The Burlingame Voice

Getting Greener

After a 10am cloud burst cleared the air, the 4th Annual Green Fair proceeded as planned.  Located next to the Farmer's Market, the Green Fair drew in plenty of B'gamers with exhibits on solar power, recycling, electric cars, green building principles, etc, etc.  It was a nice way to kick-off the summer's events

 

Our Greenest Citizen? Probably

I had a chance to meet the founder and CEO of our locally-based e-waste company, Green Citizen, at the Green Fair today.  James Kao is a B'game resident and member our our Green Ribbon Taskforce who is building a business recycling residential and commercial e-waste.

James and his team took my old electronics and he gave me an overview of his operation located at 801 Mahler Rd, Suite 1 here in B'game.  The firm has other centers in Palo Alto, Berkeley and SF with plans for San Jose, but everything we need is right here in B'game.  They're accepting items six days a week.  Most items are accepted for free and there are some other services offered like PC and cell phone repair for a fee.  We'll add some more detail after we tour the Mahler facility.  Here's James and a hard disk drive they destroyed (another of their services).

 

Bluegrass in B'game

B'game is often called "Boring game" by those who wish there was more night life in town.  I'm definitely one who misses venues like the Tavern Grill and Towle's when they had music three or four nights a week.  So a bluegrass concert at UMC on Saturday night was a welcome draw.

Headliners Healing Stream put on a great 16 song set of they call Gospel bluegrass.  Four members of the local Morgenstern, including dad Kevin and lead singer Hailey, were joined by locals Don Kane and Will Stevens to put on a great show.  Kevin's bio includes stints with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and tours with the Jerry Garcia Band and Bonnie Raitt.  Another local gem!

 
 

Plan Your Summer in B'game

It still barely feels like Spring out there, but you need to get out your calendar and plan your summer activities in our beloved little burg.  Here are some of the key dates to keep in mind:

May 15  --   Green Street Fair  (City lot J)

June 11 and 12   --   Art in the Park

July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31  --  Sunday afternoon Music in the Park (Salsa, Classic Rock and Blues, Rock and Soul, Country, and Classic Rock) five Sundays in a row

August 13-14   --  Artzfest (aka Art on the Avenew)

August 19, September 9 and 23  --   Friday night Movies in the Park

See, you don't really have to Go Anywhere!

What's a Farmer to Do?

If you are a budding B'game farmer, you have a conflict next Thursday evening.  The City's e-newsletter lists two events of interest happening at the same time in different places.  The Community Garden event is at the Womens' Club at 7:30 pm but you would have to abandon the 2 hour class starting at 7pm for $30 put on by the Rec Center that will teach you how to do this:

For the same amount of water and effort, you can get rid of that grass and grow healthy veggies. In this workshop, learn about lawn removal and veggie garden basics: what to plant and when, and how to use small spaces. Instructor and Urban Farmer, P.A. Moore has been lawn-free for two years, and eats from her garden year round.

The good news is the chicken-raising course is Tuesday, so you can do that uninterrupted.

Panther Baseball Alumni Return

Last weekend's BHS Baseball Alumni game was another rousing success.  I missed the Friday golf outing at Poplar Creek, but can attest that the dinner at the Lion's Club was very well done.  Kudo's go to the Panther varsity for setting the tone with a win over Hillsdale High, then for serving the alums and parents fine bbq from Old Texas BBQ while rocking out to Jeff Tateosian's DJ delights.

Saturday broke cloudy for the 1950-1970's alums early game, but the weather cleared a bit for the younger alums to play the 2011 varsity.  With kids pitching to their alum Dads, older brothers pitching to current Panther brothers and a triple play delivered 5-5-4, the varsity prevailed over the Old Guys.  Here's one of them swinging for the fences with the rest cooling their heels on the bench.

 

Pit Bull Kerfuffle

B'game got some unwelcome national attention this past week after being called out in the Sunday magazine for banning pit bulls at our Paws for Tales program at the library.

Last summer, Patricia Harding, a librarian in Burlingame, Calif., banned pit bulls from the Paws for Tales program in her facility.

A guy named Cris Cohen who helped rehabilitate one of Michael Vick's dogs objected

In January, Cohen and Jonny resigned from Paws for Tales in protest. He teamed with lawyers associated with BAD RAP and checked the state’s laws. According to California’s Food and Agricultural Code (Section 31681-31683), it is illegal to act against any animal based on breed except in the case of instituting mandatory spay and neuter programs. Cohen wrote a letter pointing this out to the librarian and Burlingame city leaders, including the mayor Terry Nagel, vice mayor Jerry Deal, and Jim Nantell, the city manager.

Two weeks ago, he finally heard back. City attorney Gus Guinan acknowledged that in accordance with the code, the ban would be lifted. Good news, right? Well, not quite. The letter also noted that the library decided to withdraw from the Paws for Tales program completely.

E-mails have been flowing into the City from all over the continent objecting to the pit bull ban--it's always something!

Hospital Opening on the Calendar

I'm doing a little catching up and wanted to be sure to mention the hospital grand opening.  The Daily Journal reported

Officials at Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame have set on May 15 as a hard opening date for the new $618 million facility.

It will replace the old seismically-unfit facility that has served patients since 1955. An opening date has been a moving target. It was hoped it would open late last year, then that was pushed back to Feb. 13. When that day passed, officials decided not to publish a date until it was in stone, said Margie O’Clair, vice president of marketing, communications and public affairs.

Looking forward to see the end result from this effort.

The Tree is Lit; Let the Season Begin

For being a lower-budget affair, last night's tree lighting and carnival was still fun.  The BIS band, the Burlingame Idol and the North Shore Montessori choir performed before the tree was set ablaze.  The vintage firetruck made a circuit with councilmembers and Santa and Mrs. Claus.  At least one merchant (Haven) kept the spirit going by serving wine and several restaurants appeared to being doing well.

"We miss the parade" was a common theme among the locals, but with the way the economy has been creeping along, I can understand why the Avenue merchants were hesitant to kick-in their usual $25K that it takes to produce the parade.  Thanks to the Putnam dealerships and the other merchants for donating the funds to do it as well as it was done.  Here's the BIS band.

 

Charitable Opportunity

The Voice received notice that Samaritan House, a social service agency in San Mateo, is seeking bicycle donations for low income adults and children this holiday.  The bikes should be in good working order:

Samaritan House spokeswoman Nancy Carothers said that the kids' bicycles and helmets are generally passed along as gifts during the holidays, whereas the adult bikes can provide needed transportation for clients who don't have cars.

"For adults it's great because it often helps them get to work," Carothers said.

Anyone able to donate a bicycle is asked to call Samaritan House at (650) 523-0831 to arrange to drop it off by Dec. 17.

Check your garages, you know there is one in there somewhere.