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Redwood City E-News
Building a Great Community Together
Issue #46 ~ June, 2007
(Back to index of all issues)
IN THIS ISSUE:
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Two Great Events on June 2nd:
Pet Parade and World Environment Day Festival
Redwood City announces the Sixth Annual Pet Parade! It’s the wildly popular annual event inviting community members to show off their pets of all types and sizes, whether fur, feathers, or scales, and vie for a $100 Grand prize award for the very best entry winner! It all  takes place on Saturday, June 2 nd from 11:30 to 2 pm, in our NEW beautiful downtown location on THEATRE WAY and BROADWAY. One of the featured judges for the Pet Parade contest will be Mayor Barbara Pierce.
Hundreds of people and their animals participate in each year’s Pet Parade, which has become well-known as the “happiest event of the year!” This year’s great family activities include a “DOGGIE WEDDING” right on our stage for all to experience. We will even play the Wedding March for the happy tail-wagging couple! There will be face painting and balloon artists, and don’t miss our incredible drawing with wonderful prizes to be given away throughout the event. And, there will be some special surprises for all who attend.
The entire pet-loving community is invited to bring their pets or special stuffed animal – costumes are encouraged for pets, and for humans, too! Get the registration form at any Park and Recreation location; print the form on the City’s website, or sign up at 11:00 am on the day of the Pet Parade. The event is free. There is a $5 entry fee for the contest.
And...
This June, as the United Nations sponsors the 35th annual World Environment Day in Tromse, Norway, the community of Redwood City is invited to celebrate and participate locally in the World  Environment Day Tour des Trees Bike Ride / Park Stroll & Environmental Festival! The fun starts at 9:00 am on Saturday June 2nd and continues until 12:00 pm at Red Morton Park, in the picnic area adjacent to Valota Road.
Activities include a 16-mile Tour des Trees bike ride ($20 donation requested – free T-shirt to first 100 reserved participants); lots of FREE children’s activities including face painting and arts and crafts, and children’s walk, bike, or scoot around Red Morton Park; information about local environmental and non-profit groups; and the ceremonial planting of a tree in Red Morton Park. The environmental festival is on from 9:00 am until 12:00 pm, with the special tree planting ceremony at 11:30 am, sponsored by CityTrees, Redwood City’s non-profit tree planting organization (www.citytrees.org).
Redwood City is combining the Tour des Trees with the United Nations Environment Program’s World Environment Day (www.unep.org/wed) in an effort to raise awareness and participation in protecting our environment and helping our urban forest.
For more details or Tour des Trees participation forms, please contact Gordon Mann at 650-780-7493 or gmann@redwoodcity.org.
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Create-a-Smile for Abigail Fundraiser June 7th
Abigail Mendoza is a 6 year old Redwood City girl with an inoperable cancerous brain tumor. Despite heavy treatments of radiation and chemotherapy, doctors have advised the family that there is little hope for recovery. Her mother is on a non-paid leave of absence from work in order to make daily trips to the hospital for treatments. Her father is working long hours of overtime and extra shifts at work to make ends meet, leaving him precious little time to spend with young Abigail.
The Mendoza family is in a less-than fortunate financial situation already, and the Redwood City Firefighters Association's "Create- A-Smile" foundation is working to help keep this family together during their search for a miracle.
Please join with other community members to help this family in need: Thursday, June 7th 2007, 5:30 pm, for a very special fundraising dinner and auction to help offset some of the family’s expenses, and give Abigail’s father the opportunity to spend more time with his very sick daughter. This special event will take place at A Tavola Restaurant and the adjacent City Center Plaza, located at 1041 Middlefield Road. Live music, wonderful food, and silent and live auctions will all help in providing much-needed funds to the Mendoza family. It’s an incredible opportunity for the Redwood City community to come together and help some of their fellow community members in need.
Create-A-Smile is gratefully accepting donations of funds and auction items to help the family, and to make this event a great success. Volunteers who wish to participate in the planning and implementation of the Mendoza fundraiser are also welcome. To donate or volunteer, contact Justin Velasquez, Redwood City Fire Department, at 650-868-4270.
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City Trees Holding Tree Planting Event June 16th
Did you know that every full-sized tree takes 13 pounds of carbon out of the air every year? Here's an opportunity to help make that happen.
The local non-profit group CityTrees is pleased to invite the community to a special tree-planting event on Saturday, June 16th from 9 am until noon. Participants will be planting 34 trees along Redwood Avenue, Valota, Junipero, and St.Francis Street. Your mere three hours of fun volunteer effort will make an impact on the City that will last 60 - 80 years!
All interested community members are invited to meet at the corner of Redwood Avenue and St. Francis Street. Please take a look at the flyer for more details, or call 556-9380, extension 4. You can also email an inquiry to tom.cronin@sbcglobal.net or steward-leith@comcast.net.
This tree planting is sponsored by the City of Redwood City, with Acterra, Oracle, Gradient Systems, Rotary International, and the Peter and Paula Uccelli Foundation.
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Free Live Music All Summer in Redwood City!
Redwood City is becoming famous for its incredible variety of
FREE summer concerts, and we’re gearing up now to bring top-quality local and national musical performers to the community.
From rock, blues, Celtic, and swing, to Latin, salsa, blues, country, jazz and more, these free concerts are a great way to spend balmy summer evenings with friends, family, and neighbors in beautiful Redwood City. Here’s the general schedule for great free summer music. More details on these concerts and other summer activities are online.
A whopping 18 free concerts on Friday evenings from 6 to 8 pm in Redwood City’s beautiful new Courthouse Square on Broadway, Downtown.
- June 1 - Livewire
- June 8 - The Sun Kings
- June 15 - Aja Vu
- July 22 - The Bingtones
- July 29 - Unauthorized Rolling Stones
- July 6 - Handful of Luvin’
(this evening includes Art on the Square featuring exhibits from great artists and artisans!)
- July 13 - Zbop
- July 20 - Bluestate Band
- July 27 - City Rocks
- August 3 - Ben Marcato & His Mondo Combo (this evening includes Art on the Square featuring exhibits from great artists and artisans!)
- August 10 - California Cowboys
- August 17 - Men of Worth
- August 24 - Tito Garcia Band
- August 31 - Joe Escobar
- September 7 - Freesound
- September 14 - Garrick Davis
- September 21 - La Ventana (this evening includes Art on the Square featuring exhibits from great artists and artisans!)
- September 28 - Jessie Turner Band
World-class jazz and other styles Thursday evenings at 6 pm in delightful Marlin Park (Neptune and Cringle) in Redwood Shores.
- June 14 - Akira Tana & Sound Circle
- June 28 - Jimmy Valencia & Cool Jazz
- July 12 - Menlo Brass Quintet
- July 26 - Molly’s Revenge
- August 9 - Sumi Nagasawa & Friends
Free live music in a beautiful park setting at the corner of King Street and Hopkins Avenue, Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8 pm in Stafford Park.
- June 27 - Silicon Valley House Rockers
- July 11 - Houston Jones
- July 18 - Busta Groove
- July 25 - Zydeco Flames
- August 1 - Pure Ecstasy
- August 8 - The Wade Love Band
- August 15 - Caesar Myles & the Dreaded Truth
- August 22 - Los Boleros
Full details are at www.redwoodcity.org/events. These free concerts throughout the summer are sponsored by the City of Redwood City and its Civic Cultural Commission, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, Redevelopment Agency, and the Port of Redwood City, Peninsula Bark-Busters, Provident Credit Union, Allied Waste, Norcal Waste, Redwood City Industrial Saltworks, and Redwood Shores Community Association.
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City Finance Department Wins National Award
Redwood City’s Finance Department has been awarded a prestigious “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Accounting” by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). This award recognizes the quality of Redwood City’s comprehensive financial annual report, its adherence to the “spirit of full disclosure,” and an acknowledgement of Redwood City’s having achieved the highest level of excellence in its financial reporting.
“This award really honors the professional abilities and dedication of every member of Redwood City’s Finance Department,” said Brian Ponty, Finance Director. “I’m very proud of our staff in the Finance Department, and offer our pledge to continually strive for only the highest standards of excellence, for the benefit of the City and the community.”
Redwood City ’s Finance Department is made up of three divisions – Financial Services, Revenue Services, and Information Technology. More information about the Finance Department is available at www.redwoodcity.org/finance. The GFOA is a non-profit professional association serving approximately 16,000 government finance professionals throughout the United States and Canada. Its website is www.gfoa.org.
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Enter the Mayor's Beautification Recognition Program
For the 19th consecutive year, Redwood City residents, non-profit organizations,
and businesses are showing their civic pride by applying for the Mayor 's
Beautification Recognition Program. 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 (Español) where applicants can print it, fill it out, and send it in. The deadline for entries is June 29, 2007, and judging will be completed by the end of July.
 This recognition program helps foster civic pride in our community, beautify our entire City, and, of course, honor people and organizations for their work to make Redwood City a better, more attractive place to live and work. As a community, the way in which we use, improve, and maintain our homes, landscaping, buildings, and gardens expresses an image of Redwood City. The Mayor 's Beautification Recognition Program helps to promote and enhance this image both within Redwood City , and beyond our borders. The awards show our neighbors and visitors that Redwood City recognizes the importance and value of keeping our City beautiful.
The program is sponsored by Redwood 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. More information is available by calling 780-7300.
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Change Someone's Life! Become a Project READ Tutor
Right now, hundreds of low-literate adults, teens, and elementary  school aged kids are on the waiting list at Redwood City Project READ, seeking help with reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. This is a great opportunity for members of the Redwood City community to get involved in making a real difference in someone’s life, by becoming a Project READ tutor!
Free Tutor Training starting in July, and will give you the tools to help a child or adult to improve their reading, writing and critical thinking skills. No experience is necessary - all you need is the desire to help someone learn. Tutor training consists of five 3-hour workshops from 6 – 9 p.m on the following dates:
- Thursday, July 26
- Tuesday, July 31
- Thursday, August 2
- Tuesday, August 7
- Thursday, August 9
All workshops are held at the Redwood City Public Library. Call (650) 780-7077 or go to www.projectread-redwoodcty.org for information.
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Redwood City to be Featured in National Television Production
Redwood City is partnering with Florida-based Platinum Productions TV to create a five-minute television production as part of that company's innovative, educational television series, Focus on America, in a segment on “The New Urban Revitalization and Lifestyle.”
Platinum Productions approached Redwood City about this project, noting that we have invested millions of dollars in our downtown, embrace a “new urbanism” planning philosophy, and honor our history while keeping an eye on the future. They are enthusiastic about the City successfully creating a comfortable, inviting “living room” for the community in its Courthouse Square, as well as the historic Fox Theater, 20-screen theater complex with retail and restaurants, and pedestrian-friendly streetscape – and they realized that downtown Redwood City has become an exciting place in which to live, work and play.
The filming will take place in late June in and around downtown, and the final production will be distributed and aired on CNN and other national televsion shows later this year.
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Art on the Square Coming in July
Here's an advance look at a series of great art events at Courthouse Square later this summer!
Courthouse Square will be transformed as artists and artisans exhibit their work in the heart of beautifully renovated downtown Redwood City. Presented by Redwood City and its Civic Cultural Commission and Redevelopment Agency, Art on the Square complements other downtown activities such as Music on the Square, the city’s Friday evening summer concert series.
On Friday July 6 from 5:30 - 8:30 pm you're invited to join the community and enjoy the art show exhibiting premier Bay Area artists and artisans, and the concert featuring Seattle-based Folk Rock Band, Handful of Luvin’. And, you can enter a drawing to win gift certificates good to spend in artists' booths at the show.
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