Nextdoor.com is another communications tool for about twenty from Creston who have already joined this local social group. As word gets around, there will be more interest locally.

If you have something to sell locally, Nextdoor has sections for classified, free items, and lost and found. You can choose whether to participate with just our 150 household from our local Creston area only, or expand your contacts to hundreds more in nearby neighborhoods.

Major cities have announced partnership with Nextdoor: Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis. Lots more small cities like Mill Valley.

The sheriff’s office has announced that they will be using Nextdoor as means of communicating with residents on manners of interest.

https://crestonlosaltos.nextdoor.com/news_feed

You can sign up Nextdoor with Al Holstein at raho@flash.net or get membership online. Al will admit only households in our area, either way.

Dues $$$

Our annual $10 dues is asked for now. Please help the Creston Improvement Association. Your dues maintain your Association as a legal domestic nonprofit organization. Mail your dues directly to our new treasurer, Al Holstein at 10570 Creston Dr. or drop them off to Pat Musachia at 22180 Alderney Ct. (and pick up lemons if they are available). You can also leave dues payment at Kitty Wilson’s home at 22433 Ainsworth Dr.

Meet Your Creston Neighbors

Dave, Sue, Chris and Tim Kelly

Late last October, Dave, Sue, Chris and Tim Kelly moved to Creston Drive. The Kellys previously lived in Mason, OH, near Cincinnati, for over twenty years, with two years (1999-2001) in Hamburg, Germany.

Dave grew up in Denver and Colorado Springs, and Sue grew up just south of Chicago. They met at Purdue University, where Dave received both his

BS and Masters in mechanical engineering, while Sue received her BA in elementary education.

Dave worked in Cincinnati at Ethicon (a division of Johnson and Johnson) for 22 years designing medical instruments, and has now been working in Fremont at Cordis (another division of J & J) since last July. Sue was a stay-home-mom with their 4 kids while they were young, volunteering at school and church. For the last eight years she has also worked as a school aide and substitute teacher.

Their oldest two children stayed back in Ohio when the rest of the family moved to CA. Brendan (21 yrs.) is completing his undergraduate studies at Miami University this spring, majoring in bio-chemistry, with minors in molecular biology, Spanish and art. He plans on attending Ohio State University to continue with a master’s degree in food science. Trisha (20 yrs.) is finishing her second year at Miami University, studying early childhood education. She will be transferring to University of Cincinnati in the fall to continue her studies.

Christopher (17 yrs.) and Tim (15 yrs.) both attend St. Francis High School in Mountain View. Chris is a senior and plans to return to OH in the fall to attend the University of Cincinnati, majoring in business/accounting. He can be seen enjoying the CA lifestyle in his white Mustang convertible. Tim is a freshman and has found his place here by joining the cross country and volleyball teams at St. Francis. He also keeps very busy working out and competing with the Sol Jumper Jump Rope Team out of Santa Clara. . . a sport he has participated in for 7 years.

The Kellys are glad to be in Los Altos to be close to Dave’s mom, who moved here 2 years ago, and his older brother, who has lived here since his Stanford days in the 70’s. Dave and Sue have met lots of new neighbors walking by, and look forward to meeting many more as they make Creston Dr. their new home.

Rats/Pests

We have a number of pests in our yards that can create health issues as well as a general mess. Rats live in ivy, wood piles, and debris piles. Pat Musachia found a mummified rat in some stored material in her shed. Don’t leave food or water out for the critters, clean up hiding places in yards. Other pests are gophers and moles. They can destroy yards, eat plant roots, disrupt watering systems with their tunnels and make walking in your yard hazardous. We would love to pass on ideas on how to combat these little rodents without risking poisoning our pets.

Meet Your Creston Neighbors

Bimal, Devika and Revan Aponso

The Aponsos moved to Hartman Drive in Creston in July of 2008. They moved up to the Bay Area from Southern California in 2007 when Bimal joined NASA Ames Research Center to manage their flight and air-traffic control simulation facilities. Prior to their move to the Bay Area, Bimal worked for an engineering company in Hawthorne, CA, doing research and development work in aircraft flight control for the major aerospace companies and the Government. Devika worked in Software Development and Management for an integrated ticketing solutions company before giving up work to become a full time Mom. They lived in Rancho Palos Verdes in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

Bimal and Devika were both born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and came to the US for College. Bimal to the University of Maryland in College Park to pursue studies in Aerospace Engineering and Devika to the University of California in Irvine for a degree in Computer Science. Bimal also has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester in Manchester, England and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Revan is currently a 6th grader at Kennedy Middle School. He went to the Pinewood School in Los Altos from grades 1 to 5 and is adjusting well to a school 10 times bigger than his previous one! He loves playing basketball and piano and just started training for his 2nd Triathlon.

The Aponsos enjoy music, movies, board games, cooking and traveling. They go back to Sri Lanka often to visit family and friends.

Do you enjoy reading “Meet Your Creston Neighbors”. Are there neighbors who have interesting lives out there that we could highlight in future Newsletters? Do you have story to share? All write-ups will be edited by those persons featured before we release the Newsletter.

Los Altos Block Action Training

The Los Altos Community Center offers a relatively new program for Neighborhood Training on Emergency Planning, Earthquake, Paramedic Basics, etc. Neighborhood Watch is one element of the BAT program.

Block Action Training (BAT) provide free training, perhaps even to teenagers. All ages invited. Contact Jack Truher with interest on this new opportunity. Jack is exploring these new options. There is a time commitment. All the good work by Pat Musachia and our Neighborhood Watch Captains has put Creston ahead of the game. We know who lives here, in detail, and that is the hard part.

http://losaltosbat.org