Readers’ donations make teen’s life easier
We’ve all been forced to get used to a “new normal” since March, and that’s also true for Alannah Clayton. But for the 14-year-old and her San Jose family, the “new normal” has been something better, thanks to donations from readers of the Mercury News Wish Book, our annual holiday giving campaign.
You may remember Alannah’s story, told by my colleague Julia Prodis Sulek last November. Born with muscular dystrophy, Alannah’s strong spirit coupled with the creativity of her father, Jeff Clayton, helped improve her way of life. But Jeff and Alannah’s mom, Debbie Clayton, couldn’t entirely fix the hospital bed she spent much of her day in. It was a decade-old refurbished bed that was held up by wooden blocks.
Wish Book readers responded to Alannah’s story and donated the $55,000 needed for a new Hillrom bed, including a $20,000 anonymous donation that closed the gap. Alannah’s good fortune didn’t end there, however, as the new bed was delivered and installed just a couple of weeks before Santa Clara County’s shelter-in-place order went into effect.
“It was miraculous timing,” Jeff Clayton said Friday. “I don’t know what would have happened if it was delivered after the lockdown.”
Ironically, the rest of the Bay Area is now adapting to the kind of restrictions the Clayton family has become used to as they
care for a health-vulnerable child. Most people have a welcome mat at their door, Jeff Clayton said, but the family has a sign recommending anyone feeling ill not visit — and that was there well before COVID-19.
“We never really thought that the community as a whole would have to face what we’ve been concerned with for this whole time,” he said. “Our hearts go out to those who are learning the ropes of how to handle this kind of caution.”
The new bed makes it easier for Alannah’s parents and caregivers to turn her, and it has a “percussion” feature that helps them clear obstructions in her airway. The bed is big enough that her 8-yearold sister, Annalise, can climb on with her to watch a movie, and the family’s Australian Labradoodle, Teddy, snuggles up at the foot of the bed, allowing Alannah to use his body to elevate her feet. And the bed is not on wooden blocks.
The family takes care to protect the bed like a newborn, with coverings used for car fenders protecting it from spills. The bed also came with a three-year warranty that Jeff Clayton said will help them figure out how everything works without worry. And since he did most of the work lifting Alannah, the new bed and its features have taken a noticeable physical strain off him, too.
“It truly is an incredible blessing,” Jeff Clayton said. “I just think about how incredible this community is to take that weight off our shoulders and focus on other things we have to take care of.”
LOOKING FOR SIGNS >> The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and Valley Water have teamed up on a project to document about 18,000 signs along creek trails and elsewhere throughout the Santa Clara Valley, and the scavenger hunt is open to anyone who wants to participate.
The impetus behind “The Great Sign Hunt” is to find signs that are damaged or outdated; about 1,500 signs have been identified so far by cyclists and pedestrians.
The campaign started July 16 and runs through Oct. 15. Four prizes of $50 gift cards will be awarded through a drawing each of the three months, and the top three sign-spotters overall will receive $500 gift cards.
Of course, there are rules, and you must register and download a free reporting app to participate. Get more information at bikesiliconvalley.org/ valley-water-great-signhunt-2020.
SCARING UP BUSINESS
>> I’ve got to hand it to the Winchester Mystery House, which continues to roll along with Santa Clara County’s ever-changing health requirements. After first closing the landmark mansion in March, the tourist attraction offered a free video tour. Then it added an immersive 360-degree tour, followed by outdoor tours of the estate’s gardens when that was allowed.
For just two days this month, the house reopened for self-guided tours before being shuttered again.
The latest idea? The new “Walk with Spirits” tour, which begins Wednesday. Like the garden tour, this one’s outdoors, but the twist is that it’s at night and it delves into the supernatural lore that has
surrounded the grand house for about a century. Of course, we know most — if not all — these stories are fiction, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a good scare, and it is a rare chance to visit the grounds after dark.
“Once we received word that we would need to temporarily pause our indoor mansion tours, we quickly pivoted to design a new experience for our guests that shares some of the most famous — and infamous — stories surrounding the mysterious estate,” Winchester Mystery House General Manager Walter Magnuson said, no doubt in his best Vincent Price voice.
The tours, offered Wednesdays through Sundays, begin at 8 p.m., with timed-entry tickets ranging from $14.99 to $24.99. Groups are limited to people in the same household, and masks are required.
LOST IN TRANSLATION >> The San Jose City Council has a special meeting planned for Tuesday morning to discuss the ballot language for the “strong mayor” measure that voters will consider in November. As has been the case for months, the meeting will be conducted via Zoom, and, to its credit, San Jose is providing translations in Spanish and Vietnamese. (Go to sanjoseca. gov for meeting details.)
But San Jose City Clerk Toni Taber pointed out on Twitter that there’s a catch: Zoom doesn’t support Vietnamese translation yet, so anyone interested in hearing the meeting in that language is being instructed to click on “German.”
You’d think San Josebased Zoom would get this language barrier solved ASAP.