Help Atherton celebrate its centennial

Atherton will turn 100 in September 2023. Town officials are polling residents on how they would like to celebrate.

Options include a series of town dinners or events, a celebration in Holbrook-Palmer Park, a party in the new civic center, presentations on the town's history, a summer music series, themed summer events, an art walk, a parade and more.

Fill out the survey here.

Woodside hires consultant to help it complete its housing element

The Woodside Town Council hired a project manager for a $100,000 contract, to respond to comments from the state on the town's draft housing element during an Oct. 25 meeting. The town received extensive feedback on the draft on Oct. 14. The contract includes an estimated 460 hours of work.

The consultant, Mountain View-based Baker Tilly US, LLP, signed an agreement to coordinate the work of planning and environmental consultants who are preparing the environmental review, and revisions to the draft. The town acknowledges in a staff report that it's a "substantial scope of work" to complete the update.

Consultants offered to prepare an overall schedule of tasks and milestones with completion dates that reflect a completion date of the Jan. 31, 2023, deadline, or May 31, 2023, if the January date is not feasible.

"We will update the schedule regularly as needed as part of the coordination effort," wrote Baker Tilly's managing director Carol Jacobs in an Oct. 14 letter to the town. "Changes may occur that will affect the project schedule based on new information or factors that arise outside of the control of our team."

Planning Director Jackie Young, who steered much of the planning for the draft element, is set to retire on Oct. 31.

Woodside High band wins honors at Santa Cruz Band Review

Woodside High School's marching band placed third at the Santa Cruz Band Review on Oct. 16, according to the school's social media page.

View its musical selection, "The National Game" by John Philip Sousa, on YouTube.

Woodside High participates in Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge

Seven Woodside High School students participated in the 2022 Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge at Redwood Glen Camp in Loma Mar from Oct. 12 to 15, according to a Forestry Challenge press release.

The school was one group of a total of 117 high school students, from 18 schools from Coastal and Central Valley regions, who took part.

Students conducted a forest inventory and post-treatment evaluation on the Camp Butano Forest Health Project. The 44-acre project is designed to restore a forest system challenged by lack of fire and changing climates with many homes in close proximity to its borders, the press release states. Students used the data they collected to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment and predict future conditions. During the challenge, teams of students also completed a field test to assess their technical forestry knowledge and data collecting skills.

"Engaging students in data collection analysis in their local community is the best way to teach science," said Woodside teacher Alton Lee in the release.

Woodside senior Sierra Pestoni said of the challenge: "A great opportunity for young adults to appreciate the beauty of the nature around them."