HNA News: Work Party Sun 9/10, Play Date, A's Baseball & Fireworks, "Dog" Walk Schedule & More

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Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter*

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In This Newsletter

1. Work Party in Halcyon Commons Park, Sunday, Sept. 10, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

2. Kids' Play Date, Sunday, Sept. 10, 10 a.m.- Noon at Halcyon Commons (and Note re Babysitting Club)

3. Neighbor Organizing Ticket Block for A's Baseball and Fireworks on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7:05 p.m.

4. Nighttime Neighborhood-Safety "Dog" Walks: Upcoming Schedule

5. Tenth Anniversary Celebration Planning Committee Meeting, Thursday, Sept. 7, 7:30-8:30 p.m.

6. Crime Watch: Direct Dial Numbers for Police 

The weeding work party happening this coming Sunday morning is a chance for you to "give back" if you appreciate what we've been doing to improve our neighborhood. It's also another great way to meet your neighbors in a relaxed setting. Please come out and pitch in: "Many hands makes light work." Your help, even for half an hour, is very heartening to those of us who organize these efforts. (Also note the Kids' Play Date being organized in the park for the same time frame, making it easy to help out even if you have active children.) Hope to see you Sunday!

-Nancy Carleton, HNA Co-Chair and E-Newsletter Editor

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1. Weeding Work Party in Halcyon Commons Park, Sunday, Sept. 10, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Please join us for late summer weeding in Halcyon Commons Park (Halcyon Court at Prince Street) this Sunday. If we have enough helpers, we'll also do trash pickup in the surrounding neighborhood and weed the landscaped barrier at Prince and Deakin.

Light refreshments will be served.

Please bring weeding and pruning tools if you have them (some extra tools will be available for those who don't have them).

Children welcome (and note the Kids' Play Date listed in Item 2).

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2. Kids' Play Date, Sunday, Sept. 10, 10 a.m.- Noon at Halcyon Commons (and Note re Babysitting Club)

We'll be having a kids' play date during the next gardening event Sunday, Sept. 10th, from 10 a.m. to noon in Halcyon Commons Park (Halcyon at Prince).  So far I know of over 20 kids aged 1-11 in our neighborhood, and I bet there are more!  Come meet other kids and families for impromptu play dates that don't require getting in a car!  Bring Frisbees, balls, art supplies, or whatever sounds fun for your kids.  Families with older kids who are potential babysitters are encouraged, too. We'll also be gathering ideas for kids' activities at the upcoming Halcyon Commons Tenth Anniversary Party.

 

For those of you who are interested, ask about a babysitting club.  The idea is to get about 8 families together.  Each Saturday we'll have the parents of 2 families watch all the kids while the parents of 6 families get to go out on dates.  Bottom line,  in exchange for committing to babysit once/month (hosting once every other month), you'll get free babysitting for a date night 3 times/month.  We'd probably start about 4:30 p.m. and pick up all the kids by 9:30 to get them to bed.  Our daughter is 7, so ideally we're looking for kids near that age, but can be as flexible as other families want to be on ages.

 

For questions or to RSVP on either the play date and/or the babysitting club contact Dawn Trygstad Rubin, familyrubin@comcast.net, 510/843-6306.

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3. Neighbor Organizing Ticket Block for A's Baseball and Fireworks on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7:05 p.m.

Neighbor Dawn Rubin sends the following announcement:

Do you have any baseball and/or fireworks fans in your household?  After the game, bring a blanket down to the field, lay on your back, and watch a terrific fireworks show! I've reserved a block of 60 tickets to the game on Friday, 9/22 starting at 7:05 p.m.  So far I have 10 "reservations" from friends and neighbors; we need 25 confirmations to get the deal described below.

Details include:

Friday, Sept. 22, 7:05 p.m.

Oakland Athletics vs. Angels

McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, CA

Section 104, rows 30-33

 $27/ticket cash or check (sorry, no kids discount)

For questions or to RSVP contact Dawn Trygstad Rubin, familyrubin@comcast.net, 510/843-6306. If you want tickets, RSVP to me NO LATER than this Sunday, Sept. 10. I need to confirm the final number and pay on Monday, Sept. 11. So far I have 10 reservations.

This is a "friend raiser" event for BMS (Berkeley Monessori). There will be an announcement on the score board saying "Welcome Berkeley Montessori and Halcyon fans." You'll get the tickets at the same cost that the A's are selling them to me/BMS. Come meet other families and enjoy a fun evening out at the ballpark.

 

Also: Is anybody interested in a tailgate party beforehand and/or going together on BART?

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4. Nighttime Neighborhood-Safety "Dog" Walks: Upcoming Schedule

Dawn Rubin, HNA Neighborhood Watch Coordinator, who has been working with Pamela Dameron on the Nighttime "Dog" Walks reports:

Pamela Dameron is doing a great job of organizing our "dog" walks several times each week!  We really appreciate the support we are getting from the Berkeley Police Department. The next few "scheduled" walks are:

* Sunday, Sept. 10, 9 p.m. (meet at Halcyon Commons Park, corner of Prince/Halcyon)

* Friday, Sept 15, 10 p.m. (meet at Chochmat Halev, corner of Prince/Fulton)

* Thursday, Sept. 21, 9:30 p.m. (meet at Halcyon Commons Park, corner of Prince/Halcyon)

* Saturday, Sept. 30, 9 p.m. (meet at Halcyon Commons Park, corner of Prince/Halcyon)

* Friday, Oct. 6, 10 p.m. (meet at Chochmat Halev, corner of Prince/Fulton)

* Sunday, Oct. 15, 9 p.m.  (meet at Halcyon Commons Park, corner of Prince/Halcyon)

* Friday, Oct. 20, 10 p.m. (meet at Chochmat Halev, corner of Prince/Fulton)

* Thursday, Oct. 26, 9:30 p.m. (meet at Halcyon Commons Park, corner of Prince/Halcyon)

Come walk for exercise, chat to get to know your neighbors, and learn what is going on in our neighborhood (no dog required)!

 

Several walks were held over Labor Day weekend: 10 p.m. Friday, 10 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 a.m. Saturday night/Sunday morning. I have been on 5 of the walks, and I'm estimating that well over a dozen have happened since National Night Out on August 1.  There is a pretty active group of about 15 neighbors going on various nights --  some scheduled and some impromptu.  For more information, and/or to get on the announcement e-mail list for impromptu walks, send an e-mail to  usasleigh@sbcglobal.net (Pamela Dameron).

 

For these "dog" walks we walk around the neighborhood, talking (quietly), getting to know one another, and building community.  Being out also lets potential criminals know we care about our neighborhood and we're paying attention to what happens here.  The idea is to have at least 3 people on each walk. Not having enough people may not be safe, so we won't go if there are not at least 3 people. Under no circumstances will we do anything that would endanger us or anyone.  We will give a friendly greeting to everyone we see  --  these are all our neighbors, whether they live here or not.  With youth, we will be particularly aware of the fact that these are "our kids" and our future, and it's up to us to look after them in a loving way so that they don't take a dangerous path. People  bring dogs if they have them (for fun, dog exercise, and safety).  NO DOG IS REQUIRED. You can be like me and just enjoy others' dogs for the walk.

 

Saturday night/ Sunday morning at 2:30 a.m. we had a lovely walk with 4 humans and 2 dogs.  This was the most eventful one so far.  On our way to BART, we saw a white pick-up truck waiting with the engine running at the corner of Essex and Shattuck; it was still there as we walked back from BART.  As we walked up Essex from Tremont, the truck drove off.  Later we saw the same truck driving around the neighborhood at Prince and Wheeler.  Since there have been some catalytic converters stolen and tires slashed/punctured lately we called the non-emergency number for the police.  Although the dispatcher said our beat copy was busy with another incident in the area, a police car did a "drive-by" within 15 minutes of our calling.

 

Friday night we were thrilled to see an officer doing paperwork in her car on Essex at the corner of Shattuck in front of the Octopus Garden.  She was extremely friendly; unfortunately I didn't have a piece of paper with me at the time and have forgotten her name (the dispatcher said it was likely Officer Griselda Ferrera #75).  We particularly appreciated her sharing some info. about recent armed robberies in our area; she said they seem to be a group of about 3 youths, working at night, robbing mostly young women on the west side of Ashby BART. Sucha Banger (owner of Black & White) reported the next day that he'd heard of the robberies and that a woman had come into his store one evening recently because her purse had been snatched from her just outside Black & White Liquors and she wanted to call the police.  Police Chief Doug Hamilton reports that the heaviest crime in Berkeley is always in the "South of Campus area, in September and October."  So everybody please stay safe and don't walk around alone.

 

A few weeks ago we had a walk at 2:30 a.m. on a Sunday and also met a very friendly officer. We were lucky that Mac (don't know his last name or badge number) had time to chat with us for quite a while. We discussed an issue at the church on Telegraph at the corner of Prince; people go back into the dark area between buildings, hop the short fence onto the roof of the adjacent building, and then go back into the Model School area --  possibly to sleep and/or do drugs. 

For more information and to get the schedule for the future (plus to confirm the dates listed here and let us know you're coming), contact Pamela Dameron <usasleigh@sbcglobal.net>. (Remember: No dog required to participate!)

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5. Tenth Anniversary Celebration Planning Committee Meeting, Thursday, September 7, 7:30-8:30 p.m.

HNA Co-Chair John Steere sends the following announcement of the rescheduled Tenth Anniversary Celebration Planning Committee meeting:

Join us to plan the 10th anniversary Party of Halcyon Commons (late September/early October). By spending a couple of hours between now and the event, you can help make this a truly memorable celebration!

Note re Date of Celebration: The Tenth Anniversary event is being rescheduled from 9/24 to the following weekend (most likely Sunday, 10/1) due to conflicts with the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Details to follow in a future E-Newsletter.

Planning Meeting

When: Thursday, September 7 , 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Where:  Home of John and Michelle Thelen Steere, 2329 Webster

What:  Scope out program and needs for the 10 -year celebration (music, speakers, invitees, kids' activities, food, etc.)

Call John at 849-1969 or email <jsteere@igc.org> to confirm. (Even if you can't make the Thursday meeting, your willingness to task on a specific volunteer task can help make the event a success. Email your willingness to John.)

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6. Crime Watch: Direct Dial Numbers for Police

A note from HNA Neighborhood Watch Coordinator Dawn Rubin:

Several people have specifically requested the direct-dial contact numbers for the Berkeley police. I suggest that people program the numbers into their cell phones. In most cases cell phone 911 calls go to the Highway Patrol (or SF police dept. for phones with 415 #); it can be frustrating and time-consuming to wait for them to transfer to Berkeley Police while hoping they get it right.  So . . .

    510/981-5911: direct dial for Berkeley emergencies ONLY (fire and police)

    510/ 981-5900: direct dial for NON-emergency calls

    843-2677 (THE-COPS): anonymous crime reporting line (drug and liquor issues mostly)

Note that SF and Oakland and most other cities also have direct-dial numbers.

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The Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter:  The HNA E-Newsletter forwards occasional crime watch notices as well as announcements about events of interest to neighbors in the Ashby/Telegraph/Woolsey/Adeline area of south Berkeley, including community-building potlucks, greening projects, disaster preparedness meetings, and work parties in Halcyon Commons Park. If you're receiving this email, either you signed up at a neighborhood event or a neighbor may have forwarded it to you. Please note that to prevent spam, HNA always uses bcc and does not share your email address with third parties. If you wish to be removed from this list, please reply to HNA Co-Chair Nancy Carleton/Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com>. Please feel free to pass the HNA E-Newsletter on to other neighbors you think might be interested.

HNA Listserve:  If you would like to receive messages (and participate in discussions) on the HNA Listserve, please reply to Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com> indicating your interest, and you will receive an invitation to join.

HNA Blog:  If you would like to view previous newsletters online (and comment via a blog format), please visit http://halcyoncourt.blogspot.com/

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