Masonic Lodge Donates $100K in Instruments as Downtown Plans Advance

School arts philanthropy, artisanal slow-bar hospitality, and downtown pedestrian infrastructure shaped Peninsula community life this week across Mountain View and Los Altos.

Masonic Lodge Donates $100,000 in Musical Instruments to Public Schools

Mountain View De Anza Lodge No. 194 donated $100,000 worth of musical instruments from its educational endowment on October 3 to support public school music programs across the city. Approximately $50,000 in instruments went to Mountain View High School, where instrumental music co-director Ricky Alegria reported that the school received a cello, a vibraphone, two violas for orchestra classes, percussion instruments for band classes, and a new speaker system for the Spartan Marching Band.

The remaining $50,000 benefitted the Mountain View Whisman School District, including Graham Middle School’s band program—previously photographed at the November 15, 2015 Shoreline Athletic Fields dedication—which received five trumpets, five clarinets, an acoustic bass, and a new auditorium sound board following earlier Masonic Lodge donations of stage curtains. District spokesperson Shelly Hausman and Masonic Lodge member Veeresh Kinagi emphasized that donating instruments directly ensures every interested student can participate in elective music ensembles regardless of equipment availability.

Los Altos Brand Amblett Launches Pour-Over Slow Bar at Tal Palo

In neighboring downtown Los Altos, founders Andrew and Angelina Czajkowski—who originally started ACz Coffee Club last year—debuted a weekend “slow bar” residency for their pour-over coffee brand Amblett at Tal Palo, located at 149 Main St., operating Fridays and Saturdays from 8 to 11 a.m. through the end of November. Combining the words “amble” and “duet,” Amblett pairs its slow bar with online cold brew and whole-bean sales as well as periodic chef collaboration tastings.

Roasted on Wednesdays by Berkeley-based CoRo Coffee Roasters and shipped nationwide on Thursdays in 10-ounce bags priced at $27 to $31, Amblett’s lineup features a washed Colombian coffee, an Ethiopian black honey processed coffee, a washed Kenyan coffee, and a limited-release anaerobic washed Geisha created with San Jose’s Strait Coffee Roasters.

Mountain View Committee Backs $1.7 Million Downtown Roundabout

Back in downtown Mountain View, the Council Transportation Committee voted unanimously Monday evening to advance a $1.7 million concept design removing the traffic lights at Castro and California streets in favor of a signal-free roundabout with protected bike lanes, high-visibility crosswalks, raised landscape medians, enhanced lighting, vertical delineators similar to El Camino Real, and fortified bollards at the southern entrance to the three car-free blocks of Castro Street. Presented by senior civil engineer Joseph Cervantes and supported by Councilmembers Alison Hicks, John McAlister, and Ellen Kamei alongside public input from Council candidate Silja Paymer and an October 28 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee review, the layout may adjust parking in front of 756 and 800 California Street, with final intersection design due by the end of next year alongside 21-foot-wide central crosswalks at Villa and Dana streets slated for construction at the end of 2027.