Tag Archives: John

October 30, 2010 · 12:18 pm

Trick-or-Treat Trail Crossing Guard

Yesterday, I was one of the Willow Glen Lions who were volunteer crossing guards for the Trick-or-Treat Trail put on by the Willow Glen Business Association. This is our Lions Club’s second year serving our community through this school-day-before-Halloween safety project. It was fun but I have much increased respect for the difficult job of a crossing guard. I was last a crossing guard when I was in 6th grade. As John Plocher wrote:

What’s scarier than vampires, ghosts and dragons? Drivers on cell phones making left turns and jockeying for parking spots as thousands of kids and their parents descend on downtown Willow Glen for the WGBA’s annual Halloween trick-or-treat event!

The children and families and school groups paraded around Lincoln Avenue in two two-hour shifts (10 am – 12 pm for little kids, 2 pm – 4 pm for bigger kids), collecting candy from businesses. There were clear categories of costumes:

Super heroes (Iron Man, Buzz Lightyear, Spider Man, Superman and Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Mario Brothers, Batman, ninjas, Star Wars)
Fantasy characters (Dragons, fairies, elves, wizards or sorceresses, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Tigger, jack-o-lanterns, clowns, cowboys and cowgirls, pirates, knights and medieval ladies, Roman soldiers and ladies, aliens, robots, devils, Disney princesses)
Storybook characters (Dorothy and the Witch from Oz, Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty, Thomas the Tank Engine, The Cat in the Hat with Thing One and Thing Two, kings and queens and princesses, Alice in Wonderland with the Queen of Hearts and Mad Hatter)
TV characters (Sponge Bob, Rust-eze Cars, Power Rangers, Sesame Street)
Animals (Cats, Dogs, Dinosaurs, Tigers, Zebras, Giraffes, Lions, Bugs, Cows, Skunks, Monkeys, Rabbits, and one small elephant)
Food and plants (pumpkins, grapes, bananas, hot dogs, flowers)
Horror (ghosts, witches, vampires, murderers, zombies, skeletons, werewolves, Munch’s Scream, Death)
Unique costumes (a marionette puppet, outfits on real dogs, hippies, a Lego block, Mustard, a mime)
Sports costumes (Giants, Raiders, Sharks)
Work costumes (police, firefighters, army and navy, ballerinas, prisoners)

Some costumes were store-bought, some were home-made, many were a combination. My favorite pair costume was a big sister with ghastly bloody-looking makeup on her neck and face walking with a smaller boy all in black. When I asked what they were, she pointed and said: “He murdered me!” at which he smiled happily.

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Tagged as John, San Jose, Willow Glen

October 26, 2010 · 5:37 pm

Birthday at Eliza’s, San Francisco

On Sunday, John and Paul and I took my parents to Eliza’s Chinese Restaurant to celebrate my father’s 84th birthday. (Eliza’s is his favorite.) I am not sure if he likes the modern art glass displays or the food better. Eliza’s food is very good and fresh (but not traditional-Chinese style). Be sure to check out the glass fish swimming up the walls of the bathroom when you visit.

Eliza’s
2877 California Street
(between Broderick St & Divisadero Streets)
San Francisco, CA

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October 24, 2010 · 4:22 pm

Camp Clay

One of our annual August activities at the Lair of the Golden Bear family camp is playing with clay. Most of the family ends up in the Lair’s Art Grove sooner or later, either to keep my mother (Eleanor Dickinson) company while she is drawing and painting, or to do art of our own. This year, I bought four bisqueware plates at the camp store. (Bisqueware is once-fired clay.) Recruiting Jessica, Matt, Paul, and John, I traced one of each of our hands on a plate. I painted in between the lines in colored glaze, then covered the whole with clear glaze.* I fired the plates once at camp and then painted over the hands for deeper color and fired them again after vacation at Clay Planet (Santa Clara, California).

My mother mostly painted tiles and sketched in her traveling journal. This year, she painted a special bowl in honor of my son Paul’s 18th birthday. It features images of rock crystals and a large beetle.

* actually, John painted on the clear glaze for me because he smudges less than I do

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Tagged as Eleanor, Jessica, John, Lair of the Bear, Matthew, Paul, University of California

October 20, 2010 · 4:09 pm

Willow Glen Lions Projects

I am in my second year as the Secretary to the Willow Glen Lions Club in San Jose, California. A Lions Club Secretary is the administrative officer – making monthly membership and program reports to Lions Clubs International, managing the club roster, keeping minutes of meetings, serving on the Board, etc.

Our club was chartered just over a year ago and we have made good progress. Willow Glen Lions is now in our second year of community service projects which include:

Backpacks for Kids (for Grammar School – working with the Almaden Super Lions Club)
Blanket Drive (working with the Almaden Super Lions Club)
High School Speakers’ Contest
Hot San Jose Nights – Pancake Breakfast and other activities (our club’s signature charity fundraising project). In 2010, we used our charity funds to sponsor scholarships for kids going to the Diabetes Society camps.
Peace Poster Contest (for Middle School artists)
Trick or Treat Trail monitors and crossing guards (29 October, Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen, working with the Willow Glen Business Association)
Used Eyeglasses Recycling (for distribution to the needy in Mexico and elsewhere)

Last night, the Club Board voted funding to begin a new Leos Club for teens in Willow Glen. My husband John and I just created the club’s first business card – preparing for our club’s second Fall Mixer (at Chase Bank on Lincoln Avenue at Minnesota in Willow Glen, 6:30-8 pm on 10 November), and other upcoming activities. It arrived today!

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Tagged as John, Mexico, San Jose, Willow Glen

October 15, 2010 · 10:23 pm

Facilities Task Force

John and I are members of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Saratoga, California. In addition to participating in several other ministries, I am in my second year on the Vestry (elected lay leadership group). Our Mission:

As a community in Christ, Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church offers a spiritual home for those seeking to celebrate God’s love, participate in joyful fellowship and faithfully serve those in need, near and far.

I think it is particularly appropriate that St. Andrew’s recently had “got heart?” tshirts made up for this year’s stewardship campaign. St. Andrew’s is a generous community with welcoming hearts.

In May 2010, a St. Andrew’s Vestry Facilities Task Force was chartered to consider the changes in facilities needs for the parish since our Strategic Plan was created some years ago. Why create this Task Force? The parish continues to grow, there have been changes in staff, and the national economic downturn means that less money is available than when the original plans were created. The task force included me (Katy Dickinson – the Chair), Gerry Chartrand, Ken Cook (the liaison to St. Andrew’s Master Facilities Committee), and Harry Van Wickle. The team received generous support and advice from our Rector and Senior Warden, and from the many people who were interviewed. The Task Force was asked to focus on lasting decisions rather than short-term fixes. Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School is also developing a facilities analysis in coordination with this work.

We interviewed over fifty parishioners, clergy, and church staff, both individually and during four open forums in July 2010. In addition, the national Episcopal Church provided us with a list of Episcopal churches that are the next step larger than St. Andrew’s. Five of the churches interviewed so far are located in California, New York, Texas, Virginia, and Washington DC. These benchmarking interviews are to understand the circumstances and best practices of parishes that are the size that St. Andrew’s aspires to be. The national Episcopal Church also provided extensive reports containing demographic and community trend analysis.

Topics most mentioned in the interviews included: Accessibility (16 mentions), Acolytes (11 mentions), Bathrooms (14 mentions), The Center (50 mentions), Choir Loft (18 mentions), Kitchens (30 mentions), Library (11 mentions), Labyrinth (6 mentions), Meeting or conference spaces (60+ mentions), The Narthex (15 mentions), The Nursery (12 mentions), The Oak (10 mentions), Offices (30 mentions), Outreach (8 mentions), Parking (18 mentions), Storage (31 mentions), and Youth Room (23 mentions). The issue which seems to raise the most passion is our need for more Storage!

Some of the suggested facilities changes are expensive but many are not. The Task Force presented its findings to the Vestry in August and to the Master Facilities Committee and the parish at large this month. Our reports have been well received. We will follow up with several of the larger churches on additional questions that have been raised since the first report to the Vestry. It has been a pleasure to use some of the good management tools and business methods I learned as part of my Six Sigma training during this worthy and interesting project. It has also been an honor and joy to work with my talented team!

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Tagged as Episcopal church, John, Six Sigma, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

October 15, 2010 · 8:06 pm

Two Dogs, One Cat (Taking Pet Pictures)

The animals in our family include two 8 year old birds, a 15 year old cat, a 14 year old dog, and a large wiggly 1-1/2 year old puppy. They are all rescue animals or adopted strays. The birds are cockatiels; the others are mutts. From time to time, I take photos of everybody. I recently attempted the near-impossible task of getting both dogs and the cat in one picture. A fast camera and much patience is required. I have a Canon S90 PowerShot, which is not fast enough. A dog’s tail can wag faster than almost any camera. Also, our dogs and cat like each other fine but each is watchfully jealous that someone else might get more attention than they.

I tried first to get the dogs to pose outside of the screen door of John’s office but finally had to enlist John to get everyone in one place. I ended up with several great portraits of each animal but never all three looking good in the same shot. At least everyone had fun.

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October 9, 2010 · 9:27 pm

Blessing the Animals on St. Francis’ day

Last week at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (Saratoga, CA), we had our annual blessing of the animals for St. Francis’ day. We sang hymns appropriate to the day:

All things bright and beautiful…

For the beauty of the earth…

All creatures of our God and King…

We said the prayer attributed to St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon:
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.

We said the Collect for the Feast of St. Francis:

Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John and I brought our cockatiel birds Guapo and Sparky in their domed cage. They were very interested and flirted amiably with many children. The biggest animals to be blessed were a team of draft horses; the smallest was a red betta fish. The congregation loves to bring their dogs and cats and rabbits and other pets to church this one day. Running the service around animals’ needs and noises is challenging but it is a joyous day for all.