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| August 2009 IN THIS ISSUE
NPC QUICK LINKS Neighborhood Parks Council
451 Hayes Street, 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA 94102 PHONE: 415.621.3260, FAX: 415.703.0889 Click here to email NPC. Click here to find out how to take public transportation to our office. SUPPORT NPC  Click here to see NPC's 2009 supporters.  Thanks to NPC’s 2009 Presenting Sponsor   GET INVOLVED Click here to check out NPC's volunteer opportunities on Volunteer Match. |
SAVE THE DATE |
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NPC’s Annual Gala/Tribute to Isabel Wade: September 11th  Join us in celebration of San Francisco's neighborhood parks and the incredible advocacy career of Isabel Wade at NPC's 2009 Gala, "Celebration of Green." “Celebration of Green”, Friday, September 11, 2009, 1 Fort Mason 5:30 PM: Intimate dinner and roast (Space is limited) 8:30 PM: Party (Dessert, champagne, cocktails, dancing, and fabulous performances) To buy tickets to the dinner (includes party) or to the party, click the yellow button below.  |
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| ACTION ALERT | ||
 Take Immediate Action To Stop State Park ClosuresThe Governor signed the state budget on July 28th. It contained an additional $6M cut to state parks, bringing the total General Fund cut for this budget year to $14.2M. It is expected that this will result in the closure of perhaps more than 100 state parks. There is still no closure list at this time. Click here Join the District 5 Summer Sidewalk Sweep: August 8th We invite you to help make one SF neighborhood cleaner, greener and free of graffiti by participating in a District 5 community cleanup on August 8th. Join NPC staff as we roll up our sleeves and help tidy up vacant lots along Octavia Boulevard in Hayes Valley. If you’re interested in participating in this effort, please email Matthew Silva at msilva@sfnpc.org or call 415.621.3260. The group will meet at Patricia’s Green (Hayes and Octavia) on Saturday, August 8th, 9AM-12 PM. Remember, our collective efforts help keep SF parks and neighborhoods beautiful! To download a flier, click here. |
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Meeting on the Community Opportunity Fund: August 19th Save the date for this important meeting! 6:00pm-8:00pm, Location TBD The 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond allocates $5 million for a “Community Opportunity Fund.” This fund will allow park groups to partner with RPD on capital improvements in their park. At this moment, the program guidelines are still being developed, so it is crucial that park groups offer feedback on this exciting opportunity. At our coalition meeting on Wednesday, August 19th, we’ll discuss the progress of the program to date, seek your feedback and answer questions relating to its implementation. Information about meeting time, location, etc. will be posted on this page shortly. Please contact Matthew Silva at msilva@sfnpc.org or 415.621.3260 with any questions. |
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Food and Festivities Create Community in the Richmond on July 4th  On July 4th, about 150 people came out to celebrate the holiday with a picnic in Muriel Leff Mini Park on 7th Avenue between Geary and Anza in the Inner Richmond. Neighbors lined up for Hearst Ranch hamburgers and Let’s Be Frank hotdogs, grilled by Norcal/Recology’s grill masters, Jose and Fernando, who used a tow-away grill made from 100% recycled materials. Volunteers Silvana Pazmino, David Hirtz, and Kathy Howard helped set up food and Odwalla drinks; invited residents to join, and helped clean up afterwards. The event was organized by Muriel’s son, Alexander Leff, and NPC to benefit the community, and to kick off the Muriel Leff Park Group. In this spirit, we also celebrated the Independence Day birthday of Muriel Leff, a community activist and the park’s founder. The first volunteer gardening day at the mini park will take place on Saturday, August 15th from 9 AM-12:30 PM. Click here for more information. |
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 We have selected Becky Perrine of the Crocker Amazon Advisory Committee as our Volunteer of the Month for August. Click here to read an interview with Becky to learn what inspires her to make a commitment to her park, and what she hopes to accomplish in the future. |
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Open Space Task Force The Planning Department released the DRAFT Recreation and Open Space Element (ROSE) for public review in early May. It is now posted and available for download here: http://openspace.sfplanning.org. The comment and review period will run through the end of September. Thanks to all of you who have participated in the creation of the Draft ROSE. The Planning Department looks forward to hearing your comments. Please e-mail your comments to: openspace@sfgov.org, or fax them to 415-558-6409 attention: Sue Exline, or mail them to: Sue Exline, SF Planning Department, 1650 Mission St, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103. Some printed copies are also available for purchase at the Planning Department's Reception Desk at 1650 Mission, which is open Monday-Friday, 9 AM-5 PM. Playfields Stewardship Initiative Crocker Amazon Playfields Subcommittee Formed The City Fields Foundation recently renovated three worn-out fields at Crocker Amazon Park. The new fields have reinvigorated the park, bringing new visitors and a lot of attention. The Crocker Amazon Park Advisory Committee saw it fit to focus some of its energy on maintaining these new fields by creating a subcommittee to promote their stewardship. The subcommittee held its first meeting in July, and is planning a cleanup day on September 19th to coincide with America SCORES Bay Area’s “Fall Frenzy Family Day.” The subcommittee is also inviting representatives from the local police station to their next meeting to discuss safety in and around the playfields. Playground Initiative RPD Begins Renovation of Failed Playground At Lincoln Park  We are pleased to report that the renovation of Lincoln Park Playground is scheduled to begin in August! Click here to read about the hard work of the Friends of Lincoln Park that carried the project forward to this exciting point! ParkScan Help Us Meet Our Annual ParkScan Goal! In July, park lovers submitted over 100 ParkScans at http://www.parkscan.org. Users took advantage of the ParkScan system to compliment park staff, notify paint teams of graffiti, and identify maintenance or misuse issues. Each ParkScan observation submitted symbolizes important communication between park users and City staff. Without your involvement on ParkScan, the City would not be made aware of the most time-sensitive and pressing issues at our neighborhood parks. NPC needs your support in increasing this constructive communication. By submitting an observation to ParkScan every week in August, you can help us meet our goal of increasing the number of ParkScans submitted in 2008 by 25%. Please visit http://www.parkscan.org today and help keep your park clean and green! Blue Greenway Join the India Basin Shoreline Walking Tour on August 8th; attend the Port Commission public hearing on the Pier 70 Master Plan on August 11th (deadline for public comment is August 28th); youth ages 8-18 are invited to America True Youth Day at India Basin on August 15th; submit a location to Pavement to Parks--click here for all the details on these and other Blue Greenway-related projects and events. |
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Local Grant Funds Improving Local Parks Two neighborhood park groups have recently received small grants to add important amenities to their parks. Click here to read about improvements that are coming soon to McLaren Park and Franklin Square, thanks to this funding, and stay tuned for additional funding opportunities that your park group may want to apply for. |
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Special City CarShare Discount for NPC Supporters!
 City CarShare is a Bay Area nonprofit with a mission to provide convenient, affordable access to shared cars in order to reduce individual car ownership and usage. City CarShare's service removes hundreds of cars from our streets and parking lots, resulting in fewer emissions, fewer cars and more potential green space for Bay Area parks. City CarShare supports NPC’s work and is offering special discounts to the NPC coalition for hourly access to hundreds of fuel-efficient cars. NPC supporters who join City CarShare before October 1st will be awarded $30 in driving credits, and the standard $300 deposit will be waived as well. Sign up at www.CityCarShare.org and use promo code NPC09. (Valid for ShareLocal or SharePlus until October 1, 2009. May not be combined with other offers.) Gas, premium insurance and maintenance are always included in City CarShare's low driving rate.  Deadline Extended To August 15th For Running Start Submissions  New RPD General Manager Phil Ginsburg is soliciting public submissions for simple and inexpensive ways to improve our parks during these tough economic times. He has already received more than 50 outstanding submissions but we are extending the deadline until August 15th to make sure that everyone who has a good idea has the opportunity to share it with Phil. A panel of park advocates and RPD staff will select the winning ideas. Submit your ideas today to runningstart@sfnpc.org. Phil ran the SF Marathon on July 26th to raise money for the Running Start Fund, which supports the winning ideas, and we are still accepting donations--we invite you to click here to make a donation of any amount today! More information at http://www.sfnpc.org/runningstartfund. |
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RPD Capital Project Updates  St. Mary’s Playground in Bernal Heights had its grand reopening on July 25th. For a complete list of opening and closure dates for RPD capital projects, click here. Keep Up With RPD Commission Meetings Rec and Park Commission meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month at 4 PM (note the new, later start time). Click here for meeting schedules. Public comment is now at the beginning of every meeting. |
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You can find the complete schedule of park workdays and contact information on our website: http://www.sfnpc.org/currentworkdays |
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National Night Out in Hayes Valley: August 4th Work Weekend & Overnight Camping in McLaren Park: August 7-9th Friends of West Sunset Playground Ice Cream Social: August 8th India Basin/Hunters Point Shoreline Walking Tour: August 8th Sunday Streets—Great Highway: August 9th and September 6th South Sunset Café: August 15th Alamo Square Flea Market: August 15th Garfield Square Ice Cream Social: August 22nd New Ken Burns PBS Series: The National Parks: America’s Best Idea: September 27th New Bay Area recreation planning website: http://www.transitandtrails.org See the complete community event calendar here. |
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To read all recent park-related news headlines,