editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
May 2013
Serving the Lafayette Community Lafayette’s Own Tiger Woods By Fran Miller
Irish Canyon and North Peak as viewed from Kreiger Peak.(photo by Scott Hein).
Save Mount Diablo: Focus on the Future By Jody Morgan
Viewing Mount Diablo from the surrounding valleys generates a false sense that everything in sight has been preserved. When Save Mount Diablo (SMD) was founded in 1971, the State Park contained 6,788 acres. Today, thanks to the efforts of SMD and partner agencies such as East Bay Regional Park District, 110,000 acres in more than forty parks comprise a network of public open space including the now 20,000acre State Park. Yet huge tracts of land in the midst of the Diablo Wilderness remain at risk of being utilized in ways detrimental to the quality of life of area residents. You don’t have to be enthused by environmental issues to recognize the value added to valley real estate by the Mount Diablo vista and the remarkable recreational possibilities the Diablo Wilderness offers. “The mountain forms a visual framework for the entire Bay Area,” remarks Malcolm Sproul, SMD Board President for fourteen years. If enjoying more than the visual impact of a pristine peak is on your agenda, take a hike. “In the midst of a very developed area there is a large area of public open space – so large you can walk for four days crossing only two little-traveled roads,” notes Scott Hein, current SMD Board President. Hein’s serious involvement with SMD began when his mother died. He and his sister wanted to honor her memory by donating a Heritage Tree. “Staff member, Seth Adams, joined us for a hike on the property, and by the time we were done, we hadn’t chosen a tree – he had convinced each of us to adopt an entire grove.” Always interested in photography, Scott welcomed Seth’s encouragement. Hein’s photographs bring the mountain to everyone. “Mount Diablo has 10% of California’s flora both native and non-native. That includes seven mountain-specific or regional endemic species,” notes Heath Bartosh, SMD Board member and Rare Plant Program Chair for the California Native Plant Society. Bartosh helps hikers spot the exquisite botanical treasures found along the trailside. Rare, endangered, newly discovered, and recently rediscovered plants populate the Diablo Wilderness. In 2005, Michael Park took a different route back to his car while doing graduate study work on Mount Diablo and spied a dainty annual thought for 69 years to be extinct: Mount Diablo Buckwheat. Attempts to establish additional colonies with seedlings grown at UC Berkeley have not succeeded. Camera traps triggered by motion have been set beside the single known population to determine what fauna co-exist
See SMD continued on page 20
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He held his first golf club before he could walk. He played in his first official golf tournament at age eight. He is a veteran at Torrey Pines, where he amazes and frustrates other golfers with his scrambling. And he is a Stanford fan. Tiger Woods? No. It’s Lafayette’s own Will “The Thrill” Brueckner, and while he may not have appeared on a network television talk show at age two, he is quietly climbing the ranks of elite young golfers. Brueckner recently won the 97th Annual San Francisco City Golf Championship at Harding Park, the longest running annual amateur match play event in the United States – and he’s only 16 years old. As a 14 year old, he won the Diablo Foothill Athletic League tournament, was MVP of the League, and was the North Coast Section qualifier. He can’t remember the first time he took a swing, but his parents have told him that he was barely a toddler. “My folks had some friends over for dinner and they put me in a playpen with a plastic golf club and ball,” says Brueckner. “Apparently, I took one swing and hit the ball out of the play pen, across the room and hit one of their guests in the face.”
See Golf cont. on pg. 19
Will Brueckner. Photo by Dave Yuen.
Concert at the Res
Saturday, May 11th, 11am-3pm
Since 1996, Lafayette Rotarians have been hosting an afternoon of music each spring featuring local bands. This annual concert has raised money to supply Lamorinda and Bay Area Schools with new
instruments for thier music programs. This year’s event will include the Stanley Symphonic Band, the Big Band of Rossmoor, the Acalanes High School Jazz Ensemble, the Bentley Jazz Ensemble, Oakland’s Westlake Middle School, The Town Hall Troupe, the Lamorinda Theatre Academy, the Stevie Coyle String Ensemble, and the award-winning Dominant Seven Jazz Ensemble. Along with the wonderful music and dancing, there will be food and beverages available. You can pack a picnic and bring Volume VII - Number 5 your beach chairs and blankets. The stage 3000F Danville Blvd #117 is adjacent to a shady picnic area, public Alamo, CA 94507 restrooms, and the children’s playground. Telephone (925) 405-6397 Raffle tickets with be available for Fax (925) 406-0547 editor@yourmonthlypaper.com purchase, and prizes will include weekend get-a-ways. The proceeds are used to fund Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher the Rotary Club’s public service projects The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do not necessarily reflect that of Laand support local bands. fayette Today. Lafayette Today is not responsible Formoreinformationvisitwww.lafayettecf. for the content of any of the advertising herein, org or contact jay@lafayettechamber.org. nor does publication imply endorsement.