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www.claytonpioneer.com
October 9, 2015
925.672.0500
Dave Shuey
MAYOR’S CORNER
Drought endangers Clayton trees
While the city is actually in the process of “winterizing” Clayton by cleaning our storm drains and gutters in advance of the meteorologist guaranteed 100 percent-certain El Nino, there is a real concern about drought damaged trees falling. This is not just in Clayton, as there have been several deaths attributed to drought stricken trees falling on people in other parts of the state. We did have an oak fall recently at the Lydia Lane Park and it just reinforced that we all need to be very careful with our safety. So, if you see a dangerous condition, please let us know so we can keep our city safe. In that vein, I want to remind people that we can’t fix it if we do not know it is broken. If you see graffiti, vandalism, broken sprinklers or safety issues while out enjoying our award-winning trails or just hanging out in town, please let us know. Go to our website at www.ci.clay-
Tamara Steiner
BACK FOR THEIR 12TH YEAR AT THE CLAYTON OKTOBERFEST, THE INTERNATIONALS, joined by townsfolk and officials, usher the keg down Main Street to the Biergarten tent where Councilmen howard Geller and Keith haydon kicked off the annual event in a shower of suds. By all accounts, last weekend’s event was a stunning success. Mounted by the Clayton Business and Community association, the Oktoberfest annually pours upwards of $70,000 into the clubs coffers to be sent back into the community in the form of scholarships and donations to schools, civic See Mayor, page 6 beautification projects and support for those in need of a hand up. For membership info, go to www.claytoncbca.com or call (925) 672-2272. Meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of the month at Oakhurst Country Club.
Clayton women spark clean air business in Guatemala
A YOUNG GUATEMALAN WOMEN may soon be preparing her meals with cleaner, safer liquid petroleum gas supplied Gente Gas, the brainchild of Clayton woman, Christina espinosa. PEGGY SPEAR Clayton Pioneer
It’s hard to imagine that something as innocent as cooking meals could be deadly, but in Guatemala, 15 residents die every day in the country by cooking with wood fires. A “staggering” 9.6 million people are affected by Household Air Pollution (HAP), which is
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why Clayton resident Patricia Espinosa is strongly promoting her daughter Christina’s new business, GenteGas. It’s not just parental pride. It can really save lives. Christina, a University of the Pacific graduate, is now living in that Latin American country, trying to bring the idea of using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to the masses through her new business. “When I was studying at UOP, I applied to participate in the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) conference,” Christina says. “There everyone has what is called a ‘commitment to action,’ which is focusing on
resolving some global issue. I had read a bit on the health impacts of cooking with wood and thought that I would apply to CGIU with an idea to resolve the health impacts.” Since she was studying Spanish in Guatemala, she decided to focus her efforts there. But as she did some research, she says she felt the solutions she was looking at weren’t going to make a big enough impact in the health of residents. “I was really bothered by that and it felt shameful to promote something that didn’t have a strong enough impact,” she says. “One day I was sitting with my mentor, Charley Ansbach, and we just started talking about how designing and trying to make a stove and fuel for ‘the poor’ was a little frustrating and that if we wanted to really save lives then how come we weren’t converting more people to gas?” From that day on she began to study how much of an impact converting to LPG would have, and found that more than 90 percent of the people she surveyed would want to convert to gas. “Very few initiatives existed on a global scale to help people switch from cooking with wood to gas. So that’s
basically how we got started ... talking to the people and figuring out how to make it work.” It seems like a great idea. Cooking smoke is the fifth
worst threat to public health in America and wood fuel is used the developing world. by 94 percent of rural houseGuatemala has the highest holds, Patricia Espinosa says. percentage of disease attributSee Clean Air, page 3 able to solid fuel use in Central
Family and community mourn passing of Don Fitzgerald TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
On the night of September 19, the lives of two stalwart Claytonians came to an end. At just about 10:30, the majestic oak that stood watch for several hundred years over what is now Lydia Lane Park came crashing down across the creek – a thunderous end to a long, enduring watch. Just minutes later, but with much less noise, Donald Edward Fitzgerald quietly breathed his last, ending an equally enduring life as a husband, father, friend and community leader. “A man that showed us all how to do it,” said Father Richard Mangini, pastor at St. Bonaventure’s Catholic Church where Don had served
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the U.S. Marines straight out of high school when he was just 17. He served in Korea near the end of the conflict and finished out his service stationed in Hawaii. After his discharge, he returned to New York where he met Gail, who would become his wife of 58 years. They were married just three months and 19 days after they met. “We never looked back.” By 1978, they had four children and moved to Clayton. They joined the Clayton Business and Professional TAMARA STEINER/CLAYTON PIONEER Association, the predecessor GAIL AND DON FITZGERALD on to the present day CBCA and began a long career of comvalentine’s Day, 2006 munity service. In 1995, after on the Parish Council and in the pair attended several festitoo many ministries to count. vals around the area, Don Don was born in 1935 in Buffalo, New York. He joined See Fitzgerald, page 2
For more info, attend a Community Information Meeting • Oct. 12, Pleasant Hill Library, 7 p.m. • Oct. 13, Pittsburg Library, 7 p.m. • Oct. 14, Walnut Creek Library, 7 p.m. • Oct. 15, Concord Library, 8 p.m.
Or go to cocospa.org or call (925) 690-8600
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