News from the Glen Park Association

Rich Craib at the Little Red Hen community garden on Diamond Heights

By Murray Schneider

Later this year Diamond Heights resident, Richard Craib, steps down as president of the 130-member Friends of Glen Canyon Park, a position he has held for 15 years.

Craib, 71, a native San Franciscan, was raised in the Sunset District and a 1958 graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School. He has lived with his wife, Sandi, on Turquoise Way since 1962. His backyard abuts canyon slopes dotted with wildflowers and carpeted with native grasses, and early on he became familiar with its critters and riparian ecology, passing on his appreciation to his two children, his two grandchildren and countless recreational users who have all come to share its tranquility.

“My backyard opened up onto nature,” he said. “It gave my children a wonderful sense of the outdoors.”

On a typical San Francisco overcast day, Craib stood among the thriving gardens at The Little Red Hen Community Garden at Duncan Street and Amber Drive and reminisced.

His now 52-year old son translated boyhood reveries bending beneath willow limbs and running beside Islais Creek into becoming a plant salesman and a lifetime naturalist. “Michael developed his interest in botany from playing in the canyon,” said Craib, who spent his own career in the construction business.

As he contemplates passing his presidential baton to a successor this spring, Craib takes pride in educating the public about San Francisco’s 70-acre natural area. “I’ve scheduled spider, geology, bird and wildflower walks,” he said. For four years running he organized Nature Fest, an ongoing tutorial program for nursery and grade school children. Rarely without a camera, he has also published two colorful wildlife brochures. One pictures the canyon’s many native and migratory birds and the other depicts the natural area’s profusion of colorful wildflowers.

“Rich knows his plants and flowers,” said Mary Huizinga, who lives on Laidley Street and is one of ten Friends of Glen Canyon Park volunteers who routinely work each Wednesday with Recreation and Parks Natural Areas managers to maintain the canyon’s diverse habitat.

“He’s the backbone of the Friends,” said Steve Uchida, another Wednesday volunteer, who lives on Diamond Street and is a retired postal worker.

Craib’s history with the canyon goes further back than his 50 years living in Diamond Heights. The Works Progress Administration hired his grandfather, William Craib, a building contractor, to assist building the Great Depression–era Glen Park Recreation Center situated at the entrance to the canyon.

Since those days the canyon has seen its share of change. “When we moved up here there were many more squirrels, skunks, opossums, even ground nesting quail,” he said. “Feral cats and the great number of dogs have taken their toll.”

56 foot cedar rail fence built by Richard Craib and Friends of Glen Canyon Park.

Arguably, Craib’s most tangible Glen Canyon legacy is a 56-foot split rail cedar fence that protects reintroduced California native plants adjacent to Islais Creek. The fence can be fully appreciated on the west side of the creek, along Willow Loop Trail, just north of Silver Tree Day Camp.

Back in 2008, Craib superintended a corps of volunteers, supervising them as they hauled milled lumber, dug post holes, fashioned horizontal rails and then attached protective wire that prevents unleashed dogs from pawing germinating columbine, pink-flowering current, fringe cup and monkey flower, each in its own way providing sustenance to canyon mammal, insect and avian life. “The fence safeguards Islais Creek from trampling as well as protecting water quality,” said Lisa Wayne, Rec and Parks Natural Areas Manager, four years ago.

It does so much more, though, as anyone who has ever strolled around the creek knows. On a warm day, sunlight peeks through elderberry branches, its rays burnishing Craib’s railings a honeyed brown. When the creek is low in the spring, after the rains, water murmurs past his fence in slow gulps, past spider filaments and lichen that skirt willow bark, and past vocal songbirds sequestered among oak leaves.

If you didn’t know better you’d think you were in the middle of the Sierras, not in the heart of San Francisco. “The fence blends into the natural environment,” observed Lisa Wayne back in 2008, “adding to the visual experience of the canyon.”

Owl House constructed by Richard Craig along Berkeley Way, adjacent to Glen Canyon.

Craib began his stewardship of Glen Canyon clearing French broom from becoming an invasive monoculture. One of his final projects was the construction of four owl houses beneath Crags Court and Berkeley Way for rodent-hunting barn owls.

Modest to a fault, Craib believes his legacy lies not in constructing rustic railings, carpentering owl sanctuaries and combating intrusive weeds that threaten diverse habitat. “I’m proudest of working with neighborhood volunteers,” he said, “and increasing the Friends membership.”

So why leave now? The answer is that he’s not going all that far.  Craib’s simply redirecting his energies up Amber Drive a ways. “I’ve developed another interest,” he said, standing by the Little Red Hen Community Garden monument sitting on Police Academy property. Last May, Craib and police sergeant William Murray spearheaded the Diamond Height’s community garden, which has now grown to 39 plots with and additional 11 waiting to be added in a few months. “That’s 50 gardens,” said Craib, “and there’s still a waiting list of 30 people!”

He strolled among rectangles of lettuce, cabbage and broccoli, bookended by two pristine park benches and a weathered picnic table he also built. He stepped over garden hoses, idle rakes, shovels, and plant pods filled with Mediterranean and drought tolerant native plants, waiting to be planted by a 17-member community work party parallel to another of his patented cedar fences.

In his own four-foot by 12-foot garden he pointed out his plantings. “That’s chard, some snap peas, even artichokes,” he said. “I’m here eight hours a week.”

When he’s not off seeing the rest of the world. He and his wife off to the Himalayas in April and then south to the Santa Barbara’s Channel Islands in June. He’s traveled to every continent in the world, including Antarctica.

But his heart is here in the Canyon. “Richard’s a steward,” noted Dylan Hayes, a Rec and Parks Natural Areas manager and someone who has often worked with Craib. “He’s made Glen Canyon beautiful and a safe oasis, and he’ll never let go of the wheel.”

To the Glen Park community:

The Glen Park community must make its voice heard to assure funding to complete the ambitious plans to improve and preserve Glen Canyon Park. Please join our effort to request that the Glen Park Recreation Center Improvement Plan be part of a planned November 2012 San Francisco recreation and park capital project bond for voter approval.The Recreation and Park Department and the Board of Supervisors will put the park bond list together this spring.

Please send supportive emails, based on the following message on funding for the Park plans. You may of course revise or add to this message.

Additi! onal information on the park plans is posted separately.

The Glen Park Association board of directors thanks everyone for your help.

 The message:

Rpd.bondfeedback@sfgov.org

Dawn.Kamalanathan@sfgov.org

Scott.Wiener@sfgov.org

Dawn Kamalanath! an, Director of Capital Projects and Planning, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department:

Hon. Scott Wiener,Supervisor, District 8:

In 2010 and 2011, RPD and the Trust for Public Land completed a 10-month process to reach a clear consensus on the Glen Park Recreation Center Improvement Plan, to upgrade the playground, the Recreation Center building, tennis courts andplaying fields, and provide safer and attractive access to the RecreationCenter.

About $6 million is available to begin work on the playground, tennis courts, access,and initial improvements to the Rec Center. About $16 million more ne eds to be in place so that the work underway doesn’t stall.

Glen Canyon Park and the Recreation Center serve the whole city, not just the immediate neighborhood, for team sports, family gatherings, meetings and classes in the Rec Center, and the trails in the canyon.

Please put the Glen Park Recreation Center Improvement Plan on the 2012 recreation and parks capital bond ballot.

Thank you.

Chert outcropping in Glen Canyon

If you’re a Glen Canyon Park user living in Sunnyside or Miraloma, this message is for you:

Our supervisors are now considering which SF parks will be eligible for facility improvements in 2014. This Monday, Feb 27th D-7 residents will have an opportunity to influence which parks will be on the priority list. Here’s the meeting information: 

http://sfrecpark.org/calendar.aspx?trumbaEmbed=eventid%3D98830682%26view%3Devent%26-childview%3D

If you’re unable to attend this meeting, we encourage you to contact SF officials in support of Glen Canyon Park improvements. The following is a support letter template for your convenience:

=====

To: 

Supervisor David Chiu <David.Chiu AT sfgov.org>,

Supervisor Sean Elsbernd <Sean.Elsbernd AT sfgov.org>! ;,

Supervisor Scott Wiener <Scott.Wiener AT sfgov.org>,

RPD Director Dawn Kamalanathan <Dawn.Kamalanathan AT sfgov.org>,

Glen Park Association <info AT glenparkassociation.org>,

Glen Canyon Park is not just a neighborhood park. It draws users from the entire city for its ball fields, its gym, hiking trails, etc. The improvement plans for the canyon include day-camp facility upgrades for children from every district in the city, new ADA accessible trails and a renovated stairway to provide safe access to Sunnyside and Miraloma residents in D-7. 

The canyon has become a destination park, in some ways similar to Golden Gate Park. It also has its homeless encampments, which require regular trail maintenance to minimize fire hazards. But it also attracts Mission baseball and soccer players in D-9, Bayview basketball players in D-10 and SOMA rock climbers in D-6.

Glen Canyon Park is a regional facility and needs to be funded to meet the needs of all our neighbors.

Thank you

Glen Park Community Plan ADOPTED!

Hello all,

The Glen Park Community Plan has finally been ADOPTED!  Last Tuesday, the
Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to adopt the Glen Park Community
Plan. The Plan will soon go to the Mayor for his signature and then become
effective shortly thereafter.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who participated in the planning process
and helped to create the Plan. John and I greatly enjoyed working with you
all over the last three years. Whether you attended a meeting, sent email
comments or met with us in person, I hope you feel a sense of ownership in
the Plan. It’s been truly inspiring to work with such an involved and
passionate group of residents. Your care for the health and safety of your
neighborhood is admirable.  I want to especially thank the Glen Park
Association for their dedication to facilitating meaningful dialogue around
the Plan. It is my sincere hope that the Community Plan bring lasting
benefit to Glen Park.

Now that the Plan is adopted, we’re turning our eyes towards
implementation. We’re working closely with our partners at the San
Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and San Francisco County
Transportation Authority (SFCTA) on implementation of the Plan’s pedestrian
and transportation projects. We are also exploring grant opportunities that
would allow us to advance the larger Plan’s vision. More news to come as
things develop.

Congratulations everyone!!

Jon

________________________
Jon Swae
Glen Park Community Plan
SF Planning Department
(415) 575-9069

http://glenpark.sfplanning.org

GLEN PARK VILLAGE FARMERS’ MARKET

I want to give thanks once again to all the Groups,Associations and neighbors for their overwhelming support. Last year was a great success, and this year we have more events and activities planned!

Sunday mornings in Glen Park will not only be the time to shop at the Village Farmers’ Market, but also a place to meet and greet your neighbors.

The Glen Park Village Farmers’ Market will operate at the BART parking lot April 1 – November 25 on Sundays 10am – 2pm

Don’t forget to join us at: www.facebook.com/GlenParkVillageFarmersMarket

See you all there!

Sincerely,

Ric Lopez Glen Park Merchants Association

From a Sunnyside email list:

Coyote Sighting A large coyote was seen around 7:15am this morning wandering through the Sunnyside Rec Center. It entered via the steps at Melrose and was last seen behind the tennis courts. It did not appear to be afraid of humans.

Jimmy Ryan on a set break at Bird and Beckett.

By Murray Schneider

On January 29^th, Jimmy Ryan and his Balboa Be Bop Band performed an encore to their earlier May 19, 2011 gig in the Richmond District’s Balboa Theater. Ryan, 72, and his Generation X jazz band mates warmed up the nearly capacity-filled theater with a rendition of Horace Silver’s “Blowin’ the Blues Away,” and then blew the 190 member audience away with two complete sets.

After Adam Bergeron, owner of the Balboa, tallies up his box office receipts he may not ever have to feel “blue” again about the future of his community-friendly theater, an endangered species given the myriad ways we now receive our entertainment.

“There are as many people here tonight,” said Leslie Rodd, a retired public librarian, “as I’ve seen before.”

Rodd, who lives with her husband, Carl, on Fulton Street and 10^th Avenue, walked two miles to hear Ryan, a fixture at Bird and Beckett’s Friday night jazz scene, and then watch “A Great Day in Harlem,” the 1995 Academy Award nominated documentary that recounts the events surrounding the taking of the iconic 1958 Esquire Magazine photograph of 57 jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie standing on the steps of a Harlem brownstone.

Well, 56 jazz giants were standing: Dizzy sat on a curb, looking very much like a very cool cat, allowing 12 neighborhood kids to mess around with his hat.

Art Kane, a young Manhattan art director and neophyte photographer, choreographed the Smithsonian-worthy photograph. And it was like herding cats, cool or otherwise, trying to cajole each one of the jazz luminaries to hit their marks at 10 A.M. on a summer’s morning at 126^th Street and Madison Avenue.

Headliner and drummer Ryan reminisced after playing his two sets, which were sandwiched between the film and a cartoon at the eclectic Balboa, the last independently owned movie theater in the Richmond.

“Getting my guys together a few minutes before show time,” Ryan joshed about assembling his ensemble that turned up only minutes before curtain time, “was like getting 57 players to stand still in front of a brownstone.”

Leslie Rodd, who often travels to Manhattan to check out jazz at the Village Vanguard and the Blue Note, and whose first husband was a jazz guitarist, was impressed. “The music was high quality and exciting,” she said. “It had a family feel because of Joel Ryan.”

Jimmy Ryan’s son, Joel, played trumpet in a sextet that included Bird and Beckett veterans Danny Grewen and Attila Medveczky, while Rory Ryan, Ryan’s wife, sold raffle tickets in the lobby and verified pre-sold tickets in the 1926-built art deco theater that prides itself on scheduling repertory programming.

Balboa Theater - Jimmy Ryan and "A Great Day in Harlem"

Like Bird and Beckett, which serves as an impromptu third place to Glen Park villagers, the Balboa Theater is more than simply a venue for Leslie and Carl Rodd to watch first-and second-run films.

A veteran librarian, Rodd has often reflected on the salutary nature of public places such as the Balboa. “It has a feel of a good public library,” she said, recalling that pianist Horace Silver donned a T-shirt embossed with ‘Save Books’ while interviewed for the film. “The theater’s inviting and it’s educational and it’s nice to be able to recognize your neighbors here.”

A veteran of many Balboa double bills, Rodd goes to some lengths to support her neighborhood resource, even buying holiday and birthday gift cards for her husband and friends that bundle together five films.

“The Balboa has a sense of the City,” she said, ‘”It tailors movies to San Francisco, not films that may play well in New York.” What the Balboa Theater does, what Jimmy Ryan’s Bird and Beckett Books and Records also does, is what Art Kane intuited over a half-a-century ago.

Both theater and bookstore speak to our need to gather in familiar and comfortable public places with groups of like-minded people. Hovering over a computer, opening a Netflix envelope or stuffing iPod ear buds into our lobes sometimes just doesn’t cut it.

“Art Kane was smart enough,” said Rodd, “to shoot his photograph on the steps of a Harlem brownstone, not in a studio.”

Esquire published Kane’s photo in January 1959 and Kane later concluded without an ounce of false modesty:

“It’s the greatest picture of that era of musicians ever taken.”

Movie patron studying the lobby photograph for Balboa showing of "A Great Day in Harlem."

But, of course, it’s much more than simply a record of 57 sleepy-eyed musicians who rarely rubbed the crust from their eyes before noon. It’s a record of a hip Manhattan neighborhood where people had protean night job playing jazz rifts, but also unvaryingly lived and shopped together, did chores for one another, attended church together, as well as jammed and rehearsed together.

It’s a photograph of not simply 57 jazz idols, all but four of whom are now no longer with us, but of an era and its quintessentially American music and musicians, empathetic and resilient enough to allow 12 children to sidle over to Dizzy Gillespie, the monarch of be bop, and play tug-of-war with his “Mad Men”-era topper.

Leslie Rodd summed it up well as anyone when she cited trumpeter Art Farmer from the “A Great Day in Harlem.” “Farmer said of Young,” Rodd said “that Lester is gone now, but his music will live on forever.”

Rory Ryan figured as much, as well, when she studied a second set backdrop for her husband and his youthful group. An outsized replica of Art Kane’s photograph replaced a white movie screen while 21-year old Danny Brown blew a mean tenor sax and Michael Parsons tickled his keyboard ivories.

“These were giants,” she told Ryan’s band, thinking about the threads of continuity stitching one musical decade to another. “You’re the next generation and your playing in front of giants.”

In his turn, Jimmy Ryan picked up on the significance of the evening’s events. “It was a privilege for an old guy like me to play with top guys like these four thirty-somethings.”

And Leslie and Carl Rodd? Well, they’ve been to the Balboa before when it has bundled jazz and cinema, attending a recent weekend retrospective of six film noirs, one movie melding the ethereal jazz chords of Miles Davis with two-timing femme fatales. “We plan our lunch around tubs of popcorn,” Rodd smiled.

It’s their theater in their neighborhood, but it’s also all of our music and all of our movies.

Read about the iconic Harlem photo at www.harlem.org

Jimmy Ryan and his band perform at Bird and Beckett on the second Friday of each month at 5:30 P.M.