President’s Message – October 2019

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU FOR ALL!

We had a great time at this year’s El Sobrante Stroll!  I must admit it was a bit surreal and humbling to be the Grand Marshal of the parade.  Mark Croda was an excellent host to both the Stroll Car Show and to me riding in his Excalibur car in the parade. What a thrill!

It was great to see so many friends and neighbors that day, and the weather was perfect.  Thanks to every one of the many volunteers who helped plan the Stroll, direct traffic, put up signs, barriers, tables and chairs; to the bands that created a festive environment with music coming from all sides; to Jeff Jerge and the Peddler Bike shop for the excellent Bike show – another very important part of the Stroll for many years; to all the food vendors and restaurants for providing the fantastic variety of snacks and meals to the attendees; to the crafters and merchants for bringing their wares for purchase; to the community organizations for supplying information about their services and plans for the community; to the Sheriff  Deputies, fire fighters, EMTs and other first responders who worked that day to help keep everyone safe and healthy; and to John Gioia and his staff, especially James Lyons, for their assistance in getting the repaving project done in time for the stroll, getting the approval to close the road for the day, attending the event (special thanks also to James for judging the parade) and representing our community at the county.  Finally, thank you to all who attended – it’s worth the many hours of planning and laboring to put on this event when we get the great turn out we had and the GREAT support of the community.  Thank you everyone.

In the course of writing this month’s message, I received word of the passing of Maurice Abraham, a member of the Chamber Board of Directors as well as a dear friend and neighbor to us all.  Maurice has been an inspiration to me regarding service to this community we both love, and I will miss his views on improving our little corner of the world.  I along with my wife Jenny express our sincerest condolences to Maurice’s wife Jean and the rest of the family.

Scott