"Panhandle Pathways Crying Out To Be Swept": Park Stewards Seek Help Saturday

Diagram showing Panhandle grassy mounds needing new turf

Panhandle Park Stewards at September workday

Panhandle neighbors and other park users will get together Saturday morning for the always fun and productive monthly workday under the park stewardship program. Dale Danley, leader of the Panhandle Park Stewards, announced today that the focus for volunteers will be the central zone of the park. "The Panhandle's gardener, Guillermo, brought in fresh soil and we'll tend to the children's garden just outside the playground fence," Danley said.

The playground isn't the only spot to get the stewards' attention. Danley added that the paths in the central area are in great need of help by regular and new volunteers.

The connections between the multi-use path and the basketball courts are crying out to be swept! It's time to get a jump on the fall leaves that are already beginning to collect. If you know how to use a broom or a rake, then there's a lot you can contribute. It'll feel good to see the fruits of your labor in the freshly groomed pathways.

After the program is over at around 11 am, Danley will share with the group the renderings and diagrams that illustrate features included in a rehabilitation plan for the central zone of the Panhandle. The proposal is being considered for implementation through the Community Opportunities Fund of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (RPD). Danley worked with North of the Panhandle Neighborhood Association (NOPNA) leaders, volunteer designers and other concerned neighbors on the proposal. A primary focus of the plan is to re-build and re-plant the turf areas in the Panhandle's central area between the playground and basketball courts.

The application to RPD included letters of support from Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, SFPD Park Station Acting Captain Mark Solomon, the Kevin Collins Garden Project, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and several neighborhood associations around the Panhandle, including the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association, the Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council, and the Cole Valley Improvement Association.

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Panhandle Park Stewards Monthly Workday

Saturday, October 9, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Meet at bulletin board near Kids Playground and Basketball Court

Gloves, equipment, snacks and drinks provided; heavy shoes or boots suggested

For more information: Dale987@gmail.com

The Panhandle Park Stewards meet every second Saturday

Soaked Surface Stalls Smooth Spins: JFK Drive Repave Update

Can't wait until all of JFK Drive is smooth like this to the Great Highway

The work stops here for now at 30th Avenue

If you've biked JFK Drive west of Crossover Drive these last few weeks, you never want the smooth spinning to end. And then it does, right about at 30th Avenue. In the midst of biking bliss, the old cracked, ridged, mogul-seeming surface re-appears. If you caught our recent post here, you know it's all about the weather and the winter rains. But haven't we had a clear and dry patch lately?

Rick Thall, Project Manager of the Recreation and Parks Department, provided BIKE NOPA with the back story. "I had hoped that we could get another section of paving done during this dry stretch, but no such luck," Thall wrote in an email.* He explained that both the roadway and the ground below is holding too much moisture. The soaked "under-surface" is an important factor because the repaving involves adding a layer of fabric to the road and then paving over it. "This fabric minimizes current cracks in the road that 'telegraph' through to the new layer of asphalt," Thall wrote. He added, "The main source of failure with this method is from moisture trapped under the fabric."

Recreation and Park is right with the city's cyclists (and motorists) in wanting the route to the Great Highway completed. "As much as I want to get the rest of this paved as soon as possible," Thall wrote, "Paving funds are limited so we need to make sure we follow the proper measures and make sure this paving lasts."

Check the weather forecast and note that rain is expected this weekend. What the repaving effort really needs is a stretch of sunny, clear days so the road bed, the surface and below, dries out. When conditions permit, Thall expects the repaving to be completed in three more stages. Celebrations pending!

* BIKE NOPA quoted Thall, with his permission, from an email he sent to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition in response to an inquiry about repaving progress.

This Saturday: Panhandle Park Stewards Ready for Plants and Trees, Turf and Soil

Dale Danley Ready for Park Stewards Next Work Day Feb. 13th

NOPA neighbors might know Dale Danley better, and more recently, as "Ranger Dale," the native habitat expert who spoke with cyclists during NOPA VELO's spin through the Presidio last month. Long-time bicyclists are familiar with Dale's volunteer work with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition where he served as president of the board of directors (2002-2004). Now Dale has taken on another pursuit: getting the Panhandle Park in the best shape ever. BIKE NOPA caught up with Dale on a rainy day away from gardens, native plants, and invasive weeds to chat over coffee in our kitchen.

What are the Panhandle Park Stewards?
We're volunteers from the community working together to improve the Panhandle Park, to make it more accessible and enjoyable for everybody in the community. We're continuing the tradition of a Panhandle Clean-up, or work day, that happens the second Saturday of each month. On that day, we work with the park's gardener, Guillermo, on projects that probably couldn't get done without the extra hands of community volunteers.

Why are you getting involved?
When I learned that Mary Helen Briscoe, the longtime neighborhood organizer, needed to hand-off the project, I offered to lead the group into 2010. I've been living in the North Panhandle neighborhood for 10 years, and hope I have the gardening skills and the neighborhood connections to keep the Park Steward project growing.

Are you changing the name from Panhandle Clean-up?
I'm trying out calling us "Park Stewards" and see what the reaction is. I think a lot of people are eager to do work with the plants and trees, the turf and the soil. I'm really interested in lending a hand to tend the living inhabitants of the park, or planting flowers that my neighbors will enjoy.

How does this compare with your volunteering for habitat restoration at the Presidio?
The Presidio runs a large, successful program for community-based habitat restoration, and I volunteer once or twice a week – pulling the non-native weeds, and growing native plants, in the natural areas scattered across the park. I'll try to replicate some of their successful elements: provide the right tools for the job, cultivate dedicated volunteers, explain the natural processes and how the human activities affect the ecosystem. Also, offer a tasty snack and create a friendly, social atmosphere. San Francisco Rec and Park also runs dozens of volunteer programs, many highly successful, but the Presidio's program is the one I know best!

Will you try to add more native plants to the Panhandle?
I love native plants, but there are several reasons the Panhandle's not a great place for them, starting with all those tall trees that create so much shade. Perhaps the most substantial obstacle is that it's a historical landscape that should be preserved. Secondly, its spaces are already spoken for by different users like picnickers, bicyclists, basketball players, and dog walkers. But there's growing interest in native plants, and people are keen to make our green spaces as beneficial to the environment as possible, so I wouldn't be surprised to see that idea put forth by neighbors and volunteers. Maybe we'll plant natives in containers, for educational purposes or perhaps designate one of the small decorative beds for natives. Then there are those underused islands near Stanyan created by the traffic loops...hmmm! Seriously, though, I have a lot to learn about the park before I can pursue any specific plans.

Any worries about taking on this new project?
The panhandle has some long-standing problems: muddy fields in winter, vehicles damaging the turf, homeless campers. The multi-use path is getting more and more popular with walkers, runners, and cyclists, and with more users, there's some friction and some calls for new designs. I hope the park's problems don't diminish the fun and satisfaction volunteers get from a good work day. In my ideal vision of how these projects work, as volunteers become increasingly invested in their neighborhood park, they also become more knowledgeable and capable of figuring out solutions that might solve some of these problems.

Next workday: Saturday, February 13, 9 am to 11 am

Meet at the Bulletin Board (in the Panhandle, 1 block west of Masonic Ave)

Wear sturdy shoes (boots the best) to keep your feet dry.

This month, it would be great to have neighborhood volunteers sign up through the Onebrick site to ensure we have enough supplies.

Everyone, including volunteers, can follow the progress of the Panhandle Park Stewards with their new blog here.