Imagine 70,000 football aficionados flocking to Santa Clara to see Vernon Davis, Colin Kaepernick, Patrick Willis and the 49ers strutting onto the field February 7, 2016 for the Golden Jubilee at Super Bowl 50 here in Santa Clara. Imagine local hotel rooms, restaurants and other businesses thriving for over a week.
Imagine no more. With a sea of red and gold as well as an abundance civic leaders and Measure J supporters watching live at City Hall, hundreds witnessed history on May 21 when the San Francisco Super Bowl Bid Committee was awarded Super Bowl L at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium. The San Francisco committee bested a bid by South Florida to host the event at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium.
“Today’s vote is the culmination of hard work from a number of dedicated individuals,” said 49ers CEO Jed York moments after the announcement to 49ers.com. “Our bid committee should be commended for putting together a proposal for NFL ownership that accurately depicted how memorable a Bay Area Super Bowl will be.”
WWII Navy WAVES Veteran Writes about the Blessings of Her Life
By Diane Andrews
Marge Connell, née Marjorie Joyce Dickie, came into this world earlier than expected.
"I was anxious to see this big, beautiful world and could not wait for the doctor," she writes in "My Blessings," her slender autobiography, written in longhand over a period of two years and available in the genealogy section of the Central Park Library.
The first of four daughters, Connell was born in 1922
Performing Arts Day Steals the Show
By Melissa McKenzie
California’s Great America has been delighting guests in Santa Clara for almost 40 years. But, for the last 30 years, students from across California have been invited to the park for Performing Arts Day
Legend of Pele Brings Alive Story of Hawaiian Fire Goddess
By Robert Haugh
Bringing alive one of the most fabled Hawaiian mythologies, The Legend of Pele entranced attendees as they experienced the journey of Pele, the Goddess of Fire in Hula Halau ‘O Pi’ilani’s performance on May 19 at the Santa Clara Convention Center’s Betty Hangs Theater.
South Bay Blue Star Moms
To a mother, Mother’s Day has a definite meaning: having her children by her side, or knowing that they’re safe and secure. However, for a mother whose child is serving in the military, Mother’s Day takes on a different meaning.
Santa Clara Players: Spreading It Around
By Larry Sacks
Sitcom dialog, innuendos, barbs and insults successfully make it to the small stage in Santa Clara Players’ latest production, Spreading It Around. Written by Londos D’Arrigo, Spreading takes place in a Florida retirement community.
This Week's Letters
Once the Dust Settles, More Space at SVACA
By Melissa McKenzie
There’s been some dust over at Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority lately.
After the shelter picked up the Mountain View contract for animal services last May, it became clear that the small facility on Thomas Road might not be large enough to cater to the influx of animals. Since the building is still fairly new, moving to another location wasn’t an option. So, in order to expand, SVACA got creative.
“This is our old volunteer room,” said Shelter Manager Michael Limper of the gutted space near the shelter’s bunny area. “This is going to be a cat adoption space. We’re going to put two big rooms in here, similar to the big room in front, with a big window on each side.”
“We’re hoping, it depends on if we have cats or kittens, but [room for] six to twelve,” he continued. “If it’s kittens, we will have at least 12; if it’s adults, at least six. At times we can fit up to five in a room - depending on if they all get along. With kittens, we can sometimes do eight or nine, depending on how big they are.”
In addition to the two new spaces for cats, the shelter is adding six dog rooms in what was the shelter’s storage area.
“We will take down [a current room] and make a hallway so we have two adoption spaces. Folks can go into [the current room] and then walk through a hallway to get to this room...We will be able to fit at least six to eight dogs in here.”
Local 6th Grade Students Win First Prize in the Tech Challenge Competition
By Cynthia Cheng
“Last year, my son came home from school and gave me a flier from his science teacher announcing the Tech Challenge [hosted by The Tech Museum],” says Amit Saha, a resident of Santa Clara and product manager at Symantec. “My son, Anish, wondered if he should do this. I said, ‘let’s do it,’ and that’s how I became a mentor [to him and his team].”
Last year, Anish and five of his friends, all students at Millikin Basics+ Elementary School, entered the Tech Challenge and won second place in the 5th-6th grade division. The boys have since graduated from Millikin and are now 6th graders in middle school. Though not all of them attend the same school, they remain friends and reunited to enter the competition again. At the event on April 20 Anish and his team won the grand prize for the 5th-6th grade division for their support of the 2013 theme, Asteroids Rock.
“Our objective was to land three devices or more onto three different terrains,” says Rikesh Mehta, a student at Discovery Charter School. “The first terrain was a flat, sandy area. The second terrain was a slanted rocky area. The third terrain was a flat area with a wall cutting through it.”
The students designed and created the devices as well as the catapult to launch them.
“The devices that we used were triangular pyramids made out of grass, rock, and cable,” says Thomas Panasyuk, a student at Peterson Middle School. “The three devices successfully landed on the three terrains in 46 seconds.”
“We based the design of our catapult on the medieval catapult,” says Shone Patil, a student at Peterson Middle School. “Our idea was based off that because it’s a very consistent design. You can hit the target again and again.”
