OCT 9 Clayton Pioneer 2015

It’s hard to imagine thatsomething as innocent ascooking meals could be deadly,but in Guatemala, 15 residentsdie every day in the country bycooking with wood fires. A“staggering” 9.6 million peo-ple are affected by HouseholdAir Pollution (HAP), which is

why Clayton resident PatriciaEspinosa is strongly promot-ing her daughter Christina’snew business, GenteGas.

It’s not just parental pride.It can really save lives.

Christina, a University ofthe Pacific graduate, is nowliving in that Latin Americancountry, trying to bring theidea of using liquefied petrole-um gas (LPG) to the massesthrough her new business.

“When I was studying atUOP, I applied to participate inthe Clinton Global InitiativeUniversity (CGIU) conference,”Christina says. “There everyonehas what is called a ‘commitmentto action,’ which is focusing on

resolving some global issue. Ihad read a bit on the healthimpacts of cooking with woodand thought that I would applyto CGIU with an idea to resolvethe health impacts.”

Since she was studyingSpanish in Guatemala, shedecided to focus her effortsthere. But as she did someresearch, she says she felt thesolutions she was looking atweren’t going to make a bigenough impact in the healthof residents.

“I was really bothered bythat and it felt shameful topromote something that didn’thave a strong enough impact,”she says. “One day I was sit-ting with my mentor, CharleyAnsbach, and we just startedtalking about how designingand trying to make a stove andfuel for ‘the poor’ was a littlefrustrating and that if wewanted to really save lives thenhow come we weren’t convert-ing more people to gas?”

From that day on shebegan to study how much ofan impact converting to LPGwould have, and found thatmore than 90 percent of thepeople she surveyed wouldwant to convert to gas.

“Very few initiatives exist-ed on a global scale to helppeople switch from cookingwith wood to gas. So that’s

basically how we got started ...talking to the people and figur-ing out how to make it work.”

It seems like a great idea.Cooking smoke is the fifth

worst threat to public health inthe developing world.Guatemala has the highestpercentage of disease attribut-able to solid fuel use in Central

America and wood fuel is usedby 94 percent of rural house-holds, Patricia Espinosa says.

On the night of September19, the lives of two stalwartClaytonians came to an end.

At just about 10:30, themajestic oak that stood watchfor several hundred years overwhat is now Lydia Lane Parkcame crashing down acrossthe creek – a thunderous endto a long, enduring watch.

Just minutes later, but withmuch less noise, DonaldEdward Fitzgerald quietlybreathed his last, ending anequally enduring life as a hus-band, father, friend and com-munity leader.

“A man that showed us allhow to do it,” said FatherRichard Mangini, pastor at St.Bonaventure’s CatholicChurch where Don had served

on the Parish Council and intoo many ministries to count.

Don was born in 1935 inBuffalo, New York. He joined

the U.S. Marines straight outof high school when he wasjust 17. He served in Koreanear the end of the conflictand finished out his servicestationed in Hawaii.

After his discharge, hereturned to New York wherehe met Gail, who wouldbecome his wife of 58 years.They were married just threemonths and 19 days after theymet. “We never looked back.”

By 1978, they had fourchildren and moved to Clay-ton. They joined the ClaytonBusiness and ProfessionalAssociation, the predecessorto the present day CBCA andbegan a long career of com-munity service. In 1995, afterthe pair attended several festi-vals around the area, Don

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Bier and polka, das ist gut

Tamara Steiner

BACK FOR THEIR 12TH YEAR AT THE CLAYTON OKTOBERFEST, THE INTERNATIONALS, joined by townsfolk and officials, usher the keg down Main Streetto the Biergarten tent where Councilmen howard Geller and Keith haydon kicked off the annual event in a shower of suds. By all accounts,last weekend’s event was a stunning success. Mounted by the Clayton Business and Community association, the Oktoberfest annually poursupwards of $70,000 into the clubs coffers to be sent back into the community in the form of scholarships and donations to schools, civicbeautification projects and support for those in need of a hand up. For membership info, go to www.claytoncbca.com or call (925) 672-2272.Meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of the month at Oakhurst Country Club.

TAMARA STEINER/CLAYTON PIONEER

GAIL AND DON FITZGERALD onvalentine’s Day, 2006

While the city is actually inthe process of “winterizing”Clayton by cleaning our stormdrains and gutters in advanceof the meteorologist guaran-teed 100 percent-certain ElNino, there is a real concernabout drought damaged treesfalling. This is not just in Clay-ton, as there have been severaldeaths attributed to droughtstricken trees falling on peoplein other parts of the state. Wedid have an oak fall recently atthe Lydia Lane Park and it justreinforced that we all need tobe very careful with our safety.So, if you see a dangerouscondition, please let us knowso we can keep our city safe.

In that vein, I want toremind people that we can’tfix it if we do not know it isbroken. If you see graffiti,vandalism, broken sprinklersor safety issues while outenjoying our award-winningtrails or just hanging out intown, please let us know. Goto our website at www.ci.clay-

Clayton women spark clean air business in Guatemala

Family and community mournpassing of Don Fitzgerald

A YOUNG GUATEMALAN WOMEN may soon be preparing hermeals with cleaner, safer liquid petroleum gas suppliedGente Gas, the brainchild of Clayton woman, Christina espinosa.

Drought endangersClayton trees

Dave Shuey

MAYOR’S CORNER

PEGGY SPEARClayton Pioneer

See Mayor, page 6

See Clean Air, page 3

See Fitzgerald, page 2

TAMARA STEINERClayton Pioneer

For more info, attend a Community Information Meeting• Oct. 12, Pleasant Hill Library, 7 p.m.• Oct. 13, Pittsburg Library, 7 p.m.• Oct. 14, Walnut Creek Library, 7 p.m.• Oct. 15, Concord Library, 8 p.m.

Or go to cocospa.org or call (925) 690-8600

SPA is a tuition-free, public charter schoolServing grades 6-12Opening Fall 2016 for grades 6-10Located in Concord, CA

ENROLL NOW

Around Town Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com October 9, 2015

206 Condor Way . . . . . . . . . . $695,000 . . . .1911 . . . . . .4/2.5 . . . . .8/25/15204 Round House Place . . . . $570,000 . . . .1904 . . . . . .3/2.5 . . . . .8/21/155020 Raven Way. . . . . . . . . . $689,000 . . . .2053 . . . . . .4/2 . . . . . . .8/21/15112 Crow Place . . . . . . . . . . . $825,000 . . . .2467 . . . . . .4/3 . . . . . . .8/21/153503 Coyote Circle . . . . . . . . $390,000 . . . .1026 . . . . . .2/2 . . . . . . .8/20155860 Clayton Rd . . . . . . . . $1,075,000 . . . .4127 . . . . . .5/3.5 . . . . .8/14/15

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Don and Emily Howard, Father/daughter teamDon, Realtor-Associate, Clayton Resident Emily, Realtor-Associate

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Diane and Bill HayesRealtor-Associate, Clayton Residents,

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Budapest was a popular des-tination this summer. Amongthose Claytonians traveling inEastern Europe were Ronnieand Dennis Ferguson whojoined family and friends for aViking River Cruise in celebra-

tion of their 40th weddinganniversary. Pictured from left:Ronnie Ferguson, John andDiane West, former Concordresidents now living in Eng-land, Michael and Liz Stewartand Dennis Ferguson.

Frank and Linda Fribleyand their Easley Estates

neighbors Marilyn Wollenwe-ber and Jim Whitfield wereamong several Claytoniansvisiting Eastern Europe thissummer. They began theircruise on July 26 in Prague.Their river cruise took themto Budapest where theycaught up on local news withtheir Clayton Pioneer.

Clayton travels around the world

After a long day of tour-ing the City of Prague andthe surrounding area in theCzech Republic, Jim andCarol Riley, Bill and SylviaGall of Clayton and Tom andAnne Sparks of Concordtook some time out to enjoya glass of wine and catch upon all the hometown news inthe Pioneer. The theme ofthe trip was “Castles andCapitals” which featured aland tour and a seven dayriver cruise down theDanube. All three coupleswere celebrating weddinganniversaries led by theSparks (51 years), the Riley’s(48 years) and the Gall’s (46years).Bill and Brenda Safreed

spent some quality time in aMunich biergarten last monthwhere they caught up on localnews and practiced for theOktoberfest back home.

Safreeds in Munich

A Clayton 7-year old is on theverge of making the art worldshake in their feet, er, hoofs.

Little Buddy Van Goat isquite the artist-in-residence atDoodleton Ranch in Clayton.

Once destined for a dinnerplate somewhere, the four-legged artist is now venturinginto the cut-throat world or artsales, all in hopes of defrayingthe cost of his life-savingweekly Adequan injections forhis arthritis.

While his motto is “willpaint for banana chips,” LittleBuddy is much more than ahack painter. The goat has

learned how to do many differ-ent tricks — mainly because heis very food motivated — andhas great dexterity with his lipsand mouth.

Using the clicker trainingmethod, Little Buddy haslearned to pick up a Frisbee,pull a toy, pick a rabbit out of ahat and, of course, paint.

If you are interested in anoriginal, framed Little BuddyVan Goat painting for $30, andhelp with his arthritis medica-tion costs, contact [email protected]. Youcan even let Little Buddy knowyour favorite colors.

Goat painter raises moneyfor medical costs

Budapest toBucharest…..

Galls in Prague

decided Clayton needed itsown Art and Wine. He andGail and a group of locals metwith an event consultant whotold them they would needseveral thousand dollars tostart and could expect to losemoney for at least three years.Ignoring this advice, Don andhis committee went aheadwith practically no money anda few volunteers. With just 25vendors, that first Art andWine netted $20K.

Although I had knownDon for many years, it wasn’t

until we started the ClaytonPioneer that I began to under-stand just how deep was hisreach. Just as the roots of thatold oak held fast for centuriesagainst storms, earthquakesand fire, Don stood strong upto every challenge—includingcancer—with an enduringspirit. He never let illnessdefine him.

As he fought his own bat-tles with cancer four differenttimes, he served as supportand inspiration to others aspresident of the board of the

Contra Costa Crisis Centerand a volunteer with the Well-ness Center, now Cancer Cen-ter, in Pleasant Hill.

Don shone with a brightlight. Regardless of how hemight be feeling at themoment, he connected withwhoever hewas speak-ing to. Nomatter howmy day wasg o i n g ,whenever Isaw Don, itgot better.

D o n ’ sprofession-al career

included 25 years as anaccount executive with the 3MCompany. Early in their mar-riage, he also served with theAir Force National Guard forthree years.

Don is survived by Gail,his children Kimberly Fitzger-ald-Wermes and her partnerPam; Kathy Fitzgerald Burkinand her husband Jim; Kevinand his wife Dana and KyleFitzgerald; five grandchildren,two great-grandchildren andhis sister Linda Savage.

Memorials may be made tothe St. Bonaventure’s FoodPantry, the Faith FormationProgram or to Hospice of theEast Bay.

Fitzgerald, from page 1

Don Fitzgerald atMemorial DayServices in 2013.

Clayton neighbors down the Danube

Please send your eventswith photo for AroundTown to [email protected]

Bats: creatures of thenight, Dracula’s alter ego, aningredient in a witch’s brew, ora vampire that will suck thelife from a person? Thesecreatures are unjustifiablyfeared and persecuted.

The truth about bats is evenmore fascinating. Bats are theonly flying mammal; they arethe only true flying vertebratesbesides birds. They are not fly-ing rodents. In fact, bats belongto their own order, Chiropter-ans, which is more closely relat-ed to primates than rodents.They are not blind; in fact manyhave very good vision. They donot attempt to tangle in

woman’s hair; in fact they aregreat at avoiding contact withpeople. They are not greatspreaders of rabies. Landdwelling mammals such asskunks, fox, coyotes, squirrels,etc., are far more likely tospread the disease.

Bats do fly in the dark byusing echo location, similarto sonar. They emit a highfrequency sound at 200 persecond. Using this method oflocating prey they can cap-ture up to 500 flying insets inan hour — one every sevenseconds.

All North American bats areinsectivores, making them a topcandidate for best controller ofinsect pests. They eat thousandof mosquitoes, moths, flies,beetles and other insects in anevening. Species such as the Pal-lid Bat will also hunt on theground and in shrubs, capturingspiders, scorpions, potato bugs,beetles and numerous othercrawling insects. Because of

their increased metabolic ratecaused by flight, bats need toconsume more than half theirweight every night.

NIGHT LIFEBats are primarily nocturnal,

although they can also be seenflying at dusk and dawn.Depending on the species, batsroost during the day in oldbuildings, barns, sheds, caves,mines, under bridges and over-passes, rocky out-crops, in trees,under tree bark and tree cavitiesor other well protected spots.

Here is a list of the mostcommon bats found in ContraCosta County:

The Brazilian Free-tail Bat,

which is commonly foundaround buildings and city streetlights at night as well as in agri-cultural areas were it feeds on awide range of insects with astrong preference for moths.

The Pallid Bat, alreadymentioned, is decreasing innumbers at this time, due tohabitat destruction and the useof pesticides. Our only trueground feeder, this bat isextremely beneficial to farmersand gardeners.

The big Brown Bat, with awing span up to 16 inches, isone of our largest bats andeats many agricultural pests,consuming its body weighteach night.

The smaller CaliforniaMyotis is a bat of wet areas,creeks, rivers, wet lands, pondsetc and favors large numbers ofmosquitoes, moths and otherfling insects.

The little brown Myotis, amigratory species, is one of thelongest-lived local bats, over 30

years, and is also a beneficialinsectivore.

The little Canyon Bat is thesmallest local species. Flying atlow elevations it sweeps the airfor pesky insects. Its body isapproximately three inches andis wing span may reach eightinches.

The Townsend Long-earedBat is a cave or mine-dwellingbat that is diminishing very

quickly in California becauseof habitat disturbance and istherefore a species of specialconcern.

Each of these bats isuniquely adapted to a niche inthe environment.

October 9, 2015 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com

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Go batty for these nocturnal neighbors

GenteGas’ mission is toreduce the entry costs of cleanburning gas stoves and fuels aswell as provide income gener-ating opportunities to womenwith the purpose of eradicat-ing toxic smoke and the asso-ciated diseases and death,Christina says.

To help get the businessoff the ground, Christina inAugust started an Indiegogocrowd-sourcing campaign of$15,000 to help fund the busi-ness. Each “campaigner”designs a perk that donatorscan claim to support the cam-paign — and all perks are foodrelated. Some includeGuatemalan meals, cook-books, and other food pack-ages.

Christina, who has lived inGuatemala since 2010, saysshe is now devoted to bring-ing safe cooking and energyresources to her adoptedcountry — as is Patricia, whotravels down to Guatemalafrequently to see her daugh-ter and help with the newbusiness.

“Guatemala is an easyplace to fall in love with,”Christina says. “The country isbeautiful and the people arewelcoming. Surely a placeeveryone should visit.”

And feel safe, thanks toeffort’s like Christina’s.

For more information on Gente-Gas’ crowd-sourcing campaign, visithttp://igg.me/at/gentegas.

MiKe MarCianO

MOUNTAIN MIKE Mike Marciano is a naturalistwith the Mt. Diablo InterpretiveAssociation. Contact him [email protected]

FORMER CLAYTONIAN, CHRISTINA ESPINOSA aims to bring cleanburning gas to Guatemala, reducing the health hazards ofcooking over wood fires.

Clean Air, from page 1

The Clayton ValleyWoman’s Club has donatedschool supplies for six consec-utive years to Silverwood Ele-mentary School in Concord.At the club’s Sept. 8 meeting,members donated close to$600 worth of school supplies.Items included rulers, pencils,scissors, notebooks, paper,crayons, art supplies, erasers,tissue and copy paper.

OCTOBER MEETINGTamara Steiner is the guest

speaker at the monthly meetingon Tuesday, Oct. 13 at SaintJohn’s Episcopal Church inClayton. Steiner is the editor

and publisher of the ClaytonPioneer and Concord Pioneernewspapers. Her topic is Davidor Goliath – Who will survivein print? Steiner will talk aboutthe competition for newsbetween tablets, the smartphone and the printed word.Who will survive in the end?

Everyone is invited to jointhe club at 10 a.m. for theirregular meeting and at 11 a.m.to hear this interesting take ona topic all are wondering about.

FALL FUNDRAISEROCT. 24

Mike Spellman and EllaWolfe take the audience on amusical excursion makingthem laugh, reflect and imag-ine during “Songs from aSuitcase” from 3:30 to 6:30p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, atDiamond Terrace for theClayton Valley Woman’s Clubannual fall fundraiser. Theclub presents a delightfulafternoon of music, appetiz-ers and desserts. Proceedsbenefit select communitycharities and scholarships.

Diamond Terrace is at 6401Center St., Clayton. Admissionis $25. Reservations arerequired as seats are limited.For reservation information,

call Aleta Huck at (925) 672-9448.

NOVEMBER MEETINGChef John Evans from the

Oakhurst Country Club is theguest speaker at the monthlymeeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10 atOakhurst. The meeting startsat 10 a.m. followed by a cook-ing class at 11:15 a.m. withChef John complete withrecipes and a meal after. Thecost is $22. Guests are wel-come. Please contact KathyOlson by Nov. 2 at (925) 524-0641 for information and toreserve a place for the cookingclass and meal. OakhurstCountry Club is at 1001 Pea-cock Creek Drive, Clayton.

The Clayton ValleyWoman’s Club, affiliated withthe General Federation ofWomen’s Clubs, started in 1973and is dedicated to meeting theneeds of the community.Members meet the secondTuesday of each month,except July and August, at SaintJohn’s Episcopal Church, 5555Clayton Road, Clayton. New

members are always welcome.For membership information,call Sheila at (925) 672-7947.For more information aboutthe club, go to claytonvalley-womansclub.org.

Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com October 9, 2015

Nancy E. Bennett, The Bennett Team#1 Realtor in Concord#1 Team, Keller Williams East BayAgent Leadership Council, Mentor,Faculty Member and Top Producer

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This contemporary home is conveniently located near restaurants, shopping, and theConcord Pavilion. Sitting on nearly one-half acre, this 2,071 s.f. home is spacious andlight with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The yard is like a park—large and private with ma-ture trees complete with a large deck and a hot tub off the Master. Over $40k in up-dates with new paint, carpet, flooring and lights throughout. The kitchen features newgranite counters, subway tile backsplash, recessed lighting, stainless steel appliances,freshly painted cabinets, a garden window, and eat-in kitchen. Formal dining and livingrooms; vaulted ceilings and so much more. Bathrooms updated with new granite, fix-tures, lighting and vanities. Off-street RV/boat parking and plenty of lawn space for par-ties, puppies and play! Offered at $642,000

4416 Sugar Maple, ConcordLovely Crossing Home! Single-story, 1,366 sf ranch home withopen floorplan with kitchen/dining/living rooms adjoinedas one. 3 bedrooms/2 baths.Kitchen has $30K in recent up-grades: quartz counters, tilebacksplash, recessed lighting,dark wood cabinets, and spa-cious island. Perfect for enter-taining! Call Nancy for price

320 Grapevine Place, Pleasant HillUpdated 2-bedroom, 2-bath,2-story, 1,133 s.f. townhomehas bonus den/office. Newcarpet/paint. Updatedkitchen has granite countersand subway tile backsplash.Vaulted bedroom ceilings &new balcony in back. Closeto Iron Horse trail & shops!

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Club NewsClayton Woman’s Club

TAMARA STEINER discussesthe future of print news atthe monthly meeting in October.

MIKE SPELLMAN AND ELLAWOLFE will perform at theannual fall fundraiser.

CHEF JOHN EVANS fromOakhurst Country Club con-ducts a cooking class at thenovember meeting.

FRAN HAHN, adopt-a-School chairwoman, and ConnieWeimar, CvWC president, show a sampling of the donatedschool supplies.

Join the Second AnnualVeterans Day 5K/10KRun/Walk starting with a cere-mony at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday,Nov. 7 at Hillcrest Park inConcord. The event is present-ed by the Contra Costa BlueStar Moms to raise awarenessand show support for local vet-erans and raise money to sup-port active duty service per-sonnel, promote patriotism,assist veterans’ organizationsand assist in homeland volun-teer efforts to help Americaremain strong.

This professionally-timed,6.2 mile (10K) and 3.1 mile(5K) Run/Walk is a flat courseroute. All registered partici-pants receive a short-sleevedevent T-shirt if registered byOct. 30 and a dog tag finisher’smedal. Dri-fit shirts are avail-able for pre-registered partici-

pants prior to Nov. 2 for anadditional $7. A parent orguardian must be present withchildren under 18 to registerand sign a release form.

Prizes are awarded to thetop three male and female fin-ishers in both races and for topmale and female veterans inboth races. Refreshments areprovided before and after therace.

The registration fee is $30before Oct. 18 and $35 after;deadline is Nov. 5. Registeronline, by mail or in person.Register in person to get $5 offthe entry fee through Nov. 2 atRoad Runner Sports in Con-cord or Sports Basement inWalnut Creek. Last minute reg-istration is available for $40 atearly packet pick up at RoadRunner Sports from 4 to 7p.m. on Nov. 6 and on race day

starting at 7 a.m. To registerand for more information, goto ccbluestarmoms.org.

Blue Star Moms

FALL ART EXHIBIT,MONTHLY MEETING ANDCALL FOR ARTISTS

Come view the CreeksideArtists Guild fall art exhibit atthe Clayton CommunityLibrary this season. Artwork isdisplayed throughout thelibrary. Pieces are on sale byowner with contact informa-tion next to each display.

Renaye Johnson, newlyappointed library art displayliaison, showcased more than20 paintings with the help ofseveral new local artists.

The guild’s next meetingon Oct. 14 features a fall artreview and Halloween-themedappetizers. The public is wel-come to attend and join allactivities.

The guild also has a call forart for new artists for the Oct.24 exhibit change at the guild’smini gallery at Cup o’ Jo’s in

Clayton. Creekside Artists Guild meet-

ings are held on the second Wednes-day of the month at 7 p.m. in theClayton Community Library, StoryRoom, 6125 Clayton Road, Clay-ton. For more info, send email [email protected].

Creekside Artists Guild

Scenes range from theserene countryside, such asthis painting, “early SpringMt. Diablo” by Maria Ley, tothe stormy ocean, a favoritehaunt or a plump cluster ofgrapes.

run for the Blue Star Momsin the veterans Day 5K/10Krun/Walk on nov. 7 at hill-crest Park in Concord.

Neighbors of the ClaytonQuarry who were hoping thatmining operations at theMitchell Canyon site were near-ing an end are kicking up dustover a move by CEMEX Cor-poration to amend the terms oftheir current use permit.

The company wants toextend operations down anoth-er 200 feet and leave the lake inthe pit open when mining oper-ations end, instead of filling itin as originally required. Thelake would provide water stor-age for flood control and firesuppression.

CEMEX is also proposingchanges to the original revege-tation plan which calls forplanting trees on the benches

rising above the pit. Trees areimpractical and unsafe, saysCEMEX. In a handout given toneighbors at an open house onSept. 16, CEMEX says plantingtrees “on existing quarry bench-es has proven neither safe norpractical.” Access is difficultand the benches are solid rock— there is no soil up there.Even if they could get them togrow, CEMEX says the rootscould fracture the rock andimperil slope stability. Instead,they propose to restore the areawith native grasses and shrubs“where it is safe, practicable andconsistent with an end use ofwater storage to do so.”

Neighbors of the quarry arenot the least bit happy aboutthe potential extension. Nor arethey happy with the currentquarry operations.

Dennis Weil, who lives inDiablo Downs across from thequarry, says CEMEX is notcontrolling the dust and fre-quently begins work earlier thanthe agreed weekday start timeof 6 a.m.

Kris Lavezzoli lives on Wid-mar Court, adjacent to the quar-ry, and says the stockpiles areexpanding at an alarming rate.“When we moved here in 1994,we couldn’t even see the quarry,now the stockpiles are huge andnearly to the road.”

She also says that, “The airquality is terrible and all thetrees, houses, everything iscovered with thick dust. It’s ahealth issue.

“And they are starting ear-lier and earlier,” she said. “OnSaturday, they started up at6:15 a.m.”

The heavy truck traffic onMitchell Canyon has long beena deep concern, says Weil. In anemail, he says “The continua-tion of a stream of trucks onthe narrow Mitchell CanyonRoad that intersects with chil-dren crossing at Mt. DiabloElementary is a danger to thechildren…and to bikers andjoggers. It is fortunate noinjuries have occurred.”

Many of the residents whomoved to the area in the past15-20 years were assured bytheir realtors and, says Lavez-zoli, the City of Clayton, thatthe quarry permit would sun-set around 2002-03. Thepotential extension to 2046 isout of line with current condi-tions, she says.

“What was appropriate 60years ago when there wasn’t

anything out here isn’t appro-priate now,” she says.

The application is current-ly under California Environ-mental Quality Act review bythe Contra Costa CountyOffice of Conservation andDevelopment. According toDominic Aliano, spokesman

for Supervisor KarenMitchoff, the CEQA processis long and complex. It is like-ly to be several months beforethe first public hearing.

To read the full proposal and tosign up for updates, go towww.cemexclaytonquarry.com.

Was one of the City of Con-cord’s biggest decisions indecades tainted?

That’s the question that hasdogged city officials for twoweeks, and will hopefully beanswered on Oct. 15, when thecity council meets to select aMaster Developer for the Con-cord Naval Weapons Station— just two weeks and a lot ofdrama after its originallyscheduled date.

After years of negotiations,city meetings and public input,the city of Concord was finallyready to take perhaps its biggeststep of the process to developthe shuttered Navy base, a $6million endeavor that calls forbuilding up to 12,272 housingunits and 6.1 million square feetof commercial space on about2,300 acres.

But then, a meeting on Sept.29 to select either CatellusDevelopment Company orLennar Urban was postponedafter Catellus alleged that Lennarhad engaged in improper lobby-ing, including using former SanFrancisco Mayor Willie Brown— once a Lennar advisor andwho selected the company todevelop the massive HuntersPoint Shipyard project — toinfluence the council’s vote.

Catellus also stated in its five-

page letter to Concord CityManager Valerie Barone thatthey were concerned that a staffreport with recommendationshad been withdrawn, and thatLennar did not follow the guide-lines of the selection agreement.

The accusations follow inthe footsteps of another com-plaint brought to light by Catel-lus earlier in the summer: thatcompanies and organizationsassociated with Lennar had con-tributed to the campaign coffersof Concord Mayor TimGrayson, who is running forState Assembly.

Lennar’s public relationsfirm G.F. Bunting & Co., thecompany’s engineering firm onthe Concord project, Engeo,and Steven Kay, president ofGolden Gate Global, eachmade $4,200 donations toGrayson’s campaign, the maxi-mum allowed. Once the contri-butions came to light by Catel-lus — who said it was alerted bya “concerned citizen” of Con-cord — Grayson returned thedonations.

Grayson also said that hemet with Brown, but only todiscuss his run for the Assem-bly seat currently held bySusan Bonilla.

“I wanted to get inputfrom the man who held thespeaker’s post longer thananyone,” Grayson said. “At nopoint did we discuss either

Lennar or Catellus.”Still, the issues added up

enough to concern CatellusPresident Ted Antenucci.

“We sent the letter toexpress our concerns, and tomake sure the selectionprocess was as transparent aspossible,” he told The Pioneer.“We just wanted some answersto these questions.”

Lennar rebuffed any sugges-tion of wrongdoing.

“Lennar has not engaged inany discussions, negotiations orlobbying prohibited under itsagreement with the City, and hasprohibited its consultants fromdoing so,’’ Kofi Bonner, presi-dent of Lennar Urban, said.“Lennar has full confidence thatthe city has engaged in a fair andthorough process. We are sorryto see that Catellus has chosento smear the City of Concord inan apparent last-minute desper-ate act aimed at sabotagingthe selection process.’’

Some city council membersdid not take the last-minuteaccusations well, either.

“I do not appreciate a com-pany coming in and giving mefive pages of legal B.S. andwhining and threatening andtelling me what I can do. This isthe guy you want to be in bedwith for 20 years?” Council-man Edi Birsan said in an arti-cle in the Contra Costa Times.“As far as I’m concerned,

Catellus has shot themselves inthe foot. I still haven’t made upmy mind, but this did not helpCatellus at all.”

Birsan later softened histone, telling the Pioneer that “Idid not take kindly to the accusa-tions against the mayor, thecouncil and the staff.” He saidhe was not approached by any-one from Lennar to lobby fortheir selection, nor was vice-Mayor Laura Hoffmeisterapproached, she said.

While Lennar called Catellus’letter a last ditch effort to smearthe competitor, the original staffreport did not indicate that itrecommended one developerover the other.

Instead, it contained analysisof both the strengths and weak-nesses of each developer rele-vant to the project, and left it tothe council to ultimately makethe decision.

“That’s why we’re elected,”said Hoffmeister.

The meeting is scheduledfor 6:30 p.m. on Thursday,Oct. 15, at the Concord SeniorCenter, 2727 Parkside Circleand will be televised live onConcord Cable TV channels28 (Comcast), 29 (Astound)and 99 (AT&T U-verse).

For more information and to seeCatellus’ letter and the original staffreport, visit the city’s website atwww.ci.concord.ca.us.

Clayton residents have theopportunity to help keep thecommunity safe from wildfires,if they can band together tohelp fireproof their immediatesurroundings, according toCheryl Miller, coordinator withthe Diablo Firesafe Council,

Miller’s presentation to theClayton Business and Commu-nity Association on Sept. 24was timely, due to the recent

wildfires raging in NorthernCalifornia and the currentdrought.

Miller passed out pam-phlets, including one entitled.“Will Your Home SurviveWhen the Embers Arrive?”She also provided an informa-tive chart of which commonlandscape plants are good fireretardants, and which are dan-gerous fire-spreaders. “Friend-ly” plants include lilies of theNile, fortnight lilies, jasmineand western redbud. “Foes”

include Manzanita, juniper,broom, and of course, bluegum eucalyptus.

She said that neighbors get-ting together to help “fire-proof ” their neighborhoods isa great opportunity for Clay-ton, and said that funding isavailable for such groupsthrough the Diablo FiresafeCouncil.

For more information, visitwww.diablofiresafe.org.

In other CBCA news, theassociation heard the reportsof three Diablo View MiddleSchool girls who attended“Tech Trek Camp” at SonomaState University. Their partici-pation in the week-long sciencecamp is sponsored by the Clay-ton Branch of the AAUW, andCBCA annually provides fundsto help send three seventh-grade girls from the school toattend camp.

This year’s trio, AlisonEwing, Lauren Utne and Sere-na Connel, recounted theiradventures in creating robots,working at a wildlife center andtaking courses in physics andastronomy.

Finally, Howard Geller pro-vided a summary on Concerts

in the Grove. This was theeighth year in the series, with atotal or 82 concerts. Gellerpraised Diablo Valley Ranch as“our savior,” explaining thatthe concerts couldn’t go onwithout the help from DVRvolunteers.

For more information visitwww.claytoncbca.org.


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Quarry operators propose to dig deeper and longerTAMARA STEINER

Clayton Pioneer

More Club News

CBCA learns how to ‘fireproof ’ ClaytonGARY CARR

Special to the Pioneer

Stock up on or donate recent book releases and oldfavorites to the Clayton Community Library FoundationFall Used Book Sale on Oct. 16 through Oct. 18. Mostbooks are $1. Children’s books are 50 cents. Books arehalf price on Sunday with a $3 per bag special from 2 to4 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 16 is a members-only preview. Member-ships can be purchased at the door. The cost for an indi-vidual is $10, a family membership is $15 and a con-tributing membership is $30.

The used book sale is Friday, Oct. 16 from 4 to 7p.m., Saturday, Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun-day, Oct. 18 from 12 to 4 p.m.

The Clayton Community Library is at 6125 Clayton Road, Clay-ton. For more information, go to claytonlibrary.org.

Clayton Community Library Fall Used Book Sale set for Oct 15-18

Developer candidate accused of wrongdoingPEGGY SPEAR

Clayton Pioneer

“Helping Seniors Live Successfully in Their Own Homes.”

CommunityMeeting

a report on progress so far...and plans for the future of

Clayton valley village

Clayton Community LibraryHoyer Hall, Everyone Welcome!

Thurs. Oct. 22, 7 p.m.

Info at www.claytonvalleyvillage.org

For many concert-goers, itwas “One Hell of a Nite” atthe Sept. 19 Chris Brown con-cert at the Concord Pavilion.

Contra Costa Fire andAmerican Medical Responseunits treated about 12 peopleat the notorious singer’s con-cert, raising concern amongmany Clayton and Concordresidents about safety.

But according to ConcordPolice, there were no arrests,and despite the usual trafficwoes before and after the con-cert, it was “a fairly smoothnight,” according to ConcordPolice Lieutenant NicholasGartner.

The following night’sCounting Crows concertended the Pavilion’s 2015 sea-son, which saw more concertsthan in past years, thanks to anew agreement between theCity of Concord and LiveNation. But the medical emer-gencies at Brown’s concertand a fight at a Nicki Minajconcert on August 14 marredwhat some called a greatresurgence in the level of top-notch entertainers playing at

the Pavilion.However, there were

reports on local blogs of clos-ing the nearby shopping cen-ters at Ygnacio/Kirker Passand Clayton Roads after theMinaj and Brown concerts,but that was due to trafficmanagement more than safetyissues, according to ClaytonPolice Sergeant RichardMcEachin.

“We didn’t want cars usingthe parking lots as traffic thru-ways,” he said.

McEachin said that Clay-ton does not have jurisdictionover the Pavilion, and onlyresponds when mutual aid isnecessary, and that was onlydue to traffic management.

Lt. Gartner said that the“fire and brimstone” accountson local blogs were largelyunfounded, and that “all in all,it was good season at thePavilion.” He says that thepolice department preparesfor traffic and other possiblesafety issues in advance,depending on the day of theconcert and nature of the

show.If additional public

resources are needed, like atthe Brown concert, it is theresponsibility of the promot-er, Live Nation, to cover thebill.

The medical emergenciesat the Brown concert weremainly alcohol-related, andcases of dehydration. “It wasa busy night for ConFire andthe paramedics, but it wasmainly due to irresponsibledrinking behavior,” he said.

In fact, he said the ConcordPolice, at the request ofBrown’s security team, workedhard to mitigate any violencethat has marred many of thesinger’s other concerts, includ-ing a shooting at a San Joseshow and a gang melee at ashow in New York. Just recently, it was reportedthat the singer may not be wel-comed in Australia for sched-uled concerts there. Thecelebrity website TMZ reportedan immigration official saying,“People need to understand ifyou are going to commit

domestic violence and then youwant to travel around the world,there are going to be countriesthat say to you, ‘You cannotcome in because you are not ofthe character we expect in Aus-tralia.’”

In 2009 Brown pled guiltyto beating up his then-girl-friend, singer Rhianna, andsince then has been a magnetfor violent behavior.

Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj’sAugust show ended early as abrawl broke out in the audi-ence that included chairthrowing and concert-goersbeing pepper-sprayed by secu-rity.

Still, the events of thosetwo concerts aren’t dampen-ing the enthusiasm for nextseason, which will open withJanet Jackson’s UnbreakableWorld Tour on Thursday, May19, 2016.

Despite multiple phonecalls and emails, Live Nationrepresentatives did notrespond to requests for com-ments for this story.

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ton.ca.us and click the feed-back button and let us know.Clayton Kudos: On the

good deed front, congratula-tions again to the ClaytonCommunity Church for itsannual Labor Day Derby andCar Show. Another tremen-dous success bringing fun toour families and this year theywere able to get enough dona-tions from those in atten-dance to provide 200 schoolbackpacks and supplies tokids in Syria. Bravo.

And the Relay for Lifeevent at Mt. Diablo Elemen-tary in August was a tremen-dous success, raising morethan $88,000 to fight cancer.With some amazing testimo-nials and survival stories, lotsof first-time camping in town,music, fun and lots of walk-ing, it was another showcase

of what makes this city great.Congrats.Atta Boys: Our mainte-

nance department hasthought outside the box andworked with the Contra CostaWater District to place waterfrom their reservoir onto thegrass at our North ValleyPark. The district has to keeptheir water “fresh” and sothey have to drain and refill,and this used to just go downthe drain. Now, it is going onour park to try and keep itsomewhat green. Way to thinkoutside the box guys.Bocce Biz: The Fall

Bocce League season is com-ing down the home stretchand another shout out to theClayton Business and Com-munity Association andSkipolini’s Pizza for buildingand maintaining these courts

and running these leagues thatbring more than 100 peopledowntown each night. As theseason winds down, teams aretrying to stay within strikingdistance of the playoffs. Trash Talk: Reminder,

keep recycling more anddumping less trash. Use lessplastic bags.

In honor of Relay for Lifeand the fight against cancer:“Turn your face to the sunand the shadows fall behindyou” (Maori Proverb) and “Ihave heard there are troublesof more than one kind, Somecome from ahead and somecome from behind, But I’vebought a big bat, I’m all readyyou see, Now my troubles aregoing to have troubles withme!” (Dr. Seuss).

Send questions and commentsfor the mayor by email [email protected].

Despite Brown, Minaj problems,Pavilion season deemed a success

PEGGY SPEARClayton Pioneer

Mayor, from page 1

This year’s Clayton Readstakes on romantic mystery

Get ready to open thosebooks. The seventh annualClayton Reads takes placefrom Oct.1 to Nov. 14.

The program is a part ofthe Contra Costa Library’s“One City, One Book” pro-gram. The idea behind thisprogram is to encouragecommunity members tofocus on reading one book,and join book discussionsand programs or presenta-tions related to the book.

“Maisie Dobbs” byJacqueline Winspear is thisyear’s choice for ClaytonReads. Beginning Oct. 1 andcontinuing while supply lasts,readers may pick up a freecopy of the book at the Clay-ton Library.

The Clayton CommunityLibrary Foundation, sponsorof the program, only asksthat readers pass the bookalong to another reader whenfinished.

There will be a variety ofprograms related to the Clay-ton Reads book and WorldWar II, including a “Sisters inCrime” mystery writerspanel; a World War I featuremovie; a mystery program forteens featuring a SherlockHolmes movie; a CodeBusters program for kidswith author Penny Warner;and a book discussion.

The book is a mix of mys-tery, war story and romance

set in WWI-era England.Maisie starts as housemaid,becomes a university student,a wartime nurse and ultimate-ly a private investigator. Herfirst case starts as a simplemarital infidelity case in post-war England. The caseevolves, ties to World War Iand to the impact of the waron soldiers and civilians.

Winspear was born andraised in England. Followinghigher education at the Lon-don’s Institute of Education,she worked in academic pub-lishing, in higher educationand in marketing communi-cations in the UK. She emi-grated to the United States in1990, and while working inbusiness, Winspear startedfulfilling a life-long dream tobe a writer. She has con-tributed articles to journalsof education and women’smagazines.

“Maisie Dobbs” is herdebut novel and the first in aseries of now 11 books fea-turing Maisie. Winspear’sinterest in World War I andits aftermath started in child-hood. Her grandfather wasseverely wounded and shell-shocked at the Battle ofSomme and his health wasaffected for the rest of hislife. As she grew up, hercuriosity about the war deep-ened. Her interest is in theexperiences of ordinary peo-ple on the battlefield as wellas the home front. She iscontinuously researching the

time in which her books takesplace.

For Winspear, “the war andits aftermath provide fertileground for a mystery, offeringa literary vehicle for exploringthe time. Such great socialupheaval allows for the strangeand unusual to emerge and atime of intense emotions can,to the writer of fiction provideample fodder for a compellingstory, especially one concern-ing criminal acts and issues ofguilt and innocence.”

“Maisie Dobbs” was anational bestseller. It receivedboth the Agatha Award andthe Macavity Award for bestfirst novel.

For more information aboutthe programs, pick up a flyer atthe library or visitwww.guides.ccclib.org/onebook/clayton or www.claytonlibrary.org

KAREN HANSEN-SMITHSpecial to the Pioneer

It’s official! According to amid-September advisory fromthe National Weather Service, ElNiño conditions have developedin the tropical portions of thecentral and eastern Pacific.

Long-range weather forecastmodels predict that this El Niñowill intensify during the next sev-eral months and possibly be oneof the strongest of the last 150years. This should be very goodnews for drought-stricken Cali-fornia.

Since 1950, five El Niñoshave been categorized as strong(1957-58, 1965-66 and 1972-73)or very strong (1982-83 and1997-98). Weather records fromSan Francisco indicate abovenormal winter rainfall followedfour of these events. The twovery strong events resulted inwinter rainfall totals over 160percent of normal for the BayArea.

Southern California seems tohave an even better chance for awet winter this year. Above nor-mal rainfall followed all fiverecent strong El Niño events atLos Angeles, with more than200 percent of annual rainfallduring winters following thevery strong El Niños.

El Niño is part of an inter-connected atmospheric and

oceanic circulation pattern. Dur-ing El Niño conditions, large-scale winds that normally blowfrom east to west across thetropical Pacific Ocean slacken,and sometimes even reversedirection. This allows warmocean waters in the westernequatorial Pacific to drift east-ward.

Atmospheric wind patternsassociated with the warm watersalso moves eastward across thePacific toward South America.Warmer sea surface tempera-tures are highly correlated withatmospheric convection stormdevelopment.

The eastward shift of atmos-pheric energy in the tropicsoften has a wet weather signa-ture for our state. The convec-tive energy generated by thewarm water enhances thestrength of the subtropical jetstream. When properly aligned,this jet can act like a conveyorbelt and deliver storms andmoisture our way.

The most common yardstickused to determining the strengthof an El Niño is called theOceanic Niño Index (ONI), acomparison of current sea sur-face temperatures to normal val-ues.

ONI statistics are calculatedfor a 3,500 mile-wide regionmidway between Indonesia andChile (see figure). This area,known as Niño 3.4, has northand south boundaries fivedegrees above and below theequator.

To be classified as an ElNiño, an ONI of 0.5C warmerthan the 30-year normal must beexceeded for at least five consec-utive three-month periods.Three consecutive three-monthONI index values at or above1.5C shifts the El Niño categoryto strong. A similar period ofONI values 2.0C or greaterdefines the very strong category.

It is important to note thatalthough strong recent El Niñoshave preceded rainy winters inCalifornia, the small sample sizemeans there is not a statisticallysignificant correlation betweenthe two events. Another caveat isthat one wet winter will not endCalifornia’s prolonged drought.

Usually a list of top weatherstories consists of recent signifi-cant events that are eitherrecord-breaking or environmen-tally damaging. The top weatherstory in recent months, a poten-tially wet California winter inresponse to a strong El Nino, isdifferent. This time it is the fore-cast of future weather condi-tions that is getting a lot ofattention.

Note: The National WeatherService issues El Niño statusreports each month. They arebroadcast online at:www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/prod-ucts/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.pdf.

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Directory of Advertisers

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

STAFF WRITERS: Peggy Spear, Pamela Wiesendanger, Jay Bedecarré

CORRESPONDENTS: John Jackson, Kara Navolio, Patricia Romero, John T. Miller

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Recycle this newspaper

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the PioneersHelp our papersgrow. Refer a busi-ness that advertiseswith us and we’ll payyou 10% commissionon the sale. No re-strictions. Refer yourown business andget the commission.Call the office, (925)672-0500 or [email protected].

Nothing can throw a mon-key wrench into an estate planlike incurring long-term care(LTC) expenses. These expens-es — for nursing home stays,assisted-living facilities, homehealth aides and other care —can quickly deplete fundsyou’ve set aside for retirementor to provide for your familyafter your death.

A LTC insurance policy canoffset these costs, but the pre-miums can be expensive —especially if you wait to pur-chase it at or near retirementage. One potential source forfunding LTC insurance premi-ums is a total or partial tax-freeexchange of an existing lifeinsurance policy or annuitycontract.

ROAD TO TAX-FREEEXCHANGES

For many years, InternalRevenue Code Section 1035has permitted taxpayers toexchange one life insurancepolicy for another, one annuitycontract for another, or a lifeinsurance policy for an annuitycontract without recognizingany taxable gain. (Sec. 1035doesn’t permit an exchange ofan annuity contract for a lifeinsurance policy.)

In the late 1990s, the U.S.Tax Court approved partialtax-free exchanges, finding thatthese exchanges satisfy therequirements of Sec. 1035. A

partial exchange might involveusing a portion of an annuity’sbalance or a life insurance pol-icy’s cash value to fund a newcontract or policy. In order forthe transaction to be tax-free,the exchange must involve adirect transfer of funds fromone carrier to another.

The Pension ProtectionAct of 2006 expanded Sec.1035 to include LTC policies.So now it’s possible to make atotal or partial tax-freeexchange of a life insurancepolicy or annuity contract foran LTC policy (as well as oneLTC policy for another). Keepin mind that, to avoid negativetax consequences after makinga partial exchange of an annu-ity contract for an LTC policy,you must wait at least 180 daysbefore taking any distributionsfrom the annuity.

UNDERSTANDING THEBENEFITS

A tax-free exchange pro-vides a source of funds forLTC coverage and offers sig-nificant tax benefits. Ordinari-ly, if the value of a life insur-ance policy or annuity contractexceeds your basis, lifetime dis-tributions include a combina-tion of taxable gain and non-taxable return of basis. A tax-free exchange allows you todefer taxable gain and, to theextent the gain is absorbed byLTC insurance premiums,eliminate it permanently. Con-sider this example:

Tim, age 75, is concernedabout possible LTC expensesand plans to buy an LTC insur-ance policy with a premium of$10,000 per year. He owns anonqualified annuity (that is,an annuity that’s not part of aqualified retirement plan) witha value of $250,000 and a basisof $150,000, and Tim wishesto use a portion of the annuityfunds to pay the LTC premi-ums. Under the annuity taxrules, distributions are treated

as “income first.” In otherwords, the first $100,000 hewithdraws will be fully taxableand then any additional with-drawals will be treated as anontaxable return of basis.

To avoid taxable gain, Timuses partial tax-free exchangesto fund the $10,000 annualpremium payments. In anexchange, each distributionincludes taxable gain and basisin the same proportions as theannuity: In this case, the gain is($100,000/$250,000) times$10,000, which equals $4,000.Thus, each partial exchangeused to pay LTC premiumspermanently eliminates $4,000in taxable gain.

Partial tax-free exchangescan work well for standaloneLTC policies, which generallyrequire annual premium pay-ments and prohibit prepay-ment. Another option is a pol-icy that combines the benefitsof LTC coverage with the ben-efits of a life insurance policyor an annuity.

Typically, with these“combo policies,” the death orannuity benefits are reduced tothe extent the policy pays forLTC expenses.

PRESERVING YOUR WEALTHAccording to the “Gen-

worth 2015 Cost of Care Sur-vey,” nearly 70 percent of peo-ple over the age of 65 willrequire some level of LTCservice. LTC insurance can bean effective way to protectyour nest egg against LTCexpenses and preserve it forthe next generation. And a tax-free exchange can be a cost-efficient strategy for fundingLTC premiums. Discuss youroptions with your estate plan-ning advisor.

El Niño promisesheavy winter rains

RICHARD LITTORNO

INSIGHT ON

ESTATE PLANNING

Richard A. Littorno is an at-torney specializing in estate plan-ning. He has offices in WalnutCreek and Pittsburg. Send yourquestions [email protected].

Plan early for your long-term care

WOODY WHITLATCH

WEATHER WORDS

Woody Whitlatch is a retiredmeteorologist from PG&E. Emailyour questions or comments to [email protected]

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We’ve often heard “charac-ter matters” expressed in rallies,sermons, and the media. Butwhat does it really mean?

As a school leader, mymotto has been: “We will pre-pare students to become first-class citizens with a world-classeducation.” Here at CVCHS, Ibelieve the goals for educatingour students are two-fold: aca-demic and character. If we arecreating really smart studentswho are bad people, what is thebenefit? Similarly, what is thebenefit of developing excep-tional students who are not aca-demically prepared to engagemeaningfully in the world withrewarding careers? We needboth: smart kids who are com-passionate, tolerant, honest,selfless, generous, courageous,respectful, responsible andtrustworthy.

One of the primary reasonsI became an educator was tomake a difference in society byhelping parents raise great kidswho make our communitystrong. I take great pride thatour students are good, decentand compassionate people whohave caught our school’s mis-sion to be “first-class citizens.”

Here at CVCHS, there arenumerous role models andactivities where students learncore values and develop posi-tive, personal traits. Our coach-es hold athletes accountable for

good behavior and academicperformance. Our teaching andadministrative staff utilize train-ing from the Character Countsprogram. Freshman TransitionWeek provides guidance associ-ated with social media andInternet responsibility. Sopho-more Challenge Day featuresconversations and activitiesemphasizing trust, confidential-ity and caring for our communi-ty. And, each year, CVCHSpartners with the City of Clay-ton to present “Do The RightThing” recognition program.All of these positive experi-ences afford our students theopportunity to become bettercitizens.

Last week, I was honored toread a letter from a visitingJames Logan High Schoolcoach. He took the time tocommend our school commu-nity for the character heobserved at our home footballgame:

“Coach Murphy, I just want-ed to drop you a note and letyou know how impressed I waswith your football program onFriday night. Since moving tothe Bay Area about two months

ago, I’ve been extremely dis-couraged with the lack ofsportsmanship, school spiritand class in most of the foot-ball programs that I have seenin the area. Your entire PRO-GRAM is top-notch. Your play-ers handled themselves in a firstclass manner, something I can’tsay the same for some otherprograms. When you couldhave run the score up the 50points at the end, you took aknee and showed a lot of classthe entire night. I just wanted tolet you know that you run aclass program and admire whatyou’re doing.”

This example of sports-manship, school spirit and classis the mission for all our staffand students, whether it is inathletics, music, drama, acade-mies or clubs. We are preparingour students to become first-class citizens and to be peopleof character. Let us alwaysmodel the characteristics wewant our students to emulate.

David Linzey is executive direc-tor of CVCHS. Contact [email protected]

DAVID LINZEY

VOYAGE OF THE EAGLE

The importance of building character

Diablo View Middle Schoolhas had a great start of a newschool year. We welcomed 702students and everyone has set-tled into their classes. As I begin

my 12th year at Diablo View, Iam again so thankful to be ableto work every day with suchamazing students, staff and par-ents.

The state’s funding formulagives us limited funds and theexcellent quality of education atDiablo View would not be pos-sible without the tremendoussupport we get from our ParentFaculty Club. Our walk-thru forseventh and eighth graders andCamp Diablo View for our sixthgraders and new seventh and

eighth graders demonstrated thissupport, as we had a goodresponse to the PFC fundraisersof a “Dollar a Day” and theAcademic Boosters. Thesedonations go directly to bene-fit classroom instruction, tech-nology improvements, schoolactivities including the schoolgarden, Odyssey of the Mind,Smart Start, band equipment,teacher supplies, student andparent assemblies, Career Dayand our “Do the Right Thing”character education in conjunc-tion with the City of Clayton.The Academic Booster dona-tions also enable us to reduceclassroom size in math for sev-

enth and eighth grade classes.As you can see, the PFC is

invaluable to assure the best edu-cation for our students. This yearwe have had a good firstresponse in support of ourschool. Nonetheless, it is soimportant that we increase par-ticipation in order to maintainPFC-supported programs, aswell as continue to bring moreinnovative technology and class-room enhancements.

Parents support us in differ-ent ways. Diablo View received a$1000 donation from Macy’s,Sun Valley Mall and Safeway intheir “Sunvalley Gives Back”program. We were one of the

top three school who wereawarded the $1000.

Sept. 9 was our Back toSchool Night where we had afull house of parents navigatingthemselves around campus, fol-lowing their child’s daily sched-ule. Besides our returning staff,parents had a chance to meetsome new members of our staff.Steve Slater is our new vice prin-cipal. In the classroom, we haveChelsea Ridenour, sixth grademath and science; Sky Nakano,sixth and seventh grade Eng-lish/history Core; Ken Anthony,seventh grade English/historyCore; and Jenny Rose Jimenez,Spanish and world cultures.


Schools

The curtain is rising on theContra Costa School of Per-forming Arts (SPA), a new,tuition-free, public charterschool set to open in the fall of2016 in Concord, serving sixththrough 12th graders.

Organizers say that theschool will combine a “rigor-ous” academic program with“unparalleled” performing artsconservatory training.

“SPA is a unique and excitingeducational opportunity for ourcommunity,” says SPA founderand principal Neil McChesney.“Finally, Contra Costa can haveaccess to a specialized secondaryarts and academic program tomeet the needs of our diverseand abundant student talent.”

SPA will include:

College and career prepara-tory education with a focus on21st century skills through proj-ect-based learning and an arts-integrated curriculum. Forexample: graduation require-ments for SPA are equivalent tothe minimum eligibility (“a-g”)for UC and CSU admissions.“This is a higher bar than anyhigh school in our region,”McChesney says. “We believe allstudents can achieve excellencewith the right environment, timeand support.”

Pre-professional performingarts training in one of four Con-servatories: Theater, Dance,Music (vocal and instrumental),and Production & Design, withaccess to premier performancevenues including the Concord

Pavilion for exhibiting the stu-dent’s talent and engaging thecommunity in an arts culturerenaissance.

After its approval by theContra Costa County Board ofEducation in July, the SPA teamhas been planning and preparingfor its opening next August. Ithas already begun preliminaryenrollment for students. Theschool will be accepting studentsin grades 6 through 10 for yearone (2016-17).

For more information aboutSPA, including how to enrollyour student, visit ourwww.cocospa.org, call 925-690-8600, or attend one of theupcoming community informa-tion meetings:

See front page ad for schedule.

We are pleased to report asmooth start to the 2014-2015school year. Over summer, weworked hard to prepare for thenew year with positive results.Our district and board contin-ue to focus on our goals: Col-lege and Career readiness, Par-ent and Community Engage-ment and Professional Learn-ing. We are continuouslyimproving.

We are in the second yearof Common Core Standardsimplementation of the statemandated standards in EnglishLanguage Arts and Mathemat-ics. This year we will expand toinclude Science. The new Sci-ence standards include realworld problem-solving in top-ics such as engineering, health,and environmental concerns.

In order to reach our goals,schools will receive greateraccess to technology this year.Our board approved the pur-chase of technology and tech-nology support staff. Ourteachers have embraced tech-nology as a tool to engage theirstudents. Our technology teamworked hard to upgrade build-ings and infrastructure neces-sary for this growth. We knowthat technology will be used inthe workplace in nearly allcareers.

Lastly, we have added somenew team members to ourstaff. Please check out our dis-trict website to see a list of ournew site and central officeleaders. You can find moreinformation atwww.mdusd.org. Our team

stands ready to support eachand every school as we makethis our best year yet.

I want to thank the Con-cord community for support-ing our students and schooldistrict. Our partnership willhelp each student reach theirfull potential.

What are you grateful fortoday?

We should all express a littlemore gratitude for the manyblessings we enjoy. I mean, justup north both the Valley andButte fires devastated thousandsof acres of land and manyhomes. Both fires burned over150k acres, 475 residences and2300 structures destroyed, withan additional 140 structuresdamaged. In addition to the firedamage there were six civilianfatalities, including four firefight-ers and one civilian injury. Withthe damage many families have

lost their homes and pets to thisfire. I know I would be devastat-ed to lose my home, pets or fam-ily members.

Diablo View Middle School’sleadership class, as well as MountDiablo Elementary, has organ-ized a fundraiser called the “Val-ley and Butte Project” to helppeople in need and to remindpeople to be grateful. They arecollecting many items to send tothe families affected.

The idea originated fromClayton resident Nikki Hocken-berger, who contacted DVMSleadership teacher Mrs. Ruffabout coordinating efforts withthe leadership class.

MDE and DVMS will becollecting non-perishable foodsitems such as canned foods,cereal, peanut butter and babyfoods, as well as toiletries suchas, shampoo, soap, deodorant,toothbrushes and toothpaste,feminine products and diapers.

They will also be collectingclothing items, such as socks andunderwear of all sizes, and shel-tering items, such as sleepingbags, towels, blankets and tents.In addition, the collection of pet

supplies and food for dogs, cats,rabbits and chickens, includingcrates, hay and cat litter/boxesare needed.

Leadership students will becollecting all of the items fromthe students’ homeroom classeson Monday, Sept. 28, throughFriday, Oct. 16. If you are not astudent or parent of Mount Dia-blo Elementary or Diablo ViewMiddle School and would like todonate, please contact Mrs. Rufffor more information [email protected].

“No gesture is too smallwhen done with gratitude,” saysOprah Winfrey. We should allexpress more gratitude for thethings we have, and for the peo-ple in the Valley and Butte fires,who would be grateful for oursupport. “So, let’s help the resi-dents of Valley and Butte and‘Do the Right Thing!’” says Mrs.Ruff.

School has been back in ses-sion for a month and student lifehas picked up where it left off atthe beginning of last summer.Students are settling in to newclasses and with new teachers.They are looking forward to abrand new year of learning.

CAASPP results from last

spring’s test are in. Results forindividual students will bemailed home by mid-October.Schoolwide results for MDES aswell as all schools in Californiaare available online through theCalifornia Department of Edu-cation at www.caaspp.cde.ca.gov.

Speaking of student success,reading may cause some childrento groan, but it is an essentialskill for achievement in school.By third grade students shouldbe reading to learn, not justlearning to read. Children whoread a lot become better readers.Children who read a lot learn tolove reading. You can help your

child by creating a print-richenvironment. Have books andmagazines around that are age-appropriate for them. Point outinteresting stories or articles toyour children. Talk about thebooks you read with them atnight before bed. Discuss thestories and the characters, whathappens in the story and why.Most of all make reading togeth-er a fun activity.

Remember that as little as 15minutes a day can make a differ-ence in your child’s reading skills.

Natalie Pursche is in the seventhgrade at Diablo View MiddleSchool. She is an avid reader, enjoyswriting, and loves to spend time withher friends and family. Send com-ments to [email protected].

NATALIE PURSCHE

DVMS CORRESPONDENT

Schools help out with fire victims

Performing Arts Charterstarts enrolling students

NELLIE MEYER

MDUSD SUPERINTENDENT

Tech expansions partof MDUSD plan

Read to children forschool success

IRENE KEENAN

MDES PRINCIPAL

Email comments/questions [email protected]

Parent support helps DVMS start strong

PATTI BANNISTER

DVMS PRINCIPAL

Dr. Nellie Meyer is Superin-tendent of Schools for MDUSD.Email questions or comments [email protected]

Eat less, exercise more. Caloriesin, calories out. Burn them or storethem.

What is wrong with thesestatements?

I will try to explain why acalorie is not a calorie and howthe food industry — and I meanindustry — is all about makingmoney, not building a healthy,vibrant person.

So let’s start with, why do weeat?

1) To fuel our brains andnervous systems so our bodiescan function properly, thinkquickly, respond to life — thingslike stress and pressure fromoutside of us. Things we can’tcontrol.

2) To build and repair ourbodies so we can work, makelove, have fun … you get what Iam saying. To give us a goodquality of life.

3) Because we like food, itshould taste good and give uspleasure. We use food to cele-brate, and come on, we eat threetimes a day. It is at the center ofour life, not just for us but for all

living creatures. We eat to live. When we eat fresh, real

WHOLE food, not juiced food,we thrive. It’s truly the fountainof youth.

So why do we get so sick?Doctors know 75 percent of alldiseases can be prevented orreversed with a diet change.

Why are we not listening?It’s not about cutting down

the calories, it’s about changingthe food from less processedfiber and sugar to fresh andREAL food.

Fiber is the key. And notadded cereal fiber but real whole

food. What’s so great aboutfiber? It slows the absorption ofsugar, adds bulk to the diet,which, by the way, helps you feelfull longer and feeds the goodbacteria in your gut. Carbohy-drates are the not the enemy,they are your first line ofdefense.

I had struggled with myweight and health for years, fromone crazy diet to another, alwaystrying to control the amount Iate and balancing the exercise.Never once did a doctor ask mewhat I was eating.

“Increase exercise, decreaseyour calories.” Limiting sugar orprocessed food was consideredsafe and a way to count calories.In fact, the food industry is ourpartner as they have made it easywith low-fat, low- calorie meals.But are they the best on the roadto health?

Remember Metrocal? Howabout Aides candies? Or, justdrink hot water and it fills youup. My doctor told me to try thatwhen I was 16. The diet industrygrew and so did I. I never knew

that when your body releasedinsulin it stored the excess bloodsugar (glucose) as fat and once itis stored as fat it can never bechanged back to glucose. Sowhen I cut calories I always felttired.

Fiber is our friend and helpsprotect the absorption of sugarinto our blood stream. We needglucose to run our body, but itneeds to be a slow amount orour blood sugar rises, whichcauses a chain reaction: Ourbody releases insulin, which inturn causes our cholesterol to goup.

Don’t believe fad diets. Justeat smart.

For more on this, viewYouTube UCTV’s “The Skinnyon Obesity” by Dr RobertLustig.

The Board of Supervisorshas voted four-to-one to sup-port Contra Costa Cares, a one-year pilot program that will helpthose who are low income butdo not qualify for MediCal butcan’t afford Covered California,the program under the Afford-able Care Act, and undocument-ed individuals. I wanted to sharewith you why I support this pro-gram.

First, the $500,000 sharefrom the county is coming from

the $12.5 million rebate from theState of California to repayunfunded mandates.

Second, another $500,000will come from the hospitals inour area; if that money does notbecome available, the county willnot put up its $500,000.

Third, the $1 million pilotprogram will provide preventivehealth care to 3,000 individuals.This doesn’t cover the popula-tion described above, but it’s astart.

Fourth, the county must treatany individual who comes intoour Emergency Room, and thecost by that time is much moreexpensive , so I see this as a fis-cally-sound way to be a goodsteward of county resourceswhile at the same time providingpreventive health care to individ-uals who otherwise wouldn’treceive it — and thereby possi-bly become a public health con-cern to the rest of the popula-tion.

And fifth, and what I consid-er the most important, it is theright thing to do. I have receiveda few negative telephone callsand emails indicating that taxdollars should not be used toaddress the needs of undocu-mented individuals. The situa-tion facing our nation todayaround immigration must besolved at the federal level. I,however, must deal with realconcerns here at the local level.

Let me give you a personalexample, and I hope you canrelate it to your own lives: I havea weak respiratory system andmust be careful during flu andcold season. Where someoneelse may be able to fight offthose airborne germs, I am morelikely to end up with the sniffles.I can deal with that, but I have avery close friend who has sur-vived a transplant. (Not to men-tion our own Supervisor FederalGlover, who is also a transplantsurvivor.) These individuals

must be extremely careful not tocome in to contact with anyonewho could compromise theirimmune system. All one needsto do is reflect on the recentmeasles outbreak in Disneylandto see how easily communicablediseases are transmitted withoutany one of us being aware that itis happening.

The reality is there are indi-viduals living in our communi-ties who are undocumented.Some have lived here for years,and many of them perform jobsthat help keep our economygoing. We can debate the meritsof these facts, but the bottomline to me is assuring the public’shealth to the extent I can anddoing that in the most fiscally-responsible way possible.

That is why I voted to sup-port Contra Costa Cares.

Q. We are buying a housethat is new construction.What should we be sure toinclude in the backyard forour own enjoyment as wellas future sale? I get trans-ferred quite a bit.A. Current owners and

future buyers of a home thesedays have a continuing loveaffair with their backyard. Ithas become an extension ofthe home’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 after

dark. Also highlight importantareas of the yard such as treesor planting beds.

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

Have a water feature suchas a fountain to help you con-nect with nature. They projecta tranquil sound that mostpeople enjoy.

Have a portable fire pit orfireplace to extend the timeduring the year that you canenjoy the yard.

Put in an outdoor kitchen— it is often the center offamily life in the summer. Itcan be as elaborate or scaleddown as your budget allows.

And remember, when yousell your home, staging thebackyard is a must.


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Studies show as many as 70percent of Emergency Roomvisits are not life-threateningand can be treated in an urgentcare setting with appropriatelytrained physicians, says Dr.Armando Samaniego, anEmergency Medicine special-ist. That is one of the reasonsDr. Samaniego founded STATMED Urgent Care. Followingthe success of its first location,opened in 2014 in downtownLafayette, STAT MED is nowexpanding its community-focused practice to PleasantHill and Concord on the cor-ner of Contra Costa Blvd. andSunvalley Blvd.

“Our goal has been to pro-vide a more advanced level ofimmediate care along with theoutstanding healthcare experi-

ence that patients deserve,”says Dr. Samaniego. That iswhy STAT MED is staffedonly by ER-trained profession-als, making it uniquely able tohandle diverse medical needs:routine care as well as moresevere injuries or illnesses, andeverything in between.

“Overwhelmingly positiveand consistent feedback fromour patients has confirmed weare meeting that need forimmediate care without havingto go to an ER, which can betraumatic in and of itself –regardless of the severity ofthe injury,” says STAT MED’sDr. Allan Drabinsky.

“I am delighted we candeliver ER-quality care in acalm, comfortable, privateenvironment, where clients can

avoid the chaos, crowds, longwaits and higher costs of a typ-ical ER visit.”As healthcarereform continues its transfor-mation, Dr. Samaniego notesthat ERs will only becomemore crowded and moreexpensive.

Though not every health-care need is an emergency,many patients may still requireimmediate attention. STATMED is equipped to deliver afull range of medical care withno appointment or referralrequired. Online registration isavailable to expedite your visit,though walk-in wait times aretypically minimal. Patients canexpect to have one-on-onetime with the physician andaccess to lab tests and X-raysperformed on-site, allowing

for convenient, well-coordinat-ed care. STAT MED also spe-cializes in sports medicine,providing prompt team physi-cals and sport injury treatment,as well as travelmedicine/immunizations andoccupational medicine/workinjury requirements.

Both STAT MED locationsare open 7 days a week/365days a year; from 8 a.m. to 8p.m. Monday through Friday,and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.weekends and holidays. Twolocations are available: down-town Lafayette at 970 DewingAve., and 901 Sunvalley Blvd.

STAT MED is a participatingprovider for most insurance plans.Please visit www.statmed.com fordetailed information.

CINDY GERSHEN

FOOD MATTERS

Cindy Gershen is Chef/FoundingOwner of Sunrise Bistro & Catering inWalnut Creek, Mount Diablo HighSchool Sustainable Hospitality Pathwayteacher, founding board member of theWellness City Challenge and co-author of“The Fat Chance Cookbook.” Contacther at [email protected]

Calories not the only answer to weight control

KAREN MITCHOFF

COUNTY SUPERVISOR

Karen Mitchoff is Contra CostaCounty District IV supervisor. Emailquestions or comments [email protected]

Why I support Contra Costa Cares

Go the max when planning backyard

Advertorial

STAT MED expands to Pleasant Hill/Concord

Send your question and look foryour answer in a future column. [email protected]. French isthe broker/owner of WindermereLynne French & Associates. Contacther at 672-8787 or stop in at 6200Center St., Clayton.

LYNNE FRENCH

REAL ANSWERS

Co-chairs Lou Adamo andAl Hagerstrand haveannounced the results of vot-ing for the Mt. Diablo HighSchool Sports Hall of FameClass of 2015, which includesfour athletes and one coach.They were chosen from a fieldof 25 nominees includingteams, coaches and athletes.

Ron Walsh, Mike Connorsand James “Buddy” King fromthe 1960s and Joe Nelms fromthe 80s are the athletes andBruce Iversen is the coach whogarnered enough votes to com-prise the 12th class of SportsHall of Fame inductees for thearea’s oldest school.

Reflective of their eras allfour athletes were multi-sportsperformers with Connors“only” playing two sportswhile the others were three-sport standouts.

Mike Connors (1967 foot-

ball and swimming)A four-year varsity letter

winner in swimming Connorscapped his career as DVALbutterfly champion in 1967.He also played two years ofvarsity football. He went on toget all-Golden Gate Confer-ence honors two years at Dia-blo Valley College includingfor the 1968 league football

champions. This led to a schol-arship at Weber State in 1969where he played guard, tackleand tight end on the offensiveline. He played in 1971 as asenior at Chico State for theFar West Conference champi-on Wildcats. He was honorablemention all-West Coast andplayed in the Camellia Bowlagainst Boise State.

BRUCE IVERSEN(1956-59 BASEBALL COACH)

Long-time high schoolsports observers rememberthe late Bruce Iversen as thesuccessful Clayton ValleyHigh basketball coach for sev-eral decades. Before CVHSeven opened he was makinghis mark at Mt. Diablo. His1959 baseball team is consid-ered as perhaps the greatest inschool history. With standoutssuch as Jim Liggett, RonLichti, Dwain Adams, MartyPiscovich, Tom Brown, ChuckMidland, Dennis Treadway,Bud Peebles, Bill Stone and

Lee Grichuhin the Red Devilswere undefeated in DVALplay and 11 players hit over.300 that season. The yearbefore they were league co-champs with Las Lomas butwent one step further in ’59.Mt. Diablo won 11 DVALchampionships between 1956and 1966. Iversen was justfour years removed from hisStanford undergraduate dayswhen he began coaching atMDHS. His 1959 team wasput into the school’s SportsHall of Fame in 2010. Liggett,Piscovich, Adams and Brownare also previous MDHS Hallof Fame inductees.

BUDDY KING(CLASS OF 1969 FOOTBALL,WRESTLING AND BASEBALL)

Buddy King was DVALlineman of the year as a seniorafter getting all-league recogni-tion on offense and defense.King was named to both theContra Costa-Alameda andNorth-South Shrine All-Star

games. The Concord Tran-script named him a member ofthe 1960s All Decade Team.He won the P. J. Kramer Awardin 1969. He was a two-year var-sity MDHS athlete in football,baseball and wrestling. Kingattended Clemson Universityin South Carolina on scholar-ship and played offensiveguard from 1970-72 for Tigersfootball.

JOE NELMS (1983 FOOTBALL,BASKETBALL AND BASEBALL)

Nelms was a versatilethree-sport athlete for the RedDevils who went on to CalBerkeley where he playedthree years for the GoldenBears, earning all-Pacific 10football honors as a senior in1988. He was drafted in the11th round by the ChicagoBears and played in a pre-sea-son NFL game. He was a RedDevils three-year letterman inbasketball and two years eachin football and baseball. Hewas football defensive player

of the week and captain ofthe basketball team his senioryear. He garnered first-teamall-league honors in eachsport. He was also draftedtwice by the Kansas City Roy-als baseball team.

RON WALSH(1966 FOOTBALL, BASKET-

BALL AND BASEBALL)The team captain and

catcher for the 1966 DVALchampionship baseball teamunder coach Steve Bordi,Walsh was a three-year letterwinner in baseball and twoeach in football and basket-ball. He was selected to playon the Contra Costa All-Starfootball team and was all-DVAL and all-Eastbay inbaseball as a senior. He wonthe P.J. Kramer Award in1966. He went on to play forthe Hall of Fame 1966 Dia-blo Valley College footballteam which lost only once, toCity College of San Franciscoled by O.J. Simpson. HisDVC football career wasinterrupted by service in theU.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam.

The honorees will beinducted into the Hall ofFame Nov. 7 at Zio Fraedo’sin Pleasant Hill. Tickets at$50 for the dinner are on saleby calling Adamo at (925)212-9332 or mailing paymentto MDHSSHOF c/o LarryProsper, 3718 HillsboroughDr., Concord 94520.

Proceeds from the eventhelp fund the girls and boyssports program at Mt. Diablo.

High school fall sports inthe Diablo Valley and East Bayathletic leagues are underway

as local teams and athletessearch for strong results thatwill qualify them for NorthCoast Section competitionwhich leads to state finals insome sports.

CROSS COUNTRYAt the Ed Sias Invitational

in Martinez Clayton ValleyCharter was fourth and North-gate eighth in large school boyswith Carondelet ninth, North-

gate 10th and CVCHS 11th inlarge school girls. Clayton Valleyboys came back the next week-end for ninth at the De La SalleInvitational while Northgateboys won the Artichoke Invita-tional last weekend.

DVAL has three Wednes-day center meets—the lasttwo Oct. 7 and Oct. 14— withall seven schools taking parteach week on the same course.The DVAL championshipsare on Halloween at HiddenValley in Pleasant Hill to qual-ify for NCS in Hayward onNov. 21. The State finals areNov. 28 in Fresno.

GIRLS GOLFNorthgate won the DVAL

championship and tournamenta year ago led by freshmanmedalist Dymphna Ueda andthe Broncos figure to be strongagain with Ueda leading theway. Surprising newcomer Col-lege Park and Clayton ValleyCharter figure to battle for sec-

ond place with the Falconsholding an edge now.

Senior Rebecca Walsh is afour-year veteran and was firstteam all-league thelast twoyears for CVCHS. SophomoreReyna Khalilieh is currentlyranked #2 while senior ArletheSaid gained varsity experiencelast year.

Joining them on Eagles var-sity are sophomore JessicaPayne and juniors Jordan Ray,Jaylyn Arviola and MorganChristensen. That quartet wason JVs last year and is new tothe pressure of competitionbut coach Jen Moore is opti-mistic that “they will find theirinner tiger.”

Northgate, CVCHS andCarondelet all made the NCSTournament of Champions inDivision I last fall withCougars expected to top theEBAL this fall after getting offto an undefeated 10-0 start.

Clayton Valley Charter HighSchool’s football team will befavored in each of its five DiabloValley Athletic League games asthe Ugly Eagles look to extend a17-game league winning streakthat dates back to the tail end ofthe 2011 schedule and runsthrough three straight DVALchampionship seasons.

Coach Tim Murphy’s teamnavigated its toughest-ever non-league schedule with four winsin five games. The Eagles losttheir opener to returning Divi-sion I state champion Folsom27-26. The Bulldogs have wonfive more games and stand 6-0,ranked behind only De La Sallein NorCal rankings.

Last Friday the Eagles ralliedfrom a 17-7 deficit to edge pre-viously-undefeated Monte Vistaof Danville 21-17, holding theMustangs scoreless in the sec-ond half.

Quarterback Luis Ramos putthe Eagles in front for the firsttime with a leaping one-yard TDwith 5:01 left in the fourth quar-ter. The winning touchdowndrive began when Ja’ron Jacksonintercepted a pass in his endzone, thwarting a Monte Vistadrive.

The Clayton Valley defensefinished off the victory withthree straight sacks of MV. Afterholding the visitors on downs

the Eagles made two first downsand then ran out the clock toensure the victory.

Following completion of itsnon-league schedule Murphysays Joe Nguenti, Justin Roper,Ryan Fisher and Jack Miller“have stepped up big time, morethan expected.” He adds, “Guyswe expected like Ray Jackson,Ramos, Angel Quesada, JakePeralta and Jamel Rosales havebeen outstanding, like we knewthey would be.”

CVCHS starts defense of itsleague title on the new turf fieldat Mt. Diablo (1-4) this Friday.Concord and Northgate eachhave 3-2 non-league recordswhile Ygnacio Valley is 2-3. Col-lege Park is winless in five gamesafter firing new coach Joe Teno-rio four games into the seasonand asking Bill Kepler to returnto the sidelines for the balance ofthe year. Kepler had steppeddown after 26 years as the Fal-cons head coach after last sea-son.

Last year was unprecedentedfor local high schools as all fiveConcord schools—Concord,Ygnacio Valley, Mt. Diablo, Clay-ton Valley Charter and DLS—-plus Northgate and BereanChristian were in the five-tieredNorth Coast Section playoffs inthe same year. This year therewill be 13 state championshipdivisions so a number of localteams may have a shot at post-season play.

SPARTANS, EAGLES NO. 1De La Salle lost its opener in

Texas but the Spartans have runoff four consecutive victories to

maintain its spot in CalHiS-ports.com rankings as No. 1 inCalifornia Division I andCVCHS is first in DII.

The Spartans lost in Texasdue to a number or mistakes andthat pattern has continued evenas they have run off four wins.

Last week they won at GraniteBay 37-0 despite losing fiveturnovers. They have outscoredtheir last four opponents 167-39.


Sports CV football ready for run to 4th straight DVAL title

Jason Rogers photo

TACKLE ANGEL QUESADA (63) LEADS THE BLOCKING FOR QUARTERBACK LOUIS RAMOS (21) for the Clayton Valley Charter Highvarsity football team. The two-way players have been identified by head coach Tim Murphy as key cogs for the Ugly Ea-gles as they continue defense of their NCS championship.

RON WALSH

BRUCE IVERSEN

Photo courtesy Carondelet High School

ALEX BROWN WAS IN GOAL as Carondelet won the California Capital Challenge tournamentchampionship in Roseville recently. The freshman from Clayton had nine saves in the finalsas the Cougars shut out host Woodcreek 9-0. Her classmate Aly Bamberger scored a goalin the final and semi-final games.

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

MDHS announces Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2015

Fall sports teams into league schedules

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

See Fall Sports, pg 12

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

Clayton Valley High grad DomenicMazza has been busy this summer andfall starting his pro baseball career sincesigning a contract with the World Cham-pion San Francisco Giants in early July.He’s now in Arizona for the fall instruc-tional league with the Giants team.

After negotiating a contract withGiants brass without using an agentMazza was sent to play for the Giants inthe Arizona Rookie League. He pitchedfor the Giants seven times in Arizonaand ended with a 3-0 record.

He was going to celebrate his 21stbirthday in Arizona with his family, whocame down to see him pitch but thegame was rained out. Before he couldplay another game there the left-handedpitcher got a call and was told to reportto the Salem–Keizer Volcanoes, a Giantsshort season Class A affiliate in theNorthwest League.

He pitched three times in the lastweek of the Volcanoes season includingin a NWL playoff game against eventualleague champions Hillsboro Hops. NineVolcanoes alumni were on the 2014World Series-winning Giants.

Overall Mazza threw 27 innings in 10pro games with an earned run average of1.67 while giving up just 20 hits.

The CVHS 2012 grad was selected inthe 22nd round of the Major LeagueBaseball draft. A junior at UC Santa Bar-bara he was one of seven pitchers draft-ed from his Gauchos team.

Mazza made headlines while still atCVHS when he finished second as a 16-year-old in the Re/Max World LongDrive Golf Championship. He turneddown the $70,000 second-place prizemoney in order to retain his amateur sta-tus and eligibility to pitch for his highschool and then college teams.

He has two cousins making their ownathletic marks after graduating fromClayton Valley. Chris Mazza was draftedby and signed with the Minnesota Twinsin 2011 and pitched this summer for theJupiter Hammerheads, a Class AAdvanced affiliate for the Miami Marlins.His younger brother Nick Mazza this fallwas assigned jersey number 43 by Sacra-mento State football, a unique honorwhich remembers former Hornet JohnBloomfield. Co-captain Mazza will wearthe jersey for the entire 2015 Hornetsseason.

Photo courtesy Diablo FC

Diablo FC 03 under 12 boys came in second at the 9th annual San Francisco Classic Pro-Am Beach Soccer tournament.The local team lost to the San Juan Lightning Crash 7-5 in the finals of the 5v5 event. Each team has four field playersand a goalkeeper. Diablo FC won three consecutive teams to reach the finals including a 5-4 win over their fellow DFC03 team (split into two teams for the SF Classic). The team includes, front row from left, Jonathan Wence, Jack Simpkins,Ryan Aiken, Taj Vuong, Ryan Morimoto, Jacob Oledan, Logan Gonzales; back, coaches Zbysek Rychtecky and BrianVoltattorni. Not pictured, Andre Vojtenyi.

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Sports

Ever since he was a little kid startingto play sports Jake King was destined tobecome a hard-working player. For thelast four years, his spirit and talent hasbeen integrated into Clayton ValleyCharter’s football and track and fieldprograms. King knew that football wasa sport that “would put [me] in the rightdirection.” He says, “It’s fun playingwith the friends I grew up with” when

he participates in Ugly Eagles footballas a fullback. “In a way, it’s like you'rebattling your friends,” stated King.Coach Tim Murphy says, “Jake is adream kid; his maturity, toughness,commitment, work ethic and being anexample to others is as good as it gets.”After he spent his freshman year win-ning the Coach’s Award on the CVCHSfrosh team he’s been on varsity forthree seasons of league championshipteams. He works at Jimmy John’s andlikes to hang out with his friends andfamily. He plans on studying criminaljustice in college and hopes to keepthrowing discus and shot put, bothevents he took third in at league meetlast spring. And King has accomplished

this after losing both his parents, hismother a few years ago to breast cancer.

CVCHS student journalist Celine Her-rera contributed to this Spotlight.

The Clayton Pioneer congratu-lates Jake and thanks Athlete Spot-light sponsors Dr. Laura Lacey &Dr. Christopher Ruzicka who havebeen serving the Clayton and Con-cord area for 25 years at FamilyVision Care Optometry.www.laceyandruzicka.com

Do you know a young athlete who shouldbe recognized? Perhaps he or she has shownexceptional sportsmanship, remarkableimprovement or great heart for the sport. Sendyour nomination for the Pioneer Athlete Spot-light today to [email protected].

AthleteSpotlightJake KingGrade: Senior

School: CVCHS

Sports: Footall andTrack & Field

DOMINIC MAZZA

Domenic Mazza back in Arizona withGiants team for Fall Instructional League

Diablo FC 03 boys win at Beach

Photo by Ersun Erdem courtesy CVCHS

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

The World ChampionGolden State Warriors keepgetting better and better as anorganization.

As the team got ready forits training camp this monthlegendary point guard SteveNash signed an agreementwith the Warriors to be a part-time development consult-ant. Nash played 18 years inthe NBA with three differentteams and won two MVPawards.

The Canadian is also famil-

iar with the Bay Area aftermaking a name for himself atSanta Clara.

Nash will come in and beable to give advice to superstarStephen Curry.

Curry is already a wizardwith the basketball with ball-handling ability that looks likeart in motion on the court.Nash was well-known duringhis time in the NBA as anexpert shooter and ballhandler,and now he gets to pass hisknowledge on to Curry. Although Curry has an

MVP title and championshipring, he can still learn a greatdeal from Nash.

Nash was always a smartplayer and the most importantthing he can start to teachCurry is discipline and patience.

One of Curry’s greateststrengths can sometimes be hisweakness, which is the ability toheave circus shots well behindthe three-point line and havethem go in. At times last seasonCurry had a tendency to heaveup a lot of bad three-point shots. When he madethem it was astonishing, butwhen he didn’t all it took wasone look at head coach SteveKerr pulling his hair out tolearn that Curry needed bettershot selection.

That’s where Nash comesin. In his career, Nash had afield goal percentage of 49 per-

cent. He was an assassin on thecourt. He poked and proddedfor the slightest opening, andthen sprung for an easy shot.

Curry can make crazy circusshots, which is why he is soamazing, but imagine what hecould do if he took smartershots? That’s not to say Curryshould stop playing his game,but it might do him some goodto rely on his teammates whenhe gets double teamed.

The Warriors are anextremely deep and talentedteam so Curry has numerousweapons at his disposal to passto. Klay Thompson is a lights-out three-point shooter andHarrison Barnes rains downcorner 3’s effortlessly.

Curry is already an amazingplayer; he has an MVP trophyto attest to that. But he still hasroom to improve and Nash hasthe ability to unlock moregame-breaking potential inCurry.

The Warriors begindefense of their NBA title athome Oct. 27 against the NewOrleans Pelicans.

WINTER PROGRAMSOPEN AT ALL OUTSPORTS LEAGUES

Winter programs are nowopen for signups in Claytonoffered by All Out SportsLeagues. Youth basketballsignups are taking place withthe league starting Jan. 9.Thanksgiving and Christmasbreak basketball clinics forboys and girls in first through10th grades are also accept-ing signups. Blaze competi-tive team tryouts for baseball,basketball and girls volleyballare upcoming later this year.For complete information onAll Out Sports programs,visit alloutsportsleague.com.

DIABLO FC POKERNIGHT FUNDRAISER THIS

FRIDAYLocal competitive soccer

club Diablo FC will hold afundraising Poker Night thisFriday, Oct. 9. There will be a6 p.m. dinner and gamingstarts at 7 o’clock at PleasantHill Community Center. Thepoker tournament followingthe tri-tip and chicken dinnerwill have gift certificate

prizes up to $500. For moreinformation or to sign upvisit diablofc.org.

DIABLO VIEWPART OF NEW MDUSD

MIDDLE SCHOOLSPORTS PROGRAM

Diablo View MiddleSchool and Concord schoolsEl Dorado, Oak Grove andPine Hollow are participatingin the new nine-school sportsleagues through the Mt. Dia-blo Unified School District.Also taking part are schoolsfrom Bay Point, Pleasant Hilland Walnut Creek. The after-school program features soc-cer (Sept.-Oct.), kickball(Nov.-Dec.), basketball (Jan.-March) and flag football(April-May). The after schooldistrict-sponsored program isfree to students including bustransportation provided bythe district. To participateboys and girls sign and sub-mit a permission slip to theirschool. For more info visitmdusd-ca.schoolloop.com/mssports.

CONCORD HIGH SEEKINGVARSITY WRESTLING,

BOYS TENNIS COACHESConcord High School is

looking for head varsitywrestling and boys tenniscoaches. Athletic directorMegan Coddington says thecoaches receive a stipend.Candidates must fulfillMDUSD fingerprinting, havecurrent TB test, be FirstAid/CPR certified and com-plete NFHS or ASEP princi-ples of coaching and NFHSconcussion courses. Sendresume to Coddington [email protected].

CLAYTON PLAYER HELPSWALNUT CREEK 99 BOYSWIN CHAMPIONS CUPClayton native Ryan Roos

and the 99 boys from WalnutCreek Soccer Club won theChampions Cup in Ripon atthe end of September. Aftera loss and a tie in the prelim-inary rounds WCSC beat Bal-listic in the semifinal 4-1 andAlmaden 3-0 in the champi-onship game.


Sports

TYLER LEHMANSPORTS TALK

Tyler Lehman is a senior at SanFrancisco State University and a2012 CVHS graduate. He ismajoring in print/online journalismand wants to be a sports writer.Email your comments or questionsto [email protected].

The DVAL Championshipmeet is Oct. 19 after dualmatches conclude next week.NCS Division I qualifying meetis Oct. 26 and the DI champi-onships Nov. 2 at BoundaryOak in Walnut Creek followedthe next two weeks by the Nor-Cal (Nov. 9 in Salinas) and State(Nov. 16 at Poppy Hills in Peb-ble Beach) championships.

GIRLS TENNISNorthgate has been the

tennis powerhouse in theDVAL for many years and Nic-hole Markiewicz is the newNo. 1 for the Broncos. ClaytonValley and College Park shouldvie for second place.

CVCHS has its largestgroup of girls tennis playersever with over 30 on new headcoach Sayed Anwar’s squad.He notes that many “have onlyrecently picked up the tennisracket so my expectations arethat we will grow and get bet-ter every day.”

Seniors Maria Sparvoli,Erin Wardle and GlennalynAjero along with junior DaliaAnwar are the top four Eaglesnetters. He adds that ratherthan a player the team’s biggestloss from last season is depart-ed head coach Brian Corbettwho went to another school toteach this fall.

College Park, CVCHS andCarondelet all made NCS teamtournament last year.

DVAL dual matches rununtil Oct. 22 with the leaguemeet Oct. 27-29 hosted by Mt.Diablo before NCS team andindividual championships inNovember.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALLNorthgate (semi-finals),

Carondelet (quarter-finals),Clayton Valley and CollegePark all advanced to NCS lastyear. The Broncos figure towin the league crown again thisyear with College Park andClayton Valley next in line.

Jess Stratton is a four-yearvarsity performer and seniorcaptain for CVCHS. JuniorsErika Schaefer and Tori Klockare in their third years on varsi-ty. Shelby Pastorini transferredto the school last year and newhead coach Sebastian Sheehan

says she’s been ”a great addi-tion to our team.” He alsolauds her classmate MiaMudaliar for “running ouroffense. She sets the tone ofthe game.”

His new players this yearinclude Starr Aven, CocoAlvarez and Madison Downs,all juniors.

DVAL double-round robincontinues until Nov. 3. TheNCS championships run Nov.11-21.

WATER POLOThe DVAL added Her-

cules, Pinole Valley and St.Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejoto join College Park, North-gate, Concord and ClaytonValley Charter for a seven-team water polo league. North-gate and Clayton Valley arefavored to reach the girls finals.Northgate boys were second atthe De Anza Tournament andCVCHS was runner-up at theJames Logan Tournament. Intheir first matchup this year theNorthgate boys beat ClaytonValley 12-11.

CVCHS boys fourth-yearcoach Nick Ballew has a muchimproved team “with a lot toprove. We hope to make theleague championship this yearas we finished third last year,”the coach says as he returnsalmost all starters from lastyear. Scott Meylan, Ben Robi-now, Ryan Levy and AnthonyVines are all seniors looking tolead the team.

Max Silverberg and JacobCoppa look to contribute bigthis year. Returning starterCam Brandt is also a solid play-er while the goalie position willbe by committee with MattFryer and Donovan Huntersharing duties.

DVAL matches for boysand girls water polo continuethrough Oct. 21 before theleague tournament Oct. 27-31at Northgate’s new pool. NCStournaments for boys and girlsrun Nov. 4-14.

Last year Carondelet, Con-cord, College Park, Northgateand Clayton Valley all reachedNCS girls tournament whileNorthgate (DII finalists), Col-lege Park and De La Salle werein the boys section playoffs.

Fall Sports, from page 10

World Champion Golden State Warriorsadd legendary point guard to Nash staff

New name, new colors forClayton Valley Jr. Eagles

Photo courtesy Clayton Valley Junior Eagles

Nine-year-old twins Kaden and Haley Rose model thenew red, white and blue uniforms for the Clayton Valley Jun-ior Eagles football and cheer teams. Kaden Rose plays on theyoungest CVAA scout team while his sister Halley cheers onthe pee wee level. The five Clayton Valley football teams,playing under their new Junior Eagles name, visit the Mar-tinez Bulldogs this Saturday. This Sunday the Jr. Eagles cheersquads are at the annual Six Flags Discovery Kingdom CheerCompetition in Vallejo. President Dave Cooney reports that228 kids are taking part in the program this year including 67cheerleaders ages 5-14.

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Sixty seconds into ScottCooper’s film “Black Mass,”Johnny Depp gives the mostfrightening close-up in his longmovie career. Annoyed at theactions of an associate, Deppsneers and his eyes dart backand forth. Depp plays notori-ous gangster James “Whitey”Bulger. Beneath the thinning,slicked-back hair, disfiguredteeth and ice-blue, “dead eye”contacts, it’s sometimes hard totell that it really is Johnny.Depp’s transformation intothis menacing, larger-than-lifefigure is amazing.

Cooper films the gritty, late1970s/early80s streets ofsouth Boston in subdued, darktones. Even when empty, thesestreets are scary. The support-ing cast is full of well-knownactors who do a fine job buoy-ing the film when Bulger is off-screen. “Black Mass” is thebest true-crime drama in manyyears.

Besides the dreadful“Pirates of the Caribbean”films, Johnny Depp hasn’tplayed the starring role in asuccessful film since 2005’s“Charlie and the ChocolateFactory.” With a string of fail-ures including “Mortdecai,”

“Transcendence,” “Dark Shad-ows,” “The Lone Ranger” and“The Tourist,” Depp hasstarred in one poorly reviewedfilm after another. “BlackMass” changes that. Deppgives perhaps his best per-formance. Even friends of thereal Whitey Bulger said Depp“is Whitey.” Bulger is a verycomplex individual. He isfiercely loyal to his neighbor-hood and his family. Deppfinds the heart in the middle ofa black soul during scenes withBulger and his son. Bulger issomehow able to separate fam-ily from his wicked lifestyle.

The film is told from theperspective of several of Bul-ger’s lieutenants, picked up bythe FBI and now turning ontheir former boss. RoryCochrane, in particular, gives astellar performance as Bulger’sright-hand man, Steven Flem-mi. Besides Bulger, the filmfocuses on FBI Agent JohnConnolly (Joel Edgerton), achildhood friend of Whitey’s.Connolly convinces his fellowagents that allowing Bulger to“inform” on the mafia ofnorth Boston would be a smart

move. Whitey sees it as analliance; he gets protection andis able to operate with impuni-ty while also taking down hisrivals.

If there is a fault in thefilm, it is with the portrayal ofConnolly. At times, he seemsboth a genius agent and a star-struck fool. He not only looksthe other way, but is sometimeseven complicit in Whitey’scrimes. Connolly swears loyaltyto Whitey. However, we neverknow if it is due to a specificevent or if Connolly is justholding on too tight to hischildhood hero. He puts hiswife in awkward situations andpersuades one of his fellowagents that Whitey is too valu-able to lock up. Connolly is anintriguing character, but thebest parts about “Black Mass”revolve around James“Whitey” Bulger.

Cooper’s previous film,“Out of the Furnace,” wasteda terrifically creepy WoodyHarrelson by being overlypreachy and boring. With“Black Mass,” Cooper learnedfrom his mistake. He crafted atight, suspenseful thriller. The

film works even if you alreadyknow Bulger’s story. JohnnyDepp, 30 years into his career,is at the top of his game. Per-haps he has found a renais-sance of sorts a la MatthewMcConaughey. Let’s hopeDepp continues choosing todo films such as this, just with-out the scary contacts. A-

Roly-poly puppies areirresistibly cute, but need tobe taught proper manners sothey can blossom intorespectful canine citizens.

One common puppybehavior that needs to beaddressed early on ismouthing. Puppies have astrong need to bite and chew,so eliminating this behavioraltogether is not possible.Instead, teach your puppyproper “bite inhibition.”

Puppyhood is the idealtime for a dog to learn toinhibit their bite – or, not tohurt you with their teeth.They begin to learn it almostimmediately after birth withmom and their littermates –puppies quickly understandthat if they bite too hard,“good stuff ” goes away,whether it be mom’s milk orplaytime with their brothersand sisters. Once your puppycomes to live with you, it isessential he keeps develop-ing his bite inhibition andlearns to use his mouth gen-tly with people. During thistime, you need to focus ongetting him to gentle downhis bite so he uses little to nopressure. At first, focus ononly the worst cases ofmouthing. As he progressesinto a gentler bite, you canbegin to work on eliminatingmouthing or nipping. Awonderful training plan forteaching bite inhibition is thefour R’s: Remove, Repeat,Reinforce and Redirect.

Remove attention from

your puppy when he getsmouthy by immediately stop-ping paying attention to him.This might involve evenphysically leaving the roomyour puppy is in. Rememberthat by doing this, you are“ending the fun” by remov-ing something he desires –time with you. Once he iscalm again, you may re-engage him.

Reinforce soft mouthingwith “Ouch and Remove.” Ifyour puppy gives a hard bitethat actually hurts, say“Ouch!” as if he has justcaused you pain, and imme-diately remove your atten-tion. When your puppybegins to demonstrate a soft-er, more inhibited bite,shower him with enthusiasticpraise and keep playtimegoing.

Repeating your trainingfrequently is the best way foryour puppy to learn.Patience is essential in thisphase as you monitor yourpuppy for small amounts ofprogress. It will take manyrepetitions of “Ouch andRemove” before your puppybegins to put together thebig picture. Over time, yourfeedback to softer bites willhelp puppy build positiveassociations with a gentlermouth.

Redirecting is key dur-ing times when your puppyis highly aroused and morelikely to bite hard. “Ouchand Remove” can be lesseffective during thosetimes, so opt to play agame of tug or give himhis favorite chew toy, help-ing him learn that toys arean appropriate outlet dur-ing his crazy puppymoments. Redirecting is anespecially important skillwhen children are around.Children should becoached to offer puppy atoy instead of squealingand running away – a gamemost puppies can’t resist.

With a bit of patienceand practice, your puppy willlearn the basics of bite inhi-bition and be well on his wayto successful adulthood.


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Heads up, readers. Summeris gone, fall is here, goblins arenext, then the really big bird,and then — yes, it’s time tothink of shopping for all thoseholiday books. Quite by acci-dent I came across what I thinkmay be the all-time gift bookfor any occasion.

Shortly before I retired andour beloved Clayton Booksclosed its doors, we hostedauthor Julia Alvarez. Alvarezread from her award winningnovel “Return to Sender”(reviewed in the Pioneer in Jan-uary 2011). She brought alongcopies of an earlier book, “ACafecito Story.” It wasn’t untila couple of weeks ago that Icame across the “Cafecito”book. After recently readingGeorge Eliot’s wonderful butvast (800-plus pages) “Middle-march,” Alvarez’s slender vol-ume just about screamed,“Read me!”

Global warming, worldtrade: now is the perfect timeto read it. “A Cafecito Story”(Chelsea Green; Bilingual edi-tion, June, 2002) is illustratedin woodcuts by famed Domini-can Republic artist BelkisRamirez. The dust jacket iseye-popping. The story isdeceptively simple. An Ameri-can man, raised on aNebraskan farm, dreams offollowing in his family’s foot-steps, but by the time he isready for college, everythinghas changed for small familyfarms. A counselor suggests heteach. “Putting books in hisstudents’ hands was not all thatdifferent from sowing seeds in

a field. Still, something seemedto be missing from his life.”

Alvarez, with amazing deft-ness, moves us through Joe’slife as the world around himchanges, including a failed mar-riage and a deep yearning forsomething more. Sipping hiscoffee while searching theInternet, he sees a travel ad forthe Dominican Republic, “theland Columbus loved thebest.”

His destination is a gatedbeach resort closed from thenatives. By day three, Joeknows this is a mistake and notthe vacation he expected. Out-side the resort gates he wan-ders into a village barra for asmall cup of rich coffee, wherethe owner tells his fortunefrom coffee grounds left in hiscup. The woman sees “moun-tains” and a new life for him.He then travels to the moun-tains where family coffee beangrowers are losing ground tomega farming corporations,much like his own family inNebraska.

Joe stays on the mountain,living with a host family whoteach him about the ecologyand careful steps necessary forsuccessful coffee bean farming.In return, Joe teaches the fam-ily and their neighbors how toread and write. Joe is not theonly one who learns what ittakes to produce fine coffeebeans; we learn as well. Joereturns to the States, meets akindred spirit and both returnto the mountains of theDominican Republic wherethey successfully introduce fairtrade farming to their friends.

“A Cafecito Story” is theperfect gift when given alongwith a pound of the very finestfree trade coffee you can find,a gift that tastes as good as itreads.

Taking the bite from mouthy puppies

Depp’s Whitey shows a ‘Black’ soul

Jeff Mellinger is a screen writerand film buff. He holds a BA inFilm Studies and an MFA in filmproduction. He lives in Concord.Email questions or comments to [email protected].

‘A Cafecito Story’ is a rich, bold brew

Jeff mellinger

SCREEN SHOTS

Sunny Solomon

FOR THE BOOKS

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

IN CLAYTONOct. 26Start Smart ProgramElena Noble, Start Smart facilitator for the American Associationof University Women, speaks about progress for this program inContra Costa County. Start Smart grew out of the 2005 nation-wide AAUW WAGE Project. Start Smart is designed to enlightengraduating college women about the gender wage gap andsalary negotiations for the purpose of receiving equal pay forequal work. 7:30 p.m. Diamond Terrace, 6401 Center St., Clay-ton. Free. For more information, call Jeanne at 672-3672.

IN CONCORDMondays Off the GridRotating lineup of eight food trucks; live music from local musi-cians. Food trucks 5 – 9 p.m.; music 6 – 8 p.m. Grant Street be-tween Salvio Street and Willow Pass Road, Concord.offthegridsf.com.

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

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

Oct. 10 – 11Icing with the StarsContra Costa Cake and Sugar Art Society Cake Show and Com-petition. Open to the public. All levels of expertise welcome forcompetition. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sat.; 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sun. FirstLutheran Church, 4000 Concord Blvd., Concord. $5; children 4and under are free. Entry forms at cccsas.org. Email questions [email protected].

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

Oct. 18The California TarantulaCome have a close encounter with these fascinating and totallyharmless spiders. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Summit Museum.

Save Mount Diablo programs listed are free unless otherwisenoted. Go to savemountdiablo.org and click on Activities/GuidedHikes for more information. 947-3535.

Oct. 24Hanson Hills HikeA short, steep hike of SMD’s newest property. 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.Meet at Park and Ride lot on Peacock Creek Drive, Clayton. Toregister and for more information, contact [email protected].

EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENTThru Oct. 10“Tenderly”Triumphant musical about legendary Rosemary Clooney. LesherCenter for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $37-$63.centerrep.org.

Thru Oct. 11The Who’s: “Tommy”Presented by OMG, I Love That Show! Productions. Lesher Cen-ter for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $39. lesherarts-center.org. 943-7469.

Thru Nov. 22“Monstress”Exploring the resilience of a community struggling to find ahome in the ever-shifting sands of the American dream. StrandTheater, 1127 Market St., San Francisco. $35-$95. act-sf.org.

Oct. 9 – 11“Moon Over Buffalo”Madcap comedy. California Theatre, 351 Railroad Ave., Pitts-burg. $10-$25. pittsburgcaliforniatheatre.com. 427-1611.

Oct. 9 – Nov. 7“The Full Monty”Heartwarming, upbeat comedy performed by Contra Costa Mu-sical Theatre. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., WalnutCreek. $45-$60. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Oct. 11“Hidden Treasures”Diablo Symphony Orchestra kicks off its 53rd season with a

sparkling program of hidden classical music gems. 2 p.m.Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $33.lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Oct. 15 – 17“The Magic of Merlin”Join young Arthur as he discovers the magic of Merlin. LesherCenter for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $14. fantasy-forum.org.

Oct. 16 – 17“Z is for…Zombie!”Get ready for Halloween with this hysterical improvised comedyfrom Synergy Theater. 8:15 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts,1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $15. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Oct. 16 – 25“Brighton Beach Memoirs”Bittersweet memoir that evocatively captures the life of a strug-gling Jewish household. Resurrection Ministries, 1275 FairviewAve., Brentwood. $8-$20. thebrentwoodtheater.org.

Oct. 17ComedyPerformed by Marc Yaffee. 8 p.m. California Theatre, 351 Rail-road Ave., Pittsburg. $18-$21. pittsburgcaliforniatheatre.com.427-1611.

Oct. 23The Great PumpkimprovPresented by Trapped in a Rumor Improv. 8:15 p.m. Lesher Cen-ter for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $15. lesherarts-center.org. 943-7469.

Oct. 23 – Nov. 7“Cherry Orchard of the Living Dead”An uproarious horror romp. Onstage Theatre at the CampbellTheatre, 636 Ward St., Martinez. $12-$18. [email protected]. 518-3277.

Oct. 23 – Nov. 8“Into the Woods”Tony Award-winning masterpiece weaving together beloved fairytales about wishes, family and the choices we make. Diablo Val-ley College, 321 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill. $11-$21. dvc-drama.net.

Oct. 23 – Nov. 21“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”Madcap Chekhovian mash up. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $33-$53. centerrep.org.

Oct. 24Improv SpooktacularPresented by Ready or Not Improv. 8:15 p.m. Lesher Center forthe Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $15.lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Oct. 24Tribute to Johnny CashPerformed by James Garner. 2 and 8 p.m. El Campanil Theatre,602 W. Second St., Antioch. $25-$27. elcampaniltheatre.com.

Oct. 27Awards BreakfastJoin community leaders to honor awardees. Sponsored by Mon-ument Impact. 7 – 9 a.m. Pleasant Hill Senior Center, 233 Gre-gory Lane, Pleasant Hill. $50. monumentimpact.org.

Oct. 30 – Nov. 15“Urinetown”A side-splitting send up of greed, love and revolution in a timewhen water is worth its weight in gold. Performed by ClaytonTheatre Company. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr.,Walnut Creek. $35. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Nov. 7“The Official Blues Brothers Revue”The only duo in North America sanctioned by Dan Aykroyd andJudith Belushi to don the official hat and sunglasses and walk inthe legendary footsteps of Jake and Elwood Blues. 8 p.m. Cali-fornia Theatre, 351 Railroad Ave., Pittsburg. $49. pittsburgcali-forniatheatre.com. 427-1611.

Nov. 7 - 8“Russian Riches”Performed by Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra. 2 p.m. Nov. 7,El Campanil Theatre, 602 W. Second St., Antioch. $7-$15. el-campaniltheatre.com. Nov. 8, Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $10-$30. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

Nov. 8ConcertBrad Hogarth makes his debut as music director and conductorof the Contra Costa Wind Symphony. 7:30 p.m. Lesher Centerfor the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25. lesherartscen-ter.org. 943-7469.

CHURCHES AND RELIGIONOct. 18“Tribute to Dave Brubeck”Performed by Bay Area musicians Joan Cifarelli and Zac John-son and jazz combo JaZ. 4 p.m. Clayton Valley PresbyterianChurch, 1578 Kirker Pass Road, Clayton. $15 suggested dona-tion. cvpresby.org.

Oct. 31Harvest Festival and Trunk or TreatFamilies are invited to join the fun at the Clayton CommunityChurch. Come in costume with a bag for goodies. Games, raf-fle, refreshments. Prize awarded for best decorated vehicle trunk.1:30 – 4:30 p.m. 6055 Main St., Clayton. Free. To reserve aspot for a vehicle in the Trunk or Treat or for more information,send email to: [email protected].

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

Oct. 17Auction/DinnerHelp the Concord Historical Society complete the Concord Mu-seum and Event Center. 5 – 9 p.m. Concord Senior Center,2727 Parkside Circle, Concord. $50. concordhistorical.org.

Oct. 17Swinging on a StarLive music by students, dinner and auction benefiting ClaytonValley Music Boosters. 5 – 10 p.m. Shadelands, 111 N. WigetLane, Walnut Creek. $30. claytonbands.org.

Oct. 23Fall FestivalHaunted house, rock wall, air jumpers, pet rides, games, food.Open to the community. Benefits the students and staff at MDES.4 – 8 p.m. Mt. Diablo Elementary School, 5880 Mt. Zion Drive,Clayton. Free admission. For more information, contact [email protected].

Oct. 24Two-Bit Auction and DinnerDinner, entertainment, auction, dessert raffle hosted by Soropti-mist International of Diablo Vista. 6 p.m. Back Forty Texas BBQ,100 Coggins Drive, Pleasant Hill. $50. Contact Jan Townsend at827-1050 or Karen Jameson at 858-8611 by Oct. 16 for tickets.

Oct. 25Plant SaleFall Native Plant Sale Extravaganza to support annual BringingBack the Natives Garden Tour. Six nurseries. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.For locations and more information, go to bringingbackthen-atives.net.

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

Thru Oct. 27: Guess the weight of the pumpkinThru Nov. 14: Clayton ReadsOct. 12: Clayton Library Book Club, 7 p.m.Oct. 12, 26: Clayton Knits, 1:30 p.m.Oct. 16 – 18: Used Book Sale, 4 – 7 p.m. Fri.; 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Sat.; 12 – 4 p.m. Sun.Oct. 19: College Financial Planning, 7 p.m. Registration re-

quired.Oct. 21: Code Busters, 4 p.m.Oct. 28: “Maisie Dobbs” book discussion, 7 p.m. Oct. 29: Autumn stories and craft, 11 a.m. Registration required.Nov. 1: World War I feature movie, 2 p.m.Nov. 4: “Sisters in Crime” mystery writers panel, 7 p.m.

The Concord Library is at 2900 Salvio St. Programs are free un-less otherwise noted. See full schedule of events at ccclib.org or646-5455.Oct. 10: Bicycle Theft Prevention Workshop, 10:15 a.m. Regis-

tration required.Oct. 13: Art Demonstration, 12 p.m. Oct. 17: El Dia de los Muertos Altar Building, 1 p.m. Oct. 29: Financial Education Workshop, 6 p.m.; 7:30 p.m. in

SpanishOct. 31: STEAM activities, 12 p.m. Registration required. Nov. 4, Dec. 2: Art Journaling, 1:30 p.m. Registration required.

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

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

Clayton Community CalendarPLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMUNITY CALENDAR EVENTS BY 5 P.M. OCT 28 FOR THE NOV. 6 ISSUE. ITEMS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY EMAIL TO [email protected]


Meeting dates and times for local clubsand organizations are listed at claytonpioneer.com. Click on ‘Links’

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“Ah, Wilderness!” by Amer-ican playwright Eugene O’Neill,is the tender portrait of a sensi-tive teenage poet whose experi-ence of first love leads him intothe raptures of romantic poetryand the pain of heartbreak.

As the Miller clan preparesfor their Fourth of July celebra-tions, their idealistic, literature-quoting 16-year-old son,Richard, is struggling with whatit means to be young and in love.As Richard’s attempts to sow hiswild oats intersect with small-town gossip, hilarious misunder-standings ensue. Full of thevibrant nostalgia of first loveand other youthful discover-ies, “Ah, Wilderness!” is ahumorous portrait of a family’sattempts to stay united in themidst of growing pains.

“Ah, Wilderness!” plays atthe Geary Theater, 415 GearySt., San Francisco, Oct. 14through Nov. 8.

Meanwhile, at the newStrand Theater on Market St,“Monstress” plays brings twoone-act plays adapted from theshort stories of San Franciscoauthor Lysley Tenorio. “Mon-stress” tells of contemporaryFilipino-American life in Califor-nia. A vibrant array of characters

strives for personal transforma-tions that are seemingly impossi-ble, wonderfully moving, anddistinctly theatrical. The infa-mous headline-making evictionof Filipino residents from SanFrancisco’s International Hotelin the 1970s sets the backgroundfor Philip Kan Gotanda’s stir-ring “Remember the I-Hotel,”

which illuminates the dangers oflove that crosses forbidden terri-tories. Sean San José’s retelling ofthe title story “Monstress”moves us from the streets ofManila to the Bay Area, where aB-movie director has beenseduced by the opportunity towork with a shady Americanfilmmaker.

An evening of song andstory about love and family,hope and indifference, triumph

and failure, “Monstress” explores the resilience of a com-munity struggling to find a homein the ever-shifting sands of theAmerican dream.

Directed by Carey Perloff,“Monstress” plays at the StrandTheater, 1127 Market St., SanFrancisco, through Nov. 22.

For performance times and ticketinformation for both shows, go toACT-sf.org or call (415) 749-2228.

The young but energeticClayton Theatre Company istaking its next show on the road,so to speak, as it will present“Urinetown” Oct. 30 throughNov. 15 at Walnut Creek’s Lesh-er Center for the Arts.

The satirical musical takesplace in a Gotham-like citywhere residents are dealing withthe effects of a 20-year drought.Water is so precious that privatetoilets have been banned andpeople must pay to use the pub-lic facilities. “With our on-goingdrought in Northern California,it seemed like the perfect time todo this show,” says Roxanne

Pardi, who co-directs withLaTonya Watts. For tickets to“Urinetown,” call 925-943-SHOW or go to www.lesherarts-center.org.

Meanwhile, residents canhelp out the theater companywhile enjoying good food anddrink at the same time as Ed’sMudville Grill, 6200 CenterStreet in Clayton, will donate 20percent of the proceeds from itssales on Oct. 13. Just present theflyer, available at www.clay-tontheatrecompany.com, to helpthe company’s upcoming pro-duction of “Urinetown.”

Pittsburg Community The-atre goes for high comedy tostart its new season. Ken Lud-wig’s “Moon Over Buffalo”takes place in the 1950s, whereaging actors George and Char-lotte Hay run a small theatercompany. As George’s dalliance

with a young ingénue threatensto derail their marriage, theylearn that movie producer FrankCapra will come to their theaterlooking for the lead actors in hisnext film project. Total crazinessensues. The show runs at 8 p.m.Oct. 9 and 10 and at 2 p.m. Oct.11 at the California Theatre, 351Railroad Ave., in Pittsburg. Bar-bara Halperin-Jacobs directs.The cast features Jason Thomp-son, Deborah Huaco, Sarah Kat-suleres, Jason Best, Roberta Tib-betts, Chris Price and MichaelWilson. For tickets, priced $10-25, go to pittsburgcaliforniathe-atre.com.

Contra Costa Musical The-atre literally “grins and bares all”with its production of the bluecollar musical “The Full Monty”at Walnut Creek’s Lesher CenterOct. 9 through Nov. 7. Starringthe wonderful Noel Anthony asJerry, the show chronicles sixunemployed steelworkers sodesperate for cash that they pres-ent a strip show to make money.Wonderful music, witty dialogueand some great visuals make thisanother must-see. For tickets,call 925-943-SHOW or go towww.lesherartscenter.org.

Fantasy Forum Actor’sEnsemble brings “The Magic ofMerlin” to the Lesher CenterOct. 15, 16, 17. Multiple per-formances each day will thrillyoungsters ages five to 11 as wellas adults as this multi-talentedgroup of performers bringsKing Arthur’s court alive. Color-ful costumes, interactive per-formances and original musicmake this a wonderful way to

introduce youngsters to live the-ater. Some lucky audience mem-bers even sit on the stage andinteract with the performers. Fortickets, call 925-943-SHOW orgo to www.lesherartscenter.org.

Lafayette’s Town Hall The-atre, 3535 School Street, turnsinto a bawdy music hall as itpresents five-time Tony Awardwinning musical “The Mysteryof Edwin Drood” by RupertHolmes. The fast-paced who-dunnit takes place at the turn ofthe century as a group of actorsdecide to solve, resolve and con-clude Charles Dickens’ unfin-ished masterpiece, “The Mysteryof Edwin Drood.” Just to add abit more fun, the audiencedecides what the ending will beeach night. The show runs Oct.3 through 24. Call 925-283-1557or go towww.townhalltheatre.com.

Onstage Theatre is having

lots of fun with its parody ofAnton Chekhov’s “The CherryOrchard.” Playwright TroyHeard has taken Chekhov’s char-acters and put them in his newcomedy “Cherry Orchard of theLiving Dead,” running Oct. 23through Nov. 7 at the CampbellTheater, 636 Ward Street, inMartinez. “This should be apretty funny show,” says artisticdirector Helen Means. Zombiesrunning around Chekhov’s cher-ry orchard? Sounds like fun. Fortickets, call 925-518-3277.

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Performing Arts

Sally HogarTy

STAGE STRUCK

Sally Hogarty is well knownaround the Bay Area as a newspaper columnist, theatre criticand working actress. She is alsothe editor of the Orinda News.Send comments [email protected]

The Diablo SymphonyOrchestra will open its 53rdconcert season at 2 p.m. onSunday, Oct. 11 at the LesherCenter for the Arts in WalnutCreek with Hidden Treasures,a sparkling program of classi-cal music gems featuring guestconductor Bryan Nies.

These little-known classicalselections are brought togetherto create a fulfilling musicalpalate. Four Scottish Dances isa collection of tuneful, evoca-tive melodies originally com-

posed in 1957 for the BBCLight Music Festival by Britishcomposer Sir MalcolmArnold. Lovers of the sym-phonic genre will find muchfamiliar about the Symphonyin D by Juan CrisóstomoArriaga, the “SpanishMozart.” The “Fantastic Scher-zo” by Czech composer andviolinist Josef Sukis a brilliant,good-spirited orchestral work.

Additionally, cellist Daniel

melynda kiring (Princess Puffer),nicole Thordsen (rosa Bud) and TedZoldan (John Jasper) in “The mysteryof edwin Drood”

Stu Selland

Urine, zombies and bare bottoms justthe beginning of 2015/16 season

mike kirwan

JASON THOMPSON AND DEBORAH HUACO star as george andcharlotte Hay in Pittsburg’s ‘moon over Buffalo’ at thecalifornia Theatre oct. 9-11.

CTC FAVORITES JARUSHA ARIELAND BURTON THOMAS star inthe satirical musical ‘urine-town’ at the lesher center,oct. 7-24

NOEL ANTHONY takes thelead as ‘Jerry’ in ccmT’s‘The full monty’ at thelesher center, oct 7-24.

checkers rosario (Sean SanJosé), a horror film screen-writer, and his leading ladyand girlfriend, reva gogo(melody Butiu), plan theirnext film in Presenting . . .the monstress, now playingat a.c.T.’s Strand Theater.

American classic, new contemporarywork on the playbill at A.C.T.

Diablo Symphonykicks off new season

See Symphony, pg 16

Known as the divine food inJapan because it’s so sweet, thepersimmon is an orange toorange-red fruit about the size ofan apple with four prominent,large, papery leaves at the crown.It has a very thin, smooth, deli-cate skin that bruises easily if nothandled with care. The persim-mon is one of the sweetest of allfruits when it’s ripe.

Although there are hundredsof varieties, only two principaltypes are well known here;Hachiya and Fuyu. The Hachiyawhich is incredibly sweet whenripe is full of mouth-puckeringtannic acid. The Fuyu, a newervariety, has had the tannic acidbred out.

The Hachiya persimmon is abeautiful acorn-shaped fruitabout the size of a mediumpeach. At one time 90 percentof the persimmons sold in theUnited States were the Hachiyavariety; now they only accountfor approximately 20 percent. Asthe fruit ripens, the skin dullsand takes on the texture of awater balloon. The astringenttannin evaporates and the fruitbecomes sweeter with an apri-cot-like flavor, although someliken the flavor to plums or evenpumpkins.

Fuyu persimmons, now rep-resenting almost 80 percent ofthe persimmon market, aresquatter and rounder than the

Hachiya. The color is a yellow-orange and not as brilliant as theHachiya. It almost looks like aminiature pumpkin or perhaps aslightly flattened tomato. Unlikethe Hachiya, the Fuyu can beconsumed immediately. It iscrisp, lightly sweet and crunchy,like a Fuji apple.

California persimmons areavailable from September toNovember, with the bulk ofthem harvested in October.

PERSIMMON SALSA4 small or 3 medium-size

firm but ripe Fuyu persim-mons, peeled, cut into1/2-inch cubes

2 tablespoons minced whiteonion, rinsed, drained

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoonfresh lime juice

1 tablespoon minced freshbasil

2 teaspoons minced seededSerrano chile

2 teaspoons minced freshmint

1 teaspoon minced peeledfresh ginger Mix persimmons, onion,

lime juice, basil, Serrano chile,mint and ginger in small bowl.Season salsa to taste with saltand pepper. Makes 1-3/4 cups.

Every year when bins of fallapples hit the farmer’s markets, Ihear Matt Damon’s voice in“Good Will Hunting” asking,“How do you like them apples?”As an historical aside, Damondid not originate that saying;John Wayne used it in “RioBravo” and it probably datesback to the first use of grenadesduring World War I.

But back to apples: there aremore than 7,000 named varietiesaround the world, but you canget confused just by looking atthe six or seven ones typically

found locally, especially if you hail fromother parts of the country. I

remember fondly munchingaway on Macouns and Empireson a crisp fall day in Massachu-setts, neither of which resemblesin size, flavor or character any-thing local, even at Apple Hill(east of Placerville).

What you should considerwhen cooking with apples ishow firm and tart is the fruit.You need a firm apple to make apie or anything that bakes morethan half an hour. By the sametoken, you want a tender applefor muffins, pancakes, or saucesbecause they get soft with short-er exposure to heat.

Apple flavor focuses on tart-ness and sweetness. An acidic ortart apple is best for richdesserts, as well as savory dishes,whereas sweeter apples pair bet-ter with delicate desserts, saladsand cheeses.

What are some of our localchoices? For firm-tart apples tryGranny Smith, Winesaps andPippins. (Pippins are harder tofind but worth the effort.) Forfirm-sweet apples, try Cameo,Honeycrisp, Jazz and local Mut-

sus. For tender-tart apples forsauces and eating out of hand,look for Gravensteins andMcIntoshes, and for the tender-sweet apple lover head for theFuji and Gala bins.

There are apples that bendthe rules, such as the Pink Lady,which has both sweet and tartnotes. It’s yummy in savory aswell as sweet dishes. You mightenjoy this delicious soup adaptedfrom a Cooking Light recipewhich uses a veggie similar to acarrot.

APPLE-PARSNIP SOUPServes 8

2 Tbsp, olive oil1 cup chopped onion2½ cups chopped, peeled

and cored Pink Ladyapples (about 1 lb.)

1 Tbsp. curry powder (mild)1½ tsp. grated fresh ginger1 tsp. ground cardamom1 garlic clove, chopped3 ½ cups chopped, peeled

parsnip (about 1½ lbs.)4 cups low-sodium chicken

broth1 cup apple ciderSalt and pepper to taste¼ cup heavy cream, sour

cream or crème fraicheHeat oil in a soup pot over

medium heat and add onion,cooking until tender. Add theapple, curry powder, ginger, car-damom and garlic and cookanother minute, stirring. Add theparsnip, broth, and cider. Bringmixture to a boil then reduce toa simmer for 30 minutes or untilparsnip is tender.

Purée the soup in batchesuntil smooth; season to tastewith salt and pepper and topeach soup bowl with a teaspoonor so of the cream.

Want more information? TryAmy Traverso’s book, “TheApple Lover’s Cookbook.” It’s agreat reference for appledescriptions and recipes.


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Symphony, from page 15Reiter will perform OttorinoRespigi’s “Adagio con Vari-azioni” a piece in whichRespighi brings together theform and complexity of theClassical and the Baroque peri-ods, with the sweeping emo-tionality of the Romantic era.

The DSO is a central Con-tra Costa-based communityorchestra celebrating its fourthseason under the leadership ofMusic Director Matilda Hof-man. The orchestra performsfive concert sets a year, as well

as additional concerts andevents through its OutreachProgram.

Tickets to the Lesher Cen-ter concert can be orderedthrough the DSO website,www.diablosymphony.org, bycalling the Lesher Box Officeat 925-943-SHOW (7469), bygoing online at www.Lesher-Arts.org, or at the Lesher Cen-ter Box Office. For more infor-mation about the DSO, visitthe website at www.diablosym-phy.org.

linDa Wyner

FOOD FOR

THOUGHT

Linda Wyner owns Pans on Fire,a gourmet cookware store and cookingschool in Pleasanton. Send suggestionsor questions [email protected]

How do you likethem apples?

DEBRAMORRIS

Pacific Coast Farmers Market

Pucker up for persimmons

Garden lovers have beenexpressing their desire toknow some more about Cali-fornia Native plants. They areenticed by the understandingthat California Native plantsrequire less water, no fertiliz-er and naturally thrive in ourclimate. California Nativeplants shrubs and trees arewidely available and becom-ing more mainstream. But,just like any group of plants,some are more desirable thanothers are. Here is a list anddescriptions of several Cali-fornia Natives that are wor-thy of your plantscape,whether you have a Mediter-ranean, traditional, hillside,rock garden or poolscapeapplication.

Salvia clevelandii AlanChickering is a fabulous Cali-fornia Native sage. This ever-green has aromatic grayfoliage, and displays whirls oftwo-lipped shaped periwinkleflowers May through Decem-ber. In full sun this sage willreach four-feet tall and wide.Salvia clevelandii is extremelyattractive to hummingbirds,honeybees and butterflies.Plant this native sage on a dryhillside, or along a hot fenceline. This evergreen needsvery little summer water, anddoesn’t need any fertilizer.You will have an easy timefinding this California Native,it is often available.

There’s a great lookingpenstemon that is also a Cali-fornia Native. Penstemon het-erophyllus has stunning bluetrumpet-shaped flowers and

dark green leaves. Spikes offlowers can reach two-feettall and wide. Penstemon het-erophyllus is sun loving. Italso contrasts nicely withblack micro bark.

Arbutus Marina is a show-stopper in a focal spot ofyour Concord landscape.This evergreen naturallygrows like a multi-trunkedtree, although you can find ittrained as a tree. Arbutus“Marina” has dark greenleaves and cinnamon-coloredbark that peels with age, sothe trunk of this CaliforniaNative is very interesting.Sporadically throughout theseason, small pink flowersdangle from the branches,above the foliage. The flow-ers are hummingbird attrac-tive. After flowering, theArbutus “Marina” produces asmall, red fruit that the birdsadores. Use the multi-trunkshape of the Arbutus “Mari-na” on a slope or hillside.Install the standard treeshape along property lines, orfor privacy around a pool.Manzanita is the most eas-

ily identified California

Native. We are already usedto seeing the planted inmeridians along our streetsand public landscapes. Incor-porate manzanita into yourlandscape by using some ofthe more available selectionssuch as Emerald Carpet, Dr.Hurd or Howard McMinn. TheEmerald Carpet is a woodyground cover that will reacheight- to 12-inches tall andfive- to six-feet wide. GiveEmerald Carpet the roomthat it needs to mature andyou’ll be pleased with its per-formance. Dr. Hurd is a largegrowing manzanita. You willfind this selection at a nurs-ery and it will look like ashrub, but eventually it couldreach 15-feet tall and wide.Howard McMinn matures toa smaller size, about four- tosix-feet tall and wide. All ofthe manzanita have deepgreen foliage and lovelymahogany colored bark. Buyyour manzanita small for abetter plant.

California Native plantshave their own rules for sur-vival. They would rather beplanted by bird or wind then

by man. So if you choose toinstall California Natives, andyou lose a couple, it’s expect-ed. They don’t want to beplanted in rich, amended soil.They hate extra water, butmay need some to get started,but just not too much. Cali-fornia Natives do not likedrip-systems. Be especiallycareful with your summerwater and put away the fertil-izer. Install a native where itcan grow naturally, withoutpruning or controlling. UsingCalifornia Natives in yourlandscape is great, but youwill really have to be a hands-off gardener.


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Rula MasannatSales AgentDRE# 01923757

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l 5143 Sutherland Dr. Concord $535,0003 Bed, 2.5 Bath + Den, Approx. 2021 sq.ft.Listing agent: Paula Johnstone

2 Bed, 1.5 Bath, Approx. 1122 sq.ft.

Listing agent: Rula Masannat

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l 50 Carquinez Scenic Dr. Martinez $760,000Fourplex unit, 2 Bed, 1 BathListing agent: Paula Johnstone

l 40 Carquinez Scenic Dr. Martinez $760,000Fourplex unit, 2 Bed, 1 Bath. Agent: Paula Johnstone

l 513 Falling Star Dr. Martinez $495,0003 bed, 2.5 bath Approx. 1572 sq.ft.

Listing agents: Matt Mazzei/Kyle Garcia

l 415 Bay Crest Dr. Pittsburg $295,0003 bed, 2.5 bath Approx. 1643 sq.ft. Agent: Paula Johnstone

l 3822 Shasta Cir. Pittsburg $254,900

3 bed, 1.5 bath Approx. 1053 sq.ft.

Listing agent: Matt Mazzei

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occasions

Hands-off gardenerslove California natives

nicole HackeTT

GARDEN GIRL

Nicole is the Garden Girl at R&M Pool, Patio, Gifts and Garden.You can contact her with questions orcomments by email at [email protected]

nicole Hackett

A SUN-LOVING NATIVE, Penstemon has stunning bluetrumpet-shaped flowers.

Nicole is the Garden Girl at R&M Pool, Patio, Gifts and Garden.You can contact her with questions orcomments by email at [email protected]

Home. It’s where we tuckin on a rainy day. It’s wherewe cook and entertain forfriends and family. It’s wherewe meticulously create livingspaces that make us happy,both aesthetically and func-tionally. Home is where onecan just “be.”

But, if I’m being honest,when I’m home and feelingtucked in, especially on arainy day, my eyes start towander. I start inspecting myaccessories, scrutinizing mywindow treatments, envision-ing new paint colors anddreaming of different furni-ture layouts. Suddenly, I startto see room for improve-ment, room for change.Nothing drastic, but perhapsa mini facelift?

SOMETHING OLD,SOMETHING NEW

It’s always exciting to pur-chase a new piece of furni-ture, add a new accessory orpaint a living space a differ-ent color. These simple activ-ities can truly give a livingspace a whole new life.

More often than not, bring-ing a living space up to datewith furnishings is more aboutcomplementing the pieces youhave, instead of starting fromscratch. For example, perhapsyou have a wonderfully largesofa in your family room.While comfortable and cozyfor your immediate family,when it comes to social gather-ings, you don’t really have addi-tional seating to offer yourguests. Instead of purchasing a

sectional that may provide a bitmore seating, what about pur-chasing lounge chairs or a loveseat that complements the sofaand rounds out the conversa-tional space?

Or consider changingyour wall color to create adifferent, more exciting back-drop to your existing furni-ture. Whatever newly inspireddesign direction works bestfor your living space, workwith the old and slowly, addsome new.

SOMETHING BORROWEDAn antique faire lounge

chair that looks stunning inyour master bedroom, a sidetable that was built by yourgreat grandfather, a vase fromthe 60’s that has all the rightcolors for your powder roomthat you found on eBay —nothing feels better than find-ing the right accessories or thatperfect piece of furniture to fitthat specific spot in yourhome, and when a bit of histo-ry is tied to that special piece,it’s like you hit the jackpot. Thekey here is finding pieces thatare eclectic and unique, some-thing that the masses can’t nec-

essarily buy off the shelf. Anunusual bauble, a lamp with anunexpected base or a festivecollection of vintage leatherbooks add color, texture andinterest to your existing fur-nishings.

SOMETHING BLUEBlue may not be your

favorite color, but the idea ofhaving a consistent accentcolor throughout your homeis an interesting way to alwaysbe surrounded by a color thatmakes you happy. Consideraccessories on table tops, artdisplayed above fireplacemantels, tassels hanging fromchests of drawers, all in yourcolor of choice. Or, if you’refeeling more adventurouswith your color of choice,consider a mosaic powderroom floor, or maybe, amajor investment piece, like auniquely colored kitchenrange. The colors, the accentlocations, are endless.


Jennifer leiScHer

DESIGN & DÉCOR

Jennifer Leischer is the owner ofJ. Designs Interior Design based inClayton. Contact her with ques-tions, comments and suggestions [email protected].

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OCT 9 Clayton Pioneer 2015

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