The event, as typical, was a great success with more than 1,100 people attending. They were served by a small army of 450 volunteers with more than 70 food, wine and beer vendors providing a sampling feast for the guests.
Most importantly, the event will allow the foundation to offer its camping program next summer as well as its weekend events at no charge to the families with children who have life-threatening or chronic diseases.
The opening ceremony is followed by donation time of send kids to camp. Those donations, sparked by two $100,000 gifts, totaled more than $550,000 before the live auction began. Proceeds hit $1.1 million before expenses, which are minimal thanks to the donations of vendors and the volunteers who make the event possible.
Best wishes to Pleasanton's "water czar" Daniel Smith who retired last month. His leadership during the drought helped move Pleasanton into the reality of water use in the state?purple pipes make a huge difference. The city had no purple pipes when he moved into the role and now has a major project underway to bring recycled water down Hopyard Road to the 102-acre Ken Mercer Sports Park.
Smith played a major role in moving the city to use recycled water. He also readily engaged with the public, whether through email or on the phone or as a speaker at various events around town.
Assemblywoman Catharine Baker of San Ramon has successfully navigated a common-sense bill into law for the first time.
The Republican, who represents the Tri-Valley area as well as the Highway 24 corridor, announced that Gov. Brown has signed her bill that will require the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee to be subject to the state's open meetings act. Prior to this legislation, the committee has operated secretly. It is the organization that is supposed to oversee seismic retrofits on the state's toll bridges, including the enormously expensive $6.4 billion new eastern span on the Bay Bridge.
The project took nearly 25 years to finish and quadrupled in price before it finally opened.
