Laurel Neighborhood News

by Kathleen Rolinson and John Frando

Earth Day In the Laurel

Laurel residents love their neighborhood and will express it by participating in local Earth Day activities. On Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to noon, join your neighbors at volunteer sites on Peralta Creek at Rettig Avenue and Wisconsin Street, and at the freeway ramps at 35th Avenue. Bring work gloves. Afterwards, all volunteers are invited to a neighborhood BBQ and potluck gathering at the creek work site. Children can help plant wildflowers at the creek. Free T-shirts to the first 20 volunteers at both sites.

Bret Harte/Joaquin Miller NCPC Picnic

"Unity Through Community," with a focus on connecting neighbors face-to-face, will be the theme of the Saturday, May 6, Bret Harte/Joaquin Miller Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) potluck picnic. All residents of police beat 22Y (the area between 35th Avenue and Coolidge Avenue, I-580 to the county line) are invited to attend the picnic. During the picnic, Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergencies (CORE) will present a class on household and family emergency preparedness. Volunteers are needed now to help plan the event. Look for the picnic location and time in the calendar section of the May issue of the Metro. Contact Molly Stouffer, at 387-0482 or mschlesinger1\@yahoo.com.

Laurel Village Neighborhood Development Committee

As one of many committees in the Laurel Village Association, the Neighborhood Development Committee is focused on promoting responsible commercial and residential development in the neighborhood. It has developed a marketing brochure to encourage business owners to locate in the Laurel District. The committee is working with merchants in the newly formed Laurel District Association, providing a forum for developers to present proposed projects to residents and leading the call for critically needed community resources such as a Laurel-based library and park. All concerned, motivated, and politically active persons are invited to join and participate in this committee. Contact committee chair Mark Baldwin at sachem13\@pacbell.net.

Fête de la Musique Summer Solstice Music Festival

Dozens of countries around the world celebrate the summer solstice with public displays of music. On Saturday, June 24, from 3 to 7 p.m., this tradition comes to the Laurel as over 15 musical groups and musicians of all musical stripes play in the driveways of homes and in shops and open spaces along MacArthur Boulevard. The sounds of a jazz band, a roving mariachi troupe, a string quartet, a children's choir, a rock band, and a zydeco group will reverberate throughout the Laurel. This event will be free to the public, and it is meant to promote the Laurel as an entertainment destination, support local musicians, and raise funds for the Laurel Village Association.

Contact Stella Lamb at stellalamb2000\@yahoo.com, or Mark Baldwin at sachem13\@pacbell.net, if you are a musician wanting to participate, willing to volunteer your driveway as a performance space, or if you can donate money to underwrite this event.