It’s that cathartic time of year again… time to purge all the excess crap in your life by selling it off to some other sucker bargain-hunter during the annual Bernal Heights Hillwide Garage Sale.
This year the hillwide sale will happen on Saturday, August 10, 2013 — SOON! — and Bernal neighbor Michael Minson has been leading the charge on the organizational effort. If you want to participate, get registered and get on the map.
Neighbor Michael says:
The Hillwide Elves have been feverishly working to get the 2013 Hillwide Garage Sale website, Paypal collector, map, posters, communications, and social media outreach kicked into gear.
We’ve had a few neighbors reach out from our save the date announcement, but now we’re all ready to kick it into high gear.
We’re asking Bernal neighbors to tweet and instagram their sale items using the #Hillwide2013 hashtag.
100% of the proceeds go to the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center – it’s their 35th anniversary!
You can register for the 2013 Hillwide Garage sale on the spiffy new website.
The sexxxxy interactive map shows the current list of garage sale locations (and if the past is any guide, it will become much more crowded in the days ahead).
For wannabe bargain hunters, Bernalwood will post updated information on garage sale locations the week before the sale. Until then, here’s a preview of the glamorous 2013 Bernal Heights Hillwide Garage Sale poster:
Speaking of Bernal celebrities… Neighbor Joseph Blum is a professional photographer who lives on the north side of Folsom Street. He was a boilermaker and welder for 25 years before he took up the camera, but his roots shine through in his photos, which capture the technical craftsmanship required to build large-scale, industrial infrastructure.
Fortuitously, then, Neighbor Joe has worked with Caltrans for more than a decade to document the construction of the new Eastern Span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. His photographs of the project are stunning, yet they are also intimate and iconic in a way that will be treasured by historians and infrastructure geeks for many decades to come.
That’s why we beamed with neighborly pride when Neighbor Joe sent us a note to invite all Citizens of Bernalwood to come see his Bay Bridge photos:
I have two exhibits now which honor and document the workers who have built the new East Span of the Bay Bridge.
I have lived on Bernal since 1975 and I have been photographing the construction of the new bridge since 1998. I have spent a lot of time out on the bridge, and it is always great to look out from top of the new tower at our beautiful Bernal Hill, where I often walk to renew and relax and view the rising of the moon.
(SIDE NOTE: Bernal does look rather glamorous from that angle, doesn’t it?)
Anyhow, you can see some of Neighbor Joe’s Bay Bridge work online, and here the details on the exhibits where you can see his mind-blowing photos in person.
He has a show up right now in City Hall (!!!), with an artist reception happening tomorrow, July 11:
San Francisco City Hall, ground floor
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
Free and open to the public.
Then, in August, his second show will open:
A View from the Bridge: Documenting the Construction of the Skyway and Foundations of the New East Span of the Bay Bridge 1998–2005
Black and White Photographs by Joseph A. Blum
August 3 – October 3, 2013
Opening Reception, Harvey Milk Photo Center
Saturday, August 3, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Harvey Milk Photo Center
50 Scott St San Francisco, CA 94117 • (415) 554–9522
Tuesday – Thursday: 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
*Please call ahead for viewing. Gallery is closed on Sunday, Monday & Friday.
Plans are afoot to beautify the La Lengua homeland by redeveloping the streetscape around Valencia Street between Mission and Cesar Chavez Boulevard, as well as Tiffany, 29th, and Duncan Streets.
The effort has been undertaken by SFPUC, the SF Planning Department, and SF Department of Public Works. The project website is here, and there’s a community open house scheduled for this Tuesday, July 9, to review proposals. Here are the deets:
We want your input on the SFPUC Mission and Valencia Green Gateway! Join us anytime during the Community Open House to provide your feedback on the project design and review the expanded project area to bring more stormwater benefits and streetscape improvements from Valencia to neighboring streets of Tiffany, 29th, Duncan, and San Jose.
Our doors will be open between 4:00 – 8:00pm, and the project team will be giving 10-15 minute presentations every 30 minutes (4:30pm, 5:00pm, 5:30pm, 6:00pm, 6:30pm, 7:00pm, and 7:30pm) to briefly summarize public feedback and discuss the expanded project site and design concepts.
See how the public input from the first open house and online helped to shape the project concepts.
Provide feedback on the design concepts and green infrastructure for streetscapes and plazas at Mission & Valencia and Valencia & Tiffany.
Help shape planning for the expanded project area to neighboring streets: Tiffany, 29th Street, Duncan and San Jose.
Speak one-on-one with the project team – a partnership of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, SF Department of Public Works, SF Municipal Transportation Agency, and SF Planning Department.
IMAGE: Rendering of proposed Mission/Valencia intersection improvements, via SFPUC
One of the many things that makes Bernal Heights rather awesome is the fact that the people who live here are actively engaged in our community. Witness the formation of the new Bernal GO Team, a group of neighbors who have organized to take on various projects around Bernal Heights on an as-needed basis.
The Bernal GO Team will deploy for the first time on Saturday, July 6 at 10 am to tidy up Bernal Hill after the inevitable revelry that will take place there on July Fourth, and you are invited to participate.
The best explanation is our tagline: Neighbors in Action. We tackle quick-strike projects to make life a little bit better in the neighborhood. Come meet your neighbors and be part of Bernal’s long history of community activism and action. Sleep well at night knowing that you’ve worked to keep our neighborhood amazing. We’re a grass-roots group and not affiliated with any organization, though we’re happy to help other neighborhood groups with their projects.
How do I join?
Anyone can join the GO Team – just show up for a project! You can work on a single project or more. Look for announcements on the new BernalBernal calendar, follow us on Twitter, and check out our website.
Join the GO Team in Action!
July 6 Bernal Hill Cleanup
Our fair Bernal Hill has amazing views – which means it attracts a crowd on July 4. There’s always a great deal of detritus left over after the official and unofficial July 4 celebrations – fireworks, wrappers, bottles, cans, etc.
Let’s keep our Hill healthy and clean by meeting to pick up the garbage. As with all Bernal GO Team projects, you’ll also get to meet your neighbors and know that you are part of what makes this neighborhood great.
THE DETAILS:
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Meet at 10am at the south gate/entrance, which is just west of the intersection of Anderson and Bernal Heights Blvd. We will be done by 12 noon at the latest.
Bring work gloves and a couple of garbage bags – and bring extras if you have them so that you can share with anyone who doesn’t but who wants to help.
This should be OK for school-aged kids, but please keep an eye on them – there will likely be broken glass, used fireworks, or other potentially dangerous items.
USE COMMON SENSE. Avoid steep slopes or anything that looks unsafe, and stay on paths as much as possible to avoid damaging fragile plant life. Rec & Park can follow up to remove any debris we are unable to clean up safely.
UPDATE:This post has been renamed, with credit due to Artifact Productions for the brilliant title.
The piano that appeared on Bernal Hill late last week had a magical effect upon our neighborhood. Almost instantly, the piano became a venue for ad hoc performances by local pianists, so there was much sadness when the City’s Department of Public works responded with atypical alacrity and hauled off the hilltop piano on Friday afternoon.
The removal of the piano was made worse by the fact that a group of pianists had planned to stage a formal recital on Bernal Hill on Friday evening. But in the spirit of “the show must go on,” a backup piano appeared on Bernal Hill just in time for the Golden Hour recital, and by all accounts it turned out to be a magnificent evening of music, good cheer, fireworks, and beautiful urban scenery.
Three hours before the recital is supposed to begin, it’s gotten out of control. Over 100 people have RSVP’d, and we’ve all invited other friends, too. Then the worst happens– we’re sitting in my RV working when Todd starts getting texts from every corner of the earth.
“The Piano is Gone.”
Some people might call off the event. Others might substitute a keyboard or some other lesser instrument. Not Todd. He’s on the phone with everyone on Craigslist selling a piano as well as several music shops. He finds a deal on a passable one and flies over to Oakland on his motorcycle to go rent a truck and bring it back over.
Right on time, fifteen minutes before the show is to begin, he pulls up to a dozen of us waiting, dressed in suits and tuxedos, ready to push the piano up the hill.
We offload the piano and repeat the process from two nights prior. Bernal Heights once again has a piano. As it should.
The joy of living in San Francisco is experiencing those magical moments that couldn’t happen in any other city. Tonight’s piano recital was one of those moments. When the first song was played, there were twenty people or so watching. By the end there must have been two hundred.
There were old people, young people, tech people, and people with face tattoos. Everyone sat on blankets or on the grass, listening to the pianists play. There was jazz improv and there was Rachmaninov. Jodi from tap twice tea brought a tea table out and served people oolong by candlelight. Passerbys walking with families and dogs stopped and enjoyed the music. The sun set over the city as we all sat there listening.
All of a sudden, during a rousing jazz piece, a firework exploded low over our heads. Then another and another. Someone lower down on the hill was providing a rogue fireworks display. People cheered. It was stunning, but it was also a beacon to the police.
Fifteen minutes later, the park ranger has made his way to the piano and is trying to stop the playing. It’s not working, because he’s not quite mean enough to slam the cover on the pianist’s hands. So classical music floats through the air as the finer points of symphonic law are discussed.
The piano continues. It’s hard to stop it, really. You can’t take the piano or unplug it. Finally Todd and Joe take responsibility for the piano and go to the back to get citations written and try to negotiate.
In the end, some sort of agreement is reached. The police and ranger remain for another twenty or thirty minutes of music, supervise the removal of the piano, and even enjoy a round of applause from the audience for their understanding. Everyone is happy. As we roll the piano down the hill, one last song is played by a crabwalking pianist.
This wonderful video from ronaegis gives a terrific sense of the event:
Here’s another from ArtifactProductions:
And a third by Max Cowan, after the sun went down:
Here’s a compilation video, which dubs the event “The Great Bernal Heights Renegade Piano Recital” (and thus wins a nomenclature award). Let it be known as The Great Bernal Heights Renegade Piano Recital forever on:
There’s been a lot happening with the Bernal Heights Library art project of late. The mural on the eastern side of the library was recently completed (check it, above), and yesterday there was a raffle to raise funds for the artwork proposed for the library’s southern, playground-facing side.
But wait…. What will they do with that raffle money? And what will the proposed artwork look like?
Neighbor Brandon is a member of the Bernal Library Art Project Task Force, and he invites all interested Bernalese to participate in a set of meetings that start this weekend to discuss the proposal for the library’s southern facade:
BERNAL LIBRARY ART PROJECT: PHASE 2 — Playground Wall
COMMUNITY MEETINGS – EVERYONE IS WELCOME!
The second and final phase of the Bernal Library Art Project is being launched this summer.
The Bernal Library Art Project Task Force invites you to:
Meet Johanna Poethig, the artist selected to design and implement the project. This is Johanna:
Engage with the artist and other Bernal residents to reflect on Bernal as a community, the library as a resource, and the working concept of the project.
The meetings will be both informative and interactive. The first meeting happens on Saturday, with the second following quickly on Tuesday:
MEETING #1 Saturday, June 22 2:00 – 4:00 pm
MEETING #2 Tuesday, June 25 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Location: Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center
515 Cortland Avenue
Questions? Email bernallibraryartproject @ gmail . com
PHOTOS: Courtesy of Bernal Library Art Project Task Force
Every Bernal Heights schoolchild is taught the tale in school: Tens of thousands of years ago, a sagely race of druids gathered twice a year in the area we now know of as Cortland Avenue for gala celebrations of the season that featured mead, music, and generous offerings provided by the local population of merchants, artisans, and craftdruids.
Today, the Bernal Business Alliance has revived that ancient ritual, marking the arrival of the solstice by hosting a joyous Summer Stroll.
In 2013, the Summer Stroll happens this Thursday, June 20, from 6 – 9 pm on Cortland Avenue. Our local merchants will be out to provide smiles and snacks, the Gary Zellerbach Duo will be playing jazz at the Inclusions Gallery, and the sidewalks of Cortland will be transformed into a glamorous fashion runway for all the modern-day druids of Bernalwood to see and be seen.
Kids, canines, and visiting flatlanders are welcome; Karl the Fog was not invited (though he may decide to crash the party anyway).
Neighbor Lori Eanes is a photographer and gardener who lives on Precita Avenue. She just published a new book on urban farming, and she’s invited all of Bernalwood to come celebrate:
I’m having a slideshow/book signing for my new book, Backyard Roots, on Thursday May 23rd from 6-7pm at Omnivore Books, 3885 Cesar Chavez St (at Church). I’ll be showing photos from 35 urban farms, with stories and tips from each. Featured farmer Heidi Kooy, who lives in nearby Excelsior, will be on hand with one of her very friendly chickens.
Backyard Roots (Skipstone Press) is about urban farms from San Francisco to Vancouver. It features over 200 photos with stories, tips, and inspiration from each farmer, including 10 Bay Area farmers. Check out the blog for more info.
Start shoveling out your closets and reorganizing your storage spaces, because the 2013 Bernal Heights Hillwide Garage Sale is happening on August 10, and Neighbor Michael encourages you to mark your calendar:
Hello Bernalicious People
The Bernal Hillwide Garage Sale is happening on the 2nd Saturday of August. SAVE THE DATE – AUGUST 10th.
The Hillwide is quite possibly the city’s largest single day garage sale.
It’s easy to participate. All you have to do is put your stuff out in the front of your home and sell it. The Hillwide team will be promoting the event thruout the city.
This year is also the Bernal Neighborhood Center’s 35th anniversary. We’ll be asking for donations to advertise your location on the Official Hillwide Garage Sale Tracker Map and help with advertising. Last year, we had over 44k views on the map and were covered in SFGate, SfFunCheap, Bernalwood, Craigslist and even Broke-a** Stuart. WOAH! That’s a lot of eyeballs!
There are a lot of details to still work out as we’re just starting the planning process now. If you’d like to help out, have some fun and get to know your neighbors better, please email me at mtminson@yahoo.com. We’d especially love some help with creating a poster, getting the word out to the local blogs and newspapers and working out the details of the event.
All volunteers are welcome! We’re having a planning meeting on Tuesday, June 4th at Precita Park Cafe at 630p. Please RSVP so we don’t overwhelm the good folks at the Cafe with a crush of people.
Thanks and I look forward to meeting you!
Michael Minson
Hillwide Garage Sale Leader and Realtor, Zephyr Real Estate
415.606.2625
mtminson@yahoo.com
Ailed Paningbatan from the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center extends this invitation to all ye Citizens of Bernalwood:
Hello Community,
Im sure you all have been seeing flyers around, have heard the buzz around the neighborhood and have seen it on BHNC’s face book page etc. It’s that time of the year again – time for BHNC’s Annual Community Congress! This year, we’ll be focusing on Health and Public Safety.
It will be on Saturday, May 11, 2013 from 9:00am-1:00pm at 515 Cortland. BHNC’s Community Congress has been put together in our neighborhood since the 80’s. It is a space for us to discuss, strategize and create platforms for proactive progress and change in our neighborhoods!
We’re very excited that this year’s Congress is focused on health and public safety, an issue that we all care about and is truly appropriate as we have seen the past year with the sudden uptick of crime in our neighborhoods.
There will be four break-out sessions that will be facilitated by our own community leaders, to help guide some of the work that we will continue to do surrounding health and public safety. One workshop is neighborhood safety organizing led by our very own neighbors and block captains Sarah Rogers, Edie Williams, Martha Stein and Ed Whitmore. This workshop will be focused on some of the projects that have stemmed from our latest hot spot walk such as the lighting campaign, as well as other projects and concerns that the community would like to take on!
Our Public Housing Working Group leaders will be facilitating another workshop on how we can all work together towards a safer unified community, another workshop is by our Youth Department in regards to community policing and police/youth relationships that we have been working on through our annual Youth Summits. Another important workshop is on Senior Health and Public Safety. Did you know that due to the city’s recent budget cut, home bound seniors will no longer be able to receive food deliveries? These are some of the recent issues that are going on that we may not know about, BUT definitely can have a serious effect in our neighborhood, in our families, in our future. WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
We will also get a chance to have a discussion with both Supervisor Campos and Supervisor Avalos during our report back session so they can hear our concerns, ideas, and priorities that we have discussed during our break out session and what type of support we would need from them.
In addition Captain Falvey from Ingleside Station along with his officers will also be there ingrained in our workshop sessions and during the report back as we have been working closely with them in our public safety work.
We will have tabling info sessions from NERT, SF SAFE, BHNC senior and youth services and plan to have Department of Public Works (DPW) and 311 as well. This is also an opportunity for you to engage with your neighbors. The more we know each other, the more we will look out for each other. This is what neighborhoods and communities are all about!
Community Congress is BHNC’s premier event geared towards sharing the progressive work that is going on, and getting community input to guide all of our work in the coming years. I am calling all community members to spend this time with the neighborhood! It is critical that all neighbors are present and that every community is represented. This is our chance to come together and make sure no voice goes unheard. Community Congress is a vehicle that brings the true spirit of collaboration and community to our neighborhood, and we need everyone to get behind the wheel! I am looking forward to seeing you all there!
Breakfast and Lunch is provided!
Should you have any questions please call or email me separately. Happy Tuesday Bernal and Excelsior!
In Solidarity,
Ailed Quijano Paningbatan-Swan
Director of Community Engagement
Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center
Excelsior Community Center
apaningbatan@bhnc.org
(415) 206-2140 x 130
Community Congress 2013 Agenda
9:00 Doors open/ registration/ breakfast
9:30 Opening / Welcome (Ailed and Rachel)
9:40 Community Report (Rachel)
9:50 Youth Video
9:55 Meet the BHNC Board (Rachel / Johanna)
10:10 Introductions to the 4 Break Out/ Action groups
10:25–11:45 Break Out/ Action Groups (at BHNC)
12:00 Break Out Action Groups presentations
Panel Responses to the Break Out/ Action Group presentations
12:30 Open Q&A
12:40 Thank You
Lunch and Community Engagement [Tabling: BHNC, NERT, DPW, SF SAFE, 311]
There is a popular stereotype which says that Bernal Heights is home to a thriving community of Prius-driving treehuggers who treat personal transportation as an expression of their personal virtue.
And to some extent, that’s true.
Yet as even a casual stroll up and down the avenues of Bernal Heights reveals, our eco-conscious neighborhood is also home to a ragtag fleet of very interesting old cars — and the unreconstructed gearheads who love them.
These cars — and the valiant moms and dads who cling to them despite the vagaries of street-parking and the demands of parenthood — deserve celebration too, which is why your neighbors from the Bernal Dads Racing Team have extend an open invitation for one and all to join the 2013 Bernal GT, this Saturday, for a fast-paced half-day of family-friendly motoring.
Neighbor Ben from the Bernal Dads explains:
Announcing the Fourth Annual Bernal GT on Saturday May 11th
(the day before Mothers’ Day!)
Join us for the fourth running of the Bernal GT 100. As in past years, this is a kid friendly (but not kid necessary) run beginning and ending in the vicinity of San Francisco’s Bernal Heights. The Bernal GT is simply a drive, not a race or competition for awards, trophies, or bragging rights.
Bring an old car *or* a newer car with a kid *or* better still– an old car and a kid. If you have something new and interesting that can work too, but no minivans or SUVs unless you’ve stuffed a blown SBC into it or something. This is a free event, and does not cost anything to participate.
There will probably be donuts and coffee when we convene for the start, but no promises.
Details: When: Saturday, May 11, 2013 Time: 9:30am to mid-afternoon Where: A to-be-announced starting point in San Francisco, and later returning to Bernal Heights. Length: Somewhere between 80 and 120 Miles Cost: Free! We are looking for the following:
– Cars from 1980 model year or older preferred. Any condition. – If you have kids 17 years or younger and/or kids in car seats, the 1980 rule can be waived. In which case, you still should try to bring a fun or interesting car.
– Rare and/or exotic cars from 1981 model year and newer welcome.
Neighbor Kim Laidlaw lives on Folsom near the Alemany Farmer’s Market, and she just published a new cookbook for parents with kids who lead active lifestyles called Baby and Toddler On the Go: Fresh, Homemade Foods to Take Out and About. Neighbor Kim is having a book-launch party at Badger Book (500 Cortland) this Saturday from 3 to 5, and you’re invited:
I am having a launch party for my new cookbook, Baby & Toddler On the Go at Badger Books on Cortland this Saturday May 4th, from 3-5pm. It’s open and welcome to everyone, and I’d really love folks in the neighborhood to come by! I live in Bernal, and the photographer of the book, Thayer Allyson Gowdy, also lives here in Bernal.
Bonus: Here’s a video of Neighbor Kim’s daughter commuting to work at a Bernal playground. Cuuuuuuuuuuute:
This rockin’ event will feature a jumpy house, homemade food from our diverse parent population, a dunk tank so we can dunk our principal and various teachers, dancing, a beauty salon, games and an impressive raffle (drawing will be at 2 p.m., need not be present to win!). Come on down and support your local elementary school. 625 Holly Park Circle, Bernal Heights, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Bernalwood 