 G-CAA MEMBERSHIP UPDATE: Our annual membership drive is off to a successful start with 200 members! We thank you for your membership and participation! Dues are $15 for the year (July ’05 through June ‘06). If you haven’t joined yet, please mail your dues to:

Greenridge-Coldwater Area Association
PO Box 20691
Castro Valley, CA 94546-8691

The G-CAA provides a valuable service to our community, and we encourage you to become members. Your membership dues fund many services that improve the quality of life in our community.

 G-CAA GENERAL MEETING: A G-CAA General Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 17th, at 7:30 pm. To accommodate a larger audience this meeting will be held at Holy Cross Episcopal Church at the corner of Heyer & Center Street. All residents are welcome to attend. We will have a guest speaker from the California Highway Patrol. Other agenda topics include a review of the neighborhood survey results and a discussion of the initiatives for the G-CAA to pursue.

 G-CAA PICNIC RESULTS: Despite searing temperatures and a packed Greenridge Park that was hosting several group picnics, approximately 150 residents attended the G-CAA Annual Picnic on July 23rd! There was a wonderful spread of food and plenty of socializing; a great time was had by all! Thanks for attending and contributing to the pot luck picnic. A special thanks goes to Abe Cirimele who headed up the barbecue brigade

 G-CAA ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY: The G-CAA Annual Holiday Party is scheduled for Saturday, December 17th from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. Doris McKim has once again generously offered to host the party at her home at 5777 Greenridge Road. All G-CAA residents are welcome to attend — you don’t have to be a G-CAA member. This is a great opportunity to socialize with your neighbors! The G-CAA will provide drinks (wine, cider, etc.). Please bring along an appetizer or dessert to share. Mark your calendars — we hope to see you there!

 G-CAA WEBSITE: Be sure to check out the G-CAA’s website at www.g-caa.org. We continue to build out the site with more information of interest to the community. There is a Message Board on the site that you are free to use once you register on the site. This is a great way to share information of interest to the neighborhood. One use of this is to post referrals to contractors for home remodeling projects.

 DID YOU KNOW THIS ABOUT YOUR NEIGHBOR?: Yvonne Daniel, Ph.D. is a Dance Anthropologist! Yvonne is Professor Emerita of Dance and Afro-American Studies at Smith College in Massachusetts. Her latest book, "Dancing Wisdom", is a comprehensive comparison of African American religions through the lens of dance and music. She was recently awarded a prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship to perform archival research on Caribbean dance. You can read more of Yvonne's accomplishments at: www.smith.edu/dance/faculty_daniel.php

Yvonne has been a Greenridge resident since 1964. "This community has always been very special to me. It supported me through a house fire in 1967, which destroyed my home, and the rebuilding of it. Not selling was the smartest thing I've done", said Yvonne. Yvonne is the proud mother of four sons and 10 grandchildren!

The G-CAA neighborhood is fortunate to have a number of interesting residents. If you know of a neighbor with an interesting past or claim to fame that would be of interest to the community, please notify Dennis Hermosa (888-9121 or GCAA@bigfoot.com).

 G-CAA QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS: We received many responses to the questionnaire we sent out with the July newsletter. Thank you for your input! The issues, comments, and ideas raised covered a broad range. Below are some of the trends and highlights:
What do you like least about our neighborhood?
• Speeding cars. This was mentioned most frequently by a wide margin.
• Dogs owners not cleaning up after their dogs.
• Neighborhood appearance: illegally parked vehicles, run down homes, unkempt yards.
• “The hills.” (editor’s note: sorry, but this one is beyond our sphere of influence).
Other ideas and comments?
• Speed bumps.
• Neighborhood Watch program.
• Neighborhood hazardous waste pickup day.
• Plant exchange.
• Create a council to mediate disputes between neighbors.

We continue to welcome your ideas and suggestions for projects beneficial to the community in which the G-CAA can participate. We will discuss the results at the General Meeting on November 17th .

 EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS: With the hurricanes disaster in the South fresh in our minds, there has been a renewed interest in earthquake preparedness. Alameda County, through the Fire Department, offers the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team program. This program is designed to instruct organized neighborhood groups of 20 to 30 people on the basic skills needed to cope with problems caused by natural or man made disasters. This program is divided into different learning sections, such as basic search and rescue, fire fighting, structure stabilization and the supplies/equipment needed to survive after a major disaster. The training is free and comprises three four-hour sessions. We would like to assemble a group of neighbors for this training. If you are interested, please notify Pamela Stanley at 728-4886. For more information, go to: www.acgov.org/fire/response.htm

GOATS: Did you see the huge herd of goats up at Greenridge Park in September? HARD brought them in to clear the underbrush, and they did a fine job indeed! They even ate the poison oak! We understand that HARD spent $8,000 for this service, but in order to justify this in future years they need to have overwhelming positive feedback from the community. Please send a note or call to:
Bill Gardner (510)881-6752
Parks Supervisor garb@haywardrec.org
HARD
1099 "E" Street
Hayward, CA 94541
HERB AID: We’ve all seen the fantastic job Herb Joss does with the roses and landscaping at the Greenridge “Triangle” gateway. Did you know that Herb does all this by himself as a volunteer? The job has become more than a handful, and is eating into Herb’s golf and hiking time. Herb would deeply appreciate some help. If you would like to volunteer to help him out, please contact Herb at 582-0942.

 WELCOME COMMITTEE: If you have a new neighbor, please alert a G-CAA Board Member. We would like to welcome new neighbors and provide them with information regarding the neighborhood and community. If you are a gardener and would like to donate some potted plants to be used as welcome gifts, please notify Carmen Rivers (581-3581) or Elsie Dep (582-3118).

G-CAA CALENDAR
 NOVEMBER 17 (7:30 TO 9:00): G-CAA General Meeting at Holy Cross Episcopal Church, corner of Heyer & Center Street
 DECEMBER 17 (7:00 TO 1100): G-CAA Annual Holiday Party at Doris McKim’s home at 5777 Greenridge Road
 EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY (5:25 TO 5:50, NOV. 9 & 23, DEC. 7 & 21, JAN. 4 & 18, ETC.): Alameda County Library Bookmobile at Lomond Way near Greenridge Road. For more info go to: www.aclibrary.org/branches/bkm/bookmobilehome.asp