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Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-News October 2016

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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. Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Halcyon Commons, Sun. Oct. 9, 3-6 p.m.!

2. City Council Resolution Honoring the 20th Anniversary of Halcyon Commons

3. HNA’s Big Berkeley Project Work Party in the Park, Saturday, Sat., Oct. 22, 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

4. Halcyon Halloween? Who Can Lead for 45 Minutes 10/31?

5. Trees! Trees! Trees! HNA Launches Street Tree Project

6. Crime-Watch Update

7. Free E-Waste Event at Whole Foods Market, Saturday, Oct. 8., 10-4

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

Editor’s Introductory Note:

Twenty years ago, neighbors affiliated with Halcyon Neighborhood Association came together to put in the “sweat equity” to complete Halcyon Commons -- planting twenty-two trees and hundreds of plants and bushes, and rolling out the sod -- after a four-year period of neighborhood organizing and design workshops and going through the city process to secure approval of the Parks and Rec Commission and the City Council for this new park where there was once a parking lot in South Berkeley. In the process, an area that had lacked a distinct identity came together and grew into the Halcyon neighborhood. The park continues to serve as an outdoor neighborhood center and provide ongoing inspiration for community building among neighbors. This small commons is truly the heart of our neighborhood. We hope you’ll come out and join in the celebration of its 20th anniversary on Sunday, October 9 (see item 1).

In addition to celebrating the birth of the park, we’ll also be dedicating the new halcyon bird sculpture, a gift from HNA to the City of Berkeley. A sculpture of a halcyon bird -- the icon of our park -- has been envisioned for the oval planted area in front of the Father Sun bench since the early design workshops for Halcyon Commons. We’re grateful to sculptor Nina Lyons and to neighbor Bruce Wicinas, fabricator of the nest/base, who have brought the realization of this long-held dream to fruition. Thanks as well to the many businesses and neighbors who contributed to fund and support the installation. The halcyon/kingfisher bird is known in many cultures as a symbol of peace; in one myth, the halcyon bird brings calm even in the midst of stormy weather when she builds her nest. May this peace spread out from the commons to our neighborhood, community, and city as we launch our park into its next twenty years.

Happy October!

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

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1. Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Halcyon Commons,
Sun. Oct. 9, 3-6 p.m., Volunteers Needed!

20th Anniversary Celebration of Halcyon Commons

Sunday, October 9, 3-6 p.m.

Halcyon Commons (Halcyon Court at Prince)

Halcyon Neighborhood Association invites you to celebrate the 20th birthday of our beloved neighborhood park, Halcyon Commons (Halcyon at Prince), on Sunday, October 9th, 3-6 p.m. Join your friends and neighbors and bring the whole family as we gather to enjoy this neighborhood jewel. We’ll dedicate the Halcyon bird sculpture, groove to live music from bands Blue Cliff Diet at 3 p.m. and The Trichomes at 5 p.m., and hear from community leaders during the program at 4 p.m. Activities for kids of all ages, displays of the park’s evolution, and cake & refreshments will be plentiful starting at 3 p.m. Please join us!

Volunteers Needed!

Note from HNA Co-Chair John Steere: I’m thrilled about the upcoming celebration of our beloved park and am psyched about the coinciding dedication of Halcyon bird sculpture. We have a great group of volunteers helping to make it a fabulous happening, AND we could use a few more volunteers on the day of celebration for: 1) food prep; 2) setting up of the PA system and chairs; 3) passing out of flyers on how to help the ’hood; 4) being greeters/name taggers; and/or 5) post-event cleanup. If you’d like to help with any of these, please email me at jsteere@igc.org or text me your interest and contact info at 510-847-0575. You’ll feel that much more connected to our wonderful neighborhood and the spirit that the park has engendered in it!

The 20th Anniversary Celebration of Halcyon Commons and the Halcyon bird sculpture have been made possible through generous contributions by Berkeley Bowl, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cannabis Buyers Club of Berkeley (CBCB), Cole Hardware, Diesel Books, FloralCultural Society, Ici Ice Cream, Jules Thin Crust Pizza, La Mediterranée, Mokka Café, The Nail Spa, Nabolom Collective Bakery, Philz Coffee, Revival Restaurant, See’s Candies, Starbucks, Summer Kitchen, Tara’s Organic Ice Cream, Venus Restaurant, Whole Foods Market, Yali’s Café, Yellow Emperor Community Acupuncture Clinic, Your Basic Bird, and individual neighbors. Cake & refreshments courtesy of Whole Foods Market. Halcyon bird sculpture by Nina Lyons, with nest and base by Bruce Wicinas. Special thanks to Vern Phillips for civil engineering expertise, our licensed contractor Neil Collier of Live Oak Landscaping, and Ron Heglin and Noriko Nishizawa for logistical support. Graphic art & program design by Mieko Mochizuki Swartz. Press release and history display by Bill Swartz. Live music by Blue Cliff Diet (Rob Lyons, guitar, & Todd Bryson, vibes) and The Trichomes (Spence Quint, Mugg Muggles & Gary Nelson).

Fiscal Sponsor: Berkeley Partners for Parks (BPFP)

HNA Steering Committee: John Steere, Nancy Carleton, Mary Stoker, Bruce Wicinas, Susan Hunter, Lynn Richards, Mikel Delgado, Hank Abrons, Jay Migliaccio, Joanna Phoenix, Ron Lyons, Lean Greenblat, Michelle Thelen-Steere, Rita Dichtel, Denise Trahan, Mishaa DeGraw

20th Anniversary Planning Team: John Steere, Bill Swartz, Mieko Mochizuki Swartz, Mary Green, Lynn Richards, Janice Greenberg, Michelle Thelen-Steere, Zoe Lake, Hank Abrons, Bethena Javacheri, Lex Sonyx, Aundre Speciale, Thomas Peeks, Andrew Brown, Nancy Carleton

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2. City Council Resolution Honoring the 20th Anniversary of Halcyon Commons

Editor’s note: Thanks to Councilmembers Lori Droste and Kriss Worthington, who sponsored this item at City Council, where the proclamation passed unanimously on September 20. Both councilmembers will present the proclamation at our 20th Anniversary Celebration on October 9 (see item 1).

IN HONOR OF THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF HALCYON COMMONS

WHEREAS, in 1992, the desire to create a park in what was then a 28-space parking lot led to the founding of Halcyon Neighborhood Association (HNA) and the birth of a new identify for the Halcyon neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, a core group of neighborhood leaders — Nancy Carleton, Susan Hunter, Michael Lamb, John Steere, and Bruce Wicinas — led a Steering Committee and dozens of neighborhood volunteers who donated their professional skills and labor through the four-year process of designing Halcyon Commons and getting City approval and funding from public and private sources to create the park in a collaborative City neighborhood partnership; and

WHEREAS, over a hundred volunteers participated in breaking up and removing asphalt and in planting twenty-two trees and hundreds of shrubs and bushes, and laying sod in the park — working alongside City crews and neighbor/contractor Scott Parker — as well as in crafting the most beautiful bulletin board in Berkeley, a lovely entry arbor, and a unique Father Sun bench, resulting in the completion of the park in the summer of 1996; and

WHEREAS, in the twenty years since, HNA has faithfully honored its promise to help take care of the park by hosting regular work parties involving neighbors as well as UC student volunteers in the ongoing maintenance of the park and nearby landscaped features, including graffiti removal and further greening projects in the larger neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, HNA successfully applied for and received a UC Chancellor's Community Partnership grant upon the park’s 10th anniversary as part of the Halcyon Commons Rejuvenation Project, funding a beautiful metal animal-cutout entryway by artist Amy Blackstone and a boulder garden in the park, and more recently raised funds and donated sweat equity for in-fill planting, refurbishing the pathways in the park, and funding the gift of a sculpture of the park’s emblem, a halcyon bird of peace by sculptor Nina Lyons, with unique nest/base by neighbor Bruce Wicinas; and

WHEREAS, throughout its twenty years Halcyon Commons has served as a gathering place for neighbors to come together to create a sense of place; and

WHEREAS, Halcyon Commons and its creation thereby have served as a model for other neighborhood and greening efforts in the City Berkeley, through positively organized community collaboration and partnership,

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Berkeley City Council gratefully acknowledges Halcyon Commons on its twentieth anniversary, along with Halcyon Neighborhood Association and the neighbors who created and have sustained the park through the years, for their extraordinary service on behalf of building community and improving quality of life in this South Berkeley neighborhood.

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3. HNA’s Big Berkeley Project Work Party in the Park, Saturday, Sat., Oct. 22, 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

BIG Work Party in Halcyon Commons & Surrounds

Saturday, Oct. 22, 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. (moderate rain or shine!)

Meet at Halcyon Commons (Halcyon Court at Prince Street)

Delicious refreshments (& water) courtesy of Whole Foods Market

Fresh coffee courtesy of Starbucks

Chat with neighbors & UC student volunteers from Cal’s Berkeley Project while we weed, mulch, pick up trash, and remove graffiti in the park and surrounding neighborhood. Please bring weeding and trimming tools (with labels) if you have them (extra tools will be available if you don’t). Let’s get our precious common space ready for the winter months!

Note: If there’s a public area in the larger neighborhood where you’d especially like to see trash picked up or graffiti removed, please consider volunteering for an hour to lead a student crew out to clean it up! We will have plenty of volunteer help, but we depend on neighbors to guide the process so we get as much done as possible.

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4. Halcyon Halloween? Who Can Lead for 45 Minutes 10/31?

For seven years, neighbor Susan Snyder hosted a simple but fun Halcyon Halloween Parade, where for 20-30 minutes neighborhood kids paraded around the park. While Susan no longer lives in our neighborhood (but is welcome back anytime!), it would be lovely to continue this tradition for an 8th year, but it depends on someone being willing to hold the container as kids and parents convene in the park. Is someone willing to do this for forty-five minutes on October 31, 2016? (Here’s a sample announcement from last year’s event: “Halloween Parade at Halcyon Commons, Saturday, October 31, 6 p.m.! Join together with all the neighborhoods ghosts, goblins, witches, dinosaurs, dogs, and heroes to start off Halloween with our annual parade around Halcyon Commons! We’ll start to gather at 6:00 p.m., with the parade beginning by 6:15 p.m. Come and join the parade and then trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Kid-at-heart neighbors welcome to come cheer the kids on.” I’m sure Susan would be willing to provide tips on how to keep the kids engaged while parading (as a watcher, I observed witches stepping forward, animals stepping forward, etc., and everyone making the sound that went with the costume, for example). If you’re inspired to keep this simple but sweet tradition going (over the years it has led to families and kids connecting who might not have met otherwise), please email halcyon92@gmail.com.

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5. Trees! Trees! Trees! HNA Launches Street Tree Project

Editor’s note: As part of the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Halcyon Commons, HNA Steering Committee member Hank Abrons and neighbor Janice Greenberg have formed a committee to get more street trees planted in the Halcyon neighborhood, and to better tend to the trees we already have. They’d welcome additional volunteers. Here’s the announcement

Street Tree Project

An important part of Berkeley’s Climate Action Plan is planting more trees. HNA has launched a project to get more street trees in the Halcyon neighborhood, and to better tend to the trees we already have. A team of volunteers will soon be walking the Halcyon district to spread the word, look at existing trees, and scout possible sites for new trees. If you care about trees, this is a great way to make a visible difference where you live! More information will be coming. If you have questions or want to join the volunteer team, contact Hank (email: habrons@gmail.com), Janice (phone: 925-997-5198), or Andrea (email:

a.yankowski@yahoo.com).

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6. Crime Watch Update

Editor’s note: Our HNA Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=292160762499 often shares breaking crime reports in between E-News editions (your home and email addresses plus phone are required to participate so we can be sure the group is kept safe for neighbors, and we require this information prior to accepting your request to join). Remember, we rely on neighbors to fill in the details of crimes in our neighborhood, so, in addition to filing a police report (which can now be done online through the City of Berkeley website for some kinds of crimes: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/onlinereport/), please email halcyon92@gmail.com to pass the word on to your neighbors, or share it on our Facebook page, so we can all stay aware and vigilant. We don’t want to engage in profiling, so if you include a description, please make it as detailed as possible and avoid generalities.

An Ashby Avenue neighbor shared on our Facebook page:

“Had a few items stolen out of our car this past Friday [Sept. 30] (no forced entry, so may have been accidentally left unlocked). Nothing of value but if anyone sees a Biofuel Oasis or JB Dewars biofuel card around, please let me know. My AAA card turned up in the neighborhood, so I’m assuming these were tossed somewhere as well.”

Link to article on Berkeley’s new acting chief of police:

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/09/22/berkeley-police-department-to-focus-on-staffing-will-take-a-collective-deep-breath-under-new-chief/

Link to press release from the BPD still seeking assistance to solve the murder six years ago of Adolfo Ignacio Celedon Bravo (“Fito”) on Emerson near Adeline:

https://local.nixle.com/alert/5718907/?sub_id=1890321

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7. Free E-Waste Event at Whole Foods Market, Saturday, Oct. 8., 10-4

Editor’s note: Announcement received from Telegraph Whole Foods Market Team Leader Melody Mestemacher.

We’re excited to announce our second E-waste electronics collection event at Whole Foods Market @ Telegraph Ave in partnership with Civicorps!

On Saturday, October 8 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., you can drive into the event held at Whole Foods Market, Berkeley @ 3000 Telegraph Ave and drop off your Ewaste free of charge! Please read the list of accepted items below.

Accepted items:

*TVs and CRT monitors

*Flat screen/LCD panels and Plasma Screens

*Rear projection TVs

*Laptops

*PC/CPUs

*Cell phones, smartphones

*Tablets and e-reader

*Telephonic equipment and walkie-talkies

*Digital cameras, video cameras, projectors

*Printers, Scanners, digital adding machines and calculators

*Networking/Servers equipment

*Mixed Electronic waste (keyboards, mice, network cables, power cables, chargers, peripherals, digital clocks etc)

*Stereo equipment, radios, tape and CD players/recorders, phonographs – no standalone speakers)

*Small home or office appliances (no refrigerators or air conditioners)

NOT ACCEPTED:

*Lightbulbs of any type

*Batteries (except laptop or cell phone batteries installed in the device)

*Large appliances of any type like refrigerators and air conditioners

*Techno trash like CDs, VHS tapes or DVDs

*Standalone speakers

*Emergency battery backups or UPSs

Please note that as a state-certified E-waste collector, Civicorps is required to verify your ID as the owner of certain items sent to recycle.

Hope to see you here!

Melody Mestemacher, Store Team Leader at WFM Berkeley @ Telegraph Ave.

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

Editor’s note: News from Whole Foods Market, courtesy of Store Team Leader Melody Mestermacher.

Next Drop-in Progress Meeting, Friday, Nov. 4, 8:15-9:00 a.m., Pre-Holiday Meeting

Whole Foods Market (check in at Customer Service)

These meetings are held at the Community Table at the front of the store, 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.

Melody.Mestemacher@wholefoods.com

Carlisle.Crumley@wholefoods.com

Zarah.Graser@wholefoods.com

Tannia.Hernandez@wholefoods.com

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