Community Organizations and Services
Enjoy This Special Place by John Beckerley I have so many great memories of living in the San Geronimo Valley. Number one, it was a family place, and such a wonderful place to raise our children and to watch them become adults and then have children. I have always experienced Valley-raised children to be kind to each other, to respect one another and their parents and other adults. I have enjoyed coaching soccer, basketball, and Little League throughout many years. I never had a child on my teams that I disliked. One of my favorite memories is being invited by a neighbor to play pick up basketball in 1976 at the Lagunitas school yard on Saturday morning at 10:00am. The game continues on every Saturday at 10:00am. I have met so many wonderful people and have had so many lasting friendships throughout the years. Now as the oldest continuous player on the court, I have and still play with three generations of players. Some of us have played with fathers, sons and grandsons. As twilight is setting in on me, I am so thankful that we moved to this wonderful Valley and experienced all the joy of wonderful community. I say to you, “Be thankful and appreciate the blessings you have, be good to everyone, and enjoy this special Place.” The Valley Food Co-op by Amy Valens The Valley Food Co-op started at the Community Center in the early 1970s heyday of buying clubs. It happily returned to the Center this year. The people who participate have always recognized the benefits (financially and socially) of coming together for this basic task. Currently we meet once a month. Everyone has a task that takes about three hours to complete. In the early years we met more often, and for a while some folks even rose at the crack of dawn to drive to San Francisco for produce and fresh bagels. For a long time now Valley resident Terry Fowler (co-owner of Fowler Brothers Food Distribution) has kept us going by deliv- ering products at close to wholesale prices. The size of the group has varied from 12-20 families, usually being around 16 of us. In the process of sharing cases of chickens or bags of rice we share ideas about the whys and hows of the food we put on our tables in an infor- mal and direct fashion. New members are welcome! For more information contact Belynda Marks at belyndaw@yahoo.com or 415-987-9202.
Rolling Stones June 2004 Coming Together by Dave Cort, Center Director
This spring, I had a series of experiences that are (I believe) connected. Maybe by the end of writing this Rolling Stones article I’ll be able to figure out how these experiences relate. I had the great honor to attend a gathering of the Fertile Crescent at the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley (CEL). The gathering was facilitated by Valley resident Janet Brown who works at CEL and “in her spare time” grows some of the world’s finest tomatoes right here in the San Geronimo Valley. I spent the entire day with 25 people from six Bay Area counties as part of an action group working on ways to make this a healthier world for our children. Our guest speaker was the Executive Director of Commercial Alert, Gary Ruskin. Gary spoke about ways that parents, community members and activ- ists can “restore to parents some measure of control over the commercial influences on their children.” Check out their website at www.commercialalert.org. I returned to the Valley from Berkeley and that same evening I participated in a gathering of 12 dads and daughters. Our group of dads came together to share experiences and to learn from each other. Our daughters ranged from 5 to 28 years old. Joe Kelly in his book, Dads and Daughters , said “Fathers influence how daugh- ters see themselves. With a father’s positive words and support, a daughter can be safe and healthy, and can thrive no matter where life takes her. A girl whose father listens to and respects her will expect her life partner to treat her well.” By the end of the meeting, I sure felt like I was on a healthy path with my daughter. The group is planning a Dad’s and Daughter’s beach day in early June and other gatherings in the fall. In early May, my own dad’s health took a turn for the worse. He experienced a series of falls and ended up in the hospital. The time this happened to him, I also ended up in the hospital suffering a severe anxiety attack around my worries about my dad. I handled this latest challenge much better. My sisters and I and our spouses realized that we really have to support each other in caring for our dad. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses in dealing with our parents, and how we take care of each other helps us best support our dad in life’s challenges. So I guess that’s what this is all about, supporting each other in our own families and in our community. People coming together in healthy, caring, loving ways can make for positive changes in our world. I feel so fortunate to have these life experiences.
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50 th Anniversary
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