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One reason we hear from business owners, community leaders and everyday residents the most is trying to pitch coverage of a special anniversary.
The milestone often provides us a timeliness hook from which we can frame an article, but the story has to be about much more than just a date on the calendar to intrigue our editorial team and engage our readers – although if there is a free public celebration associated, we’re happy to tout that in our Calendar section in print and online.
We like to know what’s going on throughout our Tri-Valley coverage area, and share those stories with our readers, but where anniversaries get tricky is there are just so many. It’s right there in the word … happens every year.
Which is why we often look for a nice round number or a key new development to center an article on. A real oomph of news. Like last week’s Cover Story was about the Balloon Platoon, which is marking 50 years in 2025. Come to think of it, this week’s Cover also has such an angle – this is Open Heart Kitchen’s 30th anniversary.
That’s not to downplay the importance of each anniversary, particularly for a small business, recurring community event or local institution, because every year going is an amazing accomplishment and a clear reflection of the effort and support involved to sustain. Believe me, I recognize that.
Beyond the professional anniversaries I’ve written about this year (25 years for the Pleasanton Weekly; 20 years for DanvilleSanRamon), my wife and I reached 12 years of marriage and 19 years together overall this month.
Not neat numbers, but worthy of celebration nonetheless – not only because it’s good to take a break from the everyday exertion required of working parents, but also considering the context of the households we came from.
A dozen is quite an achievement, especially when it’s rooted in love, respect and growth.
We marked the occasion with an evening out in Livermore: early dinner at Maple Street Eatery, dessert at Verace Gelato and a show with Shakespeare in the Vineyard.
It’s such a beautiful setting to watch a play, the outdoor stage at Darcie Kent Estate Winery on which SPARC Theater performs every July.
And it’s a fun adaptation by the troupe’s executive/artistic director Lisa Tromovitch, with engaging performances to boot. She sets her take on the Bard’s comedy “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in the post-Civil War era around Livermore’s founding – including a few local references like Las Positas and Arroyo Del Valle.
SPARC Theater’s “Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor” has one more weekend (this Friday through Sunday) outdoors in Livermore Valley wine country.
There will be more chances to catch the production, though, indoors at the historic Village Theatre in downtown Danville from Aug. 8-24 with Friday and Saturday evening shows and Sunday matinees.
The Walshes weren’t the only ones with anniversaries in the Tri-Valley this month.
The Hindu Community and Cultural Center in Livermore, also known as Shiva-Vishnu Temple, celebrated its 39th anniversary with festivities July 12-13 honoring the longstanding “vibrant hub where devotion, community service, and cultural heritage go hand in hand”.
The weekend was “a celebration of faith and tradition”, according to HCCC President Sudha Surapaneni.
“The sacred pujas and vibrant ceremonies showcased our community’s strong connection to the temple. On behalf of the management, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the devotees, volunteers, temple staff, and our generous donors. Your unwavering support and dedication continue to strengthen our community and spiritual mission,” Surapaneni told me in a statement.
While we didn’t see an opportunity to spin up a full feature on HCCC this month, I have it down on my list of us to pursue for a potential Cover Story next year when the Livermore temple marks its ruby anniversary.
Editorial bandwidth often contributes to our difficulty in quickly activating on anniversary articles, round numbers or not. I think back to the short notice we got that Vic’s All Star Kitchen was having a ribbon-cutting ceremony July 1 to recognize five years under the current ownership. An impressive achievement, especially considering all Laura and Ernesto Castro have had to navigate since taking over Vic’s in early 2020 just before the pandemic hit.
Although we aren’t able to do full stories on every anniversary, please reach out to us anytime one is coming up or just passed. We’ll do our best to give it at least a shoutout editorially, or even consider sharing a Letter to the Editor.
With that, I’ll head into the weekend with one more anniversary to celebrate … the anniversary of my birth. Although with that framing, maybe it’s a day my mom should get the credit for.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the associate publisher and editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
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