…Connecting Communities ArroyoFest Bulletin # 9 January 13, 2003

Upcoming Meetings: Community Outreach Subcommittee Meeting Date: Thursday, January 23rd Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Location: UEPI-Center for Food and Justice, 2106 Colorado Blvd. Eagle Rock. At this meeting, we’ll be organizing around our Friends of ArroyoFest outreach campaign, setting our outreach priorities and planning a speakers training. Directions: 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. News: ArroyoFest Hires Principals from L. A. Marathon to Manage Event - The ArroyoFest Steering Committee spent much of this past fall going through a search process for an experienced event manager or company to manage the event. The Steering Committee received 15 proposals, interviewed 5 candidates and on the day before Halloween selected Nick Curl and Marie Patrick who manage the City of Los Angeles Marathon to produce the ArroyoFest event. The Marathon is arguably the biggest event in town and its structure mirrors ArroyoFest. It also is also the most community-oriented and volunteer-driven major city marathon in the country. Nick and Marie have been working with the Steering Committee since November on permitting and planning for the event. We’re extremely pleased to be able to draw on their expertise and knowledge as we look toward June 15. Check Out the New Web Site! – Thanks to the hard work of Steering Committee member Claudine Chen from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, ArroyoFest has a fantastic new web site (www.arroyofest.org) with latest news and event information, background on the Arroyo and our Friends of ArroyoFest outreach campaign. We will be setting up an on-line registration system this spring and posting directions for how to get around while the freeway is closed. Bookmark the web site for updates and tell your friends and neighbors to check it out! ArroyoFest Gets Grant from Ford Foundation – This past Fall, ArroyoFest received a $20,000 grant from the Ford Foundation for general planning and assistance. The Ford Foundation supports ArroyoFest’s mission of connecting the communities of the Arroyo Seco region to improve that area’s quality of life. We’re extremely grateful for the Foundation’s support and hope to continue working with them in the years ahead. ArroyoFest Receives $20,000 from MWD – ArroyoFest also received $20,000 from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California this fall. The District’s involvement in ArroyoFest is part of its ongoing commitment to water conservation and watershed management. Through ArroyoFest, we want to highlight the effort of several local groups to restore the Arroyo Seco stream and improve water quality throughout the region. ArroyoFest also hopes to promote better management of storm runoff, water conservation in the home and replenishment of local ground water supplies. 30 Teachers Attend ArroyoFest Teacher Training – On October 11 and 12, 30 teachers from around the southland gathered at the Southwest Museum for a special teacher’s workshop: “A River Runs Through It: Connecting the Communities of the Arroyo Seco through Transportation, History and the Environment.” The workshop emphasized ways to integrate the Arroyo across the K-12 curriculum and how to encourage place-based education across Southern California. Teachers received a special 400-page Resource Guide on the Arroyo, with background information, activities and resources (a few copies are still available!) The workshop received excellent reviews and built on the past excellent work of local teachers Carmela Gomes and Jan Rodriguez. We’d like to thank the Southwest Museum, the Lummis Home, MWD Community Partners Program and the Debs Park Audubon Center for their help. We hope to offer the workshop again this spring. Check out the Teachers link at www.arroyofest.org for more information. Water Donated by Pasadena Water and Power – ArroyoFest participants will be drinking Pasadena on June 15. ArroyoFest has gotten a commitment for 10,000 bottles of water from the Pasadena Department of Water and Power. The bike ride begins from the Departments main operating plan at Glenarm and Arroyo Parkway. We’d thank the Department for its support of this important event. Help Needed: ArroyoFest is a true grassroots effort. We need your help over the next 5 months to pull off this truly historic event. Over the next 30 days we need help in the following areas: Pasadena Canvassing – The Steering Committee needs help notifying businesses and residents along Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena of the road closures for the event. Let us know if you’d be willing to help us collect signatures. Graphics Design – ArroyoFest needs help designing our poster, entry form, t-shirt, and one or more maps of the Arroyo. Let us know if you or someone you know can help us with graphic design for free or for a small fee. Small Business Drive – ArroyoFest will be kicking off its small business drive at the beginning of February. We need your help in getting the word to businesses that might be interested in supporting through community through ArroyoFest. Contact our office if you can deliver fliers to area businesses. We plan to have opportunities for listing on an ArroyoFest souvenir map as well as other means of recognition for businesses donating money or services to the event. Friends of ArroyoFest Campaign – The small business drive is part of our larger Friends of ArroyoFest outreach campaign. Individuals, families, organizations, schools and businesses can all sign up to be Friends of ArroyoFest. Friends spread the word about the event and help out where they can, with ideas, contacts, elbow grease and enthusiasm. Come to next outreach meeting on January 23rd (see above) to find out more!! Performers or Workshop Leaders – ArroyoFest is beginning again to take 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. Farmer’s Market -- 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. Fundraising Contacts & In-Kind Needs – ArroyoFest working extremely hard to raise the remaining funds necessary for the event. Let us know if you have contacts with local businesses, corporations or individuals that would be interested in donating or sponsoring ArroyoFest. We have a number of in-kind needs that are just as important as bringing in hard dollars. These include: Graphic design, Advertising space, Public relations, Sound equipment, Printing, Medical supplies, Food, Banners & signs, Water, Vehicles, Radio & T.V. air time and Filming & Photography People with Good Arroyo Stories – As ArroyoFest moves forward and we begin outreach to the media, we would like to find people who have a particular or special connection to the Arroyo. Let us know if you can suggest individuals with stories about the Arroyo and local communities that need to be told. Photos for Web Site – We would love to post additional photos (especially historic photos) of the Arroyo and the Arroyo Seco Parkway on our web site. Let us know if you know where we can find some of these. Mailing Lists – Direct mail to specific groups is one of the best ways to get the word out about the event. Let us know if you know of or would be willing to share mailing lists (especially to area cyclists) to get the word out about the event. Forwarding our bulletins or sending our web address to interested list serves would also help. Contact: Marcus Renner, the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute’s Education Coordinator, if you would like to get involved or want more information. 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