When you live in a community with so many wonderful volunteers, it’s almost impossible to single out just one. Spoilt for choice, the Orinda Community Foundation has chosen Rich Thompson (left) for the honor of Citizen of the Year and two Volunteers of the Year, Sue Andersen-Berger (center) and Eugene Gottfried (right). All three will be presented with their awards on Sunday, Nov. 3 at the Orinda Community Center.
“The purpose of art,” according to Pablo Picasso, “is washing the dust of daily life off our souls” – a sentiment that Orinda’s Art in Public Places Committee (APPC) quotes on its inspirational website (artspaceorinda.org) and has truly taken to heart with its unexpected and unique art offerings around Orinda Village, the Theatre District, Library and beyond.
The man responsible for ensuring that we shrug off this “dust of daily life,” whenever we stroll through Orinda, is longtime APPC Chair Rich Thompson, who was named Citizen of the Year by the Orinda Community Foundation (OCF).
This year’s awards ceremony takes place on Sunday, Nov. 3, in the Founders Auditorium at the Orinda Community Center. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails, followed by a buffet dinner and, as the evening progresses, proclamations will be presented by OCF President James Keefe, Senator Steve Glazer, Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahn, Supervisor Candace Andersen and Mayor Darlene Gee. The cost is $75 per person and reservations are required.
An engineer by profession, Thompson designs, purchases and installs signage for each artwork, coordinates with artists and sculptors and is present at every installation. By visiting artists’ studios or exploring places like the Yountville Art Walk, he ensures each piece enjoyed by Orindans is truly unique. And sometimes even controversial – although never offensive. If the APPC approves Thompson’s final choices, he then submits an application to the City.
According to fellow APPC member Ted Urban, Thompson has been “an extraordinary chair whose leadership has gone well beyond any expectations within the community” and he has served these many years as “the principal catalyst in the Committee’s success.”
Thompson says he was surprised and “absolutely delighted” when told about the award, but stresses that the upcoming ceremony “is really the artists’ night.” He is especially keen to emphasize the amount of input the committee has received from local educator and ceramic artist, John Toki.
Thompson who, along with his wife Casey, has been an Artspace Orinda donor since the program’s inception in 2007, admits that the job “can be hectic for a few days a month,” but says that it’s never onerous.
“Besides,” he said, “I’m retired. I have the time.”
The Citizen of the Year award has been OCF’s responsibility since being relinquished by the Rotary Club of Orinda and Lamorinda Sun in 2017.
“There are so many behind-the-scenes community members,” said OCF Founder and former president, Sue Severson, “who quietly volunteer their time and talents and who deserve recognition, but who mostly shun the spotlight.”
In addition to choosing an annual Citizen of the Year, the OCF also names at least one recipient for its Orinda Volunteer Award. This year the committee chose two.
One of them is Sue Andersen-Berger. The name may not sound familiar, but you have only to look around you to see how her magic touch has consistently contributed to the beautification of Orinda.
A self-taught gardener who “started from scratch” when she and her husband bought their Orinda home 30 years ago, Andersen-Berger has always worked diligently to create elegant, water-wise and sustainable landscaping within the City and local schools.
A member of the Orinda Garden Club since 2014, Andersen-Berger is also extremely generous with her time and knowledge. She said she finds it very rewarding to teach others, and once a month can be found at the Moraga Farmers’ Market dispensing solid horticultural advice. Tomatoes are a particular specialty!
But it is not just beautification that concerns this UC Master Gardener: she is also very much concerned with Orinda’s Firewise issues, a commitment reflected in the significant contribution she recently made to the Orinda City’s publication: “Plants for a Fire-Savvy Landscape – A quick reference on what to plant, where to plant and how to think about landscaping with regard to wildfire in Orinda.” (https://www.cityoforinda.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=207).
It is a stunningly colorful guide, with all the information one could possibly need, for all homeowners, with or without green thumbs, who want to keep their surroundings both safe and beautiful.
The second OCF Volunteer Award went to Dr. Eugene Gottfried, who has volunteered in numerous capacities over the years to benefit the Orinda community.
Gottfried’s love of science was first ignited when his pharmacist father gave him a chemistry set for his 10th birthday. From that moment on, his medical career was set.
By the mid-1950s, Gottfried qualified as an MD from Columbia University. His career continued on the East Coast, largely in hematology and biochemistry, until the UCSF School of Medicine lured him west, and there he remained until his retirement as Professor of Clinical Laboratory Medicine in 1999.
For the last 45 years, Gottfried has volunteered with such organizations as the Upper El Toyonal Neighborhood Watch, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, the MOFD Response Team, the Rotary Club, CERT, the Contra Costa County Medical Reserve Corp, and the OCF, to name a few.
For more information about nominating future recipients of the OCF Citizen of the Year and Volunteer of the Year awards, go to orindafoundation.org.
