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10th Anniversary Retrospective: A flash mob cleans up a flash flood in Glen Park

December 11, 2014 by Elizabeth Weise

 

To celebrate the Glen Park Association Website turning ten years old, we are reposting some of our favorite stories from the last ten years.


Screen Shot 2014-12-11 at 1.53.32 PM

Living in a big city doesn’t mean that people don’t take care of each other, as the rise and fall of “Lake Lippard” in Glen Park during Thursday’s storm shows.

About 16 neighbors and strangers came together in an impromptu bucket brigade to clear Lippard Street, which flooded in the storm.

After two hours, and one pried up manhole cover, they succeeded.

The street had already flooded once, during Tuesday’s storm.

“We called the Department of Public Works, the Mayor’s office, but no one came to clean out the drains,” said Richard Newhagen, 50, whose garage was inundated. He and others had spent fruitless hours with brooms and shovels trying to clear them themselves.

By 7:00 am Thursday it was clear the two clogged storm drains on the street weren’t doing anything–and the water was rising.

Weise-2014-12-11-3043The flooding was the most Henry Martinez, 76, had seen in 20 year on the street. “It’s never been like this,” he said as he swept water away from his garage.

Weise-2014-12-11-3041Killian Murphy, 43, helped build a dam at the top of Lippard where it intersects Bosworth.

“We just needed to top the water flowing down the street,” he said of the makeshift barrier.

But the rain held up and the waters rose. It got close to flooding Martinez.

Then people started arriving to help out.

“This is just incredible,” he said. “Somehow word got out and all these people showed up.”

That word came in the form of an email to the Glen Park Parents group by Casey Frederico, saying anyone who wanted to could come and join the bucket brigade.

By ones and twos, neighbors showed up with buckets, trash cans, brooms and waders.

They started by carrying buckets to an empty lot down the street. Several used broom handles to try to dislodge whatever was blocking the street’s two storm drains. Neither proved effective.

Then Willie Sparks, who lives a few blocks over, yelled out “Who’s got a crow bar?”

Weise-2014-12-11-3046One was quickly produced and Sparks and Eric Hansen, 60, pried up the manhole cover in the center of the street.

Unfortunately, it was on a slight rise in the street so only some of the water flowed down it.

That didn’t stop the newly-formed work brigade.

Screen Shot 2014-12-11 at 1.51.02 PM

Within minutes, 16 people, including children, were busy pushing, pouring and swabbing water into the sewer.

Screen Shot 2014-12-11 at 1.39.31 PM

After more than two hours of wet, cold work, the street was cleared.

Weise-2014-12-11-3102

Later in the afternoon, the neighbors succeeded in prying up the storm drains and scraped out trashcan-fulls of smelly, rotting leaves and muck which had clogged them. It was such dirty work that despite the rain, one brought out a hose to spray down those who had helped.

“This is just amazing,” said Martinez, who said he didn’t know most of the people who’d gotten involved. “They all just pitched in.”

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IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

Upper Noe Neighbors Community Meeting Wednesday, May 21, 7 p.m.
Upper Noe Recreation Center auditorium
295 Day Street
Agenda


San Francisco Department of Public Works logoDPW Love Our City
District 8 Cleanup Day
Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m. to afternoon
Learn more and sign up here


 

Logo Center for Creative Exploration

The Center for Creative Exploration
Explore all the Colors of the Rainbow
one-day workshop
Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
300 Chenery Street
Learn more and link to registration here


Weeding Party
June 21, 10 a.m. to noon
100 block of Arlington at Charles
Join neighbors on the North end of the Cut to keep down the weeds and beautify top to bottom. Tools, lunch and good company provided.



Stop the bleed logoStop the Bleed Workshop
Thursday, June 26, 6-9 p.m.
St. Aidan’s Church
To learn more, click here


Monthly cleanup on the Greenway
First Saturday of the Month (usually)
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Friends of Glen Canyon’s
Glen Canyon Habitat Restoration
Every third Saturday 9:30 a.m to noon
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Join the Glen Park Association and help promote our community’s interests. Together, we can secure improvement funds, publicize neighborhood concerns and strive to speak as one voice on neighborhood and city issues.

Membership in the Glen Park Association is only $10 annually and can be purchased online.

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Glen Park Association is in Glen Park.
2 hours ago
Glen Park Association

Tuesday was a star-studded day at Glen Park BART when Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde spent much of the afternoon filming a new romantic comedy titled “The Invite” in the station.

For more on this story..Check out the article by Elizabeth Weise on the Glen Park News Blog:
“Seth Rogen & Olivia Wilde filming at Glen Park BART”

Visit Link in Bio or our website: www.glenparkassociation.org
... See MoreSee Less

Tuesday was a star-studded day at Glen Park BART when Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde spent much of the afternoon filming a new romantic comedy titled “The Invite” in the station.

For more on this story..Check out the article by Elizabeth Weise on the Glen Park News Blog: 
“Seth Rogen & Olivia Wilde filming at Glen Park BART”

Visit Link in Bio or our website: www.glenparkassociation.org
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Glen Park Association is at San Francisco Public Library Glen Park Branch.
3 days ago
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Photos and Fun courtesy of the Glen Park Library!
It was a great turnout at the Glen Park Library Open House on Saturday May 17th!

Thank you to all who attended and a big thank you to Glen Park Branch Library Manager Darren Heiber and his staff for a fantastic day!! 🙌🏽

San Francisco Public Library Arion Press | Artist Books Museum of Craft and Design Rafael Mandelman 🏳️‍🌈 #glenparklibrary #arionpress #museumofcraftanddesign #glenparksf #sanfrancisco #InCommunity
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Photos and Fun courtesy of the Glen Park Library! 
It was a great turnout at the Glen Park Library Open House on Saturday May 17th!

Thank you to all who attended and a big thank you to Glen Park Branch Library Manager Darren Heiber and his staff for a fantastic day!! 🙌🏽

@sfpubliclibrary @arionpress @museumofcraftanddesign @rafaelmandelmand8 #glenparklibrary #arionpress #museumofcraftanddesign #glenparksf #sanfrancisco #incommunity
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Blog Roll

Coyote Yipps
Friends of Upper Noe Recreation Center
Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project
Open SF History
Sunnyside Conservatory
Sunnyside History
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
Tramps of San Francisco
Upper Noe Neighbors

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