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January 8, 2010
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Clayton Counts Down the decade at 7th annual New Year’s Eve event HANK STRATFORD
MAYOR’S CORNER Mayor asks, What if ...? I’m sure most of us have imagined what we would do if we earned, inherited or won a large sum of money. It may not be a very productive exercise, but it can be fun to imagine what you might do with the money – how you would allocate the money among practical purchases, “always-wanted” purchases and future uses. The risk of playing this game comes when we slip back into reality. So with this risk in mind, I would like to encourage you to play the Clayton edition of “What If ?” Suppose we, as a city, weren’t constrained by our very limited budget. What would you like to see in Clayton?
See Mayor, page 6
Moore deemed incompetent for trial in Casso slaying TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
Shannon Bradley Moore, the 38-year-old Concord man charged with the murder of Clayton resident Ray Casso last March, has been declared incompetent to stand trial. Casso, 73, was picking up his mail at the post office on March 7 when witnesses say Moore, enraged over postal workers’ refusal to give him cash for outdated stamps, stormed out of the post office, stopping on the way to grab Casso and stab him to death. Moore was apprehended moments after the attack and arrested. According to court records, Moore does not understand the
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID CLAYTON, CA PERMIT 190
See Moore, page 4
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
ORDINARY WHITE SOCKS BECAME MAGICAL PUPPETS with imaginative names like “Scary Sneeze” and “Fishing” at the hands of Miranda Wiggenhauser, Macaenzie Tobin and Johnny McCluhan at the city’s annual New Year’s Eve family event at the Clayton Community Gym.
Scouts record stories of Clayton’s past DENISEN HARTLOVE Clayton Pioneer
Three Clayton Girl Scouts labored together recently with Mary Spryer, curator of the Clayton Historical Museum, to ensure that their community’s history remains alive. Sarah Agronow, Claire Minorsky and Mary Raymond set out in early 2009 to find a project that would serve their community and earn them the prestigious Gold Award. The award is the highest one Girl Scouts ages 14-18 can achieve. The group’s Website describes the award as representing “a girl’s commitment to herself and to her community, as she focuses on leadership, career exploration, personal challenges and completing a lasting project that will benefit her community.” Agronow, who had served as a junior docent at the museum, went to Spryer for ideas for the project. Spryer had just the thing in mind: the museum’s oral history project. The project was a long cherished one, but thus far, no one at the museum had enough time to commit to it.
“We thought it was important because we have so many members, old timers, and all they’re doing is getting older and older,” Spryer said. The project would use Agronow’s skills as a videographer, Raymond’s ability to bring people out of their shells and put Minorsky’s organizational skills to work contacting interviewees and transcribing the DVDs. The goal was to put stories of Clayton’s past onto DVD and paper to make them accessible to the community and keep them for posterity. Working as a team, the girls contributed more than 200 hours to the project. They drafted letters to a group of potential interviewees provided by Spryer. Raymond made calls to follow up on the letters. Minorsky, who is studying psychology at UCLA, conducted the interviews, and Agronow, who aspires to make movies, filmed them. Raymond transcribed the interviews. Iola O’Grady was one of those interviewed. The granddaughter of Dominic and Julia Murchio, she remembered visiting their ranch on Mitchell
What’s Inside Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Church News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
See Scouts, page 16
How did you say 2009? Two thousand and nine? Twenty-nine? Oh-nine? No matter what it was called, the decade came to a rousing end in Clayton when families gathered at the gym for the 7th annual Clayton Counts Down New Year’s Eve party. “This is such a great event,” said Jeannette Cataldo, as she parceled out popcorn cups to her grandkids. “We’re the babysitters for New Year’s Eve and this gives the kids a way to celebrate.” The free, no-alcohol, all-volunteer, all-donation financed event drew an estimated 700 to the Clayton Community Gym for a host of kid-friendly activities, which included a sock puppet contest, basketball, movies, games, musical chairs and limbo and hula hoop contests. A bounce house and inflatable slide helped the little ones burn off their excess holiday energy. The brainchild of Councilwoman Julie Pierce and former Councilman Gregg Manning, Clayton Counts Down began in 2003 and takes more than 30 volunteers to run. Plans are already in the works for next year’s event. So, whether you say twenty-ten, two-thousand-ten or just plain ten, plan on spending the next New Year’s Eve at the gym. And if you can help, call the city at 673-7300.
Robbers enter home while occupants are sleeping TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
Denisen Hartlove/Clayton Pioneer
MUSEUM CURATOR MARY SPRYER ( second from left) stands in front of the museum with Girls Scouts Claire Minorsky, Mary Raymond and Sarah Agronow. The Scouts completed an oral history project for the museum, earning their Gold Award, Girl Scouts highest honor.
Club News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Community Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Dan Ashley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Deal With It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Directory of Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 DVMS Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Financial Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Food for Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 From the Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Garden Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Going Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Movie Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 On the Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
An Oakhurst woman was awakened in the early morning hours of Dec. 14 by two men who claimed to be police officers, but instead were robbers who emptied the family’s safe of jewelry, watches, passports and bonds. The woman was asleep in her bedroom when she was awakened by a hand on her shoulder and a voice telling her to stay in bed. According to responding officer Shanna DeCoite, the woman asked repeatedly to see his badge but was told to stay in bed and not use the phone. A second man was kneeling in front of the safe with the door open. When she determined that the suspects did not have weapons, the woman screamed for her husband, who was in another room, and he called police.
See Robbery, page 16
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