WALKING WATERHOODS TOUR: Strawberry Creek on UCB Campus with Watershed Poetry Festival

When: Saturday, October 5, 2024

Time: 10 AM - 12:0 PM

Where: Meet in Cypress Grove, southeast corner of Oxford at Center, near the metal World Globe sculpture as you enter campus

Poetry, talk, and a walk along beautiful Strawberry Creek through UC Berkeley and its underground path through downtown Berkeley to the Watershed Festival at Civic Center Park. Led by poet/eco-educator Chris Olander, with readings along the way by poets galore, natural and cultural history by Wholly H2O's Dr. Elzabeth Dougherty and Chris James, and Eco-Dance in the Eucalyptus Grove.

The Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival is co-founded by Robert Hass, US Poet Laureate 1995-97, and is a collaboration of Poetry Flash and the Ecology Center/Berkeley Farmers' Market. It also provides a platform for emerging voices while raising awareness about the powerful role of ecological themes in poetry. The main poetry festival is being held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park, MLK Jr. Way at Allston Way, alongside the Farmers' Market, downtown Berkeley, one block from BART

When: Saturday, October 19, 2024

Time: 11 AM - 12:30 PM

Where: Fruitvale, Oakland, CA (more detail provided upon registering)

Nestled in the heart of Oakland, the vibrant neighborhood of Fruitvale evolved from part of the Bay Area home of the Ohlone people into the bustling urban neighborhood it is today, known for its lively markets, cultural diversity, and community spirit.

Some highlights of the tour will include:

• Where's the creek?
• The verdant farms of Fruit Vale
• Black Panther, Chicano, and American Indian movements from the 1960s to today
• Social, racial, and environmental justice through murals and mosaic art
• Dense urban ecology looks like
• Trash, stormwater, and Sausal Creek's outflow

If you need free tickets, reach out: info@whollyh2o.org

Access the WalkingWaterhoods tour with the QR codes below:

Android QR Code

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When: Saturday, October 19, 2024

Time: 11 AM - 12:30 PM

Where: Fruitvale, Oakland, CA (more detail provided upon registering)

Visit the ofrenda (altar) for Sausal Creek and the ecosystem that once thrived in Fruitvale

This year Wholly H2O is creating an offering of love for Sausal Creek, all but forgotten in the lower watershed where it has been buried for decades. We'll honor the creek and the many species that once thrived here alongside the Ohlone before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers.

The Unity Council's 29th annual Día de los Muertos Festival in Fruitvale, Oakland is woven into areas around International Boulevard, including the many ofrendas (altars) on 12th Street, exactly where a stunning willow (sausal in Spanish) grove once covered the entire area where the festival will be.

WHOLLY H2O VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION NIGHT

Board Member Eddie Dunbar, Executive Director Dr. Elizabeth Dougherty, Intern Jordan Bush, Senior Tour Manager Chris James, Intern Daphne Caron

Thanks to all who stopped by our super fun volunteer appreciation night. We celebrated our current team of 24 folks, and the other 12 who worked with us in our 2023-24 year. It's been quite a year of growth and expansion of programming, and we're not done yet. Stay tune for some surprises and more Wholly H2O hang outs.

Interns Ramya Swami and her son; Andrew Saintsing and recently retired Newsletter Writer extraordinaire Meghan Boyle and friend

Intern Esteban Trejos; Senior Tour Manager Chris James; Intern Daphne Caron

Intern Andrew Saintsing and Board Member Eddie Dunbar

ORAL HISTORY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Everyone has great stories to tell and we’re looking for some of those stories and old images related to the living and playing in the East Bay Creeks before they were buried, specifically Sausal Creek and Strawberry Creek at this time.

Maybe your stories are about fighting to get the creeks filled in or fighting to keep them open to the sky, working in a factory along the shoreline, being Ohlone in a land of covered creeks, or your great grandparents arriving in the East Bay as colonists in the 1800s. We are particularly interested in the stories of Black, Indigenous, Chinese and Latinx and other people of color, as these are often the most buried stories.

What are we doing with these stories and images? Wholly H2O has been creating Walking Waterhoods tours in the Sausal, Strawberry, Glen Echo and Temescal Creeks. You can access these tours anytime on the app PocketSights. In order to deepen our experience of the history of creeks we’re also creating StoryMaps that include oral histories of the creeks. And that’s where your memories and experiences along the creeks come in.

Please be in touch if you or someone you know would like to be interviewed or contribute your written stories and images. Reach out to us at Wholly H2O: info@whollyh2o.org with the subject Creek Stories.

Access the WalkingWaterhoods tour with the QR codes below:

Android QR Code

iPhone QR Code

Our lives depend on healthy watersheds, and Wholly H2O depends on YOU!

Our important (and fun) work takes cash, plain and simple. Will you help us keep our events coming? Please use the link below to flow some cash in our direction! We're having our end-of-the-year fundraiser with a goal of $5,000 from all sources. If you are on Facebook, you are welcome to donate here. Otherwise, use our link to help us meet our goal. We love you!

During the last 100 years, California has been in on-and off drought conditions. We also have one of the five most important delta systems in the world, yet, most Californians do not know where their water comes from, how much they use a day, or what watershed they live in. At Wholly H2O, we are creating deep connections with watershed ecosystems in order to inspire people to take long-range personal and political action, while still having fun. And our Board of Advisors is a crucial part of how Wholly H2O functions. We ask for a solid commitment to:

• Join a 1.5 hour board meeting every four months.
• Put the word out about at least 3 Wholly H2O events a year
• Attend two Wholly H2O events per year
• Assist us in making connections for program content, partners, funding, and growth.

We're looking for experts in:

• Bay Area creek and marine ecosystems
• East Bay history - particularly BIPOC histories
• curriculum development
• connecting with East Bay K-12 schools
• marketing

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, apply using this link. Also, be sure to check out our current Board of Advisors to learn more !