Big Bayview volunteer day on Sunday

Quesada Gardens Initiative and the gardening, art and other projects that grow under that name is hosting a volunteer day open to everyone. We’ll be working in several different gardens, and sharing food in one of them.

The event is an annual one that Quesada Gardens hosts for longtime volunteer partners at Stanford University. A few Stanford students (pictured) were here on Martin Luther King Day, and are coming back with a few dozen of their friends this Sunday.

Here are the details:

Sunday, May 3rd
10am to 2pm
Food and drink supplied
Dress appropriately for gardening

Meet at the mural site at the west end of the Quesada Garden (just west of Third Street on the 1700 block of Quesada) at 10am. Project leaders will be on hand to take teams of volunteers to projects clustered in the heart of Bayview.

Everyone is welcome to pitch in.

Help with gardening, irrigation systems, and more.

Meet friendly Bayview residents.

Learn about a changing community.

Make an important and lasting contribution.

SECF Commission does it again!

It’s not every day a kid gets to see what makes us tick the way this young man could with the help of a doctor from SF General who volunteered to make April 4th’s health fair at the SECF a success.

The event was a family-friendly affair that featured a panel presentation about health concerns affecting our community, games and exercises, healthful foods, and plenty of information about how to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Library and Footprints unveils art concepts

The Bayview branch library will be demolished. But don't worry...our neighborhood will get a brand new branch library that occupies the lot at Third and Revere where the current structure is, as well as the lot next to it on Third Street.

Art is being selected for the interior of the building, something that could influence the exterior, too, as the architects continue the design process.

Three artists are finalists for the art commission in what has been a very competitive process. Those finalists, Marion Coleman, Mildred Howard, and Ron Saunders, are each presenting the concept for artwork that could grace the new building.

The campaign to raise funds for furniture and equipment is part of the Adopt-the-Network strategy that the Bayview Footprints Network recently launched. The library, where founding member organization Bayview History Preservation Project is based, is the first organization to use the Network for a specific project.

You can meet the artists, see presentations about their concepts, and learn more about the new building on Tuesday, April 28th at the branch on Third and Revere. The fun starts at 6pm.

If you miss the event, you can still stop by the branch and see the concepts. Leave a comment card to influence the final decision.

Bayview backyards growing food

What happens when a group of college students living in the same dorm decide they want to do something off-campus and meaningful? Last Saturday, one such group from University of San Francisco swept through Bayview to help out the Quesada Gardens Initiative.

Devon Davey was the organizer on the USF end of the day. She brought 17 students with her to break through the morning "yawns" and remake six backyards for a second year of food production.

James Ross, BAYBLOOM Project Manager, organized things from the QGI end, and made sure mulch was on hand for the volunteers to remake the gardens.

It's all part of the BAYBLOOM Bayview Backyard Gardens project, a partnership of QGI and USF, funded by SF Environment. Local gardeners have been growing food for a year now, and wanted an assist to get their gardens going for the new season.

Tony Tarket, also known as the Green Goatee, gave a demonstration (pictured) of planting techniques. He answered questions for new gardeners and volunteers who needed to know what they should do this time of year in a neighborhood that is favored by the sun.

A lunch for the workers and some special visitors was held on Quesada Avenue. Sergio De La Torres, a filmmaker and professor from USF came by, as did a group of teens and their mentors from another great Bayview Footprints Network member group: Old Skool Cafe.

As if that weren't enough, yet another USF volunteer team also stopped by to work on a new Bayview Footprints Local News format... Stay tuned!