May 14 is the deadline for applying for 2010’s UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund grants — awards of $5,000 to $50,000 for projects to enhance community safety and livability (a priority this year), environmental stewardship, education, and arts and culture.

Past projects have ranged from solar path lighting, native plantings, murals, and benches to emergency preparedness, after-school programs, and homeless outreach.

Grants go to community groups partnered with UC faculty, staff, or students. Proposals must come from a legal nonprofit organization, but if you have a good idea and a few supporters, you can find a fiscal agent. BPFP, for example, serves as fiscal agent to large and small groups dealing with parks, outdoors, recreation, beautification, environment, and the like. We have received numerous grants from the Chancellor’s Fund and can help with practical advice, including how to find a UC partner. Please get in touch with us! (See the “contact us” page.)

Projects should be completed in one or at most two years. They must be in Berkeley. Keep in mind what permits and approvals you may need — funds won’t be handed out until they are obtained. Reasonable stipends can be paid, e.g. if the project needs experts.

For UC’s press release, with links to information and application forms, click here. A workshop on the grants is to be scheduled for early April.

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 program will run from 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM (carpools leave Berkeley about 8:30 AM). Please plan to dress in layers, with rain boots or shoes that can get wet (a change of footwear is a good idea). We’ll work in a drizzle, but heavy rain cancels.

Please let us know you’re coming by Feb. 8 at f5creeks@aol.com or 510 848 9358, so we can arrange carpools!

• The long-planned extension of the Bay Trail west along the south side of University Avenue to the Marina includes a launch pad for windsurfers near Hs Lordships Restaurant, but leaves out a controversial swath through Shorebird Park.
• Emeryville’s Doyle Street Greenway will be linked to Berkeley’s 9th Street via the old railroad right-of-way.
• The Santa Fe Right-of-Way between Delaware and the Ohlone Greenway between Cedar and Virginia will get a paved trail, and the right-of-way between University and Addison will be opened. This will create a long-distance bicycle-pedestrian connection from Bancroft (the south edge of Strawberry Creek Park) to the City of Richmond (where the trail also is being extended).

Stay tuned for planning announcements!

Invisible but deadly, mercury threatens San Francisco Bay wildlife, complicates restoration, and is the major reason that people must avoid eating Bay fish. But what to do is a conundrum. San Francisco Estuary Institute ecologist Kat Ridolfi speaks on sources of mercury, current research, and choices that can reduce contamination, 7 PM Monday, Jan. 4, at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin (at Masonic).
Free; refreshments; all welcome! Information at f5creeks@aol.com, 510 848 9358, www.fivecreeks.org.

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

Space is limited — please RSVP to beebot@pacbell.net 510-527-3773.

The project in sponsored by Berkeley Partners for Parks, the Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative, and the office of Berkeley Councilmember Darryl Moore, and funded with a UC Berkeley Chancellors Community Service Grants.

And here’s one of egrets feeding at the north end:

CHAIN REACTION Street Game, Oct. 17

It’s year 2020. Berkeley has been successfully privatized down to the very last brick. The University now only accepts students that are guaranteed to contribute directly to the global economy – that is, students of Business, Economics, Engineering and Law. The University is now a corporation.

Chain Reaction is a playful mix of street game and performance that takes place across the city of Berkeley. Players are challenged to explore the city environment, play with their surroundings and complete mystifying tasks. A series of smaller game moments lead up to a big finale in which the players must use all their creativity to help the corporation reach its goal of total world domination. The team that best helps to spread the joyful message of total corporatization gets an extremely valuable prize

The game begins on Saturday 17th at 1pm in upper Sproul Plaza in Berkeley. Bring comfortable clothes and footwear, and something to drink (in case corporate talk makes you thirsty)!

RSPV for the game on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=146727618980&index=1

Information at http://chainreactionstreetgame.wordpress.com/
Recent SF Chron article on “Pervasive Gaming” at http://www.sfchron.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/09/PKNJ1A07O3.DTL&type=entertainment

Berkeley’s thriving cultural scene is home to more than 130 non-profit arts organizations and hundreds more artists and performers. It’s clear why Berkeley locals and visitors “Come for the Culture, Stay for the Food” – the arts hold equal pride of place with Berkeley’s international reputation as a center for culinary and educational excellence.

Berkeley offers a comprehensive array of year-round cultural attractions. The Downtown Berkeley Arts District is a nationally recognized model as an arts destination and “arts led” downtown revitalization. The Arts District is centered on Addison Street; once lined with auto body shops, Addison Street now “rolls” with live theatre, live music, and performing arts education space.

Creative spirit infuses Berkeley with everyday discoveries ranging from vibrant street art and public art galleries, to major events such as the Berkeley Artisan Holiday Open Studios, and the renowned exhibitions and permanent collections at UC Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive.