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2010-09-11 Harvest Walkabout

The Harvest Walkabout, held 11 September 2010 was a resounding success! See the article from the Sunnyvale Sun Sunnyvale Sun Article, 17 September 2010. Better yet read the article with pictures in the 17 September 2010 Sunnyvale Sun.

A Message from our Harvest Walkabout Co-Chairs

Kudos to everyone who made our first Harvest Walkabout such a success! To the gracious refreshment stand hosts and all who donated or participated - you rock! If anyone incurred any expenses for the event, please let us know; we have grant funds to cover purchases

Kathy dropped off SIX bags of produce to Full Circle Farm this morning; they were really excited about our contribution. This will be added to their normal delivery to local shelters so please tell your kids that they were doing a measure of good while having so much fun!

In honor of them (and you), we'd like to present a few 'superlative' awards (no prizes, just glory!):

Most involved street: Elderberry (with at least 4 stops)
Best lemonade: Tie between 1027 Yorktown and Elderberry crew (great sales job, girls!)
Best sweet treat: 1090 Syracuse (Thanks, Shelley for the amazing home-baked cookies!)
Best savory treat: 1081 Rockefeller (cherry tomatoes with feta, balsamic and basil - great recipe, Nina!)
Best location: the EXTENSIVE gardens at Idylwood - they showed us everything!
Most coveted item: apples (Elderberry and 1087 Yorktown)
Most unusual item: Egyptian onions (1081 Rockefeller)
Most plentiful item: lemons (practically everyone!)
Best hosts: Nina and Dan McQueen, for setting out tables, chairs and organizing a FABULOUS raffle!

If you can think of other superlatives we should award, please let us know!
Here are two terrific comments we received as part of our raffle (which encouraged a bit of feedback):

"This was such a fantastic event! I really enjoyed meeting new people and we'll have a great salad tonight!" (In response to: what did you like about the event?)

"Everything, particularly the fellowship: meeting new people and renewing old friendships."

(In response to: what else would you like to see us do?)

"More things like this that keep us mixing. Maybe progressive parties or dinners?"

If anyone else has any comments or suggestions, please chime in! We apologize for the confusion about the location of Idylwood - thanks everyone for being so accommodating about the mess-up. Next year, we'll be better organized!
Lastly, to further strengthen our neighborhood relationships, we'd like to encourage you to support the following groups who provided information for our 'building community' table (and would love to hear from you!):

FULL CIRCLE FARM

Farmstand Hours: Wed&Fri: 2pm-7pm, Sun: 11am-3pm
Don't forget the upcoming 'Harvest Dinner' on September 23rd. A small group of us are planning to go, if you want to join us (and carpool), please speak up! Tickets may be purchased at: http://www.fullcirclesunnyvale.org/?page_id=1202

IDYLWOOD CARE CENTER

If you want to stay more local, we've also been invited to a luau party at Idylwood that same day (9/23 4-7pm); it will feature appetizers, fruity virgin cocktails, Polynesian dancers and tours of Idylwood. Dress is casual or island-theme and is FREE!

TRAILBLAZER RACE 2010

The Trailblazer Race benefitting the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail is on Sunday, September 26th at 8:30am. You may register online at: http://www.stevenscreektrail.org (or ask Fritz Stawitcke for an entry form!)

SUNNYVALE MIDDLE SCHOOL

If you shop at Safeway, you can earn cash for SMS every time you shop! This is FREE to you and last year brought in over $13,000 to help fund educationally enriching programs (which help keep our home values strong). All you need to do is fill out an eScrip form (available from Kathy Besser, who will drop one off at your home along with a stamped, addressed envelope to make it even easier to participate).

HIDDEN VILLA RANCH

Native Plant Sale on Saturday, October 16th from 10am-3pm at Hidden Villa Ranch, 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos. For more details, please visit: http://www.cnps-scv.org.

COMMON GROUND

Common Ground is an organic garden supply and education center in Palo Alto. It is open M-F 10am-5:30pm and Sat/Sun 10am-5pm. Please help support this amazing local resource center. For more details, please visit: http://www.commongroundinpaloalto.org/.

Thanks again!!

Kathy Besser and Barb Grimes
Harvest Walkabout 2010 Co-chairs

2010-03-01 General Meeting

We held a general meeting 1 March 2010 in the De Anza Park Building. The meeting was highlighted by a presentation by Doug Moretto, Captain, Special Operations, Sunnyvale Public Safety. He spoke about youth at risk and gangs in Sunnyvale. Yes, there are gangs in Sunnyvale! What is being done about it? The Sunnyvale Challenge Team has been formed to redirect and mentor youth at risk. For those of you who missed the meeting, and by popular request, Here is the meeting presentation including Doug Moretto's slides .

An anonymous tip site has been set up where you can report gang and other suspicious activity. See the poster TipNowSV .

2009-12-13 Holiday Walkabout

The walkabout was a resounding success! It started at Westmoor Shopping Center, proceeded along Mandarin Drive, Yorktown, Valley Forge, Lime, Ticonderoga, Elderberry, Syracuse, Cranberry, and Rockefeller. Some of us walked all the way; others joined in and walked part of the way. There were seven stations set up along the way with with refreshments ranging from cake and cookies to mulled wine! About 100 neighbors joined in at one time or another. There were about 80 neighbors at the final stop at Crandano Court off Rockefeller. The invitation, which is the best overall description, is available at Walkabout Invitation.

Beth Erickson, Valley Forge Drive, said, “What a marvelous and unique evening! Applause to those who made it happen and to all who supplied the spirit.”

Andrea Stawitcke, Yorktown Drive, said, “Fritz and I had such a wonderful time hosting and meeting so many old and new friends. We especially enjoyed all the kids who stopped and really enjoyed chatting and eating :-). Kudos to Kathy Besser for such a wonderful, warm idea and to Kyle for all the help with organizing too! You really pulled off a great event. We live amid a great group of folks and are thankful to be part of such a terrific community. Happy Holidays!"

Kim Jelfs, Robin Court, said, “A big Thank You to Kathy, Wayne, Kyle and all the hosts for this afternoon's neighborhood walkabout. Since we were pressed for time (had a dinner appt in Mountain View to get to) we did only part of the route in reverse but it was still lovely to meet some of you and visit. The treats were delicious and the coffee and hot chocolate kept us warm. Our 5 yr old daughter loved the festivities and seeing all the holiday lights as we walked back home.”

Here is a copy of the flyer for our 13 December 2009 walkabout:

First Annual Holiday Walkabout

Please join us for an Italian-style ‘passeggiata’, a walk through Cherryhill Neighborhood to meet each other, spread some holiday cheer and enjoy festive outdoor decorations.

Join a progressive evening stroll (meet at Michael’s Hallmark by 4pm) or make ad hoc visits to the 7 host stations in the neighborhood. Either way, make your final stop at Crandano Court so we may conclude the evening with a toast to everyone’s health and happiness in the coming year.

Each station will offer hot drinks and homebaked holiday goodies. Let’s make this event as green as possible by bringing our own reusable mugs and keeping the paper goods to a minimum. We are looking for baked goods donations at all stations! Starbucks is generously donating hot coffee travelers; certain host stations will provide hot chocolate and spiced cider as well.

To help those less fortunate, we are asking that you consider bringing donations of dry foods, warm socks and/or unwrapped toys that we will collectively donate to Sunnyvale`Community Services. This is a voluntary effort; please do not feel pressured to participate. Donations may be brought to any neighborhood host station (except Michael’s Hallmark store).

For children, there will be a raffle at Crandano Court. Download and print the Map and Raffle Entry, collect stickers at each host station, then drop entries into the drawing basket at Crandano court. Raffle prizes include a $25 GameStop gift card, Baskin Robbins Yule Log cake and Michael’s Hallmark goodies.

Host Stations (in order of the progressive walk):

Michael’s Hallmark (gather at 4pm)
1081 Yorktown Drive - hosted by Fritz and Andrea Stawitcke
1010 Valley Forge Drive - hosted by Prince and Ancy Nechikat
Ticonderoga and Elderberry - hosted by Amy McFarland and Bev Brown
1090 Syracuse - hosted by Kyle Welch, Karen Nguyen and Mark Tran, Geri Filippini
1234 Cranberry Drive - hosted by Carol Malone and Jan Keilig
Crandano Court - hosted by Joanne Callahan, Dan and Nina McQueen

The complete walkabout map is shown below. Please feel free to just walk out your front door and visit any stations near you or maybe join the walk as it goes past your home. Townsend Terrace, Blackberry Terrace, and Robin Way are not included on the map but are part of our association, so please come out and join us.

Approximate Walkabout Schedule

Here is an approximate schedule derived using Google Maps that shows approximately when the walkabout entourage will arrive at each of the seven stops. That way neighbors who don’t want to walk the whole course can join in along the way.

The total walking distance is about 2 miles. The walking time is about 80 minutes.

If we stop for 10 – 15 minutes at each stop we will get to the stops approximately as follows:

Arrive 1 (Hallmark) 4:00 pm
Leave 1 (Hallmark) 4:10 pm
Arrive 2 (Yorktown) 4:30 pm
Arrive 3 (Valley Forge) 4:45 pm
Arrive 4 (Elderberry) 5:00 pm
Arrive 5 (Syracuse) 5:15 pm
Arrive 6 (Cranberry) 5:30 pm
Arrive 7 (Crandano) 5:45 pm

We hope that everyone in the neighborhood can join us at some point. The whole idea is to get out and meet your neighbors. So just get out and walk a bit, even if you don't meet the entourage. The stops will most likely be set up for the whole two hours, so there is no problem with neignbors congregating at the stops any old time.

2009-09 General Meeting

Our 2009 September Meeting A presentation on the Sunnyvale Neighborhood Preservation Program was made by Steve Frias of the City of Sunnyvale. We approved a change to the bylaws to define the Board of Officers. The Board of Officers now consists of the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, First Past Chairperson, Second Past Chairperson, and Member at Large. Candidates for Sunnyvale City Council were invited. Two attended: Pat Meyering and Penny M. Kelly. They made short presentations and we discussed issues with them after the meeting. We elected new officers who begin their terms on January 1, 2010. the new officers are:

Chairperson: Wayne Amacher
Vice Chairperson: Kyle Welch
Treasurer: Jim Sturtevant
Secretary: Doris Tan
Member at Large: Amy McFarland

2009-08-04 Second Annual National Night Out (NNO)

Our Second National Night Out™ celebration was held 4 August 2009 at De Anza Park. Neighbors joined forces with thousands of communities nationwide for the 26th annual National Night Out™ crime and drug prevention event. At the event we met city officials, Council Members, our City Manager, and police and fire officers. We got to see and hear about the new Sunnyvale armored search and rescue vehicle which is essentially immune to bombs.

2009-06-13 Second annual Cherryhill Neighborhood Association Block Party

Our Second annual Cherryhill Neighborhood Association Block Party was held on 13 June 2009. We had over 100 attendees and everyone had a good time. Details in our next newsletter; watch for it.

2009-03-27 General Meeting

Our 2009 Spring Meeting was held on 27 April 2009, at De Anza Park. At the meeting we met our new Sunnyvale City Manager, Gary Luebbers; recieved an update on the Stevens Creek Trail from Garth Williams; and discussed traffic control in our neighborhood with Officer Jim Davis. A report on the meeting is available at Spring Meeting Report and will be reported in our next newsletter; watch for it.

2009-08-29 Neighborhood Watch Meeting

A was held Friday, 29 August 2008, at the DeAnza Park Bldg. We were given a presentation on SNAP (Sunnyvale Neighborhoods Actively Prepare) by Lt. John Gienger. SNAP is a unique residential emergency preparedness program presented by the Sunnyvale Office of Emergency Services. SNAP assists- you, your family, and your neighborhood - to function independently of outside services for the first 72 hours following a disaster. Our July 2008 Newsletter contains a report. Click on "Newsletters" for more details.

2008-08-05 2008 First Annual National Night Out™ (NNO)

Our 2008 National Night Out™ Potluck Party was held at De Anza Park on 5 August 2008. The event is designed to assist neighborhoods in crime and drug prevention. Our August Newsletter contains a report and pictures. Click on "Newsletters" for more details.

2008-06-38 Organizational Meeting

An Organizational Meeting to get our neighborhood association started was held 28 June 2008. A report including photos is included in the July 2008 Newsletter. Click on "Newsletters" for more details.

2008-06 We Became Official

Approximately June 2008 we filed the paper work and became an official Sunnyvale Neighborhood Association.

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