From the category archives:

Parks and Recreation

Post image for Valérie Orsoni stays fit in Menlo Park

When Valérie Orsoni has only 30 minutes to exercise, she doesn’t waste time driving to the gym. She just steps out her front door and walks around her Menlo Park neighborhood. When she has more time, she cycles to Burgess Pool and does laps. “The pool’s domed during the winter and there’s a fitness trail [along Alma Street] nearby, ” said the internationally-known healthy living and weight loss expert who regularly takes advantage of Menlo’s recreational areas such as Bayfront Park. “It’s where I can exercise with my dog!”

Orsoni’s successful battles against a brain tumor and cancer led her to found MyPrivateCoach™, a coaching service that uses an array of tools and methods including behavioral science, management trends, work space ergonomics, Feng Shui, spirituality, philosophy, finance and business to help individuals unlock their potential. She followed that effort up with LeBootCamp®, an online service focused solely on weight loss coaching that currently has 700,000 community members in Europe and North America.

We asked Orsini why new year’s resolutions to get fit and lose weight so often fail. “Not being held accountable,” she says. “Success rates really increase when you involve a friend or spouse. The biggest obstacle to success is not having a support system in place.”

Not surprisingly given her worldwide businesses, Orsini is on the road at lot, but she feels at home in Menlo Park. “I love my house and know my neighbors – and I’m excited about my son starting M-A next year.”

Photo by Chris Gulker

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Post image for Menlo seniors cook up tribute to Dr. King

fish fry v1 Menlo seniors cook up tribute to Dr. KingSenior center chef Oswald Thompson prepares a batch of filets for the Martin Luther King commemorative fish fry at the Menlo Senior Center today.

The event, which featured a tribute to Dr. King  by Belle Haven poet Jym Marks, was quite well attended. Center director Avideh Yaghmai-Samardar and her troops were seen to be “hands on” in the kitchen, preparing delectable-looking plates of fried fish and sautéed vegetables for the appreciative attendees.

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A Last 2009 Sunday in Sharon Park

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All of us at InMenlo hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday with family and friends and can enjoy this slow holiday week ahead before 2010 kicks in with gusto next week!
For us, we went for a Sunday late afternoon walk in one of our favorite Menlo Park parks today – Sharon Park in Sharon [...]

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Holiday festivities are everywhere today

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Breakfast with Santa kicked off the day at the Recreation Center in Burgess Park this morning. Menlo firefighters stood by as children presented their wish lists to Santa and his elf.
Later in the morning, the Russian Orthodox church annual Christmas bazaar debuted, featuring free and very inexpensive gifts for adults and children (for which there [...]

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Crew comes to land-locked Fremont Park

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Nor Cal Crew was using the grass at Fremont Park to show off its rowing skills this morning, an event that included a fund raising bake sale. The organization, which rows out of the Port of Redwood City, is a competitive rowing program for high school and junior high students from around the Peninsula.  According [...]

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Fall Day at Sharon Park

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We went walking the dog late this morning at one of our favorite Menlo Park parks – Sharon Park in Sharon Heights. One family was showing off the ducks, others were walking their dogs around the quarter-mile loop that circles the pond. A beautiful fall day indeed!
Click here to see more photos from [...]

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Bedwell Bayfront Park – perfect Turkey Day outing

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The parking spots were filled and the trails were busy with walkers, joggers and cyclists this Thanksgiving morning at Bedwell Bayfront Park, which at 160 acres is Menlo Park’s largest park. Located at the foot of Marsh Rd. and surrounded on three sides by the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, it was [...]

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Work at Sharon Park

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Out today for our first walk after rotator cuff surgery last week, we noticed the work underway at the far end of Sharon Park. Looks like the overflow piping is being cleaned or replaced?
It was a beautiful warm fall day – cooling forecast for tomorrow.

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Last minute Halloween preparation

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The Webb Ranch Pumpkin Patch was a busy scene  as local families  made their final Halloween preparations.  The city of Menlo Park will hold its annual Halloween festivities this Saturday – October 31 – beginning with a costume parade for youngsters from Burgess Recreation Center to Fremont Park starting at 11:45 am.  A magic show [...]

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A Late Summer Sunday at Burgess Park

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On a warm late summer Sunday afternoon in Menlo Park, Lily and I found lots of activity at Menlo Park’s Burgess Park – including out on the Tom Harrison Baseball Field.
Burgess Park underwent a major re-do five years ago – thanks to Measure T including “renovated turf and irrigation, renovated baseball fields, renovated soccer field, [...]

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Pounds of grounds make most of compost

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The brown bin behind the Peet’s Coffee at Santa Cruz and University makes one of Peet’s inevitable by-products, coffee grounds, available to local gardeners. The grounds can go into compost heaps or worm bins, or just dug into planting beds.
Keeping the focus on recycling, Menlo homeowners who diligently place their yard trimmings curbside for [...]

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Lazy days of summer in Sharon Park

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When temperatures are warm and the days to back-to-school draw near, it’s a good time to pause at the newest of Menlo’s parks – and the only one with a pond – Sharon Park. New by Menlo standards means that it’s been around for for only a little over 40 years – about the time [...]

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The Big Easy makes its way to Fremont Park

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The spirit of New Orleans filled Fremont Park this evening thanks to the sounds of Chelle! and Friends, a band that promises to commemorate the music of Mardi Gras and celebrate the city’s Creole people and their music. Anyone who has visited the Katrina-devasted city in the past year or so, can attest to its [...]

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Picking up after the big weekend

A Menlo Park city worker loads traffic barriers near University and Santa Cruz after this past weekend’s events, including the Connoisseur’s Marketplace and farmer’s market. It is amazing to this observer how quickly the extensive array of booths, stands, et al. go up and come down, complete with a major street cleanup. Kudos, city workers!

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Salsa scene in Fremont Park

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As two spectactors approached the summer concert series held Wednesday evenings at Fremont Park, they overhead two young men remark “Live, free music is great but why so early?” The answer: half the audience would be in bed if it didn’t end at 7:30 – and that’s not because of the geriatric set. This annual [...]

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Sharon Park

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One of my favorite Menlo Park parks is Sharon Park – located at the corner of Monte Rosa Drive and Sharon Park Road in the Sharon Heights neighborhood of Menlo Park. The circular loop around the small lake is a delight – with a couple of different ways to go around to make it [...]

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The Fourth loometh

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And what would July 4th in Menlo be without the very family-friendly Burgess Park Parade and Celebration? All manner of movable object, from tricycle to float will descend on the park from 11:30 to 3:00 PM for music, games and food.
Later in the day, Menloites will be jockeying for position at sea level east of [...]

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