I often feel blessed living in Montclair. Not many folks see the Golden Gate Bridge in one direction and a hillside of cows in another. And I’m not the only one who feels this way. Reader Nikki Pooshs says when she tells people she lives here, they look at her like she has fingers of pure gold.

“I assure them that not everyone living in Montclair is filthy rich,” but she says there’s a perception that we’re not only rich, we’re snobs. And that, she says, couldn’t be further from the truth.

Pooshs found out first-hand about our caring community when she moved here from Hawaii and took a job with Curves in Montclair.

“It was there, in that tiny place, that I met the most incredible women I have ever known,” she says. They brought her hand-knit scarves and Hawaiian treats on her birthday. They formed a support system for workers and members when they needed help.

“And even after I moved on to a different job,” says Pooshs, “they collected, in one week, over $400 when my young mother suddenly died.”

This wellspring of love was bound to spill over. Now the women at Curves have started a knitting group, where they craft handmade hats, blankets and booties for charity.

“Not just any charity,” Pooshs says, “but a carefully chosen hospital or elderly facility where people might be a little less fortunate than us.”

It’s a story that had to be told — because we’re not just perched on the hill, looking down at others. We’re part of a village that pitches in to help, whenever we hear the call. If you’d like more information on the Curves knitting group, call 510-338-0302.

TAHOE-BOUND: If the hills seem quiet this Easter, it’s because so many folks are headed to Tahoe. The skiing is still great and local ski mom Lelia Tokuyama says she’s found the perfect new place to stay, as well. The Hampton Inn outside Truckee is a cozy hotel with a warm wood lobby and a free hot breakfast and wireless Internet. And it’s just 10 minutes from Northstar ski resort, where it’s snowing even as I write this column.

WEDDING BELLS: Thanks to local Realtor Katie O’Shea for the big spring scoop that Dale Marie Golden is getting married. The Wells Fargo vice president known for her passion for purple — is tying the knot July 23 with building fix-it guy Hugh MacDonald. O’Shea has been hired to find them a house and that in itself is a scoop. Between Golden and MacDonald, they probably know every Realtor in town.

WORDSMITH: Not many eighth graders can compete with adults when it comes to vocabulary. But the Glenview’s Molly Montgomery is not only a word smith, she’s the California state champ in the Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge. Molly’s mom, Sandra, says her daughter is a voracious reader — with Harry Potter at the top of her book list. She competes for the national championship in Orlando next weekend.

ROAD RAGE: Just when you think everyone in town is a Democrat, a story surfaces from Canyon resident Lois Aldrich who says she was run off the road by a hot-headed conservative on Shepherd Canyon Road, last month. The driver of a pickup truck was apparently offended by Aldrich’s bumper stickers — one of which takes aim at President Bush and the other at Gov. Schwarzenegger.