4-H riding program separate from ‘Friends’
Your article on July 12, “Non-profits on the rebound,” and accompanying list of local non-profits, was appreciated. Small non-profits like ourselves, West- wind Riding Institute/4-H Riding, rely on our local media to help expose our program to potential volunteers and donors.
We were, however, concerned by the inaccuracies in the list in regard to our organization and would like to clarify the relationship between Friends of Westwind and Westwind Riding Institute/4-H Riding for the Handicapped, as described.
While we share the same facility, we are two distinct organizations. Friends of Westwind operates the horse-boarding facility at Westwind Barn. Westwind Riding Institute/4-H provides horsemanship instruction to children (5-19) with physical disabilities.
Friends of Westwind operates as a business with staff and a nine-member volunteer board of directors. WRI/4-H is an all-volunteer organization with between 40 and 50 volunteers involved.
WRI/4-H is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and can receive tax-deductible contributions.
Nancy Couperus,
Judy Lookabill, Robert Street, Maureen Schwartz,
Alison Collin
Westwind Riding Institute/4-H
More about Fisher House
Thanks for the great article in the July 12 issue about the Fisher House. Here is more.
The Fisher House foundation turns the house over to the VA when it is completed. The Veterans Hospital supplies utilities to the house but everything else except for a salaried manager is done by volunteers at the hospital.
There are many organizations that help the house through their volunteering efforts. Organizations such as the American Legion, VFW and Waves National, the Key Club at Los Altos High School and the Palo Alto Elks Veterans committee, of which I am a member, help the veterans.
The Fisher House supplies the housing but contributions are needed to help the veterans families with food, recreation and other living expenses.
Donations can be made to the following: GPF 2205 OIF/OEF fund. VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Voluntary Service (135), 3801 Miranda Ave. Palo Alto 94304. The Web site is www.fisherhousepa.com.
Dominick Garofano
(No address given)
Fun night at Grant Park
I’d like to thank the City Council and the Parks, Arts and Recreation Department for a fun night of entertainment at the Grant Park concert Thursday night. The event was very well attended, and it was great to see all ages enjoying the ’60s music. Let’s do it again next month!
Joan Young
Los Altos
Marching to own beat
bears consequences
For three years Los Altos Hills residents have been torn apart over the school district issue. We have been subjected to the whining of the Bullis Charter School faction on one side and the arrogance of what was originally a deaf ear on the other.
While I have a very strong opinion on redistricting, that is not the purpose of my letter. What bothers me most is that our council did not solicit public opinion prior to expending so much time and energy on this issue, and as a result has been a major cause of division rather than unity in our community.
I write this letter to remind the town council of what happened to the last council that marched to its own drummer and ignored public opinion regarding the Town Hall.
Woody DeMayo
Los Altos Hills
Clarification about mountain lion item
We were very surprised to see the mention in the blotter of our call to police regarding the mountain lion in our pool.
It really did happen, but we wanted to clarify one thing. The time shown in the blotter says 12:30 p.m., but the young lion was actually in the pool at 4:45 a.m., just before dawn. My husband reported it to the police at 12:30 p.m. when he called to see if there had been any other sightings in the area.
To recap what really happened, we were woken up by our dog barking wildly at 4:45 a.m. From our bedroom, we looked outside to see a young mountain lion, approximately 80 pounds, frantically climbing out of our pool. Our pool resembles a natural pond, and we think he was trying to get a drink when he may have fallen in (the water was low). My husband saw the distinct long tail of a mountain lion. The lion ran to the corner of our yard, and we assumed he jumped back over the fence.
After researching mountain lions in Los Altos, we found that it is not unusual for adolescent lions to explore residential areas in search of a territory of their own. Mountain lions claim a territory of 100 square miles. When they reach adolescence, their parents kick them out and expect them to find their own territory. With less and less space available, young lions have to look harder to find one and often end up in residential areas.
We think the lion may have been attracted to our yard because we have two rabbits that we let roam free in the yard during the day (and bring in the house for the night) and he may have caught their scent. We haven’t seen him since, but we aren’t usually awake at that hour to check.
I just wanted to set the record straight in case readers thought we had a mountain lion swimming in our pool in the middle of the day!
Nancy Martin
Los Altos
