CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Community College instructor Jenny Hawley has taken the Carmichael Kiwanis Club gavel.

Hawley teaches English at Folsom Lake and Modesto Junior Colleges. Married for 13 years to State worker Clifford Hawley, she is mom to an 11-year-old daughter.

New presidential duties will include chairing meetings and performing many more volunteer hours.

Half the service group’s membership is female; Hawley’s appointment follows a 2021/22 presidency shared by Jackie DeLu and Sharon Ruffner. “In the last few years, a number of women have led the group,” notes Hawley. “Before that, we had three male presidents in a row, so our club is evenly balanced with men and women in leadership. My dad (Wayne Lang) was president twice. I guess this role is a family tradition.”

Hawley runs activities for public open days at the Koobs Nature Area (Engle Road). The El Camino High School graduate School also leads Carmichael Girl Scout Troop 3191.

“I encourage all my girl scouts to do community service,” she says. “I hope my daughter Priya will be part of Kiwanis one day. Our club’s a wonderful way to get to know the community while giving back.”

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - As part of California’s sixth annual Water Professionals Appreciation Week, Carmichael Water District (CWD) is proud to take a moment and highlight the essential role of water professionals and local public water agencies in providing water services. 

We appreciate the dedication of our highly trained operators, technicians, administrative professionals, and all of our specialists who are making sure our community has safe and reliable drinking water, especially amidst an extended drought and pandemic. 

Water Professionals Appreciation Week was created in 2017 to highlight the important role of water industry professionals and local public water agencies in ensuring safe and reliable tap water for California. There are so many careers in water that keep water flowing in the communities throughout California, including district managers, customer service representatives, accountants, human resource professionals, IT professionals, treatment plant operators, distribution operators, water efficiency specialists, and engineers to name a few. CWD is proud of our staff and water professionals throughout the state for making a difference in their community. Be sure to check our website, carmichaelwd.org, for more information on our amazing staff and the essential roles they play. 

Essential. Reliable. Invaluable. Water—it’s the thread that weaves together our daily lives. It keeps our communities healthy, our cities running, and our economies growing. Water is a cup of coffee, the produce aisle, better production, increased exports, and greater American strength. While essential, water infrastructure is largely invisible. Few people realize what it takes to treat and deliver drinking water every day or how wastewater is cleaned so that it can be safely reused or returned to the environment. The high quality of life we enjoy in America would not be possible without water, the infrastructure that fuels it, and water professionals’ dedication to provide this essential service. 

It is because of our staff who have invested their time and talents that CWD is able to implement successful water supply reliability and system improvements as exemplified by the 3 million gallon La Vista Water Storage Tank Replacement project and the forthcoming grant funded La Sierra Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Well project. The ASR well project will not only help CWD balance surface and groundwater supplies but will also provide the benefit of enabling access of up to 1,200 acre-feet of previously banked groundwater. Through two successful grant applications, prepared by CWD staff, a $4 million and a $2 million grant award will help bolster CWD’s drought resiliency while allowing us to focus ratepayer driven funding towards other essential drought resiliency projects, including a second ASR well. Leveraging District funds with State and Federal grants in sustainable infrastructure projects allows CWD to mitigate and reduce future unfunded infrastructure liabilities. CWD staff’s focus on upholding our fiduciary responsibilities enhances the value of our water, keeping our community healthy and helping the local economy grow. 

CWD is committed to pro-actively planning continuous improvements to our water reliability and drought resiliency, providing a sustainable water supply for future generations in the face of ever-increasing challenges from persistent drought conditions and potential climate change impacts. CWD staff has developed a robust Capital Improvement Plan, with approval by our Board of Directors, with project details contained within our District Budget that can be viewed at https://carmichaelwd.org/wp 

content/uploads/2022/07/1-CWD-Budget-Fiscal-Year-2022-2023-updated-7.20.22.pdf.

Water service is essential to the health and success of our community and Water Professionals Appreciation Week is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the vital services CWD staff perform. If you see CWD workers out and about this week, or if you stop by our office, be sure you say “thank you” to our staff for working 24/7 to ensure safe and reliable water deliveries.

FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) – The 2022 Del Campo varsity baseball team received its championship rings on Wednesday after winning the 2022 Division III CIF Sac-Joaquin Section title in May.

The Cougars finished the season with a 29-6 overall record. Del Campo earned a Capital Athletic League (CAL) championship as well after completing the CAL schedule with a 13-2 record.

On May 25, the Cougars defeated top-seeded Vanden 4-2 in eight innings to win the section title game.

“[The championship] means a lot given that over two years during my high school career, I didn’t have any playoffs,” graduate Jordan Jacobson said Wednesday. “My freshman year we lost in the section championship. To leave with a ring, that meant a lot because that’s something that I always wanted to accomplish here.”

RELATED: ‘The greatest Del Campo team in history’

Del Campo moved up to Division I for the CIF NorCal Baseball Championships. The Cougars’ season came to an end on May 31 with a 9-3 first round loss at No. 1 seed De La Salle of Concord.

“’Cause I got a really big team, and they need some really big rings,” rapper Drake said in the 2015 song “Big Rings.”

If the 2022 Cougars created a soundtrack to define their season, “Big Rings” would have to be the finale of the playlist because the rings they received Wednesday are big, beautiful, beaming, bejeweled and blinging.

“I gave them a picture of the actual final scoreboard of the game at Sac City College. As a lot of people know, I’m a Sac City alum,” said coach Kevin Dawidczik. “Being able to have the winning score on that scoreboard on the side of my championship ring, and for our guys, is even more special.

“It is big, but at the same time, I think they deserve to have something this big for the things that we accomplished.”

The boxes that the rings came in have each player’s names engraved on them. According to Dawidczik, the rings were made by Signature Rings and paid for by a combination of fundraisers, boosters and out-of-pocket cost.

RELATED: Del Campo sweeps Rio Americano, eyes Capital Athletic League title

Players who graduated in the Class of 2022 and will not be returning next season include Jacobson, Surreal Haro, Austin Hughes, Hayden Hughes, Thomas Martinez, Logan McCord, Luke McCord and Tyler Moore. Jacobson is a freshman at Sacramento State and will be suiting up for the Hornets at John Smith Field in the spring.

One key player who will be returning to the Cougars’ lineup in 2023 is senior Matt Moses, who was selected as The Sacramento Bee’s Medium School Player of the Year last season. Moses thought his new ring was “cool and pretty heavy.”

“I think we’re going to be just as good as we were last year,” Moses proclaimed. “Our pitching is even deeper than last year. We have hitters coming back who are developed and even better than last year.”

The Del Campo baseball season begins February 25 with a road game at Vacaville.

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) – The Del Campo varsity football team’s 19^th straight win against bitter rivals Bella Vista on September 2 has been forfeited due to a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section rule violation.

According to The Sacramento Bee, the case involved the suspension of a player from last season who played in the Cougars’ first three games of this season. The player had his junior season cut short in 2021 when he was ejected from the first round of a Division IV CIF SJS playoff game. Del Campo lost 51-7 at East Union of Manteca.

The player should’ve sat out for the first game of 2022. However, the ineligible senior’s action didn’t affect his team until the conclusion of the third game. That is because the Cougars lost their first two games, 28-20 at Golden Valley of Merced on August 19 and 35-7 at Del Oro of Loomis six days later.

Del Campo dominated the “Battle for Fair Oaks” in front of a large and rowdy crowd on both sidelines. The winless Cougars beat the undefeated Broncos 31-7. Bella Vista fans spent pregame and part of the first quarter chanting “BV due” to indicate this was their year to finally defeat Del Campo.

Alas, the Cougars defeated the Broncos for the 19^th straight game dating back to 2003. At least for a couple weeks, that is. The rule violation was discovered following the win, forcing Del Campo to forfeit its first win of the season.

RELATED: Del Campo high steps past Bella Vista for 19th straight win

Matt Costa is in his first season as head coach for the Cougars and was unaware of the looming suspension entering a new campaign.

“I’m a new coach with new administration and no one told me or seemed to even know we had a player ejected,” Costa told The Bee on September 21. “Why didn’t Bella Vista tell us? Why wait? Even my player said he didn’t know about the rule. Now we’re (1-4) and we beat those guys handily. I think it’s because we had a couple of Del Campo coaches who now coach at BV, and they waited because they didn’t like that I fired them and didn’t bring them back. That’s not the way it should work.

“Shoot, man, had I known he wasn’t supposed to play, I wouldn’t have played him in the first game. That’s not what we’re about or what I’m about. I don’t know if I want to even play BV next year if this is what we’ve got going on.”

Bella Vista and Del Campo have been playing each other since 1963 when the latter was founded. The home of the Broncos had been built three years prior about four miles away. Bella Vista coach Jim Gray disagreed with Costa about his staff’s knowledge of the suspension prior to the game.

“Had I known about (the player ejection), I would have told coach Costa before our game, so it didn’t catch up to them because that’s not how we want to win games,” Gray said to The Bee. “But my point is, you’re telling me no one at Del Campo remembers that player got ejected and has to sit out? And come on, man. You can’t play him, by rule, and it’s your fault, not mine.”

RELATED: Bella Vista blows past Cordova in season opener

The matchup between the Broncos and Cougars was widely attended by the Fair Oaks community. The actions in the stands by the fans is what has started to concern Gray.

“The game’s going against Del Campo, and I’m trying to coach, and we’ve got parents from both sides fighting in the stands,” Gray recalled to The Bee. “Maybe we need to settle this all down. Maybe it’s become too heated in this rivalry. I don’t remember a rivalry like this being so intense.”

After the win, Costa was asked by the Messenger Publishing Group about whether the rivalry between Del Campo and Bella Vista still exists, considering one team has dominated the matchup for nearly two decades.

“It’s always going to be a rivalry because it’s close proximity,” Costa said September 2. “We share a lot of kids and it’s in the same neighborhood so yeah it is still a rivalry. I still want to keep them on the schedule because they bring in a great gate.”

In response to the same question, Costa mentioned a matchup that started in 1976 but ended in 2015 due to tempers flaring amongst players and fans.

“Honestly the rivalry that I want to get back going again is Casa [Roble],” Costa said September 2. “I think that’s one that interests me a little bit more right now.”

Following the forfeit, the Cougars are now (1-4) overall and the Broncos are (4-1).

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Birds, reptiles and marsupials will be among educators during the Effie Yeaw Nature Center’s NatureFest event. Postponed for two years by the pandemic, the fall tradition makes a comeback on Sunday, October 9.

Among visiting presenters will be Gabe Kerschner, who runs an animal sanctuary in Placer County. His rescued animals are stars of hundreds of school programs. They include an alligator, a lemur, a kangaroo and a kinkajou. NatureFest supporters will also view a more regional menagerie: this could include a skunk, a raccoon and an opossum. Kerschner’s commentary outlines heartbreaking animal rescues, like that of bald eagle Spirit, who lost a wing after being shot by an angler.

Save the Snakes, a nonprofit that champions one of nature’s most misunderstood species, will offer a program to dispel myths. Gopher and king snakes will slither into the spotlight as ambassadors. Volunteers from Sacramento Splash will detail microscopic species found in wetlands. Palomacy – a pigeon and dove rescue agency – will offer advice on adopting unreleasable Columbiformes.

Resident Nature Center raptors – including a great-horned owl, a falcon, a Swainson’s hawk and a kestrel – will also interact with visitors. Deer and wild turkey sightings are likely on hosted walks through the center’s 100-acre wildlife preserve.

The Nature Center is a hub for Native American studies. Demonstrations will include basketry and tule doll-making.

Kids’ games will be offered, and snacks can be purchased from food trucks.  Youth groups are welcome at the open day.

NatureFest runs from 10 a.m. to 3 pm in the Effie Yeaw Nature Center (Ancil Hoffman Park). General admission is $7; $3 for children 3 to 11. Parking is free. Pre-sale tickets are available online. Information www.sacnaturecenter.netevents aturefest