Community Notebook Community Notebook (September 14, 2005)

Among community events on tap in the next week: ** Katrina bake sale. Oak Knoll students -- and their moms and dads -- are baking cookies, cupcakes, pies and other goodies to sell at the Menlo Park elementary school's bake sale this week to benefit Katrina hurricane victims. The sale will be Tuesday, September 13, from 2:45 to 4 p.m., and Thursday, September 15, from 1:30 to 4 p.m., outside the kitchen area at the school, 1895 Oak Knoll Lane. The sponsor is the Caring and Sharing Committee of the Oak Knoll PTO. Marnie Foody and Lisa Newton are co-chairs. ** Free recycling. Residents can recycle electronic equipment at no charge on Saturday, September 17, at the Portola Valley Town Center. Goodwill Industries will be on hand from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will accept many types of electronic equipment, including computers, monitors, cell phones, stereos and video game systems. Printers and scanners must be manufactured in 2000 or later. For information, call Barbara Powell at 851-1700, ext. 18, or click on the computer recycling link at sfgoodwill.org. ** Life Stories class. Signups are being taken for the 10-week Life Stories writing class led by Sheila Dunec at Ladera Community Church, 3300 Alpine Road in Portola Valley, on Fridays from 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. beginning September 16. The fee is $140. For information, call Ms. Dunec at 565-8087. ** Creek cleanup. Volunteers are needed to clean up San Francisquito Creek on Saturday, September 17, from 9 a.m. to noon as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day. To participate, show up at the corner of Woodland Road and Manhattan Avenue in East Palo Alto wearing OK-to-get-wet-and-dirty shoes and clothes, and bring a hat and sunscreen. The local cleanup is sponsored by the San Francisquito Watershed Council. For information, call Katie Pilat at 962-9876, or check Acterra.org/watershed. ** Geologist talk. Getting oil to the surface and dealing with the different types of oil are among the topics of an hour-long talk by petroleum exploration geologist Paul Heiple, starting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 22, in Room 8 in the nature center at Portola Valley Town Center, 765 Portola Road. ** 'Tale of Genji' talk. David Buchanan, a docent at the Asian Art Museum, will present a slide lecture on a 3,000-year-old novel on Thursday, September 15, at 10 a.m. in Hanson Hall at The Sequoias, 501 Portola Road in Portola Valley. Set in ancient Kyoto, "The Tale of Genji" is a romance of epic proportions. It was written by Lady Marusaki to portray life and love in the royal court about 1000 AD. For information, call Mary Williams at 424-4204.

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