Such a relief to feel a few drops of rain this Fall, even at the expense of the electricity going out in town for hours on end.  Ideally we would all like electricity AND water, but if you had to choose just one, I would choose rain and candlelight over Wifi and draught.  Hopefully as you read these words you could turn the TV on if you wanted to and can relax knowing some water fell down from the sky watering your garden and keeping wildfires away.

At the JSEF we’ve recently had our coffers watered by the likes of NuStar and Phillips 66.  We plan to keep raising money and putting those funds back into the education and well being of the children of our community.  Our recent virtual lemonade stand and our water booth at the Sugar Town festival raked in thousands of dollars thanks to our corporate sponsors mentioned above, a matching fund from the Crockett Community Foundation and donations from people like you.  Thanks to all who donated!

We used some of the funds from our virtual lemonade stand to purchase a large outdoor tent for John Swett High School which is being used to create an all-weather outdoor eating space for students.  You might have seen the tent at the homecoming dance this year.

The JSEF is fortunate in that Charles Miller, the Superintendent of the John Swett Unified School District has been in regular attendance at our monthly meetings.  Dr. Miller fills us in on news of the District and lets us know what we can do to help.  Interestingly, at this month’s meeting Dr. Miller said there was only 1 case of Covid in the past several weeks amongst students and staff in our schools.  If you are curious about how Covid has impacted the local school system and the District’s allocation of federal funds to assist, please check the JSUSD website at www.jsusd.org.

In sad news we learned that one of of the two sequoia trees in front of Carquinez Middle School has died.  That tree will soon be removed.  If you are an arborist and think the tree can be saved, please contact the District office.

The JSEF is looking forward to participating in this year’s ‘Trunk or Treat” in the parking lot of Rodeo Hills Elementary School on October 29 between 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.  Board Member Nancy McClung graciously donated her decoration skills and her adorable Volkswagen Beetle to set up shop giving out candy at the event on behalf of the JSEF.  I am looking forward to seeing the candy and other Halloween junk in her trunk!