editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
April 2011
Serving the Lafayette Community
Celebrate Earth Day with Mark Your Calendars for Upcoming Events • Earth Day, Saturday, April 23rd a Community Picnic! th th
Sustainable Lafayette will again host a special Earth Day community picnic on Saturday, April 23rd, from 11am-3pm. This event celebrates Lafayette’s commitment to sustainability and will be held in the heart of town at the Lafayette Plaza Park and at Stanley Middle School. There will be organic food, live music, and fun activities that will appeal to the entire family. Drop in for a short time, or come and stay for hours. The event is free, and all are welcome! First on the schedule is a Bike Safety Rodeo and Self-Propelled Parade, in which children K – 5th grade will participate in an outdoor bike safety course. Come by anytime between 9AM and 11AM at the Stanley Middle School basketball courts. It will take approximately 15 minutes for each child to go through the safety stations at the “bike rodeo.” At the conclusion of the rodeo, join a selfpropelled parade that leaves for downtown at 11:30AM. Parents and children can decorate bikes and then apply their newly acquired bike safety skills as the parade makes the short journey to the Plaza Park to join in the Earth Day festivities. The Picnic on the Green, from 11.30AM-1:30PM at Plaza Park, will feature an amazing lunch made from fresh, local, and organic ingredients provided by farmers for just $5, including drink and dessert. If you prefer, you can bring your own picnic. The Park will be filled with tables and chairs where you can enjoy lunch while listening to live music by Pat Nevins & Amy Gabel and the Delta Dogs. Among the many delicious dishes that will be offered, picnickers will find Polenta with Tomatoes/Mushrooms/Cheese, Curried Rice Salad, Quinoa Salad, Baked Spinach Frittata, Green Salad, Bagel Plate, Mandarin Orange Sherbet, plus iced tea and lemonade. While at the Picnic, you can learn about local environmental groups who are working to make Lafayette a more earth-friendly community. Tour “EcoWay.” from 11AM – 3PM, to see a fascinating “Backyard of Tomorrow” with the latest green techniques and ideas for your yard. You may also purchase veggie starters (growing seedlings of tomatoes, beans, etc., that you can take home and plant in the ground or a pot) for kick-starting your own local food movement at home, preview the upcoming Lafayette Farmers’ Market, visit with the Urban Farmers, and more. We encourage you to walk, bicycle, or carpool as parking will be limited. For more information, visit www.sustainablelafayette.org. Questions, comments, contributions? Email earthday@sustainablelafayette.org.
Free Symposium for Seniors - The Secrets of Dynamic Aging: Finding New Paths and Staying Engaged By Sandra Smith, Lafayette Senior Liaison Committee and Lafayette Senior Services Commission
After retiring from a wonderful 30 year career doing research at the University of California Medical Center, I wondered what I could possibly do to equal the satisfaction I got from working. I must admit I was quite bored the first few months into retirement. I had to find something new and different. Then I read in the paper that the City of Lafayette was looking for a volunteer for the Senior
See Seniors continued on page 24 PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit 21 Lafayette CA
• 9 Annual Taste of Lafayette - Tuesday, May 17 • 17th Annual Concert at the Res - Saturday, May 14th • Summer Outdoor Movie Series begins with Iron Man, Thursday, May 19th
For information on any of these events contact the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce at 925-284-7404 or visit their website at www. lafayettechamber.org.
A Labor of Love
By Fran Miller Producing and directing an audience-worthy play starring 35 energetic fourth and fifth graders might be daunting to many, but for Burton Valley Elementary (BVE) School second grade teacher Carol Kerr, it’s a labor of love. This year is Kerr’s tenth as producer and director of BVE’s annual after-school drama club, the Burton Valley Players. The children who performed in her first production are now in college.
Carol Kerr, (center) director of the Burton Valley Players after-school drama program, with two of her performers: Reed Sabey (left) and Lindsay Torres (right).
Drawing from either the classics, such as The Emperor’s New Clothes, or from something more original, such as Bee-bop with Aesop, Kerr always selects plays with themes, dialogue and songs that are written with children in mind. This year’s play was Of Mice and Mozart. With Kerr at the piano, the Burton Valley Players rehearse once per week for twelve weeks, performing for one night only the week before spring break. A preview is performed during school for the other students. “We create a “cliffhanger,” says Kerr. “We NEVER give away the ending, so that everyone will come to the performance.” Kerr’s productions are kid-driven. She doesn’t have a final product in mind when rehearsals begin; the children create as they go. “Many times their ideas for choreography and actions are better than mine!” laughs Kerr. Volume V - Number 4 High school and college-aged PO Box 1335 Lafayette, CA 94549 singers, dancers and actors often Telephone (925) 405-NEWS, 405-6397 assist Kerr. “It’s great for the kids Fax (925) 406-0547 to have older role models,” says editor@yourmonthlypaper.com Kerr. “Some of the assistants, like Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher Laura Zenoni, are actually alumni The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do not of Burton Valley Players.” For the necessarily reflect that of Lafayette Today. Lafayette Today is first time, Kerr had a co-director not responsible for the content of any of the advertising herein,
See BVE cont. on page 16
nor does publication imply endorsement.