Dine, Shop & Donate

One Man's e-Waste is Another Man's Treasure

Step your way up to help the schools this weekend and next.

This weekend is loaded with chances to help the schools, and you can even help save the planet (and your garage space) at one of the events. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, Hamilton Meadow Park School is holding a one-day free e-waste fundraiser. Novato residents and non-residents can recycle loads of household electronics, including TVs, fax machines, phones, VCRs and DVD players, toasters, vacuums, computers, radios, and so on. Remember, e-waste is considered a hazardous waste and cannot be disposed of in the trash. Items can be working or not. So go through that garage of yours and bring all of those electronics down. You clear away some clutter, Hamilton makes some money, and together you go one step toward saving the …

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Jay Alexander Knows the Trick to Helping Schools

Famed comic/magician from Hamilton has two shows Jan. 29 at Marin Center that will raise funds for the Hamilton Meadow Park School PTA.

For years we have resorted to fundraising to save arts programs in our schools. It's just our fiscal reality. You can dwell on it and say that's a sad state of affairs. Or you could say, "You know what? Most of those fundraisers are a blast." Here's one that falls into the latter category: Two special appearances Jan. 29 by comic/magician Jay Alexander at Marin Center that will raise funds for the Hamilton Meadow Park School PTA. Alexander, who lives in Hamilton, has donated so much to the school while his kids have grown up in those classrooms. It's his fifth such show and possibly his last since his kids are getting ready to move on. "Next year we're thinking about doing it for all the schools in Novato, where any school that wants to …

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Dine, Shop & Donate

You Eat, Schools Fill Up

Plot your coming weeks, dining and taking in a magic show, all in the name of supporting Novato schools. Go you!

There’s still time for you to head on over to Phyllis' Giant Burgers today, Thursday, Jan. 19, and chow down for the good of Loma Verde Elementary School. Phyllis’ Giant Burgers is giving 20 percent of sales, and all you have to do is put your receipt in the dedicated bucket at the counter after you've paid. Go. Now. Cheer for Mary’s Pizza Shack Bring the uploaded flier to Mary’s Pizza Shack on Monday, Jan. 23, and Mary’s will donate 20 percent of your purchase to the San Marin High School's Cheer & Dance Team. Dine in. Or take out. Or have it delivered. All of it means 20 percent back. You can even buy gift cards and Mary’s will make a 10 percent donation. Dance on over and make a difference just by eating some fabulous food. Grazie to …

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Dine, Shop & Donate

Opportunities (to Help Schools) are Knocking

Do something magical: Support the schools by dining out, taking in dinner theater and watching a killer magic show all in the name of supporting Novato schools and organizations.

You'll want to get your tickets before they're all gone for the big magic show Sunday, Jan. 29, so I'm starting off this week's listing of upcoming school fundraisers with the last first. Between now and then, you can take in dinner theater — in Novato — and dine on some great burgers to support Novato schools and the Novato Theater renovation. Masterful Master Magician: Watch Him Pull Some Dollars out of Your Wallets and into Hamilton's Coffers Sunday, Jan. 29, the fantastic Jay Alexander, master magician, will hold two shows at Marin Center Showcase Theater in San Rafael. As always, this year's annual Magic Fundraiser Show benefits Hamilton Meadow Park School, with all proceeds going to fund music, art and after school enrichment for the…

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Welcome to Our Handy New Dine & Donate Feature

Keep your eye out for Novato Patch's clearinghouse of school fundraisers.

Not really a cookie dough buyer? The thought of buying yet another roll of gift wrap from a kid make you feel all Grinch-like? Like the idea of helping out schools, whether you have kids enrolled or not? What if just by the simple act of, say, going out to dinner, something you happen to be doing anyway, you could donate money to a Novato school? That’s the genesis for this new feature on Novato Patch. I mentioned to Patch Editor Brent Ainsworth awhile back that it would be really cool to have all of the fundraisers put on by the various schools in a home of their own on Patch. (Let my involvement here be a lesson to all of you: if you’re going to make a suggestion, be prepared to then take it on.) Since Patch is meant to be a place for …

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City, School District to Build New Gym at Hamilton Together

Groundbreaking at Hamilton Meadow Park School is at 9 a.m. Friday.

For almost 10 years, the city of Novato and the Novato Unified School District have talked about joining forces to build a gymnasium in the Hamilton section of Novato. On Friday, the talk turns into action. The district and the city are having a groundbreaking ceremony at 9 a.m. on the campus of Hamilton Meadow Park School to kick off the joint venture. The community gym is to be made available for school kids during the day and the general public at night. It also will be available for rent for special events. Shortages of money and the lack of a master plan for the school prevented the project from moving forward for years. Both sticking points have been handled now, and the gym is expected to be open by March 2012.  “By two public …

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Novato Chess Club

7:06 am on Saturday, August 27, 2011

The kids in middle school at Hamilton needed a gym and a place to change--but closing Hill Middle School was not a good thing for the kid----it will re-open---believe that   more ›

Inside Hamilton

Follow Up: City Decides Hamilton Traffic Sign Will Stay

Resident Christine Atkinson’s effort to photograph left-turn violators outside school didn’t impact the city’s decision.

The traffic sign prohibiting left turns out of Hamilton Meadow Park School is here to stay despite reports of frequent driver violations and a formal complaint from a local resident. That’s the word from city of Novato Public Works Director Jason Nutt, who has the authority to decide the fate of regulatory signs like this one. Last month, Hamilton resident Christine Atkinson and her husband, Kristofer, sent an e-mail to Nutt questioning the legitimacy of the sign and charging that its placement “makes the sign totally ineffective.” As you may remember from our story back in April, the couple’s interest in the issue started in February when Christine said she received a $255 traffic ticket for violating the rules posted on the sign, which …

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Inside Hamilton

Woman Seeks to Remove Hamilton Traffic Sign by Photographing Frequent Violations

Christine Atkinson says "no left turn" sign outside school is largely ignored and she has the photos to prove it; Plus, results of Hamilton Field of Marin Association Board election.

Cars exiting Hamilton Meadow Park School are not allowed to turn left onto Main Gate Road during the morning and afternoon rush hours. Parent Christine Atkinson wants to change that, and she’s arming herself with a camera and a petition to help make her case. “The posted 'no left turn' sign is pointless because people ignore it,” she said. “I count between 30 and 60 cars a day that turn left when you’re not supposed to. I’ve seen city of Novato vehicles do it as well as Hamilton school volunteers and staff.” She not only counts the cars but also takes long-distance pictures of them from her driver’s seat to prove that it’s happening. “The first day I counted, I saw 53 cars make that illegal left turn," she said. "I couldn’t snap pictures …

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David L

8:58 am on Sunday, May 1, 2011

The crosswalk is about 75 feet away from where the cars are making their (currently illegal) left turns out of the school, not to the 'immediate left,' so drivers who make a left turn have plenty of time to see a pedestrian. And if speed is your concern, the claim that the left turn restriction protects crosswalk users makes no sense. Those left-turning cars are going to be moving far more slowly…   more ›

Local Kids Get a Taste of College Life Thanks to Donations, Volunteers

Teachers, administrators team up to take about 200 Novato kids over to St. Mary's College in Moraga for an inspirational day.

About 600 Bay Area kids, including more than 200 from Novato, spent Saturday on the campus of St. Mary’s College in Moraga in a basketball-tinged tour set up by a Novato man to inspire a commitment to education. Several teachers and administrators brought students in fifth through ninth grades to the college for the tour, a speech by psychology professor Mario Rivas and a game between the St. Mary’s men’s basketball team and Loyola Marymount University. The event was the brainchild of Christopher Major, a substitute teacher in Novato who serves as president of the Hayward Youth Academy. With a lot of help, he rounded up $9,000 in donations to make the visit possible. “I’m just decompressing after a really high-pitched Saturday. I’m just on…

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Novato Chess Club

11:37 am on Friday, September 16, 2011

North Bay Youth Academy (HYA) look forward to working with Novato AVID in 2012. Thank you Jennifer Marsh Russell, Tanya Madsen, Paige Gardner, and Whitney Lee for your support   more ›

Hamilton Students Rally for the Troops

Care packages packed for Blue Star Moms chapter to be sent overseas.

Kids from Hamilton Meadow Park School in southern Novato packed boxes of much-needed items as a goodwill gesture for military troops serving overseas on Jan. 21. The students, under the guidance of sixth-grade teacher Tanya Madsen, also wrote encouraging words on large class-made greeting cards that will be sent to the troops. The effort was made in conjunction with the Blue Star Moms of Marin, a chapter of a national volunteer organization that of moms and grandmothers who support deployed American military personnel in a number of ways, including sending care packages on a regular basis. Barbara Travis, president of the Marin chapter and a Novato resident, said the classroom work party was “a wonderful afternoon and the leadership …

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