Performers announced for ninth Art and Soul Oakland festival

By Katherine Jarvis - Oakland Tribune - 7/24/09

Grammy-award winning singer Shawn Colvin, BoDeans (pictured), Bobby Caldwell and Will Downing headline the main stage for the ninth annual Art and Soul Oakland festival Aug. 15-16.

The festival, which was moved up three weeks this year because of the Bay Bridge closure Labor Day weekend, when it is usually scheduled, covers 10 city blocks around City Center and Frank Ogawa Plaza.

On Aug. 15, Colvin, BoDeans and The Stabe Wilson Band will perform on the main stage. Mo'Fone will headline at Yoshi's Jazz stage. The Local Voices Stage will feature Fado singer Ramana Vieira. The Plaza stage will feature children's music and family entertainment, including Abby and the Pipsqueaks, and Jumpstreet. The Gospel Stage will include many choirs, including Edwin Hawkins and Bishop Walter L. Hawkins and the Community in Praise Mass Choir.

On Aug. 16, the main stage will feature Downing and Caldwell. There will be the R&B Reunion stage, where Zakiya Hooker will headline. Chino Espinoza y Los Dueños Del Son will headline the Latin Stage. The Plaza stage will be open Sunday to world dance, including a tribute to Michael Jackson. The tribute will include dancers from "So You Think You Could Dance" and "America's Best Dance Crew."

In addition to music, there will artisan and vendor booths. There will also be the Family Fun Zone with kiddie rides and children's entertainment.

Tickets are $10 per day for adults, $5 per day for seniors, disabled and youths 13-17, and free for those 12 and under. For more information, call 510-444-2489 or visit www.artandsouloakland.com.

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Happy ending for love letter

BBC News - 7/20/09

A Devon man has married an old flame after a love letter he wrote 10 years ago which went astray was discovered behind a fireplace by workmen in Spain.

Steve Smith, of Paignton, met Spaniard Carmen Ruiz-Perez 17 years ago when she was an exchange studentin Devon.

The pair had been engaged but their relationship fizzled out after Ms Ruiz-Perez went to live in Paris.

Mr Smith sent her a letter via her mother's home in Spain but never heard back until she read it a decade later. Ms Ruiz-Perez, who had never married, rang her former boyfriend and they met in Paris a few days later.

Like a storyline straight from Hollywood, the pair, now both aged 42, fell in love all over again and tied the knot in Brixham on Friday.

Mr Smith, a factory supervisor, said: ''When we met again it was like a film. We ran across the airport into each other's arms.

We met up and fell in love all over again. Within 30 seconds of setting eyes on each other we were kissing.

"I'm just glad the letter did eventually end up where it was supposed to be.'' However, it seemed that Cupid and fate worked hard to ensure it did as a catalogue of events could so easily have led to them never meeting again.

Mr Smith originally wrote to Ms Ruiz-Perez's flat in Paris but she had moved and his letter went unanswered.

Still determined to trace his lost love, he wrote her another letter and sent it via her mother's villa in Spain.

The letter was put on the mantelpiece and forgotten about before it slipped down the back of the fireplace.

It was only when workmen carrying out renovations on the villa removed the fireplace that they discovered the letter and passed it on.

However, it was 10 years old and Mr Smith had moved house - but fortunately he had kept his old phone number.

Ms Ruiz-Perez, who has now become Mrs Smith, described the wedding as the pinnacle of an ''amazing'' love story.

"I never got married and now I've married the man I have always loved," she said. ''When I got the letter I didn't phone Steve right away because I was so nervous.

I nearly didn't phone him at all ''I kept picking up the phone then putting it down again but I knew I had to make the call.''

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Community Foundation of South Alabama helps with children's insurance

By CASANDRA ANDREWS - Staff Reporter - Press Register - 7/23/09

Because of the kindness of strangers, 1,000 children in southern Alabama will receive health insurance for a year.

The Community Foundation of South Alabama recently collected $60,000 in donations from people in four states and seven Alabama counties for the Insure Alabama's Children Campaign.

The donations were matched by the local foundation, which made the total $120,000. As part of a previous agreement, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama matched that amount, resulting in a $240,000 contribution.

Every dollar of that amount will be used to provide health care insurance for 1,000 children who would not otherwise have been able to receive it, said Stephanie Ryan, a spokeswoman for the foundation.

The Community Foundation of South Alabama began the campaign last year, hoping to reach the goal of $60,000 in contributions by March. With the downturn in the economy, it took three months longer than expected, said Tom Davis, executive director of the nonprofit agency.

"These are the children that are caught in that gap and not eligible for federal aid," Davis said. "I think donors responded to the need for health insurance, particularly among uninsured children."

Davis said the funds raised have been turned over to Blue Cross and Blue Shield: "The money is already at work supplying the insurance."

Besides doctor visits when they are sick, the children in question can now have regular checkups, routine immunizations, vision services, emergency care and hospital outpatient care, Ryan said. Local health care providers have said improved medical attention for children has far-reaching impacts, because when kids stay home sick without seeing a doctor, it can take them longer to recover.

The Alabama Child Caring Program of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has assisted uninsured children since its inception in 1988. It provides primary and preventive health care services for those under the age of 19 whose working parents earn too much money to qualify for government assistance but do not make enough to afford medical coverage.

"We believe that investing in the health of our children is critical to the long-term prosperity and success of our community," Ronald B. Melton, chairman of the foundation, said in a written statement.

"Without this generous contribution, these children would not have health care coverage and would not have access to the best health care possible," Phillip Pope, president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, said in a written statement. "These children may not realize the generosity of so many people, but they can now go to the doctor just like your children and mine."

The Community Foundation of South Alabama awarded more than $3 million in grants in 2008 to nonprofit organizations, according to Ryan.

It provides funding to groups in an eight-county region: Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and Washington counties.

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METEOR SHOWERS

For sky lights, put big city behind you

Tom Stienstra, Chronicle Outdoors Writer

Thursday, July 23, 2009

The night time is the right time - right now - for a spectacular sky party.

All the key factors are synchronizing for a big show, where up to 100 shooting stars per hour are visible on many nights. Peak nights can be even better.

Over the next few weeks, three meteors showers will converge, with the best shows expected July 28-30 and Aug. 12-13. The timing is good because with few forest fires so far this year, skies are clear over most of Northern California, pristine in the high country. In addition, the viewing conditions look to be excellent in the next 10 days, with a new moon (dark) having arrived Tuesday; the next full moon won't arrive until Aug. 5.

Catching a meteor show on a big night can make your summer. There are several good lookouts in the Bay Area and the best are at campgrounds near mountain tops or ridgelines. Outside the Bay Area, high-country wilderness can provide shows that are absolutely scintillating.

To best see the night sky, you have to avoid fog, of course, and get away from city lights. In some areas, particularly in south Santa Clara County and the San Joaquin valleys, a haze layer can reduce visibility and obfuscates stars, planets and satellites.

On wilderness treks, we always designate a night at camp to stargaze. To keep our night vision sharp, we use headlamps with green beams and don't have a campfire. Test with pilots show that one direct flash of a bright white light can virtually blind your night vision for several minutes and hinder it for more than a half hour.

It starts when we each identify every star, constellation and planet we know. The collective knowledge of a group can help explain most of what's up there. In the process, you probably will see a few orbiting satellites, which adds to the adventure. One dramatic shooter changes the game dramatically.

This is what's coming:

Capricornids:The Capricornids meteor shower produces occasional slow-arcing yellow fireballs that are my favorites. It is not a big shower, just 5 to 30 per hour at most. The peak nights are July 28-29, and the shower runs hot and cold through Aug. 12.

Delta Aquarids:The most dramatic shooting stars are the slow sweepers with long trails. That is the highlight of the Delta Aquarids, some bright, some yellow, about 20 per hour. It runs through Aug. 20 with a peak nights July 29-30.

Perseids:The Perseids can be amazing some years, with so many shooters that it can make front page news. What's more likely are 50 to 100 per hour on peak nights, always one of the best meteor showers of the year. The Perseids is unique, in that you get very fast shooters that are white or yellow, or slow ones that are orange or red. The Perseids peak Aug. 12-13 and will produces shooting stars from tonight through Aug. 20.

Bay Area lookouts

Marin:West Point Inn, known for its rustic cabinsand rooms, is located on the south face of Mount Tamalpais at 1,785 feet, towering above the fog. Staying here solves the problem of rangers gating the access road (at Pantoll) to the summit at sunset. Reservations required. (415) 646-0702, westpointinn.com.

San Mateo County:On a fogless night, go to the bluffs above the ocean at McNee Ranch State Park in Montara. At the park entrance (a pipe gate on a ranch road), look for the trailhead on the left. (650) 726-8819, parks.ca.gov.

Santa Clara County: Skyline/Highway 35 on the Peninsula provides several lookouts, including a CalTrans Vista Point (pretty view of the South Bay). But the best spot for stargazing is farther south, at 2,572-foot Borel Hill at Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve, near the intersection with Page Mill Road above Palo Alto. (650) 691-1200; openspace.org.

Contra Costa County:The road to the summit is gated at dusk, but Mount Diablo State Park has three campgrounds (Juniper and Live Oak have showers), prime real estate for night-sky viewing. Info: (925) 837-0904, parks.ca.gov.

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Unraveling how children become bilingual so easily

By LAURAN NEERGAARD (AP) - 7/21/09

WASHINGTON — The best time to learn a foreign language: Between birth and age 7. Missed that window?

New research is showing just how children's brains can become bilingual so easily, findings that scientists hope eventually could help the rest of us learn a new language a bit easier.

"We think the magic that kids apply to this learning situation, some of the principles, can be imported into learning programs for adults," says Dr. Patricia Kuhl of the University of Washington, who is part of an international team now trying to turn those lessons into more teachable technology.

Each language uses a unique set of sounds. Scientists now know babies are born with the ability to distinguish all of them, but that ability starts weakening even before they start talking, by the first birthday.

Kuhl offers an example: Japanese doesn't distinguish between the "L" and "R" sounds of English — "rake" and "lake" would sound the same. Her team proved that a 7-month-old in Tokyo and a 7-month-old in Seattle respond equally well to those different sounds. But by 11 months, the Japanese infant had lost a lot of that ability.

Time out — how do you test a baby? By tracking eye gaze. Make a fun toy appear on one side or the other whenever there's a particular sound. The baby quickly learns to look on that side whenever he or she hears a brand-new but similar sound. Noninvasive brain scans document how the brain is processing and imprinting language.

Mastering your dominant language gets in the way of learning a second, less familiar one, Kuhl's research suggests. The brain tunes out sounds that don't fit.

"You're building a brain architecture that's a perfect fit for Japanese or English or French," whatever is native, Kuhl explains — or, if you're a lucky baby, a brain with two sets of neural circuits dedicated to two languages.

It's remarkable that babies being raised bilingual — by simply speaking to them in two languages — can learn both in the time it takes most babies to learn one. On average, monolingual and bilingual babies start talking around age 1 and can say about 50 words by 18 months.

Italian researchers wondered why there wasn't a delay, and reported this month in the journal Science that being bilingual seems to make the brain more flexible.

The researchers tested 44 12-month-olds to see how they recognized three-syllable patterns — nonsense words, just to test sound learning. Sure enough, gaze-tracking showed the bilingual babies learned two kinds of patterns at the same time — like lo-ba-lo or lo-lo-ba — while the one-language babies learned only one, concluded Agnes Melinda Kovacs of Italy's International School for Advanced Studies.

While new language learning is easiest by age 7, the ability markedly declines after puberty.

"We're seeing the brain as more plastic and ready to create new circuits before than after puberty," Kuhl says. As an adult, "it's a totally different process. You won't learn it in the same way. You won't become (as good as) a native speaker."

Yet a soon-to-be-released survey from the Center for Applied Linguistics, a nonprofit organization that researches language issues, shows U.S. elementary schools cut back on foreign language instruction over the last decade. About a quarter of public elementary schools were teaching foreign languages in 1997, but just 15 percent last year, say preliminary results posted on the center's Web site.

What might help people who missed their childhood window? Baby brains need personal interaction to soak in a new language — TV or CDs alone don't work. So researchers are improving the technology that adults tend to use for language learning, to make it more social and possibly tap brain circuitry that tots would use.

Recall that Japanese "L" and "R" difficulty? Kuhl and scientists at Tokyo Denki University and the University of Minnesota helped develop a computer language program that pictures people speaking in "motherese," the slow exaggeration of sounds that parents use with babies.

Japanese college students who'd had little exposure to spoken English underwent 12 sessions listening to exaggerated "Ls" and "Rs" while watching the computerized instructor's face pronounce English words. Brain scans — a hair dryer-looking device called MEG, for magnetoencephalography — that measure millisecond-by-millisecond activity showed the students could better distinguish between those alien English sounds. And they pronounced them better, too, the team reported in the journal NeuroImage.

"It's our very first, preliminary crude attempt but the gains were phenomenal," says Kuhl.

But she'd rather see parents follow biology and expose youngsters early. If you speak a second language, speak it at home. Or find a play group or caregiver where your child can hear another language regularly.

"You'll be surprised," Kuhl says. "They do seem to pick it up like sponges."

EDITOR's NOTE _ Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Running program gets homeless residents on track emotionally, physically

By Jillian Berman, USA TODAY - 7/22/09

Solomon says he originally decided to start running with her to relieve stress and get a good workout, but then "one thing led to another, and this running was a little more than a workout."

Two years later, Solomon graduated from the Metro Career Center in Philadelphia in computer technology and competed in a marathon, coming up just a few miles short of finishing. He credits much of his success to Mahlum's Back on My Feet program.

"She was telling us about the strength we had in ourselves, and I may have never tapped into it if it wasn't for her," he says. "I'm one of the guys that dropped out of high school, never graduated anything, so (graduating from Metro Career Center) was cool."

Back on My Feet uses running as a vehicle to help homeless people become self-sufficient, says program director Wylie Belasik. The program creates teams from residents at shelters in the Philadelphia and Baltimore areas. The teams, which also include non-resident volunteers, run together three to four mornings a week to reach goals ranging from finishing a 3-mile run to a half or full marathon.

We bring people together in a team environment to try to push themselves emotionally and physically to start to trust people more," Belasik says. "By someone accomplishing a 5-mile run, it starts the ball rolling to say, 'Well maybe I could go back to school as well, and I thought that was crazy before, just like I thought running 5 miles was crazy.' "

Jeremy Jordan, an assistant professor of sport and recreation management at Temple University in Philadelphia, is studying Back on My Feet to determine the effect of running on self-esteem and commitment to a community. Jordan is taking monthly assessments of many of the teams, and he says he hopes to have enough data by the end of the 18-month study to measure changes in the participants.

Though the study is in its early stages, Jordan says, he already has seen changes: "People feel better about themselves, and they feel better about the future outlook." He adds that committing to being part of a team is what sparks much of the change in participants.

"We've taken the position that if you just handed these folks a running program for 30 days you wouldn't have seen the same outcome," he says.

Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, says recreational programs for the homeless are especially important during tough economic times. His group is even sponsoring a national street soccer tournament this month.

"Three hot meals and a cot is fine, but people need more than that to make it through the day," he says.

Although most shelters do not have enough resources to provide recreational programming, Stoops says, participating in sports can provide a variety of benefits to the homeless.

"A running team breaks the stereotype that homeless folks are not able-bodied," he says. "It changes perceptions, and our society has a lot of negative stereotypes about the homeless population."

Though any sport can offer a recreational outlet, Belasik says running is especially conducive to a program like Back on My Feet.

"It's a very egalitarian sport in the sense that running rewards effort," he says. "It gives people the strength to connect that with the recovery process. There's no instant gratification."

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James Cameron to unveil 3-D 'Avatar' at Comic-Con

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY 7/22/09

"You're not going to find 'behind the scenes' extras on the DVD," Cameron says. "I think the movies aren't the big, wonderful mysteries they used to be. I don't want to see some guy in a black leotard and dots showing me how he made himself look like an animal."

He may be Hollywood's most gifted tailor of cinema and technology, but Cameron remains a pretty old-fashioned guy. Until today, the director has kept his film as secret as a birthday gift — one he plans to present with 20 minutes of footage at Comic-Con.

For a filmmaker who hasn't made a commercial feature since 1997's Titanic, Cameron doesn't sound too worried about selling his tale of war between mankind and an indigenous species on the exotic planet Pandora.

"I think for this type of film, presenting it to a concentrated mass of passionate fans, it's perfect," Cameron says. "I've spent four years of my life on this project. We've got the (goods)."

That is big news for the 7,000 fans who managed a ticket for Thursday's scheduled presentation. Cameron's return has generated the kind of fan reverence normally reserved for George Lucas.

"Iron Man 2 has everyone excited, but there's not a person at Comic-Con who isn't dying to know what James Cameron is bringing," says Blair Butler of the G4 cable network, which caters to gamers and fanboys and plans live coverage of the event.

"He changed film with Terminator and Aliens," she says. "Everyone is wondering if he can do it again."

If he can't, it won't be for lack of trying. Just as he pushed the envelope with his previous hits, Cameron used a new technology for Avatar that allowed him to see computer-generated creatures on his camera while filming live actors.

"It's a different experience for me now," he says. "It was familiar in bursts, like shooting actors. Then we'd shoot for 50 days standing out in a big empty warehouse."

Cameron says that one pressure he doesn't face: having to stay true to the source material.

"We can't screw up a 40-year-old tradition like a comic book," he says. "We created this world from scratch. I've felt like a lawyer preparing for a major case. You spend all this time, rehearsing, rewriting. I'm ready to make my case."

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MLB streaming all games to iPhone, iPod Touch

by Erica Ogg - CNET News - 7/22/09

Major League Baseball took another step in proving its technical superiority over the other three major sports leagues Wednesday, by connecting its wired MLB.TV subscription package with its At Bat iPhone application.

Beginning Wednesday, MLB will stream every single regular and postseason baseball game to fans via the $9.99 iPhone and iPod Touch application it initially released last year. Customers who already subscribe to MLB.TV and MLB.TV Premium packages--its online baseball viewing service--can now watch any game live from their phone or computer. The games will be streamed over the iPhone or iPod's Wi-Fi connection or 3G network. Games can be paused and rewound while playing.

Just after the iPhone OS 3.0 update was released in June, MLB added the feature that any purchasers of the At Bat app would get one free streamed game per week chosen by MLB, no MLB.TV subscription required. It took a little over a month to add the MLB.TV package, which streams 15 live games at a time.

The same rules of MLB.TV still apply however: if a game is blacked out in a local broadcast area, it won't be available to be streamed live, though the game will appear in the video archives at the conclusion of the game.

The most curious part of all this, however, has nothing to do with MLB, but AT&T. MLB is streaming 15 three-hour baseball games live every single day of the week, which is great for fans of the game, and AT&T is apparently cheering for it, too. So why is the carrier OK with this, but has restricted Sling's SlingPlayer Mobile application to Wi-Fi only?

SlingPlayer was not approved for the App Store with 3G streaming capability because streaming live broadcast TV over its 3G wireless network "violated the company's terms of use." MLB At Bat is now doing the same thing, but with AT&T's approval.

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Local mother and daughter open county's first cupcake-only shop

By Catherine Viglienzoni - Santa Cruz Sentinel 7/22/09

CAPITOLA -- The moment a customer steps in the door of Sparkles, the new cupcake shop on 41st Avenue, they know they are in for a mouth-watering pastry adventure. The shop devoted solely to serving cupcakes balances the familiarity of grandma's tried-and-true recipes with some more avant-garde culinary combinations.

Sparkles owners Lisa Brighton and her daughter Connie were inspired to start their own cupcake shop after a visit to another pastry place in February.

"I said, Mom, we could do this,'" Connie recalled.

Lisa, who had been laid off from her job in October, figured they might as well give it a shot. Four and half months later, Sparkles opened its doors on June 25.

If the cupcakes taste familiar, Lisa said, it might be because they remind people of what their grandparents used to make back, she said, "when baking was an art."

According to her, the yellow cake recipe Sparkles uses can be traced to the 1830s, perhaps earlier, to Lisa's great-great-great-grandmother.

Both Lisa and Connie said they have visited 21 of the 33 cupcake shops in California. "None of them are this experienced, and less than 5 percent actually make them from scratch," Lisa said. "I think people can really taste the difference."

One customer, Adam Kelly, came back in after finishing his Snickerlicious cake. "I have to tell you that was one of the best cupcakes I've ever had," he said.

Their most popular cupcakes are refilled multiple

The day's featured cake is the "cupcake du jour," and has included anything from a Chocolate Merlot to a Tropical Fusion.

Connie said many of her favorite cupcake names are Disney-themed, such as the Alice in Wonderland-inspired "I'm Late For A Very Important Date," a white cake dyed blue like Alice's dress with white frosting and Queen of Hearts sprinkles.

"We're trying to find little teacups to go on top," she added.

Whatever Sparkles bakes, they invent. Both Lisa and Connie said they don't get their recipes -- or batter -- from anywhere else. When a customer requests a specific cupcake, they said, they take one of their existing recipes and try to make it different. Or, frequently, they experiment. Employees -- there are six, not including the owners -- are encouraged to come up with their own recipes, which are named after them.

The store offered 93 different kinds of cupcakes when it opened, Connie said, though only 15 types are offered daily. There are now 111.

"We try to invent new flavors so people don't get bored," Connie said.

Many customers appreciate the options. David Burger, 11, was in for his second cupcake -- a Chocolate Peanut Butter: "This one's probably my favorite so far. I love the peanut butter in the middle."

For Connie, who is diabetic, having a treat for everyone -- even man's best friend -- is especially important. Be sure to remember the dog-shaped cupcakes are for people and the bone-shaped cupcakes are for the dogs.

"I know how it is not to have treats," she said. "We want to make sure it's right on when we bring it out."

Her mother agrees.

"The gluten-free -- I was just on a mission," Lisa said. "I was not going to make something that tasted like cardboard."

Already, she said, customers have come in asking for those brownie-like cupcakes, having heard about them from their friends.

In addition to the specialties like the gluten-free and Weight Watchers cupcakes, Sparkles offers other unique treats. Different decorations -- like their pupcakes and catcakes -- add extra character to the pastries. Even Elmo and Cookie Monster have made appearances on the tops of Sparkles cupcakes. And for those who'd rather bypass the cake entirely, there are frosting shots.

Leftover cupcakes, Lisa said, are taken to the homeless, though she would like to look into donating them to the elderly through Grey Bears.

Like most pastry shops, celebrations are an opportunity for creativity.

"We've had seven people come in and are talking about doing wedding towers," Lisa said.

She also said they do themes for birthdays and other events. And, as with everything at Sparkles, the customer has a lot of a say.

"We want them to be able to design it themselves," Connie said. "We want them to feel like they can get what they want."

Though the best variety is at the shop, other locations across the county, such as Surf City Coffee and the Fish Lady in Soquel, carry the minicakes. Lisa said the owners are in talks with a couple of restaurants that also are interested.

Another customer, a woman with a tattoo of a cupcake on her leg, summed up the appeal of cupcakes: "It's just like a little slice of heaven."

IF YOU GO:

Sparkles Cupcakes
Where: 1420 41st Ave., Suite B, next to Yogurt Delite and Outdoor World, Capitola
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday
COST: $2.95 regular, $2.25 for dogcakes, $5.50 for pupcakes and catcakes, $15.99 dozen
DETAILS: 464-8911, sparklescupcakes.com,info@sparklescupcakes.com

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Food for Free: Seniors line up to get $20 coupon booklet for fresh produce

By Ramona Turner - Cruz Sentinel - 7/20/09

LIVE OAK -- It had been years since Janet Glazer of Capitola had visited a farmers market. But then she heard about the free veggies.

The 81-year-old Capitola resident ventured out to the Live Oak market at the East Cliff Shopping Center on Sunday after learning that a representative from the local Area Agency on Aging was going to be there giving out free voucher booklets filled with coupons that would pay for fresh herbs, vegetables and fruit, as well as raw honey at the market.

"That usually costs an arm and a leg at the grocery store," said Glazer, who also sits on the board for the Seniors Council, which staffs the Agency on Aging office that serves Santa Cruz and San Benito counties.

Caren Dix and Diane Wilson on Sunday gave out 114 voucher booklets funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farmers Market Senior Nutrition Program.

"It was a great turnout," said Dix, the program coordinator who also will distribute vouchers at upcoming farmers markets in Watsonville and Scotts Valley.

This was the first time the pair had given the booklets out at a market, Dix said. Previously, she used senior dining sites as her method of reaching the area's elderly, she said. But she found that the booklets weren't being redeemed as much. That's not good, considering the agency receives the same about of books as it redeems, she said.

Each booklet contains 10 coupons worth $2 each. To get the coupons, recipients must be a low-income senior, age 60 and older. The coupons expire in November and cannot be used for items such as flowers, nuts, or dried fruits and vegetables. Each recipient was limited to one booklet, Dix said.

Dix and Wilson arrived at the market at 8:30 a.m. Sunday and spoke with a steady stream of seniors until about 1 p.m.

"People are excited we are here," Dix said. "They say Bless you.'"

People who inquired about the vouchers also learned about other services for low-income seniors, such as Meals on Wheels, which delivers fresh meals to seniors in their homes.

"A lot of people were interested because they had a friend who is a shut-in or needs a lot of help," Dix said. "There also were people who just read our sign and were interested in what we do or just stopped by to say good job.' So people in this community really do care about seniors."

Karen Phelps, an accountant for a homebound widow and stroke survivor, stopped by the booth to seek help her elderly friend of 20 years.

"This is perfect for her," Phelps said. "She has no kids, she's on Social Security. This is a great program. She needs it."

Farmers need it, too. The federal program began in 2001 as a way to improve nutrition among seniors and give local growers a boost. This is California's second year participating.

And it would appear Dix's new distribution method is working. Growers who tour the regional farmers market scene said they had more vouchers in their tills Sunday than they had ever seen before. More vouchers means more money for growers.

The federal voucher program provides $22.4 million to states and Native American tribal organizations nationwide. Of that,$838,000 this year came to California, which printed 39,250 of the booklets, said Danielle Wolfe, coordinator of the state Department of Food and Agriculture Federal Funds Management Office.

Those booklets were then divided up among the state's 33 Area Agency on Aging service areas, she added.

Locally, Dix received about 500 vouchers this year. According to 2000 Census population data cited on the Seniors Council Web site, 3,670 of the county's 33,307 seniors had an income below 125 percent of the poverty level.

Dix hoped a successful distribution and redemption rate this year, combined with new senior population data from the Census Bureau, will mean more vouchers for area seniors next year, she said.

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