December 2004
Volume 16, Number 9
From the Chair: Make It Happen
Thank You, Welcome, Keep Up the Good Work
CERT Update: Jan 8 CERT Drill
Downtown Shopper: Shopping Serendipity
OMVNA General Meeting Update
From the Editor: Thanks Time — Again
Happy Holidays from the OMVNA Board! Have a joyous and fulfilling holiday season. We’ll see you in 2005!
From the Chair: Make It Happen
By Ronit Bryant
We who live in the neighborhood (in single-family houses, in condos, in apartments) have brought about big changes in our urban village, fuelled by shared concerns and dreams. In the late 80s and early 90s, we focused on calming neighborhood traffic and lowering the highway speeds clocked in front of Landels School. Next there was the dream of developing a neighborhood park in the heart of the neighborhood rather than on its edges. And then the decision to build a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to prepare the neighborhood for the big one.
These are issues that OMVNA, your neighborhood association, has dealt with over the years, dreams that neighbors had, struggles they became involved in. Each issue gained a new group of champions, neighbors fired up by the issue, ready to talk to neighbors and City staff about it, attend meetings, express opinions, write letters, articles, grants, proposals.
The wheels ground slowly; in some cases, very slowly. But today the City has a well-defined process for implementing traffic-calming measures; Dana Street in front of Landels no longer looks like a freeway; Mercy-Bush Park is a neighborhood jewel, very popular for baby groups, birthday parties, informal ball games, and quiet meditation in the shade of the oak trees; and the OMVNA CERT boasts some 40 volunteer local coordinators.
What’s your dream for the neighborhood? Become involved — make it happen.
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Thank You, Welcome, Keep Up the Good Work
Thank you to members of the outgoing board of OMVNA for giving up scarce and precious family and leisure time to plan and prepare for the benefit of the neighborhood. And welcome to the new board.
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CERT Update: Jan 8 CERT Drill
By Aaron Grossman
OMVNA’s first live action Incident Command Drill is Saturday, January 8. It will be combined with our annual CERT meeting at Landels School from 9am until noon. There is no charge and everyone is welcome, but the number of participants is limited. RSVP in advance to Aaron Grossman to reserve a space. We also need several volunteers to help run the drill, so please let us know if you can help.
CERT means Community Emergency Response Team. In an emergency, CERT members will probably NOT be able to provide you with food, water, or shelter. They WILL help you get prepared in advance, and during an emergency they WILL help their neighbors organize and respond to it.
This hands-on drill will help prepare us for a major emergency, such as an earthquake or terrorist attack. OMVNA thanks the City of Mountain View for the grant to pay for this valuable training program. RSVP to Aaron Grossman at aagrossman@yahoo.com or 408 202-28025. PS — additional donations for new equipment are still needed. Thanks!
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Downtown Shopper: Shopping Serendipity
By Julie Lovins
Holiday shopping need not be stressful (or expensive!). You can avoid traffic, crowds, and other unwanted adventures by heading for downtown Mountain View.
To start with, if there's a Christmas tree in your life, it deserves at least one glorious ornament from Crystal House (Austrian gold and crystal), Napoleon at Home (vintage French-inspired fantasies), or Cosmos & Candles (aside from holiday decor, great candles and other objects of beauty and wonder, such as mobiles). For greenery, don't miss Floratique (on Evelyn), Robert Moore Flowers, or Fleur de Lis.
Floratique speaks to both the eye and the mouth, with chocolates. Check out Mountain View Tea Village & Gallery for another version of the same mix: tea and bamboo. Gifts for coffee drinkers can be found at Red Rock Café, Dana Street Roasting Company and Starbucks.
Casablanca, Crystal House, Global Beads, La Petite Chaise, Plumeria, East West Books, Touch of Mexico and ASTG Computer (across Castro from Books Inc.) all offer beautiful women's clothing and accessories: don't go by the name, just browse! Each store has a spectrum of treasures for everyone.
For the child in your life, the House of Forgotten Treasures on the corner of Bryant and Villa offers just that. Treasures awaiting a good home with a child who will cherish them.
Napoleon at Home, zeroing in on "cozy chic", is a home-furnishings store where nothing looks mass-produced: our local Parisian flea market.
It is kin in some sense to La Petite Chaise, where most of the serendipities are antique. More personal unexpected items — a "sound shell" that provides a background of cricket chirps or soothing music, "Zen clocks" they chime rather than beeping, a transient-painting kit (the medium is water) — are found at East West Books.
Zillions more books (etc.) live at Books Inc. and Book Buyers. While you’re there, pick up a 2005 calendar — Book Buyers has a wonderful selection. You’ll find more books and gifts in the Lobby Shop at the city library, also known as the home of animal puppets for kids of all ages.
For musical notes, there's Mountain View Music. For the ultimate gift in low-maintenance pets, Seascapes has Siamese Fighting Fish in several hues; fishbowls; and do-it-yourself aquarium-seascaping materials. Additional do-it-yourself ideas will appear at Tap Plastic everyone needs a little jewel-colored plastic box for something. Or Mountain View Lock and Key, or Minton's!
If you want to create your own gifts check out Global Beads or Eddie’s Quilting Bee (also a great resource for the seamstress on your list).
If you still haven't made up your mind, ask any store or restaurant for a gift certificate, instant fun for the giftee.
If you feel the need for refreshment during your shopping trip, stop by any of the numerous tea and coffee shops and restaurants both on and off of Castro Street. With its variety of shops and restaurants, downtown Mountain View is a great place to shop for that hard-to-find gift.
For further information about shopping downtown please download the Downtown Shopping Guide at www.ci.mtnview.ca.us/citynews/pdf/Downtown_Guide.pdf
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OMVNA General Meeting Update
By Velva Rowell
On Wednesday, October 21, OMVNA held their fall General Meeting in the fellowship hall of Trinity United Methodist Church. The annual officer elections were held and the following slate was elected for 2005:
- Chair: Velva Rowell
- Vice Chair: Ken Rosenberg
- Secretary: Kim Copher
- Treasurer: Aaron Grossman
- Newsletter Editor: Nikol Jackson
- Community Liaison: Tom Matula
- At Large: Erin Sanders
- At Large: Jamil Shaikh
- CERT Subcommitee Chair: Aaron Grossman
Congratulations to our new Steering Committee members who will take office in January 2005.
Every two years, OMVNA’s fall general meeting features an informative and interesting City Council candidate forum. This year was no exception. All six candidates were present and eager to answer our questions and make their positions known on a variety of topics.
Many of the candidates commented that our forum format was very low-stress and comfortable for them. Many thanks go out to Bruce Karney for his services as moderator of the forum. Also thanks to Ken Rosenberg for his running update on the status of the Red Sox in their final game before the World Series.
Thank you to Margaret Abe-Koga, Nick Galiotto, Laura Macias, Tom Means, Matt Pear and Stephanie Schaaf for their participation in the candidate forum and, more importantly, for their willingness to put themselves out there and run for City Council to continue to improve life in Mountain View.
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From the Editor: Thanks Time — Again
This is my last issue as the editor of the OMVNA Newsletter, and I feel strongly that it is time to give thanks for a great team, appropriate since I’m writing this on Thanksgiving. This newsletter is the primary formal method of communication we have. There is a core group of people who regularly write articles for this publication. Ronit Bryant, Julie Lovins, Aaron Grossman, Shelly King, Erin Sanders, Bruce Karney and several others have faithfully contributed articles for your information and entertainment.
The way production has worked for the past two years, I receive all the articles on Thursday night and lay them out into the newsletter. It is then proofread prior to creation of the final draft on Monday morning, sent to the printers and finally divided up into packets and given to the people who deliver them to your doorstep. The keys players in the production process are my faithful copy editors, Ronit Bryant and Monica Smith. They often receive copy from me as late as Sunday afternoon, but it always comes back to my doorstep on Monday before noon fully proofread and edited. I would not like to think how many errors you would find in this publication without them.
Julie Lovins and her crew of distribution coordinators and delivery people are the lifeblood of this publication. They faithfully delivered every issue this year — even when I gave them three over the course of two months. Yay, team!
Without this group of people, there really wouldn’t be a newsletter. If you happen to meet up with one of these volunteers, thanks them for donating their time to keep you better informed.
I’m not going very far away — you’ll be hearing from me as your Chair in the next issue of the OMVNA Newsletter. My final thanks go to Nikol Jackson, who has volunteered to take on the position of Newsletter Editor for the coming year. Have a wonderful holiday season. We’ll see you next year!
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The OMVNA Newsletter
is published by a volunteer editorial committee & distributed to some 2400 homes and businesses by volunteers.
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The opinions printed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the OMVNA Steering Committee.
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