WHAT INTERESTS teenage girls? Music and makeup, that’s for sure. Shopping and boys — goes without saying. But Girl Scouts? Now you’re getting into a select group. You see, girls may start out as scouts in grade school, but by high school they’ve lost interest.
That’s why I’m honoring Troop 2399, eight hills sophomores who’ve just earned their Silver award. With leaders Twila Foster and Meredith Forristal, they compiled a guide to Bay Area Girl Scout campsites which details everything from numbers of cabins to cooking facilities. And they did this on top of their homework and sports and church commitments.
Now it’s on to the Gold Award for these girls who’ve been together since kindergarten at Corpus Christi School in Piedmont. And that’s what’s so special. Despite going to different high schools (St. Mary’s, O’Dowd, Miramonte and College Prep), they’ve stayed together to achieve a goal very few Girl Scouts achieve.
Congratulations, girls. In life, as in scouts, I know you’ll “go for the gold.”

‘RAT PACK’ REVIEW: Hills mom and musician Rebecca Faiola says “The Tribute” (playing at the Post Street Theater in San Francisco) is the best impersonation of the “Rat Pack” she’s ever seen. She ought to know, since she and her husband, Frank, have their own Sinatra tribute band that plays parties all over the Oakland hills.
“We were delighted to see this style of music performed ‘live’ with a full orchestra and all four of the ‘Rat Pack’ on stage singing their classic tunes,” she says. Faiola says the singers were spitting images, both visually and vocally, of Frankie and Dino and the boys and she highly recommends the show for a great night out.
Meanwhile, Rebecca and Frank have their own Sinatra gig coming up soon — a fund-raiser for Saint Theresa’s School. You can book them to play your events by calling 510-326-3553.

DEJA VU: If a cat has nine lives, how many lives does a building have? Joe Sullivan may be wondering over at The Book Tree on La Salle Avenue, where cars have smashed into the front of his store twice in three years. Both episodes involved seniors and in the latest accident, a pedestrian was injured on the sidewalk. The car “hit the bricks” back in June, as they say, and cracked the old facade, which will be hard to replace. Still, it could have been worse, and hopefully the driver and the pedestrian have recovered from their injuries.

CRIME WATCH: Despite the police patrols and the $22,000 a year spent for security by Bay Alarm, merchants are still getting robbed in Montclair. Both Movie Express and Noah’s Bagels have been hit at gunpoint this summer, and it’s unnerving to say the least. But thefts have been prevented, too, according to Raimondi’s owner Al Atallah. He says Bay Alarm provides escorts on request after dusk and also checks shop doors to make sure they’re locked. What more can be done? Like a neighborhood watch, maybe the merchants need better communication when they see suspicious activity. It seems to be vital in this place and time.

SWINGING SINGLES: The Oakland A’s bats weren’t the only thing swinging last weekend at the Coliseum. Reader Lynne Orloff Jones tells me Saturday was Yahoo singles night — where the price of admission was “just the ticket” for a new romance. And the pre-game warm-up wasn’t bad, either. It included a free wine reception with a glass and five tastings. Can you say “Yahoo”?

APPARENTLY some of us have too much time on our hands. We saw the new signs for Shepherd Canyon Park and, against our better judgment, followed them. They led us up Escher, a little-used road that winds around and leads — nowhere, really. Certainly not to Shepherd Canyon Park, which is several hundred yards down a very steep hill. So we turned around, puzzled, and went about our business.
But this is where the story gets good. Mike Petouhoff, president of the Shepherd Canyon Homeowners Association, says the city signs aren’t entirely wrong.
“We wanted them to say Shepherd Canyon Resource Conservation Area, he explained, “but they didn’t turn out that way.”
You see, the park is really 34 acres and extends from the soccer field up the hill to Escher Road. The city has been promising to clean up and grade the hillside for years, as part of the park’s master plan to create more trails and usable space.
To their credit, crews did haul a lot of junk out off the hillside in the last couple of years — but now progress seems to be stalled. And as autumn approaches and soccer ramps up, it would be nice to see another alternative for parking — perhaps on Escher with a trail going down to the field. In the coming weeks I’ll find out more and bring it to you.

WOMEN POWER: Picture this. Twelve of Montclair’s best “movers and shakers,” all women, coming together under a full moon to brainstorm for a friend. The meeting was called by local chef and caterer Lisa Lesowitz, who wanted ideas for growing her business — A Chef’s Eye on upper La Salle.
“The universe just started sending me these incredibly accomplished women so I got them all together,” she said, adding they shared tons of ideas over dinner and drinks. Lisa is a great cook (she was the Haas family chef for three years) and I’m sure she put out a super spread the other night. She says the next party she has will be a celebration of the decisions she’s made. I’m hungry just thinking about it.

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Not many folks make their living with a blender. Hills native Scott Gordon is one of them. Just over two years ago he and his wife, Ali, opened Quenchers in Orinda. They wanted to serve something healthy for kids that tasted good, and Montclair already had two smoothie shops. So Ali and Scott, who met at Montara Middle School, headed over the hill and through the woods to 21 Orinda Way. Now local schools are buying their drinks and business is brisk. All in all, it was one smooth move.

MONTCLAIR MEMORIES: With the passing of the legendary cabaret singer Hildeguard last month, reader Gay Parker remembers when the entertainer came to have dinner with her mother Dottie a number of years back.
“While the leg of lamb was cooking we came into Montclair to go dress shopping on Mountain Boulevard,” she recalls, saying Hildeguard bought a lavender gown and one or two street dresses. “She enjoyed Montclair very much and I’m sure they enjoyed her spending over $1,000,” she says.

E-MAIL BAG: Reader Lin Barron is a little miffed with the city’s landscapers, who he says did a “hack” job on Montclair’s island of native grasses and trees as you enter town.
“Don’t tell me it’s fire prevention,” Barron writes. “The surrounding roadway remains untouched, clogged with dry weeds.”

ANIMAL TALES: Thanks to Anne Nunez who sent me the photo of a prominent Piedmont family out strolling the other day. Mr. and Mrs. Duck (Donald and Daisy) were looking so good in their feathered finery that they literally stopped traffic in the 5600 block of La Salle. It was quite a procession with not one but six little fuzzballs waddling behind.

What kind of person dumps tires and trash — even cars into a watershed? The word “litter bug” isn’t strong enough to describe a scofflaw like this. “Dumper” doesn’t do it either. But whatever you call these folks, they’re living all around us and leaving their junk along Pinehurst Road on the way to Canyon.
You should have seen what crews pulled up last week in an effort to clean up decades of dumping. Over a dozen old cars and hundreds of tires. It was incredibly hard work with workers using cranes and other heavy equipment to hoist the junk up to the road and haul it away. And EBMUD paid plenty to get the job done.
Maybe the canyon will stay clean for a while. And maybe horses will fly, too. One thing’s for sure. Seeing all that trash made me lose a little more faith in people. I think I need an attitude adjustment.

STAYING CALM: If you owned a business, what would you name it? In the case of Eryn Harrison’s new salon, the name is a reflection of her mood. When she opened Calm A Salon at 4315 Piedmont Ave. this summer, her goal was to create an oasis.
“I didn’t want it to be a hustle and bustle salon. Everybody has these crazy busy lives and when you’re in my salon I want you to be calm,” she said. But around Eryn, it’s hard to be anything but calm. She’s sweet and soft-spoken and has lots of friends from her years of styling hair in Montclair.
In fact, leaving the village was one of her biggest fears.
“Working at the Hair Tailor — it was so important to be part of the community,” she said. (Eryn grew up in Montclair and still lives in her family house). But she says her new neighbors have been wonderful and very supportive. In fact, they’re all salon owners who’ve created a little mecca for the body and soul. Good luck in your new location, Eryn. Montclair’s loss is Piedmont Avenue’s gain.

HIGH TIMES: Hills artist Michael Grbich is walking a pretty thin line these days. In fact, it’s a tightrope which he uses for mental stimulation as much as for exercise. And at 73, he’s got some pretty lofty goals, including a lesson next month with Philippe Petit. Petit is the guy who walked a tightrope between New York’s Twin Towers 30 years ago. Grbich won’t be doing any high-wire walking , but you could say he’ll be “learning the ropes” from the expert.

VILLAGE FREEBIES: It seems the Montclair branch library is becoming the place for free books and I don’t mean the ones you check out. Folks have been leaving stacks of paperbacks and periodicals by the front door with increasing regularity. It’s mostly done after hours and librarian Leon Cho says he doesn’t need (or have room) for most of the donations, so he leaves them out there. Eventually they get picked up, either by eager readers or the recycling guy.