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August 2022 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 1
& AUGUST 2022
JOHN MUIR LAND TRUST'S FAMILY HARVEST FARM EUGENE O’NEILL FESTIVAL SEASON The Eugene O’Neill Foundation is excited to announce its PROJECT PLANTS THE SEEDS OF HEALTHY FUTURES 2022 Festival Season featuring A Moon for the Misbegotten.
By Jody Morgan
Family Harvest Farm (FHF) nurtures the possibility of healthy futures for transition-age foster youth. A project of John Muir Land Trust (JMLT), the non-profit enterprise gives urban Pittsburg, California residents a way to enjoy a vibrant green space in their own neighborhood. In addition to providing work experience and a supportive environment where foster youth can envision and prepare for fulfilling career paths, the farm offers free organic produce to the greater community while demonstrating that seemingly dead land can be regenerated into a lush, thriving ecosystem. Dedicated to giving back to the land, not just taking from it, Hannah Hodgson (L), Kim Overaa (C), prepare to regenerate the soil at FHF with Senior Farm Manager Mary Cherry and her son (R). Photo courtesy of FHF. Mary Cherry guides the FHF team of apprentices, volunteers, and staff in growing healthy organic produce. Sustainably farming the 3 1/2-acre fenced area within a sunbaked vacant lot under PG&E power lines began with layering organic material in a method colloquially called “lasagna farming” to regenerate the biodiversity of the heavy clay soil. When ground squirrels recently destroyed a crop of squash, Cherry planted the space with a different vegetable, modeling the resilience that characterizes everyone associated with the project. Mary discovered her passion for organic farming and the therapeutic value of working on the land as a former foster youth needing to survive on her own. Having experienced the rush of joy at being independent at 18 and the subsequent sinking feeling that she had no means of making a living, Cherry understands that the 18-24-yearold transition-age foster youth working at FHF as apprentices are facing one of the toughest times of their lives. Referred by collaborating agencies, foster youth in the Apprentice I cohort rarely have any background in gardening. Those who stay on in the Apprentice II program have already learned enough to teach newcomers the basics. Hannah Hodgson, Associate Director, Family Harvest A Family Harvest farm intern proudly displays a prize watermelon. Photo courtesy of FHF.
Local Postal Customer
See Farm continued on page 12 PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit 263 Alamo CA
ECRWSS
Eight performances will be given in September at Tao House along with countless community activities and events throughout the downtown Danville area. Shows will be held September 10, 11*, 16, 17, 18*, 23, 24, 25* (* matinee performance). Tickets are on sale, and further festival information is available, at the Foundation’s website https://eugeneoneill.org/event/ moon-for-the-misbegotten-by-eugene-oneill-2022-09-10/.
As described by Artistic Director, Eric Fraisher Hayes: “Eugene O’Neill channeled his final creative energies into facing his family and the hurt he felt at their hands. Of the six plays written at Tao House, no figure emerges more frequently than his older brother Jamie (Jim). He is a pivotal character in the heavily autobiographical Long Day’s Journey Into Night and a model for leading characters in both The Iceman Cometh and Hughie. In A
See O’Neill continued on page 8
ALAMO ROUNDABOUT
The long discussed, and long planned, roundabout for the downtown Alamo area on Danville Blvd. has begun the first steps towards implementation. The intersection at Orchard Ct. has an accident rate that is about 2.5 times higher than the state average. Studies have linked roundabouts to a 75.8% reduction in injury collisions at intersections.
EBMUD has moved their pipes and Comcast is currently moving their lines. Groundbreaking is expected to commence in early 2023.
See Roundabout continued on page 4
The Editors Serving the communities of Alamo, Diablo, and Danville
Volume XXII Number 8
3000F Danville Blvd. #117 Alamo, CA 94507 Telephone (925) 405-6397 Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher Editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
Facebook: Alamo Today & Danville Today News Instagram:@AlamoandDanvilleToday
Volume XIII Number 8
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