epian ways february 2003

8/9/2019 EPIAn Ways February 2003

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Echo Park Improvement Association Meets at 7 p.m. the 1st Thursday of each Month

in Williams Hall at Barlow Hospital 2000 Stadium Way in Elysian Park

Famed in song and story--well atleast story--Fargo Street is reputedlythe steepest hill in Los Angeles. As withEverest--why do cyclists attempt toclimb Fargo--because it's there. Also,like Everest, not everyone can make it.But, unlike Everest, no one has everdied trying. Therefore, once a year,bicyclists gather at the base of the hillto see who can meet the challenge. It'sonly 1/10th of a mile, just one block

long, but at over 30% grade, it's quite afeat.The annual ride, is "organized" by the

L.A. Wheelmen. Bicycle clubs ride tothe event from diverse corners of thecity. They come from the west side andthey pedal from Arcadia and the SanFernando Valley. Groups tour fromevery quarter to Fargo Street to watch apassel of riders try to make it to thetop. Many fail, but some are successful,some even several times in one day.Those who succeed receive a patch for the effort.

Climbing starts at around 9:00 a.m. and continues for a few hours. All riders

are invited to try the make the summit without stopping - it's rarelyaccomplished. No entry fee. Just a zany ride. More info: Dan Wyman, 760 439-2927, [email protected].

FARGO STREET HILL CLIMB

March 16, 2003

USED BOOK SALE FUNDRAISER AT ECHO PARK BRANCH LIBRARY

The volunteers of the Echo Park Branch Library will be hosting a used book salefundraiser on Saturday, March 15th from 10 a.m. 5 p.m. Proceeds from the salewill benefit the Childrens collection and fund library programs at the Echo ParkBranch. If you have books in good condition to donate for the sale or would like tohelp with the sale, contact Gloria at the Echo Park Branch located at 1410 W.Temple St or call at 213-250-7808.


2/12

NEWSLETTER CREDITS

EDITORS:

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PRINTING:LYMAN PRINTING

MEMORANDUMS INVOICES WARRANTIES BUSINESS C ARDS

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Lyman CommercialPrinting1201 N. A LVARADO (213) 413-5355

LOS ANGELES , CA 90026 (213) 413-5469 F AX

(323) 634-0830

(800) 787-8227


3/12

Hiding in plain sight is a parcel of land that people

hope to make into a park. Up from Riverside Drive toLanda Street, behind Dickerson Employee Benefits,and just touching both the end of Echo Park Avenueand Elysian Park is a big, hilly, vacant piece of land.The Los Angeles Department of Recreation andParks, which owns the land, and Councilmember Gar-cettis office are hoping to determine what kind ofpark facilities are most needed by the nearbyneighborhoods and will fit on the property. Peoplefrom Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Silver Lake and mem-bers of the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Parkare participating in the effort.

The time seems right because the State of Califor-

nia, once its tortured budget process is completed, isexpected to appropriate the funds from Proposition40, which the States voters approved for buildingparks in the last election. In the coming months agroup of community leaders will advise Councilmem-

ber Garcetti on what they believe people most need

to have built there, and will collaborate with the De-partment of Recreation and Parks on writing thegrants necessary to win Proposition 40 funds, andother funding. Last year a similar grant programfunded by Proposition 12 helped to pay for improve-ments at Yucca Park, Hollywood Recreation Center,and El Centro del Pueblo, among many others.

Construction costs could be high because the mainflat part of the land is irregularly shaped and some-what bigger than a football field, and much of the siteis extremely steep. There is interest in both nativehabitats and trails, and in more structured recreationfacilities, so designing the ideal park will be a chal-

lenge. Also to be considered is how the facilitieswould fit in with plans being made for the State ofCalifornia Department of Parks and Recreation forthe major new Taylor Yards State Park across theriver and freeway and river from the site.

(323)

Plans Underway for New Park Along Riverside Drive


4/12

1911 SUNSET BOULEVARDLOS ANGELES, CA 90026

(213) 484-1265

January 5, 2003 was a perfect day for birding andat 8:00 a.m., the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC)at Echo Park Lake began under sunny skies. Nation-ally, this count is in its 102 nd year, but it was the thirdyear at Echo Lake.

The CBC, which is a joint project of the NationalAudubon Society and Cornell Universitys OrnithologyLaboratory, aims to find out where all the birds are, orarent. Thousands of birders in the U.S. and Canadadedicated thousands of hours over a three week pe-riod to checking the skies, fields, forests and lakesand oceans for sightings of birds both common andrare.

Members of our team were Susan Borden, Mary

Brooks, Wes Joe, Wendy F. Lang, Judith Raskin, MarySteffens and Thea Wang. Bird books were constantlythumbed, and binoculars scanned the waters of thelake and the trees and greenery of park. This year weidentified 37 species on count day and two additionalspecies on preparation day (plus two domestic spe-cies, which are not counted). In total we counted 1273individual birds in the park over a three hour period.

This is higher than the 2001-2002 count. At thattime, we counted 35 species and some 800 individualbirds. The top three species in this count were Ameri-can Coots, 506; Brewers Blackbird, 189; and Rockdoves, 176. Last years top three were Coots, 400;Rock Dove, 350; and Brewers Blackbird, 61.

Want to get involved? You can take part in theGreat Backyard Birdcount during the PresidentsBirthday weekend of February 14-17, 2003. You cancompile sightings of birds from your backyard, frontyard, balcony, school, place of business just aboutanywhere! All you need is at least 15 minutes any ofthose days. To take part on your own, go towww.birdsource.org, where you can read and print out

the instructions and a checklist, and visit an onlinebird guide for help in identifying birds.The Echo Park Lake Backyard Count will take placeSaturday, February 15 and Monday, February 17. Youcan sign up for one or both of those days. Timeneeded: 1-2 hours. If you would like to be part of theteam, send a note to Judy Raskin, [email protected] for more information.

JANUARY BIRDCOUNT COMPLETE, FEBRUARY COUNT IS COMINGby Judy Raskin


5/12


6/12

ECHO PARK CALENDAREvent Date Location Comments

EPIA Meetings 1 st Thursday, 7:00 p.m.March 6, April 3

Williams Hall atBarlow Hospital,2000 Stadium Way inElysian Park

Call EPIA messagephone for additionalinformation

EPIA Steering CommitteeMeetings

2nd Monday, 7:15 p.m.February 10, March 10,April 14

Taix FrenchResaurant

Take an active part inEPIA. Join the SteeringCommittee

Chamber of CommerceGeneral Meeting

3 rd Friday, 1 p.m.February 21, March 21

Taix FrenchRestauant

EPCofC information/message 213-630-3032

Citizens Committee toSave Elysian Park Mtg.

1 st Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.,March 5

Call 213-666-9651 for meeting location

Greater Echo ParkElysian NeighborhoodCouncil Meeting

4th

Tuesday, 7 p.m.February 25, March 25 Logan Street SchoolAuditorium, 1711 W.Logan Street

Call (213) 413-3196 for info or visitwww.GEPENC.org

Deadline for April EPIAnWays Newsletter

Friday, March 24 Send submissions toEPIA, Attn: EPIAnWays Editor

SPECIAL EVENTS

EPIA Fruit TreeGiveaway

Sunday, February 09,2003

Echo Park LAPDDrop-in, Sunset &Echo Park Ave.

Leave name, number &tree choice on (323)882-4835

Used Book Sale Saturday, March 15, 10am 5 pm Echo Park branchLibrary, 1410 Temple For more informationcall 213.250.7808 FARGO STREET HILLCLIMB

Sunday, March 16, 9 am Fargo Street andAllesandro

More info: Dan [email protected]

EP Community Garden"get Organic v.2.0"Annual Garden Party/fundraiser

April 26 from 9 am to 5 pm 2223 Sunset Blvd @Rosemont

massive plant,vegetable, cactus andcut flowers. Music,Food & Artesinal goods

UPCOMING EPIA TOWN HALL MEETINGS El Centro del Pueblo future plans

Continued conversation with Department of Recreation and Parks

WWW.ECHOPARK.NET


7/12


8/12

Devil Dog RanchGroup ClassesBasic Manners & Puppy KindergartenBellevue Park in Silver LakeFun, reward-based training!

Call for current schedule(323) 661-7490

Also offering private consultations, in-home instruction, andtrouble-shooting of problem behaviors for dogs of all ages.

www.devildogranch.com

The Echo Park Branch Library is pleased toannounce that Wendy McPherson, Young Adult

Librarian, at the Echo Park Branch has been awardedthe Urban Rap Workshop Outstanding Young AdultLibrarian of the Year Award. Ms. McPherson has beenproviding outstanding library services to the teens ofthe Echo Park Community for over 4 years.FebruaryFUN FOR KIDSMeet and hear how Author Kathryn Hewitt began herwriting career and how children can write their ownstories. Tue, Feb. 4th 3:30 p.m.Valentine's Day Storytime with Childrens LibrarianJenni Zambrano. Wednesday February 12th 3:30ProgramsComputer ClassesInternet Classes en Espanol 1) Navegadores delinternet, 2) Motores de busqueda , and 3) CorreoElectronico. Open to the public. Call 213/250-7808for hours of service. Echo Park Branch.Electronic Catalog and the Library on the Web Learnto use the Librarys electronic catalog to search formaterials, renew items, and place your own holds.Bring your library card. All ages welcome. Familiaritywith the keyboard and mouse is recommended. Call213/250-7808 for schedule. Echo Park Branch.Un Taller de Escritura Artistica Literaria con Manuel

Luna Descubra como escribir sus ideas yexperiencias. Participa en este talle de escritura enespaol. Manuel Luna es poeta y profesor deliteratura. Sabado 8 de febrero. 11 am a 1 pm. ySabado 8 de marzo 11 am a 1 pm.

MarchPrograms

Tuesday, March 11, 25, 4:00 pmComputer Comfort Learn the basics of internetsurfing. Introduction to databases and various searchengines. Call 213/250-7808. Echo Park Branch.Saturday, March 15, 10 am 5 pmUsed Book Sale . Hosted by the volunteers of the EchoPark Branch.Saturday, March 29, 11:00 am-4:00 pmVITA Income Tax Assistance Volunteers trained bythe IRS will provide free assistance in preparation ofincome tax returns to taxpayers who have low tomoderate incomes, disabilities, non-English speakers,

and/or are 60 or older. Bring all wage, earnings andinterest statements, federal and state packets for2002, necessary social security numbers, copy ofreturns for 2001 if available, and any relevantdocuments or information about income andexpenses. For information call 213/250-7808.Monday, March 10, 17, 24, 5 pmSalsa Basics with Jeni/Basicos de Salsa con Jeni Basic 45-minute dance class open to all levels/Clasebasico de salsa para 45 minutos y para todos niveles.Jeni Zambrano is the founder of the 60-memberUCLA SalserOsos dance group. For information call213/250-7808. Echo Park Branch.

Library Hours Mondays 10:00 am - 8:00 pmTuesdays 12:00 pm - 8:00 pmWednesdays 10:00 am - 8:00 pmThursdays 12:00 pm - 8:00 pmFridays 10:00 am - 6:00 pmSaturdays 10:00 am - 6:00 pmSundays CLOSEDLibrary Address

1410 W. Temple StreetLos Angeles CA 90026Phone 213.250.7808FAX 213.250.3744 World Wide Web Address

http://www.lapl.org24 Hour Renewal: 888-577-LAPL

L IBRARY H APPENINGS


9/12

Ah!--The halls are empty, no more tinsel and trim.Where there were lights, banners, twinkling

ornaments, constant laughter of thing to come,secret wishes, hot chocolate, cookies, candy andpresents, there is now a new year, with many newexciting events already planned. Nothing brings usdown, nothing brings our kids down. What once wasa holiday scene is now replaced with homework,recreational and social activities for the new year.We love it!!

On December 15 we made our annual trip toMagic Mountain. Each year we tell the kids to dresswarm and stay off of the water rides. Guess what,they don't listen, they have to try it and find out for

themselves. Several did and by 6 pmwhen we left, they were still wet andverrrrrry cold.

On December 22 we had a hugeChristmas party with our kids andtheir families. Chef Paul cooked carneAsada, rice, beans and donations werereceived for sweets. We provided foodand presents for around 80 people.The Los Angeles Fire DepartmentEmergency Ambulance delivered toysand Santa was here to help pass thetoys out to the families. Everyoneexpress delight in being at the Centeron this special day.

The first weekend in January wetook 25 kids to Big Bear. A hugeChalet was rented along with a 15passenger van to transport our group.Many of our kids have not seen snow and wereespecially amazed at the sight of a white sea in themountains. Most of the kids who participated in thistrip sold candy during December and November inorder to help defray the cost of our ritzy glitzy trip.The weather was warm which made it excellent tomake wet firm snowballs. Word has it the kids

ambushed Ivan, one of our staff as he was walkingaround a corner. As you can see from the picture, itwas a large group.

Thanks for all your support this past year andhopefully, we will see most of you this wonderfulnew year. Stop by and visit, it is always a pleasureto meet and greet our neighbors.

Central City Action by Gloria

SaturdaySpecialTypicalHaitian

Food

Mon Sat11 am 7 pmSundays Group of 10or more byReservation

Wood Burning Rotisserie309 N. Glendale Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90026www.tigeorgeschicken.comEmail: [email protected]


10/12

HELLO FELLOW ECHO PARKIANS, WELL IT'S ANEW YEAR and what a year we had. When we firststarted CCEP/YEC in 1993 our goal was to get theLatino population in Echo Park involved in communityand to let the neighborhood people know that not allour kids were "cholos" or "bad" kids. I think in this as-pect we have reached our goal! Some of our originalyouth council members are now either married withchildren leading productive lives. A couple of othersare in college working towards teaching credentialsand looking forward to joining LAUSD if they haven'talready and fondly remember their time with theEcho Park Youth Empowerment Council.

As a group this will be our 10th year volunteeringfor the L.A. Marathon. We used to be at mile 8,moved to mile 16 in Virgil Village, mile 22 last yearand this year mile 25 (its closer to home -- Olympic &Bonnie Brae) just a hop skip and holler from here sowe hope you join us. Don't forget to sign up.

This year was also our 2nd year working for theSpark of Love toy program, our volunteers made sureour kids in Echo Park had a "very nice Christmas".The EPYEC annual Christmas party, lovingly calledthe Echo Park Festival of Lights program, was asmashing successes. Thank you to the members ofthe Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council,Andrew, Ron, Kris, Thomas, Elaine, Steven, Lynn foryour good vibes and food contributions and to LoganStreet School's Mr. Martin, to our hard working boardmembers Bessy Rodriguez, Casper and Letty Torres,

Lucy Rodman, Gricianna Gutierrez, Sara Galvan , BillyMavropoulos, volunteers Josie Lee Gomez, Olga Gar-cia, Mercy, Rocky, Jose, Sharin, Percy, gracias!

Happy Chinese new year, its the year of the Ram.Our group hopes you all don't become sheep and fal-low Mr. Bush into a war for oil and tax breaks , I wasproud to see on the news, fellow Echo Parkians takinga stance against this war.

A reminder to those folks who receive cash aid orassistance, when you send in your monthly formsplease spend the extra 95 cents and have your lettercertified at the post office, that way you have proofyou mailed in on time when they claim they do not

have your forms and disrupt your assistance.We take a stance against LAUSD adding another

track making a total of 4. Our local schools are al-ready to small (Elysian Heights) or too over-crowed(Logan). Instead of adding another track taking edu-cational time from our kids , LAUSD should listen tothe community and not invest in contaminated land(Belmont project) listen LAUSD, the community doesnot want 4 tracks!Orale pues, until next time , oh, don't forget CesarChavez day inMarch, si se puede ,

si se puede ....Sincerely yours,Luiza Padilla-MavropoulosWilliam Mavropoulos


11/12

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For only $10 a month you can help reduce the largeamounts of graffiti and tagging that appear over theweekend in Echo Park and Angelino Heights.

For more than a year now, about 30 area residentsand groups, including the Echo Park ImprovementAssociation, have pledged $10 a month to finance theGraffiti-Free Weekend program. The money goesdirectly to Central City Action Committee, the localnonprofit agency charged with graffiti clean up in ourarea, to hire a paint-out crew member on Saturdayand Sunday mornings. The neighborhood's majorstreets including Echo Park Avenue, GlendaleBoulevard, Sunset Boulevard and Bellevue Avenue-getpriority.

While most residents are still dozing, the weekend

graffiti crew starts its work at sunrise to clean upgraffiti before it becomes noticeable to mostresidents. The early shift also helps minimize thepotential threat of being encountered by taggers. Thecrew drives the main streets looking for tagging andalso cleans up locations called in by residents.

The results have been impressive. During one nine-

month period, the weekend crew painted out nearly40,000-square- feet of graffiti. Thats the equivalent ofa 10-foot-high wall stretching for nearly three-quartersof a mile. The figure does not include countless lampposts, traffic signals and guard rails that were alsocleaned up on the weekends.

Not only does the neighborhood look better, but thepotential for youth violence that is often connected tograffiti and tagging is also reduced. On the days theweekend graffiti crew is off because of holidays orillness, there is a noticeable increase in tagging andgraffiti.

Without the Graffiti-Free Weekends program, allthat tagging that takes place on Friday and Saturdaynight would stay up for days before it would be

reported and painted out. By being pro active,residents have been able to make a difference bymaking the neighborhood more attractive and safer.

Residents and business owners interested insupporting the program can call EPIA at (323) 882-4835. The $10 a month tax deductible donation, isbilled quarterly. Join in for graffiti free weekends.

Weekend GRAFFITI Removal


12/12

HEY BIG SPENDER : Echo Park residents south ofTemple Street are growing fed up with all the locationfilming that's going on. Word on the street is that thefilming, much of it near Court Street, repeatedlyblocked off traffic and involved plenty of fake gunfireand speeding cars. One unhappy resident complainedto the crew that the production, for TV's "AmericasMost Wanted," was highly disruptive and didn't seemto give anything back to the neighborhood. The crewmember reportedly responded by buying a bag full ofcrayons and markers for local children. "We werethinking more along the lines of $1,000," the cranky

resident said.Logan Elementary School's drill team had abooming car wash last month. Scores of carsdescended on the school playground to support theteam, which is heading off to a major competitionnext month.

THE HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON came andwent, and clearly one Echo Park purchase must haveended up in a lot of stockings. "Chicken Corner" T-shirts, designed by Echo Park resident MarshaPerloff, was the single biggest seller last month at thegallery Ojala on Echo Park Avenue. Chicken Corner,you may recall, refers to the empty lot at Echo Park

and Delta Street where chickens, rabbits and even agoat have been known to reside. The chickens wererecognized in a mural across the street painted byartist Aaron Donovan. Even actress Julia Roberts,working on a production on the East Coast, has beenspotted wearing one of the famous tees.

ONE ECHO PARK HOTSPOT found itself in a littlehot water, apparently. The Short Stop, the SunsetBoulevard nightspot known to pack 'em in even onweeknights, was informed by the city that it did nothave the proper permits for dancing or even for itsbilliard table. So now the look of the bar haschanged. The billiard room is closed off, the DJ's nolonger make an appearance and the dance floor hasbeen replaced by an enormous X-shaped love seat.Although things have quieted down at the former copbar, some Echo Park locals say the mega-booth isactually quite conducive to late-night conversation.

HUGE APARTMENT PROJECTS continue to go upon Echo Parks eastern flank. Just past AngelinoHeights, no less than four multi-story buildings aregoing up on Sunset/Cesar Chavez. And similarly-sized buildings are under way on Allison Street andInnes Street, both near Elysian Park Avenue.

Further south, an affordable housing developer istaking another stab at bringing a 44-unit housingcomplex to an empty lot on Temple Street. Theproject, which is planned near the southbound offramp of the Hollywood (101) Freeway, was pushedback last year after the city complained about

contaminated soil on the site.Two men broke into the Vons on Alvarado Streetlast week. Captured on videotape, the burglarsimmediately went for the supermarket's cigarettedisplay, which they broke open and rifled through. Noword on whether anyone was found.

COULD ECHO PARK have been any prettier than itwas this January? With summer-like temperaturesand the occasional Santa Ana, the streets andhillsides were in sharp focus throughout the month. Ifonly there weren't so many billboards on SunsetBoulevard blocking the hillsides from view.

OUR NEIGHBORHOOD lost two well-knownresidents recently. Alexander Buchman, who lived forhalf a century on Park Drive, passed away just afterthe new year. Buchman had been close to Grace E.Simons, one of the original founders of the CitizensCommittee to Save Elysian Park. In recent years, hisphotographic work - which captured 1930s Shanghaiand other subjects had been the subject of exhibitsat Fototeka Gallery.

More recently, lifelong Echo Park resident LouiseAngona passed away. Angona had lived in a tinypowder-blue cottage on McDuff Street, just south ofScott Avenue, for no less than 94 years! Her familyoriginally operated a winery on McDuff and isbelieved to have lived in the oldest house in EchoPark north of Sunset Boulevard.Opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the writers and

do not necessarily reflect the position of the Echo Park Improvement Association

L OTUS PAD N OTES N EWS AND I TEMS OF I NTEREST FROM E CHO P ARK & A NGELINO H EIGHTS by E.P. Lagoso

epian ways february 2003

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