Neighbors, join Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Facebook group!

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Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-News November 2017

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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. Halcyon Thrive Circle Meeting, Sunday, Nov. 12, 3-4:30 p.m., Chochmat HaLev

2. Disaster Preparedness Update from the HNA CERT Group

3. HNA Planning Meeting for 2018: Sunday, 12/3/17, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

4. Whole Foods Market News: Next Drop-in Progress Meeting, Fri., 11/10, 8:15-9:00 a.m.

5. Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Guiding Principles

Editor’s Introductory Note:

Many thanks to the great group of volunteers from Cal’s Berkeley Project, working alongside a handful of neighbors, who helped us get Halcyon Commons ready for winter with a thorough weeding and mulching of the park. Volunteers also removed graffiti in the larger neighborhood and gave the tree island on Halcyon near Webster and the landscaped barrier on Webster near Whole Foods Market some long-overdue attention. We appreciated delicious refreshments courtesy of Whole Foods Market and fresh coffee courtesy of Starbucks. Thanks, all!

Thanks as well to the awesome HNA CERT group, which continues to provide our neighborhood with excellent opportunities to increase our level of disaster preparedness (see item 2). In addition, the Halcyon Thrive Project is moving ahead with great opportunities to take our community building to the next level for those who are interested (see item 1). Finally, we welcome neighbors to join our HNA Steering Committee to help keep our neighborhood association going strong in 2018 (see item 3).

Yours in community,

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

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1. Halcyon Thrive Circle Meeting, Sunday, Nov. 12, 3-4:30 p.m., Chochmat HaLev

Editor’s note: If you’re interested in joining Halcyon Thrive, email HalcyonThrive@gmail.com with your address, phone, and email, and we’ll add you to our Halcyon Thrive Google group, a place where any member can suggest shared activities, either on a one-time basis, or as an ongoing project (or spoke of our wheel). All activities are opt-in (no obligation), and a digest option from the Google group means you can keep emails to no more than one a day. Or you’re welcome to attend the meeting on November 12 to learn more. We welcome Halcyon neighbors of all ages to join us!

Halcyon Thrive Circle Meeting

Sunday, November 12, 3-4:30 p.m.

Chochmat HaLev Meeting Room, Prince Street west of Fulton

Halcyon Thrive is a pilot project of Halcyon Neighborhood Association for Halcyon neighbors willing to take the next step in mutual support. Halcyon Thrive is conceived as a circle, or wheel, with all sharing responsibility and various spokes created depending on members’ willingness to step forth to organize them. So far we have three ongoing spokes: Halcyon Conversations (a chance for neighbors to share their expertise, passions, and interests with other neighbors in monthly gatherings at various neighbors’ homes; two such gatherings, one focused on Indonesian textiles and one on the environment, have already taken place with great success), Halcyon Art in Community (which held its first gathering in October, where neighbors enjoyed making handmade booklets together), and a Halcyon Thrive Caring Circle (giving neighbors a chance to request and give support to one another, launching this month).

The Halcyon Thrive Circle Meeting on November 12 will include time for updates from the various spokes, including more detail on the launch of the Caring Circle this month. There will also be an opportunity for brainstorming about other ways we can grow community in our neighborhood. If you live in the Halcyon neighborhood (Telegraph to Adeline, Ashby to Woolsey, in South Berkeley) and want to be part of the Halcyon Thrive pilot project, including the Halcyon Thrive Caring Circle, please email your name, address, phone, and email to HalcyonThrive@gmail.com.

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2. Disaster Preparedness Update from the HNA CERT Group

Editor’s note: Bill Swartz, co-coordinator for the HNA CERT group, submitted the following report.

October 29th saw Part Two of the HNA Community Emergency Response Team’s Hands-on Light Search and Rescue (LSAR) Class, including life-saving learning, demonic clowns, and lots of spiders! This class also marked the first time the Berkeley Fire Department has authorized a full-scale, credit-giving LSAR class outside BFD facilities. Read all about it here (lots of photos included!):

Full URL:

https://hnacert.wordpress.com/2017/11/02/halloween-lsar-hands-on/

Shortened URL:

https://goo.gl/XJgUgP

Please email hnacert@gmail.com to be included on our list for announcements of future classes held nearby, and opportunities to get involved in neighborhood disaster preparedness.

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3. HNA Planning Meeting for 2018: Sunday, 12/3/17, 4:30-6:30 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, disaster preparedness drills, crime-watch meetings, and social events, such as our popular neighborhood potlucks, celebrations in the park, Halloween parade (languishing until someone new steps forward), and more. Given our great 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 a Yahoo listserv group 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 2018). 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 Guiding Principles (see item 5 below) are welcome to join the Steering Committee. We’re very much open to new projects (for example, in the past a couple of neighbors came forward to organize play dates for neighborhood children; another organized a neighborhood singalong, etc.). 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 (two Steering Committee members who were point people in this area have retired or relocated recently) or kid-friendly activities (most of our current Steering Committee members don’t have children at home, so we need you to help us tune in). For a modest investment of time, you can make a big difference right here where you live.

HNA Planning Meeting for 2018

Sunday, December 3, 2017, 4:30-6:30 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 our Crime Watch and Disaster Preparedness groups, and others who are willing to work together in the spirit of HNA’s Guiding Principles (again, see item 5).

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4. Whole Foods Market News: Next Drop-in Progress Meeting, Fri., 11/10, 8:15-9:00 a.m.

Editor’s note: Received from Whole Foods Market.

Next Drop-in Progress Meeting, Friday, November 10, 8:15-9:00 a.m.

Focus on Holiday Schedule and Logistics

Whole Foods Market (check in at Customer Service)

These meetings are held at the Community Table at the front of the store or outside, and the purpose is to share our plans for ongoing changes in the store, street litter control, and progress on any of the ongoing issues we discuss with HNA reps and nearby neighbors. The Store Team Leader is usually present, and anyone is welcome to join us. Of course there will be complimentary coffee or tea. Our goal is to follow up immediately on any issues that we hear about, and to hear how the store can be a better neighbor. As always, if there are ever any urgent issues, please call the store at 510-649-1333 and ask for the shift manager on duty. We have new shift leaders being trained, so please send an email to the group below so we can follow up appropriately. Always feel free to swing by too, if you’d like to have a word with us.

hayden.richards@wholefoods.com

Zarah.graser@wholefoods.com

nc.brk.contacts@wholefoods.com

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5. Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Guiding Principles

Editor’s note: Given our upcoming Planning Meeting for 2018 (see item 3), this is another good time to highlight HNA’s Guiding Principles (which can always be found on our website).

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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