Dining Survey

In cooperation with the Food Committee, on July 1st The Buzz conducted a survey of Residents’ opinions about Dining Room Food Quality and Food Service. One hundred and twenty-eight surveys were left at Residents’ doors. (When two people were listed on the door, 2 surveys were left.) Of those, 51 surveys were returned, a response rate of 39.8%. On the issue of Food Quality, 18.6% were satisfied and 81.4% were not satisfied. On the issue of Food Service, 25% were satisfied and 75% were not satisfied. You can see a copy of the survey here.

Many respondents chose to add comments, in some cases, pages of comments. Here is a very brief sampling of what they wrote:

·      The kitchen is obviously unorganized as well

·      The same kinds of food are repeated too often.

·      Nutritional balance is lacking

·      Who makes up the menu with crazy combos like pizza and French fries?

·      This our home, not a prison. We should be allowed to move table together and eat with our neighbors

·      Hot dishes are usually not served hot

·      The meat is usually of low quality

·      Get rid of the Melmine dishware

·      Tables are often not clean…often the same food scraps are on the floors for days

·      Wait time is entirely too long from ordering to receiving.

·      People are simply not trained properly

·      It appears that the only way to change things in the kitchen and dining room is for upper management to step in and help Chef Tessa with some professional advice and help, or replace her.

The Buzz has been unable to speak with the Bellara Executive Director to discuss these findings and comments.

A SNIPIT OF HAYWARD HISTORY

By Diane Curry, Executive Director/Curator of the Hayward Historical Society. 

This circa 1900 photograph shows what appears to be a graduating class of Hayward’s first High School gathered in front of the school.  At the time, Hayward High was called Union No. 3 because it was the third union high school district formed in Alameda County after Livermore and Centerville. The high school district covered a lot of separate grammar school districts in the Hayward area, and they all fed into this one high school.  

Before the post-WWII housing and suburban boom, the Hayward area was rural and primarily an agricultural hub famous for its canneries, orchards, and gardens. The region's unique climate and fertile soil earned it the nickname the "Heart of the Garden of Eden". [1]

·       The Transition of Crops: In the 1850s and 1860s, local agriculture was dominated by grain crops like wheat and barley. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it shifted dramatically toward massive fruit orchards, poultry farms, and vegetable gardens. [1, 2]

·       The Flower Capital: The Mount Eden region of Hayward grew into a globally renowned powerhouse for floriculture. Greenhouses covering millions of square feet produced roses, carnations, and gardenias that were shipped worldwide.

·       The Role of the Railroad: The expansion of rail lines through Hayward was the main catalyst for this boom. Trains gave local farmers a direct, rapid line to major markets in Oakland and San Francisco, making large-scale commercial farming highly profitable. [1]

·       This industry thrived well into the 20th century until postwar housing demands converted the nurseries into residential tracts. [1]

The High School pictured above opened in 1893 and was used until 1912 when a new, grander building at a new location opened. More on that in the next edition of the Buzz.

Art News

Visitors at Sun Gallery’s artist reception view some works by Rick Wise

How Do I / What Do I Do?

by Guy DeGarmo

WHAT DO I DO WITH LARGE AMOUNTS OF CARDBOARD BOXES WHEN UNPACKING AFTER MOVING INTO BELLARA? 

Please breakdown the boxes and place them neatly in the hall where they will not be a tripping hazard, then call the Front Desk Concierge at 510 244-0949 and place a work order to have Maintenance remove them.

 HOW DO I GET RID OF ELECTRONICS, SUCH AS COMPUTERS AND/OR TV'S THAT ARE NO LONGER WANTED OR NOT WORKING?

 Please call the Front Desk Concierge at 510 244 0949 and place a work order to have Maintenance remove them. Maintenance will have an electronics recycler pick them up and recycle.

 HOW DO I CHANGE THE TIME OF DAY ON MY MICROWAVE?

 1.)  Press SET CLOCK.    2.) Enter the TIME OF DAY.    3.) Press SET CLOCK or START/PAUSE. 

HOW DO I CHANGE THE TIME OF DAY ON MY RANGE? 

1.) Press and Hold the 0 PAD for 3 seconds to set the clock. 2.) Enter the time using the KEYPAD.  3.)  Press the START Pad

 Please forward any questions that you would like to have answered  to guy@moose-manor.net, or Text or call Guy @ 208-819-4807. All answers will be reviewed with Bellara Management before being placed in the Bellara Buzz.

One of the central challenges facing the United States is managing disagreement. Democratic societies survive and thrive when citizens can participate fully in the political process, confident that their ideas and values will be heard and respected even when they differ from those of others. The goal is not consensus or complete agreement. Rather, a democracy depends on broad participation and a shared commitment to democratic institutions and processes.

Keisha Blain, Professor at Brown University, author of Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights

No court, no military and no single leader can save a republic whose citizens abandon democratic responsibility. Rights survive only when people insist upon them. Democracy is not self-executing. Every generation must decide whether it will preserve the constitutional order it inherited or surrender it.

Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Civil Rights and Social Justice at Georgetown University.

by Bellara Smock

Hayward’s Sun Gallery is presenting “California Dreamin’,” an exhibit of works by 25 Hayward area artists, including five pieces by the Buzz Editor. We went to the artists’ reception on June 27. It was entrancing, beautiful, marvelous. There was a significant turnout, including quite a few adults with children. The Gallery is a half mile from Bellara (go out 2nd Street and take a right on E Street) and open Monday’s 10:00-1:00 and Fridays and Saturdays 11:00-5:00. The address is 1015 E Street, Hayward 94541. The exhibit closes after the last day of the show, July 31

Hayward…

Our Town

by Diane Riggs 

I'm a long time resident of Hayward, moving here with my husband from the cold and snowy state of Wisconsin in 1973. I know that MANY of you are Native Californians and some of you have lived here in Hayward for a much longer period of time. In an effort to find opportunities for things to do and see about our corner of Hayward, we need to share our history about here as well as where we came from. 

Stories and outings abound beyond Gigi and the activity room, theater, dining room, courtyard and wellness center. Let's start off today about some upcoming outside activities that are available to us:

·       The Chamber of Commerce will sponsor the Annual Downtown Street Party on the Third Thursday of July and August. B Street will be closed from Foothill Boulevard to Main Street from 5 to 8 p.m. There will be bands, refreshments, informational and/or fun booths to check out and community information that you may not be aware of.  Keep an eye open on our monitors about these events.

·       Bellara is right in the middle of the heart of Hayward. Nearby we have the Japanese Garden and Senior Center, The Historical Society, Buffalo Bills and The Bistro on Main Street, a full service Post Office on C Street, City Hall on Watkins Street, a beautiful library on the corner of Mission and C Street and Heritage Park across from the library. All of the above are within 4-6 blocks from our beautiful Bellara! Oops, I forgot that there will be a new restaurant moving in on B Street ~ It will be a renovated original BART car! 

·       Charley is arranging a meeting to learn about the Hayward Area Travel Club in July. This club is a non-profit organization that provides day trip travels via a passenger bus to various venues in the Bay Area. It's a great way to visit places that you may have never seen before. Costs range from as low as $50 per person to as much as $250 per person for an upcoming whale watching trip later this summer. 

Watch for the next Bellara Buzz for information about Our Town!

Because We Vote

If you look at an overhead view of Bellara using earth.google.com, you will see our rooftop has absolutely no solar panels. Not one. The Buzz searched long and hard and found out why: every Hayward business, including Bellara, uses an off-site green energy system.

Because Bellara Senior Living opened in 2024 in Hayward, its electricity is automatically supplied by the non-profit Ava Community Energy (formerly East Bay Community Energy.) The City of Hayward enrolled all local commercial properties into Ava’s "Renewable 100" default electricity service plan. This means 100% of the facility's grid power comes from California wind and solar farms. PG&E provides — and charges for — the power lines, but the juice itself comes from Ava. You can read more about Ava Community Energy here.

You Can Hear It

On our November ballots the City of Hayward will be asking for your yes or no vote on “modernizing” the 48-year old Business License Tax. The initiative reads: HAYWARD BUSINESS LICENSE TAX MODERNIZATION: Shall the measure updating the Hayward Business License Tax for the first time since 1978, to support general city services, including neighborhood police protection, firefighting, 911 response, libraries, and pothole repair, generating an additional $12 million annually until repealed, with a minimum tax rate of $60 and rates from $.30 to $3.75 per $1,000 of gross receipts, with higher rates for higher-grossing businesses, as stated in the ordinance, be adopted?

 To read much more about this ballot issue, go to https://www.hayward-ca.gov/business-license-tax-modernization

Where’s the Solar?

By Bellera Ears

Were I to be stranded on a desert island and I was told by some angry god that I could have only one piece of music (and the means to play it,) I would pick Bach's Goldberg Variations. Being a crafty guy, I would insist on 4 different recordings:

1. Glenn Gould's very first recording of anything, the Goldberg Variations, 1955, when his young Canadian hands and young mind race all over the keyboard.

2. Gleen Gould's very last recording of anything, the Goldberg Variations, 1981, when his older mind and soul penetrate deeply into the music.

3. Beatrice Ranna's recording, 2016, a pensive and warm reading by this Italian classical pianist.

4. Vikingur Ölafsson's recording, 2023, full of this Icelandic's youthful bravado but also deep understanding of this music.

(All of the above are highly recommended. And there are others I have not listened to, notably American Jeremy Denk's 2013 recording.)

Rooftop view of Bellara

From Alex Ross’s “The Dream of Reason,” a lengthy June 22 New Yorker article on the late German philosopher, Jürgen Habermas

“How, in an age of bewildering change and undeniable catastrophe, can rational individuals build a more humane world?.... The dialectic moves between crashing despair and hovering hope.”