Community Guide 2017
Deb Hubsmith: A Ball of Energy by Wendi Kallins
Jasper Thelin, Peter Oppenheimer, and others) they came up with the Go Geronimo “Reg”—a casual hitchhiking scheme where drivers and riders would register and get background checks in order to find safe ways to get over the hill by flashing their Go Geronimo card. This was a subject that affected her personally. When Deb first moved to the Valley she was commuting to San Francisco to her job at Planet Drum. Then, the director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition remarked that by driv- ing such long distances every day she was hardly being bio- regional. That got to her. And a momentous event caused her to change her life. She got in a car accident. As her car was careening out of control she made a vow. “If I live through this, I will never own a car again.” And she kept that promise for the rest of her short life.
Deb Hubsmith lived in the Valley for only a short time, but she made her mark. She started in 1995 as the Arts Coordinator at the San Geronimo Valley Cultural Center (now the Community Center) where she worked for three years. Even then everyone who met her saw that there was something remarkable about this young woman—not just intelligent, but insightful, organized, balanced, and vivacious. She developed the first summer concert series and created the San Geronimo Valley Music Festival fea- turing the “Positive Band,” including Terry Haggerty, Terry Garthwaite, Tim Cain and other local notables. Deb was a consummate promoter. She
was never off the job. Wherever she went she had a bundle of flyers that she handed out to everyone in sight. “She was a ball of energy,” remembered Community Center Director Dave Cort. “We balanced each other well. I was a little slow and process oriented. She would come in every day talking fast, loaded with ideas. “ Deb also resurrected Kate’s Café open mic. She and Anny Owens worked together to make it fun and brought in huge crowds. Sometimes, to liven things up, Deb would pop in doing gymnastics and blow everyone away with her hand flips and cartwheels. (Deb was a champion gymnast in high school before a knee injury put an end to that path.) “She brought so much joy and fun,” said Dave. “She took a small sleepy open mic on a Sunday night and turned it into a blast.” Deb also joined the Planning Group and became their secretary. Jean Berensmeier recalls how “Deb’s effusive energy was like a magnet. Whatever she did she did better than anyone before her.” As Secretary of the SGV Plan- ning Group in 1995-96 she was meticulous in recording motions, the flow of each meeting and writing letters. Her organizational skills helped speed mailings and were effective in developing a membership renewal system. Then Deb dove into the issue that would become her life’s work. Go Geronimo was born out of a Healthy Start Survey where transportation was the number one issue. Working with other members of the Go Geronimo Steering Wheel (Anny Owen,
Deb at the entrance of the CalPark Tunnel (Photo courtesy of Andy Peri)
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SGVCC
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