BPMDS Potluck In The Park
Alphabet Soup
August 26, 2011

Like the songs says, "Oh What A Night!" (no, not followed by, "Sweet surrender back in '63...") But fun it was as the Bubb Park Mothers & Dogs Society assembled for a special, fun filled evening. It seemed like everyone who had been out and about all summer was back ready for another school year, brimming with smiles, and good cheer for all.

A special thanks to Karen Price for her terrific theme: Alphabet Soup. For a month before the event, as dog walkers and playground moms met, the kidding was what to bring. Suggestions like "Yak Butter" for Wendy Yee were par for the course. the creativity flowed and you can see the various dishes below.

Also special for the evening was our ability to recognize and give a round of appreciation to two groups who are special to our neighborhood. First, two of our beloved 5th grade Bubb School teachers in the forms of Gayle Dyer and Kim Thompson (who we forgive for going on to become Principal of Graham Middle School and turning it into a magnet for talented kids.)

And second, two very special guys whose job it is to watch our backs: Lynn Brown, Office of Emergency Services Coordinator and Jerry Haag, Amateur Radio (Ham) Emergency Coordinator for Mountain View. Lynn runs and teaches the CERT classes for the City, and has frequently been the Incident commander for past Santa Clara County CERT exercises and is the senior member of the County's Emergency Managers Association. Jerry, in addition to keeping Mountain View's 60+ Hams primed and ready for emergencies, is President of SPECS, the Southern Peninsula Emergency Communication Services organization. SPECS holds WEEKLY test call-ins at 2000 hours EVERY Monday night and also operates and maintains the primary Ham repeater station (WASH 145.270 MHZ) serving north county Hams and it's located at El Camino Hospital. If you are a Ham, or know one and would like to hear the fun, tune in any Monday night. Really great to be able to say thanks to these two special guys who are ready to help when the stuff hits the fan!

And since this is, after all, Silicon Valley, no summary would probably be complete without some statistics on this great event. We had 38 BPMDS families represented, with 63 adults and 40 children, making 104 folks present, plus Lynn & Jerry make 106.

OK Teak, I'll add the dog count too, yes I DO remember the name includes dogs. We had 15 (in Ham speak, "Numerals one, five") canines present and accounted for. Napoleon Benny, and Chancellor Chelsea did their share of provoking spirited Scooter and Elliot into vocal discussions but, like Congress, no physical harm was done. Newcomer Harvey (Miller) was at first a bit awed by it all, but then fit right in. So, we've always said, there are 18 trees that dogs can guard. Some of the above were assigned guard duty to various benches and trees, so all was well.

So that about wraps it up for this edition of BPMDS fun. We've done our best to get it right, but corrections, additions (and deletion requests?) will be entertained: Email Rick.

P.S. On Saturday morning the music device in the last picture was found on the bench where the World Peace gals were sitting. Who does it belong to?

LST_NAME	FST_NAME	SPOUSE	CHILD1	CHILD2	CHILD3	Dog	Dish
Cheng	Hao	Cathy	Kai	Jin
Christopherson/Gorgen	Dianne	David	Wil			Benny	Chips & Guacamole
Cooper	Kathy						Killer Cookies!
D'Antonio	Kimm	Tony	Cruz	Eva			hot Dogs & spinach Artichoke dip
Dyer		Gayle
Escober	Becky	Gil	Mason	Julia
Evans	Doug	Terri	Kendra	Samantha			Edamame
Freiha	Amy	Selim	Samir	Ramsey	Nabil	Roxy & Beau	Fruit Platter
Galli	Diantha	Jerome	Samuel	Joseph			Grapes
Hilberg	Gabriele		Sophia Sears	Mira Sears		Cocoa & Hershey
Hill/Bashir	Nancy	Shahzad	Zakriya				Pesto Pasta & Roasted Chicken
Ighanian	Fariba	Safdar					Masala  (Indian)
Jacob	George
Kahan/Safran	Michael	Gabriella	Eva	Frieda			Saffron-Infused Sweet Kagel
Kark	Vera					Norabell	Kucumbers!
Kundrat	Debbie	Doug	Lizzy				Kundrat Kale & DeSoto Dill Pickles
Lehner	Chris	Pam					Lehner Leftovers! Pizza & Donuts
Lighthall	Geoff	Jean	Sara	Rachel		Little Bear
Lynch	Penny	Paul	Amy	Ciaran	Corey		Lemon Chicken
Martin	Susanne	Erroin					Basil & Mozzarella Pizza
Michaels/Jones	Carol	David	Melisa	Michael		Elliot	Meatballs & Jasmine Rice
Miller	Elyse	Scott	Sarah	Trevor		Harvey	Melon, Cantalope & Water
Millet/McDonald	Tim	Page	Tatum	Payton		Scooter	Melon Medley
Patterson		Jenny	Ryan Jacob	Julia Ann			Petit Peach Pies
Penafiel		Hugo
Peterson	Kris	Scott	Ben	Owen			Pasta
Peterson	Sandy	Craig				Morgan	Pizza, Greek
Price	Karen						Pineapple Pasta
Sajfr	Marcela
Sloan/Stahl	Janet	Peter		Allegra			Spinach Slad
Sokoloff/Brown	Randi	Jeff	Zoe	Mira		Molly	Brownies
Strotman	Doreta						Salad - Cucumber
Theil	Niki	Jeremy	Eric	Andy			Tabouli & Tzatsiki
Thompson	Kim
Van Mell	Rick	Sandy				Teak	Vegetable Medley
Woodbridge	Michelle	Scott				Olivia	White Cheese
Woolley	Richard					Chelsea	Water Crackers
Zlateva	Svetla						Chicken
Brown	Lynn
Haag	Jerry

I made this ...	yeah, right!	Kimm's OK	Terri too.
New canine Harvey	Just started .. going fast!	Alphabet Cake	Lehner's Leftovers!
Kim, Lynn & Jenny	what about me?	Wanna fight?	Hao & Jin
My dish was	BOYS rule	Michelle, Scott, Pam & Chris	So?
Harvey's looking	Mad Cocoa	Tethered Elliot	Napoleon Benny
Gentle Norabell	Hopeful Morgan	Now how do I ...	pour this thing?
Hugo, Jerry & Lynn	Friends & Dogs	But where's mine?	World Peace!
BFF	Galli's arrive	BFF2	Sandy like's it
Chelsea's hunting	This is ...	one very ...	nice gathering ...
of BPMDS folks!	Nice Hat!	I... like ...this!	Find our name
Lynn, Erroin & Susanne	Peter holds court	Debbie's happy	World Peace 2
Special Page	Charlie	No kids .. at the moment	BFF3
Galli feeding time!	Happily relaxed	Amy & Selim + Roxy & Beau	Little Bear brings Geoff & Jean
Kids play ...	ball!	Happy & safe!	Molly's happy too
Allegra too!	Mira has ..	Hershey's back	Hi Gayle
George ( Jake)	Found Saturday morning yours?