…Connecting Communities ArroyoFest Bulletin # 11 March 9, 2003

Upcoming Meetings: Standing ArroyoFest Meeting Every Monday In order to take advantage of people’s interest in helping out, I will holding a standing meeting every Monday after work until June 15th. This will be a time to learn the latest, find out how you can help and pick up materials to take out into the community. We specifically need people to take materials to businesses, schools and community groups. Date: Mondays Time: Drop-in -- 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Location: Center for Food and Justice. 2106 Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. The Center for Food and Justice is located one and a half blocks east (toward Pasadena) from the corner of Colorado and Eagle Rock Blvd. Storefront office is located on the south side of the street between Caspar and Mayflower. Free street parking is available after 6 p.m. Community Outreach Subcommittee Meeting Come to this meeting as we rally outreach volunteers and strategize for the next two months about the best way to get the word out on the street about the event. Date: Monday, March 17th Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Location: Center for Food and Justice. 2106 Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. The Center for Food and Justice is located one and a half blocks east (toward Pasadena) from the corner of Colorado and Eagle Rock Blvd. Storefront office is located on the south side of the street between Caspar and Mayflower. Free street parking is available after 6 p.m. ArroyoFest Teacher Training Planning Group Help plan a special workshop on the Arroyo for area teachers. The workshop will be held on April 25th & 26th and May 2nd & 3rd at various locations around the Arroyo. Help us bring the community into the classroom. Date: Wednesday, April 2 Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Location: Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, 1882 Campus Road, Eagle Rock. The Institute is located on the edge of the Occidental Campus. Turn east on Westdale from Eagle Rock Blvd. Go two blocks to Campus Road. Take a left and go up the hill. UEPI's office is to the right at the top of the hill. Look for a dirt parking area under some oak trees. Go to http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/about/directions.htm for more detailed directions, a map and a photo of the office. News: Small Business Drive Underway – ArroyoFest has launched its small business drive and has brochures available for people to take to local businesses. Participating businesses will carry our posters and entry forms and can make cash or in-kind donations to the event between $100 and $1500. The centerpiece of this effort is the production of a souvenir map of the Arroyo Seco listing local businesses donating $100 to the event. The success of this drive is critical to the event. Drop by our office and pick up some brochures if you’d be willing to contact local businesses about the event. For more information on the business drive or to suggest businesses that might be interested e-mail Julie Uehara at jtmathu@yahoo.com. ArroyoFest Receives Support from County Sanitation Districts – ArroyoFest has received $1500 from Los Angeles County Sanitation District to support the event. The District maintains Scholl Landfill in northeast Los Angeles and supports ArroyoFest’s emphasis on conservation and a clean environment. Buy an ArroyoFest Sweat-free T-Shirt! – ArroyoFest is proud to announce an exciting partnership with Sweat-X, a worker-owned garment factory committed to a social justice and a livable wage for all its workers. Through a generous gift of $2500 from Amalgamated Bank, Sweat-X will produce an initial run of ArroyoFest t-shirts. This exciting partnership links the goals of social and environmental justice and will help both Sweat-X and ArroyoFest gain greater visibility. Thanks to volunteer Peter Aeschbacher, we have a great t-shirt design. First-run t-shirts will be $10 and profits from t-shirt sales will finance a second printing of shirts closer to the event. If you or your group would like to order t-shirts contact Michelle Ashley or Alesandro Morosin at 323-341-5091. Posters and Entry Forms Coming Soon! – ArroyoFest posters and entry forms will be coming soon to community locations and businesses near you. Thanks to in-kind donations from several different sources we’re almost ready to send our initial promotional material to the printer. On-line registration will also be available in the next couple of weeks. So, keep checking our website (www.arroyofest.org) and be the first to sign up to walk or bike on the freeway! Teacher Workshop Dates Set – The dates for ArroyoFest Teachers Workshop have been set – Friday and Saturday, April 25th and 26th and Friday and Saturday, May 2nd and 3rd. Teachers are welcome to sign up for just the first weekend. The workshop will take place at various locations around the Arroyo and focus on integrating study of the Arroyo’s environment, history and community into K-12 curriculum. There will be special activity demonstrations and facilitated discussions about how to meet state standards while teaching students about the Arroyo. We need people to distribute fliers advertising this exciting opportunity to schools in the Arroyo area. We’re also looking for a small grant or in-kind donation of printing to produce copies of our resource guide for teachers attending the workshop. For more information, click on the Teacher’s link on the ArroyoFest home page or call 323-341-5093. Help Needed: Outreach! Outreach! Outreach! – We need help with outreach. We are trying to get as many community organizations, religious centers, bike clubs, schools and businesses to sign up to be Friends of ArroyoFest. We could really use your help in contacting these groups and delivering in person, by FAX or by e-mail our event information. If you can contact non-profit, community or neighborhood groups, come to the next outreach meeting on March 17th or contact Edgar Garcia (egarciathewall@earthlink.net or Alexis Moreno (lexmoreno@aol.com). If you can contact local schools call 323-341-5093. If you’d be willing to take information to local businesses e-mail Julie Uehara jtmahu@yahoo.com or come to the meeting on the 17th. If you can contact bike shops, bike clubs or cycling organizations, contact Claudine Chen at ming@caltech.edu. Fliers and brochures are available at our office at 2106 Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. Stop by anytime! But I’ll be here on Mondays after work to answer questions and provide information. Marketing & Advertising Expertise Wanted – We will be having a meeting in the coming weeks to discuss creative ways to market and advertise ArroyoFest both locally and across the region. If you have experience in marketing or advertising and would be willing to participate in a strategy session, call our office at 323-341-5093. Spanish Translation – This is our most immediate need! Several professional translators have been recommended to us. We need to conserve our funding right now, however, so if you know of someone who’d be willing to volunteer and can do quality translation of printed material, contact our office. Illustrator Wanted to Draw Souvenir Arroyo Map – We are still looking for an illustrator who’d be willing to donate some time to create a souvenir map of the Arroyo. We have several sample maps that can be used as a template. Contact us at 323-341-5093 if you or someone you know would like to take on this project. Naturalists and Facilitators Wanted for Teacher Workshop – The ArroyoFest Teacher’s Workshop is looking for naturalists to take teachers on a nature walk in Hahamongna Watershed Park on Saturday morning, April 26th from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. We are also in search of teachers currently doing service-learning or environmental activities with their classes to participate in a panel on either Friday, April 25th (environmental activities) or Saturday May 3rd (service-learning). Performers or Workshop Leaders – ArroyoFest is still accepting applications for performers and workshop leaders for its community festival in Sycamore Grove Park. Go the web site www.arroyofest.org and click on event, festival and performer links to get more information or contact Margaret Arnold at margaretava@hotmail.com Farmer’s Market/Food Coordinator -- ArroyoFest would like to offer healthy food and refreshments in Sycamore Grove Park to walkers, cyclists and festival goers. Let us know if you’d be interested in helping organize a small farmer’s market or Taste of the Arroyo food court for local businesses. Most of the profits from food vendors would be retained by the coordinator. Contact Claudine Chen at ming@caltech.edu ArroyoFest is sponsored by: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College, Oralia Michel Marketing and Public Relations. ArroyoFest is also supported by generous grants from: Environment NOW, The Metropolitan Water District Community Partners Program, The Ford Foundation, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, City of Pasadena Department of Water and Power