This Week on the Central Coast
Thanksgiving Dinners, Monarch Habitats, Adopt-a-Family, District-based elections, and a local baker competes on Food Network
Volunteers will hand out food for Thanksgiving
The annual collaboration between the Kiwanis Club of Monterey, the Food Bank for Monterey County, and the city of Monterey Recreation Division will once again be providing Thanksgiving meals to those in need. The meals are pre-packaged for up to a family of eight and will include the ingredients to cook a traditional Thanksgiving spread. Before, meals were provided fully-cooked. However, due to the high demand, this year’s meal will be ready-to-make, which was a much more affordable preparation.
Meals will be available for drive-thru or walk-up appointments. Meals will be ready on Wednesday, November 24, from 10AM to 2PM at the Dennis the Menace parking lot. Those interested can register online for a meal, email Monterey Recreation at montereyrecreation@monterey.org, or 831-646-3866 to book a time slot. Masks will be required.
In the past, the meal was provided as one large event with family-style seating. However, due to COVID safety precautions, the meals were instead prepared for take-away.
Local organizations planted Monarch habitats at Laguna Seca
Various community organizations planted two and a half acres of plants at Laguna Seca. The plants are meant to attract Monarch butterflies and support their caterpillars. Laguna Seca was the ideal place to create the Monarch gardens. It has plenty of open land and is on the Monarch’s migratory route.
Last month, the Museum of Natural History in Pacific Grove counted about 1300 Monarchs. As of this month, the number is up to 12,225. For comparison, in 2020, the museum counted zero Monarchs. The steep decline has been attributed to several factors, including habitat loss, pesticides, and GMos.
The planting event was so popular that it maxxed out the number of volunteers it could support. However, if you are still interested in helping, there are other planting plans being made for San Lorenzo Park.
The Aptos Adopt-a-Family event was started in 1992, when two friends helped a family in need by raising money for them to get through the holidays.
29 years later and the idea has stayed mostly the same. The event is focused on families that are having financial issues due to medical emergencies.
Sponsers provide their “adopted” family with holiday gifts and any medical equipment they may need. The sponsors do the shopping and drop off the gifts. Then, the adopted family comes to pick up the gifts.
Everything is anonymous, although some families choose to meet with each other. If you are planning on donating, it is good to note that 100% of all donations goes to the families in need.
If you would like to donate, please send your donation to:
Attn: Cathe Race
9601 Soquel Drive Ste. A
Aptos, CA 95003
If you are interested in adopting a family or know of someone who needs help, please call 831-688-7549 x10 or email cathe@cyber-times.com.
Monterey City Council voted on changing to district-based elections
This week, Monterey City Council voted to change to district-based elections after several letters were sent to the city arguing that its “electoral system violates the California Voting Rights Act of 2001, and threatened to sue the city.” Monterey’s current five council members all live in only two districts: Oldtown and Monterey Vista.
The change to district-based elections means the city will be divided into five districts. Each district will vote for its own representative who must reside within the district that voted for them. There are rules for how the district lines are drawn, most which deal with population size. Monterey provided a small explanation of district-based elections on its website.
According to the article, now that the decision was approved, Monterey has until February of next year to complete the transition to the new election model.
Local Homebaker is competing on Food Network
Philippe Costa is competing on The Holiday Baking Championship on Food Network. Philippe was born and raised on the Central Coast, from Seaside and Pacific Grove. He started baking as a teenager with his grandma and great grandma and decided to carry on the tradition after they had passed away as a way of remembering them. His friends asked by he didn’t make cakes for a living and, inspired by their inquiries, started selling at farmer’s markets. He uses Instagram to sell his cakes, which he delivers himself. Recently, he gave away the donuts he made on the first episode, which were maple and candied bacon.
Philippe briefly moved to Seattle to pursue a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. He became aware of the Holiday Baking Championship when his friends wanted to compete. However, they couldn’t commit to it and recommended he compete instead. He was working at Trader Joe’s when Food Network contacted him.
Currently, Philippe is looking for a location to open his own bakery in Monterey County.
