911 call

Well, I seem to be in the news a bit lately. But you don't call 911 around here without raising a little curiosity. :-) This morning when a friend and I returned from a walk up Tumamoc, we saw a young man who had fallen off his bicycle lying on the ground in the alley just south of Dante's office. We determined he was breathing and he mumbled he was OK before passing out again. We couldn't wake him a second time; to make sure he was "OK" (relative term here), we called to have someone check him out. The paramedics roused him, checked his blood sugar when he told them he was a diabetic, and determined he had been drinking quite heavily. They sat him up for a minute and soon he was able to pick up his bike and be on his way. Most likely he was headed for some shade under a tree by the riverbank. So, your tax dollars at work....I was actually gratified to know that #1. the young man wasn't seriously hurt or ill and #2. the EMTs found our street quickly and were able to thread a big fat fire truck back here quite easily.

Leak on Higos

Still leaking plenty of water in the same old place as of this morning (Sat.) Not sure where we are in the reparation process that I know is underway, but just thought I'd update.

Nailed from behind

Our Wed. a.m. jaunt up A mountain took a turn for the weird this a.m. when a loose pit bull on Cedar St. singled me out as the weakest of the pack (or at least the handiest) and bit my calf :-( A couple of small puncture wounds - could have been much worse. Though none of us had had our coffee yet, my stalwart companions reacted quickly; one phoned the police, animal control and gave our whereabouts while two others bravely followed the dog (not mentioning any names, thank you, Suz ! ), inquiring along the way until they determined where the dog lived....right on Congress. The owner took responsibility for the dog and apologized.

After a police report was made, we continued up the hill, cause - ya gotta get that exercise, right? I had a visit from a very professional Animal Control officer after I got home. Apparently a young child let the dog out of a secure yard; he had been adopted from the Shelter, but his vaccination and license had expired. So they will hold and observe him for 10 days to make sure he isn't sick and then the owner can reclaim him provided she can afford to bail him out - boarding fee, shots, license. So - the dog is off the streets (another woman reported he had chased her young daughter), the owners have learned another of life's great lessons - as have I... aggressive animals attack from the side or behind, so keep them in front of you. And I have learned I am due for a tetanus shot. oh joy.

Compost and Bollards

Good idea re the compost, Gene, and I think our super landscape committee, Roger and Suzanne, have taken some steps to make this happen. I would volunteer to take our truck and go with a team to collect some horse poop from the stable right here on Mission and some compostable stuff from the river bed.

And a quick question: Where are we on the repair of the broken bollards? I know it came up at a meeting lately, but I can't remember (I'm old :-) what the response was. We were out there last night chatting and some of them do look sort of ratty. I know we're all vested in having the place look as well-maintained as possible.

Compost

Anyone have a thought about starting our compost pile with clippings provided by our landscaper? It could be as simple as having them dump their waste material into one of the pits in the garden. All we need to add is a little horse manure, our kitchen scraps, water and voila, we're on our way. 

Another option is to collect organic material along the river walk, bag it and truck it back. There's plenty of it. I talked with the Parks guys and they're totally fine with the idea. It's labor intensive, but great exercise!

I know we're thinking of purchasing soil amendment, but over time we'll constantly need to add more to build up the soil - and we'll need to get it from somewhere!

MDMA Meeting Tonight

Just to remind everyone, there is a meeting this evening at 6pm at Dante's Office on Sembrador.  It is a Mercado District Maintenance Association meeting, which we are now having monthly.   Hope to see you there.

Wednesday Morning "A" Team

Anyone (man, woman, child, dog, cat...) is welcome to join the Wednesday morning walk up A mountain. We meet in the plaza at 6:30 a.m. It usually takes about an hour but if your time is limited, just come as far as you can and then turn around. No pressure, a great way to start the day and there's always someone walking just your speed!

OUR BLOG ROCKS!!!

I am so excited about the participation we are already seeing with this new blog.  I think our new place in cyber-space says a lot about our community.  Keep posting, keep communicating, keep enjoying life in the Mercado District of Menlo Park.

More photos from May 15th

Here are a few more photos from Friday, May 15th. Thank you all for making it such a special night!

What a lovely party! I want the rosemary cashews recipe!  Anyhow, the mercado is gorgeous and love my house and love living HERE!

5-15-09 Mercado Courtyard Fiesta

5-13-09 Neighborhood Meeting Minutes

The minutes: Good Stuff :-) read them to learn when and where the next HOA and neighborhood meetings will take place. Thanks, Jane

5-13-09 Mercado Neighborhood Meeting Minutes

Present: Jane, Gordon, Suzanne, Don, Dale, Justin, Roger, Vera, Neda, Dave, Gene, Phil, Doug, Melissa, Ross

Plaza upgrade: Rough estimate for the whole project that Gordon got with Paolo’s help for cantera, adobe, cement, labor was about $4 – $5,000. $2000 of that was for the cantera for the banco tops and the pool. There may be less expensive cantera – Gordon will draw up a more detailed plan so we can get smore precise figures and others (Justin, Halls) will check with their sources.

It will probably cost $250-$300 per household. Maybe less. Neighborhood folks will donate some of the labor. Perhaps begin in the fall?

Lighting: Justin now knows which lights the HOA is responsible for replacing/paying for. Contact him with questions. We are going to try using a lower watt on the plaza light (with two BIG bulbs) closest to the street – everyone agrees it is too bright. Talked about soft lighting options to use once the plaza evolves and there is more seating, etc.

Landscaping/Garden: Suzanne and Roger have been appointed by the board as the landscaping committee. They will work closely with Triple AAA Landscaping, the new contractor, to see that our needs are met. Please contact one of them with any questions or concerns.

The community garden we have started in the triangular piece beside the Lunde’s house is owned by Justin and we can use it for at least 3 years and see how things work out. The soil needs to be tested to see what amendments are approriate. Soil amendment options vary in price depending on how much work the “gardeners” want to do themselves. Dave will run water down from the roof and we can have a monitoring valve to determine use and split the cost among garden members. In order to pay for soil testing ($68) and other start up costs, we instituted a membership fee. All those interested in becoming garden members, pay Vera, the treasurer $20 asap.

Management of HOA: Discussed the pros and cons of staying with Cadden vs. administering the association ourselves. Cadden knows there are concerns - there was a large turnout of homeowners at the April 30 Board meeting and it is the general feeling that the issues that have come up will be resolved satisfactorily. We can monitor and revisit.

Other:

Justin would love to give “history/archeology tours” of the Mercado, explain the evolution of this project and discuss how much attention was paid to the area’s history in laying out the overall site. It was mentioned that putting the documents that explain this back up on the web site could be of real interest to potential buyers.

Roger has tickets ($10 each) for the festive Dia De San Juan dance at the El Casino Ballroom. This will take place Saturday, June 13 from 6:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. Dinner (which Roger has sampled and is going to be GOOD) will be $5/plate and there will be a bar as well. This dance is a fundraiser for Tucson 's 12 th Annual El Día de San Juan Fiesta continues the tradition of celebrating the beginning of the “season of el chubasco-the monsoon rains.”

All area residents are invited to attend this free event.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

5 p.m. – 10 p.m.

West Congress St. at the Santa Cruz River (south side, west bank)

Next Meetings:

Mercado Board Meeting: Wed. May 20 (I checked with Annette – it is May, not June) 6:00 p.m. Dante’s office here in the Mercado. Board members are Annette from Cadden, Justin, Gene, Dante. Anyone is welcome to attend, however.

Neighborhood Meeting: Wed. June 10 – 7 p.m. Gordon and Jane’s

Respectfully submitted:

Suzanne – Recording secretary

Jane – Editor and Typist

Mercado Archaeology

Thanks, Justin, for the Sunday am walk tour.  Here's a link for those who want more details.

www.cdarc.org/pages/what/past/rio_nuevo/

Roger

Mercado Community Garden Treasury

Start Up/Membership fees ($20/household) paid to date:

Anne Marie and Phil

Justin and Dale

Dave and Neda

Roger and Vera

Gene and Melissa

Gordon and Jane

Jennifer and Rick

Ross and Suzanne

Paolo and Anne

Want to join in the fun?  Bring your $20 to the Pfeuffers' and we'll add your name(s) to the list.  

Check..123...is this thing on?

History Tour

We will be walking the project with an eye for historical details and information.  I'll be leading it from my home at 8am Sunday, May 16 and then again on June 14.  See you there.

Welcome!

Hi, Mercado Neighbors!  This is our blog.  Feel free to post whatever you like.  This will allow us to cut down on the number of emails we end up sending to one another, and give us an easy way to communicate as much or as little as we want.   So start posting!