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Redwood City E-News
Building a Great Community Together
Issue #22 ~ May, 2005
(Back to index of all issues)
IN THIS ISSUE:
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Redwood City Kids Win G.R.E.A.T. Essay Contest
For the past four years, kids from the Redwood City Police Department’s Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program have participated in an essay contest sponsored by the San Francisco Giants and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF&E). The contest is one way of helping kids learn that there are positive alternatives to gang activity.
This year, 53 6th graders from Redwood City’s Kennedy Middle School submitted essays, and the City is very proud to announce that nine of these students were selected as winners. And, 6th grader Naomi Lieb of Kennedy Middle School was selected as the overall grand prize winner! She will be honored by the San Francisco Giants at home plate on May 6th during a pre-game ceremony with all the other proud winners.
The kids wrote short essays on one of the following subjects: “One Small Step for Mankind;” “Education All the Way;” and “There's More to Life Than Gangs.” The purpose of these topics was to get kids to think about personal achievement, the value of education, and taking responsibility for their actions.
Here are some meaningful quotes from the Redwood City students’ winning essays:
“Y’all would skip school to play with guns, come on that ain’t fun, y’all might die, O come to me and cry.”
~ Roy Melgar
“My mom says, How can we find peace in our world, if we can’t find it in our children’s heart.”
~ Joe Basler
“If you think school is too hard, don’t drop out, ask for help.”
~ Olivia Richards
“Education is the best anti-gang defense.”
~
Ian Latham
G.R.E.A.T. is a life skills competency program designed to provide students with the skills they need to avoid gang pressure and youth violence. G.R.E.A.T.’s violence prevention curriculum helps students develop beliefs and practice behaviors that will help them avoid destructive behaviors. The national G.R.E.A.T. website is located at www.atf.treas.gov/great.
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The Forum at Redwood City Presents: “High Speed Rail & Caltrain On the Peninsula” – May 4
On Wednesday, May 4th, beginning at 6 pm, a dynamic and interesting panel of experts will discuss “The Implications of High Speed Rail and Caltrain for the Peninsula and Its Historic Downtowns.”
You’re invited to j oin Bob Doty, Director of Rail Transportation, SAMTRANS; Rod Diridon, Executive Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute and Chair of the California High Speed Rail Authority Board; Hans Korve, Principal, Korve Engineering; and Michael Freedman, Principal, Freedman Tung & Bottomley urban design firm. They’ll examine how train service on the Peninsula is changing in two important ways: Caltrain is substantially changing the way it operates, and High Speed Rail, which will allow quick trips between northern and southern California, is on the horizon.
At the Forum, we will explore these changes in rail services, the favorable and unfavorable impacts they are likely to have on the communities of the Peninsula and its downtowns, and steps that can be taken to take advantage of the benefits and minimize the impacts.
The Forum takes place at the Little Fox Theater, 2209 Broadway, in downtown Redwood City. Doors open at 5:30 pm and the cost is $10 per person, payable at the door. An optional no-host dinner with the presenter and other participants will be held following the Forum for those wishing to continue the discussion.
The Forum at Redwood City brings nationally-known speakers and presenters to Downtown Redwood City for in-depth dialogues on city design issues, providing an on-going venue for professional-level education and dialogue about urban design issues, today’s hottest urban design topics, and most cutting-edge techniques. More information is available by calling 650-780-7363.
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National Senior Centers Week/Older Americans Month
Senior Centers on the Move! is the theme of this year’s National Senior Center Week, which will be May 8-14. May is also Older Americans Month, and older adults, their families and members of the community are invited to celebrate with Redwood City’s Veterans Memorial Senior Center, 1455 Madison Avenue, Redwood City, and learn more about its services.
The following programs are scheduled for May:
- “Aging, Sleep and Memory Problems” Lecture, Wednesday, May 4, 10:30 a.m., Goldstar Room, free. Speaker is Adam Spira, Ph.D., Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care. Topics are age-related changes in sleep and memory, the impact of sleep disturbances and memory, and a VA/Stanford study about impact of light therapy on sleep problems in older adults with memory problems and their caregivers.
- Advanced Health Care Directives Seminar, Monday, May 9, 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Speakers are Nadine Condon, Mission Hospice, and Scott Hartley, Attorney at Law. Discussion includes hospice, values history, and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. There is a $10 fee for the seminar and a $10 fee for notary services. Call 780-7274 to register.
- Senior Affairs Commission Special Program, Thursday, May 12. The Senior Affairs Commission meeting is at 11:00 a.m. in the Goldstar Room. Lunch is at 12:00 noon ($4.50, reservations required, call 780-7270). At 1:00 p.m. in the theater, Stagebridge will perform its popular musical revue, “Never Too Late.”
- “Medicare Changes and Prescription Drug Coverage,” Friday, May 13, 10:00 a.m., Theater. Guest speaker is Diana Gray, Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP). Hear the latest information and have your questions answered.
- AARP Driver Safety Class: Saturday, May 21 and May 28, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Goldstar Room, $10.00. AARP Instructor is Glenn Behm. To register, call 780-7270.
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Seat Available on Housing & Human Concerns Committee
The City of Redwood City announces an opportunity to fill a vacancy on the City’s Housing and Human Concerns Committee. Members of the community are invited to offer their interest, experience, and enthusiasm for the benefit of their City by applying for this appointment. The selected applicant will serve the remainder of the unexpired term, until May, 2008. Applications are available by calling the City Clerk’s office, or online at www.redwoodcity.org/clerks.
The objective of the Housing and Human Concerns Committee is to advocate for the improvement of the quality of life of Redwood City citizens and to assure that human considerations, as set forth in the General Plan, are given adequate consideration in physical and economic decision making.
Applicants’ basic requirements are that they have an interest in civic and community improvement, are 18 years of age or older, are a United States citizen, and are a resident of in corporated Redwood City. The deadline for submitting applications is May 27th 2005.
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Events for National Historic Preservation Month
“Restore America: Communities at a Crossroads" is the theme of National Historic Preservation Month during May, sponsored annually by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and locally by the City of Redwood City Historic Resources Advisory Committee.
As part of the month-long celebration, citizens nationwide will celebrate with alumni reunions, career days, pageants, workshops, clean-up days, rallies, re-enactments, and home and garden tours. Here in Redwood City, Preservation Month 2005 will be observed by a remarkable historic walking tour, a proclamation by the Mayor, a field trip for seventh graders to three downtown buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a tour of the Union Cemetery Historic site.
The Historic Walking Tour will be on Saturday, May 7th beginning at 10:30 am in front of Lathrop House at 627 Hamilton Street, and will last approximately one hour and fifteen minutes. Participants will marvel to see where Wyatt Earp occasionally came for a drink, where President Hoover once slept, where a Wells Fargo Express Office operated in 1875, the site of Redwood City’s first new car showroom salon and auto repair garage, the finest theater on the peninsula in 1896, the former homes of prominent pioneer citizens and much, much more.
Then, sponsored by the Historic Union Cemetery Association, the Union Cemetery Historic Site tour will take place on Saturday, May 14th at 1:00 pm. The 1859 cemetery is located at Woodside Road, near El Camino Real.
The field trips for 7th graders from the Redwood City School District will take place May 23rd – May 27th with 750 students experiencing the restored 1863 Lathrop House, the Old County Courthouse (home of the San Mateo County Historical Association and Museum), and the historic Fox Theater.
Business and community sponsors and participants for the school tours include restaurant and Fox Theater owners John Anagnostou and Michael Monte, the San Mateo County Historical Association, the Redwood City Heritage Association, the Rotary Club of Redwood City, the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, Watry Design, Inc., Attorney Michael Bursak, Bob’s Courthouse Coffee Shop, and the Redwood City Optimist Club.
For more information go to www.redwoodcity.org.
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Save the Date for Event Commemorating Start of Old Courthouse Façade Restoration - May 25, 10:30 am
Please save the date to join Redwood City, San Mateo County, and the Redwood City Redevelopment Agency as we commemorate the beginning of the project to bring back the old courthouse façade and open up the area for the upcoming courthouse square public plaza. Also involved are the San Mateo County Historical Society & San Mateo County History Museum, DPR Construction, the Downtown Business Group, and DES Architects. Wednesday, May 25th, 10:30 am, on Broadway in front of the old annex building (across the street from the Fox Theater). More details as they become available!
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17th Annual Mayor’s Beautification Awards Underway
Redwood City residents, non-profit organizations, and businesses are showing their civic pride by applying for a Mayor 's Beautification Award. Individuals, homeowners associations, apartment complexes, businesses, non-profits, and others are invited to participate.
Applications are available by calling the contact number below, or by visiting City Hall ( 1017 Middlefield Road). The application is also available online where applicants can fill it in, print it, and send it in. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2005, and judging will be completed by the end of July.
These awards help foster civic pride in our community, beautify our entire City, and, of course, recognize people and organizations for their work to make Redwood City a better, more attractive place to live and work.
The program is sponsored by the City 's Pride and Beautification Committee, and encourages attractive structural and landscaping improvements in our community. Single- or multi-family residences, apartment complexes, home owners associations, and non-profit or commercial properties are eligible.
A panel of volunteer judges will prescreen the entries, and the final selection process will include a site visit to the top entries. Categories include best architectural design, remodel, historical restoration; most beautiful garden or landscape; best compatible building and garden or landscape; and more. If an entry doesn 't exactly fit into one of the categories, you can create your own! Call 780-7300 for information on the Mayor’s Beautification Awards.
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