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L ET T H E S $AVING BEGIN!
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2023
YEAR 35
MAC MEETING
INSIDE YOUR
MAC Approves Plan for Condos Near BART
FORUM
Living the Dream
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
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Laurel Center Page 3
Pack to School
Hayward-Castro Valley Kiwanis Club assembles backpacks for local kids
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INDEX Calendar ................ 4 Classified Ads ....... 8 Health & Fitness ... 10 Homes...................... 6 Horoscope ............. 11 Legal Notices .......... 9 Our Town ................. 3 Sheriff’s Report ....... 3 Sports .................. 12 Weather ................ 2 WWW.MYCVFORUM.COM
The condos are in two basically identical structures, which house four units each. A property owner wants to The BART station is located subdivide existing market-rate to the southeast of the condos, and there is a variety of other townhomes near the Castro Valley BART station, and the multi-unit housing in the surCastro Valley Municipal Advi- rounding area. sory Council (MAC) approved The proposed subdivision the plan at its regular land use would turn the eight existing meeting on Monday night. units into 16, a number that is consistent with the county’s The site, located at 21091 Wilbeam Avenue, has been the approved density for the area. location of eight condominiThere has been a 20-year um units since May of 2021. journey in getting housing on The current owner, Pleasanthe Wilbeam site. The property ton-based Ingelo Investment, was originally approved for ten wants to divide the existing condos back in June of 2003, three-bedroom, 3-and-a-half- but that project fell through. bath units internally. see MAC on page 10 By Amy Sylvestri
CV’s Dayna Speed to produce her first musical “Bright Star”
What will be the fate of former elementary school in CV?
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PHOTOS BY MICHAEL SINGER
Co-owner of The Prize Booth, Erin Fritts, tends to a customer.
New CV Toy Store a Prize for Community By Alyssa Phillips
SPECIAL TO THE FORUM
In a world becoming more digitized by the minute, kids have begun to miss out on the off-screen fun in life. Now, a new toy store has opened on Seven Hills Road to bring the magic of toys and games back to Castro Valley youth. The Prize Booth’s grand opening was on July 13, and was very welcome in the community. Castro Valley’s last official toy store—the Village Toy Shop—closed back in 2007. Co-owner Erin Fritts shared how her family has been in Castro Valley for generations and how she loved the Village Toy Shop when she was growing up here. She wanted to give her 9-year-old daughter, Emerson, an enchanting toy store experience but said there were no local toy stores as the closest ones were in San Francisco and Alameda. The idea came about when Erin was at a toy shop in San Francisco and said that
“it was the most joyous and exciting place. Everyone was just so happy to be there.” With the lack of a local toy shop, combined with the increasing usage of screen time from the COVID-19 pandemic, Erin and her husband, Tim Fritts, saw an opportunity for something great. They aimed to bring happiness to their community’s youth by opening The Prize Booth. Erin expressed concern for kids with too much screen time, saying it “leaves no room for boredom. Boredom leads to imagination, and imagination makes creative kids who grow up to be creative people.” “Today, kids are on screens all the time. I want to encourage them to play outside in the sand, grass, and mud. That’s where the best memories are made,” Erin says. The store offers a variety of toys, educational and fiction books, games, and even clothes. With the goal of getting kids outside in mind, many of the toys are geared toward outdoor play. see PRIZE on page 5
‘Post-It Note’ Artist Dies Near Lake Chabot By Michael Singer
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Edmund “Ed” Attanasio, a Castro Valley artist known for his sketches of dogs and cats on Post-It Notes, was found deceased in a car near Lake Chabot last Tuesday, the Alameda County Sheriff’s has confirmed. On July 18, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) Edmund “Ed” Attanasio deputies responded to a body found in a car on Lake Chabot Fire Department worked on Road near the park at 1:00 p.m. Calls to dispatch said the Attanasio for more than 30 minutes but could not revive person was slumped over the steering wheel in a vehicle near him. see ARTIST on page 11 the park. The Alameda County