Delay of Game

The Donut Hole Bocce Tournament to benefit Sam Nouv has been delayed (due to rain) until this Saturday, November 21, 2009. There's still time to get in on the action.

Village Happenings

This coming weekend (November 21-22), FOB (Friend of Boulevardier) Fleurette Sevin will be one of several artists demonstrating their skills, selling their wares, and supporting music education in Castro Valley schools at Aran's Art Studio.

Fleurette fuses glass into colorful creations, such as holiday-themed the bottle stopper shown below. She also takes custom orders. Other artists will be demonstrating ceramics. There will be a raffle, kids' projects, and live music. (Your Boulevardier hopes to join in the music-making on Saturday.)

The event is from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. both days. Please do plan to attend, and to make a purchase.

Donut Forget

Your Boulevardier hosted the Subcompact Loaner over part of the weekend, and walked the pooch on Sunday morning to Lee's Donuts. He purchased a cinnamon roll and left a gratuity; he inquired as to proprietor Sam Nouv's well-being, and was told that he is healing from the criminal beating he received last month.

Word on the Boulevard is that eight teams are now signed up for Saturday's Donut Hole Open Bocce Tournament, to be held at Adobe Park in Castro Valley, to help defray Mr. Nouv's considerable medical expenses. The tournament organizer would prefer for there to be twelve teams. (There must be an even number.) The entry fee is $100 per team.

Information can be found on the Castro Valley Chamber of Commerce Calendar. (If that link does not work, go to the chamber website and click about until you find it.)

Radio Buzz

Your Boulevardier is loyal, but he is not exclusively a patron of businesses in Castro Valley. He's also a fan of -- and walks to -- shops in downtown Hayward. On a recent visit to the Book Shop (a fine business that recently changed hands) bookseller Renée insisted on telling Your Boulevardier about an upcoming bit of excitement in that fair city.

It seems that KFOG "personality" -- one remembers when they were called Disc Jockeys, alas -- Big Rick Stuart will visit the Hayward Peet's from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Saturday, November 7, to hawk the radio station's latest "Live from the Archives" CD. The proceeds from sales of these CDs go to bay area food banks, so the cause is just.

Look for Renée. Something tells Your Boulevardier she'll be close to the front of the line.

Worthy Cause in Castro Valley

Your Boulevardier received the following email from two different people, and commenter Greenridge posted it below. The originator is L'avocat de Boulevardier Steven Dimick, who has given permission to republish it here. (Some slight edits have been made, clearly marked.)

Your Boulevardier went by Lee's Donuts this morning and purchased a very nice cinnamon roll. His waistline will not let him do so daily, but he will be making a contribution and encourages readers who are able to do the same.

Friends,

You have probably read that the owner of Lee's Donuts on the corner of Grove Way and Redwood Road was brutally pistol whipped about a couple of weeks ago during an early morning robbery. I'd like to tell you a little more about him.

Sam Nouv came to the U.S. from Cambodia and, in 1987, started working at Lee's Donuts. Before long, he was leasing the business from its owner and, in 1990, bought the business. He and his wife, Lori, go to work every day at 3:30 a.m., open up at 4:00 a.m. and don't close until 6:00 p.m. -- every day, seven days a week. They do close on a very few holidays, but in 19 years have never had a vacation and the most time they have ever had off at any one time is two days.

Our grandparents or great-grandparents worked like this when they first came to America, but no native-born American that I know would do so.

In addition to working these brutal hours, they are raising three sons, a 21-year-old currently at Chabot College, a 15-year-old at Castro Valley High School and a 10-year-old at Independent Elementary.

And Sam and Lori are two of the friendliest people you could ever hope to meet.

Sam has been back to work -- briefly -- for the last couple of days, but the burden of keeping the shop open for the last two weeks has fallen on Lori, the kids and a few friends.

I asked Lori if they had adequate medical insurance and she said they did, but their deductible and co-pay were killing them, when nearly all of their income goes for basic living expenses. Lori said their share of the medical expenses was $15,000. Sam later told me it might not be that high, but is at least $7,000 (Kaiser told them they don't have a final figure yet.)

Some community members are [planning] a series of fundraisers for the family. Ken Martin is planning a charity bocce ball tournament and other ideas that have been kicked around include a car wash. If you'd like to participate, [contact Steve Dimick via the link above].

In the meantime, if any of you can see your way to making a donation, however small, the family can sure use it. $100 would be great, but $5 or $10 will be equally appreciated. (I merely slipped them some cash.) Please look in your wallets for old, unused bills or consider writing a check to "Sam Nouv." You can deliver your donations to my office (20880 Redwood Rd., Castro Valley) or directly to the Nouv family at their store.

You could also pass this story on to your neighbors or other friends in Castro Valley. They just might see fit to give you a donation to pass on, or to visit Lee's and slip a few dollars into Lori's hand. And maybe they'll pass the story along even further.

Thank you in advance for any help you might be able to give. Despite our occasional differences, Castro Valley is a real community.

Steve Dimick

Festival Season

Festival Season in Castro Valley hits its stride in the next few weeks with:

The Fall Festival on September 12-13. Strangely enough, Your Boulevardier can't find a website for this annual event.

The Valley Blues Festival on September 19 at the Rowell Ranch Rodeo Grounds. Sponsored by the Rotary Club, tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

The Our Lady of Grace Festival on September 26-27. It has a Hawaiian theme this year. Among the entertainment: the Castro Valley Community Band will play on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. (Alas, Your Boulevardier can't make the gig ...)

The Upcoming Jenny Lin Concert

One wishes the Jenny Lin Foundation, and the loss it represents, did not need to exist. But the sad event that led to the creation of the foundation is very real, and the good that the family has made of this tragedy is no less real.

One of Your Boulevardier's favorite projects of the Foundation is its summer youth music program. A free summer band, orchestra, and choir give our musical young people a chance to meet new people, have fun in a safe environment, and improve their artistic skills. A good friend of Your Boulevardier is conducting the orchestra.

The groups begin rehearsing on June 22, 2009 (twice a week) and will perform on Friday, July 31 at 7:00 p.m. at Redwood Chapel. The concet is always impressive, and Your Boulevardier encourages residents to support the program and attend the show.

Rodeo Parade is Coming

A week from Saturday (that is, May 9) will be the annual Rowell Ranch Rodeo Parade on Castro Valley Boulevard in Castro Valley. The night-before Chili Cookoff is also in the works, but it appears from the schedule that the morning-of Pancake Breakfast is not being held this year.

Since it is never listed in the promotional materials, Your Boulevardier reminds readers that the Castro Valley Community Band, of which yours truly is a member, will perform in the parking lot of Castro Village starting at 9:15 a.m.

Build It Up, Tear It Down

Your Boulevardier walked around the neighborhood just east of the BART station yesterday afternoon. This area is choked with trucks and workers right now because of two big projects.

First is the new Castro Valley Library. The building is crawling with workers who are attaching bright yellow gypsum board exterior siding to its metal skeleton. It looks like roofing panels are stacked on the building's top, but are not yet attached. It still remains very difficult for Your Boulevardier to envision the finished building based upon the construction to date and compared with the artist's rendering that appears on the billboard on Norbridge Avenue. Perhaps it's just a matter of where the front of the building is.

Speaking of the library, Your Boulevardier notes that Don Jose's Restaurant in Castro Village will donate ten percent of its sales during the week of April 13-19 to the library. (It's not clear from the flyer posted on Don Jose's door whether the funds will go toward library construction or to the Friends organization.)

The second project that is clogging the neighborhood just east of the BART station is the reworking of the I-580 interchange with Redwood Road. When completed, there will be a full set of on- and off-ramps here, eastbound and westbound. Yesterday, workers were breaking down the soundwall and ripping out trees along the highway's north side. This is the neighborhood along Juniper Street, behind the Jess C. Spencer Mortuary. (Where, it is noted, Madame Boulevardier was cremated.) Several homes have been demolished, but a few remain defiantly standing -- though it's not sure if they're occupied. It's assumed that Spencer's will lose a good portion of its parking lot to the project as well. Progress is visible on the other side of the freeway as well, with the former professional building having been demolished a few weeks ago. A fairly clear aerial representation of the project can be found here.

It seems the hangup in government budgets has not put either of these projects on hold, which is a good thing because they seem like they would be quite disruptive to the residents of the neighborhood.

Ox Versus Crab

It may be the Year of the Ox, but in Castro Valley it's the Season of the Crab.

Three posters were spotted in the window of the Village Barbershop today for crab feeds put on by the Soroptimists, Transfiguration Church, and Redwood Christian Schools. And several others are slated over the next few weeks.

Your Boulevardier has only attended a couple of crab feeds. They were rather hard-core affairs, with long lines and sticky hands and lots of red wine and some diners bringing their own butter melting contraptions. Not Your Boulevardier's style of dining.

One wonders about the history of crab feeds as a fundraiser. (Some information about logistics can be found at the website for Pacific Seafood Group.) Any ideas?

Super Bowls

Your Boulevardier visited the Wells Fargo Bank on Castro Valley Boulevard today. The banking was uneventful, but other events in the environs were more interesting.

First, at Vella's Locker Room, an autograph-signing event was underway. Your Boulevardier, not being a football fan, did not recognize the athletes offering their John Hancocks, but he did make note of both Raider Santa and Raider Elvis in attendance.

Second, a visit was made to the Adobe Art Center and the A.B. Morris Gallery for HARD's pottery and art sale. Your Boulevardier bought a lovely green-and-blue bowl thrown and glazed by Steve Olson for Mere de Boulevardier's Christmas gift. Many lovely items were for sale, all handmade by local craftspeople, and the prices were very good. A visit is recommended, but a little Internet research reveals that this sale is only occurring today (Saturday, December 13, 2008).

Third, on the way from Vella to Morris, Your Boulevardier inspected progress on the renovation of the parkland in front of the Adobe Art Center, adjacent to Castro Valley Elementary School. The skate park (by design, on the quarter of the property farthest from the art studios), bocce courts, play structure, and picnic areas are well underway. Entry gates that echo the adobe walls of the art center are in strategic places around the property. Your Boulevardier believes the renovated park will be a welcome addition to the downtown environs.

Your Boulevardier Does Not Understand Show Business

An article appeared in last Wednesday's Daily Review, announcing that two Castro Valley High alumnae, singer Alice Lynn and and cellist Kathleen Davis Blair, will appear in a fund-raiser for the Castro Valley Center for the Arts on February 29. Sounds lovely.

The article also said the fund-raising performance will be held at Redwood Chapel.

Why is it not being held at the Center itself?