livingininlos altos€¦ · magazine in. Soccer moms at play These local moms aren. t ’ sitting on the sidelines – they’re in the game. Page 5 Kids in the garden Inch by inch,

Spring/Summer 2013

A Los Altos Town Crier Publication

living los altosliving los altosinininm a g a z i n em a g a z i n e

Taking it to the greenLocal moms leave the sidelines to learn soccer

Watching it growBring a native garden into play with your family

Page 2 | Living in Los Alltos | March 27, 2013

Living in Los Alltos | March 27, 2013 | Page 3


The Los Altos Town Crier138 Main St., Los Altos, CA 94022

948-9000www.latc.com

Editor Bruce Barton

Magazine Editor Ellie Van Houtte

Designer Mary Watanabe

Writers Eren Göknar

Tanya Kucak

Anabel Pelham

Nora Haley Grace Acosta

Copy Editors Joan Garvin

Colleen Schick

Photographer Ellie Van Houtte

Sales Staff Janice Fabella

Kathy Lera

Dawn Pankonen

Janice Torrecampo

Ad Services Director Chris Redden

Ad Services Assistant Leverne Cornelius

Production Staff Mary Watanabe

Marilyn Winans

Publisher Paul Nyberg

Associate Publisher Howard Bischoff

Receptionist Heather Jauch

Cover photo: Katherine Poonen dribbles the ball dur-ing a soccer class for moms sponsored by the Los Altos Recreation Department.

Photo by Ellie Van Houtte/Town Crier

Magazine Staff SSSS

Circulation 16,500. Mailed directly to households in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and select areas of Mountain View. Hundreds of subscribers receive the Town Crier in neighboring communi-ties as well as out of state. The Town Crier can be purchased at newsstands in Los Altos, Mountain View and Palo Alto.

Upcoming 2013 Magazines

Home & GardenPublishes: April 24

Los Altos Art & WinePublishes: July 10

© Los Altos Town Crier Company Inc., 2013.All Rights Reserved.

living los altosm a g a z i n em a g a z i n e

living los altosininSoccer moms at playThese local moms aren’t sitting on the sidelines – they’re in the game.

Page 5

Kids in the gardenInch by inch, row by row, help children’s love of the

garden grow.

Page 12Age-friendly cityLos Altos is an intergen-erational city, with services and programs that aim to make it ideal for seniors.

Page 21ALSO INSIDE: Parks & Rec Page 28 Events Page 30 Acosta Column Page 42 Social Scenes Page 44


By Eren GöknarSpecial to the Town Crier

These are not your mother’s soccer moms. While they still taxi children to soccer games, the 10 women kicking the ball around

Heritage Oaks Park on a recent Thursday seem hell-bent on perfecting their own athletic skills. Today, the excited shouts of encouragement are for each other, not for their children. The moms meet at the park Thursday and Friday mornings for the Soccer Moms’ Fun Fitness class sponsored by the Los Altos Rec-reation Department under the auspices of Coach Ken Mburu, known as Coach Ken. Mburu hails from Kapetta, Kenya, just out-side Nairobi. For 10 years, he has coached youth 4- to 12-years-old. Approximately a year ago, he received an email from a mom who asked if he would coach her and a few friends. “They said that most leagues were for former college players,” Mburu said. “These moms were new to the game and wanted to stay fit and socialize. Soccer is a social game. They’re out there, under the sun, running around with friends.” The moms also wanted to play so that they could under-stand the game better. “They wanted to put themselves in the shoes of their soccer players,” he said. For Mburu, the clinic is about “creating community.” He hopes to institute a soccer festival where the entire family can watch mom play. He said that in Kenya, a girl would be stigmatized and “not be considered a good girl” for playing sports, but “this is what America is all about and what makes America great.”

A sports-oriented community It’s partly the Los Altos lifestyle that keeps Alix Apfelberg interested in soccer and sports. Until last year, she was director of operations at Cisco Systems. “It’s a very sports-oriented community,” Apfelberg said. The Apfelberg family moved to Los Altos from Menlo Park, where they be-longed to the Westside Athletic Clubs, but had difficulty finding similar facilities

Local soccer moms put themselves in their kids' cleats

Continued on Page 6

Members of a class for soccer moms practice

their skills. Hala Ramish, top, takes a kick on goal.

Gaby Stern, Katherine Poonen and Sarit

Schwarz, center, from left, participate in a scrim-

mage. Alix Apfelberg hones her kicking funda-

mentals, bottom.

PHOTOS BY ELLIE VAN HOUTTE/ TOWN CRIER


in Los Altos. Soccer has become a great physical outlet for her. Apfelberg has 10-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, and a 4-year-old son. Her older son is in Red Star, a competitive soccer club, and her daughter plays on a team through the American Youth Soc-cer Organization. Both of them “really, really love soccer,” Apfelberg said. With two elder siblings already in the game, younger brother Ryan wants to follow in their footsteps. Ryan is enrolled in a soccer class with Coach Ken, and during breaks in Apfelberg’s own class, she gets him ready for his soccer class from his stroller seat. Apfelberg finds soccer a great workout, es-pecially because she doesn’t really like running. She has been surprised to discover that the game is “much harder than it looks, but a great way to fill my time.” Her enthusiasm spurred her to join Kathy Lebakos in organizing the Almond School Moms Love Soccer Auc-tion. Mburu donated his time and equipment to teach a soccer clinic to help raise funds for the school at the an-nual Walkabout.

SOCCER

Continued from Page 5

ELLIE VAN HOUTTE/TOWN CRIER

Alix Apfelberg checks in with her son, Ryan, during a break from soccer class.Continued on Page 8



Like most of the moms, Apfelberg thinks Coach Ken is “awesome and so much fun.” She enjoys watching him coach her daughter, with “a great sense of humor.” Mburu’s daughter and his wife, Dorothy, both often help him on the field. “I like the way he motivates the kids without making them feel scared,” Apfelberg said.

Free to play team sports Los Altos resident Hala Ramish remembers that women in her native Afghanistan were not allowed to play sports due to cultural restraints. She immigrated when she was in grade school, and always wanted to play a team sport. Now that her children are in third and fifth grades at Almond School, she has time to devote to her own inter-ests. In addition to soccer, she’s participated in swim les-sons and even a triathlon. Although Ramish has been an assistant coach on her children’s soccer teams, she felt she needed to learn more about the game. Since signing up for the women’s soc-cer clinic, she has become more confident about her own skills. “Coach Ken is amazing. He’s very patient and he’s fun-ny, too,” she said.

SOCCER


Coach Ken Mburu, center, teaches a soccer class for local moms, including, from left, Katherine Poonen, Sarit Schwarz, Gaby Stern, Patty Salazar, Dianna Carter, Hala Ramish, Stephanie Dauer, Alix Apfel-berg and Debbie Lee.ELLIE VAN HOUTTE/TOWN CRIER


SOCCER

First to sign up Rose Lue grew up in the Philippines and came to the U.S. as a freshman in high school when Ferdinand Marcos was still in power. “I was very excited that Ken was doing this mom’s class, because I had wanted to learn the game and didn’t know how,” said Lue, the first mom to sign up for the Los Altos clinic. Lue, who describes herself as a stay-at-home mom and professional volunteer, watches her children play soccer and has even coached their teams, but she never really “knew more than kicking a ball around” with her son Nathan, now 12, and daughters Amanda and Diane, both 8. Now she appreciates the sport better, and “it’s great fun to meet other moms who like to stay active,” she said. Lue praises Mburu as a “coach who cares.” More impor-tantly, she feels “he’s not in it for the money – he really likes the sport and is an ambassador for it.”

Happy on the field Dianna Carter, former Hewlett-Packard marketing spe-cialist, signed up for the soccer clinic in September. She thought playing would be good exercise and that she’d gain new skills. At any given practice, Mburu may introduce 10 or more skills before coaching a 30-minute scrimmage. He doesn’t

Continued on Page 10


keep score, because “it’s not so much about competition,” but more importantly about staying happy. Carter said the clinic has been “great fun, a fan-tastic aerobic workout,” and she applauds Mburu as an “excellent teacher.” Although at 55 she is the oldest of the bunch, Carter seems to have little trouble keeping up with the other women. Mburu, who earned a master’s degree in fi-nance from San Jose State University, is also a writer. “It helps me a lot with soccer, because I use very creative ways to teach instead of doing dry drills,” he said. “We are having fun.” Mburu is grateful for the large, grassy field available for the moms’ soccer class. Such spac-es are hard to find in Kenya, he added. Some players are not so fond of the dog poop they have to sweep clear before they start the clinic, a complaint they will have to lodge with the Parks and Recreation Commission. For more information on Coach Ken’s soccer class-es, visit www.coachkensoccer.com. Soccer Moms’ Fun Fitness classes are scheduled 9:30-10:30 a.m. Thursdays and 9-10 a.m. Fridays. Fees are $140 per session. For more information and to register, visit losaltosrecreation.org. m

SOCCER



Gaby Stern, center, practices headers with other soccer moms during a recent warmup.



Capture a child’s imagination in a native-habitat garden

By Tanya KucakSpecial to the Town Crier

If you have a child who attends school in the Los Altos School District, chances are you know

something about native plants. That’s because from kindergarten through eighth grade, the Living Classroom Program offers lessons that take place in each school’s native habitat garden. Children become familiar with the plants as they learn about the critters that pollinate them, how Native Ameri-cans used them and where they fit into the ecosystem. Nine schools now have native habitat gardens; the oldest one was installed seven years ago at Oak Avenue School. Vicki Moore, who

COURTESY OF VICKI MOORE

Seventh-graders at Egan Junior High School examine plant leaves as they study adaptations during a lesson on evolution as part of the Liv-ing Classroom Program.Continued on Page 14



developed the Living Classroom, a program of the Los Altos Community Foundation, said the gardens were deliberately planned as plant communities, with groups of plants that might occur together in the wild, so that students can “learn what nature does” and “understand that these plants belong here.” She chose individual plants for their beauty, their traditional uses or their ecological niche. Descriptive signs identify the plants and provide information about them. The goal of the Living Classroom Program is to make nature “part of the everyday experience at school, not oc-casional field trips that you need to organize transportation to get to,” Moore said. “Hands-on, real life, real things.” Seeing and hearing creeping, crawling, flying and buzzing life in the garden captures the imagination of children, and the lessons point out the interrelationships between plants and animals.

Taking root in the classroom First-graders get excited about the “Who’s My Habi-tat?” lesson, Moore said. Each student receives a placard with information about either a plant or an animal, with clues about which animal is important to that plant. The children find their partners, then locate the plant in the

GARDEN



Students at Oak Avenue School use the native garden for play at recess as well as for Living Classroom lessons.


GARDEN

native habitat garden. They’re also attuned to other ani-mals that may be visiting the garden, such as butterflies or hummingbirds. Third-grade teacher Janis Tjader said her students en-joy the Ohlone scavenger hunt. They obtain descriptions of how the Ohlone used the plants, such as for medicine, food or making baskets, then search the descriptive signs in the garden to find the Ohlone usage and name the plant. The Living Classroom Program offers four to 12 les-sons per year depending on the grade, and more than 80 percent of teachers sign up for lessons. The program is in its fifth year in Los Altos, and this year began offering lessons to third-graders in the Mountain View-Whisman School District. Half the lessons focus on edibles, such as “Seed to Pretzel,” and half focus on the native habitat garden. The school gardens are special places, more so because they are accessible to all students. During recess, children who are not drawn to competitive sports and are more at-tracted to quiet activities and unstructured, creative play come to the native habitat garden. Moore has found pre-tend villages made of tanbark, acorns, moss and branches. The native habitat gardens are not only available to students. The gardens have elicited support from the community. Local Eagle Scouts have done most of the



garden-building work with ma-terials donated or discounted by local retailers, and parent volunteers get the garden in shape before the school year starts. Thirty volunteer docents from the community help with the lessons. Parents attending soccer games have also wan-dered into the Oak native habi-tat garden, sometimes noting the plants they “have to have,” Moore said.

Gardening at home Those who have native gar-dens at home can reinforce and expand on the lessons. Cath-erine Mohr, whose Mountain View yard was a construction site three years ago, has talked with her 9-year-old daugh-ter about how spotted newts and other animals reinhab-ited the garden as they planted natives. On a family camping trip to Big Sur, they observed plants in the coastal chaparral and redwood understory plant com-

munities that mirror the ones in their own garden: “We have that plant!” or “Wouldn’t it be great in our garden!” Mohr has given her daughter a sense of ownership in the garden

GARDEN



Third-graders at Oak Avenue School study Native American uses of plants, aided by informative signs, in the school’s native garden.




by inviting her to accompany her to the nursery and help choose plants. The garden is designed for creative play. Near the ed-ible garden, Mohr has pruned a large fig tree so that sev-eral children can sit in it and use it as a fort. Her daughter makes paths and hiding places in the wildflower meadow, which reaches 4 feet high in the summer. The front yard, which is more open with a durable groundcover, is favored for swordplay. The key, Mohr said, is to “let things get damaged.” The rule is that the children can’t pull up plants, but that she won’t get mad if something gets broken. Fortuitous-ly, she has discovered that natives often come back the next year even if they look dead or were trampled to the ground. Her daughter has grown a jarful of tadpoles into Pacific treefrogs, so the family talks about how susceptible am-phibians are to pesticides worldwide and why they garden organically. That also means anything in the edible gar-den is safe to eat – and none of the berries make it inside the house. Use of resources permeates discussions in the house-hold. The wildflower meadow is not watered in the sum-mer, greywater from sinks and showers is routed to the fruit trees and rainwater is cached. See photos of Mohr’s garden at tinyurl.com/aahen5c.

GARDEN


COURTESY OF MADROÑO LANDSCAPE DESIGN STUDIO

Native plants grow through a low-maintenance mod-ern living wall, made of perforated steel and redwood. The lower section is 4 feet high and 25 feet long.


GARDEN

Growing a green wall A modern green wall of native plants at a Los Altos Hills residence offers a different interpretation of a fami-ly-friendly garden. In this case, using natives means lower maintenance and less water use. The homeowners’ two boys love the green wall and get “fired up” when they see hummingbirds, butterflies and other critters, designer Geoffrey Coffey said. He chose plants with habitat value as well as soft textures and aro-matic leaves. The north-facing green wall was an elegant solution to a very steep, eroding hillside that threatened the house’s foundation. The lower green wall – 25 feet long and 4 feet high – borders an outdoor patio that connects to the kitch-en door. A new path between the upper and lower green walls connects to the front of the house. Downhill from the patio is a valley oak with a rope swing, also popular with the boys. See photos of the green wall and its construction at ti-nyurl.com/ahy6bzs.

For more information on the Living Classroom Pro-gram, visit living-classroom.org.

Both the Mountain View and Los Altos Hills gardens described will be open to the public on this year’s Going Native Garden Tour April 21. To register, visit goingna-tivegardentour.org. m


GARDEN

How to engage children in the garden ❦ Teach them to look for signs of birds, insects, lizards, butterflies and other life. Help them notice how they interact with specific plants. ❦ Think about where the critters go when they go home. Insects, birds and lizards are not passing through – a garden with native plants is their habitat. Some critters live in the leaf litter, others live in the soil or in thickets or way up in trees. ❦ Tell a story. Once they’ve heard the story about Douglas fir cones, they will always remember what they look like, with the little “mouse feet” sticking out. ❦ Add running water. It attracts wildlife, which attracts children. ❦ Give them a sense of ownership by involving them in planning or plant selection or by inviting them to show off the garden to other people. ❦ Enable open-ended, creative play. Don’t worry about a trampled plant here and there. ❦ Be the still point in the turning world. One teacher takes her English class on a “12-inch hike” in the native habitat garden. Students sit still and listen and then write or draw detailed pictures of the plants and animals they see and hear. ❦ Get on a first-name basis. Putting plant labels in the garden helps adults remember plant names, too. ❦ Learn how plants were used. What if everything you used in everyday life came from nature? For Native Americans, that was the reality. Food, shelter, medicine and cordage came from plants. ❦ Touch and smell the plants. Feel the textures of different leaves. Rub the leaves to release the aromatics. And if it’s a wild area, learn to identify poison oak before anyone touches any leaves. ❦ Know what’s edible. It’s fun to graze in the garden. Have an organic food garden in your yard or plant some edible natives. ❦ When you visit wild areas, look for connections to your native garden. Looking at a 1,000-year-old redwood in Big Sur, local resident Catherine Mohr asked her daughter, “What will our yard look like in 1,000 years?” ❦ Discuss how decisions you make in the garden relate to wider issues such as biodiversity, pollinator conservation, climate change and water resources. m

– Tanya Kucak


By Anabel PelhamSpecial to the Town Crier

L os Altos and Los Altos Hills are the first and only World Health Organization (WHO) Age-

Friendly Cities in California. In addi-tion to being a title to boast about, the “age-friendly” designation indicates unique characteristics that make the communities special places to live. Achieving the age-friendly status is no easy feat. To qualify, cities must meet a variety of criteria and bench-marks: demonstrate that seniors are involved in decision-making as it re-lates to city planning and programs for seniors; conduct comprehensive surveys of the needs of seniors; and develop plans to address those needs in meaningful ways.

Los Altos is the place to be– whether young or enthusiastically aging



Community activities are one asset among many that make Los Altos age-friendly. Linda and Harvey Ziff, above, enjoy Groovin’ on the Green.


Additionally, applicants must de-scribe how their city currently meets or will improve in the eight domains that define what it means to be age-friendly according to WHO. These domains are evidence-based and have a direct im-pact on the health and quality of life of seniors. They include outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclu-sion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community support and health services. With the financial support of the Silicon Valley-based Health Trust, the city of Los Altos and the town of Los Altos Hills, the Los Altos/Los Altos Hills Senior Commission embarked on a two-year project that culminated in a successful bid for the WHO Age-Friendly Cities distinc-tion in 2011. This is a major honor – and timely when con-sidering that 20 percent of Los Altos residents are 65 and older. If baby boomers are added to the total, 30 percent of all residents are older adults. Despite the perception that the terminology may convey, being age-friendly is an intergenerational ben-

efit. Residents of all ages benefit from infrastructure that makes navigation easier. Curb ramps, appropriate street lighting, sidewalk repairs, benches and safe crossings make a community more livable for everyone. Being age-friendly can be an attitude, but intention

AGING




Older adults make up 30 percent of Los Altos’ population. An array of programs and services aim to make the town ideal for them as they age.






also matters. Los Altos aims to make seniors welcome and support them with the resources they need. For exam-ple, the Senior Commission is an active group that stays informed and current in implementing best practices in community-based health and human services. Local nonprofit organizations are pioneering creative and effective programs to engage aging populations. The Rotary Club of Los Altos sponsors Partners for El-der Generations and the Encore! event to match seniors with volunteer opportunities. Los Altos Legacies supports many of the programs and services of the Los Altos Se-nior Center, and the Los Altos Community Foundation fosters many age-friendly projects through its Seniors Matter Program. A new effort, Los Altos Prepares, will mobilize volunteers as street captains. Faith communities and the staff at the Senior Center provide valuable support for older residents as well. Despite the ideal landscape to accommodate aging res-idents of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, the local commu-nity can strengthen its efforts to be age-friendly in other ways. According to a Los Altos Senior Commission survey, amenities including a modern community center and ad-ditional public and private transportation options are needed. Many empty-nest older residents want to down-

size and move into downtown condominiums, but sky-high real estate prices are a deterrent. Seniors in Los Al-tos also indicated that they need more help to prepare for potential emergencies. Fortunately, there are highways toward help. Being an age-friendly city allows the two communities access to technical assistance and best-practices support and ideas. It opens the door to program development grants offered exclusively to cities identified as age-friendly. In fact, the Los Altos Community Foundation is scheduled to submit two such grants that would support eight separate stand-alone mini-projects. If funding for these proposals ensues, creative projects that promote intergenerational engagement and quality of life for older adults in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills could follow. Project ideas include studying the feasibility of a new fixed-stop shuttle, designing an interactive age-friendly app to assist seniors and their families, hosting an Intergenerational Emergency Preparedness Day event and even creating a community-based aging services program that might partner with Foothill College to provide intern-ship opportunities. Being age-friendly should benefit everyone in the com-munity and keep all boats afloat. Anabel Pelham is director of the Institute on Gerontol-ogy at San Francisco State University and a member of the Los Altos/Los Altos Hills Senior Commission. m

AGING



By Nora HaleySpecial to the Town Crier

If, as Leo Tolstoy once famously said, “Spring is the time of plans and projects,” then the Los Altos Rec-reation Department is right on target. A full spec-

trum of spring classes begins this week and the depart-ment has opened registration for summer camps.

Old favorites and new ideas “Throughout the year, we survey a large sampling of participants in our classes and camps, with a special emphasis on summer activities,” Los Altos Recreation Director Beverly Tucker said.

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PARKS & REC

Tucker said the department’s spring classes and summer camps reflect the feedback from active families. Working parents who enroll their children in summer camps, for example, asked for more all-day options. In response, the department has scheduled two weeks of full-day Redwood Grove Summer Camp. Another alternative allows parents to arrange all-day camping experiences for their children by mixing and matching enrollment sessions in Camp Shoup and Redwood Grove Summer Camp. The department observed a new trend in its adult pro-gramming: Classes of shorter duration are in demand. “People have such busy schedules that it is a challenge for them to commit to an eight-week class,” said Peggy Ford, Recreation Department senior supervisor. “But classes that meet three or fewer times have been filling up fast.” In response, the department introduced diverse classes that have only one to three class meetings. “Raising Back-yard Chickens” and “Harmonica for Health,” debuting this summer, are examples of the shorter classes available to the community.

Community involvement Tucker encourages community members to get in-volved and contact the department. “If you are looking for something that we don’t offer yet, let us know,” she said. “If you are interested in teach-

ing a class, definitely let us know.” Volunteerism is another way to participate in Rec-reation Department activities. Tucker noted that youth camps, Senior Center barbecues and outdoor concerts require many volunteers to organize. The department is always looking for extra hands. “Plus,” she said, “all of these events are fun as either a participant or a volunteer. Everyone enjoys them.” For more information, call 947-2790, email [email protected], visit losaltosrecreation.org or stop by the main office, 97 Hillview Ave., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. m

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LOS ALTOS RECREATION DEPARTMENT

Local residents of all ages can enjoy classes as diverse as ballet, left, and bocce ball, above.


Town Crier Report

Los AltosLos Altos Recreation Department Egg Hunt10 a.m. March 30Hillview Soccer Field, 97 Hillview Ave. The annual Egg Hunt is open to ages 10 and under. Admission is free. For more information, visit losaltosrecreation.com.

Teen Egg Launch10:45 a.m. March 30Hillview Soccer Field, 97 Hillview Ave.

The Los Altos Recreation Department has scheduled an Egg Launch for youth 11-17. The challenge is to build a contraption that protects an egg from breaking when launched from a water-balloon launcher. Register online. To register, visit losaltosrecreation.com.

Around town in spring

Activities prompt residents to get their feet on the street

TOWN CRIER FILE PHOTO

Spring activities abound in Los Altos, including the annual Easter Egg Hunt.


EVENTS

Los Altos Live! talent show7 p.m. April 20Eagle Theater, Los Altos High School, 201 Almond Ave.

Local residents will unveil their musical, theatrical and dance skills at the annual community talent show spon-sored by the Los Altos Cultural Association. For more information, call 954-5999 or email [email protected].

Spring Plant Exchange10 a.m. to 12 p.m. April 27Hillview Community Center parking lot, 97 Hillview Ave. Exchange healthy plants – including seedlings, cuttings, bulbs, small trees and shrubs – with other local gardeners at this free plant swap co-sponsored by the Garden Club of Los Altos and the Los Altos Recreation Department. For more information, visit gardencluboflosaltos.org/events.html.

Rotary Club of Los Altos Fine Art in the Park10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. May 18 and 19Lincoln Park, Main Street and Foothill Expressway The creative work of more than 200 fine artists is on display at one of the Bay Area’s premier open-air juried art shows. Stroll through the shaded canopy of Lincoln Park and discover fine art ranging from paintings to


The audience won’t have to jump through hoops to find homegrown talent at Los Altos Live!



sculpture, ceramics and handcrafted jewelry. The an-nual event includes live mu-sic and food and beverage booths. Proceeds support a range of local Rotary com-munity service agencies as well as a number of interna-tional development projects in places like Nepal, Mexico, Malaysia and Afghanistan. A free shuttle runs from the Los Altos High School park-ing lot. For more information, vis-it rotaryartshow.com.

Kiwanis Club of Los Altos Pet Parade10 a.m. May 18Downtown Los Altos A community tradition since 1947, the Kiwanis Pet Parade attracts thousands of spectators, parents, children, pets, wagons and bicycles. Hundreds of children and their dogs, cats, birds, chickens – even worms – participate

along with youth groups, marching bands and dignitaries riding in vintage cars. The parade is scheduled to begin at Main and First streets.

EVENTS




All paws are on deck for the annual Kiwanis Pet Parade. Spectators line down-town streets for a glimpse of children with their furry friends.



For more information, call 988-9900 or visit losaltoski-wanis.org.

Stride & Ride9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 1Central Parking Plaza, downtown Los Altos Stride & Ride is an inter-active family festival that in-cludes skating, running and cycling demonstrations and clinics as well as fitness classes and games. Admission is free. For more information, visit strideandridelosaltos.com/in-dex.html.

Los Altos HillsEarth Day Celebration1-4 p.m. April 21Westwind Community Barn, 27210 Altamont Road This year’s annual Earth Day Celebration includes

“Live Wild Cats” education presentations by Leopard’s Etc. at 1:30 and 3 p.m. Los Altos Hills committees, school groups and local environmental groups sponsor exhibits,

EVENTS



Local residents of all ages can participate in a variety of Earth Day activities at Westwind Community Barn in Los Altos Hills.




and electric cars will be on display. Los Altos Hills hats, lotions, seeds, wine glasses and produce will be available for purchase by cash or check. Attendees are encouraged to reduce their carbon footprint by walking, cycling or carpooling to the event and bringing a reusable water bot-tle. Due to the wildcat presentation, no dogs are allowed. For more information, call Sarah Gualtieri at 947-2518 or email [email protected].

12th Annual Pathways Run/Walk9 a.m. May 11Westwind Community Barn, 27210 Altamont Road The 5K and 10K are scheduled for a 9 a.m. start, and the 1-Mile Fun Run is slated at 10:30 a.m. Join runners and walkers on a course that ventures through Byrne Pre-serve and on the Los Altos Hills Pathway system to raise money for installation of owl houses at Westwind. Par-ticipants who preregister will receive an owl T-shirt and are encouraged to dress as owls for costume and hooting contests. Cost is $30 ($35 on race day), $20 for group reg-istration of 10 or more. To register, volunteer or for more information, visit www.lahpathways.org.

EVENTS



Hundreds of residents and visitors take to the open spac-es of Los Altos Hills for the annual Pathways Run/Walk.


EVENTS

15th Annual Los Altos Hills Town Picnic1-4:30 p.m. June 2Purissima Park, 27400 Purissima Road

Residents are invited to share a barbecue lunch pre-pared and served by volunteers from the Santa Clara County Firefighters Local No. 1165, as well as soft drinks, beer, wine and ice cream sundaes. The event will feature entertainment, games and a classic-car show. For more information or to volunteer, call the Parks and Recreation Department at 947-2518. m


Santa Clara County firefighters, above right, serve a barbecue lunch at the Los Altos Hills Town Picnic.






By Grace Acosta

I’m originally from the other LA – Los

Angeles, city of the angels, home of those dreadful, hated Dodgers and birthplace of the modern gourmet food truck phenome-non. I’ve been living in the Northern California LA, Los Altos (NorCal LA), for the past 15 years and have been a Peninsula resident since the 1980s. I’m still attached to the Southern California LA (SoCal LA) and visit often, yet I definitely prefer NorCal LA for the obvious reasons: less crime, less traffic, less pollution and less hassle. But NorCal LA took a while for me to get used to. It’s all so charming now, but when I first laid eyes on the area, I thought the lack of sidewalks in so many neigh-borhoods was strange. Couple that with the absence of street lights and exacerbate the problem with small, dull-brown street signs and you might as well have plopped this native Angeleno in a patch of vacation cabins in the mountains. Everything appeared rustic to me. I wasn’t the only one, either. The first time my father visited me in our newly acquired home, he commented

on the immense and plentiful trees and the potential hor-ror of leaves and bird droppings piling up on our drive-way or along the streets. He was surprised that I lived within walking distance of a large hospital, a middle school and a farmstand, having never seen those types of dissimilar institutions sharing space. He enjoyed the area – the quiet, the green, the amicability – but I think he also felt sorry for me because there was only one, just one, modestly sized Japanese market nearby. But small scale suits me. I love going to the same shoe store time and again and finding knowledgeable, friendly salespeople who can get me in and out with a purchase in roughly the same amount of time it takes me to find a parking space in a large mall. I like restaurants that seat

The other LANo Shoes, Please


The small-town charms of Los Altos – including out-door dining on a Friday night – appeal to many.


30, especially when I’m parked right outside and can actually see my dog in the backseat of the car waiting patiently for his doggie bag. And as far as “living large,” NorCal LA isn’t a wasteland – at least as far as my needs and interests go. I’m a voracious reader but rarely need to buy any books because my little neighborhood library almost never disappoints when it comes to stocking the titles I want. I find gluten-free food products in every market. I attend high-caliber sporting events at Stanford, or even local high school gyms. The foothills that feel like a personal backyard often inspire my daily meditations. And, much to my surprise, I have become enamored with trees. However, things have changed on me as well. Local restaurants come and go at quite a clip, library hours have diminished and the farmstand is completely gone. So the dance of getting used to NorCal LA contin-ues for me, but at this point I’m pretty clear on the basic steps. In other words, Los Altos is home – except when it comes to baseball. I’ll never abandon the LA Dodg-ers for the SF Giants. Ever. Grace Acosta is a longtime Los Altos resident. Email her at the [email protected]. m

LADid you know?

Facts about Los Altos and Los Altos Hills • The median family income for Los Altos is$176,533 per year. The median family income for Los Altos Hills is $224,992. (Source: American Com-munity Survey, 2010)

• The median age for Los Altos residents is46.2 years. (Source: Bay Area Census, Association of Bay Area Governments)

• Approximately 20 percent of Los Altosand 23.2 percent of Los Altos Hills is 65 years or older. (Source: Bay Area Census, Association of Bay Area Governments)

•Theaveragesingle-familyhomesalespriceinLos Altos is $2,195,815; $2,960,418 in Los Altos Hills. (Source: MLS)

• There are approximately 4,500 K-8 studentsattending schools in the Los Altos School District. There are approximately 3,700 high school students in the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District. (Sources: LASD, MVLA)

•Los Altos, incorporated as a general-law city in December 1952, covers 7 square miles. Los Altos Hills, incorporated in January 1956, is 8.4 square miles in area. (Source: Los Altos Chamber of Commerce) m



Members of the Los Altos Book Babes gathered at Main Street Cafe & Books for a Valentine’s Day luncheon that featured candy, champagne and flowers. The club, founded by Los Altos Hills resident Robin Katsaros, has been meeting since 2001. Book Babes members include, front row, from left: Nancy Federman, Janis Ahmadjian-Baer, Monica Waldman, Pat Henderson and Nancy Ellickson. Back: Katsaros, Candace Lublin, Lalia Helmer, Cheryl Weiden and Nancy Cook. m

SOCIAL SCENES

A novel Valentine



SOCIAL SCENES


“Team Marilyn” threw a Victory Party for Los Altos resident Marilyn Shodiss to celebrate the completion of her six-month chemotherapy program. Los Altos resident Joyce Johnson hosted the party at her home. Enjoying the party are, front row, from left: Connie Turkington, Cynthia Gilkey and Johnson. Back: Mary Ann Weingartner, Helen Helson, Shodiss, Carolyn Poe, Colleen Mediros, Sharon Honnegar and Mary Parks. m

‘Team Marilyn'

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livingininlos altos€¦ · magazine in. Soccer moms at play These local moms aren. t ’ sitting on the sidelines – they’re in the game. Page 5 Kids in the garden Inch by inch,