Make a date with a friend to meet at a Monday Dinner, or come by yourself and make new friends! Either way, you'll get a great meal and a lot more--everyone wins!

Help publicize the Monday Dinners! An easy way to spread the word about our weekly community gathering is to click on the Tell-A-Friend link in the upper left of this page. Just fill out the form with the email addresses of up to two friends, along with any personal comments you'd like to add, and click Submit--this emails your comments along with pre-written details of the Dinners and a link to this website!

Another way to help is to post a copy of our Dinner Menus in public locations. For a pdf file suitable for printing, click here.

On May 11, 1987, Chef Gary Alinder cooked a Gourmet Vegetarian Dinner for the Peninsula Macrobiotic Community, at St. Bede's Church in Menlo Park. That first cooking gig marked the start of a regular Monday Dinner event--along with its associated friendships, educational activities, and community--which has kept on going about 1000 times. Join us on May 11 to celebrate our remarkable 22nd Anniversary!

Macrobiotic Counselor and Licensed Acupuncturist Michael Rossoff will be available for consultations April 7-10 in Woodside, call Ken Becker 650 366-4285.

Monthly Vegan Potlucks! The Peninsula Veggie Potluck People, a spinoff of the Monday Dinners, sponsor monthly vegan potlucks; for details, visit http://pvpp.org. To host a potluck, call Diane Wohler at 650 704-0669, or Harold Stephenson at 650 856-1125.

Monday Dinner regular Al Lampell, a certified adult education teacher, mediator, and facilitator, teaches The Communications Seminar on Saturday, April 18, 9 am - 5 pm, $65. Call 408 296-0567, , or visit his website http://www.conscious-communications.com.

Attend an Earth Day event: Celebrating Local Food and Farms for a Healthy Planet, a benefit dinner for Full Circle Farm, Community Alliance of Family Farms (CAFF), Our Daily Bread, and Silicon Valley Foodways. Includes keynote by John Dickman, former Global Food Service Manager for Google and Apple. April 25, 6 pm - 10 pm, at The Art Institute of California - Sunnyvale. $100, for information call Chef Laura Stec, 650-855-7100.

The North Bay Macrobiotic Potluck Group usually meets the first Sunday of each month in Santa Rosa, contact Stephen Starkweather (), 707 542-9739, http://www.northbaymacro.org.

James Holloway, frequent Guest Chef at the Monday Dinners, does personal home cooking in Palo Alto, in macrobiotic and classical styles, call 650 852-9182.

Speakers receive a gratuity from the audience; please show your support and appreciation with a donation ($5-10 suggested).

On April 6, Macrobiotic Counselor and Licensed Acupuncturist Michael Rossoff will speak on Empowering the Second Half of Life. From its earliest beginnings, Oriental medicine recognized that health is the key to long life. Rather than seeking an elusive Fountain of Youth, it combined various elements of health practices to promote everyone's wellbeing and thereby create longevity.

Controlling and nourishing the jing, our original essence, is a core focus. At the same time, lifestyle factors and environmental influences can deplete this core essence. These not only remain relevant in modern times but are having ever greater weakening effects. Learn what these are and how to protect yourself.

While some of the longevity approaches are very exotic and even toxic, there are many that we can employ for our own greater wellness. We will explore some of the most useful, including special exercises, breathing practices, dietary changes, acupressure points and more.

Michael has been involved in macrobiotics, acupuncture, and Chinese medicine for 37 years. He studied macrobiotics with Michio Kushi in the '60s and '70s. In addition to teaching and counseling, he directed various macrobiotic centers in the Washington, D.C. area for 20 years, and published the macrobiotic magazine MacroMuse for seven years in the 1980s.

Michael studied acupuncture in England in the 1970s, and began practicing in 1978. He was the academic dean and a core teacher for three years at Atlantic University of Chinese Medicine, near his current residence of Asheville, North Carolina. Michael has counseled many thousands of people in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Israel. Visit his website at http://www.michaelrossoff.com.

Are you looking for a vacation appropriate for all ages this summer? Would you enjoy dining on three delicious macrobiotic meals daily, with interesting people? Would you like to experience the grandeur of nature? Are you interested in learning and experiencing macrobiotics, alongside expert teachers and cooks? Do you want to have fun and meet people who could become lifelong friends?

If your answer to any of the above questions is yes, please join us on May 4 when newsletter editor Gerard Lum and gardener/musician/cook Paul Schmitt will preview the French Meadows Summer Camp, which will take place July 10-19. Sponsored by the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation, this year's camp is the 40th annual held in the majestic Tahoe National Forest. It is actually the 50th annual Ohsawa-style camp, as ten camps were held in other locations before settling into French Meadows. Special activities are planned for this camp!

Teachers include Ronald Koetzsch, PhD, David and Cynthia Briscoe, Bob Carr, Melanie Waxman, Bob Ligon, Meredith McCarty, Carl and Julia Ferré, Mike and Maria Chen, Laura Stec, Barb Jurecki-Humphrey, Mary Lore Simmons, Kerry Loeb, and Bob Ruggles. Delicious macrobiotic meals are prepared by Packy Conway, Susanne Jensen, and staff over wood fires. Also included are children's activities, campfires, cooking demos/classes, hikes, volleyball, variety show, and more-for a truly unforgettable experience!

Fees are $890/adult, $450/youth aged 3 to 16; 15% discount for full payment by April 1, 10% by May 1, 5% by June 1. Partial stays and work exchange are possible. For more information, call Carl Ferré at 800 232-2372, pick up a camp brochure at Dinner, or visit any of the following:

• French Meadows Summer Camp website
• Flash presentation on summer camp with sound (high speed connection recommended)
• Photo Galleries for the 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005 summer camps

Gerard, an avid photographer who has attended ten camps, will show photographs of people having fun at the many camp activities. Paul, a veteran of eight camps who has worked in the children's program and kitchen, will provide color commentary. Other campers will share their fond experiences.

This presentation is especially appropriate for those who have never camped. In 1999, a grandmother from Detroit came without any camping experience; her children and grandchildren thought she was crazy and going through a mid-life crisis. She has come to every camp since to be with the special friends she made; her grandchildren now brag about their cool grandmother who goes camping.

Gerard has been newsletter editor since 1990 and currently works as a website designer. Paul works as a gardener and occasional cook at the Monday Dinners, and is an aspiring musician and comedian. Join us for a fun evening; donation optional for this event!

The Community Connection feature appears when an author is inspired enough to produce an interview or profile for publication.

Enjoy these past features on community members by Denise Huajardo Springer, Sky Ann McGrath, and Gerard Lum:

• Simply Paul Schmitt
• Life Really Does Begin at 40! An Interview with Diane Wohler
• Eating Mother's Chicken: Making Choices in Life, An Interview with Gary Alinder
• Plain Miklane? An Interview with Miklane Janner
• Ken Becker on Macrobiotics, Part One
• Ken Becker on Macrobiotics, Part Two
• Passionate About Growing Healthy Food, An Interview with Patricia Becker
• By Having Hope, What Are You Going to Lose? An Interview with Geneva Page and Baron
• You Can Really Fly with It, An Interview with Gerard Lum
• An Evolving Vision of Community, An Interview with Miklane Janner
• Making a Difference Through Cooking, An Interview with Susanne Jensen 

Email Notification of Newsletter: To receive an email notification each time the Newsletter and Dinner Menus are published on this site (every two months), .

 

Mailing List Policy: To get a printed copy of the Newsletter and Dinner Menus delivered by postal mail, or call the phone number below. To offset the expense of producing the Newsletter and Menus, we suggest a contribution of $10/year or more. The date and amount of your last newsletter contribution appears on your mailing label. Write checks to "Peninsula Macrobiotic Community", and mail to Gerard Lum, 101 E. Middlefield Road #9, Mountain View, CA 94043, 650 903-0447.

We periodically review our mailing list. Those who have not made a recent contribution are subject to removal.

Tax-Deductible Contributions: We welcome and can use additional contributions to the Peninsula Macrobiotic Community, as income from the Dinners does not pay all of our expenses. We are a nonprofit organization, so additional contributions are fully tax-deductible. Send contributions to the address in Mailing List Policy above.

Back Issues of the Newsletter and Menus: Click here.