This Weekend: Artist Open Studios in Bernal Heights

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It’s that creative time of year again, so put on your walking shoes to make your pilgrimage as part of the annual SF Open Studios series in Bernal Heights:

When SF Open Studios was started by a group of enterprising artists in 1975, no one could have foreseen that it would become a citywide art celebration that includes over 800 artists. Now, 38 years later, the event, which spans four weekends in October and November, is considered the largest and oldest open studios program in the country. But it’s more than just an annual event that connects the public to art; it’s a salute to the artists who make up the cultural wealth of our city and gives us credence as one of the most creative places in the world. If you are new to this event, here is the premise in a nutshell: The city is divided into four quadrants for the four open studios weekends. Artists in each neighborhood open their studio doors to show the pubic their art on their designated weekend:

Bernal Heights is in the spotlight this weekend, and here’s a list of the sexy Bernal artists who are participating on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 26 & 27, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m (keyed to the map above):

207a – Silvi Alcivar – Secession Art & Design – 3361 Mission Street
207b – HumanTreeRobot – Secession Art & Design – 3361 Mission Street
207c – Heather Robinson – Secession Art & Design – 3361 Mission Street
207d – Rob Sakovich – Secession Art & Design – 3361 Mission Street
207e – Hilary Williams – Secession Art & Design – 3361 Mission Street
225 – Jesse Jones McMillin – 41 Winfield Street
226 – Beryl Landau – 3290 Harrison Street

IMAGE: Top, “Taking in Work, Play and Artisinal Cheese,” by Hilary Williams

Sunday: Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos Celebration at J. Serra Elementary School

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Neighbor Kristen invites you and your junior zombies to the Halloween festivities taking place on Sunday at J. Serra Elementary:

J. Serra Elementary at 625 Holly Park Circle will be having its annual Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos celebration from noon to 3 p.m. this Sunday, October 26, 2013.

Parents are compiling amazing raffle prizes and there will be the following activities and events:

Activities: Cooking class—ceviche, Loteria or bingo, Beauty salon, Pumpkin patch, Face painting, Ponies/farm, Photobooth, Fortune teller, Games (free and paid), Crafts and Food/beverages

Events: Student performance, Costume contest, Raffle.

Aztec dancers will perform at 1 p.m..   Our parent liaison at the school is one of the dancers; they do it for us every year and it’s pretty amazing.

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Sign Up Now for This Free Personal Safety Workshop

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Neighbor Sarah, your valiant crime correspondent and local liaison to the SFPD, encourages you to attend an Oct. 24 workshop at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center that will provide valuable tips about protecting your personal safety and residential security:

It’s a fact: Crime (especially robberies and burglaries) spikes in the winter, often shortly after Daylight Saving Time ends. Last winter’s robbery spree was especially frightening, but it was not an anomaly — robberies continue to be a problem around SF, and they are consistently more violent than they used to be. This is a great time to think about personal safety, especially because many of us will be commuting to/from work in the dark.

Moreover, there are concrete steps we can take to improve the security of our houses and the lighting for pedestrians on our streets. Furlishous Wyatt from SFSAFE will be leading the session, and he’s great – he’s been doing this for 30 years and is extremely knowledgeable. Someone from SFPD will be on hand to answer questions as well. Let’s make Bernal as unappealing to criminals as possible.

For those needing additional enticements, there will be food and drink, and we’ll be raffling off a new Dropcam Pro, which is a wifi-enabled home security camera (I have two and can vouch for them).

The workshop is free, but we only have room for 90 Bernalese, so we encourage people to sign up ASAP to reserve a space.

To RSVP, send your name to info@bernalGOteam.org.

Sunday Sunday Sunday!!! It’s Fiesta on the Hill 2013!!!

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

Fiesta on the Hill 2012

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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, canines and felines, it’s that festive time of the year on Cortland this Sunday as our main drag is transformed into an urban playland for the 2013 Fiesta on the Hill!

VoicesPlaces stole my photo for their write-up about the Fiesta, so I’ll steal their text. Fair trade!

Bernal Heights celebrates its 25th annual Fiesta on the Hill street festival, bringing together the neighborhood’s diverse residents to enjoy the collective culture of the area. The neighborhood is known for its many young families, and home to generations of Latino, Filipino, African-American, and Chinese families. The all-day, family-friendly festival will include live music from Orquesta Borinquen, varieties of Latin food, face painting, pumpkin carving, salsa lessons, and even a petting zoo with pony rides for the little ones. 20,000 local participants are expected. The festival also serves as a fundraiser benefiting the local Neighborhood Center.

Adam from the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center also shared the musical lineup with us, along with some administrative notes:

11:40-12:25 – Collision
12:45-1:40  – Curtis Bumpy
2:00-3:00 – Paul Griffiths and the Scofflaw 3
3:20-4:35 – Makru
5-6 – Orquesta Borinquen

Also, As director of membership and development at BHNC I would be remiss if I didn’t say Fiesta is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and if people want to make a gift in honor of this awesome event they can do so right here.

PHOTOS: 2011 & 2012 Fiesta on the Hill by Telstar Logistics

Saturday: Celebrate El Rio’s 35th Birthday Party

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Every time I find myself standing in the back patio at El Rio on warm afternoon, with a colorful canvas of happy, booty-shaking humanity sprawled out front of me, I am reminded that El Rio is a true Bernal Heights treasure.

The weather is expected to be warm this weekend, which is great because El Rio will be celebrating it’s 35th (!!!!) anniversary, and you’re invited to the party:

Hello Good Local People!

We are celebrating our birthday party this Sat Oct 19th. It’s a free party to celebrate all the little and good things in our world. Thanks Much- Dawn

PS – We are still looking for partially clothed sailors if you have any leads in that arena…

YOU are invited to join us as we turn a damn fine 35 years!!

The details-
Party 3p-2a Live Bands, Dj’s, Burlesque, Games and Prizes
Half off ALL drinks 3-5p
Complimentary BBQ w Jackie and Dee 4-7p
Cake… There must be CAKE 7p
Rockey’s Fry Bread 8p onward

Shake It Booty Band 8p
shELO 7p
Queen Crescent 6p
Los Trainwreck w/Bad Mommies and Ben Fong-Torres 5p
Sang Matiz 4p
Red Hots Burlesque
DJ’s- Tom and Amy(Hard French), Stanley Frank(DayTime Realness), Forest Juziuk(Rippers), Ron(House), Emotions(Friday Live). Josh(Radical Vinyl)

El RIO
3158 Mission St/Precita
21+

UPDATE: If you’d like to go back in time beyond just 35 years, rebel blogger Burrito Justice did a terrific post on the history of the land on which El Rio now stands. It’s detailed, has lots of maps and graphics, and is wonderfully geekolicious.

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PHOTO: The patio at El Rio, by Conformer

Next Week’s Flipboard Wine Tasting Event Will Be a Bernal Heights Love Fest

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As many readers know, your Bernalwood editor works by day at Flipboard, the stone cold sexy news app for iOS and Android.

Next Wednesday, Oct. 23, Flipboard will sponsor a wine-tasting event with Alder Yarrow, Bernal’s oenophile-in-residence, who will guide us through a wine tour.

To complete the Circle of Bernaliciousness, we’re also holding the event at the wonderful Hillside Supper Club on Precita Park, where Chef Tony will prepare a special menu to accompany the wines.

Tickets are just $10, with limited availability, so here’s the complete 411:

[Let’s] get together again in San Francisco for an evening of impressive wine, gourmet food and collaborative magazine-making on Wednesday, October 23 at 5:30 pm.

Alder Yarrow, creator of the Vinography blog (and its companion Flipboard magazine), will guide us through a series of pours, complimented by light food prepared by the talented chefs at the Hillside Supper Club in Bernal Heights.

Along the way, we’ll also co-curate a Flipboard magazine to collect information about the wines and our evening spent sharing them.

It’ll be a delicious evening, so we hope you can attend

All-inclusive tickets for this event are $10, but only 20 spaces are available, so register now.

Tonight: Special Bernal-Only Soft Launch Opening at New “Holy Water” Bar on Cortland

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The former Stray Bar is reopening tonight, under new ownership, with an all-new interior, and a brand-new name. Your Bernalwood editor snapped the photos you see above during a speedy drive-by visit last week.

From here on out, the bar shall be known as Holy Water.

Hmm. Yes.

Micheal Goebel, one of the co-owners of the new establishment, has kindly extended an invitation to all Citizens of Bernalwood to stop by this evening for a special Bernal-only soft-launch celebration:

We thought it would be a cool idea to host a neighborhood-only soft opening for everyone. We will do some hosted beer and wine for a couple hours.

For those who are so inclined, you will be pleased to know that Holy Water is already on the Foursquare, for your check-in convenience.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Tonight: “Gay Pasta Night” at Precita Park Cafe

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Need a tasty dinner option tonight? Miss Dana from the Precita Park Cafe invites you to “Gay Pasta Night”:

We are hosting a “Gay Pasta Night” at the cafe on Tuesday, October 8. We’ll serve homemade pasta, and portions of the proceeds will be going to Project Open Hand. This is in response to Barilla Pasta taking a stance against the GLBT community.

Bernalwood and our Cub Reporter are fans of both pasta and gay rights, so we plan to dine at PPC tonight. We will also try to ignore the fact that “Gay Pasta Night” feels a little like the title of a “Portlandia” sketch.

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PHOTO: Precita Park Cafe sign by Scott Schiller.

Sunday: Rebel Cartographer Burrito Justice Celebrates “Bike to Books” Map Project

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When he’s not fomenting insurrection, agitating for territorial autonomy, or weaponizing Mexican food, Burrito Justice,  Chief Rebel Spokeblogger for the La Lenguans, also likes to dabble in cartography and map-making. He usually deploys these skills to foment heated arguments about micro-hood territorial boundaries, but recently he applied them in the cause of art… and bicycling.

Working with City Lights Bookstore, Burrito Justice created a Bikes to Books map to celebrate the 25th anniversary of City streets renamed after San Francisco authors and artists — and plot a route for cyclists who want to visit them all.

He invites all  Oppressors Citizens of Bernalwood to join in the fun on Sunday, October 6 for a bike ride and/or map party at City Lights:

Bikes to Books
October 6, 11 am bike tour, and 2 pm reading/anniversary party

City Lights books, Nicole Gluckstern, and Burrito Justice announce the publication release party for their collaborative bike map/tour: “Bikes to Books,” Sunday October 6 at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, celebrating with a bike tour and a reading in Jack Kerouac Alley.

Combining San Francisco history, art, literature, cycling, and urban exploration,  “Bikes to Books” began as an homage to the 1988 street-naming project spearheaded by City Lights founder and former San Francisco Poet Laureate, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, in which twelve San Francisco streets were renamed for famous artists and authors who had once made San Francisco their home.  Twenty-five years after the street-naming proposal was passed by the then the Board of Supervisors, local author and city cyclist Nicole Gluckstern devised a bike route connecting all twelve streets into a comprehensive bike tour, and enlisted avid amateur historian Burrito Justice for the creation of an interactive, multi-functional map, recently published in an abridged form in The San Francisco Bay Guardian. The two-sided, full color map published in collaboration with City Lights, is appropriate for use as a navigational tool, a history lesson, and a unique work of art in its own right.

Bike Tour details for October 6:
Meet on the North side of Jack London Street at South Park from 10:30 am.
Tour will commence at 11:00 am sharp.
Tour will end at approximately 2 pm outside City Lights Bookstore, at Jack Kerouac Alley in North Beach.
Cost = Free! (bring your own water/snacks)

Reading details for October 6:
Meet in Jack Kerouac Alley from 2-4 pm for a celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Street-naming project and a release party for “Bikes to Books” map, sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Cost = Free!

IMAGE: Bikes to Books map detail, via Burrito Justice

Saturday: J. Serra Elementary 3rd Annual RockaPalooza Benefit

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It’s that junior-rockstar time of year, as the parents from J. Serra Elementary School on Holly Park will hold their annual RockaPalooza benefit again this Saturday, Oct. 5.

Neighbor Karen tells Bernalwood:

This is our third annual fundraiser at Thee Parkside (17th and Wisconsin in Potrero). This year we have Gone to Ground headlining. Gone to Ground is fronted by iconic Mia Simmons of legendary SF all-girl punk band Frightwig.

We also have a band called the Seagulls,  fronted by our own Bernal dad, Jon Brooder (otherwise known as Martha Brooder’s husband/ George and Sydney’s dad). Finally, our opening band is Demon Dogs: One James Lick (Gaby) and two Buena Vista 6th graders;  Strummer and Mateo, all Bernal kids.

This should be a fun event! This is a “happy hour” show, TOTALLY KID-FRIENDLY We will have arts and crafts on the tables out on the patio, the kitchen will be serving up tater-tots and mac and cheese, burgers, etc. We will have a bake sale to help raise additional money. Good times for all.

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 5.

Thursday: Celebrate the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center’s 35th Birthday

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Here’s something worth celebrating: The invaluable Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center is having a 35th birthday party on Thursday night, October 3, from 6-8 pm:

Since 1978, BHNC has worked to preserve and enhance ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity. And with your help, we will be a part of the community for years to come.

Come join us at LEGACY: 35 YEARS OF BUILDING COMMUNITY, Thursday, October 3rd, 6-8 pm, @ BHNC’s 515 Cortland Ave. building. This will be an evening of good friends, good food, music, and stories from people who have been key to BHNC’s success SINCE 1978!

Even if you can’t attend the party, you can still donate to help BHNC continue it’s mission.

PHOTO: The original BHNC crew from 1978, via BHNC.

Thursday: Vigil for Christy Svanemyr, Victim in Holly Park Death

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A group of Bernal neighbors have organized to hold a vigil for Christy Svanemyr, the wife, mother, and Zen monk who died on on Sept. 5 after she was was run over by a Recreation and Park vehicle in Holly Park.

The vigil will happen on Thursday, October 3rd at 5 pm, in Holly Park near Highland Ave.  Here are the complete details, from the announcement:

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PHOTO: Top, flowers placed at the site where Christy Svanemyr was killed, photographed on Saturday, Sept 7 by Telstar Logistics.