2012 Relay for Life

Get ready, get set, go.  The planning for the local 2012 Relay for Life is getting geared up.  Since our local relay began eight years ago, Carol & I have participated in each event walking side-by-side with our children.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I walk as a survivor.

This year’s Relay will add a new focus on caregivers as well as on survivors.  I believe that this is a great way to say thank you, to those treasured individuals we leaned hard on in a time of uncertainty.  The 2012 event in Los Altos is scheduled for June 9-10 at Egan School.

While the event is still five months away, it takes a gathering of spirited community members to pull it all together.  It’s always great to see Los Altos come together as a community of one.  One Purpose.  One Goal.  One Weekend.

Per the American Cancer Society (ACS), “Relay For Life began in Tacoma, Washington.  In the mid-1980s, Dr. Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma colorectal surgeon, wanted to enhance the income of his local ACS office and to show support for all of his patients who had battled cancer. He decided to personally raise money for the fight by doing something he enjoyed – running marathons.

In May 1985, Dr. Klatt spent a grueling 24 hours circling the track at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. He ran for more than 83 miles. That first year, nearly 300 of Dr. Klatt’s friends, family, and patients watched as he ran and walked the course. Throughout the night, friends donated $25 to run or walk with Dr. Klatt for 30 minutes. His efforts raised $27,000 to fight cancer.

While circling the track those 24 hours, Dr. Klatt thought about how others could take part in his mission to fight cancer. He envisioned a 24-hour team relay event that could raise more money to fight cancer. Over the next few months, he pulled together a small committee to plan the first team relay event, Relay For Life, which began in Tacoma, Washington.

In the mid-1980s, Dr. Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma colorectal surgeon, wanted to enhance the income of his local American Cancer Society office and to show support for all of his patients who had battled cancer. He decided to personally raise money for the fight by doing something he enjoyed – running marathons.

While circling the track those 24 hours, Dr. Klatt thought about how others could take part in his mission to fight cancer. He envisioned a 24-hour team relay event that could raise more money to fight cancer. Over the next few months, he pulled together a small committee to plan the first team relay event.”

Since the first local relay in June 2004, Los Altos has raised nearly $3 million to support research, education, advocacy and patient services.

For more information, feel free to contact us and we will ensure you get to the right person.

Los Altan of the Year

Local Sculpture Honors Veterans

Years ago, I had the fortune to help coordinate the initial Los Altos Glorious Fourth celebrations.  Since living in Los Altos, Carol & I have helped to plan and coordinate many community events.  The premise of our involvement has always been to strive t0wards a creating stronger sense of community.

Many of the events have been celebrations, while others have been solemn reflections.  Veterans Day holds a special place in our hearts, and each year we extend our heartfelt appreciation to the men and women who have selflessly served in uniform.

There are a number of events and parades, in adjoining communities, where you can gather with others.  However, if you desire a place to simply reflect on the day, we recommend Shoup Park.  At the far end of the park, along the footpath next to the creek bed, you’ll find a sculpture called the Cradle of Liberty.

Recently, Bruce Barton (Editor of the Town Crier) wrote an article about the history of this sculpture.  Below is a slightly edited version of his article. Enjoy …

It rests in Shoup Park – the 9-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a soldier holding a baby. The message is not one of violence but of peace and preservation – preserving the freedoms of Americans for generations to come.

It’s been 13 years since “Cradle of Liberty” was dedicated on the Fourth of July in 1998. But it endures as a lasting tribute to those from Los Altos and throughout America who have served in the U.S. armed forces.

The iconic statue continues to welcome park visitors, beckoning them to reflect on freedoms often taken for granted. Situated near the trickling Adobe Creek, the peaceful scene is deceiving – the baby also is a symbol of the country’s vulnerability and the continuous protection required from the military.

It started with the late Bill Henderson, a survivor of both the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the USS Helena.  In 1996, Henderson began recruiting like-minded supporters for the project and found a big ally in fellow vet Jay Brandon.

Brandon felt all servicemen throughout U.S. history should be honored. To this end, the Shoup Park soldier is draped in a flag from the American Revolutionary War.

Organized, driven and relentless, the two led a selection committee and fundraising offensive that netted approximately $126,000 from more than 500 contributors.

Armed with the financial resources and the go-ahead for the Shoup Park location, the duo needed to find an artist with the right sensibility and creative touch. They and the selection committee auditioned approximately 40 artists from around the country, before narrowing the choice to three finalists.

Enter Los Altos artist Rebecca R.J. Truman.  A resident of Los Altos since 1994, she began to form an image of a soldier and a baby. She had her next-door neighbor pose with his baby.

“The baby reached out and grabbed his shirt,” said Truman, who incorporated that moment into her sculpture.

Truman dropped off her proposal at Henderson’s house on a Wednesday. By Friday, she received word she had the job.

The process took eight months. Truman’s initial 14-inch model was followed by a 4-foot model, before work began on the 11-foot monument. Shaping the mold was a 29-step process.

The statue was cast in parts and welded together in a Berkeley foundry. Rock for the base was imported from the Sierra. Truman’s father, also a vet, suggested that rocks collected from the scenes of famous battles, from Valley Forge to Gettysburg and Guadalcanal, should be added to the base. Steel support columns 10 feet in length were installed underground. For good luck, Brandon said, four Susan B. Anthony dollars were laid at the bottom of each column.

Each branch of the armed forces had representatives at the elaborate unveiling ceremony, which drew an estimated 1,000 people. On Veterans Day that year, supporters dedicated a plaque near the statue that credited Truman, Brandon and Henderson for their achievement.

“It really is a nice addition to Los Altos,” said Fran Henderson, whose husband died in 2009. “Bill was proud. I’m really proud it’s in Los Altos and what it stands for. And I’m proud of Bill and Jay for having the foresight to put it there.”

An Alternate Path: Waldorf

In the middle of Silicon Valley, an area ever brimming with the next new “it” technology design, a local school teaches students without a single computer in the classroom.  What?  Really?  Yes, really.

While the school teaches the children of the Valley’s Tech Titans, they have chosen an alternative path to today’s tech focused schools.  This is not to say this is the new “it”, however, it does provide another educational choice for Los Altos families.

This past Saturday, Matt Richtel (New York Times) wrote an article about Waldorf School of the Peninsula.  Below, is a slightly edited version of his article.  Enjoy …

The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard.

But the school’s chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home.

Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say

it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix.

This is the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, one of around 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribe to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans.

The Waldorf method is nearly a century old, but its foothold here among the digerati puts into sharp relief an intensifying debate about the role of computers in education.

While other schools in the region brag about their wired classrooms, the Waldorf school embraces a simple, retro look — blackboards with colorful chalk, bookshelves with encyclopedias, wooden desks filled with workbooks and No. 2 pencils.

Some education experts say that the push to equip classrooms with computers is unwarranted because studies do not clearly show that this leads to better test scores or other measurable gains.

Absent clear evidence, the debate comes down to subjectivity, parental choice and a difference of opinion over a single world: engagement. Advocates for equipping schools with technology say computers can hold students’ attention and, in fact, that young people who have been weaned on electronic devices will not tune in without them.

Ann Flynn, director of education technology for the National School Boards Association, which represents school boards nationwide, said computers were essential. “If schools have access to the tools and can afford them, but are not using the tools, they are cheating our children,” Ms. Flynn said.

Paul Thomas, a former teacher and an associate professor of education at Furman University, who has written 12 books about public educational methods, disagreed, saying that “a spare approach to technology in the classroom will always benefit learning.”

The Waldorf experience does not come cheap: annual tuition at the Silicon Valley schools is $17,750 for kindergarten through eighth grade and $24,400 for high school, though Ms. Wurtz said financial assistance was available.

Ms. Wurtz says the typical Waldorf parent, who has a range of elite private and public schools to choose from, tends to be liberal and highly educated, with strong views about education; they also have a knowledge that when they are ready to teach their children about technology they have ample access and expertise at home.

Going For International Recognition

Based on the 2010 census, 20 percent of the residents in Los Altos were over the age of 65.  When compared to Santa Clara County, at 10 percent, Los Altos has twice the senior population on a percentage basis.

Does this mean Los Altos is getting “old”?  Of course not.  It simply means that we have more residents retiring, and remaining, in their homes than the average Silicon Valley community.

Hopefully, this blog has helped convey what living in Los Altos is really about.  As I have previously mentioned, this is a destination community.   To begin, we have some of the best educational choices in the nation, from pre-schools to top tier universities.  Many of our seniors volunteer in helping future generations realize their potential, as tutors, mentors and advisors.

In addition, quality of life in Los Altos is superb … from access to health care, to outdoor recreational activities, to the supportive volunteer social structure found in the community.  Our senior residents have compelling options at their disposal.

Recently, Kristen Marschall (Daily News) wrote about the City Council applying to be designated “age-friendly”.  Below, is a slightly edited version of her article.  Enjoy …

With the highest concentration of seniors in Santa Clara County, Los Altos thought it was time to make it official.

After receiving the OK from the city council, Los Altos has submitted an application to Geneva, Switzerland, to be recognized as “age-friendly” by the World Health Organization.

The title doesn’t come easily. Since the program began in 2005, New York City and Portland are among the few cities in the nation dubbed “age-friendly.” Los Altos would be the first in California.

For Karen Jenney, chair of the Los Altos Senior Commission, it was an easy decision to go for it.

As first, the relatively new commission mailed out questionnaires to about 4,500 residents older than 55 in both cities, asking what concerns them as they age.

The commission received more than 1,000 responses and compiled a list of comments that totaled 100 pages.

If the two cities are deemed by the World Health Organization to be “age-friendly,” the commission will be expected to go to work right away on projects that benefit seniors. Jenney said some changes must be implemented within five years.

Possible projects include improving street lighting and adjusting traffic lights to allow more time for crossing the road, Jenney said. The commission estimated about $8,000 would be needed, and at the Los Altos City Council’s request it will prioritize improvements based on costs and community impact.

Among the many Los Altos residents who chose to stay in the community as they age is 94-year-old Muriel Perkins, who with her husband moved to the area in 1941 when homes were cheaper and schools abounded. When it came time to choose a retirement community, she said her husband had a carton box of options from San Jose to San Mateo, but they opted to move to The Terraces at Los Altos.

Established in 1949 as Pilgrim Haven, the retirement community is home to 73 people in independent living, 14 in assisted living and about 50 in skilled nursing, executive director Rae Holt said.

The community is about to build additional units and a memory support center to accommodate those with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, which Holt said will make The Terraces the only retirement community in the area to have such a facility.

Residents must be at least 62 but most are around 85, Holt said, noting than many come from the Los Altos and Palo Alto area.

Arvid Hamer, 90, is a second-generation resident, following in the footsteps of his mother, who lived there in 1963. There was no question about where he and his wife would go when the time came, in 2003, Hamer said.

“I’d been here a couple of weeks and I said, ‘What am I doing with all these old people?’ And then I realized I’m one of them,” Hamer said.

Upcoming Events – GreenTown Los Altos

Co-op Preschool Thrives In New Location

There are literally dozens of day care and preschool options available in Los Altos.  From the tried and true “in home” care, to both small and large centers, there is something for everyone.

One of the oldest recently moved to a new location. Los Altos Parent Preschool was founded in 1954, just two years after the city was incorporated.  It has been a successful model that has seen hundreds of children pass through its program.

Recently, Los Altos Patch contributor, Jennifer van der Kleut, wrote an article about this wonderful program. Below, is a slightly edited version.  Enjoy …

For more than 50 years, Los Altos Parent Preschool (LAPP) has been a thriving and successful preschool that parents from as far away as San Jose and Milpitas are willing to make the trek to.

For a long time, LAPP had been located in a corner of the Los Altos High School campus, since the preschool is actually part of the Mountain View-Los Altos Adult Education School.

Though the reason they were losing their location was understandable, it was still devastating to the preschool, when the teachers and parents learned the news.

“Los Altos High had a tremendous growth and expansion going on at their school, and they just needed the extra space,” LAPP parent volunteer Shanon Pestrong explained.

As soon as they found out, Pestrong said a group of LAPP staff and parent volunteers set to work searching for a new location.  Fortunately, one came about—a corner of the Covington Elementary School campus.

LAPP’s campus is bigger, better and newer than ever, said Pestrong. The Covington campus features a new indoor classroom customized to meet the needs of LAPP’s programs, with several activity stations.

There is now also a very large outdoor classroom, equipped with multiple areas for hands-on learning, such as sensory play, science, gardening, painting, block play and sand play.

Pestrong said, part of being a co-op school is that every family is assigned roughly three “jobs” for the year, to satisfy their portion of the co-op requirements.

The first job is to be assigned a regular day each week to work in the classroom as the teacher’s helper. The second is to be assigned a specific job or area of contribution that the parent will do for the year.

The last part of the parent commitment is to attend regular school meetings and take part in parent education. Pestrong explained, as part of the Mountain View-Los Altos Adult Education School, LAPP offers an element of education to help parents learn how to be better parents.

Pestrong said, she also loves the sense of community she found with other parents at LAPP.  And, you just can’t match the camaraderie and emotional support that comes with volunteering together each week, she said.

All in all, Pestrong says, LAPP has been a wonderful experience for her family; one that she would recommend to anyone. “I’m just very grateful that our family has the flexibility to be able to use Los Altos Parent Preschool, and I really love it.”

Street Project Transforms Downtown

I always find it interesting to read stories of Los Altos reported in local papers.  Specifically, how is the essence of the community captured within the story.  Just yesterday, on the front page of the Daily News, Kristen Marschall wrote about the changes happening in Downtown.

I think she did a good job capturing the anticipation of the current effort. Below, is an slightly edited version.  Enjoy …

Downtown Farmers Market

Each year, Carol & I look forward the time when the Downtown Farmers Market opens for business.  It traditionally runs from late spring to early fall.

Before the market goes begins it’s long winter nap, we thought that it would be great to highlight the market again.  With only 5 weeks remaining, we encourage you to swing by and enjoy the ambiance and good food.

Recently, the Voice wrote about what the downtown market had to offer.  Below, is an slightly edited version of their article.  Enjoy …

Nothing is more relaxing to me than heading out to the farmers’ market. It delights the senses with vibrant colors, a bounty of new and familiar temptations for the palate, music floating on the breeze, the air tinged with the sweet smell of peaches, the ripe scent of tomatoes, and sharper scent of fresh herbs and potted plants. It’s at the market that I experienced nectaplums, jujubes, French apricots, and squash blossoms, amongst other rare hybrids and seasonal treasures.

If you haven’t attended Los Altos’ Farmers Market, on Thursday evenings, you are missing out. It’s run by the California Farmers’ Market Association, and features a mix of fresh produce and food booths so you can enjoy dinner at the market, said Ryan Slover from the Market Association. You can find this wonderful community event between Second & Fourth Streets in Downtown Los Altos every Thursday until September 29th, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm.

“It’s a great opportunity to pick up some local produce mid-week, enjoy dinner, and stroll with the family.” Slover says.

Peter Dietzel, another Market Association official, adds that they plan to have several tastings throughout the summer. “Everyone who has gala apples, for example, will enter and we’ll have a panel and judge who has the best.”

If you aren’t an aficionado of farmers’ markets, you can’t get fresher produce than the Los Altos market unless you grow it yourself. Coming from just four miles away, Hidden Villa brings meat, eggs, and a variety of vegetables to the market. They are an educational farm that has day camps for kids, and all of their animals are humanely-raised and slaughtered.

Most of the farmers come a greater distance to be at the market. Geri Prevedelli-Lathrop and her stepson drive from Watsonville each week. Their family-owned Prevedelli Farms goes back four generations. “While most people think strawberries when they think Watsonville, we have 32 different types of apples alone, plus boysenberries, ollalieberries and pears,” she said.

It’s all not eggs and berries at the market. There are baked goods, bread vendors, falafel stands, chicken, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, shaved ice and Afghan boulani. Local restaurants with stands include the Oaxacan Kitchen and Spot: A Pizza Place.

I am particularly smitten with a booth: The g:m:me bakery. It stands for “granny to mom to me,” representing the handing down of traditional Irish recipes like soda bread and scones. It’s run by Matt and Yvonne Klinksick, who lived in Limerick, Ireland until three years ago. They make lovely (and highly addictive) scones. After sampling the chocolate chip scone (which Matt declared is a popular seller), I tasted the seasonal strawberry and the apricot (which Matt also declared a popular seller). “My wife is really the baking genius. I hand out the samples!” Matt joked. But I walked away with multiple scones, so Matt isn’t too shabby on the sales side, either.

There are also plants and flowers at the market. Will Wiersig of Wiersig Garden Plants, who has been at the market since 2005, started his Los Altos-based nursery with his brother, bringing tea roses, herbs, peppers, eggplants and advice to the public. “This is really my only opportunity to interact with the customers, and we keep seeing friends, and people we know, and we just got hooked in and we keep coming back. I also learned a lot about food here, talking to the other farmers,” he said. “It’s amazing how little I knew until I started coming to the market. My friends think everything at the supermarket is organic. They have no idea!”

I was raised going to farmers’ markets in my hometown of Chico, a farming community, so I know how willing the farmers are to share knowledge along with their samples. Farmers’ markets are treasures, an extension of the community. A mid-week market that allows you to unwind after work, restock the crisper and not have to get up early is truly a joy. The market is an easy way to eat locally grown food, and be informed about what you eat. Get to know the vendors, bring your own bags or basket, and bring enough cash, preferably in small bills.

A Bit Of History – Redwood Grove

While the City of Los Altos was incorporated in 1952, it’s history goes back much father.  Out of all the park in Los Altos, one of the most tranquil is Redwood Grove.  There is a back story for each gem treasured by the community.

Recently, an article was written by L.A. Chung, editor for Los Altos Patch, about this truly special place. Below, is an slightly edited version.  Enjoy …

In the beginning, Redwood Grove was not a redwood grove at all.

It was, as Berkeley resident Katherine Buss tells it, a spot “with a creek and one redwood tree,” a small house shaded by live oak trees, on about six acres.

How it became a redwood grove is a story Buss likes to share. It’s one of many stories about the special place her grandmother, Emma Wright Halsey, cultivated.

Buss is making a point to go, because the meeting is one where Redwood Grove’s future as a park is being shaped, one with a historic house that is deteriorating.

“I ran across an article online saying they were considering whether to restore or demolish it, and I thought, ‘Maybe they don’t know about the history of the occupants,’” Buss said.

Emma Wright Halsey purposefully planted the coastal redwood grove, Buss said, sapling by sapling, brought in by the truckload from her grandparent’s original property in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Redwood Grove is the place where her mother, Eugenia Halsey Buss, and uncle, Theodore Vail Halsey Jr., grew up with so many happy memories. And it is the place where her mother took family members from time to time, after the city of Los Altos made it a public park.

After the city purchased the property and it was used for summer day camps, her mother periodically took Buss and other relatives to revisit the rooms where they lived and where Emma Halsey had tended her rhododendrons and water lilies. Her mother told story after story of the old days.

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