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October 2015 Step Back in Time on the Alamo Cemetery Tour
Serving Alamo and Diablo 1st Annual Alamo Walk-About
Stone Valley was named not for a rocky landscape feature, but a family whose combined holdings totaled more than 1,000 acres. Who were the Stones and their neighbors whose courage and convictions shaped the communities of the San Ramon Valley? Next occurring on Saturday, October 24th, the biannual Alamo Cemetery Tour honors the pioneers who settled the area in the mid-nineteenth century and their descendants. Costumed docents, having thoroughly researched the individuals they portray, invite participants to engage in an hour-long adventure in time-travel dedicated to understanding the history of the area. Sponsored by the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, the tour begins at 10am. Senior members of the settlers’ community from the start, Silas and Susanna Stone built a home that stood on what is now Stone Valley Road for over a century. Their adult son Albert drove a herd of cattle across the plains when he Costumed docents greet visitors for the Alamo Cemetery Tour: L to R: returned to Alamo in Sonya Borlandelli, Carmen Curtis, Betty Casey, Don Kurtz, Joan Curtz. 1853. Silas was a trustee for the area’s first high school, the Union Academy. Built in 1859, the school was demolished by fire in 1868. Patty Dobbin coordinates the program and greets visitors with a short presentation on Valley history. Queried about what she most enjoys about leading the tour, she comments, “I love the reaction from people who have lived in the area for a long time, but have had no access to local history. Some visitors are then inspired to bring family members on a tour.” Family names on headstones in the cemetery include Baldwin, Bollinger, Boone, Close, Cox, Hall, Humburg, Jones, Love, Stone, Wiedemann, Wood and Young. The earliest documented burial (that of six-yearold Callie Chrisman) occurred in 1856. The serene park-like setting is underscored by cemetery streets named for trees and paths named for flowers. On February 2, 1848, less than two weeks after the discovery of gold in California, the formerly Mexican territory was Roxanne Wiedemann Lindsay participated in
The Community Foundation of Alamo invites you to the first annual Alamo WalkAbout. Enjoy gourmet food sampling, wine, beer, coffee, music, family, and friends. This fun event will highlight many Alamo restaurants, retailers, and other local businesses, including Danville Area Chamber members who will have table spaces located in select locations in Alamo during the Walk-About and the Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) who will make an appearance in front of Richards Craft store in Alamo Plaza. The Alamo Walk-About includes many wonderful venues stretching down Danville Blvd. from Andrew Young Park and Oak Tree Plaza (Jackson Way) to the Alamo Women’s Club. At each stopping point there will be something to try. The stroll from one location to another may be filled with lively music to heighten your enjoyment or possibly some interesting shops that you may discover for the first time. Transportation will be available to take you from one end along the Walk-About if you
By Jody Morgan
See Tour continued on page 30 Local Postal Customer
the first costumed cemetery tours portraying one of her ancestors. PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit 263 Alamo CA
ECRWSS
Thursday, October 22nd ~ 5pm to 8pm
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Save the Date! Alamo Tree Lighting Festival Sunday, November 22nd ~ 4:30pm-6:30pm
Meals on Wheels and Senior Outreach Services By Fran Miller
Senior citizens aged 80 and older are the fastest growing population segment in Contra Costa County. Many are homebound and unable to cook or otherwise obtain daily meals to maintain their health and remain independent in the comfort and security of their own homes. Since 1990, Meals on Wheels and Senior Outreach Services (MOWSOS) of Contra Costa and its coalition of volunteers has been ensuring that these homebound seniors receive daily nutritious meals. “Our services are free and there are no financial restrictions,” says Leigh Shughrou, Public Affairs Specialist for MOWSOS. “We coordinate care for older adults (60+ years) in Contra Costa County who have a wide range of needs. Our six programs (Meals on Wheels, Friendly Visitors, Fall Prevention, Volume XV - Number 10 Care Management, Home Care 3000F Danville Blvd. #117, Alamo, CA 94507 Referral, and C.C. Cafés) all work Telephone (925) 405-NEWS, 405-6397 together to form an umbrella of Fax (925) 406-0547 services that allow seniors to stay Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher healthy and at home for as long as Editor@yourmonthlypaper.com possible. We bridge the widening Sharon Burke ~ Writer gap between the increasing number The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do necessarily reflect that of Alamo Today. Alamo Today of frail homebound elders and insuf- not is not responsible for the content of any of the advertising
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herein, nor does publication imply endorsement.