YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 9, No. 10
Including Surrounding Communities
www.oakleypress.com
City wants to befriend Marsh Creek by Dave Roberts Staff Writer
Marsh Creek doesn’t even have a Facebook account, yet it’s loaded with friends, and Oakley officials want to join in the group hug as well. Five organizations made a joint presentation at the Feb. 24 City Council meeting, describing how they are helping to improve the 30-mile creek that begins at the base of Mount Diablo, flows through Brentwood and Oakley and ends in the Delta at Big Break. The groups said they want to work with city officials to improve the creek and its accompanying trails in Oakley. To better coordinate their efforts, they are planning to form an umbrella organization – The Marsh Creek Watershed Council – which the council members said they’d like to join as well. According to Pat Sotelo with Friends of Marsh Creek Watershed, the creek has a lot going for it. “When we first formed this group we had absolutely no idea of what we were doing,” he said. “But the more we learned about the creek,
Photo by Dave Roberts
The trail along Marsh Creek near Cypress Road in Oakley is flat and paved, great for bicyclists, but could use some shade trees, especially in the summer. the more we learned about what a fantastic resource it is. First of all, it’s full of critters, full of wildlife. “It’s a huge recreational resource for the city of Oakley. (On the trail) you see people running, walking, fishing, bicycling. It would be nice to have some trees there to give us some shade. It would be nice to have a green parkway that
runs all the way through Oakley. “It’s also an educational resource. Tom Lindemuth of Freedom High takes students to the creek, studies it, gets water samples. Those kids are so jazzed when he takes them out to the Delta; they are in kayaks taking water samples. We can expand that to the elementary and middle schools so that
Marsh Creek can become a great educational resource.” One of the challenges in improving the creek environment is that in many developed areas, houses closely border the creek, which makes it difficult to find room to plant trees along trails, said Sarah Puckett, senior restoration ecologist for the Natural Heritage Institute. “There has been a lot of development, but there are so many opportunities to restore Marsh Creek in Brentwood and Oakley,” said Puckett. When planning future development, “if you push the houses back you can have riparian habitat and recreation. “Creekside Park embodied the partnership we are talking about tonight. It incorporates an existing park but was able to plant trees and create room for floodwaters. We want to work with the city of Oakley to make this project a reality, and make it a real showcase for the Marsh Creek watershed.” The Marsh Creek Watershed Council would prioritize creek improvement projects and then see Creek page 21A
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March 6, 2009
THIS WEEK
Reporting for duty redux
After serving a 16-year stint with the Navy many years ago, a local sailor has signed up to serve once again.
Page 6A
Shoring up support An ambitious plan to enhance the city’s shoreline will require a group effort to execute.
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Maestro on the mound
Church displays passion for compassion by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
Charity, as the saying goes, begins at home, and the adage is especially true in these tough economic times. So in keeping with the spirit of giving, members of the Harvest Time Assembly of God, along with local volunteers, will be hosting a communitywide event this weekend. And while it’s unlikely that organizers will be turning water into wine, they’ll most certainly be providing sustenance – and hope – to those in need. It’s called the Day of Compassion, and will be held on Saturday, March 7 from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of the Harvest Time Assembly of God in Brentwood. The event is open
to the public and will provide bags of groceries, free haircuts and complimentary dental and medical screenings to anyone who shows up. “People are hungry, and especially right now, with the hardness of what’s going on,” said Pastor Dennis Reynolds. “So we got this idea to have one big event, and it’s really taken on a life of its own. It’s going to be fabulous.” Reynolds and his congregation began gathering interest, along with food and pledges, last October while making their way throughout the community in their mobile food wagon. Realizing that the need was greater than they could handle, the congregation decided to host an event on the ample church grounds. “The response to this has
A former Freedom Falcon is saving the day on the diamond at San Jose State.
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INSIDE Photo by Ruth Roberts
Pastor Dennis Reynolds, in background, of Harvest Time Assembly of God Church, watches as food is unloaded off a truck for Saturday’s Day of Compassion event. been overwhelming,” said Reynolds. “We’ve got about $20,000 worth of groceries, and dentists have said they will provide free vouchers for those who need den-
tal work. We’ve even got students and faculty from Los Medanos College coming to help out. It
LOOK here first!
see Church page 21A
What is going on? Check the community calendar! Having an event? Post it for free!
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