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June 12, 2015
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‘Time travel’ field trip takes students along Oregon Trail JENNIFER GLADDING-BUTTICCI Special to the Pioneer
DAVE SHUEY
MAYOR’S CORNER CVCHS sends off graduates in fine style As a friend told me after my second child and first son graduated from Clayton Valley Charter High School just a few days ago, “Dang (she was more profane), you know you are old when you have two kids out of high school.” I don’t feel old but reality is knocking on the door. Ugh. The third graduating class of the charter went forward in grand style on June 3 and this time it was very real and poignant for me and my family. Held at the Concord Pavilion, it featured delirious
See Mayor, page 6 PINT-SIZED “TIME-TRAVELERS” FROM ALEXANDRA PIKE’S MDES second grade class got a taste of what the early settlers experienced on the treacherous 2000-mile Oregon Trail. The students set out early in costumes for the two-mile trek through Clayton complete with loaded wagons and Indian ambush.
Don’t let the parade pass you by Independence Day is coming up fast. So, put a coat of wax on the old pickup, stock up on crepe paper streamers and load up the back with flag-waving patriots and enter the 4th of July parade in downtown Clayton. Join your friends and neighbors, clubs, scout troops, and marching bands in this most patriotic and traditional celebration of our country’s independence. The day starts early with the Clayton Valley/Sunrise Rotary Club Pancake Breakfast at Endeavor Hall from 710. Breakfast is just $6 for adults and $4 for kids. After breakfast, head on over to Main Street where Clayton’s Cw Wolfe will be back on the grandstand as Grand Marshall. No advance entry is needed for the Kiddie Parade – just show up by 10 a.m. at the flagpole with decorated bikes, trikes, scooters and the
See July 4, page 3
Young Clayton filmmaker goes to Cannes PEGGY SPEAR Clayton Pioneer
When Maxwell Renner was shooting short films of his action figures back when he was a kid, he probably didn’t realize that by the ripe old age of 19 he’d be walking the Red Carpet of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, swimming the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean and being proposed to by an elderly French woman. Or seeing Jake Gyllenhaal. But as he’s learned in his short yet illustrious career, anything can happen if you work hard and follow your passion. Renner is a 2014 Clayton Valley Charter High School graduate and a member of the Clayton Arts Academy. He is currently a Television and Film Media and Theater Performance double major at San Diego State University, and has already done things in his career that would make many longtime film and television veterans cry with envy.
With friends from college, he entered the Campus Movie Fest. “We had one week to make a short film. Seven days to write, cast, film and edit. So we did. The film, called ‘A Couple Feet More, ‘ was a great success at the competition,” Renner says. “We won the prestigious Jury Award, and our film was selected to show in Hollywood because of that. We also won the Fan Choice award, which put us in the running for a $10,000 prize. In the realm of short films, that’s very fortunate.” Renner was on the set of another short film, this one about a school shooting, when one of his colleagues from “A Couple Feet More” shared the news that the film had been invited to be screened at the Cannes International Film Festival and they were invited to accompany it. The experience, he said, was “absolutely magnificent . . . There
See Cannes, page 6
Only a year out of CVCHS, Max Renner is off to an international start with his short film “A Couple of Feet More,” selected to screen at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival.
Proposed 2015-’16 budget balanced with surplus TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
The City Council got its first look at the proposed budget for 2015-16 last week at the June 2 meeting, and the picture looks pretty good. Finance Manager Kevin
Mizuno cheerfully presented a balanced budget with a modest $28,516 surplus contingent on maintaining the status quo in labor negotiations with the Police Officers Assoc. The combined budget for the General Fund and all other special funds, capital improvements
and the RDA Successor Agency comes in at just over $10.84 million, an overall increase of 15 percent over last year. The rosier outlook is largely due to real estate values returning to pre-recession levels and cash infusion from several one-time windfalls including $256,000 due
the city from the county for prior year’s low-moderate income fund balance. Additionally, the city finally settled an old dispute with MDUSD over operating expenses for the Clayton Gym, sending $88,000 back into the general fund. The city also received $250,000 from the state for costs
in winding down the now-dissolved Redevelopment Agency. The General Fund, which makes up 54 percent of the city’s total budgeted expenditures, saw a modest 6.32 percent increase in expenditures largely due to
See Budget, page 6
Trekking through dangerous lands, 31 students from Alexandra Pike’s second-grade class at Mt. Diablo Elementary School braved a treacherous 2000-mile journey in covered wagons and on foot, fighting off the hostile elements on their travels along the Oregon Trail. No, Clayton parents and educators haven’t lost their minds. In fact, they let their children participate in one of the most educational — and fun — assignments of their elementary school careers. This “time travel” field trip took place throughout downtown Clayton, with their classroom at MDES acting at Independence, MO — the starting point for the travelers who really took this epic 19th-century journey. “One of my earliest mentors
See Oregon, page 6
Joan Culver dies suddenly at 80 Popular community volunteer and long-time Clayton resident Joan Culver died suddenly in her home on June 1. Culver, an active member of the Clayton Business and Community Association, was well-known for her volunteer work with VESTIA, filling scores of backpacks for kids at back-to-school time, and for her support of the CBCA Adopt-a-family at Christmas. A retired marketing professional, Culver was instrumental in many efforts to promote downtown businesses and increase Clayton’s visibility in the region. “She was an idea-machine,” said Pioneer publisher, Tamara Steiner, “the perfect brainstormer. Nothing was off the table.” “She always saw the bright side,” remembers Julie Pierce, a close friend. “She was a beautiful soul…I’ll miss her smile and laugh and heart.” Culver, 80, had outlived her family but leaves a legacy of close friends. A full obituary and memorial celebration details will be in the July 10 Clayton Pioneer.
What’s Inside Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Community Calendar . . . . .16 Directory of Advertisers . . . .7 School News . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
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