THE BRET HARTE BEAT A newsletter of the Bret Harte Community Association December 1. 1999 HOME SALES BOOMING You've seen the for sale signs around the ‘hood so it's not news to you that real estate has been hot this year. But how hot has it been? To find out we asked Ann Weston and Bob Friestad, both Realtors and both former Bret Harte residents (and both active in BHCA) to put together some data on actual sales in the Bret Harte area. Combining their information shows that during 1958, 13 homes were sold at an average price of $330,100. In the first ten months of this year 16 homes have sold and the average price was $374,500. That's an increase in the average home price of about 13.5%. WOW! If you Look at the last six months only, there are 12 sales and the average is $390,600. You can look at the statistics a lot of ways, but the conclusion is the same: a home in Bret Harte is a good in- vestment, ‘THE GOSSIP FILE Now that we know how much homes sell for, let’s look at_who- some our new neighbors are. In no particular order, some of the people who have moved into our ‘hood in the last while include - Monterey Morrissey and Bonnie Kamin and their son Zack, on Blossom. Marisa and Mike Rossi, on Hillview Michael and Karen Bauer, on Bret. Betsy, Malcom, Doug and Larry, and the dog, Kaila, on Irwin, Todd Bums on Du Bois. (A quiz, Todd - how do you pronounce Du Bois?) Bob and Kathy Conover, on Dolores. Carol and Steve Theis, on Irwin. Paul Slipper and Lysette Reynolds, on Solar. Katherine and Danny Dreyer, on Meadow. (see below) We know this is not the complete list but it's what we have right now. We want to welcome all of our new neighbors, on the list or not, to Bret Harte, It's @ good neighborhood to live in and ‘you'll find the people here friendly. If those of you who didn’t get mentioned would ‘call 1%2 Irwin Street (457-3263) or drop a note to Bruce Scott at 182 Irwin we'll get you im the next newsletter. Speaking of neighbors, Shareen Brun- hoffer, of Solar, has sold her house to move to Novato. Shareen has been a block captain for BHCA for a long time and we'll miss her. We note with some sadness the passing of Elio Taffi, of Blossom, a few weeks ago. Elio, who was 93, was, as his name suggests, a spot of sunshine in the “hood. We have a national first place winner in Bret Harte! 18 month-old Little Laser took the top prize for Vizsla at the club derby in Los Banos Halloween weekend. “Just doin’ his thing” said proud owner, Marion Rosenbaum of Irwin Street. For those of you, like me, who didn’t know what a Vizsla was, it's a special breed of dog. Congratulations to Little Laser and family. August 28, 1999 was an auspicious date in Bret Harte. In addition to a full moon, we had a couple of weddings: Susan Contini married Roberto Orta in Susan's back yard on Blossom, Helen Keene's daughter Cheryl_ married Kevin Alioto at Saint Rahpael’s, with their son Noah in attendance. Congratulations from all of us to both the happy couples. Steve and Tracy Price’s seven year old son Cameron earned his yellow belt at the Whit Stripe Karate club, Younger brother Dylan, 3, started Kennedy pre- school Katherine and Danny Dreyer, new neigh- bors on Meadow, have a new daughter, Journey Marie (Trip for short), born on the 10th of October. Mother and daugh- ter are doing fine, and Danny says they are beginning to get some sleep at night. Katherine is very interested in meeting other new’ parents in the neighborhood, 0 give her a call at 259-0727. Speaking of Danny Dreyer, he finished first in his age group im last weekend's quadruple Dipsea race. That's Mill Val- ley to Stinson Beach and back twice! Talk about iron men - congratulations Danny. Julie Walker, on Hillview, is interested in exchanging baby-sitting with some other clation. Tl gladly pay the dues of $5.00 per year family dues. Send to 182 Inwin St. NAME: ADDRESS: Enclosed 1s $5.00 dues for 2000, plus §. INTERESTS AND CONCERNS: PHONE:, to help with the programs you do.parents in the ‘hood. If you're interested in this opportunity call Julie at 456-4535. Julie, maybe you should call Katherine Dreyer. In the last newsletter we mentioned the Brabo’s twin grandsons. In reality, they were twin GREAT grandsons. “That's reat for Jo and George, but I'm embar- assed at the error. Sorry TOXICTAXI No, it's not a really messy cab service, it’s a helpful new service of the San Rafael Fire Department. This is a door-to-door pick up and disposal service for most houschold toxic materials. If you're like most of us you have a ga- rage full of old dried out paint, half used rat poison, fertilizers and pesticides you can't remember how to apply, old oil, batteries, and other stuff you can’t just throw in the trash. You can set up an appointment with the toxic Taxi, pay $35, and trained profes- sionals will come to your house and dis- ‘of your toxics. ‘The number to call is 1-888-869-8204, An altemative for us in Bret Harte is to take our toxics to the Marin Recycling Center on their toxics days. The center is nearby, on Jacoby street, and you can call for information at 485-6806 PUMPKIN CARVING The Saturday before Halloween was one wild day in the park. ‘That was the second annual (?) pumpkin carving contest, put together by Terry and Carolee Mech, of Du Bois. There were about 35 knife-wielding kids (under close supervision, of course) aftacking 35 pumpkins, donated by Safeway. By the end of the afternoon there were pumpkin chips everywhere and 35 of the scariest, and funniest, jack-o-lanterns you ever saw, Carolee Mech made a whole tray of tombstone decorated cupcakes for the prizes. Last year's winners judged the contest, picking a winner in the seven and under and the 8 and above age groups. The names of the two winners got lost in the ‘melee so we can’t report on who were the creative ones, but they were good, and much fun was had by all. Thanks for pulling it off again, Mechs. GAT Deanna Stilwell is a member of the Golden Gate Ferry Passenger Com- mittee. ‘They're looking for public input on the Ferry service. If you have sug- gestions, ideas for improvements, or any input on the whole ferry program give Deanna a call at 485-1841 BHCA NEW MILLENNI ‘Your Community Association has pretty much wound down for the twenti- eth century. No more meetings or activi- ties are scheduled for the rest of the year. ‘You can help us start the new millennium by coming to a board meeting. The next will be January 19, 2000, at the Mech’s at 146 Du Bois. Meetings are informal, starting at 7:00 PM and ending about 9:00 PM. The regular date is the third ‘Wednesday of cach month. Besides being the first meeting for the next thousand years, the January meting is important because we will select new officers for the coming year. Jim Draper, who has done an outstanding job at the helm for the past couple of years will be stepping down and Terry Mech will take up the reins. But, Terry will need people to help him. We have needs for a new ‘co-chair, a treasurer, and a secretary. ‘We have openings for new block captains as well. Block Captain is a great starting job in BHCA: there are no meetings! The ‘main duty is to pass out newsletters to a dozen or two of your neighbors. Tony and Kari Darren are the block captain co- ordinators for the new year. Call them and volunteer at 453-8424. Another easy entry job is handling the two BHCA bul- letin Boards, in the park and at the comer store, The other meaning of the new millennium is that your year 2000 dues are duc. We charge residents $5.00 per year per household to be members of the associa tion. Just clip the coupon and send your check to 182 Invin. OR, you can take advantage of our millennium special: For only $500 you can become a member for the entire new millennium! Just think, you can leave your membership to your grandchildren. What a deal. QUTGOING OFFICERS The folks who have been your officers for the past year are listed below. They're good people and they've worked hard for your association. Call “em up and tell them thanks, and then tell ‘em you'd like to take their place in the new Year. That will make their day! Co-chair Jim Draper 456-0199 Co-chair Terry Mech 455-9384 Treasurer TerryMech 455.9384 Block Capts Barb Benepe 453-4764 Newsletter Bruce Scott 457-3263 BLANK SPACETHE BRET HARTE BEAT ‘A newsletter of the Bret Harte Community Association February 18, 2000 MONEY MATTERS ‘Terry Mech recently put together the full year 1999 financial statement for our Association, It’s outlined below, to give you an indication of what happened to your dues money last year. Our total income from dues and contri- butions totaled $1649. We were reim- bursed $400 for the dumpster used dur- ing our cleanup day, for a total income for the year of $2049, Not bad for a lit- tle ‘hood like ours. Where did it all go? Hot line $241 SR Federation dues 100 Picnic in park 89 Chalk art in park 37 BHCA square in City sidewalk painting 100 Clay Play 150 Pumpkin carving 94 Heart Association 25 Dumpster 400 ‘Summer camp 30 Misc. stuff 67 Total outgo: $1353 That leaves us with $696 left over, bring- ing our bank account up to a little over $3300. Alot of our effort, and money, went into activities in the park for kids, and the board has voted to try to do more of that this year. This is another way for you to get in- volved: help us put on some activity at the park, All of us have some talent or skill we can share with the kids, and the kids here have been great to work with. Anybody want to organize an Easter egg hunt? THE GOSSIP FILE Thanks to our tireless greeter, Barbara Benepe, we have more names and can continue our listing of new neighbors. A special welcome to the following new folks: JTEAR OF F-——-~ — ‘YES! Please enroll me as a member in good standing of the Bret Harte Community As- 182 Irwin Street Mark and Marie Labomersky, who have moved in on Du Bois. Bill and Karen Knutson, new on Bret. ‘Nigel Faulkner, a new neighbor on Blos- som. Frank Dorstall, Kim Knez and Elizabeth ‘Weeks, who are new on Dolores. Not at all new, but recently returned to the ‘hood from a long tour in Arizona are Gary and Peggy Semling. It’s great to have you back on Irwin Street, guys. Speaking of coming back, John and Cici Simontacchi have just returned from a great trip to London. Tea with the Queen??? On the other side of the coin, we hear that Chris and Marybeth Dunbar are leaving the hood for Southern California toward the end of February. They've been real assets to the community and ‘we'll miss them both. Also leaving the ‘hood are Beau and An- nie Sicotte, on Irwin. They have been active in BHCA and both will be missed. Congratulations to Molly Blauvelt, on Du Bois. Molly was one of the winners of Sunset Magazine’s recent house num- ber contest, with a blue and white ce- amie plaque design. Check it out. George Epperson (Du Bois) reports with some pride that his eight-year-old great- grandson, Justin Cooper, won a $10,000 scholarship and a trip to New York ina Kraft Cheese contest. Justin is some- thing of a pro at this, having earned a trip to Disneyland by designing a 75" birth- day card for Mickey Mouse when he was six. This kid has a great future. Steve and Tracy Price on Irwin tell us their son Cameron has won his orange belt at Marin Kids Karate Club. This is another kid to look out for. Speaking of sharp kids, Gabe Feinberg, on Irwin, was student of the month for sociation. I'l gladly pay the dues of $5.00 per year per family. Send to 182 Irwin St. NAME: ADDPESS:_ E-MAIL ADDRESS, Enclosed is $5.00 dues for 2000, plus $. INTCRESTS AND CONCERNS: PHONE: to help with your programs.December at Sun Valley school. Way to g0, Gabe! Ernie and Inge Carson want to thank their neighbors on Glenaire for the con- tinuing flow of ride offers since they lost their driving license. It’s neighbors pitching in like this that makes Bret Harte such a good ‘hood to live in. Ifyou do babysitting, or have kids who do babysitting, you should talk to Kathe- rine Dreyer, at 4 Meadow. She’s look- ing for someone to come to her house to spend time with baby Journey five to ten hours a week. This would be an ideal afier school job for a local teenager. Call Katherine at 258-0727. We're sure this is not the only thing go- ing on in our ‘hood these days. If you have something you're proud of, or your neighbors might like to know about call it into the BHCA hot line. We'll pass along Births, Deaths, celebrations, graduations, almost anything in the news- letter. Our greeter, Barbara Benepe, is particularly interested in new neighbors. The hot line number is 721-1611 TRAFFIC CALMING The City has adopted a new pol icy allowing traffic humps to be installed in neighborhoods to “calm” traffic. A test near Coleman Schoo! has proven successful at reducing traffic speeds. ‘We've asked the city traffic engineer to look at Irwin Street near the park as a possible candidate. The first step is to do a traffic count — the guideline says we need over a thousand cars a day. The second step is to survey homes along Ir- win we'd need a clear majority saying yes to the humps. Ifyou have an opinion ‘on this call it into the hot line: 721-1611. OUR LOCAL SCHOOL Dana Thompson, Rose Street, has kids about ready to start school, so she checked out Laurel Dell School on Woodland. This is now our local public school. Dana was so impressed she asked Principal Jodi Weaver to send us a blurb on the school. While we don’t have room for the entire write-up Jodi sent, here are the highlights: Laurel Dell offers a full range Kindergar- ten through grade five program for about 140 students from central San Rafael. The classrooms are all multi-age, allow ing more able students to progress, faster while “at risk” students have more time to develop. This also provides role mod- cls for the younger students, and varied ‘opportunities for the older students as tutors. Reading is a major focus at Laurel Dell, with 75 minutes a day, four days a week. Non-English speaking students are placed in an English immersion program. In addition to a fine academic program, Laurel Dell offers musie, art and dance in the classroom. Kindergarten registration time is now! Information packets are now available and are due back to the school on Febru- ary 23, 2000. Siblings get first priority and local residents get second shot at a limited enrolment. For more information on this school you can call Jodi at 485- 2317. Ask about the monthly Principal's tours of the school. TECHNICAL BHCA ‘Your association has come a long way since the old days. Meeting notices, agendas and minutes fly around the ‘hood in the form of e-mail. We're even beginning to talk about our own BHCA web site. City Couneil and Planning ‘Commission agendas are on the internet at the City’s web site. If you have a computer this all makes it easier to keep in touch, Ifyou have an e-mail address, and want to get into the BHCA Joop, let us know about it by calling the hot line at 721- 1611, or clipping the coupon on the bot- tom of page one and sending it in with your dues to 182 Irwin Street. We'll add you to the list for meeting notices and other BHCA business. No spam, we promise. Contr. Lie, 254608 * Residential * Commercial + Repairs 86 Rose Lane San Rafael, CA 94901 457-1145 William GotelliTHE BRET HARTE BEAT A newsletter of the Bret Harte Community Association May 10, 2002 EASTER IN THE PARK. That big to-do in the park a few weeks ago was another of Peggy Sem- ling’s Easter egg hunts. There were bet- ter than thirty toddlers (and older) chas- ing 580 plastic eggs and four dozen hard boiled real eges and if you live this side of Greenbrae you heard them going at it. While the kids chased eggs the adults feasted on cofite, juice and pastries, There are some of Lou Muckerman’s photos of the event in the bulletin board at the park for those of you who missed the real thing. One of the added highlights was the park plan on display during the event. Park architect Gary Semiling has put together a great set of plans and they got a lot of attention. Helping Peggy in making this annual ex- travaganza work were Gary Semling, Rob and Valerie Spiess, and Jim and Sheryl Draper. Tim Lentini was the bunny this year. A special thanks is due to Everything's Relative for donating the coffee, That’s the little coffee shop at the comer of Irwin and Woodland. SPEAKING OF THE PARK Bret Harte Park is THE central gathering place for our neighborhood and, as such, deserves our utmost care and attention. The park has gone through two or three renovations over the years as each generation has defined its needs and it’s due for another. The equipment is getting old and doesn’t serve today’s play style. ‘The landscaping needs a lot of work, the banks need re- taining walls and the drainage system is shot. All this is addressed in the plans Gary Semling has worked up for the new park. When does all this happen? Con- struction is scheduled for this summer: July and August 2002 and some of the demolition has begun. You'll note the big old bay tree is already gone. By now you've received a letter from the park committee outlining the costs and the funding already in hand. It is a big ~ - TEAR OFF-—~ con YES! Please enroll me as a member in good standing of the Bret Harte Community As- 182 Irwin Street project and lot of money has been re- ceived from various agencies, but we still need cash and construction labor. If you've sent in your contribution, thank you. Ifyou haven't, please do so. And ifyou've lost your letter call Carolee Mech at 455-9384 to get a new one ‘THE GOSSIP FILE ‘New babies are all the rage in Bret Harte this spring. If this keeps up we'll have to double the size of the park. Becky and Mitch Deshields (Irwin St) had a baby girl, Paige Siena, in October. Eight pounds, three ounces of raw beauty. Maria and Mark Lubamersky (Du Bois) had twins, Liam and Aidan, in March. ‘Twelve pounds and thirteen ounces in total. How’s your sleep, Maria? Kenzo Nishime Pettet was born in April to Leilani Nishime and Mark Pettet on Irwin St. Six pounds, nine ounces of handsome young man. ‘And speaking of twins, Matthew and Katherine Linnenkohl (Redding Way) are celebrating their first birthday in May. Mom (Lisa) was too sleep deprived last year to remember to tell anybody about it, Congratulations to all of you actively in- volved in keeping our ‘hood young. ‘We also have some new neighbors who've moved into our neighborhood on their own: Antonio and Maria Cryanovic on Hill- view Street. Lila Watkins and John Berlinsky on Ha- zel Court. Brenda Dahl and Robert Flatland on So- lar Court, Welcome to Bret Harte all of you, no matter how you got here. sociation. Ill gladly pay the dues of $5.00 per year per family. Send to 182 Irwin St. NAME: ADDRESS: E-mail address, Enclosed is $5.00 dues for 2002, plus § INTERESTS AND CONCERNS: PHONE: to help with your programs.Sadly, we've had our share of deaths in the last few months as well. We're sorry to have to report the following: Thomas Jackson, on Billou, in Decem- ber. Mary Carino, on Meadow, in December. Emie Carson, on Glenaire, in March. Tom Romano, on Du Bois, in December. Our last newsletter noted the passing of Dennis Goldsmith. His wife, Gloria, has asked us to pass on her appreciation for the memorial to Dennis in the park. BUSINESS DIRECTORY? Kay Neumann has raised the idea of creating a business directory of ser- vices available from people in Bret Harte. This would allow us to do business with neighbors when we have a need for plumbing, or roof repair, or baby sitting, or what have you. Kay has volunteered to be the editor of such a directory, and ‘we can publish it in the next, or later, newsletters. If you have a service to of- fer your neighbors call Kay at 459-7633 and let's get this thing started. ‘TREASURER’S REPORT Our trustworthy treasurer (no Enron here!) presents the following re- port for income and spending for the cal- endar year 2001: Income from dues: $2275 Expenses: Hot line $263 SR Federation dues 100 Printing & copies 119 Dumpster 428 Picnic (Sept) 289 Easter egg hunt 305 Pumpkin Carving 175 Garage Sale 96 Senior Projects 405 Greeting 44 Total expenses $2224 Cash on hand, 12/31/01 $3861 Note that all our income is from dues: the $5 per household per year that you pay to support the activities of your as- sociation. The only money we spend outside Bret Harte is for the dues to the San Rafael Federation of Neighborhoods and some printing of newsletters and flyers. Every- thing else is spent here, mostly on social events. TODDLERS Sarah Leipsic, on Meadow, is interested in meeting other moms and toddlers for play time with her one-year- old Sid. Give her a call at 459-7410 and put the park to even more use. LEADERSHIP ‘As you read the above items out- lining what your association is doing in the ‘hood think for a moment about who makes these things happen. It takes in- volvement by residents of our valley to keep the association alive and active. It isn’t a big investment in time and itis for the place youve chosen to live. Please “£ plan on coming to the next meeting, May 2.2 Wi, a seven PM. Call the hot line, 721- 1611, to confirm time and place. If you get involved it will be a better association. AST WORDS We've heard some disturbing ac- counts of car break-ins in the ‘hood. Keep your eyes open and your car locked. The SRPD is involved with us on this matter. William Gotelli + Residential + Commercial + Repairs 86 Rose Lane 457-1145 San Rafael, CA 94901 Fax 456-1744 Do you need help organizing your photos and albums? ‘Are you locking for some creative hands-on fun? call: Molly Blauvelt Artist and Creative Memories Consultant 454-7614 Photo-safe Albums and supplies * home classes and workshops" Group presentations * friendly advise” and I'm your neighbor!