Community

A June 3 Town Crier business story about congregating customers at local businesses contained misleading and incorrect information. Vickie Breslin, owner of The Post restaurant, said she was closed on Memorial Day weekend and there was no car club present at her restaurant, contrary to what the story reported. A spokesman for Club Corsa, the club referenced in the story, confirmed no members were present during the holiday weekend. He added that a May 6 story photo and story gave a false impression the club was creating a crowd at the restaurant on May 3. The club was represented by “only two or three vehicles,” he said, and the rest were local exotic and luxury car owners who had stopped by. “All social distancing guidelines were followed and no laws were broken,” the club spokesman said. “Club Corsa did not interfere with any of the local business establishments in any way.” The Town Crier regrets the errors.

Courtesy of Kaitlyn Chow
Homestead High School junior Kaitlyn Chow lends a helping hand through the local Orchard Valley Chapter of the National Charity League.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect people from all walks of life, service groups and philanthropies are expanding to help meet the greater needs of their communities. For the local Orchard Valley Chapter of the National Charity League, that commitment can come with a lot of difficulties, especially as in-person volunteer opportunities disappear.

“Our mission is to serve, rather than only providing monetary donations, so during this time it’s been more challenging because they’ve been much more limited in how volunteers can help directly and in-person,” said Maribeth Coyne, co-vice president of philanthropy for the Orchard Valley Chapter of the mother-daughter service organization.

Courtesy of Los Altos History Museum
Anne Roberts, left, and the late Margaret Thompson for many years championed the annual historical essay contest. The contest is named after Thompson. The trophy they are holding goes to the school with the most award winners.

The city of Los Altos recently revealed the winners of the 36th annual Margaret Thompson Historical Essay Contest, sponsored as a joint program of the Los Altos History Museum and the Los Altos Historical Commission.

Thompson, a member of the commission in the 1980s, founded the contest to encourage children to write. She died in 2019.

Courtesy of Gregory Batardon
Katya Panchenko, a student at Mountain View’s Bayer Ballet Academy, traveled to Switzerland earlier this year to participate in a selective international dance competition.

When Katya Panchenko boarded a plane to Montreux, Switzerland, she was on her way to participate in one of the most prestigious international dance competitions, the Prix de Lausanne. She returned to the Bay Area without making the finals, but the classical ballet dancer still called the competition a “great learning experience.”

“Such competitions have taught me how to calm my nerves and connect with the art and audience, which is why I dance,” said the 18-year-old, a student at the Bayer Ballet Academy in Mountain View.

Courtesy of Sandy Mingia
Members of the Rotary Club of Los Altos deliver food to help the less fortunate suffering through the pandemic.

The Rotary Club of Los Altos, like other service organizations, is improvising in the face of pandemic-induced restrictions.

The club’s Thursday lunches, long a staple for members, are not going to waste. To keep its caterer, Cafe Primavera, in business during the lockdown, Rotarians established a drive-thru meal pickup, are delivering them to members who cannot pick them up and are donating the surplus to the Day Worker Center of Mountain View.

 

Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian last month unveiled three pending COVID-19 testing sites in Mountain View for county residents.

According to Simitian, plans are in the works for: