High Street Neighborhood News

by Adelle Foley

Welcome Michael Foster

In April Brookdale Recreation Center welcomed a new manager, Michael Foster. Already managing the Allendale center, Michael is splitting his time between the two sites. You can find him at Brookdale on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Brookdale's current focus is summer camp and working toward the initial celebration of Parks for Peace in August.

Camp for elementary school youngsters starts June 18. Tennis will begin early in June, and seven- to 11-year-olds can join a Cub Scout troop on Mondays, from 3 to 4 p.m., thanks to a partnership with the Boy Scouts.

Partnerships are crucial to Michael's vision of the emerging Oakland Parks and Rec. We'll have more about him and Brookdale's programs in future columns. For information, call 535-5632.

A Clean and Green Earth Day

Each year we have more ways to celebrate earth day. The Courtland Creek contingent, known for finding treasure among discarded objects, rescued a bride with her headless groom and a ceramic lamp base, and gave them another life decorating neighborhood gardens.

The Discovery Center kids cleared rocks and debris from the creek bed to get the creek flowing again while other neighbors pruned trees, weeded, and cleaned the park. At Horace Mann School, a great turnout of neighbors, school families, and faculty members prepared the school garden for spring planting, weeded about the 37 trees planted at earlier events, and cleaned the school grounds. Organizer Jeanne Nixon was especially impressed by the number of capable school children who worked like crazy and had a good time. The Maxwell Park contingent at Redding near Walgreens was especially energetic and dedicated, working well into the afternoon. Their weeding and cleanup transformed the landscape.

The hard work was rewarded with refreshments, thanks to Jean Quan's office and World Ground Café.

Summer's Here at Melrose Library

Summer arrives on June 9 at Melrose Branch Library when children can join Get a Clue, the summer reading program, and begin to clock their eight hours of reading needed to win a book and other prizes. See the "Summer in the Libraries" feature in this issue.

Library Assistant Vic Vickers was happy to report that the new security system is operational, providing staff a view from eight cameras outside the building and recording the information on tape.

Search Team, Do You Copy?

On April 28 the earth shook at almost 40 emergency command centers participating in the citywide emergency preparedness drill. Led by Nick Stoughton, co-chair of Maxwell Park Emergency Response Team, the group at Maxwell Park School focused on communications. Search teams used hand-held radios to report fires, collapsed buildings, and injuries in the neighborhood. The communications team logged the information and successfully passed on critical situations to the city's command center through a ham radio operator at the fire station.

In just a few days

From green fruit out of reach to

Ripe plums under foot ♦

Adelle Foley can be reached at jandafoley\@sbcglobal.net.