Neighbors, join Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Facebook group!

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Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-News December 2019

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Items appearing in the HNA E-News are deemed to be of general interest to neighbors but do not necessarily reflect the views of Halcyon Neighborhood Association (HNA), its Steering Committee, or the Editor. The Editor’s introductory comments express her personal viewpoint.

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Contents

1. HNA Planning Meeting for 2020: Monday, 12/16/19, 7:15-9:00 p.m.

2. HNA’s Annual Fundraising Appeal!

3. In Memory of Prince Street Neighbor Stephen Pitcher

4. Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Guiding Principles

Editor’s Introductory Note:

Thanks to everyone who helped with or attended any of our neighborhood events in 2019, from our National Night Out Ice Cream Social to HNA CERT trainings, from social potlucks to work parties in the park or Halcyon Thrive gatherings. As we get ready for 2020, we hope to keep on nourishing community and neighborly relationships in the Halcyon neighborhood. We welcome your participation.

Wishing you all happy holidays and end-of-the-year celebrations!

—Nancy Carleton, HNA Co-Chair and E-News Editor, halcyon92@gmail.com

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1. HNA Planning Meeting for 2020: Monday, 12/16/19, 7:15-9:00 p.m.

Editor’s note: Each year, the HNA Steering Committee meets in December to map out rough dates for neighborhood activities for the following year, including work parties to maintain Halcyon Commons and social events, such as our popular neighborhood potlucks, celebrations in the park, and more. Given our information infrastructure and willing volunteers, it doesn’t require much time on your part to make a big difference as a lead convener (or co-lead) for an event or activity. So much is possible in our neighborhood, but we depend on new neighbors getting involved to help keep us moving forward. The HNA Steering Committee uses an online group listserv for most of its planning to spare us from too many meetings in our already commitment-full lives (we’ll likely have just two or three Steering Committee meetings in all of 2020). We would very much welcome your participation!

Please email halcyon92@gmail.com if you want more information. All neighbors willing to work in the spirit of HNA’s nonpartisan Guiding Principles (see item 4 below) are welcome to join the Steering Committee. We’re very much open to new projects, so if you have an aspect of the neighborhood you’d like to see addressed, please step up! And we especially need your help if you have an interest in crime watch, disaster preparedness, or kid-friendly activities. For a modest investment of time, you can make a big difference right here where you live.

HNA Planning Meeting for 2020

Monday, December 16, 2019, 7:15-9:00 p.m.

Meeting will take place at a home in the neighborhood. Email halcyon92@gmail.com for details.

This meeting is open to Steering Committee members plus interested members of the HNA CERT group and others who are willing to work together in the spirit of HNA’s Guiding Principles (again, see item 4).

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2. HNA’s Annual Fundraising Appeal

Editor’s note: Your contributions are crucial to realizing HNA’s 2020 priorities! Please give generously.

HNA doesn’t have a formal membership structure or require annual dues because we wanted to keep participation as broad as possible. At the same time, we incur various expenses during the course of a year, including:

* Flyer production

* Supplies for special events in park

* Supplies for work parties

* In-fill and replacement plants for Halcyon Commons and nearby landscaped features

* Graffiti removal peripherals

* Small projects in Halcyon Commons (including a fund we’ve been setting aside for refurbishing the mural on the backside of our bulletin board, new boulders for the park and nearby landscaped features, plus adding some paver stones at common crossways into the park).

We’re asking neighbors who appreciate all that HNA does to improve and beautify our neighborhood, to keep us safer, and to facilitate communication and help create a more convivial place to live to give generously this year, and do your part.

(1) Make a financial contribution directly to HNA (not tax-deductible, but allows us maximum flexibility) by writing a check made out to “HNA” and mailing or dropping it off in an envelope to HNA Treasurer Susan Hunter, 3044 Halcyon Court, Berkeley, CA 94705.

(2) Give to HNA online! Go to https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=QSESRB6FZAX3C to make your contribution. (Again, contributions to HNA aren’t tax-deductible but allow us maximum flexibility.) PayPal keeps a fee of approximately 3 percent.

(3) Make a tax-deductible financial contribution by writing a check made out to “Berkeley Partners for Parks” (BPFP, our nonprofit fiscal sponsor, which charges a 7 percent overhead fee), earmarked Halcyon, and mailing or dropping it off in an envelope to HNA Treasurer Susan Hunter, 3044 Halcyon Court, Berkeley, CA 94705.

No contribution is too small (or too large!). If you’d like to receive a copy of our year-end financial report, contact halcyon92@gmail.com. Our neighborhood association’s health and vitality depend on your ongoing support! Please pitch in!

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3. In Memory of Prince Street Neighbor Stephen Pitcher

Editor’s note: Neighbors Sallie Hanna-Rhyne and Kay Trimburger submitted the following obituary for longtime Prince Street neighbor Stephen Pitcher. In addition to being involved in disaster preparedness for HNA, Stephen also helped distribute flyers for many years and served on the HNA Steering Committee for several years. He will be missed!

Stephen Pitcher, a friend and neighbor who lived in a cottage on Prince Street for 27 years, died at age 65 in his cottage in late October. The cause of death is still unknown. Stephen was a classical, baroque musician, and a composer. He played piano, flute, recorder, and guitar. His neighbors loved the free concerts when he played at home. In addition, Stephen sang in several early music groups and was a Shakespearean actor. He had a strong interest in jazz and was the original singer and flute player in EBMUD, a local latin-funk band in the 1970s.

Stephen was for a time involved in Halcyon Neighborhood Association. He was a warden in the CERT group for emergency preparedness

Stephen worked for many years at UC Berkeley in the Music Department and at the Institute of International Studies. He received his BA there in Celtic Studies.

Stephen leaves behind a sister, Ellen, her husband, their two sons, and their granddaughter.

We are having a memorial for Stephen on Friday, Jan. 17, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., at the Art House Gallery and Cultural Center at 2905 Shattuck Ave., between Ashby and Russell. There will be music, remembrances of Stephen, and refreshments.

—Sallie Hanna-Rhyne and Kay Trimberger, members of Halcyon Neighborhood Association

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4. Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Guiding Principles

Editor’s note: Given our upcoming Planning Meeting for 2020 (see item 1), this is another good time to highlight HNA’s Guiding Principles (which can always be found on our website, halcyonneighborhood.org).

HNA is a community group dedicated to stewardship of the Halcyon Neighborhood in South Berkeley (bounded by Telegraph, Ashby, Adeline, and Woolsey). We encourage positive, proactive, partnership-oriented approaches to improving the well-being of our neighborhood, with an emphasis on the following goals:

* Community building (such as regular potlucks, special events in the park, mutual support among neighbors, and multiblock yard sales);

* Ongoing care of Halcyon Commons (a park conceived of and created by the neighbors who founded HNA) under the nonprofit umbrella provided by Berkeley Partners for Parks and in partnership with the City of Berkeley;

* Continued greening and care of the neighborhood (planting trees, cleaning litter off streets, graffiti removal, and helping maintain public landscaped features);

* Strengthening neighborhood watch (crime watch, community safety walks, emergency preparedness, and disaster supply cache);

* Networking with the larger Berkeley community (nearby neighborhood groups, neighborhood businesses, City staff, and elected officials);

* Sharing information and empowering residents to become proactive in addressing neighborhood needs and in expressing individual viewpoints regarding civic affairs (spreading news through meetings, flyers, and the HNA E-News, and providing contact information).

To fulfill these goals, HNA provides a sanctuary from partisan politics so that neighbors with diverse viewpoints feel welcome to participate. Thus, HNA only takes stands on larger issues when there is near-unanimity among neighbors. By focusing on immediate local concerns, we find we can have a greater impact and get better results from the time we invest. Guided by these principles, HNA invites neighbors who are willing to work together in a spirit of partnership to participate at whatever level makes sense for them. Opportunities for serving on our volunteer Steering Committee and project-oriented committees are available to neighbors who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work together in a nonpartisan spirit. Neighbors are invited to step forward into leadership positions defined by the work they do in accordance with HNA’s primary goals and guiding principles.

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