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President's Message

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President's Message: Fall 2008

Your CARE Board has embarked on an exciting and challenging new project. Starting with a conversation I had with trustee Isobel Dvorsky about the large number of new retirees this year, CARE is beginning an open-ended project to write an informal history of the last 27 years at Chabot, Las Positas and the District. Some of you will remember history professor Dr. Ted Staniford, who wrote a small book, Chabot: the First Twenty Years, about the college’s beginning and its development over our first two decades. A few copies of this book are still available at the school library, and we arranged for all trustees to be given one at their June meeting.

Our new effort will take a very different approach. What has evolved is a strategy of asking all CARE board members to write a piece of any length and any style about any memory they have of the years between 1981, when Staniford’s history ended, and 2007.
I have put together a draft outline (Please see page 5) , listing some categories we may want to cover, and have already received material from a few board members and promises from many others. Our college credit union's CEO, Larry Schaffer, has also agreed to participate, contributing a history of the credit union. He will seek the help of Mavis Jamison. Folks were prompted to start writing wherever their memories took them. For instance, my first effort was a short piece about the 1989 earthquake, included on page 5 in this newsletter.

This approach seems to be bearing fruit. Our ideas are evolving weekly. At this point, we have no idea what the finished product will look like; however, I am regularly receiving suggestions about new ways to develop our story, and that’s an encouraging sign. We will put our work on CARE’s website, and we will publish something more permanent if we can get enough material to do so.

Now, here comes the pitch: What we think will make this history really come alive is to ask all of you to think about a memory from your time at Chabot, Las Positas, or the District, and then write it down. Email it to me at . Your work and your name will then be incorporated into our history. Each of you had memorable experiences during your work life, so you can each add information from your unique perspective. What better way to create a legacy for our generation and the people who come along after we have gone? I encourage you to become part of this exciting project. Don’t worry about style, length, subject, or anything else which might prevent you from sharing your memories and your perspective.

Please join us in this unique endeavor. We’re just waiting to hear from you!
Helen Bridge

Helen Bridge, CARE President

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