Garfield Park NW this Saturday at 3:00 PM

All are invited to attend this Saturday's Neighborhood Watch meeting in Garfield Park. We'll gather around 3:00 PM at the picnic tables near Pasadena St & Mountain View. We will brainstorm ideas for giving the park a little face lift. If you ever use the park (or could imagine using the park if only XYZ), we'd love to hear your ideas!

Here's one idea; I'm curious what others think about it. Kids love to play in those dancing fountains where the jets pop up out of the flat ground. I wonder if there's a way to do this where the water could be recaptured and used to water the park's lawns. What would be the downsides to something like this (e.g., do you think people would try to bath in the water)? Can you imagine any way around the hitches? I don't know of any public pools in our neighborhood; maybe some cool jets would offer a nice gathering place.

Garfield Park NW: Saturday @ 3:00

Rumor has it some of our trusty blog readers are not yet part of a NW group. Fear not! You are invited to join the Garfield Park NW group this Saturday at 3:00. We will meet at the picnic tables in the northwest corner of the park. The park is located on Holt 1 block east of San Antonio.

Saturday's meeting will largely focus on learning more about the concerns held by Reeves Street apartment residents and brainstorming what we can do as a neighborhood to create a safe and welcoming community.

Presentation: "Child Safety"

As I mentioned in an earlier post, last week Sonia presented information to the Garfield Park Neighborhood Watch group about child safety. The slides from the presentation appear below.

Thank you to Sonia for the presentation (and the permission to post)! Thank you to Calwatch for teaching me how to post slides!

Child Safety

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Other children kids

Hola y Hello: A tool for translation

The Garfield Park Neighborhood Watch group met today. Although "child safety" served as the primary focus of the meeting (I'll post the presentation if we obtain permission to do so), the tidbit of information I found most exciting is that the Crime Prevention Unit has a nifty broadcast system to help translate meetings conducted in one language into another language. A translator translates the meeting; her or his words are broadcast into earphones worn by people who speak the second language.

Gang Prevention Unit Wants Your 411

Garfield Park witnessed an impressive turnout at its monthly Neighborhood Watch meeting. We engaged in lots of useful information sharing about topics ranging from suspicious activity, home foreclosures, and shady ice cream trucks peddling wares at 10 AM on school days.

Of import to the broader community, the Gang Prevention Unit reminds us to call their hotline with any and all information about gang related activity. Provide as much information as you can; to the extent you are able, give information about who, what, when, and where. The hotline numbers are 909-802-7477 and 909-620-2148.

Of course, use 911 for emergency calls, and call dispatch if you'd like an officer to respond to a non-emergency: 909-622-1241.

A Sign of the Times

Thank you to all the neighbors who volunteered to put bright yellow signs in their yards announcing our NW meeting. We have coverage at the corners of Reeves and Mountain View, Pasadena and Mountain View, and Pasadena and Arboleda (and a few other places along the way--I mention the corners because those spots are most likely to be noticed by passer-bys).

Beyond reminding neighbors about our NW meetings, they let others know that our NW group is active and...well...watching.

A special thank you to Paula Lantz for providing the signs and the idea to use them!

Garfield Park NW: Saturday @ 3:00

Garfield Park has witnessed an increase in suspicious activity over the past few months. To name a few: a break-in, a smashed door window, a shooting (non-fatal), lots of gun fire, suspicious interactions in the park, and....drum roll...a white Chevy. Oh yeah, a white Chevy.

The driver of the white Chevy, who seemed overly interested in our every move and was omnipresent at all hours of the day, spurred an impressive bout of neighborhood organizing. Neighbors e-mailed and called each other and the police department with information about Mr. Chevy's presence and activities. Officers spoke with the man over a week ago; we haven't seen him since. Chalk one up for team effort.

Not surprisingly, neighbors are looking forward to our monthly NW meeting, scheduled for this Saturday at 3:00 PM. All are welcome. If you live nearby and would like to visit, drop me a line back channel for the meeting location.