|
Redwood City E-News
Building a Great Community Together
Issue #38 ~ October, 2006
(Back to index of all issues)
IN THIS ISSUE:
**************************
Community Builders Speakers Series
Register now for Redwood City’s third installment of its unique, renowned “Community Builders” speakers series. For two dates in November, one in January, and one in February, participants from the community of Redwood City will be engaged, enlightened, and inspired by some of the world’s premier thinkers and writers on the subject of community building.
Registrations must be received by November 3rd and are available online , or by calling 780-7300. Space is limited, so interested community members are urged to apply now.
The Redwood City Community Builders series features thought-provoking presentations by nationally and internationally known authors and speakers who literally wrote the book on community building. In its first two iterations, this program provided over 200 community members with the tools, skills, and inspiration to envision the community they’d like Redwood City to be, and to work effectively with their friends and neighbors, colleagues, fellow community-members, and the City to achieve that vision.
Here’s the lineup for Community Builders 2006-2007:
- Thursday, November 9, 2006 ~ Margaret Wheatley – Internationally acclaimed speaker and writer focusing on how to maintain our integrity and effectiveness in these chaotic times.
- Thursday, November 16, 2006 ~ Peter Block – Consultant, speaker, best selling author on bringing service and accountability to organizations and communities.
- Thursday, January 11, 2007 ~ Dr. John L. McKnight – Dr. McKnight is a dynamic author, speaker, and professor of Education and Social Policy.
- And…a special guest speaker on a date in February, to be announced
Go to www.redwoodcity.org/communitybuilders for more information.
**************************
Celebrate! Redwood City: Our Town - Downtown
Redwood City’s revitalized Downtown will be unveiled on October 15th, 2006 with a fun, exciting celebration. “Redwood City: Our Town - Downtown” will offer great activities, music and entertainment, food, beverages, and a wonderful time for the entire family. Theatre Way and parts of Broadway will be pedestrian-only, making this a family-friendly event not to miss!
Join Redwood City Mayor Barbara Pierce at 11 am on the steps of the Old Courthouse/San Mateo County History Museum for the opening ceremony, then the festivities begin at noon. The mayor will also be welcoming all in the afternoon, at 1:30.
Four stages of live musical entertainment throughout Downtown will keep Redwood City rocking all day, along with street performers, free tango lessons, a street jam, and blues at the Little Fox! Local restaurants, wineries and microbreweries will be offering their delicious fare to taste and enjoy. Classic car and carriage displays, horse-drawn carriage rides, face painting, pumpkin walk, arts and crafts like stained glass, ship making, and more! Historical reenactments, walking tours of the Fox Theatre and other historical buildings, discounted entry to the San Mateo County History Museum, stagecoach display…the list goes on and on.
This is an historic event, as we unveil the many wonderful aspects that are part of the renaissance of Downtown Redwood City. For more information please call the event hotline at 831-457-1141 or 650-780-7563, or go online .
**************************
Workshops on Downtown Precise Plan Start October 3rd
You’ve seen the incredible renaissance underway in Downtown Redwood City – as it continues, it’s important for the community to create a blueprint for the future of what our Downtown will be! That blueprint is the Downtown Precise Plan, which will set the course for creating and maintaining an exciting, active, and livable downtown community. It outlines our Downtown’s future housing, building design, landscaping, architectural styles, open space, and all other aspects of a prospective development.
This is your invitation to join other community members in developing this Plan.
- Tuesday, October 3, 2006 7:00 pm - Informational Overview Meeting, featuring a vibrant and interesting discussion/overview of the Downtown Precise Plan.
- Tuesday, October 10, 2006 7:00 pm - Public Hearing / Workshop to bring the community’s input to the forefront of the discussion. There will also be several other opportunities for public comment on the Plan.
All meetings are at City Hall Council Chambers, 1017 Middlefield Road. For information call (650) 780-7237, send an email, or visit the web page.
**************************
Two Important Meetings Scheduled for Peninsula Park Proposal
The Redwood City Planning Commission invites the community to participate in an informational workshop and a study session to continue the discussion of the Peninsula Park development proposal.
The Workshop is scheduled for Thursday, October 11th, 2006 beginning at 7 pm at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center, 1455 Madison Avenue. This Workshop includes facilitated group dialogues about critical elements of this proposal. Workshops are designed to offer a friendly, open, and encouraging environment for community discussion.
Then, a special Study Session will be held on Tuesday, October 17th in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1017 Middlefield Road. This Study Session will be a Planning Commission/Architectural Review Committee forum for discussing the results of the two previous Workshops, and to provide an opportunity for additional community comment. At this meeting, the developer, City staff, and City consultants will receive direction for the next steps in the review process.
This proposal encompasses a portion of the area formerly proposed as Marina Shores Village. The developer’s initial design ideas for this 33-acre development include 796 residential units, 200 hotel rooms, 10,000 square feet of retail space, public park acreage and promenades, and public access to the waterfront.
No decisions will be made at this early stage – there will be significant opportunity for community involvement and comment over the entire project review period, if the development proposal continues to move forward through the City’s decision-making process.
The City is committed to partner with the community to ensure a purposeful public involvement in this proposal in this early stage, and to continue to engage and involve the community at every point in the process. For more information, check the City's Peninsula Park informational web page.
**************************
Fall Cleanup Day is October 14
Redwood City’s annual Fall Cleanup Day is scheduled for Saturday October 14th beginning at 8:30 am, and this year’s focus will be on sprucing up portions of Redwood City’s revitalized Downtown area.
Volunteers should meet at 8:30 am at the City’s Public Works Services building, located at 1400 Broadway.
After a complimentary continental breakfast, clean-up teams will move out to assigned Downtown areas - trash bags in hand - to clean up litter, pull weeds, pick up and recycle debris, and generally to put a new shine on the new streetscapes of the Downtown. Then at noon, volunteers will meet for a special lunch as a ‘thank you’ for showing their civic pride. Both the continental breakfast and the lunch are being generously donated by the San Mateo Credit Union, with other sponsorship provided by Allied Waste Services, and Norcal Waste Systems of San Mateo County.
Another part of the Fall Cleanup is the Great Compost Giveaway sponsored by Norcal Waste Systems of San Mateo County. On October 14th and 15th, members of the Redwood City community can bring 2 or 3 trash cans, bags, boxes, or other containers to the Public Works Services parking lot and load up with free compost – a limited supply will be shared among our community’s neighbors on a first-come, first-served basis.
**************************
Tech Guru Larry Magid Headlines October Library Events
- Tuesday, October 3 - Staying Safe in Cyberspace - 7:00 pm in the Downtown Library. Nationally syndicated columnist and regular contributor on technology to the New York Times and CBS News, Larry Magid discusses how parents can keep kids safe when using MySpace, blogs, chat rooms, and other forms of social networking on the Internet. Presented by the Redwood City Public Library and the Redwood City Education Foundation.
- Thursday, October 12 - Meet the Author: Lonely Planet’s Budget Travel for Families - 7:30 p.m. in the Downtown Library. Learn how to plan exciting vacations from the travel experts at Lonely Planet. Robin Goldberg is Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for Lonely Planet, the world’s largest independent travel content provider dedicated to providing travelers with opinionated reviews, thoughtful perspectives, and inspiring images. In the Fireplace Room.
- Saturday, October 21 & Sunday, October 22 – Friends of the Library Book Sale – 10 am – 4 pm Saturday; 1 – 4 pm Sunday - the Friends of the Redwood City Public Library offer an excellent selection of gently used books, CDs, videos and DVDs for your early holiday shopping. Sunday, October 22 nd is “bag day” during which a bag filled with books sells for just $5.00. All proceeds from the sale support the Redwood City Public Library.
- Monday, October 23 – Modern Dance: The Life and Work of Isadora Duncan - 7:30 p.m. in the Downtown Library. Lois Flood, Teacher and Founder of the Modern Dance Movement will perform the historical repertoire of dances by Isadora Duncan. Joanna Harris, founder of the dance/theatre department at UC Santa Cruz, will narrate. In the Community Room.
Go to www.redwoodcity.org/library for more information.
**************************
Project READ Annual Trivia BEE
Redwood City Project READ’s 17th Annual Trivia Bee benefit for Project READ! It takes place on Friday, October 13, 2006 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Cañada College, 4200 Farm Hill Boulevard in Redwood City, presented by the Redwood City Friends of Literacy.
The Trivia Bee is a chance to see REAL people gather to prove they’re experts of trivial information, while vying for the coveted title of Trivia BEE Champions of Redwood City! All this as hundreds of spectators cheer, sneer, and root them on.
This gala event starts with the renowned Trivia Bee Hors d’oeuvre Extravaganza at 6:30, followed by the Bee Kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Teams of three self-described “Trivia Masters” will compete for the title by exercising their knowledge — which ranges from the esoteric to the utterly useless — on topics of interest to almost everyone: literature, science, history, sports, television, movies, music, and general entertainment. Spectator tickets, available in advance or at the door for $25, include gourmet hors d’oeuvres, specialty desserts, and coffee.
Companies and individuals may register to participate as a team or event sponsor. Team sponsorship at several levels and prices are still available. All proceeds benefit the award-winning Redwood City Project READ, a library-based nonprofit organization providing tutoring and other enrichment services dedicated to ending illiteracy in Redwood City by 2020 through intergenerational literary services. Project READ is closely tied to our local schools. It offers multiple programs to meet the diverse needs and reading levels of adults, adolescents, and families in Redwood City, focusing on reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.
For further information or to purchase tickets, contact Project READ at (650) 780-7077, or pick up tickets at the Project Read offices in the Redwood City Public Library, 1044 Middlefield Road. More information is available at www.triviabee.org.
**************************
Fire Prevention Week, October 8 - 14
National Fire Prevention Week is October 8 - 14, 2006 and Redwood City is urging the community to take simple fire prevention steps that could save their lives and those of their loved ones. The 2006 theme is “Watch What You Heat” and focuses on preventing cooking fires in the kitchen.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that the leading cause of home fires is cooking – and this leads not only to the most fires but also to the most injuries. Fires in the kitchen can most often be prevented by practicing these easy safety tips (this is a partial list - more fire safety tips and other safety information can be found at www.nfpa.org, www.firepreventionweek.org, and www.sparky.org):
- Never leave cooking food on the stovetop unattended, and keep a close eye on food cooking inside the oven.
- Keep cooking areas clean and clear of combustibles (such as potholders, towels, rags, drapes and food packaging).
- Keep children away from cooking areas by enforcing a “kid-free zone” of three feet around the stove. Keep pets from underfoot so you do not trip while cooking. Also, keep pets off cooking surfaces and nearby countertops to prevent them from knocking things onto burner.
- Wear shirts with short sleeves, or close fitting or tightly rolled sleeves, when cooking. Loose clothing can dangle onto stove burners and catch fire.
- Never use a wet oven mitt, as it presents a scald danger if the moisture in the mitt is heated.
- Always keep a potholder, oven mitt, and lid handy. If a small fire starts in a pan on the stove, put on an oven mitt and smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan. Turn off the burner. Don't remove the lid until it is completely cool. Never pour water on a grease fire and never discharge a fire extinguisher onto a pan fire, as it can spray or shoot burning grease around the kitchen, actually spreading the fire.
- If there is an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the door closed to prevent flames from burning you and your clothing.
- If there is a microwave fire, keep the door closed and unplug the microwave. Call the fire department and make sure to have the oven serviced before you use it again. Food cooked in a microwave can be dangerously hot. Remove the lids or other coverings from microwaved food carefully to prevent steam burns.
The Redwood City Fire Department also reminds the community that the ending of daylight savings on October 29 is a perfect opportunity to test smoke alarms and replace their batteries – a working smoke alarm is the family’s first line of defense in case of fire. Remember, change your clock – change your smoke alarm batteries.
**************************
Black Cat Ball Fundraiser
You’re invited to attend the third annual Black Cat Ball, the Halloween-time family fun event that supports the work of Humanimal Connection, to help find homes for every healthy cat in the community.
The Black Cat Ball is Saturday, October 28th. The event, to be held this year at Holbrook-Palmer Park (Atherton), will feature fine hors d’oeuvres, dancing to New Orleans Jazz, a costume contest (costumes are optional), a silent auction and raffle, plus gifts for all attendees. The event is open to all ages and animal-lovers from all parts of the peninsula and elsewhere.
This event benefits the Nine Lives Foundation, a local shelter that provides spay/netuer and well-care services for cats, and Humanimal Connection, a 501c3 non-profit that has been working since 1998 to facilitate healthy, helpful relationships between people, animals, and the environment. Humanimal Connection’s main facilities are in Redwood City, with offices in Los Altos.
Tickets to the event are available online at www.blackcatball.com and are $45 per adult, $20 for young adults. Donations and ticket fees are tax deductible for attendees.
**************************
Safe, Fun Halloween for Kids at Spooktakular
Redwood City’s 10th annual Spooktakular is great for kids up to age 10, and takes place on Saturday, October 28th from 12 noon until 3 pm at Red Morton Community Center, 1120 Roosevelt Avenue in Redwood City.
Kids will thrill to carnival games, proudly show off their Halloween attire in a costume parade at 1:30pm, create Halloween mementos with crafts projects, make their way through a Monster Maze, and enjoy lots of other fun activities! Admission to Redwood City’s Halloween Spooktakular is just $5. You're invited to bring the kids and enjoy tons of Halloween fun in a safe, creative, and festive atmosphere. For more information, call 650-780-7329.
**************************
Save the November Dates for Latino Film Festival in Redwood City
The City of Redwood City and the Latino Leadership Council are proud to welcome the 10th International Latino Film Festival to our community!
Redwood City will be hosting a portion of this renowned, one-of-a-kind regional event on November 16 – 18 at the new Downtown Century Theatres. A gala reception is planned for November 16th prior to that night’s screening, followed by more great, award-winning Latino films on the 17th and 18th.
Mark you calendars now for this event that will put Redwood City on the film festival map!! More information will be available soon.
|
