Gpn Winter 2006 - 2007

Winter 06/07

GLEN PARK NEWS Volume 24, No. 4

Official Newspaper of the Glen Park Association www.glenparkassociation.com

Published Quarterly

Gunfire in Glen Park

Owner Janet Tarlov pushes carts out to the outside of Canyon Market as they open on the morning of Nov. 21st. Photo by Liz Mangelsdorf

Fin a l l y !

Canyon Market Has Low-Key Opening One day shy of eight years after the old Diamond Super and Terry’s Meat & Deli burned by to the ground, the new Ashley Hathaway Canyon Market opened its doors to customers on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006. The store had had a brief, two-anda-half-hour test opening the previous Saturday afternoon—kind of a “sneak preview.” “It was a chance to help the staff understand the scope of what had to happen over the next few days,” said Janet Tarlov, who, with her husband Richard, has supplied the blood, sweat and tears that created the long-awaited new market. More than 500 customers visited the store the first day. It was a “low-key, super-soft opening,” said Janet.

Many neighbors eagerly awaited the opening of Canyon Market. Pamela Gillett, who lives a block away, was among them. “It makes the neighborhood much more desirable,ʼʼ said Gillett, who moved to Glen Park 3 1/2 years ago from Boston. She likes the convenience of the new market and the fact that she can buy food when she needs it, a little bit at a time. “It will be easy to shop every day,ʼʼ said Gillett, who did most of her grocery shopping at Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Rainbow. Gillettʼs chief concern is the prices. She said she understands that Canyon CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Gunfire erupted Thanksgiving Eve on the 300 block of Arlington Street, sending three people to San Francisco General by Elizabeth Hospital and giving neighWeise bors another reason to be frustrated by the on-going problems associated with a gang house on the street. Police suspect the shooting was gang-related, reportedly the second such incident of the year in the same location. The woman and two men injured in the latest outbreak of violence were in front of a house on Arlington, between Mateo and Richland streets. Police already had been watching the house because of the alleged gang activity there, Supervisor Bevan Dufty told the Glen Park News. He said police were investigating whether the Nov. 22 shooting was an internal gang dispute. Residents in the area, who formed a “neighborhood watchʼʼ program in large part because of ongoing problems at the house, have not been shy in reporting their concerns to police, a neighbor told the Glen Park News. A “For Saleʼʼ sign recently appeared in the window of the home in question and neighbors say they have hopes that the apparent gang activity will end when the house is sold. In the meantime, Dufty said he wants to see whether the City Attorneyʼs code enforcement unit has been called in, a tactic that could bring more pressure upon the owner of the home or the occupants, with the goal of abating the nuisance. It was the second major criminal

Glen Park Association Meeting Notice Tuesday, January 9, 2007, 7:00 p.m. St. John’s School, 925 Chenery St. Crime, Police Update

incident in the vicinity in as many months. On Oct. 11 the mid-morning calm was broken by tires screeching, armed suspects fleeing up Miguel Street from Chenery and dozens of police officers swarming the area. Fairmount Elementary School was put on alert, buses were halted and traffic rerouted, and residents were kept from their homes for five hours during the police manhunt. Police tracked down two suspects, Kameron Kaywood, 18 and Ramone Hatfield, 25, and arrested them on numerous gun-related charges, said Debbie Masloh of the San Francisco District Attorneyʼs Office. Kaywood, who had no prior convictions, was released on $30,000 bail. Hatfield, who did have previous convictions that put his bail at $150,000, is still in custody in the San Francisco County Jail. “We are pursing multiple felony charges against these individuals for concealed weapons,” Masloh told the Glen Park News. Both men were due back in court Dec. 12. The October incident began on a warm Wednesday morning. Several young men in a car pulled up to Middle Point and West Point roads in the Bayview, an area where violence is all too commonplace, and started firing shots into a crowd, Capt. Paul Chignell, commanding officer of the Ingleside CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

WHAT”S INSIDE

Need new copy......

Glen Park News

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From the Editors Need new ketter,,,,,,

Glen Park News

2912 Diamond St. #407 San Francisco, CA 94131 (415) 908-6728 [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief Deputy Editor Photo Editor Design Editor Copy Editor Advertising

Elizabeth Weise Rachel Gordon Liz Mangelsdorf Mary Mottola Denis Wade Nora Dowley

Reporters

Dolan Eargle Ashley Hathaway Stina Kieffer Scott Kirsner Lucretia Levinger Miriam Moss Joanna Pearlstein Emma Smith Bonnee Waldstein

Columnists

Vince Beaudet Paul Chignell Jean Conner Sharon Dezurick Bevan Dufty Mary Janssen Carol Maerzke Michael Rice Michael Walsh

Photographers

Ellen Rosenthal Michael Waldstein

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Glen Park Association News A year ago, I wrote this column as a tour of the neighborhood businesses, taking in the many varied merchants and by services located in Michael “downtown” Glen Park. Rice An underlying message was, “Shop Glen Park,” even without the anchor of the longdeparted market. Last week, almost eight years to the day since a fire destroyed Diamond Super, the plywood came down from Canyon Market. There was new life in the neighborhood -- from early cappuccino drinkers at 7 a.m. to a giddy crowd at 7 p.m. (Well, I was giddy!) Vegetables! Fruit! All kinds of fresh bread! Interesting wines! Fish on ice! Beef for carnivores! Salads for vegetarians! Aisles I havenʼt even studied yet! But this milestone is not just the merchandise on the shelves, it is the crowds and lights returned to the street, the neighborhood folks and commuters stopping and looking and greeting each other on their rounds, another boost to our lively village. The Glen Park Association, as many of you know, worked diligently to keep the market, library, and apartment plans

moving forward. The next big moment will, of course, be the branch library opening next year. Meanwhile, as the merchantsʼ association billboard on Bosworth Street asks, keep your feet and dollars in Glen Park. Along with our ever-expanding Glen Park News, and our regular quarterly meetings, we have been rolling out the Glen Park Association Yahoo newsgroup, open to all (not just GPA members). Heather World manages it and sends a weekly post with news and events. To subscribe, send email to glenparkassociation-subscribe@ya hoogroups.com. We have been working hard on parking and traffic issues, and have pushed for the new meters on Bosworth Street to create parking turnover for the merchants, and supported just-approved short-term meters on Diamond Street for the market and the library. The Glen Park Association has been effective at working with City Hall and neighbors to bring improvements to our neighborhood. Michael Rice is president of the Glen Park Association.

The mission of the Glen Park Association is to promote the collective interests of all persons living in Glen Park, to inform and educate about neighborhood and citywide issues, to promote sociability and friendships and to support beneficial neighborhood projects.

GPA Board of Directors and Officers for 2006 President

Michael Rice 337-9894 [email protected] Vice-President Jeff Britt 908-6728 [email protected] Treasurer Dennis Mullen 239-8337 Recording Secretary Kim Watts 902-4767 Corresponding Secretary Tiffany Farr 215-2320 Membership Secretary Heather World [email protected] Health & Environment Michael Ames [email protected] Neighborhood Improvement John Walmsley 452-0277 Glen Park News Elizabeth Weise 908-6728 [email protected] Public Safety Kincy Clark [email protected] Recreation & Park Richard Craib 648-0862 Traffic, Parking & Transportation Armando Fox [email protected] Zoning & Planning D. Valentine [email protected] Program Volunteer needed

Glen Park News The Glen Park News is published quarterly by the Glen Park Association. Signed articles are the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Glen Park Association. To advertise in the Glen Park News call 9086728 or e-mail advertising@ glenparkassociation.org.

Winter 06/07

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Swat Team on Chenery during police action on Oct. 11, 2006

Photo by Craig Mole

Crime

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Police Station, reported in his daily e-mail update of crime in the Ingleside district. San Francisco police officers patrolling nearby saw the suspected shootersʼ four-door Dodge Magnum and gave chase, according to published news accounts at the time. Driving recklessly, the men eluded them, police reported. But a short while later another officer spotted the car at Newhall near Newcomb streets in the Bayview and continued the chase, but lost track of the suspects at Cortland Avenue and Bayshore Boulevard at the edge of Bernal Heights. It wasnʼt long before officers from Mission Station driving on Valencia Street near St. Lukeʼs Hospital spotted the vehicle, and “the chase was on again,” Chignell said. The suspects hit a car parked at 29th and Dolores streets in Noe Valley but kept going. They finally dumped the car on the 300 block of Mateo at Arlington in Glen Park. Several neighbors saw the young men, carrying guns, flee on foot. Officers from Ingleside station

poured into the area; their colleagues from Bayview station joined in. Officer Mitchell Campbell and others found two of the suspects hiding behind a vehicle on the 100 block of Mateo. Officers Peterkent DeJesus and Jean Etcheveste found two guns in the area, one on a staircase at 350 Chenery and another in a blue recycling bin at 312 Chenery, police reported. A third firearm was found in a trash can at 312 Chenery. All were semi-automatic handguns. Neighbors positively identified the captured suspects. Some witnesses reported a third suspect, possibly hiding in the backyards on the 300 block of Chenery. Chignell and Captain Daniel McDonagh of the SFPDʼs Tactical Division secured the area with dozens of officers. After a methodical search from rooftops over the course of several hours, no other suspects were located. Neighbors were finally allowed to return to their homes at 5:30. The two men taken into custody were from the 200 block of Montana and 100 block of Arch, both located in the Ingleside neighborhood.

Letter to the Editor Dear Glen Park News staff, Today the Glen Park News was delivered to our front door. (I remember doing that many years ago.) After dinner, I thought I would scan over it, but like a well- written novel, once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. I want to comment on many articles, but mostly I want to thank you and all others contributing (including the advertisers.) I haven’t quite finished the reading, but I felt impelled to write and congratulate all of you. Sincerely, Betty Jones on Nordhoff

Glen Park News

Glen Park News

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Winter 06/07

Longtime Glen Park Merchants Welcome New Market The Cheese Boutique on Chenery Street has been in business for 15 years—and plans to thrive right alongside the Canyon Market. Asked about the new neighborhood market, Rick Malouf, owner of the Cheese Bouby tique, says, “I really wish Ashley Hathaway them luck.” He adds with a sincere, warm smile, “Every family that goes into business needs a lot of luck!” Malouf admits, however, that itʼs a little scary having a big market just around the corner, but he is confident in his established business and says many of his loyal customers are not only dedicated to his cheese shop, but are addicted to his home-made hummus! He thinks that one of the key elements for his continued success will be that “…we donʼt cross each other with the merchandise we sell.” Destination Baking Co. at Chenery and Castro certainly has its own interests at hand: it is supplying Canyon Marketʼs coffee bar with freshly baked croissants and Danish. Paul Park, who owns Buddies Market, the mom-and-pop corner store at Diamond and Chenery, is nervous about the neighborhood newcomer. “It will hurt business. Definitely,ʼʼ said Park, who has run Buddies for the past five years. He said heʼll have to make adjustments to his business model, but doesnʼt know yet what that will entail. Heʼs thinking about selling more wine, beer and liquor—already a large portion of his business—and perhaps hosting wine tastings. Park said he wants to wait until Canyon Market is up and running at full speed before making any decisions. “Iʼm going to wait and see, then maybe change little by little,ʼʼ he said.

One area where Park has a leg up on Canyon Market is store hours. Park opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m., giving him a lock on the early morning and late-night shopping crowd. Eric Whittington, owner of Bird & Beckett Books and Records, says he canʼt imagine anything but positive reactions about the market, except of course when it comes to the issue of parking. But he thinks that wonʼt be much of a problem and says that people will most likely just deal with it. In any case, the old cliché “time will tell” is probably the truth of the matter—at least for now.

Our advertisers help support this free community newspaper. Please thank them when you patronize their businesses.

Winter 06/07

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Glen Park News

Obituary: Landscape Architect Dan Tuttle, 52

Eggettes

Photo by Michael Waldstein

New Shops in the Hood Two new businesses opened their doors in Glen Park in November. Eggettes, the third branch of a local chain, is now serving tapioca drinks and Asian snacks in the former by Joanna Dr. Video Space at 2810 Pearlstein Diamond St. And Crowning Glory, a new gift shop, launched on Wilder Street. Eggettes (say EGGʼ-ettes) is coowned by Catherine Fong, Gary Vinson and Mark Fuentes. They sell tapioca drinks, which come with a variety of ingredients and in flavors ranging from fruit to tea to milk to tofu to coffee to chocolate. The storeʼs trademark dish is eggettes, which are waffles popular on the streets of Hong Kong. Theyʼre nearly cylindrical, served without syrup, and come in original, chocolate, sesame and coconut flavors. The store also sells savory snacks including artificial shark fin soup, which is similar to Chinese hot and sour soup but adds clear noodles that substitute for traditional shark fin, a Chinese delicacy thatʼs considered by some to be ecologically deleterious. Also on the menu are rice rolls (rice noodles cut into pieces and served with hoisin sauce, soy sauce, peanut butter and sesame seeds), fish dumplings (called fish shiu mai), and curried fish balls. The house specialty is chicken porridge, a Filipino dish thatʼs made by Fuentesʼ mother. Chicken porridge is a soupy stew made with chicken, rice, ginger, scallions and garlic; the Filipino name is arroz caldo. “Itʼs got a ton of healing power,” says Fuentes, adding that once people try it, they come back for it again. Eggettes also boasts three Internet terminals and a 42-inch plasma television playing movies. Machines that

dispense toys in small plastic containers (called gashapon in Japanese), line one wall. “This village is really cool,” says Fuentes. “No one knew who we were, yet as soon as we started doing construction about 20 people came in to warn us that the place leaks. The neighborhood has been very supportive.” Eggettes plans to add sandwiches to its menu in the coming weeks and is also considering having a karaoke night. A few doors away, Caroline Quethera, proprietor of Crowning Glory, had been operating a hair salon in the space at 74 Wilder St. for two years before opening a gift shop. Crowning Glory sells jewelry, greeting cards and note cards, bath and body products, silk wraps, candles, wrapping paper, gifts and Christmas ornaments from places like Turkey, India, Japan and Mexico. Quethera came to Glen Park at the suggestion of a landlord and has been thrilled with the neighborhood. “I feel like Glen Park chose me,” says Quethera, who worked in Cow Hollow before coming south. “I love it here. Itʼs like a sophisticated Mayberry.” It took Quethera a year to gather her inventory. She wanted to feature as many local artists as possible and keep prices reasonable. Crowning Glory is open Wednesday through Sunday, and if you need to get your hair done, you can stop by to see Quethera on Mondays and Tuesdays. She has been a stylist for 30 years. Before she began doing hair professionally, she worked in the circus as an aerialist and clown.

Joanna Pearlstein is an editor at Wired Magazine.

Dan Tuttle, a landscape architect who left his imprint on homes, universities and office buildings around the world, died September 11 at age 52. He had lived in Glen Park since 1990. His wife, Claire Tuttle, said that his favorite long-running project was the garden behind their home on Natick Street, where he experimented with sage, succulents, grasses and other plants. She by Scott called it “a hodge-podge Kirsner of great fun and curiosity,” and recalled that her husband enjoyed picking basil from the garden and turning it into pesto. “We ate from the garden a lot,” she said. Tuttle was born in Boxford, Massachusetts, north of Boston. After working in Colorado as a saddle-makerʼs apprentice, he attended the Rhode Island School of Design, where a professor encouraged him to study landscape architecture. After college, he took a job at SWA Group, a landscape architecture and design firm in Sausalito. He became a partner, then in 2003 opened his own practice, Dan Tuttle Design and

Dan Tuttle

Planning, which he operated from his home. Among his projects were a master plan for the Ocean Avenue campus of City College of San Francisco; a housing development in Beijing; the Milpitas Civic Center; a pavilion for the 1990 Summer Olympics in Atlanta; several projects at the University of the Pacific in Stockton; two townhouse developments in Mexico City; and a corporate campus for the computer company SGI in Mountain View (now the headquarters of Google). The Mountain View campus won a medallion from the American Society of Landscape Architects. He met his wife, a fountain designer, in 1995 while the two were working on a residential project in Massachusetts. “He used to say that he loved moving dirt around,” said Claire Tuttle. “He always wanted to learn as much as he could about a site, and respond to the context.” One of his areas of specialization was rehabilitating contaminated “brownfield” sites. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Photo courtesy of ???

Glen Park News

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Canyon Market

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Manila Oriental Market

Photo by Liz Mangelsdorf

Glen Park Awash in Shopping Opportunities Nearby, Another Market Opens Live frogs stare up balefully at you from a bucket. Huge bags of rice are piled, Costco-style, halfway to the ceiling. Nine kinds of choy (you thought bok was the only one?) and twice as many tofus hang out in the refrigerated aisle. Welcome to the new Manila Mission Supermarket, in the erstwhile Cala quarters at Mission by and Trumbull streets, Emma south of Bosworth. With Bland low prices on produce and Smith seafood, a big parking lot and aisles as wide as those in a suburban Safeway, this is a great new big-store shopping option for Glen Park residents. Itʼs similar to Pacific Supermarket at 2900 Alemany Blvd., but much closer and easier to navigate. Similar emporiums exist in the Sunset District (Sunset Super at 2425 Irving St. and

Dan Tuttle

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Tuttle enjoyed reading, Native American art and travel. He and his wife often visited Yosemite, the Southwestern states and Italy, where he had spent time as a fellow at the American Academy in Rome. Tuttle was diagnosed with cancer in 2005, but his wife said he did not tell many of his friends and acquaintances

2801 Vicente St.) and of course there are numerous similar stores in Daly City including a corporate sibling, Manila Oriental Market on King Drive. All attest to the increasing presence of Filipino and Chinese residents in the area. Although Asian foods are conspicuous, Manila Mission also stocks more mundane items, from organic milk to sandwich bread, so shoppers can make this a one-stop trip. The very best reason to visit, however, may be the live Dungeness crab at $2.99 a pound. Manila Mission Supermarket is at 4175 Mission. Take Bosworth to Lyell, cross Alemany and continue up Admiral to Mission; turn left; the store will be on your right. Itʼs about six blocks from downtown Glen Park, a two-minute drive or a 10-minute walk. Call 337-7272.

that he was ill. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his parents, Stella and Jack, and two sisters, Rebecca and Kathy. A garden has been planted in his memory at the Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo. Claire Tuttle asked that any donations be sent to San Francisco Animal Care and Control. Scott Kirsner is a journalist who lives in Glen Park.

Market, as an independent grocer, may not be able to compete with the chains, but she doesnʼt want to wince every time sheʼs at the checkout stand. Sheʼs willing to pay more—a little more: “I just want to make sure the prices are in the range of what Whole Foods charges.ʼʼ The lack of a supermarket had left a major hole in the center of Glen Park since the dark November night in 1998 when the old building caught fire. The site sat vacant but for the charred remnants of the building for the better part of a year, then as an empty lot for another six years. Neighbors had to hike up the hill to Safeway for a full-service grocery and neighborhood businesses suffered greatly with the loss of the foot traffic the market generated. In 1998 there were rumors that the out-of-state owner of the building planned to sell or lease the site to Walgreens. That winter the Glen Park Association voted to push for a neighborhood market as opposed to a non-grocery chain store. Years followed, filled with meetings, intrigue, an attempted lawsuit to block the ultimately proposed library/ grocery/condo project, and presentations to the City building department too numerous to count. Finally, in the fall of 2004, construction began. But the road from empty lot to supermarket was not an easy one. The siteʼs ownership changed hands, the original grocery store team pulled out. At times it seemed as though it would never happen. So the first full day of business for the market in some ways seemed anticlimatic, being that so many people have been waiting so long for it to open. Things ran relatively smoothly, but not without a few minor mishaps. There was a complete crash of the credit/debit card transaction system and shoppers could pay only cash for several hours; that turned out to be an outside, system-wide failure that also affected many other local businesses. “Par for the course,” joked Janet, and in the big picture for the Tarlovs this was really “peanuts” in comparison with the many obstacles that had plagued them during the construction and permitting process. In the end, last-minute City inspections were the hurdles in the race to opening day. During the first week of operation, there were more kinks to work out for the Canyon Market crew, and they are continuing to figure out whatʼs needed for everything to run as smoothly as pos-

Winter 06/07

sible. According to Richard, “Getting product over the Thanksgiving week was really hard, so our shelves will be filling up more and more.” As the market slowly gets up to speed, the Tarlovs say they must get each and every product into the computer system to scan at the registers—a task requiring hundreds of hours. And what kinds of products can you expect to see in the new market? The well-designed, airy and spacious grocery store has everything from local organic produce to bulk spices. Youʼll find a very impressive selection of dry goods, dairy products, fresh meats and fish, as well as a coffee bar, full self-serve salad bar, hot soup and other prepared foods to go—shades of Terry Bloomʼs Terryʼs Meat & Deli of so many years ago. The Tarlovs say that the response from those living in the neighborhood has been phenomenal: “People are so happy to have the grocery back! We are writing down every request.” Several neighbors have remarked on the high prices for some goods, though the Tarlovs say they are diligently checking prices to make sure they are as low as possible. Admittedly, they made a few pricing mistakes, pricing many items too high, and Richard explains, “Our vendors in some cases help us print shelf tags and there were a few miscommunications”. They are slowly but surely sorting it all out and also say that many of the more conventional groceries havenʼt yet been put out on the shelves. In addition, a suggestion box for customer feedback and requests will go up soon When the store reaches full staffing, it will employ about 35 full and parttime employees, most of whom live in Glen Park and adjoining neighborhoods.

Canyon Market is open 9 a.m.–8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 9–7 Sunday. The coffee bar opens at 7a.m. daily. Ashley Hathaway is a freelance writer and video/television producer.

Winter 06/07

Dufty Reelected Bevan Dufty, Glen Park’s representative on the Board of Supervisors for the past four years, easily won reelection to another four-year term. A veteran of City Hall and a close ally of Mayor Gavin Newsom, Dufty garnered 65 percent by of the vote in the Nov. Rachel Gordon 7 election. He beat Alix Rosenthal, a deputy city attorney in Oakland and a former member of the San Francisco elections commission, and Starchild, a libertarian and male exotic dancer. Rosenthal, making her first run for elective office, received 30 percent of the vote; Starchild, a perennial candidate who only uses one name, got 5 percent. Dufty, who usually votes with the 11member board’s moderate bloc, headed the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services under Willie Brown. Prior to that he was an aide to Susan Leal when she served on the Board of Supervisors. During his reelection campaign, Dufty focused on his constituent services record. He has the City’s clean streets hotline— “28-CLEAN”—on speed dial, and has the reputation as an elected official who pays

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attention to potholes and broken street lights. Dufty said he was heartened by his strong showing in the election. “It’s one thing to win election the first time,” Dufty said. “It’s another to be returned to office, having constituents give me a vote of confidence.” In addition to Glen Park, Dufty represents all or portions of the following neighborhoods: Diamond Heights, Noe Valley, the Castro/Eureka Valley, Duboce Triangle, Lower Haight, Corona Heights, Ashbury Heights and Twin Peaks. He owns a condo in the Corona Heights neighborhood above the Castro but is looking to move. Dufty, who is gay, and his good friend Rebecca Goldfader, a lesbian, recently became new parents. Their daughter Sidney was born Oct. 2, five weeks before the election. Dufty and Goldfader, who lives in Bernal Heights, are looking to buy a duplex in District 8 so the 51-year-old supervisor can live close to his daughter and co-parent more easily. Dufty said the combination of becoming a first-time dad and getting voted in for another term “has been amazing and great.” He said several Glen Park issues are on his radar, chief among them public safety, Muni service, traffic flow and pedestrian safety. He promised to keep a close eye on the impacts of the new Canyon Market—a project he vigorously supported—to make sure any problems, such as increased traffic congestion, are addressed. “I want to make it so everyone feels really good about the improvements in the village,” he said. As for other issues? “We won’t move the big Halloween celebration to Glen Park,” said Dufty, who is dealing with that headache as the board’s representative for the Castro. “That’s a promise.”

Rachel Gordon is the deputy editor of the Glen Park News.

Glen Park News

Architectural Surveys Could get Glen Park Focused on Preservation San Francisco neighborhoods like North Beach and Nob Hill exude history. But Glen Park, an enclave of Swiss dairy farmers in the 19th century and a refuge for survivors of the 1906 earthquake, may soon get some historic recognition of its own. Two architectural surveys of our area by slated to get under way in Scott Kirsner 2007 could lead to historic protections for individual buildings, or even create a historic district in Glen Park. The first survey, part of the environmental impact review being conducted for the Glen Park Community Plan, could begin in the spring, according to AnMarie Rodgers, the Glen Park Plan manager at the San Francisco Planning Department. This survey would look only at 111 parcels, including the BART station and the Glen Park School. Most of the parcels are bounded by Chenery Street to the north, Bosworth Street to the south, Natick Street to the east, and Elk Street to the west, though the block between the BART station and the school is also included. Rodgers says the Planning Departmentʼs survey will pay special attention to buildings more than 45 years old, though she explains that the survey would only be one step toward potentially granting landmark status to a building or establishing a historic district. The second survey, which does not yet have funding, would cover a larger swath of the neighborhood. It is originating from within the Glen Park Association. “The concern I have is that the downtown Glen Park study is not going to reach very far into the residential

district,” says Bruce Bonacker. “The neighborhood association is looking into the possibility of getting a parallel study done on the rest of Glen Park, so the City planning department wonʼt have the excuse of saying ʻwe donʼt knowʼ when someone wants to modify or demolish a historic structure.” Bonacker is an architect, a Glen Park resident and a member of the committee that oversees the cityʼs Historic Preservation Fund. Money to conduct this second architectural survey would come from that $2.5 million fund; Bonacker acknowledges his conflict of interest, and says he would recuse himself from any decisions related to allocating money for Glen Park. Bonacker says that the information gathered by the Glen Park Association survey would be given to the Planning Department, “which would adopt that survey as an official survey, assuming it has been professionally done. That gives the planning staff some early information to use in the process of reviewing a permit application for alteration or demolition.” Either or both surveys could lead to the identification of particular buildings deserving of landmark status, or the identification of a historic district. Bonacker says a threat of demolition is often necessary to get landmarks and districts recognized, as happened in 2002 with the Dogpatch neighborhood east of Potrero Hill, which was found to contain a significant number of Victorian-era workersʼ homes. Christopher VerPlanck, an architectural historian with the firm Page and Turnbull, says that the Bernal Heights neighborhood could provide a model. “Bernal Heights didnʼt get listed as a historic district, but they did set up a design review committee, so that major alterations and demolitions need to be reviewed by a committee of neighborhood residents,” says VerPlanck, who lives in Glen Park. “A committee like that needs to get approved by the City, and it isnʼt perfect—it can get political. But in Bernal, it has done a good job of keeping the new construction contextual, and making sure that significant older residences donʼt get bulldozed.” Even without the creation of a historic district or design review committee, buildings identified by the surveys as historic or architectural resources CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

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Winter 06/07

Honeybees in Glen Park? ST. FINN BARR CATHOLIC SCHOOL 419 HEARST AVENUE SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94112

(415) 333-1800 www.stfinnbarr.org

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2007-08 FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE SEVEN. PLEASE CALL FOR A PRIVATE TOUR AND APPLICATION INFO. YOUR SUNNYSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Before March 2006, I had never thought about beekeeping, let alone beekeeping in the city. That is, until by I learned about the San Karen Francisco Beekeepersʼ Peteros Association (SFBA) and its Beginning Beekeeping class. I attended, and since then I have been obsessed with honeybees, sustainable beekeeping practices, beekeeping history and stories about beekeeping! I also have become more observant and appreciative of the “nature” in our neighborhood. More importantly, my experience proves that Glen Park is a great neighborhood for honeybees and for “growing” honey. More money spent than I care to admit, and 15 bee stings later, I am glad to report an extremely successful first year of beekeeping in Glen Park. I must, however, give all credit to the bees and the flowering trees and plants of our neighborhood. My queen was a “strong egg-layer” and my colony has remained free of pests or disease. I populated my backyard hive with one queen and three pounds of bees (approximately 10,000 of them) on April 9. Between then and September 30, the resulting colony produced four supers of excess honey. A super is a box that holds 10 racks on which the bees build their wax comb; each super yields 30–36 pounds of extracted honey. The SFBA had prepared me for no honey harvest my first year, so I never contemplated the sweet dilemma of what to do with more honey than I can give friends, family and neighbors. Glen Park neighborhood honey has a distinctive flavor compared with honey produced by bees hived and foraging in other San Francisco neighborhoods. Glen Park honey is darker, with a more robust flavor, compared with honey from Noe Valley or the Mission neighborhoods, yet it is not as dark or strong-flavored as Golden Gate Park honey. Beekeeping is legal in San Francisco. The San Francisco Health Code expressly excludes the “honey-producing bee” from the venomous species of the animal kingdom prohibited within the city and county. It also expressly excludes, as a per se nuisance, “harborages for honey-producing bees of the genus Apis regulated by the California Food and Agriculture Code,” provided that they do not become a nuisance under state law.

Photo by Denis Wade

Legalities aside, the SFBA instructors stressed the importance of positioning the bee hive to avoid interactions with people and pets; managing bee colonies to prevent “swarming;” and other actions of personal responsibility to help minimize potential fears of, and conflicts with, neighbors. Contrary to what we might otherwise believe, our prior experiences with “bee stings” were likely from a “yellow jacket” or some other wasp or hornet, and not from a honeybee or other type of bee. As a general rule, bees are gentle. Never aggressive, they sting only when defending themselves or their hive. By using smoke when opening a bee hive, beekeepers fool the bees into believing that the threat of fire is nearby. Their natural reaction is to prepare for possible evacuation of the hive by gorging themselves on honey. With the exception of “guard bees,” honeybees largely ignore the beekeeper. I was also reassured to learn that, although the Africanized honeybee has moved into part of Southern California, it has not made its way to Northern California. Whether the so-called ʻkiller beesʼ (which they actually arenʼt) can adapt to withstand our colder winters remains to be seen in the decades to come. People have varying allergic reactions to bee stings, ranging from small, localized to more significant swelling and itching. To be safe, the SFBA recommends that we always be prepared for the worst—have an Epi-Pen on hand for allergic reactions, and immediately seek medical attention at the first sign of any breathing problem. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Winter 06/07

Honey

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

As for eating Glen Park honey, countless hours of research showed no health risks associated with raw and unprocessed honey—except to infants under age 12 months, who should never be fed any honey or honey product, whether raw or pasteurized, or corn syrup or other natural sweeteners. To learn more about beekeeping, visit the SFBAʼs Website at www.sfbee.org. The Randall Museum, where SFBA holds its monthly meetings, recently opened a new exhibit, “Journey into the Hive,” which provides a fun opportunity to learn more about honeybees and their hive. See www.randallmuseum.org. You can learn more about bees, specifically about our native non-honey producing bees, at www.nature.berkeley.edu/ urbanbeegardens. Karen Peteros—and information about her Glen Park Neighborhood Honey, as well as her Mission Dolores Neighborhood Honey—can be reached at glenp [email protected]. She hopes one or more Glen Park businesses will carry our neighborhood honey soon.

Honeybees vs. Hay Fever? Some who suffer from pollen allergies swear by local honey, produced by bees that collect pollen from local flora. Tolerance to airborne pollen is believed to develop through ingesting unprocessed honey, which always contains small amounts of pollen.

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Photo History of Glen Park in the Works by Emma Bland Smith Did you know that Glen Park used to be called Little Switzerland? It was named both for its hills as well as the various Swiss-owned dairies that were located here. Or that a streetcar line, built by the Joost brothers (the Joost Street Joosts) specifically to encourage people to settle out here in the boonies, used to run out Chenery Street, then roar along Diamond to Bosworth on a high trestle across Islais Creek? These are just a few of the curiosities I’ve learned about Glen Park since beginning research for a new book on the history of the area. To be published by Arcadia, creator of the “Images of America” series, the book will cover both Glen Park and Diamond Heights and will mostly comprise old photos.

Glen Park News

Glen Park News

Page 10

Winter 06/07

Pine Beetles are Boring!

Caption

Photo by Angelina Cantada

A Womanʼs Eye A pastor, a compensation specialist, a financial manager, a massage therapist and a retired executive secretary. What do all these people have in common? by Angelina L. Aside from all being Cantada highly accomplished individuals in their respective fields, they are five women bound by a common passion—an unquenchable desire to take pictures. A little over a year ago, Pastor Stacy Boorn of the Ebenezer Lutheran Church realized the boysʼ choir rehearsal room would soon be vacant. She thought that with some renovation, the space could be transformed into an artistic haven, a place for women artists to showcase their work. She shared her vision with some friends and seven months later, in March 2006, the doors to the AWE (A Womanʼs Eye) Gallery were opened. Ebenezer Lutheran is the big church on Portola Drive, kitty corner from Tower Market. The church sports a big banner offering a Goddess Rosary and HerChurch. Inside it is a Christian church in transformation, working to create a feminist, inclusive worship space. A piece of that is the artistsʼ cooperative ʻPastor Stacyʼ formed with longtime photo buddies Deborah Hall, Chris Kibre, Alice Steele and Janet Stock. By coming together, these women have been able to do as a group what they couldnʼt do individually—display and share their artwork with the community. They share resources, time and talent to run the gallery thatʼs open to the public every Friday, 5–8pm, and Saturday and Sunday, noon–5pm. These women are not full-time

professional photographers but they are hardly ever without their cameras. The AWE Gallery has allowed them to exhibit personal collections that span years of image-making. Nature and travel are predominant themes in the gallery. But there are also some alternative process images such as Kibreʼs Polaroid transfers and Steeleʼs digital art. “Digital photography,” Steele says, “is a way to transfer what I see in my mindʼs eye to the image recorded by the camera. It is now possible to experiment to my heartʼs content.” A Womanʼs Eye showcases not just pretty pictures, but unique women perspectives of the world. And for every image you see hanging on the wall, a whole experience of discovery, communion and epiphany is behind it. “For me, taking pictures is a spiritual experience,” says Boorn. “I enjoy sitting in one place and engaging in a scene for some time before moving on to the next location.” “Itʼs almost like meditation,” says Stock, who enjoys the quiet and solitude of photography. She says to be able to capture the beauty of nature is both a gift and a challenge. For Kibre, the camera is a tool that has allowed her to see things differently and find beauty in the smallest things: “It makes you focus and look at things more intimately… paying closer attention to patterns and colors that ordinarily go unnoticed.” “And when youʼre totally absorbed in the moment,” Hall adds, “thatʼs when the most beautiful images emerge.” For the AWE Gallery artists, the picture is never the end goal. Even if they are not able to see or capture the image—like when the flash card was

The western pine beetle, which has been aggressively attacking and killing pines in California for the past several years, has come to San Francisco and is attacking Monterey pines here by in Glen Park. Dolan “Itʼs certainly a conEargle cern. We do see a lot and of beetle activity here,” Paula says Karla Short of the Levine Cityʼs Department of Urban Forestry. The range of the beetle, known to scientists as Dendroctonus Brevicomis, extends north into Oregon, Washington, Idaho and southern British Columbia; east into Montana, Nevada, Utah, Colo-

accidentally formatted before the images were downloaded or when the film came back from the lab and the sunrise was not quite as the artists remembered it—the experience stays. The experience of being completely immersed in life and its beauty is something no twodimensional image can ever replicate. So while these women produce images that are absolutely stunning, itʼs in the process of image-making where they find the most satisfaction. The AWE Gallery has opened its doors to the work of other local women artists as well. It also sponsors events like concerts and book signings. On December 10 at 3 p.m., there will be a Classical Music and Holiday Medley performed by the Renshaw Family (piano, classical guitar and violin), with music of Bach, Beethoven and Scarlatti. From January 13–21, artwork by members of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators will be on display. Nature photographer Brenda Tharp once said, “Life is not about the number of breaths you take. Itʼs about the moments that take your breath away.” These women have exquisitely captured some of those moments on film. Visit the AWE (A Womanʼs Eye) Gallery and be inspired, as they are, by lifeʼs beauty and wonder. The AWE Gallery is at 678 Portola Dr., adjacent to Ebenezer Lutheran Church.

Angelina Cantada lives in Diamond Heights. She is a photographer and video producer. She is currently pursuing her second BFA degree at the Academy of Art University, majoring in photography.

rado, Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas; and south into northwestern Mexico. Attacking female beetles make entry holes on the tree trunk. Signs can be white to red-brown masses of resin and boring dust. Adult beetles carry spores of a blue-staining fungus, Ceratocystis minor. As the beetles chew their way through the bark, the spores of this wilt-causing fungus dislodge and begin to germinate. The fungus invades and blocks the conductive vessels of the inner bark and sapwood. Once the vessels are blocked, the foliage begins to fade. This fading is the first evidence of damage to the tree that is visible at a distance. Severely infected or dead trees should be removed for safetyʼs sake, if not for aesthetic reasons. Once a tree has been severely devastated, the beetles no longer find food and move on. For an unknown reason, whether by genetic immunity or by simply avoiding a random attack, many Monterey pines are not affected by the beetle. Others manage to overcome the attack, although suffering some needle loss. Many of you have seen the devastation among the Monterey pines on the Peninsula and along the Coast Highway, which affects 30 to 40 percent of these trees. No remedy has been suggested. Other conifers seem not to be affected. To help avoid the problem, Short says, pruning of all conifers should be postponed if possible until after colder weather comes in December. This will minimize the spread of the beetles, which are attracted by the smell of cuts in the trees, because they are more dormant in the winter. The City has addressed the problem along Bosworth Street, where the trees are maintained by the Department of Public Works. If you notice very brown or dead Monterey pines, please contact DPWʼs Department of Urban Forestry via their excellent Website, www.sfgov/ site/sfdpw. To discuss tree removal with Short you may call her at 641-2674; if her voicemail box is full, call DPW Dispatch at 282-5326 and leave a message for her. DPW also recommends consulting certified arborists for trees on private property trees.

Dolan Eargle lives on Van Buren. Paula Levine lives on Sussex.

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Ryan Torno

Photo by Liz Mangelsdorgf

Heʼs Glen Parkʼs Personal Cleaner Ryan Torno doesnʼt have the most glamorous job in Glen Park, but it has turned into one of the most visible. by And itʼs what you Rachel Gordon donʼt see that is getting the most attention. Torno works for “community corridor partnership,” a cleanstreets program recently launched by the Cityʼs Dpartment of Public Works. Torno is assigned to the heart of the Glen Park commercial corridor where, five days a week, he sweeps sidewalks and works with merchants, residents and other City agencies to keep the sidewalks and streets free of litter and graffiti. “A lot of what I do is try to educate the public,” said Torno, 30. His efforts canʼt be missed. There is less litter on the sidewalks and in the

tree wells; when graffiti goes up it usually comes down within days, although tags are still evident on numerous traffic and parking signs in the area. Torno said the biggest mess comes in the late afternoon and early evening, after school lets out and when thousands of commuters pour out of Muni and BART and onto the streets. Torno doesnʼt have the authority to issue citations, but he can call in a supervisor who can write tickets if he sees particularly egregious behavior. Littering, dumping household trash in public garbage cans and allowing graffiti go unabated on private property all constitute violations. Torno, who earns about $11 an hour, is stationed near the corner of Chenery and Diamond streets. His “officeʼʼ is a silver-colored locker on the sidewalk in which he stows a broom, dustpan, work

gloves and a handful of other items. One recent night his work station was tagged with graffiti, which he scrubbed off the next morning. “I guess itʼs a problem everywhere,” said Torno, easily identifiable in his bright green safety vest. Residents who spot a problem with litter, graffiti, a makeshift garbage dump or a similar blight can alert Torno. Either he will take care of it himself or report it to DPW. The public also can call DPWʼs customer service center directly at 28CLEAN (282-5326). Of course, thereʼs nothing preventing passersby from picking up a discarded candy wrapper and discarding it in a trash can themselves. In all, DPW is targeting 100 blocks in neighborhood commercial districts throughout the city in the $1.7 million program, which began in October and is funded through June. In addition to Torno, who holds the title “neighborhood ambassador,” the epartment of Public Works is sending in other workers who focus on painting out graffiti, repairing sidewalks and painting faded curbs. One demonstration project was set up in each of San Franciscoʼs 11 supervisorial districts; Glen Park got the nod for District 8. “While Glen Park is looking pretty good, it could use some help,” said DPW spokeswoman Christine Falvey. Two other busy commercial corridors in the district—24th Street in Noe Valley and Castro Street—get extra attention as part of the Cityʼs “community benefit district” program in which property owners decided to pay an annual fee for enhanced street cleaning and beautification projects. While Glen Park property owners donʼt have to pay a special fee for the additional services under the community corridor partnership program, there is no guarantee that the program will continue past June. Property owners in the neighborhood may eventually opt to form a community benefit district if they decide that the regular tax-funded services the City provides are inadequate. Mayor Gavin Newsom said the goal of the community corridor partnership program is to elevate the areas to “a higher standard of care and cleanliness.” The idea is to get the people who live and work in the targeted areas to pitch in. “This initiative, if it proves successful—and I believe it will—will be substantially expanded in the coming year,” Newsom said. Newsom, who is running for reelection next year, signaled in his

Glen Park News

“State of the City” address in October that he is going to focus on so-called quality of life initiatives in the coming year—clean streets, more reliable bus service and stepped-up park maintenance among them. Itʼs a common strategy for an incumbent mayor as he or she prepares to ask voters for another term. The political challenge, of course, is to move beyond rhetoric and actually deliver.

Rachel Gordon is the deputy editor of the Glen Park News.

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Winter 06/07

Check It Out at the Library! The most frequently asked question at the Glen Park library branch after, “Where is your bathroom?” is, “When is the new branch by Sharon opening?” After giving Dezurick you the best information available at the time in my last column, I need to change our projected moving and reopening from between May and July 2007 to the less definite summer 2007. The good news is escrow has closed and the City and County of San Francisco (that is, you the taxpayers) own the space the new branch will occupy in the new multi-use building on Diamond Street at Wilder. Further good news: by the time you read this, work on the interior will have begun. We have had meetings with the selected artists, Reddy Lieb and Linda Raynsford, who presented preliminary sketches of the proposed metal and glass public art that will grace the front wall of the lobby. I am very happy with the research they have conducted and believe that what they produce will be beautiful and appropriate for the space. More meetings about the furniture, fixtures and equipment and necessary supplies (all the stuff we will need) are scheduled. Now I’d like to put in a plug for the Friends of the Library, which is running a fundraising campaign to furnish the library. The Glen Park Capital Campaign is still alive and well. If you have been intending to donate, Marian Chatfield-Taylor at 626-7512 x103 is the Friends’ coordinator to call. Her e-mail is marian.ctaylor@friends

sfpl.org. I also have brochures at the

branch. By the time we move, both the West Portal and Sunset branches will have reopened in all their renovated glory. Word has it that West Portal is beautiful. I am eager to see it. The Mission Branch is a short BART ride from Glen Park and the renovated Excelsior Branch is a short drive or a healthy walk away. For those of you who appreciate the convenience of reserves, you will be able to designate where your materials are to go for pickup while we are closed during our

move. The closing date for renovation for Bernal Heights is probably in the late spring or early summer, but there is no firm date yet. I want to thank all the people in the neighborhood who have offered their help when the time comes to move. I appreciate your willingness to be part of the many hands that will be needed to pack and unpack and help with the myriad details involved in any relocation. Details of the move are necessarily sketchy at this point, with more discussions to come. I also want to acknowledge Tor and Forrest Tietz, our current landlords, sons of Bill and Val, who have been very patient as details of the transition are worked out. I hope your Thanksgiving was bountiful and that the winter holidays and New Year bring a lot of good books, great music and the joy of friends and family into your life. Glen Park Branch 653 Chenery Street San Francisco, CA 94131 (415) 337-4740 Hours Tuesday 10 – 6 Wednesday 12 – 8 Thursday 1 – 7 Friday 1 – 6 Saturday 1 – 6 Sharon Dezurick is the head librarian at the Glen Park branch.

Winter 06/07

Page 13

On Patrol in Glen Park The Ingleside Police District is organized into six car sectors with Glen Park, Fairmount Heights, Diamond by Heights, Upper Noe Officer Valley to Cesar Chavez Michael comprising what we Walsh call “the 2 car”. A few months ago, I resigned my position as the districtʼs school patrol officer and requested to be permanently assigned to the 2-car sector. Although I might be the only police officer in San Francisco who patrols his own neighborhood daily, I am not the only officer who works in your sector. To give you some scope of the district, the “1-carʼʼ is Bernal Heights south to Crescent; the “3-carʼʼ is essentially the Excelsior, St. Maryʼs Park, McLaren Park and the Alemany public housing complex; the “4-carʼʼ is Mission and Richland west and south including Sunnyside and Mt. Davidson; The “5-carʼʼ is the Outer Mission, Southern Hills, Crocker Amazon and Cayuga neighborhoods to Daly City; and the “6-carʼʼ is Visitacion Valley, Sunnydale and a portion of the Portola district. The old saying at Ingleside is “nothing ever happens in the 2-car.ʼʼ Well, we all know thatʼs not true, but it is fair to say that in contrast to the other sectors, the 2-car is a relative oasis of calm. Although not untouched by crime, sometimes violent and frightening, the 2-car sector is without question the safest area to live in the Ingleside Police District. Nevertheless, certain crime patterns develop and a proactive response is needed by both the police and the residents. It is certainly true that we have entered the electronic age. A resident of Glen Park arrives home and observes two scruffy-looking men, whom he or she considers potential drug dealers, sitting on the neighborʼs stairs. The resident is cautious and concerned while carefully entering his home. He remembers reading about the need to report things like this, so he immediately sits down and … e-mails his district supervisor?? The supervisor, or his staff, then reads the hundreds of e-mails they receive the next day and forwards the e-mail to the district captain. As he reviews dozens of daily e-mails, he assigns the follow-up with the concerned citizen to me and, if itʼs not my day off, I will get right on it at least two

or three days after these scruffy dudes are gone. Sometimes the resident emails the captain directly, which might shorten the response by a day or two. When I meet these concerned people, they are angry because of the delay: ”Good lord, I sent that e-mail two days ago!” Sound like Iʼm making this up? Believe me, I wish I were. It happens all the time, virtually every day. Frankly, we are mystified by it. Even the worst response time by the police on any given day is better than this. Some residents feel they need to go right to the top, to the guys and gals with the juice to make things happen. The problem is that you need me, or someone like me, to respond and take these guys on sooner rather than later. They need to be identified and their reason for being there known. The cop on the street has the authority, experience and training that your district supervisor lacks, no matter his or her genuine care and concern. The sector car officers are responsible for that sector and it is in their best interest to know immediately when these situations arise, not after the captain has had a chance to read his emails. So: call “911ʼʼ for emergencies and 553-0123 for non-emergencies. E-chat with your supervisor and the captain all you wish, because many of you have very valuable information to share and valid concerns that need to be addressed, but call a cop if you need something done before next Tuesday. And, as always, Iʼm happy to discuss issues via e-mail that might need planned responses to gain long-term solutions. Car boosting continues to be a vexing and expensive problem. I have one very simple suggestion: Light. THIEVES HATE LIGHT! When I travel through the neighborhood at night, Iʼm always surprised at how few people keep porch lights on. Buy a low-watt fluorescent bulb and keep that light on all night. Motion sensor lights are fine as an addition to those places that donʼt share the porch beam, but a simple porch light or window lamp is an inexpensive deterrent to an expensive crime. Many people have asked my thoughts on the current legislation mandating foot beats which the Board of Supervisors recently passed. I do have my opinions (oh really?) as to the prudence of politicians running the Police Department, but I will

Glen Park News

The Glen Park Festival is Back! The 10th annual Glen Park Festival will take place on Sunday, April 28, 2007, returning to its traditional springtime slot after a few years of taking place in the Fall. The 2007 festival is being revived after a hiatus in 2006 due to lack of volunteers. But a new crew of workers (who still need help from people with ideas and energy) have signed on to assist the long-time stalwarts. Bands and sound folks are lined up and raring to go.

defer that to my next column after the beats have been implemented. I expect, now that the election is over, that the political drumbeat may subside somewhat as the board finds other ways to save us from ourselves.

SFPD Officer Michael Walsh lives and works in Glen Park. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected]. (Editorʼs note: Ingleside Capt. Paul Chignell announced that foot patrols commenced in the district Nov. 24. For now, they wonʼt have regular shifts in Glen Park. Officers will be walking the beat on Mission Street from Cesar Chavez to Geneva seven days a week. The hours are 4 p.m.–2 a.m. between Cesar Chavez and Richland, and 11 a.m.–9 p.m. from Silver to Geneva.)

The Festival Committee is looking for sponsors, vendors and donated raffle prizes, as well as volunteers who can work the day of the festival—so the biggest thing we need going forward is MONEY from sponsors! Potential volunteers are welcome to call the coordinator, Dan Gustavson, of Glen Park Dental at 585-1500, or email [email protected]. Vendors who would like to rent booths can also e-mail to register.

SFPD Cracks Down on Vehicle Scofflaws We know there are hundreds of unregistered vehicles on the streets of the Ingleside by Police District. If you Captain see a vehicle parked on Paul a public street that has Chignell registration expired by six months or more, contact the Ingleside Station and give us a description of the vehicle and its location. We will send an officer out and tow the vehicle, unless our computer shows that the owner has already paid the fees and is pending proper registration. For abandoned vehicles only, still call 781-JUNK.

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Winter 06/07

In Glen Canyon Park I enjoyed the fall bird walk led by David Armstrong on November 5 in Glen Canyon Park. The canyon with its grassy slopes and willow-lined stream attracts a variety of birds, especially during the fall and by spring migrations. The Jean Townsendʼs warbler Conner was the highlight of the fall walk for me. The brilliance of its yellow gold markings on its head and breast canʼt be reproduced in a photo or painting. Richard Craib and I observed quite a differently colored bird a few days later, when we sighted a brown creeper. It is an inconspicuous, small bird the color of tree bark. It moves in a spiral up the trunk of a tree searching for insects. Once it reaches the top it flies down to the base of a nearby tree and begins to work its way around and up again. A book I recommend for those interested in birds seen in the canyon and the neighborhood is Birds of San Francisco and the Bay Area, by Chris C. Fisher and Joseph Morlan. Joe Morlan was my bird teacher when I first became interested in San Francisco birds. He has been teaching bird classes for City College for more than 20 years. They are excellent classes and include field trips to various good birding spots in the Bay Area. Each bird in the book has a

page to itself with a large illustration, notes on its habits, a quick identification section, and a feature I find most helpful; a list of similar species. This is a wonderful book to start the New Year and an excellent gift for the holidays. Bird and Beckett Bookstore on Diamond Street had it in stock three days after I recently ordered it as a gift. While winter is a time of dormancy for native plants in most of the country, here in California plants go dormant during the long dry summer. Trees such as the buckeye and shrubs such as the flowering currant in the canyon have lost most of their leaves by the end of summer. The herbaceous plants have died back and dropped their seeds. Springtime begins for the plants in the canyon with the beginning of the winter rains in November. Leaf buds and flowers form on the trees and shrubs, ferns send up new growth and seeds begin to sprout. This is the time to plant native plants in the canyon and in your garden. The earth is soft for digging and the rains for the next months will give the plants the moisture they need for growth. Every week for the next few months, the canyon will be greener. By February shrubs such as the pink flowering currant and silk-tassel bush will be blooming and the willows will have catkins. Now is the time to put on

Street-Tree Planting in January Glen Park residents who are interested in planting a tree in front of their home may by soon do so as part of the Tom Ramirez Friends of the Urban Forest Neighborhood tree-planting program scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007. The cost for each new or replacement tree is $100. The price includes the tree, hardware and sidewalk preparation. Neighbors may download both the two required application forms—one for the Friends of the Urban Forest, the other for the Cityʼs Department of Public Works—at www.FUF.net/tree_plantings. You also can contact Tom Ramirez at 239-1596 or [email protected] for applications and/or further information. Please mail or deliver completed

forms to Tom at 2711 Diamond St., near Surrey.

Tom Ramirez is the Glen Park TreePlanting Coordinator.

Townsendʼs Warbler (male). Illustration by Gary Ross from Birds of San Francisco and the Bay Area.

your mud boots and enjoy a quiet stroll in the canyon. Breathe the clean air and greet the early spring flowers. By the way, another book I recommend for you and your friends is San Francisco, a Natural History by Greg Garr and Ryder W. Miller. It is

a book of historical photographs of the natural areas of San Francisco. It includes some early photos of Islais Creek in Glen Canyon Park. I find the photographs of the sand dunes in what is now the Sunset District most beautiful.

Winter 06/07

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The Civil Grand Jury: The Publicʼs Watchdog If it didnʼt exist, San Francisco would invent it—a citizensʼ group appointed by the County Court with the charge to by investigate any agency Bill of City or County Bowen government for wrongdoing, inefficiency or ineffectiveness. But it does exist, and itʼs called a civil grand jury. By state law, each county in California has such a group which selects its own topics for investigation and enjoys the benefits of subpoena powers and a legal requirement that government agencies respond to its recommendations. The 19 members of the civil grand jury are drawn from a pool of qualified citizens who are either nominated by a Superior Court judge or apply directly to the court. They serve for a year, beginning in July. Members reflect the beautiful diversity that is San Francisco and bring a wide variety of experience in government, business and academia. Objectivity, confidentiality and teamwork are critical as the group selects topics, forms research committees,

interviews government workers and citizens, and prepares detailed reports with specific findings and recommendations. Subjects chosen for investigation reflect the experience and interests of the jury members. Some reports are intended to shed light on questionable practices. Recent San Francisco Civil Grand Jury reports have examined prevalence of preferential treatment to a favored few at the Department of Building Inspection (2003) and preference of fire suppression over emergency medical services in personnel allocations as well as allegations of drug and alcohol abuse in the Fire Department (2004). Other reports point out opportunities for greater efficiency or effectiveness. Recent examples include: the virtual non-existence of comprehensive and coordinated planning for disaster preparedness (2003) and the need for more staff for the Ethics Commission to fulfill its voter-mandated responsibilities (2005). City departments are required to respond in detail to Civil Grand Jury CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

Glen Park News

Digging the Dirt: News from the Garden Club When was the last time you made a visit to the Glen Park Village Garden on Diamond Street between Chenery and Surrey streets? A lot of work has been done to keep it beautiful for your enjoyment. Nan Warren and Terry Campbell, as well as by the other members of Carol the Glen Park Garden Maerzke Club, have been pruning, clearing, weeding, planting and watering when there is no rain. By observing the village garden you can tell what plants you can buy that will do well in your own garden and what tasks are needed to maintain it seasonally. Herbs are fun to plant this time of year. It doesnʼt matter how much space you have because you can fit them in anywhere. Design an herb garden in a box, basket, pot or among other plantings to add texture and ground cover. A planted container, dried herbs or something made out of herbs is also a wonderful gift for the holidays. There are many varieties, but at a recent meeting of the garden club, Riley OʼNeal shared some that grow well in Glen Park, need very little attention and can be used in everyday recipes to add spice to our lives. There is English, French and Spanish lavender. It is a perennial that needs full sun, and well-drained soil. For drying, cut when the flowers have begun to turn lavender. It can be used for cookies as well as filling small bags to scent

your dresser drawers and closets. Mint comes in peppermint, spearmint, Corsican, pineapple and chocolate. Most mints spread aggressively so it is best planted in a container. The two different kinds of rosemary are common and creeping. It will grow in poor soil and does not need too much care once it is established. It can be added to sea salt, heated, put into jars with airtight lids, garnished with fresh sprigs and then used in place of ordinary salt in any dish. Riley says it tastes great on popcorn. Garden, pineapple and variegated sage are perennials that need full sun to dappled shade. Savory comes in both summer savory, an annual, and winter savory, which is hardier and a perennial. It is an excellent way to add flavor to foods if you are a vegetarian. Thyme makes a good ground cover. The types are common or English, lemon and wooly thyme. Then there is always parsley, both flat and curly. It is a pleasure to pop out the back door to pick it fresh for recipes or as a garnish. Refresh your life by planting an herb garden, and take a few minutes to visit the Village Garden for a stroll, to sit and rest, or to meditate on the Bob Marshall Memorial Bench. See you there! Carol Maerzke is a member of the Glen Park Garden Club.

Friends Event is a Big Success Come for the birds, stay for the food was the theme at the Silver Tree building in Glen by Canyon Park NovemRichard ber 5. A beautiful day Craib followed an early season rain storm, which only succeeded in settling the dust for the bird walk and pancake breakfast. David Armstrong, Glen Parkʼs resident birder, conducted a 9 a.m. bird walk followed by a full breakfast. Plenty of fresh coffee, bacon, sausage, orange juice and of course pancakes. The Friends of Glen Canyon Park

have been hosting this biannual event for several years, with participants coming from Noe Valley and the Sunset, in addition to regulars from the immediate community, Glen Park and Diamond Heights. Sandi Craib grilled bacon and sausage, and Pierre Capeder demonstrated his skill with a spatula and the popular batter dispenser. Our next bird walk and event will be on May 7. Hopefully, in addition to the many song birds, the baby owls (owlets) will be fledging then. Mark the date on your new 2007 calendar.

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Busy Bus Bench is Yanked as Nuisance A Glen Park News investigation shows there is no mystery to the mystery of the missing bus by Elizabeth bench. It was removed by Weise its owner, Ric López, after he obtained permission from the Cityʼs Department of Public Works. The bench sat in front of the former Red Rock tavern at 699 Chenery St. at the corner of Diamond. López, who owns the property, had a crew remove it the morning of Nov. 7 because it was a public nuisance. López described it as a “fecesinfested bench with vomit everywhere that we have to clean every day.” He also said he frequently found used syringes and excrement around the bench. The bus bench was one of dozens of a similar design installed by the Municipal Railway in the 1970s, said DPWʼs Nick Elsner. Thereʼs still another one across the street from the one that was removed. The benches, though installed by the City, are the responsibility of the property owners on whose land they are situated. “I got a call from Mr. López stating that this bench was presenting a problem for him and his property. I explained to him that there is no process for removal of these benches, the property owner is responsible for the maintenance,” Elsner said. “He asked if he could unbolt it and I said, ʻGo for it.ʼ” Michael Rice, president of the Glen Park Association, said the loss of the bench at the stop, frequented by passengers who have to wait for the relatively infrequent 26-Valencia and 52-Exclesior bus lines, elicited many calls to the Glen Park Association, Muni and Supervisor Bevan Duftyʼs office. A neighbor, concerned over

Lópezʼs action, asked police to investigate. SFPD Officer Mike Walsh said López was within his legal rights, and concluded “that no criminal act was committed.” López is a prominent Glen Park businessman. In addition to owning the building at 699 Chenery, which is slated to become the Le Pʼtit Laurent French restaurant, he also owns the building next door, which houses the Higher Grounds Coffee Shop. In addition, he owns Modern Past, the ʻmid-centuryʼ furniture store. López is also one of the developers behind the coming sushi restaurant on the site of the old Village Wine store at 678 Chenery. López, former president of the Glen Park Merchants Association, had earlier asked the City to relocate the bus stop itself from its longtime location in front of the former Red Rock, between Chenery and Wilder, to in front of the new Canyon Market/library complex in the next block. He circulated a petition asking for the stop to be moved, which he says garnered 200 signatures. Muni declined to move the stop, but officials say they plan to do a traffic study three months after the new market opens to see if such a move is warranted by a return to the traffic and pedestrian patterns of pre-1998 when the old Diamond Super occupied the market site. In other traffic news, on Friday, Nov. 17 the Department of Parking and Traffic voted to designate a 30-minute zone on Diamond Street in front of the new Canyon Market and library, and a yellow loading zone on Wilder Street, to serve customers and visitors to the building.

Winter 06/07

Report From the Glen Park Advisory Board The Glen Park Advisory Board continues to work on projects that help beautify Glen by Park. We have completed Miriam Moss a new mural inside the childrenʼs playground. We worked with the Latchkey Program kids to sketch out different types of active recreation and do some of the painting. The mural was finished with the help of adult volunteers and an artist. Everyone is very happy with the results. We are still working to get the decorative railings for the area near the picnic tables but it has been slow going. Approvals have been finalized; now we are waiting for the money to show up. We hope to have them installed by spring. Next we would like to replace the three trees that were destroyed by vandals, on the grassy area by the picnic tables. We are working on a grant to purchase tree guards that will discour-

age damage to new trees. We would like to hear from anyone interested in purchasing a tree for us to plant in honor or memory of someone. In January we plan to set a date and start planning for our annual Family Fun Fest. Not only has the Fest provided a great day for neighbors to get together, but also money from the raffle has allowed us to purchase badly needed materials for childrenʼs programming in Glen Park. We wish to thank the community for your continued support. For anyone interested in working on the Family Fun Fest, or who wishes to make a donation, I can be reached at [email protected]. The Recreation and Park Department will start a new round of programming in January. Their new schedule is not quite ready yet, so watch for its posting at the Rec. Center come January. Any questions regarding programming should be directed to Gil Rocha, recreation supervisor for Glen Park, at 337-4747.

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Glen Park News

Glen Park News

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Merchants Forum With fun-filled seasonal events, a festive billboard in the heart of the village trumpeting our neighborhood businesses, by Vanessa extended store hours, an array of new merchants Viray and an expected visit from Santa, the Glen Park Merchants Association is primed to ring in this holiday season. Stop by Crowning Glory, Caroline Quetheraʼs new gift haven, which carries well-selected items such as sweetsmelling Voluspa candles, vibrant wallets made from Indian saris, and triple-milled soaps from Earthworks. At Bug, youʼll find a great variety of stylish childrenʼs clothing—new and used—at amazing prices. To keep that shopping energy up, stop by Eggettes. There, you will find a wide array of wonderful fresh fruit smoothies, pearl drinks and yummy snacks. Need a little pampering? Five Star Nail Salon also just opened, enticing patrons with great deals on manipedis. And of course, the long wait for the opening of “urban hybrid” grocer Canyon Market, featuring gourmet foods, prepared foods and a café, finally ended. Your patronage by these and all the other Glen Park businesses is extremely appreciated and greatly valued for the continued success of Glen Park. Happy Holidays!

Caption

Bug 648 Chenery, 239-9534. Hours*: Tues. 10:30 a.m.–7 p.m.; Wed.-Fri. 10:30 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sat. 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sun. 11a.m.–5 p.m. Canyon Market 2815 Diamond, 586-9999. Hours: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m., seven days a week; the coffee bar opens at 7 a.m. Crowning Glory Salon & Gifts 74 Wilder, 333-1500. Gift shop hours*: Wed.-Fri. 11 a.m.– 7 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sun. noon–6 p.m. Eggettes 2810 Diamond, 839-5282. Hours: Sun.-Thurs. 10 a.m.–10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 10am–midnight. Five Star Nails and Spa 2920 Diamond, 333-6920. Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sun. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. *Extended store hours through the holiday season. Vanessa Viray owns Paragraph, a clothing boutique and gift shop at 654 Chenery, and is vice president of the Glen Park Merchants Association.

Photo by ?

Winter 06/07

Behind the Scenes at Canyon Market I grew up two blocks from the Canyon Market. Our family shopped at the old Diamond Super. So after graduating from Santa by Cruz and working on Kaela an organic lettuce farm Waldstein in Hawaii for a year, I hired on in early October as employee No. 4 at the Canyon Market. I liked the idea of helping a new business establish itself in the neighborhood and perhaps of becoming more involved in time. But in the beginning, it was hard to tell that my new job was at a grocery store at all. Until my arrival there had been only one staffer, Mary, whoʼd been working for two weeks by herself, without water (it had not yet been turned on). The place was a mess. Stainless steel shelves were piled against the walls, waiting to be cleaned and either constructed into units or placed in their appropriate coolers. Tables were stacked on top of one another, surrounded by scraps of wood and pieces of metal, styrofoam and other miscellaneous objects. The majority of the equipment in the store was from a closed Andronicoʼs market that had auctioned off its merchandising units to the fortunate Canyon owners, Richard and Janet Tarlov. Above me, sheet metal was being cut, sending out a monstrous sound—like a sentient T-Rex skeleton shrieking as it was ground up in a garbage disposal. Later we would all have to deal with the fire alarms going off as they were tested; they emitted a vibration that pulsated my eardrum to the point that I could feel it hum. The store smelled of sawdust and, occasionally, fiberglass and turpentine. My first day on the job, I walked up to what would become the produce cooler. There, Mary and Edmundo, who was scheduled to become the head chef once there was something to cook, were trying to put a freshly cleaned shelf into the case. When I walked out from behind the cooler, they welcomed me with open arms and put me to work. It was as if we were members of a lost tribe reunited in a devastated land. The next four weeks involved lots of basic physical labor. The crew gradually increased as we got closer to the grand-opening date, from our tiny band of three to nearly a dozen.

The tasks I was assigned were various, ranging from hand-cleaning dozens of screws, to reorganizing shelves of equipment and spare parts, to programming the item menus that would later appear on the computer screen at checkout. In addition, just about every day included scraping, scrubbing, wiping and polishing in some form or another, whether it was the various refrigerated and frozen cases and their shelves, deconstructing and putting back together the salad bar, or cleaning the walk-in refrigerators from top to bottom, inside and out. Not to mention building shelves and arranging them into aisles. The staff is multilingual and we shared words for useful items like cuchios (scrapers) and cobetos (buckets). Occupied with instructing the electricians and plumbers on what needed to be done, attending to intermittent visits from inspectors, consultants and prospective vendors, hiring new employees and working hands-on in the construction of the store, my new bosses Richard and Janet seemed to have their hands and heads full each and every day. I always had to ask my questions when they were in the middle of something else or on their way to another task. But unlike past jobs Iʼve had, they stayed calm, shifting gears to answer without getting annoyed. I was also impressed with their ability to work as a functional team. Unlike past “dynamic duos” Iʼve worked with, I never got conflicting information from either of them. Their division of labor seemed to be clear, and they each got the job done, simple as that. But when I found out that they had two little boys, my jaw hit the floor. How did they do it? How did they stay so balanced? Itʼs probably the yoga. One day as she answered another of the constant questions we posed, Janet moved into a partial yoga posture, clasping her hands, stretching them above her head, and pointing her fingers toward the sky as she thought and took a deep breath. After a month, I was assigned to be the “second in command” in the produce section, which involved a trip to a local produce warehouse on the edge of town, the Veritable Vegetable. I got a tour of CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Winter 06/07

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Glen Park News

Dairy was established in Glen Canyon and remained until it was condemned in1960s. After the earthquake, in 1908, the Crocker subdivision of Glen Park brought an influx of German-Swiss, Italian and Irish families who bought land as part of homestead associations that sprang up throughout the city. They bought parcels of land and developed small groups of lots; thus the appearance in the neighborhood of sets of houses in twoʼs, threeʼs and up to around a halfdozen. Among the most recognizable is the row of six Victorians on Surrey Street. The first paved roads appeared in 1922. Caption

Photo by ?

Walking Tours of Glen Park Among the walking tours offered free by San Francisco City Guides, youʼll find Nob Hill, Chinaby town, North Beach, Bonnee Pacific Heights—and Waldstein Glen Park. On two consecutive Sundays in October, a dozen or so people traipsed first through downtown Glen Park, or “Little Switzerland,” and then the Fairmount district. (Note: Some dates and event were confirmed by referring to writings by local architectural historian Christopher Ver Planck.) Our first volunteer guide was Dawn Murayama, a Glen Park resident of 40 years. She combined a history of Glen Park with her own personal recollections of a neighborhood we wished we had known. She traced Glen Park from

its beginnings when the Ohlone Indians inhabited what is now Glen Canyon Park; through the Mexican land grants of the 1820s, when Jose de Jesus Noe, the last Mexican alcalde (mayor), had dominion over Rancho San Miguel, comprising one square league or 44,000 acres including Noe Valley, Glen Park, Sunnyside, Excelsior, Bernal, down to Daly City. This lasted for 27 years, until the U.S. declared war on Mexico. Thereafter, Glen Park became a rural area of country estates, stables and small dairy, chicken, vegetable and hog farms of 15 or so acres, and was known as part of the “Outsidelands.” Another nickname, Little Switzerland, comes from the early Swiss-owned dairies. (“Glen” is a Celtic word meaning narrow valley.) In 1912 the Good Brothers

Behind the Scenes

chosen and/or created. The drone of the Hansel-and-Gretel-size mixer in the back could be heard as dough rotated in its massive bowl. Loaves were formed by hand on the flour-dusted work tables. Suddenly one day, the scent of freshbaked bread wafted throughout the store, delighting our senses. The refrigerated cases were finally turned on and it became so cold we almost needed to wear earmuffs and mittens. The staff bustled. Canyon Market was coming to life. Still, the wooden barricade remained, as if we were engaged in a covert operation that could not disclose its details to anyone outside. Neighbors

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the facility, run completely by women, from the dispatch offices to the handling of the forklifts, and saw the most beautiful boxed produce I have ever seen (except perhaps for the gourmet baby lettuce that I used to harvest on a South Kona lettuce farm on the Big Island, just months ago. I used to munch on it while I cut it). All the while, the concrete, cacophonous, empty space was starting to look a little more like a store. One day we received our first shipment of groceries and new employees arrived to stock the empty shelves. In the kitchen, recipes were being

In The Old Days As the tour group stood on the corner of Bosworth and Diamond streets with traffic whizzing by in all directions and people rushing past, Dawn conjured up images of the pastoral Glen Park of bygone days. The oldest residence in Glen Park belonged to the Tietz family at 657 Chenery St., next to the library. It was built in 1872. Until the 1960s Glen Park still had dirt roads and open spaces. The lifeblood of the neighborhood was the indispensable corner stores among the residential streets, and the ubiquitous bars that dominated the downtown area. Dissmeyers (now Tygerʼs) competed with Straub (now Glen Park Cleaners) for the imbibing clientele. The oldest commercial building is the current Glen Park Cleaners at Diamond and Chenery. The 2700 block of Diamond had a Nickelodeon. The Chenery Park restaurant site was Vogel Brothersʼ CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

and friends asked me when the big day would finally arrive. But there was no way to know. The City inspectors would fit us into their busy schedule in due time, but that did not satisfy the anxious would-be customers. Yet we all knew that when the doors finally open, the store will succeed. Richard and Janet are not only committed to providing quality food, but intend to carry on the tradition they brought from Oakville Grocery (their previous establishment) of treating customers with genuine kindness when offering their services. Each of the people they have hired reflects this goal, and I think it will be a pleasure to be a part of

Classifieds End Homework Hassles Family time’s better spent! www.mystudybuddy.org Jane Radcliffe 415-586-4577. Charlie the Phone Guy Residence/Business/home office phone wiring. FAX/ Modem/DSL. Dead jacks made live! Remodel Planning. Free estimates. On-time appointments. 20 years experience. 6418654, [email protected]. August Moon Massage Jana Hutcheson. Swedish, Shiatsu, LomiLomi, Deep Tissue, Sports Massage. Office space on Diamond Street and house calls available. Gift certificates. $70/hour. Author of Healing Alternatives. Call 415-647-7517 for appt. today. LOW VOLTAGE! SYSTEMS Telephone/Voicemail systems, Intercom and door entry systems, Video security systems, Home entertainment, Cabling and jacks for telephones, Cat 5/6 computer, audio, video. Business and Residential, Humane rates. Lic #796389. [email protected], 468-9400. Craniosacral Therapy & Massage Therapy Reduce acute symptoms. Relieve chronically painful conditions. Experience true healing touch, grounded in safety and renewal. 415-336-8471. Barbara Vos, LMT, [email protected].

the crew. In the meantime, each day I smell new scents in the kitchen, see new creations cooling on the racks, and continue to cut open boxes of grocery items I have never before encountered. We have washed our first shipment of vibrant, crisp produce, and have filled the once-bare refrigerated and frozen cases with a colorful array of products. I feel lucky to have been able to witness the storeʼs transformation. Kaela Waldstein is the daughter of Bonnee and Michael Waldstein. She grew up on Chenery Street.

Glen Park News

Grand Jury

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recommendations, explaining plans for adoption or specific reasons for not adopting them. Some recommendations are implemented without fanfare. Others enter the civic discourse about good government through hearings of the Board of Supervisors and media attention. Although some results may take years, jurors who have devoted 500 to 1,000 hours to their year-long effort generally find the experience to be highly educational and rewarding. San Francisco Civil Grand Jury reports for past years can be found at www.sfgov.org/site/courts_ page.asp?id=3680. The site also includes a form for citizens to submit complaints for potential investigation, and an application form for potential jurors for the 2007–2008 year. The deadline for submitting applications is April 9, 2007. Please call Gary Giubbini, administrative staff to the jury, at 551-3605 if you have any questions about the jury or the selection process.

William G. Bowen is Outreach Chairman of the San Francisco Chapter of the California Grand Jurorsʼ Association.

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Winter 06/07

Real Estate in Glen Park by Vince Beaudet

Real estate prices in Glen Park are holding firm, but sales volume is down. Consistent with the trends we saw in Glen Park earlier this year, sales from May 15 through Sept. 5 have decreased compared with the same period in 2005. However, selling prices are remaining firm—almost all the sales listed below were higher than the list price—with no “crash” expected!

NUMBER OF PROPERTIES SOLD, MAY 16-SEPT. 5: 2006 Single-family homes: Condoʼs/TICʼs 2-4 units

19 1 2

2005 24 3 4

MEDIAN PRICE

Single-family homes Condoʼs/TICʼs 2-4 Units

2006

2005

$890,000 $750,000 $1,247,000

$1,032,000 $685,000 $1,035,000

ADDRESSES AND SELLING PRICES OF PROPERTIES SOLD: Single-family homes: 424 Arlington 277 Arlington 486 Arlington 210 Beacon 138 Chenery 111 Conrad 527 Congo 112 Chenery 120 Farnum 129 Laidley 37 Mizpah 56 Mizpah 119 Mateo 121 Mateo 221 Randall 261 Sussex 311 Surrey 1730 Sanchez 43 Whitney

$778,000 $750,000 $815,000 $2 million $958,000 $975,000 $859,000 $1.05 million $880,000 $1.01 million $869,000 $905,000 $965,000 $1.065 million $779,000 $845,000 $912,000 $890,000 $814,000

Condos 418 Arlington #1

$750,000

2-4 Units 181-183 Laidley 275-277 Randall

$1.1 million $1.394 million

Realtor Vince Beaudet works for Herth Real Estate. He can be reached at 8615222 x333 or [email protected].

Winter 06/07

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Islais Creek

Glen Park News

Photo by Dolan Eargle

The Probable Primeval People of Islais Creek

One of a series of unusual things about Glen Park Islais is from the Ohlone Indian word islay, “wild cherry tree.” Look carefully for the notch on the south slope of Candlestick Hill. It is packed with a dense forest of wild cherry trees—up close they look like hollies. Islais Creek has a slender dendritic (tree-like) shape and is about four miles long, from Islais Creek Channel (crossed by the 3rd Street drawbridge near by Evans Avenue) up to Dolan about the neighborhood Eargle of Balboa Park. It follows roughly the length of Alemany Boulevard to Sickles Avenue, carrying off water (and other stuff) from Glen Park, Sunnyside, Excelsior, Miraloma Park and parts of the Outer Mission, Bayview and the area of San Bruno Avenue. The watershed drains some slopes of 936-foot Mt. Davidson as well as McLaren Park, Twin Peaks, Glen Canyon, Bernal Heights and the flats of the Produce District. The South Fork (main branch) of the creek joins the North Fork (from Glen Park) just under the Mission

Street/I-280 overpass—in a giant sewer pipe 20 feet below the surface. At quiet times you can hear the creek gurgling under the sewer manholes on Cayuga Street, and on Paradise Street in Glen Park. So where is the creek now? Most of the North Fork is out of sight in 2-, 3-, or 4-foot drain pipes. Old photographs in our Glen Park branch library show it still above ground and under a bridge on Diamond Street between Chenery and Bosworth. Today, its one remaining stretch of open water sees sunlight for almost a mile down the center of Glen Canyon Park, from springs beside the high school, a big clear spring along the trail below the Miraloma Community Center, and below Christopher Playground behind Diamond Heights Safeway. The everyday surface runoff of our creek would be greater, but the City decreed that some springs be undergrounded to accommodate certain street storm runoffs. The water enters a culvert near the Recreation Center; eventually it oozes from a huge pipe into murky tidewater of Islais Creek Channel at junk-strewn Selby Street—an igno-

minious end. Are there any indications of habitation or use of Glen Canyon Park by the earliest people along our little stretch of the creek? What to look for would be such things as bedrock mortars for grinding acorns—but there are almost no oaks around here. Also, abalone, other shell parts or animal bones would have been used for food, ornamentation, and tools—none found at all. Scattered California buckeye trees would have been used as backup when acorns were scarce—but none exist here. Both Richard Craib of Friends of Glen Canyon Park and Lisa Wayne, a Recreation and Park Department supervisor, have pretty well combed the park and report no such findings. They also remind us that the Canyon has a long history of being (mis)used for many purposes—a dynamite storage facility, a zoo, a horse corral and Adolph Sutroʼs eucalyptus tree-planting experiment intended to supply mine-shaft supports in Virginia City, Nevada. These activities have left cavities and vestiges of roadways carved into the hillsides, going nowhere, but no artifacts. In a

cursory search of likely work areas, I discovered only three brightly-colored discarded brassieres. Today we have flattened areas for the Silver Tree building, the high school, the Recreation Center, tennis courts and playing fields. Little wonder there are (probably) no remnants. Does this mean there were no Indian inhabitants? No way! In 1908, University of California archaeologist Nels Nelson ran across one of the largest shellmounds in the entire Bay Area, near the end of Selby Street He supervised the excavation of this 3meter-deep mound in 1910, reportedly finding some 23 burials and dozens of artifacts. I believe they now reside in the Hearst Museum at UC Berkeley. Nelsonʼs discovery is proof enough that Islais Creek was a very important site of the earliest Ohlone Indians. By the way, shellmounds are not garbage dumps. They are repositories where objects touched or enlivened by human hands were deposited after use. The Ohlone people in our part of the Peninsula were known as the Muwekma; the band in our section of San Francisco was the Yelamu. Three Ohlone village sites are known near here. One, a temporary camp, was Chutchui, at the Mission lake, now Dolores Park. Our local Maya Indians hold their New Year sunrise ceremony at this site—the month varies according to their calendar. Mission lake is now filled in and is only a dark green seep near the center of the park. The Maya revere and honor sacred water sources, as do we all. The wide marsh where Islais Creek met tidewater was the village site of “our” Glen Park band, named Amuctac (the site of the shellmound). Tubsinte was the next village south, at Visitacion Valley. As was the custom of Californiaʼs Indian bands, each village would claim and make use of the ecology of an entire creek watershed, including the tidal marsh, for its livelihood. Judging from the present-day year-round water supply and abundant vegetation of the North Fork, Glen Park Canyon had to have been especially valuable to the Indian band. Although no village remnants have been found in Glen Park, without doubt the streams and flat spaces were used for worksites. After a dayʼs work, the village itself wasnʼt very far away. In the 1770s, the Yelamu were rounded up into Mission Dolores. Some fled eastward. The band passed away—many were buried at the MisCONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Glen Park News

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Ohlone

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sion in unmarked graves. The bountiful marsh was filled in, and 100 years ago the last of Mission Bay was filled with earthquake rubble. Today, Highways 101 and I280, and train tracks pass overhead, and the ugly blocked-off tail end of Selby St. covers Amuctac. In the late 1990s, several enthusiastic citizens bravely attempted to reclaim a corner of the devastated land east of the 3rd Street bridge for a city park, naming it Muwekma Ohlone Park. The City had other plans for the land, chewing it up for the new 2006 railroad and truck bridge and for a replacement drawbridge for traffic and Muniʼs new streetcar line on 3rd Street. Check out the bridge between Cesar Chavez Street and Cargo Way—its design could have been taken from the paintings of drawbridges by van Gogh. On a little triangle of land and boat dock at Quint and 3rd, just on the south bank of this new drawbridge crossing Islais Channel, is a special fading monument to Islais Creek, its earliest inhabitants and its later industries—the Cityʼs pathetic expiation. Three places to explore; visit and muse: =High on the eastern slope of Glen

Canyon, just below Christopher Playground, is a seep that furnishes habitat for an endangered species of mayfly. =There once was a pond on Islais Creek called Lake Geneva, at Geneva and Cayuga avenues; a short stroll south on Cayuga is Cayuga Playground, an unusual park (just below I280) at the Islais Creek upstream extremity. =At the Mission Dolores burial ground is a newly constructed Ohlone tipi (tule and sapling), an exact replica of the type that was at Amuctac. Sources: Ohlone tribal historian Al Leventhal (CSU San Jose); Mission Dolores Ohlone guide Andrew Galvan; historian Lee Davis (San Francisco State U); UC Berkeley Archaeological Collections online; www.islaiscreek.org/ohlonehis torybackground.html and links on the Muwekma Ohlone Park. Glen Park resident Dolan Eargle recently visited the tiny beach at the Islais Landing at low tide. There he found bits of clam shells and colored pottery (the latter not Indian, maybe Chinese; the shells possibly Indian). Clams donʼt live in this kind of water, and the seagulls wouldnʼt have dumped them here, either, he says.

Our family… caring for yours

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Architecture Board CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

would be harder to demolish, explains Bonacker. “But in terms of changing the appearance of a building identified as a resource,” he says, “that can happen relatively easily, as long as it is done in a way that is not detrimental to its architectural quality.” VerPlanck says that while very few homes within Glen Park might merit landmark status, whatʼs unique about the neighborhood is “the narrow streets that conform to the topography of the mountains and valleys in the area. The urban design is probably the most significant thing overall—this sort of Marin hillside village feel, which is

Winter 06/07

pretty rare.” (VerPlanck says the house he rents in the neighborhood may in fact be an “earthquake shack,” built as temporary housing after the 1906 quake.) Bonacker says he is of the opinion that there are “plenty of buildings in Glen Park that need protection. Whether thereʼs a historic district—a confluence of both history and architecture—is an open question that the surveys will address.” Bonacker says he is not sure how much the Association survey would cost; Rodgers says the Planning Department survey would be part of the Glen Park Community Planʼs $400,000 environmental impact review. Scott Kirsner is a journalist who lives in Glen Park.

Winter 06/07

Walking Tours

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

butcher shop. Canyon Market used to be a Safeway and next to that was a Hancock gas station. The volunteer fire department was at 2400 Diamond St. Transportation, or the lack thereof, was a major factor in the development of Glen Park. The Joost Brothers brought an electric streetcar line through in 1892, connecting Glen Park with the Embarcadero and the San Mateo County line. Its route brought it west along Chenery Street; then south on Diamond, where it crossed a 50-foot high timber trestle spanning Islais Creek, long since undergrounded. The Bernal Cut along San Jose Avenue was widened in 1928, making Glen Park more accessible to downtown. These improvements brought a wave of real estate development into the area around the 1890s. Two tracts, Fairmount Terrace and Glen Park Terrace, were developed. After the 1906 earthquake, refugees purchased lots for $500; many newcomers were Irish and German laborers from the Mission district. Construction peaked in the 1920s, then declined during the depression and World War II. The 1950s through the 1970s were a time of traumatic change for Glen Park. Bosworth Street was widened to become a major thoroughfare. BART turned the neighborhood into a busy transit hub. In both cases, houses were either demolished or moved by eminent domain. Contiguous areas were isolated from each other and streets were cut off abruptly, creating awkward dead-ends. Diamond Heights, originally part of the Crocker Estate, was developed beginning in 1967, swallowing up over 200 acres of natural land. Feisty residents successfully fought some of the more outrageous plans, such as one unveiled in 1958 to run a highway through Glen Canyon Park in order to link Interstate 280 with the Golden Gate Bridge. This precursor to the Nimby movement became known, in several areas of the city, as the Freeway Revolt. Fairmount History A week after the Glen Park tour, which brought Glen Parkʼs social history to life, City Guides led a walking tour of the Fairmount District. Patricia Duff, the guide, focused on the varied architectural styles that predominated in each era of neighborhood develop-

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ment. Although records were destroyed in 1906 and many owners of old houses cannot date them precisely, the Sanborn maps drawn for the fire insurance companies in many cases come closest. The group got the obligatory shaggy dog story of the Teresa Bell mansion on Laidley Street (worthy of a story all its own in a future issue,) and details about the outrageous Pritikin estate on Chenery, which boasts a heated, second floor pool and private discothèque. But, in addition, Patricia pointed to groups of houses built by the same builder, and also showed the buildersʼ houses, in a fascinating bit time travel. For example, builder August Klahnʼs house, at 29 Chenery, is an imposing, graceful structure with a striking variety of shingles and trim, causing the speculation that the house was a living catalog of options for prospective homeowners. A group of four homes he built are at 140 – 152 Chenery; each has an upper window which juts out almost precariously, a unique detail of dubious architectural importance. Vernacular homes, such as the former farmhouse at 220 Arlington, were built to resemble and remind people of their homeland. Most rewarding, at several stops, proud homeowners came out, offering their own found “micro-history” of their houses or their block. One of them explained that the house next door to his house, at Harper and Randall streets, used to be an egg shop belonging to Michael, the Big Finn and the opposite one was a recruiting station in World War II. Another resident, Robert Ingraham of the “Eyebrow” house on Laidley Street, chatted and also led the group into his secluded back garden overlooking a panoramic downtown view. Today Glen Park is a busy transit hub with many of the problems that beset a neighborhood in a dense urban landscape. The walking tours were about a time before planning departments, environmental reviews and public hearings and protests. Indeed, the absence of these social and political structures is arguably what led to the quirky charms of Glen Park. Ironically, it has required neighborhood activism in the last decades to help preserve these cherished qualities.

Bonnee Waldstein has lived with her family in Glen Park for over 20 years.

Glen Park News

Renée Gonsalves & Peggy McIntyre The Glen Park Real Estate Team

In today’s market, expertise and reputation count. Peggy and Renee bring over 32 years of combined real estate experience and always look after our clients’ best interest first. We don’t just sell homes, we sell your neighborhood. If you’re thinking of making a move, call us! We would be happy to give you a free evaluation of your home’s value, share our effective marketing strategies and answer your real estate questions. We assisted Glen Park buyers/sellers in the following homes:

353 Arlington St 319 Bosworth St 1313 Bosworth St 357-359 Chenery St 948 Chenery St 1749 Dolores St 5122 Diamond St 25 Elk St 49 Elk St 123 Laidley St

128 Laidley St 554 Laidley St 51 Lippard St 130 Monterey Bl 249 Randall St 253 Randall St #2 10 Roanoke St 16 Roanoke St 114 Rousseau St 267 Surrey St

201 Sussex St 1713 Sanchez St 166 Stillings St 21 Whitney St 35 Whitney St 61 Whitney St 126 Whitney St 159-161 Whitney St 218 Whitney St 53 Wilder St #304

����������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������

Renee Cell: 415.260-5805 [email protected] www.ReneeSFhomes.com

Glen Park News

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Winter 06/07

Glen Park Recreation Center Fall Schedule (Begins 9/18/06) Monday Senior Club Adult tennis Latchkey Girls Volleyball Adult Basketball

10AM – 1PM 10:30AM – 1PM 2PM – 6PM 4PM – 5:30PM 6PM – 8PM

Bridge and Card Games 1st & 3rd Mondays Advanced Tennis Class Homework, Snacks, Arts & Crafts - Fee $94.50 For Girls 6th to 8th grade Half/Full Court Basketball Games

Tuesday Adult Volleyball Adult Tennis Latchkey Youth Basketball Adult Tennis Badminton Teen Club

10AM – 1PM 10:30AM – 1PM 2PM – 6PM 4PM – 6PM 6:30PM - 8:30PM 6:45 - 9:45PM 7:30 – 9PM

Open drop-in games Class for Beginners

Wednesday Badminton Tiny Tot Class Adult Tennis U.N. Seniorʼs Latchkey Girls Volleyball

9:30 – 12N 10AM- 12N 10:30 – 1PM 10AM –3PM 2PM – 6PM 3 - 5:30PM

Open drop-in games Ages 2-5: Activities and Games - Fee $30 Class for Advanced Players Bingo, table games and social activities

Thursday Adult Volleyball Mom & Toddler Latchkey Youth Basketball Adult Basketball Womenʼs Volleyball Adult Tennis Teen Club

10AM – 1PM 10AM – 12N 2PM – 6PM 4PM - 6PM 6PM-8PM 7PM-9PM 6:30PM-8:30PM 7:30-9:00PM

Open drop-in games Arts/ Crafts, Music, Storytelling - Fee $30

Friday Tiny Tot Class Latchkey Youth Tennis Youth Basketball Youth basketball Cub Scouts Boy Scouts

10AM – 12N 2PM- 6PM 3:15- 4:45PM 4:30-6:30PM 7PM-9PM 7PM-9PM 7PM-9PM

Arts/Crafts, Music, Storytelling - Fee $30

Saturday Youth Basketball Youth Basketball Teen Club

11AM-1PM 12N-3PM 2PM-4:30PM

Skills and Conditioning Camp League Play for away games Meeting and Activities

Closed on Sundays

Skills and Conditioning Camp Class for Beginners Open drop-in games Teen Meeting and Activities

Volleyball for Girls 3rd-5th gr. at St Maryʼs

Skills and Conditioning Camp Half/Full court games Citywide League(Call 831-6311) Oct.-Dec Class for Advanced Players. Meeting and Activities

Class for Beginners Practice for Citywide League Games for Citywide League Meets twice a month Meets twice a month

Winter 06/07

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Jack-oʼ-lanterns Galore in Glen Park Some neighborhoods in San Francisco see nary a child come Halloween night. But on Chenery Street and environs the sidewalks are bustling with tiny princesses, ninjas, pumpkins and Supermen. But itʼs not only the kids who get into the spirit. This year David Dalere at 840 Chenery St. carved by 32 Jack-oʼ-lanterns Elizabeth in myriad styles and Weise images. Dalere (pronounced De Larry, from the French) began carving his pumpkins a few years ago. At first he did four, then 6, then 10. “The next thing you know it was 16 last year and this year 32.” All are carved free hand using a steak knife. “Whatever comes to my mind, I start doing variations,” Dalere says. Although Dalereʼs an artist when it comes to squash, in his day job he manages the warehouse of Safety Max Corp. in San Francisco. Though he took architectural drawing in high school, he doesnʼt do any art beyond this yearly creative explosion. “They called it the pumpkin house. So this year everybody was asking me, ʻAre you doing pumpkins?ʼ” Dalere doesnʼt start until the day before Halloween. He cuts the tops off, scoops out the pumpkinsʼ innards and then starts carving. He doesnʼt put his pumpkins out until just before Halloween begins. Several people asked if they could hire him to carve their pumpkins, something Dalere declined to do this year. “I just do it for fun, to have a great time.” After Halloween is over, Dalereʼs mom, Glory, who has owned Dalereʼs Beauty Salon at 660 Chenery St. since 1968, roasts the pumpkin seeds for snacks. A friend of his sister Marian, who co-owns the salon, asked for the pumpkin leftovers to compost. “She loaded them up in her car and took them away,” says Dalere. “Thirtytwo pumpkins will make a lot of soil.” Just a few blocks up the hill, at 340 Sussex, Charlie Vella and his daughter Maya put on a show that brings people from all parts of the city. This year their presentation was featured in both the San Francisco Chronicle and the UC Davis newspaper, The Aggie. The duo carved 53 Jack-oʼ-lanterns.

They began carving their intricate pumpkins about eight or nine years ago, Vella says. Maya, now a sophomore at UC Davis, still comes home at Halloween to carve. They buy their pumpkins at Safeway, where theyʼre cheapest. Theyʼve found that they canʼt start carving more than four days before All Hallows Eve or they lose the lanterns to mold, although Vella says an Internet tip he picked up—spraying the inside of the pumpkins with anti-mold bathroom tile spray—does keep them fresh longer. Maya uses stencils while Vella himself prefers to do freehand drawings directly onto the pumpkin. Then they use Pumpkin Master carving tools, usually sold in stores just before Halloween, to carve out the designs. “Weʼll sit in the front room, watch old, classic horror movies and carve,” says Vella. Vellaʼs day job is as director of the neurophyschology service at Kaiser, testing patients with strokes and other types of brain injuries. “Iʼm definitely not an artist,” he says. A friend of the family takes a garbage bag of pumpkin guts away and brings them back a bag of roasted pumpkin seeds, but the rest go to the cityʼs composting works. The day after Halloween the Vellas took their quickly disintegrating Jack-oʼ-lanterns to the dump, where they weighed in at a total of 850 pounds. Do you know of a house that is especially wonderful at Halloween, or any other holiday? Weʼre collecting names and addresses for upcoming issues, so if thereʼs a house everyone should see, please drop us a line at [email protected]

Islais Creek

Glen Park News

Glen Park News

PHOTO CAPTION - COWBOY WITH TSHIRT (NO SEPARATE TEXT) Friends of Glen Canyon shirt fits holiday shopping to a T! Someone on your holiday list is going to love the new Friends of Glen Canyon Park Tshirt, displayed outside Glen Park Hardware by neighborhood favorite Cheyenne, 96, a Chenery Street resident since 1957. Friends’ benefactors Susan and Hal at the store have the green, preshrunk, allcotton shirts in sizes small to extra large. The entire $12 price (cash or checks only, please) benefits

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the Friends. Information about Friends of Glen Canyon Park is in the Community Calendar on Page 20.

Winter 06/07

backyard hive. (#C2136) After the bees have done their work in her backyard, Karen Peteros uses a centrifuge to extract the honey.

PHOTO CAPTIONS - KAREN WITH BEEHIVE (I PREFER #31dw) (#C2131) Glen Park Beekeeper Karen Peteros maintains her backyard hive. (#C2127) Glen Park Beekeeper Karen Peteros applies smoke to settle her bees while opening her backyard hive. (#C2129 or 30) Glen Park Beekeeper checks for honey in her

For the millions of American who watch America’s Test Kitchen on PBS or read Cooks Illustrated magazine, editor Chris Kimball, with his bow tie, suspenders and Yankee lankiness, is a familiar face. Local residents got a closer look at that face on Friday, Nov. 7 when Kimball, meeting with an area food reporter, had breakfast at Tygers. He gave the food an “A,” pronounced the pancakes “great”

and said “Loved the place -- just my kind of neighborhood hold in the wall.”

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Glen Park Email lists The Glen Park Association hosts a free electronic mail list open to all Glen Park residents. It is moderated by membership coordinator Heather World and consists of a weekly calendar and news update, with very occasional latebreaking news stories and police updates. To subscribe, send email to glenparkasso-

ciation-subscrib e@yahoogroup s.com. Also, donʼt forget the Glen Park Association website which is updated periodically. www.glenparka ssociation.com Other neighborhood lists include:

to subscribe. Glen Park Parents A medium-traffic list with over 350 families in Glen Park and environs. Moderated and spam-free. http://

Ingleside Police Station Crime Report Straight from the desk of Capt. Paul Chignell Send email to [email protected]

San Francisco Services Abandoned Cars

553-9817

Building Inspection Info

558-6088

Bus Shelters (repair/clean)

882-4949

District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty

554-6968

Garbage (oversized item pickup)

330-1300

Graffiti Hotline

28-CLEAN

Mobile Assistant Patrol (MAP)

431-7400

(Homeless Outreach/Transportation) Mobile Crisis Team

355-8300

(Mental Health) Muni Information

673-6864

Muni Complaint/Compliment

923-6164

Parking Enforcement

553-1200

Police (non emergency)

553-0123

Potholes

695-2100

Rent Stabilization Board

252-4600

Street Construction Complaints

554-7222

Street Lighting

554-0730

Tree Problems

695-2165

Towed Cars

553-1235

Mayorʼs Office of Neighborhood Services

www.sfgov.org/mons

Glen Park News

Glen Park News

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Winter 06/07

Community Calendar Glen Park Association

Glen Park Branch Library

Friends of Glen Canyon Park

Glen Park NERT

Glen Park Advisory Board

Yoga Classes

Quarterly meetings are held on the second Tuesday in January, April, July and October at 7:30 pm. Everyone is welcome, members and non-members alike. Next meeting: Tue. Oct. 10, 7:30 pm., Meetings and Plant Restoration Work Parties: Third Saturday of each month, 9 am–noon. Next dates: Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Dec. 16, Jan. 20. Meet behind the Recreation Center. Tools, gloves and instruction are provided. Weekly Work Parties: Every Wednesday, 9 am–noon. For the current weekʼs meeting place contact Richard Craib, 648-0862. Bird Walk: Sunday, Nov. 5, 9 am: Let David Armstrong introduce you to the birds in the canyon on another of his fascinating, free walks. Pancakes in the Park: Sunday, Nov. 5, 10:30 am, following the Bird Walk. A pancake breakfast with bacon, orange juice, coffee and tea at the Silvertree picnic tables. Please RSVP to Richard Craib at 648-0862. $5 suggested donation for the pancake breakfast. To join Friends of Glen Canyon Park or learn more about their activities, please contact Richard Craib at 648-0862 or Jean Conner at 584-8576. The Advisory Board works hand in hand with the Recreation and Park Department to make our park the best in the city. Everyone concerned with issues concerning Glen Canyon Park is urged to attend their meetings and participate in their activities. The Advisory Board welcomes neighborhood input: contact Miriam Moss at [email protected]. Next Meeting: Wed., Oct., 18 at 6: 30 pm in the Rec Center auditorium.

SFPD Community Forums

Third Tuesday of each month, 7 pm: All residents are encouraged to participate in the informative monthly Community Relations Forum at SFPDʼs Ingleside Police Station, hosted by Capt. Paul Chignell. There are refreshments, guest speakers, and the opportunity to ask questions and air your concerns. Drop in and get acquainted with some of the dedicated people whose job is keeping our neighborhood safe. The main station number is 404-4000, or send e-mail to [email protected]. Next dates: Sept.19, Oct. 17, Nov. 21.

As our neighborhood librarians prepare for the move to their new quarters in the Marketplace building, they are still conducting regular activities. Stop by the library for information about story times and other events. Our Neighborhood Emergency Response Team is an essential element of disaster preparedness. Free training is given all year, in various locations. Youʼll learn to be self-sufficient in a disaster, and learn basic skills to help your neighbors. In a major disaster, Glen Park NERT volunteers meet at the Glen Park Recreation Center. You can register for the training at www.sfgov.org/sffdnert. Fall Schedule: Oct. 6 and Oct. 18: 2-day intensive class at the State Building, 350 McAllister St., Milton Marks Conference Auditorium (Civic Center BART). Oct. 19 and 26 and Nov. 2, 9 am–4 pm, with lunch breaks (no lunch), Federal Reserve Bank, 101 Market St. (Embarcadero BART). Bring a Stateissued ID for entry. Oct. 2, 9, 16, 30 and Nov. 6, Mondays, 6:30 pm–9:30 pm, Golden Gate Yacht Club, Lyon Street north of Marina Boulevard. After three years at the Glen Park Rec Center auditorium, low attendance caused Christine Trost to end her evening Yoga classes there. She still teaches in Glen Park on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm, at Kiki Yo, 605B Chenery St. Contact her at 846-8481 or [email protected]. On Wednesdays, 12:15–1:30 pm, Donna Rubin holds Vinyasa Yoga classes at Kiki Yo. All levels are welcome. Vinyasa Yoga utilizes a series of poses linking breath with movement, to enhance endurance and flexibility. Donnaʼs classes are free; donations are welcomed. For soon-to-be-moms and parents, Kiki Yo is introducing a series of new classes for the Fall Season. Pre-Natal Yoga, “Mommy and Me” and “KIKI for Kids” classes are all starting in September. Visit kiki-yo.com or call 587-5454.

Bird & Beckett

Bird & Beckett Books & Records, 2788 Diamond St., presents free community literary and musical events (donations are encouraged to help the

artists and keep our neighborhood bookstore open). Book club meetings and jazz sessions are listed at www.birdbeckett.com, or call 586-3733 for more information. Coming Events: Every Friday, 5:30–8 pm: Jazz in the Bookshop: First & third Fridays each month: The Seabop Ensemble, under the direction of bassist Don Prell, with various lineups including Chuck Peterson, Jim Grantham, Jerry Logas, saxes; Al Molina, Frank Phipps, horns; Scott Foster, guitar; Chris Bjorkbom, drums. Second Friday: The Jimmy Ryan/ Rick Elmore Quartet with Scott Foster, guitar; Bishu Chatterjee, bass; Art Lewis, drums. Fourth Friday: Henry Irvin Quartet with vocalist Dorothy Lefkovits and rotating musicians including Barbara Hunter, soprano sax and flute; Bishop Norman Williams, sax, and drummers Jimmy Ryan and Rhoyale Baibe Foston Friday, Sept. 22, 5:30–8 pm:: The John Calloway Quartet (jazz) plays; the Henry Irvin Quartet returns Sept. 29 (the 5th Friday this month. First Sunday, 4:30 pm: Sunday Jazz: Henry Irvin Quartet with Dorothy Lefkovits. In October only, theyʼll play on the second Sunday, Oct. 8. First and third Mondays, 7:30 pm: Open mic poetry series with featured readers, hosted by Jerry Ferraz. Scottish poet Leonard Irving says Bird & Beckett is the best poetry venue in town! Second Tuesday, 7:30 pm: The Eminent Authors Birthday Reading features an open reading from the works of favorite authors whose birthdays fall during the month. Bring a libation and a literary bit to share with the group. First Wednesday, 7 pm: Bird & Beckett Book Club discusses a book every month. Participants choose the next monthʼs selection. Oct. 4: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. Nov. 1: Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck. Please e-mail Marcy at [email protected] to get on the e-mail distribution list for Book Club notices. She has links for you to learn more about the book selection, and will let you know about our monthly Political Book Discussion Group. Second Thursday, 7:30 pm: Political Book Discussion Group. Oct. 12: The Federalist Papers. Nov. 9: The Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam by Gareth Porter. Sunday, Sept. 24, 4:30 pm: “Blood, Gold & Water:” Walker Brents riffs on

the myths of the American west. Monday, Sept. 25, 7:30 pm: Nellie Wong, an Oakland native who lives on Chenery Street, is a hugely important poet from many perspectives: her workʼs content, her skill in shaping her poems and her commitment to humanity, social justice, commemoration of past struggles, and hope for a decent future. Weʼll celebrate her birthday by having her share some of her poems. Honor her by attending this reading. Modern Times Bookstore on Valencia at 20th has supported her political work for years, giving her much in the way of context and information; you can show them your appreciation by buying a book from them, as well. Sunday, Oct. 22, 4:30 pm: Bookstore Benefit Reading by David Meltzer and Diane di Prima. Buy one of the limited number of tickets in advance to ensure your space in the small venue: Fifteen $25 tickets will guarantee seats. Another 20 standing-room tickets will be sold at $20. The room will be crowded. The poetry will be great. No advance reservations. Eric will notify his e-mail list before tickets go on sale shortly after Oct. 1. Art in the Bookshop: Works on paper by Marlene Aron are hanging in the store until mid-October. Theyʼll be followed by the art of longtime Glen Park resident Jean Conner.

Diamond Street residents Chris Neumann and Michele Bulen are among the neighborhood graffitiremoval volunteers who have taken on the regular Saturday-morning job of erasing vandalsʼ tags on Chenery and Diamond streets. Chris is familiar to many neighbors as one of the smiling faces at Chenery Park; Micheleʼs activities include work with the erstwhile Glen Park Festival. Photo by Denis Wade.