Dr. Sean Wright, President of the Antioch-Chichibu Sister City Organization and Chichibu Schools Superintendent Shinichi Maeno, center, and the rest of the Chichibu Sister City delegation are introduced at the Antioch Council meeting on July 24th.

By James Ott

Visitors from Antioch’s Sister City of Chichibu, Japan were presented at the July 24^th City Council meeting. They were introduced by Antioch Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and President of the Antioch-Chichibu Sister City Organization, Dr. Sean Wright, who impressively remembered the names of each member of the delegation.

The delegates from Chichibu, led by School Superintendent Shinichi Maeno, stayed with host families in Antioch during their visit. They enjoyed a Chinese dinner at the Antioch Historical Society Museum, visited some local landmarks and enjoyed some shopping.

Chichibu has been Antioch’s Sister City since 1967 when the city council adopted Chichibu as part of the Sister Cities organization founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.

As Mayor James Davis pointed out, Antioch and Chichibu share some geographic similarities. As Antioch borders the San Joaquin River, Chichibu borders the Arakawa River. And both cities have a mountain looming nearby: Antioch has Mount Diablo and Chichibu has Mount Buko.

The next group to visit Chichibu from Antioch will travel to Japan in August, 2013. For more information about the Antioch-Chichibu Sister City Organization, visit www.antiochchichibu.com.

Original Cancer Survivors lead off the 2012 Relay for Life

By Michele Littlefield, Event Co-Chair, Antioch Relay For Life

Our event was held at Los Medanos College on June 23rd – 24th from 10am-10am. We had 72 teams this year, 710 registered participants and have raised $113,080.00 so far.

Some of the original Antioch Relay For Life cancer survivors walked as Survivors 13 years ago and carried the banner for us this year to Celebrate!

It is so important to me that our community knows that the American Cancer Society has so many wonderful free services and that there is support in the community as well for everyone, patients, survivors, their families and friends. Our event feels like a giant block party with your favorite friends and family members in attendance. It is very powerful to stop and look around for a minute during the event knowing that we all come out to Relay for our own reasons but are united in the fight to cure cancer.

Seventh Year for $15,000 Community Competition

The Dow Chemical Company’s Community Advisory Panel (CAP), in conjunction with Dow’s Pittsburg Operations, is accepting applications for its seventh annual competitive grant program.  Grants will range from $2,500 to $5,000, depending on the scope of the project.  Prospective grantees, serving the East Contra Costa communities, must focus on education, science or the environment.

The competitive grant program was established in 2006 to help fund sustainable community service projects in Eastern Contra Costa County.  Though Dow Pittsburg Operations gives more than $150,000 throughout the year to non-profit organizations in the surrounding communities, designating $15,000 for competitive grants enables Dow to diversify the amount of charitable giving within the community.

Applicants must meet certain criteria to be eligible.  Guidelines, criteria and the application itself are all available online at www.dow.com/pittsburg/community/cap/index.htm.   The deadline for submitting the application is September 6 and grant winners will be announced in early October.

Members of the Dow CAP Grants Committee will rank applications based on relevance, sustainability, and overall impact and benefit to the community.

Help Reduce e-Waste in our Cities and Landfills

In order to create a cleaner environment for our community, Somersville Towne Center is hosting an electronic waste [e-waste] recycling collection event.

DATE:  Saturday, July 28th and Sunday, July 29th, 2012

LOCATION:  Somersville Towne Center’s main parking lot directly across from Kaiser on Delta Fair Blvd. in Antioch.

This event is a free service to both city residents and businesses to properly dispose of their computer obsoletes, and at the same time, help reduce improper and illegal dumping in our city and landfills.  More importantly, the event helps protect our planet from various toxicities from reaching our soil and environment.

E-Waste includes electronic products or devices, such as computer monitors, televisions, PC systems, printers, copiers, facsimile machines and home entertainment systems that have reached their useful end, whether in working condition or not.

Please come and show your support for a cleaner environment by sending e-waste away from our city and landfills to the appropriate recycling process.

For more information on Somersville Towne Center for this or other events, visit www.somersvilletownecenter.com.

Somersville Towne Center is the only enclosed, air conditioned mall in Antioch.

It is owned by Macerich, a fully integrated self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust, which focuses on the acquisition, leasing, management, development and redevelopment of regional malls throughout the United States. Macerich now owns approximately 64 million square feet of gross leaseable area consisting primarily of interests in 63 regional shopping centers.  Additional information about Macerich can be obtained from the Company’s Web site at www.macerich.com.

By Allen Payton, Publisher

Once again, firefighters in Contra Costa County will be participating in the annual “Fill The Boot” fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

This year, on Monday, July 23rd and Wednesday, July 25^th, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. firefighters will be at the intersection of Somersville Road and Delta Fair Blvd in Antioch.

Last year the Contra Costa Firefighters raised $76,000 through their annual effort. This year’s county-wide goal is $80,000 and the firefighters in Antioch are trying to raise $10,000.

According to MDA Executive Director Kirsha Zupetz, “The funds raised will stay local and will provide hope and help for local families living with muscle disease. More specifically the funds will go towards multi-disciplinary clinic visits at Stanford, UCSF and Forbes Norris, MDA summer camp for children ages 6-17, support groups, wheel chair and leg brace repairs, as well as research.”

The International Association of Firefighters has been participating in the “Fill The Boot” campaign since 1954.

So, when you see the firefighters with the boots in their hands, drop in a dollar or two, or more, later this month.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is a voluntary health agency working to defeat neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. MDA is the largest nongovernmental sponsor of neuromuscular disease research. For more information visit www.MDA.org or call (925) 460-8260.

East County March Against Violence marchers head north on A Street in Antioch, Sunday evening, July 8, 2012.

By Allen Payton, Publisher

About 40 faith, community leaders and residents from Antioch and East County joined together on Sunday night, July 8, 2012 to march against violence in Antioch.

East County March Against Violence marchers

Led by Antioch Church Family and coordinated by Contra Costa Interfaith Community Supporting Organization (CCISCO), faith leaders, such as Pastor Tuma Johnson of International Christian Ministry in Pittsburg and community leaders, such as Keith and Iris Archuleta of the Youth Intervention Network, Mayor Pro Tem Wade Harper and Antioch School Board Trustee Walter Ruehlig, participated in the march.

“We were hoping to bring the faith community together, primarily in Antioch, but all of far East County to visibly make a statement to the community that we are aware and that we stand with those concerned about the violence in Antioch and East County,” said Irish Archuleta. “Also, we wanted to make a strong statement to those committing the violence that we are not sitting by idly and letting that happen.”

Nearly a dozen congregations from the area have joined the movement that aims to bring hope and address the issue of violence in East County.  The participating congregations include: St. John Lutheran Church; Antioch Christian Center, Antioch Church Family, East County Shared Ministry (Pittsburg Community Presbyterian & First Congregational Church of Antioch); International Christian Ministry; Grace Bible Fellowship; St. Ignatius of Antioch; Most Holy Rosary Church; Islamic Center of the East Bay; and St. George Episcopal Church.

This was the second of monthly marches planned for the second Sunday at 7 p.m.  The march will start at a different church, each month.

After witnessing violence in their own churches and the impact it was having on their congregation members, the faith leaders were determined to do something to address the critical issue of violence.  The night walks is only the first step in what they see as a strategy to decrease the violence in their communities.

The Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO) is a federation of 25 religious congregations, seven different denominations, representing 35,000 families in Contra Costa County. CCISCO is an active member of the PICO National Network.  For more information call (925) 779-9302 or visit them at 202 G Street, Suite 1 or online at www.CCISCO.org.