The Barron Park Association

Jan 122014
 
A bit of sad news. Leland Smith passed away on December 17th. I saw his obituary noticein the January 11th issue of the  Daily Post. None of us should be surprised, knowing that he had been in failing health. Nonetheless, it is sad to learn of the death of one of Barron Park’s originals, a talented musician and scholar and a very gentle and kind person.Leland was an emeritus professor of music at Stanford.  A memorial gathering will be held at the Stanford Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18. The center is at 660 Lomita Drive on the Stanford campus.An obituary notice appeared  in the Stanford News on January 10th that reviews his impressive academic career. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/january/leland-smith-obit-010914.html

Leland was appropriately very proud of his pioneering work in creating a computer coding system, SCORE, for  typesetting music that is still in use today.  Not a musician myself, I first heard about his work in this area from Leland himself, about a decade ago, one Sunday morning at Bol Park while he was watching over the donkeys. Many residents of Barron Park know Leland for is his many contributions to the donkeys, and his devotion to them is recognized by noting that his family has asked that memorial gifts can be made to the Palo Alto Donkey Project.

The Smith connection to the Barron Park Donkeys
Both Leland and his late wife, Edith,  along with Inge Harding-Barlow and James Bronson, were very instrumental first in creating  the “donkey project”, which  insured that the Bol family donkeys would have – and continue to have – a home in Barron Park after the Bol property was sold to James Witt, and then in creating the donkey handler group who have cared for and supported the donkeys.Many references to the Smiths and their activities with the donkeys over the years are in the BPA newsletters, including a long article by Zoie Nicholas in the Spring 2003 BPA newsletterand in a number of photos that I have posted below.Art Liberman

Leland feeding Mickey in 1997

Donkey handlers: From top left, Ted Thomas, Pat Rogow, Edith Smith, Leland Smith, bottom left, Doug Moran and Inge Harding-Barlow in 1997.

Perry and Niner visiting Barron Park School kindergarten class in 2000, Leland on the right

 

Sep 122013
 

Another Community meeting called by the Transportation Division to receive input about a bicycle boulevard, this one running along Maybell-Donald-Georgia, from El Camino Way to Arastradero.

When:  September 17, 2013 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Where: Terman Middle School Cafeteria Room

The text of the message sent to homeowners by mail:

“The City is soliciting public input on design elements of the proposed Maybell-Donald-Georgia Bicycle Boulevard between El Camino Way and Arastradero Road. This project is proposed in the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan 2012 and supports Safe Routes to School operations for Briones Elementary, Terman Middle and Gunn High School.

The kickoff meeting will include a presentation on standard bicycle boulevard treatments and allow residents to provide input, using high resolution maps, of areas where focused improvements may be necessary to improve bicycle and pedestrian operations.

All information shared at the meeting will be posted on the City website at www.cityofpaloalto.org/transportationprojects

Following the meeting, the design team will put together improvement concepts that are responsive to the community input and return for a followup meeting later in the fall.”


If this follows the recipe for similar meetings they’ve held on the Matadero-Margarita Bicycle Boulevard, Jaime Rodriguez will give a presentation about bicycle boulevard treatments and answer a few questions and take a few comments. He will then ask the attendees to break up into several groups and look at some high resolution posters of the streets taped to tables in the rear, and write their comments and suggestions for special treatments (crosswalks, signs, speed humps…) on those places on the posters.

He refused to discuss other traffic issues publicly (invited speaker to talk with him privately) when they were raised at the recent Matadero -Margarita Bicycle Boulevard meeting.

Jul 112013
 

Barron Park Association’s Neighborhood Movie Night under the stars!

WALL-E

Saturday, July 27th, 2013 @ Bol Park

 

7:30PM – meet someone new, old, young…

     Do you have a robot to show and talk about? 

                          Bring IT!

Dusk – movie starts

     Popcorn will be provided (limited amount)

     Please BYO… chair, blanket, water, refreshments and your favorite movie treat, etc.

Supported by a grant from Palo Alto’s “Know Your Neighbor”  program : event organized by Lydia Kou

Jul 052013
 

Note : This is a guest post by Barron Park resident Jerry Underdal, in which he expresses his personal views about the PAHC project on the Maybell–Clemo site.

Please Don’t Kick it Away

I credit the Barron Park and Green Acres communities for accomplishing a great deal in pushing back against a hastily put-together, though well-intentioned, project that didn’t show an awareness of the deep suspicion of city hall and seething resentment over traffic impacts of the Arastradero makeover. Thanks to our efforts, the city was forced to acknowledge that we have a major traffic safety problem that has to be dealt with even if the Maybell/Clemo property reverts to apricot orchard. Public opinion around the city swung to sympathy and support for a neighborhood seen as fighting a process of land-use change that leaves citizens feeling powerless. Here was a neighborhood that wasn’t going to take it lying down. And (here I differ from the strong majority of BPA membership) we got concession after concession as PAHC and the City Council fought to keep the project alive and show the neighbors that it truly was trying to come up with a project that would be a point of pride for Barron Park, not dismay.

Do members know that there will be 7 two-story homes on Maybell, with varied set-backs of 18–22 feet so there won’t be a monotonous sameness, and the fronts of the buildings are to have distinctive elements so they look like anything but the generic rows of townhouses that we see elsewhere. There’ll be no driveways onto Maybell. There will be 5 three-story homes on Clemo, the upper portions concealed by existing oak trees. Traffic will be restricted from accessing Maybell except through the adjacent apartment house complex parking lot. An amount of $200,000 is provided for addressing safety concerns on Maybell–work to be completed before actual construction begins. And, of course, the main goal and public benefit for this project would be the 60 units of affordable housing for seniors with limited income, with attractive landscaping inside the complex. Continue reading »

Jan 202013
 

…..from Marlo Kitch

A group of Barron Park families are hosting our 2nd Annual National Service Day Bake Sale in Bol Park this Monday, January 21st between 12:30 and 4. 

Please come enjoy some treats and support the InnVision Opportunity Center in Palo Alto (Palo Alto’s only long term housing for the homeless).  All the proceeds from the bake sale will be donated to the Children’s Activity Program at the Opportunity Center.  We hope you will come to the park to join our community in making this National Service Project a success!!