High Street Neighborhood News

by Adelle Foley

Welcome Sharon

Librarian Jane Gonzalez got an early Christmas present when Sharon Senser joined the Melrose Branch Library staff on December 22. The new children's librarian moved to the Bay Area from Brooklyn, New York. Sharon is thrilled to be here. She plans to get in touch with local schools and teachers, and to jump start storytelling and after-school programs.

Melrose at the Movies

On a January afternoon, we sat in the basement of the Melrose Branch watching Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine projected on the wall of the half-dark room. The audience of young teenagers was very different from the first-run Berkeley audience of November 2002. The kids took it all in audio tapes from 9-1-1 calls that tragic morning almost five years ago; news footage of the bombing of civilians in Kosovo that same day; Michael Moore and two teenagers disabled by the shooting pressing K-Mart corporate headquarters to stop carrying handgun ammunition (and succeeding); statistics of deaths by shooting (over 11,000 in the US, a few hundred in Canada and Western Europe); the dark humor of corporate cops.

After the movie, Kayode Powell led a discussion of the film. We were astonished at the details the kids remembered and their ability to bring the lessons home look around and see who is selling an idea; victims can get back up and speak out; use your voice. Kayode is a student at SF State in Health Education. He collaborates with the East Lake Y and works with youth at the Acts Full Gospel Church. He spoke for the movie's sponsors, Friends of Melrose Branch, when he told the kids that he hopes that the movie helps them figure out how to make violence stop.

The Best Bulletin Board

Recreation leader Mario Cabrales and the neighborhood's children started the year with the news that Brookdale Rec Center had placed first in the citywide Bulletin Board Contest. The 6- by 4-foot display celebrates children around the world with multicolor paper figures and multicultural greetings surrounding a globe. The idea came from the children themselves.

Along with basketball practice, soccer, and the drill team, Manager Danni Gamidge is hoping to offer a class to make children and adults aware of diabetes. This kind of program responds to the high incidence of the disease in our community.

Melrose/High Hopes 2004 Officers

Congratulations to the NCPC officers elected at the January meeting: chair, Preston Turner; vice-chair, Andre Isler; secretary, Robin Rome; treasurer, Donna Fraser; and membership coordinator, Erika Mohammed.

Muddy but Moving

It's encouraging to watch the new Boys and Girls Clubhouse take shape on High Street and to see the gymnasium rising at the back of the lot. After a recent tour, Executive Director Cal Stanley told me that the project is coming together nicely, and construction should be finished before mid-year.

In the early light

The house is cold and quiet

Christmas is over.

Adelle Foley can be reached at jasfoley\@aol.com.