Keep Temescal Clean & Beautiful

A number of years ago I was walking the dogs in my neighborhood and saw an inordinate amount of litter piled up along the sidewalk.

I thought to myself, "Someone should do something about that mess."

After several days passing the growing litter pile, noticing more litter and graffiti, and saying, "Someone really should do something about that" I went home to grab a garbage bag.

As I was picking up the trash I was approached by a woman who said, "Thanks for doing that, how did you get organized to come out here?" I looked down at the garbage bag and the litter pile and thought "organized?"

Well that was the beginning of Keep Temescal Clean & Beautiful, an all volunteer effort to maintain a beautiful Temescal neighborhood by picking up litter, painting over graffiti, reporting illegal dumping, and sponsoring neighborhood beautification projects like mosaics, gardens, and art projects.

The easiest way to participate is to drop by one of our weekly litter pickup walks that take place every Sunday from 9am - 10am. We meet at the corner of 43rd and Shafter; bags and litter pickup tongs are provided.

The best part is, because you've demonstrated a desire to keep your neighborhood clean, we'll let you keep the tongs and throw in a few bags too!

Keep it clean!

To The People Of Oakland...

Dear Friends:
It is up to you what the future of Oakland will be. Oakland is no longer a village. It is a city, a growing one. It is your duty to keep it growing, to keep it prosperous.

Oakland, with its wealth, beauty and brilliant future, is an ideal attained by pioneers who struggled for years over inumerable hardships. The cement, the steel, the mortar and glass and the thousand and one things which go into Oakland, was not conceived overnight.

I realize the future of Oakland is far beyond human imagination. I thank you for your wonderful work. So partake of her hospitality and prosperity, invest, build, prosper and live happy in Oakland.

Your well wisher,
Oakland's Guardian Angel

These are the words written and compiled by Florence B. Crocker in 1925 and re-introduced to us by Oaklander Justin Kanalakis in 2011 via the website Who Made Oakland.

I'm struck by how this Oakland pride from so long ago resonates with many of us living in Oakland today. But what makes people proud to live where they do? One might like the city they live in because it's got great restaurants, access to nature, manicured lawns, or whatever, but liking or even loving where you live is different from being proud of living there.

We have Oakland pride. There is an aspect of ownership in feeling proud. Pride is what moves us to volunteer our time to help our neighbors. Pride spurs a civic passion and the belief that we can make a difference; it's our obligation to make a difference.

Oakland pride is a shared sense of place. There is a oneness about it. With all of our different backgrounds and stories, the one thing that we can all agree on is that we are proud of HERE. Who Made Oakland is a reminder that those that came before us felt exactly as we do about this place - proud.

So let's do it Oakland People... "Invest, build, prosper, and live happy in Oakland."

Next up... The Lake Merritt Monster!