Spring Cleaning events and news

Apr 6, 2012 in Clean-up, Events, Miscellany, Preservation & Historic sites

Want to go outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather? If you have been to DeMeo Park or down the Prince Memorial Greenway you may have noticed that both of them need a little bit of work. You can help make a difference- we have a DeMeo Park cleanup scheduled on April 14th, Saturday and as always First Saturday Cleanup will meet tomorrow (the first Saturday- April 7th) to clean up the Prince Memorial Greenway. Join in with your neighbors and help us clean up!

April 7th, Saturday-  First SATURDAY Cleanup (ages 6 and up welcome). Join neighbors and youth in the care of Prince Memorial Greenway the first Saturday of every month. Clean-up supplies provided. Organized by West Ender Stan Gow. For more info go to http://firstsaturdaycleanup.org Time: 10 a.m. Location: Meet at Olive Park

First Saturday Clean Up

First Saturday Clean Up

April 14th, Saturday-  DeMeo Park Clean up. Time for Spring Cleaning! The West End Neighborhood and Chop’s Interact Club will join forces to tidy up DeMeo Park. We plan to trim the bushes, spread bark, weed and groom the bocce court. We will then celebrate our clean park with a BBQ. Please bring your gardening tools (remember to mark them for easy identification), gloves and energy. Everyone is welcome. Hope to see you there! Location: DeMeo Park Time: 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. clean up; BBQ to follow.

Spring cleanup

Spring cleanup

Saturday & Sunday April 21 & 22- Santa Rosa Tool Library Tool Donation Drive. Cleaning out your garage? Got extra garden tools? Support SRTL by donating your unused: Power Tools • Hand Tools • Gardening Tools  To find what tools they accept go to their website or Call us at (707) 576-0590 The Santa Rosa Tool Library is a 501(c)3 Public Charity. All donations are tax deductable. http://www.borrowtools.org/donate.html Location: 642 5th Street Santa Rosa  Time: 9:00am-4:00pm

Andre Siedentopf borrowing a Knee-Kick Carpet Stretcher. Andre has also donated several tools to SRTL including a rebar bender, and compound miter saw.

DeMeo Park and DeTurk Round Barn Park both have new recycling bins. These  bins are from Conservation Corps North Bay. This nonprofit helps at risk youth (ages 18-28) get their lives back on track with a year’s worth of job training and work experience along with an education to get a GED and High School Diploma. Their focus is to conserve our natural resources and better the environment along with the community. For more info: http://www.conservationcorpsnorthbay.org

News from the City Manager:

Prince Gateway Park & Greenway is a Community Treasure

Recently, this treasured park and greenway has been the site of extensive graffiti and vandalism.  This has been met with shock, dismay, and anger by the community.  The extent of the damage is taking some time and expense to clean up and repair, but it is underway.  ArtStart students have stepped up to begin repairs of tile work on the salmon statue and are working on plans to replace the dragon mural in a more durable form and also refurbish benches; City crews and a contractor are working to clean the area of debris and blast graffiti markings from the stone and cement work; police and fire are stepping up patrols and interventions to seek places for transient campers to find better shelter than the public park and nab the vandals.  Unfortunately, due to the extent of the damage the city does not have sufficient funds to completely restore all of the fixtures right away and may need to re-think the design to select items that are more tamper-proof.  Lighting fixtures have been torn apart and stripped of metal materials.  This gateway park and trail serves as a welcoming place for neighbors and visitors alike and we want to make sure it is a safe and beautiful place to enjoy.  We do need help from the community to be our “eyes, ears, and, on occasion, elbow-grease” to keep it clean, green, and safe.  We continue to seek volunteer groups to adopt segments of our public trails to do just that.  Interested?  To sign up, contact the City at

http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/departments/recreationandparks/parks/cityparks/listofparks/Pages/PrinceGatewayPark.aspx

Graffiti Abatement Gets Help

Graffiti is blight on our neighborhoods and is most effectively controlled if removed immediately.  If it appears on your property, clean it up now.  If it appears in public areas, contact the City to find ways to remove it.  While City park crews have just one employee working everyday to remove graffiti from public parks and trails throughout the community, the police department works on graffiti abatement as a property crime and seeks partnerships with neighborhoods to rid the community of such unsightly and harmful vandalism.  The abatement program will be staffed temporarily with a Field and Evidence Technician who started work this week to maintain the good work and continuity of the program.  Volunteers are engaging in graffiti abatement and the program is up and running as it has for several years.  The department will be hiring full time staff for the graffiti abatement program once some internal reorganization of jobs is completed and that hire should be made by early summer.  If you discover graffiti problems in your neighborhood or wish to get involved with this community partnership please contact the Graffiti Hotline at 543-3499 or http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/departments/police/aboutus/special_services/Pages/graffiti_abatement.aspx

Announcement Guidelines:  The West End Neighborhood Association website is a tool that gives out information that is West End related or of West End interest.  Announcements are subject to our West End Neighborhood Association guidelines. Do you have a West End or Railroad Square related announcement? Announcements can be emailed to Lea Barron-Thomas at westend@sonic.net