills and other inhabitants of the dark. 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.Meet at Mitchell Canyon Visitor Center. Registration required: [email protected] or [email protected].

Save Mount Diablo programs listed are free unless otherwise noted. Goto savemountdiablo.org and click on Activities/Guided Hikes for moreinformation. 947-3535.

AAuugg.. 22DDiiRRTT DDaayyAssist the Diablo Restoration Team with weeding and watering activi-ties and cleaning up Marsh Creek 4 property. 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Meetat 3240 Aspara Drive, Clayton. Response required to Jim Cartan [email protected] or 947-3535.

AAuugg.. 22PPuubblliicc AAssttrroonnoommyy PPrrooggrraammRocks and ice in the solar system. Hold a real meteorite, participate inhands on activities and look through telescopes. 7 – 11 p.m. Meet atLower Summit Parking Lot.

AAuugg.. 99WWrriigghhtt CCaannyyoonn HHiikkeeBeautiful hike of Wright Canyon off of Morgan Territory Road on theeast side of the mountain. 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Meet at Clayton Park andRide, corner of Peacock Creek and Clayton Roads, Clayton. Responserequired: [email protected].

EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENTTThhrruu JJuullyy 3311WWoorrkksshhoopp PPrroodduuccttiioonnssPerformed by Young REP Theatre. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 CivicDr., Walnut Creek. $17.50. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

JJuullyy 2255JJoohhnn MMaayyaallllBlues virtuoso. Presented by Red Legged Frog Productions. 8 p.m. LesherCenter for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $55. lesherartscen-ter.org. 943-7469.

JJuullyy 2255 –– AAuugg.. 33““TThhoorroouugghhllyy MMooddeerrnn MMiilllliiee””A high-spirited, musical romp that has all of New York dancing theCharleston. Performed by the Diablo Theatre Company at Diablo ValleyCollege Performing Arts Center, 321 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill. dia-blotheatre.org.

JJuullyy 2266GGoollddeenn SSttaattee -- LLoonnee SSttaarr BBlluueess RReevvuueeA cross country meeting of the minds between California and Texasmusicians. 8 p.m. El Campanil Theatre, 602 W. Second St., Antioch.$15-$27. elcampaniltheatre.com.

JJuullyy 2266ttLLaass iinn CCoonncceerrttFeaturing Hyphee Heels and cellist Freya Seeburger. 7 p.m. LesherCenter for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $20-$25. lesherarts-center.org. 943-7469.

JJuullyy 2277SSaalliimmppoouurr BBeellllyy DDaanncceeStudents perform required choreographies and improvise to live musicfor their Suhaila Level 4 format certification. 6:15 p.m. Lesher Center forthe Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $14.50. lesherartscenter.org.943-7469.

AAuugg.. 11YYoouutthh DDaannccee PPeerrffoorrmmaanncceeCulmination of intensive workshop of intermediate and advanceddancers sponsored by Civic Arts Education and Diablo Ballet. 7:30 p.m.Shadelands Auditorium, 111 N. Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek. $10. 943-5846.

AAuugg.. 11ZZyyddeeccoo FFllaammeessPremier zydeco band. Presented by Red Legged Frog Productions. 8:15p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25.lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 11 -- 33““TThhee PPiirraatteess ooff PPeennzzaannccee””Beloved tale of tender-hearted pirates with a soft spot for orphans andpoetry presented by Lamplighters Music Theatre. Lesher Center for theArts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25-$54. lamplighters.org.

AAuugg.. 22BBllaacckk aanndd TTaann YYeelllloowwComedy by Ryan Chan. 5:15 and 8:15 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts,1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $20. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 33LLaattiinn JJaazzzz AAllll--SSttaarrssRafael Ramirez performs. Presented by Owl Eye Entertainment. 2:45 p.m.Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25-$35.lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 55YYoouunngg PPeerrffoorrmmeerrss OOrrcchheessttrraa CCoonncceerrttSounds of Summer Extravaganza. World premiere of “Contrastare” bylocal composer in residence George Curtis Van Liew. 7 p.m. ShadelandsAuditorium, 111 N. Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek. $10. 943-5846.

AAuugg.. 66 –– 1144DDiissnneeyy’’ss PPeetteerr PPaann,, JJrr..Presented by Poison Apple Productions. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $15-18. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 77JJaazzzz CCoonncceerrttPerformed by the Civic Arts Education jazz band. 7:30 p.m. ShadelandsAuditorium, 111 N. Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek. $10. 943-5846.

AAuugg.. 88TToomm AArrmmssttrroonngg aanndd TThhee BBrraannddeedd MMeennCountry music. Presented by Red Legged Frog Productions. 8:15 p.m.Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25. lesher-artscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 99BBeeccaauussee 77……((88//99))Time to call in the investigative team of Trapped In A Rumor Improv tosee what happens when good numbers go bad. 7:45 p.m. Lesher Centerfor the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $12-$15.lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 99 JJoohhnn PPiizzzzaarreelllliiBrilliant guitar work and smooth vocals. Part of the Walnut Creek JazzConcert Series. 5 and 8 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr.,Walnut Creek. $25-$40. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 1100SSaabbllee WWiinntteerrss EEnnsseemmbblleeSoft, sultry, buttery vocal renditions of the Great American Songbook.Presented by Owl Eye Entertainment. 3:15 p.m. Lesher Center for theArts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25-$35. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 1155HH..OO..PP..EE..Fourth annual Helping Others Pursue Excellence awards ceremony pre-sented by Order My Life. 7:30 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $15-$20. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 1155JJoonn MMeennddlleeWalnut Creek Guitar Series. 7:15 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 1166AAnn EEnncchhaanntteedd EEvveenniinnggHighlights from many Disney shows performed by In The Light VoiceStudio. 7 p.m. El Campanil Theatre, 602 W. Second St., Antioch. $8-$12. elcampaniltheatre.com.

AAuugg.. 1166CCllaayyttoonn BBrrootthheerrss Quintet. Part of the Walnut Creek Jazz Concert Series. 5 and 8 p.m.Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25-$40.lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 1166RRaannddoomm AAccttss ooff IImmpprroovvPresented by Ready or Not Improv. 8:15 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts,1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $15. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 1177DDeessttiinnyy MMuuhhaammmmaadd JJaazzzz TTrriiooSound sculptress from Celtic to Coltrane with a feel for storytelling.Presented by Owl Eye Entertainment. 2:45 p.m. Lesher Center for theArts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25-$35. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

AAuugg.. 1177TThhee DDiiaammoonnddssClassic rock and roll with today’s attitude. 3 p.m. El Campanil Theatre,602 W. Second St., Antioch. $25-$27. elcampaniltheatre.com.

AAuugg.. 2255AAuuddiittiioonnssWalnut Creek Chorus has openings for all voices. Drop by 7 – 9 p.m.Trinity Lutheran Church, 2317 Buena Vista Ave., Walnut Creek. [email protected].

FUNDRAISERSJJuullyy 2266MMaarraatthhoonn BBoooott CCaammppClayton Fitness Center team sponsors this two-hour fundraiser forAmerican Cancer Society Relay For Life Clayton. Do 30-station circuitonce or repeatedly up to full two hours. 9 – 11 a.m. Clayton FitnessCenter, 1516 Kirker Pass Road, Clayton. $25. 672-2005.

JJuullyy 2266RRaaiissee tthhee RRooooff iinn tthhee CCoouurrttyyaarrddFood, wine and beer, silent auction, raffle, wine pull. Public fundraiser toreplace parish hall roof. Parish hall shelters community events and foodpantry outreach. 6 – 8 p.m. Saint Bonaventure Catholic Community,5562 Clayton Road, Concord. $20. Get tickets after Sunday mass or atParish Office. 672-5800.

AAuugg.. 77GGoouurrmmeett GGaallllooppFood and wine walk in downtown Walnut Creek to benefit Diablo Balletand PEEK Outreach Program. 6 – 9 p.m. Check in at MassimoRistorante, 1604 Locust St. $45. diabloballet.org/events.

AAuugg.. 1166TTeeaa aanndd FFaasshhiioonn SShhoowwFun-filled event for all ages. Tea and refreshments, hat contest, bestdressed impersonator contest. 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Concord SeniorCenter, 2727 Parkside Drive, Concord. $20 adults; $15 children, stu-dents and seniors. Call 671-3320, ext. 1 for tickets.

AT THE LIBRARYThe Clayton Library is at 6125 Clayton Road. Programs are free unlessotherwise noted. FFoorr aa sscchheedduullee ooff ssuummmmeerr eevveennttss,, ggoo ttooccllaayyttoonnlliibbrraarryy..oorrgg oorr 667733--00665599..

The Concord Library is at 2900 Salvio St. ccclib.org or 646-5455.For a schedule of summer events, go to cccccclliibb..oorrgg//llooccaattiioonnss//ccoonnccoorrdd.

GOVERNMENT11sstt aanndd 33rrdd TTuueessddaayyss,, eexxcceepptt AAuugg.. 55CCllaayyttoonn CCiittyy CCoouunncciill7 p.m. Hoyer Hall, Clayton Library, 6125 Clayton Road. 673-7304 orci.clayton.ca.us.

22nndd aanndd 44tthh TTuueessddaayyssCCllaayyttoonn PPllaannnniinngg CCoommmmiissssiioonn7 p.m., Hoyer Hall, Clayton Library, 6125 Clayton Road. 673-7304 orci.clayton.ca.us.

11sstt,, 22nndd aanndd 44tthh TTuueessddaayyssCCoonnccoorrdd CCiittyy CCoouunncciill6:30 p.m., Council Chamber, Concord Civic Center, 1950 Parkside Dr.cityofconcord.org.

Clayton Community CalendarPLEASE SUBMIT YOUR CLAYTON COMMUNITY CALENDAR EVENTS BY 5 P.M. AUG. 6 FOR THE AUG. 16 ISSUE. ITEMS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY EMAIL TO [email protected]

For one Clayton family, thissummer has meant much morethan trips to the beach andtime away from schoolwork.Kris and Becky Van Liew,along with their five children,joined a “Mission of Music” toTeupasenti, Honduras, fromJune 29-July 5 in an effort tobring musical joy and educa-tion to both children andadults.

The Van Liews are long-time Clayton residents whohave home-educated each oftheir children through theAmerican Christian Academy.Ranging in age from 9-20 (fourboys, one girl), the kids havebeen involved for some timewith the Contra Costa SuzukiStrings and its director, LaurieCarlson. Carlson was inspiredto bring an instrumental groupto Honduras when she wasthere last year with her church.

“I took my violin and justsaw how it was received, howthey loved it, the joy,” she says.“So the director of the missionthere said, ‘You should bringall your students.’ And theword sort of spread and bal-looned, and we began to thinkabout bringing all of ourSuzuki Strings students.”

According to GeorgeCurtis Van Liew, 17, the objectof the trip was simple: “It is amusic mission, and so what wego to do is spread the joy ofmusic.” Trumpets, ukuleles,violins and other instrumentswere used by students ages 9-19. Nearly all of the instru-ments for the trip were donat-ed by local music shops,schools and other groups thatheard about the efforts of theSuzuki Strings group. “Thebiggest donation came fromShar music,” says GeorgeCurtis. “They sent us a cello,three violins; just thousands ofdollars worth of stuff.”

The travelers worked with apre-kindergarten group eachday of their weeklong trip,playing music for them and

engaging them in musicalactivities and games and visit-ing outlying villages.“There arelots of villages and it’s quiteremote. When we’re there, weparticipate in their feedingprogram and we share the joyof music.”

George Curtis gives addeddetail to how the group wasable to bring smiles to faces aworld away. “Day-to-day, wetravel around and just playmusic for people – it may be asmall group of people. Wealso may play in their churchservice on a Sunday. We mightplay in front of someone’shouse as we’re walking aroundwith our instruments. We tryto keep an open mind and ifsomeone wants us to play, thenwe play. We’re just bringingmusic.”

The group stayed in the vil-lage of Teupasenti, at theChildren’s Rescue Missionhome, where missionaries stayas they are passing through.

“We were received withgreat joy and thankfulness,”says Van Liew. “We carriedmusic, meals, and materials toseveral schools and pueblos.After we would play, we would

let the children and adults han-dle and play the violins, ukule-les, and cello. We learned sev-

eral Latin and CentralAmerican songs, including thenational anthem of Honduras.Each time we would play it thepeople would smile bigger andclap and sing along.”

Van Liew tells of onekindergarten boy that theywould see each day. The boywould seek them out andstrum a ukulele over and overfor as long as he could keep hishands on it, until the groupwould finally need to leave,simply due to schedule.

As the group traveled to“excruciatingly poor” areas,they would take provisions ofcorn, rice or beans to the peo-ple. This was the most reward-ing part for each member, saysCarlson. “We take them foodand play them something. Wefeed their soul with music andtheir body with food.”

To learn more about the ContraCosta Suzuki Strings, visit face-book.com/contracostasuzukistrings.

Pittsburg CommunityTheatre is still riding high afterits successful inaugural year per-forming at the CaliforniaTheatre in Old Town Pittsburg.No sooner did the ghost lightclick on at the close of the sea-son did the company start plan-ning for the next theatrical sea-son.

The 2014-2015 seasonbrings stories straight “FromPage to Stage,” which includeclassic stories based on suchgreat literary works such as SirArthur Conan Doyle’s SherlockHolmes mystery “The Houndof the Baskervilles,” to the clas-sic Chinese tale of honor and

duty in Disney’s “Mulan Jr.” Thecompany will also stage aretelling of Grimm’s Fairy Taleswith a twist that takes you on amusical journey exploring whathappens after the happily everafter in “Into the Woods,” andthen wraps up the season with aclassic Neil Simon romanticcomedy “Barefoot in the Park.”

However, this year PCT willpresent a fifth “bonus show.”“Greater Tuna” is a hilarioustwo-man play featuring PCT’sfinest: Greg Brown and BrianVillanueva. The two actors playmore than 20 characters in theproduction, which is co-directedby Betty Brown and Marilyn

Simmonds-Cole.Season tickets are now avail-

able. Subscriptions offer fourshows for the price of three. Bypurchasing a season ticket, youcan also purchase the bonusshow at a 20 percent discount.Season ticket prices are $75 foradults, $45 for seniors and stu-dents and $30 for childrenyounger than 11.

To purchase season tickets,call or visit the CaliforniaTheatre Box Office Tuesdaythrough Friday from 12 to 5p.m., 925-427-1611. The boxoffice is located at the theater,351 Railroad Ave.

For more information n the per-formances or auditions for any of theshows, visit www.pittsburgcommuni-tytheatre.org.

No one comes closer tosounding like Tim McGraw thanTom Drinnon.

Drinnon has been a countrysinger for many years and hasperformed shows with some ofthe biggest country singers inthe world, including TimMcGraw. Drinnon performs thesongs, tells the stories, and pro-vides a memorable show forMcGraw fans. It’s all goodcountry music and just just plainol’ great entertainment.

Drinnon will be at the FirehouseArts Center, 4444 Railroad Ave.,Pleasanton on August 30 at 8 p.m.For tickets call (925) 931-4848.

Pittsburg Theatre unveils 2014-15 season

Oakland East Bay Gay Men’sChorus Brings summer popsmusic tour to Clayton

Oakland East Bay Gay’s MenChorus (OEBGMC) will begintheir East Bay Summer Pops!On the Road to Pride tour onAug 2, at 7pm at the ClaytonValley Presbyterian Church,1578 Kirker Pass Road inClayton.

Summer Pops! Road to Pridefeatures music about life’s jour-neys — especially the amazingjourney of coming out as a gayman. These songs give a taste ofthe heartbreak, exuberance, anddaily life of what it means to begay in the East Bay and how itfeels to come out at differentstages of life.

The wide range of musicalstyles in the program include

Frank Sinatra to Asian languagesongs, and fully choreographed,hilarious small ensembles.

Tickets are: $8.00 for youth(ages 15 and under), $15General Admission. For ticketinformation go towww.oebgmc.org

OEBGMC is a 40-voicemen’s chorus known through-out the East Bay for: partneringwith a wide variety of communi-ty groups — from children’schoruses to homeless choruses;performing for communityevents — from senior centers toPride celebrations; and donatinga portion of all their proceeds tolocal beneficiaries.


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Tim McGraw tribute prettyclose to the real thing

CLAYTON’S VAN LIEW FAMILY RECENTLY JOINED Contra Costa SuzukiStrings on a “Mission of Music” in Honduras where theybrought musical instruments and meals to schools inTeupasenti and surrounding villages. At each location, stu-dents performed in concerts.

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Butter makes everything better

Our summer camps at Panson Fire this year include a lotof baking, and it’s been funshowing the kids how to makehomemade butter. It tastes sofresh and creamy, and it got methinking about all the types ofbutter in the market, especiallythe cultured varieties.

First, a comment about“sweet cream butter” oftenmentioned on packages. Itrefers to the cream source—ithasn’t been fermented, inwhich case it would be called“cultured cream butter” with anoticeably tart, sour or acidicflavor.

It has nothing to do withbeing salted or not, although itbears noting that unsalted but-ter is generally fresher thansalted and should be usedquickly to avoid becoming ran-cid. Salt, on the other hand, isa preservative, so salted butterhas considerable shelf life inthe refrigerator and theamount of salt varies from aslittle as .4% to over 4%.

There are several ways toculture butter. One is to incu-bate the cream for about 16hours in the presence of bacte-ria specifically grown to sourmilk products like quark, yogurtor sour cream. Another versionintroduces the bacteria after thebutter has been churned.

There are a few Americancompanies that makeEuropean-style butter (most ofwhich is cultured butter) butgenerally you have to look forEuropean makers. Europeanbutters are also distinguishedby their higher fat content(82% or greater versusAmerican-made of 81% orless). Serious bakers, especiallythose creating puff pastry,croissant dough and other lam-inated pastries, are much morepartial to the higher fat con-tent butters.

Among the AmericanEuropean-style manufacturersyou’ll find at Whole Foods orTrader Joe’s are VermontCreamery (86% butterfat),Plugra (sweet, not cultured,82%), Straus (sweet, not cul-tured, 84%), and OrganicValley (85% butterfat)

Years ago, I attended a pro-gram sponsored by VermontCreamery. It was a decadent(and calorific) experience. Wewere given a plate with 8 dif-ferent butter samples to tasteand distinguish, and then fed

all sorts of butter cookies tosee if we could match the plainbutter with the cookie madefrom it. You might like to trysomething like that at home(with fewer varieties of course,unless you’re a hardy soul).

PEACH AND LEMON

THYME SHORTBREAD

From Organic Valley½ lb European-style cultured

butter, room temperature1 c sugar3/4 tsp salt1 large egg 1 ½ c unbleached white flour1/2 c rice flour1 scant cup finely chopped,

dried peaches2 Tbsp minced fresh lemon

thyme

Heat the oven to 325°F.Butter a 9-by-9-inch square bak-ing pan. Use electric beaters atmedium speed or a woodenspoon to cream the butter untilsmooth. Continue beating andgradually add the sugar and salt.Keep beating until the mixtureis light-colored and fluffy-look-

ing, about two minutes if youare using electric beaters. Addthe egg and mix until smooth.

Whisk the flours together ina small bowl. Add the flour mix-ture to the creamed butter mix-ture in four additions, mixinguntil smooth after each addition.Stir in dried peaches and mincedfresh thyme.

Spread the dough evenly intothe buttered pan. Bake untilshortbread is light golden andalmost firm near the center, 35-40 minutes. Let shortbread coolin the pan before cutting it intosmall squares.

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‘Ghost Stories’scares up summer fun

Nipping at the heels of theword “summer” are the words“summer camp,” and not longafter comes the word “camp-fire,” and it’s a no-brainer that“ghost stories” comes next.Instead of suggesting a great,bawdy, bodice-ripper to accom-pany one to the beach, Here’s amore family friendly, but notnecessarily more literary genreto bring to the campfire afterthe beach.

The stories in “Great GhostStories” (HarperCollins Sept.,1998) from the “Books ofWonder” series were selectedand illustrated by Barry Moser.The tales chosen run the gamutfrom scary, to funny, to sweetand outright silly (the ghost whoresides in a barren apple tree).You don’t have to camp to getthe most from this book; a back-yard barbeque, or maybe a sum-mer porch with a camp lanternfor proper effect? For thosewho prefer the security ofhome, read by flashlight withthe kids sitting in a storytellingcircle. A flashlight for each childto hold chillingly under theirchin wouldn’t hurt, either.

“The Monkey’s Paw,” thefirst story in the collection (byW. W. Jacobs), is so much funthat it gave me pause and goosebumps when read midday on asunny deck along the TruckeeRiver.

See ‘Ghost Stories’, pg 16

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Purple will pop up in Clayton when its Relayfor Life teams “Paint the Town Purple” withRelay’s signature color on Aug. 9. Teams willdecorate the town to promote awareness ofClayton’s Relay For Life event on Aug. 16 and17.and the efforts it funds through the Ameri-can Cancer Society.

Join a team, walk as an individual or donateand cheer on participants at the event. HelpClayton exceed its goal of $75,000 towards find-ing a cure for cancer, supporting cancerpatients, honoring cancer survivors and remem-bering loved ones lost to the disease.

Earlier this month, Todos Santos Plaza inConcord was transformed with purple bannersand bows on July 12 for 24 hours of Relay Forlife. Nearly 500 people walked the park andcamped out to help spread the word about RelayFor Life. Ceremonies, food, games and enter-tainment ran ‘round the clock. Walkers werebolstered in their efforts by Mayor Tim Graysonand the City of Concord team and supported bythe Concord Police Department and businessesaround the plaza.

Teams raised more than $28,000, surpassingtheir goal. Donations can still be made throughAug. 31.

Clayton’s Relay starts at 10 a.m. in a new location,the Clayton Valley Charter High School, 1101 Alber-ta Way, Concord. See the Community Calendar formore details or go to relayforlife.org/concordca or relayforlife.org/claytonca.

Relays for Life target cancer

NEENA DHILLON AND HER AUNT SARAH DHILLON

of Concord walked at the Concord Relay ForLife in support of family members suffering orlost to cancer.

Pioneer Photo Album

The Pioneer is proud to spotlight our readers’ photos. Email your photo in a high-resolution format [email protected] with a description of the photo, where and when it was taken and a little about why you like it.Include your name and phone number. Then look for it in the next Pioneer.

Elaine Friedmancaught this “eeu-uwwww” shot of a kingsnake lunching on a rat-tlesnake at her home onMorgan Territory Rd.

“The king snake washuge and it appearedthe rattlesnake wasalmost as big,” Elainesaid. “I caught theaction as the last thirdof the rattlesnake wasbeing devoured.”

It’s all part of thefood chain.

It is hard to not love thefeathery plumes of Red FountainGrass. This ornamental grass hasbecome Clayton Valley landscapestaple. It’s thin strap-like, pur-plish-red foliage and warm taupecolored fuzzy cattails are a reli-able summer accent plant formany landscape situations.

Introduced to the gardeningmasses over a decade ago, RedFountain Grass surged in itspopularity, and since has neverlost its luster in the eyes of theplant lover. Folks are intrigued byRed Fountain Grass’ movementand texture that it provides to thelandscape.

You’ll find Red FountainGrass sold in nurseries and gar-den centers under the namePennisetum Rubrum. This orna-mental grass loves to be plantedin full sun, where it can reachtowards the sky. Red FountainGrass also does well in windyenvironments. It is perfect forthose Clayton Valley residentsthat live on hillsides where thewind is often present.

Pennisetum Rubrum cangrow quite large. You shouldexpect around four feet ofheight and three feet of width atmaturity. This ornamental grassis winter deciduous, meaning it

browns-out when the weatherchills, and regrows from theroots as spring warms. Considerthe Red Fountain Grass’ decidu-ous winter behavior when plac-ing it in your landscape. Try tohold off from pruning down lastseason’s foliage until you seesigns of new growth. Thisshould happen sometime in mid-March.

Red Fountain grass requireslight to regular water, and prefersa well drained soil. It will domuch better planted on a slopethan around a lawn.

Through the years, dwarf andvariegated selections ofPennisetum have been intro-duced. They are very desirable,and fun to incorporated in thelandscape.

Red Fountain Grass is anaccent ornamental. It is nicelyused to adjacent to a decorativeboulder, or surrounded by con-trasting foliage. Considerinstalling Red Fountain Grassalong with gray or green leafedplants for maximum drama. Itlooks nice with Emerald CarpetManzinita, gray foliagedTeucrium Majoricum, and sedumAngelia. If you desire taller com-panion installations, plant alongwith Moonshine Yarrow, SalviaIndigo Spires and Coral DriftRoses.

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You Are Cordially Invited to Oakhurst Country Club’s Open HouseFriday, August 1, 2014, 5 to 9 p.m.

5 p.m. Wine & Dine Model “A” Car show along with BMW of Concord showcasing beautiful classic and new cars,

accompanied by delicious gourmet hors d’oeuvres.

6 p.m. taste your way through the club, enjoying culinary delights

Live Band, featuring Crosstown5

7 p.m. Raffle Drawings to include FREE memberships, FREE room rentals and more

Major golf company representative will be

on the putting green with the latest golf technology.

Putting competition

Tickets: Adults, $20++

Children (12 and under) $10++

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• Two complimentary glasses of wine

& souvenir wine glass,

• Hors d’oeuvres

• Dinner and dessert

• Live Music

Memberships are limited and subject to availability. Members who resign their membership prior to the two year anniver-

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No purchase necessary and need not be present for raffle drawing. All tee times must be scheduled with Membership

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The list of authors chosen byMoser is as surprising as enticing:H. G. Wells, Madeleine L’Engle,Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P.Lovecraft, Bram Stoker, JoyceCarol Oates, E. Nesbit and evenMoser himself. The settings areas varied as the authors them-selves and may suggest whyghost stories invite retelling inmore familiar locales, provingthat familiarity not only breedscontempt, but maybe scariness aswell.

“Great Ghost Stories” is notfor the blood-loving, scream-cur-dling aficionado, but you don’twant to send your family to bedwith nightmares waiting beneaththeir pillows. The lengths of the

tales are perfect, long enough tosatisfy, but short enough to leaveyou wanting “just one more,please?”

Among my favorites was“The Red Room” by H. G. Wells,a tale of scaring the heck out ofa young man who doesn’t believein ghosts. You don’t believe inghosts either, but Wells tearsdown that disbelief with suchfinesse, both readers and listen-ers will be glad when the storyends. E. Nesbit, the dear authorof some beloved children’s litera-ture, writes of a honeymoongone awry, leaving a widowedgroom wishing he’d listenedmore carefully before taking thatHalloween stroll, with his young

bride left alone in their rentedcottage.

Barry Moser’s art hasenlivened and enhanced bothchildren’s and adult literature formany years. I’d recommend any-thing with Moser’s work attachedto it, which is exactly whatprompted me to buy “GreatGhosts Stories” before the clos-ing of Clayton Books. And did Imention that when first hired towork in that store I was told itwas haunted? But that’s anotherstory. Check your Clayton ceme-tery history and get back to me.


‘Ghost Stories’, from page 14

‘Green’ vinyl isn’t just a color

A friend of mine, whomight be described as anunusually dedicated tree-hug-ger, recently moved into a newhome – that is, new to her. Thehouse was mostly in goodrepair, except for the kitchenfloor, which indisputably need-ed to be completely replaced,and soon. Knowing more orless what I did for a living, sheasked my advice, but with onecaveat. “Anything but vinyl,”she said, in that sometimes-charming way she has. “I will

never have a vinyl floor,period.”

“But vinyl floors andkitchens are practically made foreach other,” I ventured. “Vinylis resistant to moisture andhumidity, it’s strong and durable,and it’s resilient – a good thingin a room where you are almostalways on your feet. Plus itcomes in a million colors andpatterns.”

“What,” I continued, know-ing what her answer would be,“do you have against vinyl?”

“It’s plastic. It’s made frompetroleum. It’s just one more waywe’re killing the earth.” Andwith that (italics hers), shestepped into my trap.

It surprised her, and maywell surprise you, to learn thefollowing few facts about vinylfloor-covering.

Vinyl is indeed a plastic, andis made partly with non-renew-able resources such as crude oil.But unlike other plastics, theseaccount for only 43 percent of

vinyl’s composition – it’s 57 per-cent derived from common salt– and, also unlike other plastics,it can be recycled.

No hazardous materials arereleased into the environment asa byproduct of the manufactureof vinyl floor-covering. Wasteproducts are either recycled atthe point of manufacture orsent to a reclaimer for disposal.(The heavy metal stabilizers andpigments once used werereplaced years ago with moreenvironmentally safe materials.)

So, compared to almost anyother plastic you can think of,vinyl requires fewer naturalresources to make, uses muchless energy for manufacture, andreleases lower emissions into theenvironment.

Plus it comes in a millioncolors and patterns – and yes,that includes green.

LARRY FLICK

UNDERFOOT

Larry Flick is president of theFloor Store. Email your questions orcomments to [email protected].

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Sunny Solomon is a freelancewriter and head of the Clayton BookClub. Visit her website at bookinwithsunny.com for her latestrecommendations or just to ‘talkbooks.’

JUL 25 Clayton Pioneer 2014

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