Neighbors, join Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Facebook group/!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-News August 2017

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Items appearing in the HNA E-News are deemed to be of general interest to neighbors but do not necessarily reflect the views of Halcyon Neighborhood Association (HNA), its Steering Committee, or the Editor. The Editor’s introductory comments express her personal viewpoint.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Contents

1. Disaster? Be Ready! Annual Disaster Prep Event, Sunday, 8/27, 10-Noon

2. Halcyon Thrive Pilot Project Progress Report in Preparation for September Launch!

3. Crime Watch Update and National Night Out Thank Yous

4. Next ZAB Hearing on 3000 Shattuck, Thursday, 8/24, 7 p.m.

5. Monthly Community Meetings with the CBCB: Second Sundays, 2 p.m., Starry Plough

6. Halcyon Court Neighbor Seeking Housing

7. Whole Foods Market News: Next Drop-in Progress Meeting, Fri., 9/15, 8:15-9:00 a.m.

Editor’s Introductory Note:

Thank you to the small but mighty crew of neighbors who helped out last Friday at the work party in Halcyon Commons in preparation for Tuesday night’s big event in the park! We very much appreciated the refreshments courtesy of Whole Foods Market!

And last night’s Ice Cream Social for National Night Out, attended by ninety-plus neighbors during the course of the evening, was another fun, community-building event, which included late visits from the police and firefighters and a fire engine. Highlight of the evening was ice cream made from handpicked blackberries and peaches and hand-cranked by Prince Street neighbor Bruce Wicinas. We also enjoyed delicious 25th Anniversary cakes in two flavors courtesy of Whole Foods Market, which also supplied frozen dessert extras as well as Middle Eastern appetizers. Our Crime Watch Update (see item 3) includes the thank-you to the volunteers who made the evening possible from the event’s Volunteer Coordinator, Halcyon Court neighbor Lynn Richards, who deserves special recognition for recruiting volunteers and then organizing them to keep everything running smoothly. Thank you, all!

In case you’re feeling like you missed your chance to volunteer in the neighborhood this summer, fear not! Another great opportunity is coming up as our reinvigorated HNA CERT group works to organize what’s shaping up to be an awesome Halcyon Neighborhood Disaster Preparedness event — Disaster? Be Ready! — on Sunday morning, August 27, 10-noon (see item 1).

And please consider joining our Halcyon Thrive community of neighbors (see item 2), as the pilot project gets ready for its formal launch starting this September. There couldn’t be a better time to focus on creating the world we want to see right here where we live!

Here’s to deepening community in the Halcyon neighborhood!

—Nancy Carleton, HNA Co-Chair and E-News Editor, halcyon92@gmail.com

* * * * * * * * * * * *

1. Disaster? Be Ready! Annual Disaster Prep Event, Sunday, 8/27, 10-Noon

Editor’s note: Please mark your calendars and plan on attending this practical, hands-on educational event the HNA CERT group is planning for Sunday morning, August 27, to help us get better prepared for disaster. The group’s next planning meeting will take place on Weds., August 16. If you’re able to lend a hand with the August event, are able to attend the 8/16 planning meeting, or would like to help with our neighborhood’s ongoing disaster preparedness efforts, please email HNACERT@gmail.com.

Disaster? Be Ready!

Annual Halcyon Neighborhood Disaster Preparedness Event 

Sunday August 27, 10 a.m. to 12:00 Noon

Halcyon Commons (Halcyon Court at Prince Street)

Light snacks courtesy of Whole Foods Market

Fresh coffee courtesy of Starbucks

For further info: HNACERT@gmail.com

Followed by an Informal Picnic from 12:30 p.m.

Our key words are Applicability and Education, and we’ll be running mini-classes and staffed stations to teach, and to let visitors practice, vital skills to save lives and minimize property damage in the event of major disaster. We’ll also be raffling off — and, depending on supply, giving away to class participants — some of the life-saving tools and supplies you’d need in an emergency.

Here’s a small sampling of featured classes and events:

* Off + On the Grid: Learn and practice the hows and whens of shutting off the gas. 

* Stop the Bleed!: Learn how to stop traumatic, life-threatening bleeding with tourniquet and pressure pads. Taught by Shawn Connors, lead civilian instructor Berkeley Fire Department. 

* Save Your Pet!: Keep Your Pet Alive with Hands-on CPR and First Aid Training. Taught by Peter Pay, Animal First Aid Instructor for Eastbay Municipal Park District and the Humane Society.

* Fire Safety 101: Presented by the Berkeley Fire Department and featuring a Berkeley Fire Engine.

Following the event, we’ll enjoy a very informal picnic in Halcyon Commons starting around 12:30 p.m. It should be fun and help build the most important disaster preparedness tool of all: community.

Disaster? Be Ready! is brought to you by the Halcyon Neighborhood Association Community Emergency Response Team. Our mission: Save lives, Meet neighbors, Build community. We’ll have a table and would love to meet you, and better yet, have you join us.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

2. Halcyon Thrive Pilot Project Progress Report in Preparation for September Launch!

Editor’s note: If you’ve been intrigued by the idea of Halcyon Thrive! or are just now learning about it, don’t delay in signing up to be part of our one-year pilot project, or you might miss out on some of the fun Halcyon Thrive events planned for September! Email HalcyonThrive@gmail.com with your address, phone, and email, and we’ll add you to our new Halcyon Thrive Google group, a place where any member can suggest shared activities. Join us!

HALCYON THRIVE!

A pilot project of Halcyon Neighborhood Association for Halcyon neighbors willing to take the next step in mutual support . . .

The goal of this one-year pilot project is to explore ways to offer some of the beneficial services and resources of a multigenerational Ashby Village–type program on an opt-in, voluntary basis without monetary exchange. At an initial Planning Circle for Halcyon Thrive, neighbors brainstormed possibilities for shared activities and ways of offering support to one another. The first two active “spokes” of what we’re envisioning as the Halcyon Thrive circle or wheel include:

* A Halcyon Thrive Caring Circle providing opportunities for participating neighbors to ask for and offer support to one another by listing needs and signing up to meet them so we can better “thrive-in-place.”

* A monthly Conversations program at neighbors’ homes sharing areas of interest and knowledge while getting to know one another better. (The first Conversations meeting will take place on Monday, September 11th.)

A follow-up social gathering for Halcyon Thrive members will take place on Sunday, September 24, at a late-afternoon deck party with appetizers and desserts catered by a Halcyon Thrive member who’s a chef.

If you live in the Halcyon neighborhood (Telegraph to Adeline, Ashby to Woolsey, in South Berkeley) and want to be part of the Halcyon Thrive pilot project, including the Halcyon Thrive Caring Circle, please email your name, address, phone, and email to HalcyonThrive@gmail.com.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

3. Crime Watch Update and National Night Out Thank Yous

Editor’s note: Our HNA Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/HNABerkeley/ often shares breaking crime reports in between E-News editions (your home and email addresses plus phone are required to participate so we can be sure the group is kept safe for neighbors, and we require this information prior to accepting your request to join). Remember, we rely on neighbors to fill in the details of crimes in our neighborhood, so, in addition to filing a police report (which can now be done online through the City of Berkeley website for some kinds of crimes: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/onlinereport/), please email halcyon92@gmail.com to pass the word on to your neighbors, or share it on our Facebook page, so we can all stay aware and vigilant. We don’t want to engage in profiling, so if you include a description, please make it as detailed as possible and avoid generalities.

Editor’s note: The following thank-you note was received from Halcyon Court neighbor Lynn Richards, who generously served as the Volunteer Coordinator for our recent well-attended Ice Cream Social at Halcyon Commons for National Night Out. In this note, she’s thanking those who helped with setup, staffing, and cleaning up at last night’s event, as well as our phenomenal ice cream maker, Bruce Wicinas. Also deserving our sincere thanks are the team at Whole Foods Market, for the generous donation of cake, frozen extras, and Middle Eastern Appetizers, as well as our hard-working Flyer Distribution Team, which helped get the word out.

What a Wonderful Team!

I want to thank everyone one more time for all the work you did in putting together a really successful community event. I have to say, each time we have one of these events in our park, I meet new people, have a number of brief conversations, and realize how fortunate I am to have landed in this very neighborhood. It just feels so good and reinforces all the things Nancy talked about last night that we have going for us that makes our neighborhood so special. With the new pilot project Halcyon Thrive in the works [see item 2], we are one very unique neighborhood, and thanks to each of you for helping to make it so. . . . Thank you all once again for showing up and working your assignments! 

Fondly, 

Lynn 

Crime Update

It has been a while since we’ve had a list of cumulative crimes submitted for the E-News, but you can check out the details yourself at http://www.crimemapping.com/home or sign up for daily updates. If you’d like to volunteer to compile a list for our neighborhood E-News every month or two, email halcyon92@gmail.com

Editor’s note: Received from the BPD.

We Hope to See You at the Forum

These events are among four of a series sponsored by Berkeley Police Chief Andrew Greenwood. The forum will be structured to give attendees an opportunity to engage staff from throughout the department. This includes the Chief, Command Staff, Detectives, Dispatchers, Area Coordinators, Beat Officers, Special Response Team members, Personnel and Training Staff, Motor Officers, and Parking Enforcement Officers. 

The remaining forums are scheduled for:

August 8, 2017, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., Berkeley Public Library, South Branch, 1901 Russell St.

August 24, 2017, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., Berkeley Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St.

September 7, 2017, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., Location TBD)

If you have questions about the events, please feel free to contact the Community Services Bureau at (510) 981-5806. We look forward to meeting you at our first event.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

4. Next ZAB Hearing on 3000 Shattuck, Thursday, 8/24, 7 p.m.

Editor’s note: A neighbor asked that I pass on word about a meeting of the Zoning Adjustments Board this month (Thursday, August 24, 7 p.m., City Council Chambers, 2134 MLK Jr. Way, 2nd floor), which will include an agenda item about the building proposed for 3000 Shattuck Avenue (at Ashby). As most of you know, per our Guiding Principles, HNA very rarely gets involved in land-use issues, and then only when there’s near-unanimous agreement among neighbors, which is unlikely in this case. However, our Guiding Principles do call for us to share news that affects the neighborhood and encourage neighbors to weigh in with decision makers concerning their own individual viewpoints. Below is a link to the ZAB webpage, which at the beginning outlines ways to make your opinions known, as well as a link to the project page for a plethora of background information.

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Home/Zoning_Adjustments_Board.aspx

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Zoning_Adjustment_Board/3000_Shattuck.aspx

* * * * * * * * * * * *

5. Monthly Community Meetings with the CBCB: Second Sundays, 2 p.m., Starry Plough

Editor’s note: Following recent community outreach meetings, Councilmember Ben Bartlett’s office has announced that regular community meetings concerning the CBCB (Cannabis Buyers Club Berkeley, 3033 Shattuck at Essex) will be held on the second Sunday of each month at the Starry Plough (3101 Shattuck at Prince). The next date is Sunday, August 13, at 2 p.m. Neighbors are invited to attend and share their concerns.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

6. Halcyon Court Neighbor Seeking Housing

Editor’s note: A Halcyon Court neighbor submitted the following announcement.

Dear Neighbors: I’m urgently trying to stay close to my community, grandchildren, and business following the sale of my Halcyon Court rent-controlled home. Hope to find a 1+ or 2 bedroom house, cottage, in-law, or apartment within a 20-minute drive of South Berkeley. Need limited stairs, laundry capacity on site, and rent under $2750/mo. I’m the best of tenants and a good neighbor: a quiet, responsible professional and former homeowner with top credit, references. Thank you for any leads: lindafb@gmail.com

* * * * * * * * * * * *

7. Whole Foods Market News: Next Drop-in Progress Meeting, Fri., 9/15, 8:15-9:00 a.m.

Editor’s note: Received from Whole Foods Market.

Next Drop-in Progress Meeting, Friday, September 15, 8:15-9:00 a.m.

Whole Foods Market (check in at Customer Service)

These meetings are held at the Community Table at the front of the store or outside, and the purpose is to share our plans for ongoing changes in the store, street litter control, and progress on any of the ongoing issues we discuss [with HNA reps and nearby neighbors]. The Store Team Leader is usually present, and anyone is welcome to join us. Of course there will be complimentary coffee or tea. Our goal is to follow up immediately on any issues that we hear about, and to hear how the store can be a better neighbor.

As always, if there are ever any urgent issues, please call the store at 510-649-1333 and ask for the shift manager on duty. We have new shift leaders being trained, so please send an email to the group below so we can follow up appropriately. Always feel free to swing by too, if you’d like to have a word with us.

hayden.richards@wholefoods.com

Zarah.graser@wholefoods.com

nc.brk.contacts@wholefoods.com

* * * * * * * * * * * *