We encourage all current and prospective members of Berkeley Partners for Parks to take advantage of our new partnership with the Berkeley-based award-winning and bio-regionally informative magazine, Bay Nature, which you can receive a year’s subscription for only $17.95 (or as a Holiday gift subscription) when you sign up for BPFP! That’s more than 25% off a regular subscription prIce….

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Cesar Chavez Park; The Interim Solar Calendar

Monday, December 20th; 4:15 to 5:15 pm; Sunset: 4:50

Gathering will be led by Alan Gould, Lawrence Hall of Science

Special Event – weather permitting:

Near Simultaneous full moon rise/sun set around 4:50 pm

Total Lunar Eclipse later than evening (beginning 10:33 PM).

New Installation at the Memorial Solar Calendar Site:

Earth Cycle – Sun Shadow

Cesar Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar

The Meridian Calendar

37° 52′ N Lat / 122° W Long

Light & Shadow Observations: Earth Cycle – Sun Shadow is a temporary installation that combines art, science & cultural education.

Rather than utilizing the horizon as a calendar, a light spot or shadow crossing a noontime meridian also served as a calendar among many ancient civilizations. For example, The Sun Dagger in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, functions when the sun is near the meridian, rather than on the horizon. Also 17th century European cathedrals utilized a carefully located hole in the roof that would cast a spot of light on the floor of the cathedral along a meridian over the course of a year. At the Solar Calendar site, the shadow from the gnomon will cross the meridian at solar noon. The meridian calendar will allow the observer to witness the movement of the earth by watching the shadow move from west to east. It also has markings indicating shadow length for each month, the beginning of each season, differential seasonal shadow patterns, and the commemoration of the birth of Cesar Chavez.

A burrowing owl seen in Berkeley; photo by Larry Wight

Our burrowing owls usually occupy the northeast corner of Cesar Chavez Park (north of the Berkeley Marina) from October through March. There are new fences and artistic adobe walls to protect the owl habitat from humans and dogs. Come on down and look for owls.

Docents

Docents are available seven days a week at various times.

On June 20th, the East Bay Labyrinth Project will be celebrating the Summer Solstice, Father’s Day, and progress made toward building an 11-Circuit Labyrinth at the Berkeley Marina. There will be the building of a temporary labyrinth prior to the event, a creative introduction at 3 p.m. with musical invocation by world musician Alan Tower, facilitation by integrative counselor (and singer/songwriter) Margie Adam, a song led by folksinger Nancy Schimmel, a casual joining together of folks, and the walk itself. Please arrive promptly by 3 p.m. if you want to hear the program before the walk!

We’ve been engaged in hosting public labyrinth walks for several years (check out www.eastbaylabyrinthproject.org), typically attracting a crowd of fifty or more. We are planning additional events for the summer (a labyrinth constructed on a beach in August, a poetry labyrinth walk), and community group use of the temporary labyrinth at the Berkeley Marina after the Summer Solstice through mid-July.

Ideas for community-led group labyrinth walks include parents interested in sharing something unique with their kids, creativity sessions where walking the labyrinth gives focus, a special nighttime gathering for singles, youth interested in a leadership event space, spiritual groups, people interested in a day of healing, dialogue-sharing for groups working out their differences on issues, etc. If you know of interested groups, we can jointly develop a program with them. For a taste of what we’ve done in the past, check out our videos on vimeo (http://vimeo.com/videos/search:berkeley%20labyrinth). You can also contact us at eastbaylabyrinthproject@gmail.com.

If you are on Facebook, join the EBLP Facebook group to keep updated on news and events: www.facebook.com/eastbaylabyrinthproject

View East Bay Labyrinth Project in a larger map

Interim Solar Calendar
César Chávez Park

Sunday, June 20th
7:45 to 8:45 pm
Sunset at 8:30 pm

Mini-workshop on Astronomy & Season
Celebrating the Chavez virtue:  “Determination”
Culture & Season

Note:
Thank you to all the dog walkers who have been helping by keeping their dogs on a leash.  The Memorial Solar Calendar site is located in the “on-leash” section of the park.  This is particularly important when there are a lot of people, dogs and excitement in the center circle.  It makes for a more orderly and enjoyable experience for all in attendance.  You are some of our biggest supporters.

What do green building, red tail hawks, native oaks, bird migration and climate change have in common?

Design for Wildlife

is a first-of-its kind workshop on designing wildlife-friendly buildings, landscapes and communities.

Focus on ecology and practical design options. Includes wildlife behavior, site-specific methods, materials, wildlife corridors – and more — for those interested in the future of wildlife and ecodesign.

Sponsored by the San Francisco Institute of Architecture
Instructors Dave Deppen, Architect; Jennifer Berry, Ecologist
9 AM – 4:30 PM Friday, May 21, 2010
Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar Street (at Walnut), Berkeley
$200, professionals and public; $100 students & teachers (with current ID).
Advance registration only
603.793.3000

email: trey@livinglabs.org

Come and take part in a Painting a Participatory Mural

as a community-based Vision for the South Berkeley Santa Fe Right of Way!

Saturday, April 24 anytime from 10 am to 3 pm

At the Frances Albrier Community Center  in  San Pablo Park (2800 Park St, Berkeley)

SPONSORS of the Santa Fe “Mobile Mural” Project: Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative (BCGC), Berkeley Partners for Parks (BPFP); Office of Council member Darryl Moore in cooperation with the City of Berkeley, Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department

FUNDED by: UC Chancellors Partnership Grant

Conveners: John Steere (BPFP), Beebo Turman (BCGC), Alan Leon (Community based muralist); Julie Hamilton (lecturer, UC Berkeley Art Practices Dept.) and the students in her community arts class.

You are warmly invited to help paint a vision for the revitalization of the South Berkley Santa Fe Right of Way (ROW) as a multi-purpose greenway and linear commons.   For Earth Day, for a greener community, and for yourself –  come to our third Mural Workshop, for as little or as long as you like — on April 24, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  You will have the chance to collaboratively create one of two murals that will be hung on the Santa Fe ROW fences when done.  Choose between: 1) painting in the outlines of a vision of the past and future for one mural; or 2) creating a mixed media mural with collage and painted dimensions you can contribute to!

BRING: Your enthusiasm and open mind;  and if you can, photographs (or photocopies of photos), drawings, and other mementos of the people, places, or objects that conjure up feelings and memories of your neighborhood and contribute to your sense of community.  These can be incorporated into the mural directly, or can be used as inspiration for on-the-spot drawings to be incorporated in the mural.

Lunch and snacks will be provided.

Please R.S.V.P. to  Beebo Turman at beebot@pacbell.net or 527-3773, as we need to know how many are coming to plan for paints and food.

This will be a Creative Day for all, please come!

Date and time

Saturday, March 20, 2010; 6:30 pm

Sunset is 7:15 pm, gathering is 45 minutes before sunset. The event ends about 15 minutes after sunset.

Event information

Led by David Glaser, Science Educator

• A mini-workshop on the Seasons
• Celebrating HOPE -  The Chavez virtue that is associated with the East
• Norouz –  In the interest of sharing cultural celebrations associated with the Spring Equinox, Mojgan Saberi will give a brief overview of the Iranian Spring Festival called Norouz.

Notes

This years city-wide theme for the Cesar Chavez Commemoration (March 20th – April 23rd) is on “Teaching Tolerance.” www.ecologycenter.org/chavez

Thank you to all the dog walkers who have been helping by keeping their dogs on a leash. This is particularly important when there are a lot of people, dogs and excitement in the center circle. It makes for a more orderly and enjoyable experience for all in attendance. You are some of our biggest supporters.

Those of you who have been there in the past know that we regularly review four virtues of Cesar Chavez which are metaphorically associated with the four cardinal directions. Tolerance is also one of those virtues. And it is a good one to be reminded of as we learn to be with one another harmoniously in a special space and moment.

Links

• www.solarcalendar.org
• http://www.ecologycenter.org/chavez
• A Google Map link that shows the parking area . You can see the Solar Calendar as a white dot in the brown area of the park. This link shows a zoomed in view where in which you can see the rocks that create the circle of the solar calendar.

The Interim Solar Calendar

Sunday, December 20th

4:05 to 5:05 pm; Sunset: 4:50

Gathering will be led by Alan Gould, Lawrence Hall of Science

• Mini-work shop on the Reasons for the Seasons
• Cesar Chavez & Tolerance
• Winter Celebrations

Rain or shine, a couple of us will be there….

Dress accordingly – The weather is part of the experience

NOTE

Thank you to all the dog walkers who have been helping by keeping their dogs on a leash. This is particularly important when there are a lot of people, dogs and excitement in the center circle. It makes for a more orderly and enjoyable experience for all in attendance. You are some of our biggest supporters.

Those of you who have been there in the past know that we regularly review four virtues of Cesar Chavez which are metaphorically associated with the four cardinal directions. Tolerance is also one of those virtues. And it is a good one to be reminded of as we learn to be with one another harmoniously in a special space and moment.
View Cesar Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar in a larger map