ART

Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art presents Bright and Beautiful: Early San Francisco Bay Area Watercolors - Featuring the Collection of Roger and Kathy Carter. This exhibition runs through Sept. 13 and will showcase the art of watercolor painting as it was practiced in Northern California in the 19th and early 20th centuries. For info, visit https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-marys-college-museum-of-art.

The Moraga Art Gallery presents “Color, Clay & Fire,” a new show featuring the ceramics of Jacqueline Proulx and the dramatic light-and-color paintings of Marge Barta Atkins. The show, which includes the gallery’s 16 member artists and several guest artists, runs through Oct. 31. For more info, visit www.moragaartgallery.com or call (925) 376-5407.

“Painting With Threads,” an exhibition of exquisite Japanese embroidery art pieces will be on exhibition from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day Sept. 28 – Oct. 2 at BDK America, located at 1675 School Street in Moraga. BDK America is the American affiliate of a world-wide philanthropy promoting Buddhism and Japanese culture and arts. (See related story page A10)

The newest show at the Lafayette Art Gallery is titled “Artists in Action,” which runs through Oct. 31, will focus on action! Selected artists will be demonstrating their techniques in action at the Gallery from noon to 3 p.m. on Sept. 26 and 27, as a talented group of local artists showcase their works related to the theme of movement, motion and gestural action. There will be a free reception with wine and snacks from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18.

MUSIC

National touring folk artist Jack Williams will be playing at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11 at Mighty Fine Guitars in Lafayette. Suggested donation: $15-$20. No RSVP required. For info, call (925) 268-8226 or visit www.mightyfineguitars.com or www.jackwilliamsmusic.com.

“Gypsy” opens the Gold Coast Chamber Players’ 2015-16 series, with works inspired by Gypsy exoticism. Gold Coast Chamber Players and artistic director/violist Pamela Freund are the recipients of the 2015 Arts Recognition Award by the Contra Costa County Arts and Culture Commission. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, with a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at www.gcplayers.org and by phone at (925) 283-3728. Limited seating, please reserve early.

Grace Partners presents a free benefit concert from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26 at Grace Presbyterian Church, 2100 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek. Enjoy food, drink, and live music from Bollinger Station and The King Cosby Band. Proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity. Free. For more info, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/701494296616699/, call (925) 935-2100 or email rr.gracewc@gmail.com.

LECTURE & LITERATURE

Fine Arts Docent Lecture - Royal Hawaiian Featherwork: Na Hulu Ali’i at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10 at the Moraga Library. Join Jill LeCrone, member of the Docent Council of the Fine Arts Museums, as she discusses some of the highlights of the Royal Hawaiian Featherwork exhibit at the de Young Museum on display through Feb. 28. For more info, visit ccclib.org or call (925) 376-6852.

UC Berkeley’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute will offer four six-week courses at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center this fall. There will be a free info session with faculty from 3 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10 at the Library (3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd.). The session will begin with a talk by tech law attorney (and OLLI instructor) Eric Sinrod on “Privacy Lost in the High-Tech World.” Learn more at olli.berkeley.edu, or request a free catalogue by contacting berkeley_olli@berkeley.edu or (510) 642-9934. Classes start Sept. 29.  (See related story page B2)

Life in the Bay Area: Dr. Miriam Chion, research and planning director of the Association of Bay Area Governments, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24 at The College Preparatory School’s Buttner Auditorium, 6100 Broadway in Oakland. This presentation will provide an overview of major land use, transportation, housing, and climate change issues in the Bay Area. Tickets are $15 at the door or at www.college-prep.org/livetalk.

Lafayette Physical Therapy Lecture Series will feature with Michele Duffy BTB, M.F.S., who will discuss Feng Shui and Wellness from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 3468 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Suite B110 in Lafayette.  For info, visit http://lafayettept.com/events/.

KIDS, PARENTS & TEENS

The Lafayette Art and Wine Festival will feature the Cooking with Kids Foundation booth from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 19 and 20. Parents ever try to get your kids to love and eat their vegetables? Come to the free interactive booth (in the Kids Zone.) Your children will have fun while they learn a valuable life skill. For info, call (925) 932-1114 or visit www.cwkf.org.

The Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda Libraries marked the start of Lamorinda Kids Read Sept. 1 by giving away free copies of Stuart Gibbs’ “Spy School.” Gibbs will talk about his “Spy School” series and his other popular children’s books at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24 in the Lafayette Library and Learning Center. The Lamorinda Kids Read programs are free and geared to older elementary and middle school students. They are sponsored by the Friends of the Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda Libraries. For more information, visit ccclib.org or http://guides.ccclib.org/onebook/lamorinda2015.

The New SAT is coming March 2016. In preparation, The New PSAT will be administered to students this October. To help students prepare, the OML- AAUW Scholarship Committee in partnership with Kaplan Test Prep, will hold a New PSAT Practice Test on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Miramonte High School in Orinda as a fundraiser for their scholarship awarded annually. Students will experience the full-length timing and structure of the new PSAT, receive a comprehensive analysis of their strengths and weaknesses and therefore know exactly what to expect on Test Day. Cost for the test is $35. For more details and to sign up, visit: http://oml-ca.aauw.net/psat/.

OTHER

The California Independent Film Festival will screen dozens of films at the Rheem and Orinda theatres as well as San Francisco’s Castro Theater over this year’s seven-day festival Sept. 10-16, featuring shorts, documentaries and feature length films by independent film makers from around the world. This annual event offers a unique opportunity to meet film directors as well as actors and actresses, and to hear some of the stories behind the creation of the films. Tickets and the full schedule are available at the box offices or www.caiff.org.  (See story page A1)

Fall is the perfect time to adopt a kitten or cat. See adorable felines at the Community Concern for Cats’ weekend adoption event from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 12 and 13, at Pet Food Express in Lafayette and Pleasant Hill, and Petco in Walnut Creek. For more info, visit www.communityconcernforcats.org.

Join National Park Service rangers for a stargazing adventure, “Road Map to the Night Sky,” from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 at the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez. The program is designed to increase knowledge of the night sky by progressing through a series of constellations. Reservations are not required. Please call the John Muir NHS Visitor Center at (925) 228-8860 if you have questions about the program. If it rains heavily, the program will be canceled.

The 11th annual Orinda Classic Car Show Weekend will start with the Dancing with the Cars Party at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11 with the Car Show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the following day, Saturday Sept. 12. The “Fun, Fun, Fun” party the night before the Car Show at Library Plaza requires an advanced purchased ticket, but admission is free for the car show, which will feature nearly 200 American and European cars ranging from the 1920s, to the classics of the ‘50s and ‘60s, as well as modern exotics on display at Orinda Motors and surrounding streets in Orinda Village on Saturday. For more info see www.orindacarshow.com. 

Lamorinda Meditation Community. Join meditation meetings at 10:30 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays at 1036 Country Club Drive, Suite 100, in Moraga, at the Career Wisdom Institute. Facilitators at Lamorinda Meditation Community come from various meditation backgrounds and arrive by 10:30 a.m., sit, relax, chat a bit, and prepare themselves so that they begin meditation from 10:45 to 11:15 a.m. At 11:20 a.m., people are free to stay for Q&A/sharing or leave, as their schedule and preferences permit. Suggested donation of $5 per visit to help with the beautiful space.

City Challenge 2015, City of Lafayette Blood Drive.  Look for the American Red Cross bus from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 3675 Mt. Diablo Blvd.  To Schedule your appointment or for more info, visit redcrossblood.org and enter Sponsor Code: LAFAYETTE or call 1-800-733-2767.

Many Faces of Gynecologic Cancers from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16 at the Cancer Support Community, 3276 McNutt Ave., Walnut Creek. Join an engaging panel of medical experts as they explore the unique issues of ovarian, cervical and uterine cancers. The panel will offer insight into ongoing screening guidelines, latest treatment options, advances with minimally invasive surgery and sexual and menopausal issues facing gynecologic cancer survivors. Q&A session will follow the presentation. Free. Reservation recommended: call (925) 677-5041.

The Saint Mary’s College Guild will hold a tea from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17 in the Soda Center. Cost: $30.  Please make checks payable to SMC Guild and mail to Jeanie Beatson - 9 Teodora Ct., Moraga, CA, 94556. For information contact Jeanie at (925) 376-3201. Proceeds will benefit students seeking financial aid.

The Friends of the Moraga Library will hold their semi-annual book sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Moraga Library. There will be a $5 Bag Sale from 1 to 2 p.m. when a large paper grocery bag can be purchased and filled with as many books as the bag will hold. The money raised goes to fund library materials and programs, and to staff Sunday hours at the library.

Orinda takes part in National Coastal Cleanup Day 2015. Trash accumulates along San Pablo creek in Downtown Orinda and flows downstream all the way to San Pablo Reservoir and beyond to San Francisco Bay. Help take care of the fragile marine environment by volunteering your time right here in Orinda. Join Friends of Orinda Creeks at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19 in the parking lot next to Vintage House (25 Orinda Way). Bring sunscreen, gloves (if you have them), and wear long pants and sturdy shoes. All other equipment will be provided. For info, contact Jim Luini at (925) 254-6208.

Lamorinda quilters exhibiting at the Diablo Valley Quilt Show Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20 include Charlene Dakin, Audrey Mantle, Nancy Townsend from Lafayette, Sue Harris from Orinda, and Carol Roach and Sally Socolich from Moraga. More than 230 quilts from members of the Diablo Valley Quilt Guild will be on exhibit reflecting all facets of today’s quilting world – traditional, innovative art quilts, and modern quilts with bold colors and graphic designs – at Tice Valley Community Gym, 2055 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek. Admission: $10.  For info, visit www.diablovalleyquilters.com.

League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley monthly Saturday program and discussion, “Are You Suffering From Common Core Confusion?” will be from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Lafayette Community Center. Mary Maddux, the highly-regarded assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the Lafayette School District, will be providing information helpful to gain an understanding of Common Core and its fundamental nationwide school district goals.

Lafayette Art, Wine & Music Festival, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20 in downtown Lafayette. Stroll among stalls of art and handmade crafts, sample foods from top local restaurants, and enjoy quality wines and microbrews. “This little sidewalk sale has grown to be an award-winning Art, Wine and Music Festival with four stages, 21 live bands, 260-plus Artists, KidZone, great food – and arguably the largest selection of wine, beer and ale of any San Francisco Bay Area festival,” says Chamber Executive Director Jay Lifson. The festival will be held on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For info, go to www.lafayettechamber.org/events/art-wine-festival. (See story page A3)

Antiquities of California is coming to Moraga from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21 at the Moraga Country Club. View up to 30 autographed and memorabilia items from TV and movies, Star Wars, Grateful Dead, a piece from the World Series, Disney and more. Viewing the items is free of charge, but all items will be available for purchase in a silent auction to keep for your office or home. Pieces for purchase will start as low as $100. Sponsored by the Moraga Chamber of Commerce.

Visit the Be the Star You Are!® booth at the Pear and Wine Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26 in Moraga to receive a free book as part of the charity literacy outreach program sponsored by Children’s Success Unlimited, Michael VerBrugge Construction, and Lamorinda Weekly. Info at http://starstyleradio.net/Events/Entries/2015/9/26_Pear_%26_Wine_Festival_2015.html.

Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church will host an American Red Cross Blood Drive. To schedule your appointment or for more information visit redcrossblood.org and enter Sponsor Code MVPC. For info, visit www.mvpctoday.org or call 376-4800x227.

Are you the next Miss Contra Costa County or Miss Contra Costa County’s Outstanding Teen? For info and to apply to compete, email info@misscontracosta.org or visit www.MissContraCosta.org.

The Moraga-Orinda Fire District will kick off Fire Prevention Week with its Fall Open House and Pancake Breakfast from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 3 at Station 41, 1280 Moraga Way.

Restaurant Walk: A Benefit for Girls’ Science Education. More than 20 Walnut Creek restaurants will be providing delicious samples from their menus during the Walnut Creek Restaurant Walk from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, sponsored by the American Association of University Women. Enjoy some wonderful food and help provide this important experience for more girls by sending your check for $30 per person to Jan Cushman at 143 Meadow View, Orinda, CA 94563. Checks should be made out to AAUW OML Community Outreach Fund, Inc. For more info, visit http://oml-ca.aauw.net/tech-trek/.

Contra Costa County AARP Tax-Aide is looking for volunteers to become members of a team providing free tax preparation for individuals of all ages. Orientation is in November and classes for tax counselors start in January. Service from February to April 15, 2016. If interested, apply online, www.aarp.org/taxvolunteer or call LaVerne Gordon at (925) 726-3199 for additional information and to apply.

SENIORS

Sons In Retirement - Las Trampas Branch 116 welcomes guest to socialize with us at its monthly luncheon beginning at 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 21 held at the Walnut Creek Elks Lodge, 1475 Creekside Drive featuring guest speaker Dr. Michael Barrington, a former Missionary in Nigeria where he lived for 10 years, both during and following a bloody civil war. Barrington will be discussing humanitarian efforts to save millions that were subjected to genocide, starvation and famine. Call (925) 322-1160 to make lunch reservations if you wish to attend.

Lunch n’ Learn: Favorite Apps and How to Use Them from 10:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Sept. 22 at Merrill Gardens Lafayette. Learn how to use popular and helpful apps such as Google Maps, Yelp, Pandora music, and texting. Lunch served by Merrill Gardens. When you call to reserve your spot, say what other apps you would like to learn about. Space is limited; reservations required by Thursday, Sept. 17. Call Lafayette Senior Services at (925) 284-5050. Free for members; $10 non-members.

The Alzheimer’s Association will be hosting a three-part education series for individuals with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, who are in the early stages, and for their care partners. Facilitators will discuss what you need to know, what you need to plan and what you can do as you navigate this chapter of your life. Separate classes are offered concurrently for early stage individuals and for care partners. Dates and Location: Wednesdays, Sept. 23, 30 and Oct. 7, in Lafayette. Classes are free but pre-registration is required. Contact Lan Trinh at (800) 272-3900 or ltrinh@alz.org to register

GARDEN

Lafayette Garden Club meeting from 9:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, Sept. 10 will feature Stefani Bittner of Homestead Design collective, who will discuss “The Low Water Edible Garden” at the Lafayette Veterans Memorial Hall, 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Guests welcome. For info, email cpoetzsch@gmail.com.

Gardening All Year: Prepping Your Garden for fall from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13 at 3932 Mt. Diablo Blvd. This class will go over a variety of techniques to help the transition to your fall garden: seed saving, crop rotation, soil amending, cool weather edible crops, sheet mulching and planting natives. Participants should bring seed heads, pods, fruit, etc. to prepare and trade with others for a simple seed swap. Register at lafayettecommunitygarden.org/classes-and-events. Cost: $5 donation requested.

The Walnut Creek Garden Club will hold its general meeting from 9:30 a.m. to noon Monday, Sept. 14 at the Gardens at Heather Farm located at 1540 Marchbanks Road in Walnut Creek. The topic of the program is Pollution Prevention. Kit Ohlman from the Contra Costa Sanitary District will talk about what goes down our drains that can eventually hurt our environment. For more info, email mslittle44@gmail.com.

The Moraga Garden Club meeting will be held at the Holy Trinity Church, 1700 School Street, Moraga at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 17 featuring guest speaker Paul Licht, director of the U.C. Botanical Garden, who will be giving a presentation on “Gardening with Rare Plants.” Interested parties are welcome to attend the 9:30 a.m. social time, marketplace table, and meeting at 10 a.m.