July 2010
In This Issue
NPC's Summer Social
Community Opportunity Fund
Meeting with the Mayor
I Love My Park
Bubbles at Silver Terrace
Kimbell Field Re-opens
Movie Night at South Sunset
Innovator Awards
NPC is Hiring
Donate now to support our Playground Initiative!
By donating today to our Playground Match Campaign the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund will generously match your gift dollar-for-dollar.
Send a ParkScan today!
NPC Is Hiring!
NPC is seeking a passionate park advocate to fill our Outreach Coordinator position. The job description can be viewed at www.sfnpc.org/jobs.
July Events
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Featured Photo from NPC's Flickr page
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Friends,
Thank you for a very productive Annual Park Group Meeting with the Mayor on June 24th. NPC crafts our positions on key park issues based on the feedback we receive from the coalition and through our Steering Committee (see http://www.sfnpc.org/
I hope to see you at our Summer Social on July 14th at Patricia’s Green in Hayes Valley so we can celebrate summer in our parks together.
Meredith Thomas
Executive Director
NPC's Summer Social is Coming!
Wednesday, July 14: 6-8pm
Summer is here and NPC loves to be outside in a park! Let's kick off the season with our annual Summer Social.
We are very thankful of the volunteers, park groups and coalition members whose collective hard work is making our parks clean, green and safe. Come out for an early evening in the park with live music, food, drinks and a volunteer recognition presentation.
Click here for more details!
Community Opportunity Fund Update
The Community Opportunity Fund program (COF) of the 2008 Parks Bond is a $5 Million capital program that allows residents, neighborhood groups, and park advocates to initiate capital improvements in their parks by matching public funding with other private gifts and grants. The $3 Million in direct funding will be split into 3 rounds, with award budgets of $500K, $1.25 Million, and $1.25 Million. The deadline for the first round is September 24, 2010.
Click here to review the Community Opportunity Fund documents approved by the RPD Commission on June 17th. The final version of the COF application can be downloaded here.
NPC is working with RPD to put together workshops that will show you how to apply. Stay tuned for more details!
The Neighborhood Parks Council held its annual Meeting with the Mayor on Thursday, June 24, 2010. Representatives from NPC, the Recreation and Park Department and various parks groups met with Mayor Gavin Newsom in City Hall.
Detailed notes from the meeting can be viewed here. Click here to see photos.
The annual Meeting with the Mayor is an opportunity for the NPC to keep San Francisco’s parks on the civic radar, and allow park stakeholders the opportunity to hear directly from the Mayor on the current status of the City’s parks and plans for the year ahead.
One key action item that we will be following-up on immediately was the agreement of the RPD Commission to work with NPC to hold quarterly park town halls to increase public input on items to go before Commissioners. We hope to have the first town hall this fall.
South Park is a small neighborhood park located South of Market bounded by Second, Third, Bryant, and Brannan streets. Nathan Rapheld is a native Californian who works at a start-up company near South Park.
What do you like most about this park?
I come here three times a week. It is a great place to eat lunch. I like that the park provides a feeling of being separated from the urban environment. It creates the feeling of being in your own pocket.
Bubbles and Fun at Silver Terrace Park
On Saturday, June 12th, over 40 park lovers gathered at Silver Terrace Park to celebrate the summer with a fun community event. Simply called “Bubble Day”, this event brought out families, and especially children, who all enjoyed warm weather, free food and of course bubbles. Some came prepared with their own bubble-making apparatuses, while others took advantage of the free bubble-makers at the event. The wind helped carry the bubbles far beyond the park, which made the entire neighborhood feel festive and fun!
Later on in the day, volunteer Ruth Wallace (of the Portola Garden Tour group) led a story reading, which enraptured the young children attendees. A favorite story was about a family of ducks, who being chased by a disguised fox, were able to outwit their predator and escape safely.
The day ended with all the attendees pitching in to help clean up, leaving the park in pristine condition. If you would like to join the efforts to keep Silver Terrace safe, fun and clean, please email us at outreach@sfnpc.org.
The grand re-opening of Kimbell Playground on Friday June 25 was a celebration of what Recreation and Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg rightly named “a victory.” Community members and leaders in the world of San Francisco’s parks gathered on a damp morning in the Western Addition to revel in Kimbell’s bright new playfield. Callen Taylor of the Friends of Kimbell Playground, Commissioner Mark Buell, and Ginsburg all took the opportunity to speak about the park’s improvements.
The renovations include a colorful mural and plans for a new playground next to the field. Ginsburg thanked the City Fields Foundation for making this Playfield Initiative project possible and excited the crowd with shouts of “get out and play,” which they proceeded to do. While the first stage of soccer’s World Cup came to a close in South Africa, neighborhood kids and adults took a stab at the sport on the newly renovated field in Kimbell Playground. Kids enjoyed food, face painting and music as they celebrated their new playfield.
Movie Night Cheers "Up" Foggy South Sunset
NPC hosted a movie night in the clubhouse at the South Sunset Playground on Friday, June 25. The South Sunset Senior Center is a busy community hub and a cozy place to enjoy a movie on a chilly Sunset evening. Families playing outside were invited in to eat snacks and watch Up, Pixar’s Academy Award-winning animated film. Up follows the story of a cranky elderly widower with a dream of visiting South America and the young Wilderness Explorer determined to “assist” him in his old age. Adults and children alike who attended the movie night enjoyed the film, which appeals to all ages. Movie nights like this are a great opportunity for a community to gather and enjoy their park to the fullest.
Park Grant Opportunity: Innovator Awards
SFPT is accepting now applications for their Innovator Awards Program, which gives awards of $500-$2000 per project to improve parks, recreation, and public open space. The deadline is August 2nd. Please direct any questions to Maria D’Angelico available at maria@sfpt.org or 415-750-5442.
