Election Night results are in! Page 5 VOL. XIX, NUMBER 42 • NOVEMBER 9, 2018 WWW.PLEASANTONWEEKLY.COM 16 TRI-VALLEY HERO Service to country and community 19 SPORTS Both volleyball teams advance in CIF playoffs 22 REAL ESTATE Why to buy or sell your home now PROTECTING NEIGHBORHOODS FROM THE THREAT OF WILDFIRES With new wildfires threatening our local communities, PG&E is partnering with our customers in high fire-threat areas to accelerate and expand our vegetation KEEPING YOUR management work. We will be examining and addressing critical vegetation NEIGHBORHOOD SAFE across 7,100 miles of power lines. You can help keep your The 2018 wildfire season is already one of the worst on record — with more than 1.5 million acres burned and more than 1,000 homes lost. And it’s not over yet. With the family and neighbors safe wildfire risk increasing at an alarming pace, the 2018 wildfire activity is on track to by maintaining defensible exceed the 2017 wildfire season, which was the most destructive on record. space around your home and property. We recommend by PG&E shareholders. for Paid l rights reserved. In order to keep our neighborhoods safe, PG&E may need to trim or remove vegetation on or near properties in high fire-threat areas. PG&E’s action plan you regularly trim bushes includes the following steps: and trees, remove any dry or dead vegetation and be sure Step 1: Q Our safety inspectors will be in your neighborhood to determine what to leave space between trees vegetation may need to be trimmed or removed. and plants. QStep 2: If needed, we will mark trees that need to be addressed and contact you to discuss the results of the safety inspection. QStep 3: We will perform safety work shortly after the inspection. QStep 4: We will plan to begin wood debris removal within a few weeks after completion of the safety work (unless you would like to keep it). Now, and in the years ahead, we must all work together to be better prepared for wildfires. To learn if you live in a high fire-threat area and what you can do to keep your community safe, please visit pge.com/wildfiresafety. “PG&E” refers to Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation. ©2018 Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Al Company. Gas and Electric ©2018 Pacific a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation. Company, Gas and Electric to Pacific “PG&E” refers Page 2 • November 9, 2018 • Pleasanton Weekly AROUND PLEASANTON BY JEB BING Remembering General Pershing, 100 years later hautauqua scholar Doug Mishler, impersonating CWorld War I Gen. John J. Pershing as the grand marshal in last Sunday’s Veterans Day parade and later in a performance at the Veter- ans Memorial Building, brought back memories for me. Not of Gen. Pershing, who died in 1948, but of a movie about him that I was watching in a suburban Chicago hospital when my daughter Kerry was born. This hospital was one where fa- thers were viewed as unnecessary JEB BING participants in the delivery room, so I Scholar Doug Mishler portraying was relegated to a small waiting room Gen. John J. Pershing last weekend. where a superb film on Pershing was airing on a small TV set. be called Armistice Day, on the 11th In the middle of the movie, just hour of the 11th day of the 11th as Pershing was launching a major month, or Nov. 11, 1918. attack on German troops, I felt a tap In his presentation, Mishler, de- on my shoulder. It was the doctor picting Pershing, shared the expe- inviting me to follow him to meet my riences of the commander of the new baby. American Expeditionary Force on It was a brief meeting, however. It the Western Front. He discussed was 3 a.m. and I was asked to leave. his experiences in battle, his years When I walked by the waiting room, at West Point, both as an under- the TV was off, but I was determined performing student and later as an to find and finish the movie some- instructor, his military pursuits in where later. No luck. It was out-of- the Philippines, Mexico and Ameri- date, out-of-stock, nonexistent. can Indian tribes on their dwindling I’ve kept the Pershing story alive reservations. by mentioning it every year on Ker- He also talked about Pershing’s ry’s birthday right after she blew out camaraderie with other military the candles. Then last month on my greats, including President Theodore birthday, as I was looking forward to Roosevelt and future Gens. George Mishler’s presentation, this daughter Marshall and George S. Patton. He (yes, that one whose birth inter- shared funny anecdotes and hon- rupted my movie) sent me an email: est opinions about many of these “Dad. I have felt guilty these past famous men. years about the fact that you and Mishler talked a little bit about Gen. Pershing were abruptly sepa- Pershing’s own family tragedy. On rated on my birthday so I want you Aug. 27, 1915, while Pershing was check this one out on your birthday.” deployed to Fort Bliss, Texas, a lac- VERY Attached was a 56-minute docu- quered floor caught fire at his home mentary about Pershing describing at the Presidio in San Francisco. much of the historical narrative I had This resulted in the smoke inhalation REAL missed in the hospital waiting room. deaths of Pershing’s wife Helen and Last Sunday, Mishler filled in the rest. their three young daughters, Mary, LOCAL Mishler is called a Chautauqua age 3, Anne, 7, and Helen, 8. Only scholar because he follows the model their 6-year-old son Francis Warren made famous by the Chautauqua survived. NEWS Institution of Western New York, Pershing was given two orders by where actors learn to step onto the President Woodrow Wilson. He was stage as historical figures, playing the to go to Europe and return alive. He Support local journalism role of the real character. did just that, and I would say to the with a print or online Sunday’s parade and Mishler’s por- general today thanks for a job well subscription starting at trayal of Gen. Pershing recognized done. only $5/month the 100th anniversary of the end of And thanks to Kerry for remem- the First World War, known then as bering your dad’s love of the movie PleasantoWeekly.com/ the Great War and the War to End about one of this country’s great user/subscribe/ All Wars. It ended on what used to heroes. Q About the Cover Moms and their kids enjoy the Pleasanton Mothers Club’s annual Harvest Party, this year held in mid-October at G&M Farms in Livermore. From left: Ashleigh Swiatkowski with her kids Hudson and Harper, and Corrin Scott with Andrew (in front) and Jackson. Photo by Erika Alvero. Cover #PressOn design by Doug Young. Vol. XIX, Number 42 Pleasanton Weekly • November 9, 2018 • Page 3 Streetwise ASKED AROUND TOWN Would your childhood self be proud of the person you are today? Christian Butler High school student Yes. I believe he would be. While I was growing up, I had a lot going and I wasn’t as mature back then as I am now. Now that I’ve grown up a bit, I can take a hit. I’m in a better form now than what I was as a kid, so I think my kid self would be proud of who I am now. Maddie Hill High school student Yes, because I feel that as a child one of my main goals in life was to be happy, and right now, I am the happiest I have ever been. See a Stanford pediatrician at LPSR Pediatrics Greg Rawls Budget management Access to Excellence. Absolutely. I have met all of the career genpeds.stanfordchildrens.org goals I set for myself as a child, as well as my life goals and family objectives. And I have a lot of valuable, healthy rela- tionships. I’ve even been able to main- tain a state of excellent health. 2015 Warren Little Store manager BRANFORD Probably not. Not really. I had a lot of MARSALIS aspirations as a child. I wanted to be an QUARTET astronaut. I wanted to be an astrophysi- cist. I wanted to be a zookeeper. I’m none The Jazz Tour We Now of those things. But, even though a disap- Sell Dog pointment to myself, my parents are proud FäÛǗ<ÛǗƖƕǗƫǗƛƬƗƔñÙ of me because I’m able to earn a decent Food living, live independently, pay taxes and make a contribution to my community through various volunteer activities. JAKE Chip Car Key Vlad Marjanovic SHIMABUKURO Business executive $ 99 Yes. I grew up in Eastern Europe, as a "The Greatest Day" really good, hard-working kid. I moved H¬ēǗÒĆÙǗläĆô 69 (Some Restrictions to this country with nothing and created Apply) an excellent and successful life for myself lƬǗ<ÛǗƖƝǗƫǗƛƬƗƔñÙ Ask Us About: and my family. Rescreening Or New Window Screens, Sharpening Knives, Scissors, Chainsaws, Mower Blades and Many ROBERT Garden Tools. —Compiled by Nancy Lewis and Jenny Lyness CRAY Have a Streetwise question? Email [email protected] Legendary Blues Hall ä¸Ǘ'Ù¬Ǘ(ĆÀĀôÀøĀ The Pleasanton Weekly is published every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 5506 Sunol Blvd., Two Locations to serve you: Suite 100, Pleasanton, CA 94566; (925) 600-0840. Mailed at Periodicals Postage Rate, eĆÛǗ'¬ǗƕƔǗƫǗƛƬƗƔñÙ USPS 020407. The Weekly is mailed upon request to homes and apartments in Pleasanton.