Enter the Clayton Home Decorating Contest See Page A4
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December 8, 2006
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Tree lighting ushers in the holida ys JILL BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
DAVE SHUEY
MAYOR’S CORNER It’s no joke, I’m outta here Wow, how the year has flown! As you read this column, the coup will already have taken place and a new mayor will have been installed in my place. OK, it will not be a coup but rather the natural yearly rotation among the council, but it will still be weird to give up the middle seat and the gavel. (Who knows, maybe I will k eep the gavel.) In any event, it was fun representing the city, and I enjoyed being ma yor. So thank y ou to the council, staff and city for their support. In light of my last column, I present the top fi ve reasons to be thankful y ou ha ve a new mayor: 5. The new mayor is out of diapers. (OK, mixed bag on that one. I always joke with the rest of the council about my “relati ve” youth, but they sa y I am a kid. Hence the joke.) 4. The new ma yor’s wife will now g et all the questions , not my wife. (See my March column for reference.) 3. No more parenthetical references in the column that weren’t that funny. 2. No more fear of a la wyer running the city. 1. Other cities no long er mock us for having “Mayor Shoe.” OK, it w ould not be a column of mine if I did not mention the fact that w e have to do better on recycling! Come on folks, we can all take more time to se parate our w aste. Your recycling should dw arf your regular w aste. Do it for future generations and for the simple fact that if we don’t improve, I will most lik ely ha ve to
See Mayor, page A7
What’s Inside SECTION A
Around Town . . . . . . . . . . .A2 Clayton Cares . . . . . . . . . . . .A3 Obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A4 Home Deco Entry . . . . . .A4 Classified Ads and Director y of Advertisers . . . . . . . .A5 Upcoming Events . . . . . . . .A6 Letters to the Editor . . . . . .A6 Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A7 Tea for You . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A8 School News . . . . . . . . . . . . .A9 Your Health . . . . . . . . . . . . .A9 Food for Thought . . . . . . .A10 Financial Sense . . . . . . . . . .A10 Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A12 Club News . . . . . . . . . . . . .A13 Garden Girl . . . . . . . . . . . .A15 Weather Words . . . . . . . . . .A15
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
MDES CHOIR DIRECTOR, CHRISTINE BILLINGSLEY, and more than 100 chorus members led the crowd in a carol sing.
Council and friends bid Laur ence a fond farewell JILL BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
Whether y ou came to Oakhurst Country Club on Nov. 17 to roast or toast outg oing Councilman Pete Laurence, you didn’t walk away disappointed. Several hundred of Laurence’s friends , family, fans and colleagues ar rived that evening to praise, honor and say goodbye to the man whom many people affectionately refer to as “Mr . Clayton.” Throughout the night, whether the 16-year council v eteran was roasted or toasted, one theme rang true: Laurence’s dedication is “all for the good of Clayton.” The evening’s master of ceremonies, city manag er Gar y Napper, kept the prog ram rolling – ac knowledging Laurence for his 16 years of service from 1990-2006 but
insisting that it’ s really in the dash betw een the years where most of Laurence’s accomplishments lie. During his ter ms of office, the city w ent through a metamorphosis with a population increase of nearly 4,000. There was new construction, including the post office , fire station, Diamond T errace senior housing center and some 1,500 new homes in Oakhurst. The Clayton Comm unity Librar y and historic reno vations throughout to wn, including Endeavor Hall, are some of Laurence’s proudest moments . Several speak ers mentioned Laurence’s key role in stopping a deal to build a garbage dump on the outskir ts of Clayton off Marsh Creek Road. The do wntown cloc k at the
See Laurence, page A14
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
AMONG THE GIFTS TO RETIRING COUNCILMAN PETE LAURENCE was a replica of Clayton’s iconic downtown clock donated by Laurence in his parent’s memory.
Young musicians proud new members of orchestra JILL BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
The Sena vsky sisters of Clayton have a lot more in com-
mon than just family ties . Christina, 12, and V alerie, 10, are both excellent students, they like to ski and they lo ve to pla y music. It’s the music connection
SECTION B
Hiker’s Haven . . . . . . . . . . . .B1 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B2 Paws and Claws . . . . . . . . . .B5 Holiday Gift Guide . . . . .B6 On the Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B8 Crossword Puzzle . . . . . . . . .B8 Dining Around . . . . . . . . . . .B9 Community Calendar . . . . .B10 Church News . . . . . . . . . . .B11 At the Movies . . . . . . . . . . .B12 Music Notes . . . . . . . . . . . .B12
There’s something special about Cla yton’s hometo wn tree lighting ceremony that brings hundreds of local residents bac k for more each year. Families huddled tog ether to w ard off the evening chill, smiling faces ev erywhere y ou look, and y oung c hildren bouncing up and do wn with excitement. Last Saturda ys’ 16th annual event had all the trimmings of a small town event and more. It all star ted on the ste ps of the Clayton Museum where more than a hundred c hildren from the MDES Chor us belted out some old time fa vorites and a few contemporary versions of Christmas carols like the beautiful Will Santa Come Thr ough with soloist Kiana Mason. Mayor Da ve Shuey paid tribute the city’ s police de partment and the Cla yton Comm unity and Business Association who sponsor this event each year. The man of the hour finally appeared and Santa, a.k.a Bill Jacobus, led everyone down Main Street to light the town tree.
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
CHRISTINE SENAVSKY, violin, and her sister Valerie, French horn, are preparing to perform in their first YASO concert this month.
that is noteworthy. Both have been acce pted to the prestigious Y oung Ar tists Symphony Orc hestra (Y ASO), an inde pendent m usical g roup founded and directed b y Stev e Accatino, who is also the director of instrumental m usic at Ygnacio Valley High School. The fact that they are younger than the orc hestra’s minimum ag e mak es their accomplishment even more special. Most of the m usicians in YASO are from the eighth grade through community college age. When the girls w ere ask ed to audition for Y ASO, they knew full well it might not be a match because of their ag e, explained their dad, Steve. However, their talents overrode the age requirement. Christina and V alerie pla y the piano , violin and F rench
horn. Christina pla ys violin for YASO and French horn for the Diablo View Middle Sc hool Band. Valerie plays horn in both YASO and the Mt. Diablo Elementary Sc hool Band, and she is a stand-in for hor n in the Diablo View band. Both bands are directed b y Carl K aiser, who celebrates his 22nd year with the Mt. Diablo School District. “The girls are very talented and hard-w orking, which is a g reat combination. They also have a lot of support at home,” says Kaiser. Although shor t in stature , Valerie is self-confident and definitely not audience-shy, says her dad. “She has zero stage fright,” he adds. She ev en fills in at the Diablo V alley Colleg e Philharmonic Orc hestra, where the first c hair French hor n was
YASO W INTER CONCERT
2:30 p .m. Sunday, Dec. 10, Los Medanos Colleg e R ecital Hall, Pittsburg Free admission once her teac her. “She really is fearless, always ready to ste p forward and play,” adds Kaiser. Christina is also not afraid to perform in front of an audience. “She’s most comfor table when she pla ys the violin, ” her dad notes . Christina has a special bond with her violin, a restored 1890 Ger man Stradivarius that w as handed down to her by her grandfather, who also played. Their dad taught both girls
See Musicians, page A7