April in Claremont

Lot of things happining in town this weekend...

CANCER SOCIETY FUNDRAISER

The 2011 Claremont/La Verne Relay for Life takes place tomorrow beginning at 9am at on the track at Claremont High. You can read more about it on the event's website.

Event Schedule
Opening Ceremony: 9:00Am Sat
Survivors Lap: 9:00Am Sat
Luminaria Ceremony: 9:00Pm Sat
Fight Back / Closing Ceremony:8:30Am Sun

One day. One night. One community. One Fight. Relay For Life is a life-changing event that brings together more than 3.5 million people- to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer; remember loved ones lost to the disease; and fight back against a disease that takes too much. Won't you join us?

About Relay For Life
Teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relays are 24 hours in length; representing the reality that cancer never sleeps. By participating, you honor cancer survivors, pay tribute to the lives we've lost to the disease, and raise money to help fight cancer in your community.

Relay began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma, Washington, ran and walked around a track for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Since then, Relay has grown from a single man’s passion to fight cancer into the world’s largest movement to end the disease. For more information, visit our Relay For Life information page.

FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK

Vince Turner at Claremont Community College reminds about the First Friday Art Walk tonight in the Claremont Village:

Date: Thu, March 31, 2011 11:52:10 AM
Subject: First Friday Art Walk
To: Claremont Buzz

We'll be participating in the Claremont First Friday Art Walk!

We'll start at 5:30 Friday at:

101 North Indian Hill Blvd. Suite C2-203
Above Casa Moreno on the 1st Street Side

And plan to attend the Claremont 5 Second Film Festival on Thursday April 28th!

--
Vince Turner
(909) 477-1747

SATURDAY AT SCRIPPS

Tomorrow afternoon at the Garrison Theater on the campus of Scripps College the Claremont Chorale performs Bach's St. John Passion:

J. S. Bach: Passion According to St. John
For one of Bach's greatest masterpieces, the Chorale will be joined by professional soloists and orchestra. Sung in English. View concert flyer (PDF) to see soloists.

When:
Saturday, April 2, 2011 - 3:00 p.m.

Where:
Garrisson Auditorium - Scripps College
231 East 10th Street
Claremont, CA 91711

This performance is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.


TICKETS

	General	Senior/Student
At the door	$15	$12
Advance purchase	$13 (save $2)	$10 (save $2)
Season tickets	$36 (save $9)	$28 (save $8)

For advance and season tickets, send a check payable to The Claremont Chorale to P.O. Box 489, Claremont, CA 91711.

(Click to Enlarge)

MEET THE COUNCIL

Sunday, April 3, being the first Sunday of the month, means it's once again time for the Claremont City Council to trot out its booth at the Claremont Farmers' Market and greet the community.

The councilmembers will be working the both in one hour shifts beginning at 8am. You might not see newly-elected Joe Lyons (photo, right), though. Now that he's actually on the council, Joe is reverting to his pre-election interest in city matters, which was a big fat zero. At least, Joe doesn't seem to be too much interested in the community interest sorts of things the council does (the Friends of the Library Spelling Bee, for example). Callow Joe is apparently plotting his next move. Perhaps another run at Republican Bob Huff's State Senate seat. Anyway, the little things, like being a team player don't seem to be of much interest to our Mr. Lyons.

Talk With Council at the Farmer's Market

8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Claremont Village
2nd Street between Indian Hill Boulevard and Yale Ave.
Claremont
(909) 399-5460

Talk with council members when they "set up shop" at the Claremont Farmers' Market, on the 1st Sunday of each month.

Around Town

Now that Measure CL has come and gone, we can turn our attention to the more mundane goings on around town.

If you're interested in meeting Claremont's council members, you'll have two chances this weekend. On Saturday, November 6, from 8am to 2pm, the City Council will hold a workshop to review and reviews its ongoing priorties list. The workshop will be held in the Padua Room of the Alexander Hughes Community Center at 1700 Danbury Rd.

Some things, like buying the water system from Golden State Water Company, will fall off the list because the City is no longer pursuing a municipal water service. Others, like a new police station, remain on the A-list of priorties. And there are new items to add to the list, like the problem of Claremont's seriously underfunded CalPERS pension liabilities.

The City has the workshop's agenda posted on their document website. You can review last year's priorities here. They've also posted details on the City's ongoing or completed projects, an update on its existing priorties, and descriptions of new topics proposed for inclusion in the priorties lists.

For more information on Saturday's council workshop, call (909) 399-5460.

* * * * *

You can also speak to individual council members in a more informal setting at the Claremont Farmers' Market on Sunday, November 7, between 8am and 1pm. The market is located on 2nd Street between Indian Hill Blvd. and Yale Ave. Council members take their turns in one hour shifts in the little council booth, so feel free to talk one of them up.

This Weekend in Claremont

A couple reminders:

The First Friday Art Walk happens tonight in the Claremont Village. Also, the Friday Nights Live music events will take place tonight as well.

Also, this Sunday, June 7th, members of the Claremont City Council will have their booth open at the Claremont Farmers Market from 8am to 1pm. Get on out, buy some goodies, and say hi to your favorites councilperson.

If you can wait until Sunday, you can also see the council tonight at 6pm.

Goings On in Claremont

COUNCIL MARKET DAY

It being the first Sunday of the month, you can find our city council working their booth at the Claremont Farmers Market between 8am and 1pm. The councilmembers will be there in one hour shifts. The appearance schedule isn't listed, so if you want see a specific councilmember, you'll just have to take your chances on the timing.

Claremont Farmers & Artisans Market
Downtown Claremont, 8am to 1pm.
2nd St. between Indian Hill Blvd. and Yale Ave.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG DISCOUNT AVAILABLE

The City's website has an announcement about an upcoming city program through the National League of Cities that allows Claremont residents to get free discount cards for prescription drugs. The website says you can save an average of 20% off the retail price of "commonly prescribed drugs." This is the information the city posted:

City to Provide Residents with Easy-to-Use Program for Prescription Drug Purchases

The City of Claremont will soon introduce a program that will offer its residents with a new tool that can provide some relief from the high cost of prescription drugs. The City is making free prescription drug discount cards available to Claremont residents through a program sponsored by the National League of Cities (NLC). The discount cards offer an average savings of 20 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs.

Available in mid-March, the discount cards may be used by all residents of Claremont and has no restrictions based on the resident's age, income level, or existing health coverage. The NLC card can be used when purchasing prescription drugs at approximately four pharmacies around the city, as well as at more than 59,000 participating retail pharmacies across the country.

The NLC and City of Claremont are able to make these money-saving cards available to Claremont residents at no cost to the individual. A future announcement will provide information on how and when residents may obtain the cards.

PLANNING YOUR NEXT MOVE

The city is also offering a two-part series of programs for people who are nearing retirement. On 7pm on Thursday, March 5th, author Judith Viorst will speak at the Laemmle Claremont 5 Theatre. There will also be a book signing by Viorst at the Claremont Forum in the Packing House.

On Saturday, March 7th, from 8am to noon at the Alexander Hughes Community Center, the City will offer a workshop on getting the most out of your retirement through volunteering, good health, post-retirement jobs, and planning your financial future. The Hughes Center is located at 1700 Danbury Rd.

Tickets for the Viorst event are $15, and tickets for the Saturday event are $10. The city offers a package deal for $20. Call (909) 399-5488 for more information.

Here are the details from Claremont City Manager Jeff Parker's weekly report for February 27th:

Celebrate the Next Chapter of Your Life: Retirement Opportunities

The Claremont Senior Program and the Committee on Aging are delighted to announce a program to celebrate what’s ahead for those approaching their retirement years (or those who have already retired). Celebrate the Next Chapter of Your Life: Retirement Opportunities will consist of two events sure to help you maximize your quality of life in retirement. The series will kick off on Thursday, March 5 at the Laemmle Claremont 5 with a presentation by award-winning author and journalist, Judith Viorst. Ms. Viorst is the author of eight collections of poems for adults and five non-fiction books including Necessary Losses that was on the New York Times bestseller list for almost two years.

She is also the author of Suddenly Sixty and Other Shocks of Later Life and I’m Too Young To Be Seventy and Other Delusions. Viorst will present at 7 p.m., followed by an author reception and book signing at the Claremont Forum. On the following Saturday, March 7, the series concludes at the Hughes Community Center, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon with workshops focused on getting the most out of your retirement through: volunteering, creative expression, wellness, post-retirement employment, and financial planning.

Tickets for the Thursday, March 5 event are $15 and $10 for Saturday, March 7. Presale tickets for both events combined are just $20. For more information, please contact the Joslyn Center at (909) 399-5488.

INDEPENDENCE DAY COMMITTEE SEEKS MEMBERS

The City is also gearing up for its 61st Annual 4th of July Celebration. Claremont seeks members for the 2009 Independence Day Committee. Interested parties can contact Margot Suarez at (909) 399-5496.

You can also read more information on this City press release.

Farmers Market News

MEET OUR FAUNA

Claremont's city website announced that the City and the California Department of Fish and Game will have a joint booth (no, not medical marijuana-related) at today's downtown Farmers' Market on 2nd St east of Indian Hill Blvd.

The booth will be open from 8am to 1pm. Stop by and discover all sorts of facts about our four-footed friends, including coyotes and bears. And remember, keep your garbage secure. We don't want the wildlife getting habituated to people because then they become real nuisances requiring animal control measures.

This comes to us from the City's website:

Living with Wildlife in the Foothill Communities

The City of Claremont, in conjunction with the California Department of Fish and Game, will have an information booth at the Farmers & Artisans Market in Claremont on Sunday, February 1, 2009, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. City Council members, along with California Department of Fish and Game personnel, will be present with information and literature on learning to live with the various forms of wildlife (primarily coyotes and bears) that are in our foothill communities. If you have encountered coyotes and bears in your neighborhood, this information will be very helpful in learning how to handle these encounters. Also, learn methods you can use to discourage wildlife from venturing into your neighborhood and encourage wildlife to remain in the foothills and wilderness areas where they belong. The Farmers & Artisans Market is located on Second Street, between Indian Hill Boulevard and Yale Avenue.

For further information on living with wildlife, the California Department of Fish and Game has an excellent website at www.keepmewild.org

MEET OUR COUNCIL

And if you'd like to learn more about our two-footed friends, it's the first Sunday of the month, which means the City Council will be on hand in hour-long shifts at the Farmers Market today beginning at 8am:

Sunday, February 1, 2009
Talk With Council at the Farmers' Market

8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Claremont Village
2nd Street between Indian Hill Boulevard and Yale Ave.
Claremont
(909) 399-5460

Talk with council members when they "set up shop" at the Claremont Farmers' Market, usually on the 1st Sunday of each month.

City Council at Farmers Market

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of the month, which means its once again time for the Claremont City Council's booth at the Claremont Farmers & Artisans Market on 2nd St. between Yale Ave. and Harvard in the Claremont Village.

As usual, the council will be working the market in shifts. (This is not to say they're shifty, at least not all of them; and if they're out there at all, they're certainly not shiftless.)

The council is supposed to be there from 8am to 1pm, and we don't have a list of who'll be there at what hour. You'll just have to take your chances if you want to talk to a particular councilperson.

* * *

The Claremont Forum, which sponsors the regular Farmers Market, is also starting up a Wednesday Green Market in the Claremont Packing House. The Forum's information on the Green Market says it will offer "fresh, local organic produce & green living information, ideas & inspiration.

The Green Market will run every Wednesday in the Packing House from 5pm to 8pm. The Forum's website gives no start date, but the Daily Bulletin's Wes Woods, over on the Bulletin's Claremont Now site, says the Green Market starts this coming Wednesday, January 7th.

Claremont Heights Packing House
536 W. 1st St.
Claremont, CA 91711

Market Accident

The Claremont Courier had an article about a motorist who lost control of her car at Sunday's Farmers' Market while trying to park in the Wells Fargo parking lot at Indian Hill Blvd. and Second Street.

The vehicle jumped over a low brick wall and struck a fruit vendor's stand, taking out a couple cases of cherries. The driver, a 77-year-old woman, lost control of the car when she stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake. The circumstances echoed the Santa Monica Farmers' Market incident from 2003 but without any injuries or fatalities.

The article, by Tony Krickl, indicated that the market organizers were trying to prevent anything like this from happening again:

Organizers of the Farmers’ Market in Claremont said they learned a lesson from the Santa Monica tragedy. After the incident, a decision was made to better secure the street for pedestrians by parking a large truck and a Jeep at either end of Second Street during the market’s operating hours from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

[Farmers' Market manager Rick] Moore said that he had already spoken with police and city staff to come up with more safeguards for pedestrians at the Farmers’ Market. He also planned to meet with Wells Fargo management to discuss how a similar incident could be avoided in the future.

The article also said there had been some similar incidents in the last few years, including one just the night before Sunday's accident when a 75-year-old woman ran a stop sign at Indian Hill Blvd. and Harrison Ave. and drove her Lexus through a fence and bushes and into the side of a chapel. Krickl reported that the Saturday damaged a gas meter and forced the evacuation of some neighboring residents.