If Cicero was right that if you have a garden and a library you have everything you need, then maybe Contra Costa County isn’t doing so bad after all.

Seems that just when you maybe thought that the county library system had surpassed reinvention, it outdoes itself again. Little wonder, then, that the 26-branch organization is in the running for national library system of the year honors. We’ll know that outcome, incidentally, in early May.

Antioch Riverview Garden Club had their plant sale on Saturday, April 2nd at the Antioch Library on 18th St.

I asked my wife to pinch me. Like the rest of the audience at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church on March 26th I was transported and could have been dreaming. Indeed, I wasn’t in a vaunted metropolitan cathedral or a celebrated concert hall.

Instead, for the price of a free will offering at the gem of a neighborhood church on Contra Loma Blvd.,  I was enjoying world class music and a cake and champagne  reception in the latest installment of the Friends of Music series.  I know of no other church in the East Bay offering this kind of program, an eclectic combination of religious and secular music that brings in blue-ribbon talent.

Though a dedicated following has built, the Series still remains the best kept secret in Far East County. Allow me, then, to dispel any possible apprehensions; it’s not a churchy or parochial event; the only thing being preached is the love of music and the openness to community.

The organ alone made the visit worthwhile. It is equivalent to a 110 rank organ but has hundreds of additional sounds stored in the midi. Choosing  the incomparable Johann as a subject was a special treat on the instrument. The performance brilliantly underscored Bach’s intellectual depth, technical command and unsurpassed artistic beauty. Bach’s music creates not only puts the senses to flight but studying it creates awe at his integration of symmetry, numbers and pure mathematics.  

The evening featured a Concerto in A Minor, Cantata no. 51, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Fanfare, Minuet,  Sleepers, Awake A Voice is Calling, Prelude for the Suite Nr. 1 for Cello,  a breathtaking Ave Maria sung by Ms. Ferry and a surprising and scintillating rendition of Air played by jazz saxophonist Peter Graves.  Don Pearson put an exclamation point on the evening’s delight with an original composition written for the evening, a birthday Sinfonia.

The community is blessed by Don ‘s presence. He’s a superb organist and a renowned musical director who received national recognition for the music series he created in Denver at the nation’s fifth largest cathedral.  Thanks go to Rev Robert Rien, Parochial Administrator at St. Ignatius, accomplished organist and certified organ builder who had the vision to bring Don to our community and this exciting project to the East Bay.

Future Friends of Music events might include fun variations like silent movies with organ background. Expect the next performance in May or June. Check the Calendar of Events or Datebook or call (925) 778-0768 to be put on an email list. Don’t let this best kept secret remain foreign to you. It’s a treasure in our own backyard. waiting for you to simply open it. 

And to Johann, thanks for three and quarter centuries of joy. Happy birthday, Johann! Happy birthday, dear Johann! Happy birthday to you! 

The EDGE Expo (The Academy for Engineering and Designing a Green Environment) held March 1, 2011 at the Antioch High School excites the imagination.  In groups of 4, the first batch of 80 Academy freshmen exhibited bridge models designed to span either the Dow wetlands or Kirker Creek.  The makers of the two most viable bridge creations were awarded a safety vest and a hard hat by two Caltrans engineers who served as judges.

 The event roused fond memories of my late father whose life dramatically depicts the importance of pursuing a dream.  After serving during WWII, he was determined to become a civil engineer.  Despite poverty, my father became the first and only college graduate out of eight siblings.  In his career, he designed roads, bridges, buildings, airport runways and planned the electrification of towns and cities in the Philippines. 

I commend the Antioch Unified School District for assisting our children to pursue their dream, become job ready and gain a winning edge at going to a top-notch engineering college.  I especially applaud AUSD Superintendent Don Gill, AHS Principal Louis Rocha, Academy Administrator David Johnstone, Lead Teacher Kevin Jones and all EDGE Academy teachers. 

Cynthia Ruehlig
Trustee – Area 5
Contra Costa County
Board of Education

We’ve seen the news. Pittsburg is seeing fifty-year lows in crime. Brentwood reported zero homicides last year. Then there is the Antioch story, but no need recounting the grim tale. From both ends, housing boom and bust, Antioch suffered a tailspin that will take years of correction. Perhaps it’s the New Yorker in me that reveled in Rudy Giulianii turning the city around after decades of free fall. To think, it all started with graffiti and jaywalking.

It’s been nearly 4 months since the elections have been completed and the AUSD (Antioch Unified School District) is working on the budget for the coming year, however the changes , cuts to personnel, student services and others have yet to be publicized.

I thought that the budget was part of the “Transparency of Government” everyone was touting during the campaign. Why shouldn’t parents, concerned taxpayers and even students be kept in the loop, when these hard decisions are being made? So why not publish the budget warts and all on the district website and in the local press every quarter, or isn’t the board looking for public input?

Jack Yeager

Last month I shared a bone of contention about increasing numbers of unleashed dogs roaming about. I was surprised by the number of national pet publications that picked up the column. I was even more surprised by the numbers of people who took the effort of digging up my contact information to call or e-mail me their own canine confessions. Seems the story hit a collective nerve.

Frankly, it reminds me of the time my car was stolen from my driveway. As a Good Samaritan I went around several blocks of the neighborhood warning neighbors to be on guard. I was amazed to discover just how many others had had their vehicles likewise stolen. Seems, too, dog attacks are more commonplace than I would have imagined. Sadly, some folks even told me they now hesitate walking their own neighborhoods.

Here’s some newly garnered tips sent me. A number of dog-owners claimed that their pets had been saved from possible demise by leather or nylon collars that impeded a deadly neck hold. One fellow suggested carrying a lighter, which, guaranteed, will send any creature, four legged or two legged, running. For the tender amongst you, there is the ultrasound dazer which works at 15 feet and leaves no permanent harm. Disclaimer, though; even the ads disclose that they don’t work with all dogs, including deaf, docile, infirm and highly trained ones.

Note, I previously mentioned the idea of carrying an expandable billy-club. I heard, though, from a police officer that they are legal in 49 other states but are not sold in California. I also would like to clarify that pepper spray is limited to three ounces of individual possession, which might be a limited amount if you got attacked by a pack.

Incidentally, one person related the story of a pit bull springing from a group of drifters hanging out behind the gas station adjacent to Starbucks on A Street. The dog had seized his pet’s neck and was close to a kill before the owner was able to unload his can of mace pepper gel. The attacker went scurrying. It was grabbed by the vagrants who hastily jumped into a truck and sped off. Interestingly, this fellow had used pepper gel twice on humans; once with a mugger and once when he interrupted a teen who was attacking an Oakland librarian.

Feeling squeamish? I assure you, the discomfort of analyzing protection strategies is tame compared to seeing your beloved pet, or your own fond body, torn to shreds. An ounce of prevention, or in the case of spray three, is worth a pound of cure.

Walter Ruehlig