…Connecting Communities ArroyoFest Bulletin # 14 May 24, 2003

Upcoming Meetings (see details at end of newsletter): Memorial Day Meeting – This Monday we’ll still be here! Every Monday at 2106 Colorado Blvd. 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. See details below. May 27, 2003 – Walk/Art Planning Meeting – This Tuesday we’ll have a meeting to finalize plans for the walk portion of the ArroyoFest event. Help us to make the walk a colorful, musical, creative extravaganza. 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at 2106 Colorado Blvd. See details below. ArroyoFest Clean-up Scheduled for June 7 – Meet at one of three locations to help collect trash and paint out graffiti in advance of ArroyoFest.. (See details below) News: The Last Weeks, ArroyoFest Fundraising -- As you know, ArroyoFest is a real grassroots event and movement. We’ve been able to raise money from a number of sources – businesses, agencies, foundations. But we do not have a membership base – only friends and supporters. Through some recent sponsorships and in-kind pledges, we have been able narrow the gap between our budget and our funds to roughly $35,000. To make up the difference we are conducting a small business drive, selling t-shirts and trying to get as many people signed up as possible to help defray our costs. But we need your help!! At this point, anything you can contribute to the effort makes a big difference. Please lend your support to a history-making experience. Make an investment today in the ArroyoFest’ vision of strong, healthy and connected communities. Tax-deductible donations should be made payable to ArroyoFest - Occidental College and mailed to 2106 Colorado Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90041. ArroyoFest Scholarship Fund – The goal of ArroyoFest has always been to gain participation by as many people as possible. To help in this effort, a donation has been made to establish a matching scholarship fund for youth who would not otherwise be able to afford the $10 bike fee. We are currently working to identify youth programs in the Arroyo area that can put $5 for their youth to ride on the freeway. While funds last, each $5 donation will be matched by the scholarship fund to allow young people to ride. You can help by contributing to the ArroyoFest Scholarship Fund. Tax-deductible donations should be made payable to ArroyoFest - Occidental College. Write Scholarship on your check and mail to 2106 Colorado Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90041. Help give young people the experience of a lifetime. Small Business Drive in Final Days – The ArroyoFest small business drive is in its final days. The centerpiece of the drive is listing of local businesses on a beautiful souvenir map of the Arroyo Seco. 1000 of these poster-size maps will be sold at the Fest. For $100 a local business can put itself on the map. Deadline for pledges to be on the map is this Wednesday. Don’t miss out. We will of course continue to accept donations from small businesses up to (and beyond) the event. REI Partners with ArroyoFest – REI is supporting ArroyoFest on June 15 in the following ways: REI bike techs will be on site to provide free bike safety checks before the ride REI mobile techs will ride the route to provide support to riders along the way REI will be giving out REI Novara water bottles, stickers for the kids and a 15% off bike maintenance labor coupon valid at any REI store in SoCal! Come early while supplies last! Join REI at the Arroyo Festival in Sycamore Grove Park to learn more about getting outdoors: educational clinics and information will be presented. All About Outreach - ArroyoFest outreach is in taking off. Many, many thanks to the volunteers who have dropped by our office to take posters and entry forms out to local businesses and community locations. Around town many of the people I have spoken with have already heard of the event and are excited to finally get the details. Entry forms can be picked up at a number of locations around the community. Look for our counter displays saying “Bike and Walk on the Pasadena Freeway.” There is still a lot left to do and we are working to get the word out to gyms, bike shops and sporting goods stores. A limited number of Spanish entry forms are now available through our office. We’re still hoping to find an in-kind donation that will help us to print several thousand of the Spanish entry forms. Armed with 100,000 fliers, ArroyoFest will soon start going door-to-door to let people know about this historic event. Call our office at 323-341-5093 if you’d like to help. “A River Runs Through It” Teachers’ Workshop Gets Rave Reviews – On April 25 & 26 and May 2 & 3, educators from both private and public institutions participated in an exciting workshop on the environment, history and community issues of the Arroyo Seco. Workshop participants visited Hahamongna Watershed Park, the Lummis Home, the Southwest Museum, Pasadena’s Lower Arroyo and got a special arts and crafts home tour. The workshop included talks by local experts and panel presentations by teachers and community leaders about how to integrate “place-based education” into the classroom. Visit http://www.arroyofest.org/workshop.html to find out more. ArroyoFest declared a Special Event by the Los Angeles City Council – On May 7th, ArroyoFest was officially declared a special event by the City of Los Angeles. ArroyoFest would like to acknowledge Councilmember Ed Reyes for his leadership in making ArroyoFest a reality and thank the rest of the council for their support. The declaration qualifies ArroyoFest for assistance from several city departments including police and transportation offices. ArroyoFest Attracts New Sponsors – ArroyoFest has attracted additional sponsors for the event including Safeco Insurance, Kaiser Permanente and the Northeast Observer. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Call our office if you know of a company that would like to take advantage of this great promotional opportunity. Unfriendly Insurance Market Keeps Horses off the Freeway – We have sad news to report on the planned equestrian freeway ride for June 15. Due to an inability to obtain the $3 million dollars of insurance coverage required by Caltrans, equestrian participation in the main ArroyoFest event will have to wait until next year. There will be other equestrian events off-freeway on June 15. Watch the ArroyoFest Calendar for more information. ArroyoFest Calendar Coming Soon – While the walk and bike ride on the Historic Arroyo Seco Parkway is the main attraction on June 15, there are other events being hosted by other organizations, both on the afternoon of the 15th and the days leading up to the big event. All of these events will soon be posted on our website, http://www.arroyofest.org. Continue checking back to find out about all the exciting things happening around the Arroyo in early June. Would your group or organization want to host an ArroyoFest event and take advantage of the crowds and media attention generated by ArroyoFest?? Our simple event application is available on-line at http://www.arroyofest.org/hostevent.html. Other ArroyoFest events will be listed on our web site, in e-mail bulletins and, if your event is on June 15, in information given to participants. And DON’T FORGET to REGISTER ON-LINE at www.arroyofest.org and BUY A T-SHIRT. You can order a t-shirt by calling 323-341-5090 or stop by our office at 2106 Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. Help Needed: Stand and Deliver – We now have a list of bike shops, gyms and sporting goods stores around Los Angeles and Orange County where we need to deliver posters and entry forms. Let us know if you’re available to deliver materials to areas near and far. We’re trying to create little pockets of excitement around Southern California that will grow into one big exciting mass by June 15th. Tell Your Friends – Please tell your friends to tell their friends about ArroyoFest. Please forward the message at the end of this e-mail to your friends and family and encourage them to send it out to their lists as well. Sample Newsletter Articles Posted On-line – If you belong to an organization with a newsletter, include something on ArroyoFest in your next edition. Different versions of newsletter articles (short, long, environment-focused, etc.) are now available on-line at http://www.arroyofest.org/fornewsletter.html. You can edit as necessary. Volunteer Teams Being Organized – Volunteer teams are being organized for the walk, bike ride and community festival. Opportunities exist to volunteer for hospitality, registration, directions, clean-up, course support just to name a few. Register as a volunteer on-line now at http://www.arroyofest.org/getinvolved.html. Drop in volunteers to our office at 2106 Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock are always welcome, but please call 323-341-5093 to make sure someone is there to help you. Upcoming Meetings - Details Friends of ArroyoFest Meeting Every Monday! Find out the latest about ArroyoFest and how you can help every Monday from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the Center for Food and Justice at 2106 Colorado Blvd. Drop in to pick up outreach material, hear the latest news and get your questions answered about this exciting event. Directions: 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. May 27, 2003 – Walk/Art Planning Meeting, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., 2106 Colorado Blvd. This Tuesday we’ll have a meeting to finalize plans for the walk portion of the ArroyoFest event. Help us to make the walk a colorful, musical, creative extravaganza. Imagine puppets, banners, flags, music all converging on Sycamore Grove Park in a glorious procession. Help make this vision a reality Directions: 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 Clean-up Scheduled for June 7 -- On Saturday June 7 there will be a grand limpieza of the Arroyo Seco area in preparation for ArroyoFest. This the 10th annual Arroyo Clean-up. Put the shine back on the canyon!! Get your home ready for visitors by helping collect trash and paint out graffiti. There are three locations to meet for the clean-up: Arroyo Seco Park at Hermon 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. (meet at the park entrance along Via Marisol); Debs Park, 9:00 a.m. to noon (meet on Griffin Avenue at the pedestrian overpass); 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. meet at the end of South Avenue 49. For more information call (323) 222-2620, (323) 226-0017 or (323) 312-2164. E-Mail Announcements (Please forward to your e-mail lists!) Bike and Walk ON the Pasadena Freeway! On Sunday, June 15th people will have a chance to bike, walk on the oldest freeway in the American West and enjoy a community festival celebrating the Arroyo Seco. The ArroyoFest Volunteer Steering Committee consists of representatives from environmental, transportation, community and cultural groups from up and down the Arroyo and throughout the region. The goal of the event is to connect the communities of the Arroyo Seco, from Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles, and show how the Arroyo can become a model for creating more livable communities, communities with abundant parks, clean and convenient transportation, a strong sense of history and an appreciation for our region’s cultural diversity. For additional information and on-line registration visit www.arroyofest.org. Call 323-341-5091 or e-mail arroyofest@oxy.edu if you’d like an entry form mailed to you or are interested in becoming a volunteer. ArroyoFest is sponsored by: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, The Gas Company, Avery Dennison, Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College, Amalgamated Bank, American Union Financial and Oralia Michel Marketing and Public Relations, Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, Councilmember Ed Reyes, City of Los Angeles, District 1, Safeco Insurance, Northeast Observer, City of Los Angeles, Department of Recreation and Parks. ArroyoFest is also supported by generous grants and donations from: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Environment NOW, Operating Engineers Local 12, REI, Kaiser Permanente, 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, City of Pasadena Department of Public Works, City of South Pasadena, Community Outreach Partnership Center at Occidental College.