The American Association of University Women’s March 15 general meeting is sure to enlighten and educate you about the history of Half Moon Bay and the Coastside. Three Coastside locals will join us to discuss their books on Half Moon Bay and Kings Mountain history. 

Hear these authors share tidbits of local lore, discuss what inspired them to write their book and explain their research and writing process.  You will learn about the people and events that impacted the history of our area.  The authors will have copies of their books to sign and sell.
 
Featured authors will be:
 

• Dave Cresson – “Turning Points: Through the Windows of the Zaballa House” and “The Treasures of Half Moon Bay”
• Michael Orange – “Half Moon Bay: Historic Coastside Reflections”
• Stacy Trevenon – “Images of America - Kings Mountain”

 
After the panel discussion, Mary Sheridan will lead us on a tour of the historic CUMC chapel.  Built in 1872, the chapel is on the National Registry of Historic Buildings and is the oldest operating church in San Mateo County.  In addition to the history of the chapel, Mary will explain the very touching story behind the chapel’s beautiful stained glass windows and tell you how many times the chapel has actually been moved and turned around!
 
As part of our general meeting, Tech Trek Chair, Julie Gerth, will give a brief update on Tech Trek and what a great opportunity it would be to contribute to this innovative, worthwhile project.  In addition she will have a new DVD from camp to share. 
 
Monday, March 15, 2010
Doors open at 7:00 p.m. Meeting starts at 7:15 p.m. followed by the program
Methodist Church Social Hall, 777 Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay
 
Carol Forster and Betty Lee-Kendall
Program Co-Vice Presidents
         

The county plans two more H1N1 vaccination clinics for the Coastside in March.

The H1N1 virus is not expected to disappear anytime soon, so it remains important for people to continue getting vaccinated – especially children, pregnant mothers, and individuals with underlying chronic medical conditions. Children who receive their first dose now may only need one dose next fall, when flu season ramps up again. It is also important for children under age 10 to get two doses of H1N1 flu vaccine – at least three weeks apart – because two doses provide better protection against the H1N1 virus for the less mature immune systems of younger children. [...]

A flu shot is still the single best defense against the flu, and can help reduce the spread throughout the community. For individuals in high-risk groups, the vaccine prevents serious health complications, and in some cases, death. There have been 10 H1N1-related deaths and 95 hospitalizations in the County since the outbreak began last year.

Half Moon Bay
Wednesday, March 10, 6pm-8pm
Moonridge Mid-Peninsula Housing, 2001 Miramontes Point Rd.
 
Half Moon Bay
Sunday, March 21, 10am - 4pm
Ted Adcock Community Center, 535 Kelly Ave.

Three Coastsiders are among the six women to be inducted into the San Mateo County Women’s Hall of Fame on March 18..

“It is the great privilege of the Commission on the Status of Women to recognize the contributions and achievements of these exceptional women and young women,” said Jei Africa, President of the Commission. “The Women’s Hall of Fame is a reminder of the wealth of talent and generosity women bring to our county communities every day of the year.”  Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/95677.

• Denise Aquila of Half Moon Bay, a realtor who has a passion for helping where there is a need, is nicknamed the “Coastal Soccer Queen” for bringing professional-level soccer to high school students on the Coast by founding a chapter of the American Youth Soccer Organization; she serves as a Commissioner for the Regional Housing Endowment and Trust to help create local affordable housing options, seeks to impact family violence as an Advisory Council Member of Communities Overcoming Relationship Abuse and is a cancer survivor who raises substantial funds for cancer research by running marathons.
• Kerry Lobel of Pescadero, current Executive Director of Puente de la Costa Sur Resource Center in Pescadero, is a nationally recognized leader who is honored for her work developing programs for South Coast immigrant agricultural workers and their families; offering opportunities for empowerment, education, youth summer employment, mental health services, drug & alcohol prevention, legal services, tax preparation and access to dental care.
• Julia McKay McKeon of Moss Beach, who has been a catalyst for improving healthcare and quality of life on the San Mateo Coastside through more than two decades of volunteer and professional leadership resulting in the development of the Sonrisas Community Dental Center and two other health related non-profits serving the health needs of thousands of low-income Coastside residents.

To all former CFMC patients - HMB Phoenix Project has been given court-ordered guardianship of the remaining 34,000 patient medical records from the bankrupt clinic, in order to facilitate distribution of as many as possible before the August destruction date. We are open Sundays only, from now till August, 10am-4pm, at the new practice, Purisima Family Medicine, 575 Kelly Ave, corner of Church St, which has generously allowed us to use their office as the distribution site. No records are kept there during the week, so please do not disturb the staff - contact us through the website, http://hmbphoenix.org/latestinfo.php.

The easiest method is to email names and birthdates to me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - I can look them up and let you know when they’ll be available for pickup, usually within a week. Or you can download a release form, put all the family’s names on it, and fax it to me at 318-3634. This is a free service to the community, however a small voluntary contribution of $5 per patient will help us cover our expenses and continue the process. Please help spread the word!

Regards,

Grant Weiss, MD

CORRECTION: The committee plans to continue to make donations to nonprofits in the next year.  However, the additional grant application process will not be conducted in 2010.

The Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee has donated $63,000 to Coastside nonprofit organizations from the proceeds of the Pumpkin Festival. This amount is down for the third year in a row.

However, for the first time in many years, the Committee will not accept applications for additional grants in 2010.  According to Tim Beeman of Miramar Events, who manages the festival for the Committee, “Although the plan is to conduct the grant application process again next year, we won’t know for certain until this time next year.” Beeman says that sponsorships were off by 15% in 2009 and that the cost of producing the event goes up every year. He says that they hope to accept additional grant applications in 2011.

He noted that Coastside nonprofits take in $400,000 to $500,000 in net income from booths at the event. He knows this because they pay 10% of their net to the festival. Additionally, many groups make money from selling parking, which is not included in that number.

Follow the jump to see the details on this year’s donations.

Brews & Views continues its ongoing discussion of critical issues featuring some of the most interesting, informative and timely topics in its Brews & Views series. We are calling our next gathering ‘The Economy Summit – What does the future hold for us?’ taking place Thursday, March 4 from 6-8 pm at The Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.

When it comes to defining where our economy is headed, both locally and nationally, Brews and Views is featuring some of the best economic minds in the Bay Area: Sean Randolph, President & CEO of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute; Jon Haveman, Founding Partner of Beacon Economics; Cynthia A. Kroll, Senior Regional Economist and Executive Director for Staff Research at University of California, Berkley; Jed Kolko, Associate Director and Research Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California; and Prof. John Zysman from the University of California Berkeley and co-founder of the Berkeley Roundtable of the International Economy (BRIE).

This local economic ‘dream team’ brings together perspectives from business, government, and academia promising a provocative, enlightening, frustrating and lively exchange of ideas with all those in attendance. This Economic Summit will be moderated by Lenny Mendonca – senior partner at McKinsey & Company and founder of the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company

“With all the uncertainties and misinformation that’s floating about when it comes to the current economic climate, this Economic Summit could not come at a better time. This superb panel will dispel some myths, and provide fuel the reform fire when it comes to areas in serious need of economic rehabilitation” says Lenny Mendonca.

The Brews & Views Events have added a new element to its program and that is philanthropy . The Half Moon Bay Brewing Company will contribute 10% of your dinner on the first Thursday of every month to a local charity.  Come for the event, stay for dinner and support the community.

Randy Weber of Half Moon Bay won the grand prize in the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District second annual digital photo contest.  Weber is an avid photographer who frequently hikes and bikes in the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. There are more winning photos at the MROSD contest page linked above and more contest entries in a Flickr gallery.

Elkus Ranch, the environmental education center on the Southcoast, needs $34,000 to repair its two barns, reports Julia Scott in the County Times. The barns are used for teaching classes.

“Every time the wind blows, we find more shingles on the ground. It’s just getting worse,” said Program Coordinator Leslie Jensen, leading a tour of the barns during a break in the rain on Monday.

A few miles south of Half Moon Bay, Elkus Ranch is one of the most popular school field trip destinations in the Bay Area. More than 6,000 students explore the ranch’s gardens, greenhouse, animal paddocks and barns each year to learn about how food is grown, how to care for farm animals, and how they are connected to it all.

Hundreds of other kids come to the ranch each year with their Scout troops and 4-H groups. The ranch offers scholarships to low-income and disabled students with help from donors and the University of California, which provides the operating budget.

The historic barns are a centerpiece of the Elkus Ranch experience — it’s where the kids come to see the newborn sheep who start to appear at this time of year. They learn about history and physiology from an impressive collection of ancient fossils and animal bones, and they get to try their hand at working an old-fashioned loom during a popular “sheep to shawl” event.

To contribute to the Elkus Ranch “Adopt-a-Shingle” program, contact Leslie Jensen at 650-712-3151 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

SamTrans is rolling out the first of four new buses specially designed for use on the Coastside.  The 29-foot buses combine the versatility of a smaller vehicle with the benefits of a standard-size bus.  The event will be Thursday, Jan. 28 at 1:00pm in the New Leaf parking lot.

The new vehicles, which accommodate up to 41 passengers (28 seated and 13 standing) will replace the smaller vehicles currently in use on Route 17.  Ridership on the popular route regularly exceeds capacity.
 
Tenatively, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo will join officials from SamTrans local officials, including Susan Alvaro, president, San Mateo County Board of Education; Rob Gaskill, superintendent, Cabrillo Unified School District; Marina Fraser, mayor, City of Half Moon Bay; and Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, coastside representative, San Mateo County Transit District Board of Directors.

The buses are part of a larger purchase of 135 buses that will replace 1993-year models that have exceeded the recommended 12-year life-span.  The new buses use the latest clean-diesel technology, emitting 70 percent less nitrogen oxide and 90 percent less particulate matter than the older buses did in 1993.