Outdoor dining on the streets of downtown Walnut Creek, borne of the COVID-19 pandemic, took a significant move last week toward a more permanent future, with the City Council approving measures to accommodate more durable buildings and to set more defined rules and regulations. On Dec. 6, the council approved designs for the “permitted outdoor din...

Directors request artwork of pedestrian gate Acting on November recommendations by the GRF Planning Committee, the full GRF Board on Thursday unanimously approved a list of capital projects with an anticipated price tag of almost $6 million. The most expensive approvals included $916,000 for some costs related to replacing Rossmoor’s Jenark account...

Resident’s artificial tree taken, then suddenly reappears Call this the case of a grinch who had second thoughts. Patricia Carey’s holiday-decorating plans were thrown into chaos when she discovered that the artificial tree she and her husband, Sam Citron, had planned to bring inside was gone. It had vanished from the outdoor hallway leading to the...

Discussing and understanding the societal and emotional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is a mighty task. Rossmoorians tackled that head-on at an enlightening health and wellness symposium on Friday. While a rainstorm raged outside, around three dozen residents gathered inside the Fireside Room to tackle the emotional turbulence wrought by the pan...

The three founders of Rossmoor Advocates for Diversity say their goal as a group is to help make this community a more inclusive, welcoming one. That certainly isn’t the perception of everyone, they say. But that’s been changing over the past few years, and Aki Rasmussen, Cecelia Wambach and Jo Anne Lawrence believe their work in Rossmoor since Mar...

After a half dozen years helping prepare Rossmoorians to be ready for earthquakes, wildfires and other disasters, Marcia McLean and Fran Gibson are preparing to step back a bit, if not step out completely. McLean, the Rossmoor-area coordinator for Walnut Creek Community Emergency Response Team (or CERT), and Gibson, president of the Rossmoor Emerge...

On Tim O’Keefe’s first day as Rossmoor CEO, on Nov. 16, 2015, his predecessor Warren Salmon handed him a couple of folders, and a hefty to-do list therein. “He said, ‘Tim, you’re going to negotiate the Comcast contract and oh, by the way, we’re right in the middle of finalizing the design plans for a $10 million renovation of the Fitness Center … a...

How Rossmoor Stables found a new home Just off Bear Creek Road, west of Briones Regional Park and north of Orinda in the unincorporated hamlet of Briones, are several equestrian-related properties. One of them is accessed by a gravel turnoff marked by signs that say “Hossmoor.” Being as “hoss” is a dialectal variant pronunciation of “horse,” it’s n...

Michael Rizza has made over 500 sculptures Rossmoor resident Michael Rizza has been sculpting for 61 years, completing hundreds of pieces ranging from tabletop size to cast bronze works over 10 feet tall. His materials encompass nearly everything used in sculpture: many kinds of stone, bronze, aluminum, plaster and composites from all over the worl...

The harsh realities and ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic require quite an unpacking effort, particularly when it comes to human relations. Strides are being made within Rossmoor, where efforts have been ongoing to address civility issues within the community. An important part of that discussion comes Thursday, Dec. 1, when residents can take...