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DUBOCE PARK UPDATE – FEBRUARY 11, 2016
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Four classes just for kids and tots begin at the Rec Center this month. Kids Knit and Crochet begins today and two Sewing Together Ages 4-7 classes begin on Saturday February 20.
Sewing Together explores color, texture, pattern and basic sewing skills together with your young one. Children and parent will work together to complete a project each week. Both kids and adults will enjoy this hands-on class. Using basic sewing stitches and kid-safe sewing tools, children will be introduced to the fun and creative world of textiles. All materials are provided. Adult participation required. This class has been split into two mini sessions with new projects each session. Classes can be taken independently or sequentially.
For the very young, Roly Polys begins tomorrow, Friday February 12. Kids can enjoy a play space filled with music, balls, manipulatives, hula-hoops, tunnels, scooters, trikes and big wheels. Part open playtime, part structured class, this program gives toddlers an opportunity to engage in developing motor skills.
Spring 2016 Class registration begins at 10 a.m. on March 5 at the Harvey Milk Recreation Center or online at SfRecOnline.org. The complete catalogue of classes and activities is available here. Summer Day Camps Registration opens March 19. Spots in camps fill quickly so register early to reserve a spot.
Recreation and Parks offers Recreation Scholarships to eligible individuals and families. More than $1 million in scholarships in Rec and Parks programs has been provided. Ongoing eligibility is dependent on attendance record. Please call Lillian Bautista, Scholarship Coordinator, at 831-2717 for information on how to qualify.
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(2) NEXT VOLUNTEER DAY SATURDAY FEBRUARY 13
Join the Friends of Duboce Park at our next volunteer day this Saturday, February 13, 10 a.m.-noon. We will be supervised by a Rec & Park gardener with all supplies, plants, tools, and gloves provided. This week, depending on how many people show up, we will be installing a new fence in the Dog Play Area and/or doing some weeding and planting on the small hillside adjacent to the Muni tunnel.
The December and January volunteer days were cancelled due to rain. A special thanks to the volunteers who did some planting in two of the beds near the main entrance to the Photo Studio at our November volunteer day and in the Pierce Street planting circle in October which is looking great two months later.
Contact rose@friendsofdubocepark.org or 415-255-8370 for more information or with any questions or comments. Our volunteer day is always the second Saturday of every month. 30 minutes or an hour of your time makes a big difference in the appearance of our park. San Franciscan residents contributed more than 184,000 hours in 2014 in volunteer service in San Francisco parks.
City departments, state and federal agencies, community partners, local businesses, philanthropic foundations and individuals, have helped Rec and Park make much needed renovations to city facilities and provided more than 7,000 program scholarships valued at over $1 to San Francisco residents.
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The park bulletin board was vandalized again. The plastic was broken and the metal frame holding it was bent. Our much appreciated thanks to Rec and Park for repairing it so quickly…The huge bare area in the middle of Dog Play area remains fenced off to allow grass to grow. Heavy use by dogs in that area makes it a difficult area to keep green.
The west end of the Youth Play Area remains dark at night since a tree is blocking light that would normally illuminate that end of the YPA. That dark area, combined with the undulating soft blue rubber surface, has made that area attractive to late night partiers and drug users. We are working with Rec and Park to get additional lighting and with Park Station to get additional police coverage of that area at night.
During the rainy season, water washes dirt from the hill above to the west end of the YPA. Water barriers or diversions are needed to keep the water from running onto the blue rubber surface… Many of the grassy areas that were brown are now showing signs of green after the recent rains. Some of most heavily-used areas, around benches and in the middle of the Dog Play Area, are down to dirt.
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Although the tree was not in the park, neighbors were fascinated watching a huge tree being removed from a back yard on Carmelita Street. A huge crane parked on Scott Street was used and the tree was cut and removed in sections from the top down. Looks like a pretty dangerous job for the person who has hoisted up there by the crane, see picture.
SFMTA will resume weekend construction on the Sunset Tunnel, starting at 8 p.m. Friday, February 12 and continuing until 3:30 a.m. on Monday, February. 15. During construction bus shuttle will replace the N Judah train service running between Ocean Beach and Church & Duboce. The weekend work that has started previously on Saturday morning the past few months will begin on Friday night from now on. After the weekend of Feb. 12, SFMTA will have performed 15 weekend shutdowns to complete over 80% of the work. There will be more weekend shutdowns scheduled for 2016, tentatively set for the weekends of Februry 26-29 and March 4-7.
Graffiti remains a constant problem and Rec and Park does a good job of removing it within 24-48 hours of receiving a report…new graffiti that regularly appears on the MTA construction barriers and equipment along Duboce Avenue is also usually removed within a few days of being reported.
All of the problems listed above were reported on the SF311 app or in an email report to Rec and Park. You can always also just dial 311 rather than using the app or email.
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Two great photography shows opened at the Harvey Milk Photo Center on Saturday January 23 and continues through March 3. In Motion – A exhibition of Bay Area Photographers Collective Artist features photos taken by the Bay Area Photographers Collective, a nonprofit organization committed to building a community of artistically committed photographers. BAPC currently consists of about 22 members dedicated to furthering each other’s professional development and artistic growth. Our work ranges from fine art to documentary, color to black and white, traditional darkroom to digital imaging.
The show was curated by Hal Fischer, a Pierce Street resident. Fischer said, “The ability to perceive motion is fundamental to our human capacity to interpret, adapt to, and shape our environment. The camera, designed to capture a single moment in time, would appear poorly suited to the recording of movement, whether subtle or dramatic, fast or slow. Yet some of the most iconic photography in history does just that: it captures objects and people in motion, and does so in ways that stir the mind and heart. In this exhibition, we present photographs in which motion is a central theme. Some blur while others stop the action cold. In some images, the viewer is moving while the subject remains still. Ironically, the very lack of motion where we expect it, or the very slight hint of motion where the scene is otherwise still, provides a motive force in the image.” The show continues through March 3.
The Photo Center’s Annual Staff & Volunteer Photography Exhibit continues offers a current look at what is being created in their darkrooms and digital Labs by their staff members and volunteers. This exhibit has been curated by staff members and volunteers, and encompasses a wide and exciting subject matter, including Wet Plate Photography, Film and Digital imagery. More information is available here.
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(5) PHOTO CLASSES STARTING
Looking for ways to create unique, handmade art from photographs? Cyanotype — Making Prints by Hand, a four-week course starting February 20, will teach you how to make beautiful blue, painterly prints simply and inexpensively from digital or film photos. The Cyanotype process, which has been around since the 1840s, uses the sun and water and allows printing on almost any surface! Students will learn to prepare paper and chemicals and use or make negatives from film or digital photos. Students will then learn how to expose, develop and tone the prints with tea, coffee and other simple chemicals.
There are lots of other great photography classes starting soon: Liquid Emulsion — Printing on Glass, Mirrors & Metal, starting Febraury 13; Level 1: Getting to Know Your Digital SLR Camera, February 18;; Intro to Adobe Lightroom 5 – Part 1, March 2; iPhone Photography Workshop, March 3; and, Natural Lighting Workshop, March 12.
Information on courses, times, and costs is available in the catalogue of classes available at the Photo Center or you can visit harveymilkphotocenter.org. The one-hour Photography Center Orientation is a required course for all potential members of the Photo Center but is not required to take other classes or courses. The next Orientations will be offered from 1-2 p.m. on the following Saturdays: February 27 and March 12.
The Photo Center is looking for volunteers to help run their wet darkroom and digital lab. Contact the Center at 554-9522 to sign up. Established volunteers are welcome to take a complimentary course of their choosing each season.
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The Reopening of Dolores Park’s South Side, originally scheduled for January 15, finally happened on January 27, completing the renovation that began in March 2014. Thousands of park lovers enjoyed the party, replete with lights and glow-up elements throughout the park.The northern half of the park was done first and was completed last June. The southern half of the park was then closed and work began there. The $20.5 million renovation include an overlook at 20th and Church, improved pedestrian paths, an underground bathroom near the playground and an open-air pissoir, intended to combat urination on the Muni tracks.
Mayor Ed Lee told city departments, including Rec and Park, to cut spending by 1.5% since the city faces a $100 million budget deficit next fiscal year. He also asked departments to cut an additional 1.5% the following fiscal year, for a total of 3% in cuts since the city uses a two-year budget model. Despite a booming local economy, pension costs are the main contributor to the deficit. Departments may opt to generate more income to cover the cuts.
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The 1,600 pound Super Bowl 50 statue that was placed in Alamo Square was removed a week before the game after being vandalized numerous times. It was spray painted, scratched, and pushed over. The statue’s solar panels were smashed and metal was ripped off its edges. A second sign A 25-foot portable highway sign that reads “LOCK CAR AVOID THEFT” was also placed in the park recently and is not popular with park users and neighbors.
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Great news! The California Parks and Recreation Society (CPRS) has awarded its Excellence in Park Planning award for two recent capital renovation projects-- Boeddeker Park and Cayuga Playground. The CPRS awards program recognizes outstanding achievement in the areas of facility design, park planning, marketing and communication, and community improvement and programming. The two awards will be presented to the Department at a ceremony in Long Beach, Calif. in March.
The Chronicle reported on January 17 that the city’s Human Services Agency was opening two emergency shelters for three nights at the Mission Recreation Center on Harrison Street between 20th and 21st streets for families with children and the Gene Friend Recreation Center at Sixth and Folsom streets.
(7) JOIN FRIENDS OF DUBOCE PARK
Annual Membership dues for a Supporting Member are $25 per person and entitle you to voting privileges and participation in the governance of the organization. Your dues help cover the few costs we have, such as our website, newsletter, movie nights, and insurance.
Your tax deductible membership is gratefully accepted and should be sent to Friends of Duboce Park, 71 Scott Street, San Francisco, CA 94117. Friends of Duboce Park are a 501(c) (3) organization. General Membership is still available at no cost but does not carry any voting privileges. Another way to show your support is by getting involved. If you are interested, please contact President Doug Woo at doug@friendsofdubocepark.org.
Our Mission Statement includes the following: "to organize and represent the collective interests regarding Duboce Park; to beautify and promote safety within Duboce Park; and, to initiate and/or support beneficial neighborhood projects on behalf of Duboce Park."
(8) FEBRUARY-MARCH CALENDAR
Saturday, February 13, 10 a.m.-noon. Friends of Duboce Park Volunteer Day. Contact Rose at rose@friendsofdubocepark.org or 415-255-8370.
Saturday, March 5, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Spring 2016 Class Registration Begins. Harvey Milk Recreation Center for the Arts or visit sfreconline.org.
Saturday, March 12, 10 a.m.-noon. Friends of Duboce Park Volunteer Day. Contact Rose at rose@friendsofdubocepark.org or 415-255-8370.
Saturday, March 19, 10 a.m. Summer Day Camps Registration Begins.
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