July/August Noe Valley Voice

More Demands for Justice. Noe Valley neighbors made a show of support in June by taking to a slowed Sanchez Street and saying that black lives matter. For more protest coverage and essays by two African American Noe Valley residents, see pages 8 and 9 of this edition. Photo by Sally Smith

Vol. XLIV, No. 7 July/August 2020

™ THE NOE VALLEY VOICE The Valley Tavern Tracing the Roots And How It Of Abby (and Came To Be Alexander) Fisher Vince and Declan Hogan Pour Born a Slave in the South, Their Generous Spirits Into Cookbook Author Local Venue Called Noe Valley Home

By Megan Wetherall By Evelyn Rose

f you’ve lingered over a pint at the Val- Editor's Note: A few years back, in our Iley Tavern at 4054 24th St., then you May 2017 issue, the Noe Valley Voice have steeped in a fascinating history that published a short piece by bookstore spans more than a century, from when the owner Celia Sack in which she described bones of the building were first laid one of her most prized possessions, a shortly after the 1906 earthquake right up cookbook by Abby Fisher, an African to the precarious present. American woman living in San Francisco According to local legend, the original in the 1880s. With her recent rediscovery structure was a storage space that became that Fisher had resided in Noe Valley, the overflow mortuary for a crematorium historian Evelyn Rose approached the located in what is now the Peruvian Voice in late 2019 to ask if she could restaurant Fresca. After a stint as a coffee share what she had learned about Mrs. shop in the 1940s, the place was re- Fisher and her road from the deep South vamped as the first in a long line of bars, to a wood-frame house on 27th Street. We which included the Celtic Tavern, Mur- are pleased to print it here. phy’s Irish Inn, Finnegan’s Wake, the Rat What We Haven’t Known That Mrs. and Raven, the Coyote Club, and most re- Fisher Already Knew: Some Insights cently, since 2007, the Valley Tavern. for a Southern Culinary Mystery Noe resident Mary McFadden is the oldest of 10 children and grew up next By Evelyn Rose, Glen Park door to this colorful establishment during Neighborhoods History Project the 1960s, in the small Victorian where her mother still lives. She describes a The Garden Is Open: Though the interior of the Valley Tavern is off limits to patrons, hat Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old working-class immigrant neighborhood service is happening in the spacious outdoor area. Photo by Megan Wetherall W Southern Cooking, Pickles, Pre- of bars, bookshops, and bakeries. Her fa- serves, etc., a small book published by ther, a Scottish immigrant from the slums Fadden recalls dryly. “And these were his hanging out, and you could hear the ball the Women’s Co-operative Printing Of- of Glasgow, had his doctor’s office in patients, the people he served. There were game or live music out on the streets.” fice of San Francisco in 1881, was once their house and frequented all the bars. radios instead of televisions, and the bar “Bars were the province of men,” Mc- windows were always open with guys CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 2 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020

OPENSFHISTORY

A Special Day. The bride and her maids stop to confer in front of St. Paul’s Catholic Church after a wedding in this photo from the 1950s. Photo and information courtesy OpenSFHistory.org /Western Neighborhoods Project /David Gallagher

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Serenity Spot. Many backyard gardens provide a safe space for Noe Valley residents as in this photo from February. Photo by Pamela Gerard

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THE NOE VALLEY VOICE P.O. Box 460249 San Francisco, CA 94146 www.noevalleyvoice.com he Noe Valley Voice is an independent news - Tpaper published in San Francisco. It is distributed free in Noe Valley and vicinity during the first week of the month. Subscriptions are available at $40 per year ($35 for seniors) by writing to the above address. The Voice welcomes your letters, photos, and stories, particularly on topics relating to Noe Valley. All items should include your name and contact information, and may be edited for brevity or clarity. (Unsigned letters will not be considered for publication.) Unsolicited contributions will be returned only if accompanied by a self- addressed, stamped envelope. The Noe Valley Voice is a member of the San Francisco Neighborhood Newspaper Association. Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Website: www.noevalleyvoice.com Distribution: Call Jack, 415-385-4569 find help as quickly as possible, we In the end, we collected over 20 iPads Display Advertising: Call Pat, 415-608-7634, or email [email protected] LETTERS thought of our older iPad that we could and four iPhones in just a few days. The Display Advertising Deadline for the donate. Then we thought, if we had an ex- kindness and generosity of our Noe September 2020 issue: Aug. 20, 2020 tra one, perhaps other families might have neighbors was truly heartwarming. Editorial/Calendar Deadline: Aug. 15, 2020 iPads Always Welcome one too. We posted a short note on We intend to keep up our efforts to CO-PUBLISHERS/EDITORS To Our Neighbors: NextDoor to see if anyone was willing to help, since we suspect many hospitals Sally Smith, Jack Tipple In mid-April 2020, when Covid-19 had donate one for the cause. would love to have additional iPads for CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND EDITORS Corrie M. Anders, Associate Editor all of San Francisco in lockdown, our their patients forced into isolation by the Olivia Boler, Other Voices Editor friend Jonathan Alexander reached out to virus. Heidi Anderson, Matthew S. Bajko, Owen Baker- Flynn, Karol Barske, Michael Blake, Katie Burke, us with a heartbreaking request. If you want to donate an iPad, please Janet Goben, Liz Highleyman, Jeff Kaliss, Doug Jon, an ICU doctor at Kaiser, told us feel free to reach out to Megan Gelstein Konecky, Richard May, Roger Rubin, Tom Ruiz, that due to Covid-19, in-person visitation at [email protected] or Dmitri Tim Simmers, Karen Topakian, Megan Wetherall had been significantly restricted, so pa- Cavander at [email protected]. CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Art Bodner, Pamela Gerard, Najib Joe Hakim, tients in their unit had no way of connect- Take care and stay safe (and con- Beverly Tharp ing with their loved ones. Digital connec- nected)! ACCOUNTING tion was the only option, but the hospital Megan Gelstein, Dmitri Cavander Jennifer O. Viereck hadn’t been able to prioritize the purchase A patient at Kaiser Hospital holding a Noe Valley PRODUCTION of new devices like iPads for use by those Photo courtesy Megan Gelstein Jack Tipple, André Thélémaque donated iPad. needing care. So doctors and nurses were DISTRIBUTION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Jack Tipple lending their own personal devices to pa- Within hours we were flooded with re- WEB GURU tients to connect with their families, es- sponses. Dozens wrote back. Several in- The Noe Valley Voice welcomes your letters. Jon Elkin pecially to say goodbye. dividuals were willing to donate not just Email [email protected]. Please in clude your name and contact ADVERTISING SALES Jon reached out to us to see if Dmitri one, but two. Some offered iPhones too. Pat Rose, Jack Tipple information. (Anonymous letters will not be could help facilitate a donation of a few One person even asked if the hospital considered for publication.) Be aware that PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER by Fricke-Parks Press iPads to the hospital. would be interested in 150 new surgical letters may be edited for brevity or clarity. Contents ᭧2020 The Noe Valley Voice Moved by his request and wanting to masks that he happened to have. We look forward to hearing from you.

THE CROSSWORD BY MICHAEL BLAKE CRIME SNAPSHOT Hollywood in n the early morning hours of Saturday, May 23, someone “stripped” a car in Noe Valley the vicinity of Castro and 22nd streets. According to the SFPD incident ACROSS report, the victim, a 62-year-old resident of the area, heard a grinding noise 1. Fargo Oscar I at approximately 3 a.m. nominee William H. ___ “She looked out her window and saw a suspect standing near her Toyota 5. Marner of fiction Prius,” the police report stated. “The victim yelled, and the suspect jumped into 10. Catch, as a perp the passenger seat of a dark-colored utility vehicle that was waiting nearby. The 13. Arthur of tennis suspect fled in the vehicle, which was driven by a second suspect. The catalytic 14. Asinine converter had been stripped [stolen] from the victim's car.” 15. Former Zairian Eleven minutes later and not far away, another vehicle was stripped of its dictator Mobutu ___ Seko parts. In each case, the value of the property taken was listed as $950 or more. 16. Big-box store near The investigation is ongoing. I-80 in Emeryville The pair of Castro Hill thefts were among 41 “larceny/thefts” in Noe Valley 17. Rudolph’s master reported to police in May and entered into the SFPD database at Data.sfgov.org. 18. USC neighbor As you can see from the table below, the Noe Valley Voice is collecting data 19. Job given at 50- on such incidents and nine other categories of crime, in hopes of spotting trends Across to 26- Across, in the and highlighting problem areas. In total, there were 89 incidents of serious movie Sister Act, crime in Noe Valley reported in May, including 20 burglaries—the second most filmed in Noe Valley common type of crime in the neighborhood. 22. Cry from Bill the Cat To explore the data further, go to “A Digital Map of San Francisco Police 24. Big Columbus sch. Department Incident Reports from 2018 to the Present,” located under Public 25. 365 Everyday Value Safety at Data.sfgov.org. Note that “Noe Valley” on the digital map is an area at Whole Foods, e.g. for Sister Act 6. Where bugs are 38. Shakespearean bounded by 21st Street, San Jose Avenue/Guerrero Street, 30th Street, and snug stream 26. Comedian who 55. Infinitesimal bit Grand View Avenue/Diamond Heights Boulevard. filmed Sister Act in 7. Arrive at SFO 39. Land of Lima and 56. Alexander’s killer in To contact Mission Station Captain Gaetano Caltagirone, call 415-558-5400 Noe Valley in 1991 Hamilton 8. Voting “nay” llamas 31. Praises 57. Border on 9. Char 40. “No ___ traffic” or email [email protected]. Ingleside Station Captain Christopher 32. The Peaks and 60. Not as much 10. Drink of the gods 41. Crystal ball gazer Woon can be reached at 415-404-4000, or by emailing [email protected]. The Dubliner 61. Submit 11. Having the same 42. Make a difference The San Francisco Police Department’s non-emergency line is 415-553-0123. In 33. Webmaster’s reach 43. Go up against creation 62. Scent, in an emergency, call 911. —Corrie M. Anders, Sally winemaking 12. Chin feature of 49- 44. Lions and Tigers 34. Foe Smith 63. Desert Storm Across and Bears, e.g. 36. Oldest of the Rice chow, initially 15. Café au lait additive 45. Support, as a ruling Krispies brothers Noe Valley Incidents Reported January–May, 2020 64. Snow sliders 20. “Oh-oh” 46. British coins 40. 2004 film starring Incident Reports January February March April May Yr to Date 65. Beech or birch 21. Subsides, as the tide 47. The 23rd, for one Brad Pitt as Achilles Larceny/Theft 37 31 29 48 41 186 41. Strainer 22. Piercing tools 51. “Betcha can’t eat just one” chips Burglary 15 15 8 11 20 69 42. Job title for Maggie 23. Indian tea Smith character in DOWN 27. Dedicatory verse 52. Go by boat Malicious Mischief 9 1389241 Sister Act 1. Avril follower, in 28. Follows directions 53. Prairie Indian Motor Vehicle Theft 9 8 9 16 9 51 Quebec 47. What loses to 29. Fugitive’s flight 54. Quitter’s word Assault 321129 scissors 2. Inquire 30. Arid 58. Deploy Robbery 210227 48. “The Raven” poet 3. Finish an online 34. Before, in poems 59. ‘Fore!’ ground Other Miscellaneous 5636727 49. African antelope purchase 35. Neither’s go-with Fraud 4604317 50. Noe Valley 4. “Uh-huh” 36. Galahad’s title institution whose 5. Doubly redundant Solution on Page 22 Family Domestic Violence 100528 convent on 29th affirmative, in the 37. A Rubble, to a Find more Crosswords at Vandalism 100214 Street was the set Mission Flintstone noevalleyvoice.com TOTALS 86 82 58 104 89 419 6 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020

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decline in transit ridership, and rising edged the SFMTA in a June 18 post on its been considering for the J-Church line, J-Church Route concerns among SFMTA employees, the website announcing the coming changes. such as eliminating the inbound stop at subway system was closed in late March “Trains would be stuck outside the tun- 29th Street and removing parking spaces To Be Shorter in in keeping with city and state shelter-in- nels, between stations, and on the plat- to make passengers more visible to driv- place orders. forms for long periods, often unable to let ers, those decisions still need to be dis- August As more businesses reopen in the com- customers on or off. For years J-Church cussed and approved by the SFMTA It May Be a Loopy Idea ing weeks, and schools get ready to wel- and N-Judah customers have experienced board of directors. It remains unclear come students back for the fall semester, delays waiting to enter the tunnel at when such changes will be before them, By Matthew S. Bajko the SFMTA is readying to revive subway Duboce.” as the agency’s spokeswoman told the service in August. It has yet to give an ex- District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandel- Voice in late June no hearing date had hen the Muni subway system react date, though, for when it will do so. man, who has been working with city of- been scheduled. turns to service in August, J- ficials on plans to improve Muni service, “The stop changes near 29th and W T & M and L & K to Be Linked Church riders can expect a major change said he hoped the coming changes pro- 30th that are part of the J-Church quick- in the route. The line’s inbound trains will Riders will encounter several other vided commuters with more reliable, build project still need to have a public now make their final stop at the intersec- changes to the subway lines. The M- faster service. hearing regarding those changes, and tion of Church and Market streets, then Oceanview line is being combined with “If reliability increases, people will be they are not part of the service changes,” turn around to head back outbound to the the T-Third line and will run with two-car happy. But if it turns out people are wait- explained Erica Kato, SFMTA’s acting terminus at the Balboa Park Station near trains servicing the new longer route. The ing a long time to get on a train in the tun- chief spokesperson. “We will be commu- City College. L-Taraval and K-Ingleside lines are also nel, it is not going to be good,” he said. nicating that with the public once a hear- To continue downtown, riders will being “interlined” into one new route As for additional changes Muni has ing is set.” Ⅲ need to descend underground via the with one-car trains. Church Station and board subway trains Like the J-Church trains, those trains headed inbound. will no longer enter into the underground The route change has long been talked subway system, as they used to do via the about but gained renewed interest last West Portal Station. They will remain year during neighborhood discussions aboveground and run from the San Fran- about the J-Church Improvement Project. cisco Zoo to City College at the Balboa In recent months, the idea got a push from Park Station. Riders will need to disem- Covid-19. bark at West Portal to transfer to the M/T Due to the configuration of several of line or to S-Shuttles to get downtown. the J-line’s street-level stops, such as on More S-Shuttles with two-car trains Liberty Hill near Mission Dolores Park, will also be run between the West Portal Muni can only use one-car trains on the and Embarcadero stations. The N-Judah J-Church, which runs south through the subway line that runs from Ocean Beach Castro/Mission and Noe Valley. to downtown will return to its normal The San Francisco Municipal Trans- route in August with two-car trains. portation Agency hopes a shorter above- Speeding Up the Tunnel ground route will help spread out riders and increase the frequency of trains along By reducing the number of lines inside the notoriously slow line. If cars are no the underground system, Muni expects longer bunching up outside the tunnel and service will be faster along all of the lines people are more evenly distributed, pas- and fewer trains will get stuck inside the sengers may be able to keep a safe social subway system. distance and thus contain the spread of “We are all too familiar with the rou- We’re Shoeless: On May 28,Astrid’s Rabat Shoes, a fixture for 42 years at 3909 24th St., coronavirus. tine backups that occurred in the Metro closed its doors and tiptoed away, after loading up 1,100 pairs of shoes for donation to a St. Because of the health crisis, a dramatic rail tunnels before Covid-19,” acknowl- Anthony’s program to clothe the homeless. Photo by Pamela Gerard

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Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01527235. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and is compiled from sources deemed reliable but #' & & " ' " " ' ! ' %$ " & ' ( " "' 8 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020

Photo by Art Bodner March for Racial Justice 400 Walkers on Sanchez Street

By Corrie M. Anders ore than 400 people turned out for a march on Sanchez Street June 6, to protest Mthe police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and racial inequality around the country. The size of the crowd surprised Noe Valley resident Amy Morgenstern, who had organized the event just a few days before. “I was amazed at the turnout,” said Morgenstern, an employment attorney. “I didn’t think anyone would show up.” Morgenstern, who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years, said she was inspired by national and global demonstrations in support of Black Lives Matter, a movement for racial justice launched on Twitter in 2013. “My thinking was…Noe Valley has a role to play in all of this, and we needed to show up physically in a demonstration of some kind,” she said. The march began at 11 a.m. at 24th and Sanchez and moved south on Sanchez to

Photo by Sally Smith Photo by Sally Smith 30th Street for a short rally there. Then it turned around and came back to 24th and rallied again. Walkers, most wearing masks, carried signs and chanted “Black Lives Matter!”, “I Can’t Breathe!”, and “No Justice, No Peace!” Morgenstern said she wanted to hold the protest “in our community because with mass transit closed or scary, I couldn’t imagine how people with young kids could get to a demonstration downtown easily, and also I thought we could do a good job with social distancing.” She put up fliers and posted notices on Facebook and Nextdoor. “People really came out—old hippies, middle-schoolers, parents with kids in strollers, and everyone in between,” she said. The mood at the event was somber, however. Many in the crowd had seen on their phones or TV the horrendous, nearly nine-minute suffocation of George Floyd at the hands of police May 25. Morgenstern has set up a Facebook group, Noe Valley for Racial Justice, so people can “contribute to and learn from the Black Lives Matter movement.” After the demonstration, local supporters established a mini- library in front of Holey Bagel, 3872 24th St. The kiosk was stocked with books—from memoirs to novels to history—“dealing with this issue of race.” The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020 9

Photos by Najib Joe Hakim Ernest Brown Iris Fluellen moved to the Bay Area from Detroit/Ann Arbor, ou’re a single woman, you need to own property” Michigan, in 1974. When I arrived in the Bay Area, “ was the advice of a friend, a real estate attorney, II was told that it was not as friendly a place as the Ywhom I had the good sense to listen to in 1993. Midwest. I started to experience a difference in the style of I, along with three strangers, bought a four-unit building as a relationships. tenancy-in-common on Duncan Street, fulfilling my wish to In the Midwest, I had a circle of friends that I expected to spend time with nearly become a homeowner before I turned 40. every day. I found the Bay Area much more transient, with There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank God, people coming and going and changing jobs for a variety Buddha, Allah, et al, for taking my friend’s advice. It took of reasons. Although people were friendly on the surface, everything I had, including forgoing vacations for many that didn’t lead easily to the types of bonds that I had had years. There is no way I would be living here or anywhere previously. Eventually, I did acquire a tribe. Black in San Francisco if I hadn’t heeded her words. It was I was also surprised to experience San Francisco as a place worth it. without Black people. I had spent most of my life (even on When I moved to San Francisco in 1982 after my divorce, vacation) in areas that had large populations of Black Lives in I lived in Glen Park, a neighborhood I had never heard of. people. However, I was fortunate to take up the game of I was seeing a therapist who ran his practice out of his Go, which brought me to a unique and multi-cultural den home on Elizabeth Street. I would always give myself of tobacco enthusiasts, in a little room in Japantown, a time after to explore 24th Street, which I loved. At the space provided by a Japanese Buddhist sect. San Noe time I thought, “Someday I want to live in this Francisco’s Go Club was the world’s most multi-ethnic Go Editors’ Note: After the brutal killing of neighborhood.” club. In other places in the world, there were separate George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, we Like the rest of the city, my beloved hometown of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and dominant-culture clubs. joined in the universal outcry against racism Oakland, and the Bay Area as a whole, Noe Valley is a San Francisco was able to hold all of these groups together, and police brutality. As protests filled the very different place these days. I have to consciously steer which provided me with a rich experience of cultural streets of San Francisco and prescriptions myself from falling into the trap of “nostalgia-itis” or exploration. for change consumed the media, we looked railing against the techies, who can’t be bothered to look for a way the Noe Valley Voice could be a I married in 1987, and Lynn and I moved to Noe Valley in up from their phones to say hello. September of 1988. We couldn’t afford to purchase a home part of the discussion. With the tragedy of George Floyd’s murder and the here. However, someone we met (only once) loaned us the Among our readers, friends, and contribu- bringing to light of this country’s animus towards Black money to partner with him and his wife in a two-flat tors and via social networks like Facebook people, I have been surprised and heartened by the number tenancy-in-common. Our flat on Cesar Chavez Street was and Nextdoor, we reached out to African of BLM placards I see in people’s windows when I walk an extreme fixer-upper that my wife has weekend Americans, asking if they would share their around the neighborhood. It makes me cautiously warrior’d into a rather wonderful and tranquil space. Our personal experiences living, working, or optimistic. Signs or catchy slogans aren’t a substitute for niece now lives in the other flat with her husband and two playing in Noe Valley. We also sought their the serious work that needs to be done, but it’s a start. daughters. views on racial bias in the neighborhood, Noe Valley isn’t a bastion of diversity, to say the least, but which according to data-tracker Prior to getting married, I lived in Cow Hollow, Twin neither are most of the city’s neighborhoods. Peaks, Laurel Heights, and Fillmore districts. Each district StatisticalAtlas.com, was 72 percent white has its unique interest, but the Church Street Martha’s and only 1.8 percent African American in This is my home, having lived here longer than anywhere, Coffee has made me feel more a part of a neighborhood September 2018. including the house I grew up in, in Oakland’s Temescal District. I am fortunate to have great neighbors, call than any other place I’ve lived. Martha’s staff learns their Two longtime neighborhood residents, Iris Martha’s (Church Street) Cheers without the booze, and patrons’ names and really gets to know them. And as a Fluellen and Ernest Brown, responded with have created a sense of community. result, I think, the customers really get to know one thoughtful essays. Here are their unfiltered another. In 1992 we hosted a Martha’s contingent to join us observations. When I’m out walking with friends who don’t live here, to watch election night. One of my joys while at Martha’s they’re often amused by the number of people I say hello is studying Go games. For many years I felt like every to. My response is, “It’s because I’m Black and easily regular learned to play the game from me. (Not many kept remembered.” There’s some facetiousness to that playing, but they indulged me.) statement. But as comfortable as I am living here, and as nice as people are, I never Our particular block has quite a few longtime homeowners who preceded us and forget how people either consciously or unconsciously perceive blackness. remain today. At least three families are three generations into homeownership, and No matter what color they are, when I tell people where I live, I note their reaction. several others have more than our 30-plus years. Interestingly, we also have more What I find most interesting is when I tell white people I have lived in Noe Valley than our share of Noe Valley African American families. for 27 years, the first response I often get is, I must have great rent control. When I I can’t remember any racial bias I have experienced while living in Noe Valley. say I’m a homeowner, they are often surprised. Black people react with pleasure However, my work with San Francisco youth keeps me involved with the when I say I own my home. opportunity challenges they face. And we should all do our best to understand the Full confession, when I am running errands, heading off to work, as a fundraiser for historical facts that have systematically led to the opportunity gaps for Black people the San Francisco–Marin Food Bank, if I see another Black person, I always make a in America. point of smiling and saying hello. If I am at a neighborhood event, I will ask, how Although we may have our own Noe Valley bubble, we will still have opportunity to long have you been in the neighborhood, how do you like it? It’s my effort to make impact the wider demographic at the polls. I recommend Dr. Joy DeGruy’s website them feel safe, and let them know they have a kindred spirit in me. for up-to-date ideas on how to be a part of this struggle (joydegruy.com). Iris Fluellen is the capital campaign director at San Francisco–Marin Food Bank, a Ernest Brown, 70, is a psychologist with Richmond Area Multi-Services, a private, nonprofit that weekly helps feed 32,000 households. non-profit mental health agency in San Francisco. 10 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020

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at Noe’s Bar at the corner of Church and Tales of the Tavern 24th streets. Still, he always knew he wanted his own bar one day and that the CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 opportunity would come. “They love the The McFaddens didn’t keep liquor in Irish here. When you come to America, the house because when they had com- you’re treated well and accepted imme- pany, her father would just ring down and diately.” order, and Mary would be sent to fetch the He calls what happened next “my tray. When the coast was clear, she and American dream.” Down the road at 3838 her brother Michael used to clamber out 24th St., a bar called the Valley Cavern their window onto the roof of Murphy’s was for sale. It was 1987. “I went to the and look below at all the people. Then real estate guy and he loaned me $60,000 they’d shimmy down to the vast open to buy the building, and asked me to pay back yard that ran from the auto shop next him back in a year, which I did.” door to the end of the block where it Vince was known as “The Dubliner,” reached Castro. so that’s what he named his new pub, and “We had a whole imaginary country it became the first of a string of Dublin- back there, a jungle of dill, weeds, and ers around the city. But Vince always fennel. It was fabulous. There was no beer nursed an ambition to own the spot that garden then, and today back yards have was to become the Valley Tavern, which pretty much disappeared in San Fran- when he first arrived in the neighborhood cisco,” Mary McFadden laments. was coming to the end of its chapter as Finnegan’s Wake, the bar that followed Renewed Life in the Garden Murphy’s Irish Inn. Recently, on a balmy June afternoon on The Finnegan’s Era their second day of being open for outside dining service, I spoke to the father and Finnegan’s Wake—which incidentally son co-owners of the Valley Tavern, Vin- is the birthplace of the Noe Valley Voice, cent and Declan Hogan. The beer garden cooked up by a group of friends there one out back was humming with good cheer fateful night in 1977—was opened the and gratitude as the sun beamed down on year before by a group of mates keen to customers sharing some laughs, drinks, invest in a new bar. Vince Hogan and son Declan stand ready for the day when they can completely reopen the and card games, almost like old times ex- One of them was Tom Frenkel, who de- Valley Tavern, a 24th Street bar with a long and colorful past. Photos by Megan Wetherall cept for the masked staff and the interior scribes himself as a “typical rebel hippy,” devoid of patrons. who ran out of St. Louis after getting his out, wide, with high ceilings and the garden. before Covid, Knox and Freed would The Hogans were clearly delighted to law degree and landed a place to stay with It’s a fabulous place. And it has that history, drive home to Bernal Heights, while De- see their customers again. “When we a friend on Noe Street. “I was walking going back to the mortuary. There have been clan prefers a peaceful walk through the opened the doors yesterday, three Irish around the hills in my cowboy boots, and occasions when my son and I feel there is empty streets to clear his mind before bed. guys ran in and they stayed all day,” Vince my calves were so sore,” Frenkel remem- someone in the building, and glasses even For now, while serving drinks and food told me in his thick Irish brogue, chuck- bers ruefully. pop off the glass rack. Customers some- (hearty sandwiches or refreshing salads ling at the thought. “It was a great first day He recalls a “working-class, blue-col- times tell me they feel something.” pre pared courtesy of a Covid-inspired open,” added Declan, the oldest of four lar Irish and Latino neighborhood” and But that hasn’t put off Declan Hogan, partnership with Bistro SF Grill) out of children born and raised in Noe Valley, paying $165 a month to rent his first who accompanied his father to work from the tavern’s 24th Street window and in the and the one who has chosen to follow in home. “There were a bunch of fights when he was a boy. Young Declan was in beer garden, the Hogans and their reduced his father’s footsteps. when we first started Finnegan’s. It was charge of such duties as emptying the pay staff are grateful to be keeping busy with Vince has officially retired from the a really sleazy rough hole in the wall, a phones of all their quarters and rolling long-overdue renovation projects. business now and handed over the reins major step below a dive bar. It smelled them up, then charging his dad a fee. When I asked what they could expect to Declan. He has come a long way from horrible. It had a low-hung ceiling, which Declan vividly remembers how nerv- to offer at the bar in the coming months, the 29-year-old man who arrived in San we knocked out.” ous he was on his first day behind the bar they explained that it was really hard to Francisco from Dublin in 1982, fleeing Among Frenkel’s favorite memories soon after turning 21 a decade ago. He predict, as the state and city guidelines the high unemployment in Ireland and a of Finnegan’s Wake was when the 49ers had completed college and bartending seemed to be constantly changing. So, sense there was not much upward mo- won their first Super Bowl in 1981. The school, but “I had never really interacted they are taking it day by day. mentum in his life. bar, which wasn’t that big at the time and with customers. I was shy, and it was They have been touched by the support had just one TV, was mobbed. “The city challenging to juggle conversations and of the neighborhood’s residents, who went absolutely insane,” he recalls. “You learn how to cut people off without being have come to their window for a little sus- couldn’t get a car up and down 24th rude. This job has taught me communica- tenance, even on cold foggy afternoons, Street for about three or four hours.” tion skills.” or for a few words with a friend, albeit a Every St. Patrick’s Day, the bar was The Hogans remind me that in England socially distanced one. rammed wall to wall. “We couldn’t pour and Ireland bartenders don’t really talk to “What is Noe Valley without its bars? Guinness fast enough, it was a big party you, but over here you could have a full Without a place to congregate?” Vince scene.” Frenkel estimates he broke up bar and you are still expected to talk to asks. “People miss that camaraderie, that some 200 fights, but in the same breath everybody. The difference is that Amer- place to go every day. People can easily he remembers “there were a lot of mar- ica is a tipping and service culture, so part go down to the liquor store and buy a gal- riages that came out of that bar.” of the job is to be entertaining as well as lon, but it comes down to having some- In September 1984, when Finnegan’s a therapist. “So you walk up and down,” body to talk to. They come down to the Wake was thriving, the landlord served Vince explains, miming holding a cloth bar to watch the sports and hang out with the bar with a 30-day notice to quit the in his hand. “We call it walk and wipe.” people. That’s what it’s all about.” premises and refused to negotiate. It was As Mary McFadden observed time and Both Cheers and Friends shut down soon after. Frenkel was dev- again growing up next door, bars are in- astated. “Everybody loved it, and all of a The Hogans’ longest standing employee deed, as the Valley Tavern slogan reads, sudden it was gone. After I lost the lease, is Rikky O’Keefe, also from Dublin, “Where the Neighborhood Meets.” From I didn’t go near Noe Valley for about 10 whom Vince recruited to the Dubliner her unique vantage point, she salutes the years. It was pretty traumatic,” Frenkel when it opened and who’s worked in the Hogans for creating a pub culture rather The front window at the Valley Tavern is said. (He was later able to reopen business “longer than I’ve been alive,” than a bar scene, which she calls “a tes- open for pickup of salads and sandwiches, Finnegan’s Wake at 937 Cole St., which Declan laughs. Other staunch members of tament to them and their values and the thanks to a partnership with Bistro Sf Grill. is run today by his daughter Melinda.) the team are Brittany Freed, who went to idea that things are still family oriented. After the bar had a brief run as Noe- Sacred Heart with Declan and joined the It doesn’t seem that a bar would have He had been invited to California by body’s Inn, the 14-year reign of the Rat Tavern in 2011, and Catey Knox, a fam- much to do with family, but it does.” some Polish refugee friends he had met and Raven began. Mary McFadden re- ily friend, who came on board in 2012. McFadden says she has met so many while working in a pub in England, and members it as a tougher pub than Finne - They also happen to be Declan’s room- wonderful people at the Tavern and ap- decided it was time to try his luck in gan’s Wake. Vince Hogan says it evolved mates. “That’s something unique about preciates the trust that underlies the con- America. He arrived with $500 in his into “a bike messenger place with a lot of the Valley Tavern,” Declan explains. “We versations there, even those encompass- pocket and no intention of ever going hipsters and great beer and music.” are a close-knit family which allows us to ing politics and religion. “That’s a kind of back. “I was the first in my family to do After one of its owners, Horst work so well together and to all know the trust, isn’t it? You have a difference of it, but three of my sisters followed and Grahlmann, was murdered at his home at customers. I probably know a thousand opinion, but you’re going to work to- then my brother. My mother has nine chil- the Russian River, the next iteration of the people by name.” wards an understanding.” dren, so she was only getting rid of half bar was the Coyote Club. It lasted until At least 60 percent of the customers are of us,” Vince laughs. 2007, when Vince’s ultimate dream came local and many are families spanning sev- Editor’s Note: On June 26, Mayor London Breed His first digs were in the Tenderloin true and he launched the Valley Tavern. eral generations. A common connection announced that due to a rise in Covid-19 cases and infested with cockroaches, but he was seems to be St. Philip’s School a block up the city was pausing the next stage of reopening, Learning Bar Etiquette determined to find a job. Three weeks the hill, where the Hogan and McFadden which included bars for outdoor (sidewalk) later, down to his last $10, he was offered Vince beams when he talks about it: children were educated, as were most of drinking. Bars with permitted food service and one by the Irish owner of the Dover Bar “The Valley Tavern is my most success- the employees who grew up here. offering physically distanced seating in a patio on 18th Street. Not long after, he got a job ful bar and my favorite. It’s a lovely lay- At the end of a busy shift in the days or beer garden were continuing to operate. 12 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020

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identified. What We Know of After arriving in California, she received a diploma for her pickles, sauces, Mrs. and Mr. Fisher jellies, and jams at the California State

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Fair in 1879, and was awarded two medals at the Mechanics’ Institute Fair in believed to be the first cookbook written 1880. She and her husband also opened a by an African American. While Abby pickle manufactory on Second Street in Fisher’s cookbook is now known to be 1879, and by 1881 her cookbook had chronologically second, it remains the been published. first known cookbook published by a for- The Fisher family moved to Noe Val- mer African American slave. ley in 1888. They soon purchased a home In her “Preface and Apology,” Mrs. near the corner of 27th and Sanchez Fisher relates, “[A] book on my knowl- streets from real estate agent Joseph M. edge and experience of Southern Cook- Comerford, who also had transactions ing, Pickle and Jelly Making, has been with Mary Ellen Pleasant, the mother of frequently asked of me by my lady friends California civil rights (see Noe Valley and patrons in San Francisco and Oak- Voice, March 2019). The Fishers’ land.” What must be her apology follows: youngest daughter lived in the home un- “Not being able to read or write myself ... til her death in 1954. caused me to doubt whether I would be When culinary historian Karen Hess able to present a work that would give republished Mrs. Fisher’s cookbook in perfect satisfaction. But, after due consid- 1995, she speculated that the Fishers en- eration, I concluded to bring forward a dured a “terrible trip to California” in the book of my knowledge.” early 1870s, that the “newfangled rail” on Noting her experience of “upwards of the recently completed transcontinental thirty-five years,” she describes her book route west would have been “costly” for as a “complete instructor, so that a child the family, and that it was “not inconceiv- can understand it and learn the art of able that Mrs. Fisher signed on as a cook cooking.” Her 160 recipes and cooking on a wagon train.” techniques for stews and soups, baked, New research has unearthed details boiled, and roasted meats, pickles, that may cast doubt on that scenario. sauces, desserts, and remedies reveal Examiner Provides a Clue Mrs. Fisher knew a lot about cooking. The cookbook captures the many PICKLES and FRUIT. The purest home- essences of Southern cooking that arose made Pickles and Preserves of all kinds from centuries of influence from African- put up in the good old Southern style. A Celia Sack, owner of Omnivore Books on Food, holds her first-edition copy of What Mrs. based flavorings and cooking methods, liberal discount to the trade. Address, Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, Pickles, Preserves, etc. Photo by Evelyn Rose brought as memories to the New World Mrs. Abbey Fisher and Husband, 569 Howard St, San Francisco. Appearing in the Placer Herald on Company of Mobile. According to the $24,000 today). Dec. 13, 1879, this earliest known adver- 1860 Federal Census, his personal value In 1869, Florida Republicans were em- tisement for Mrs. Fisher’s pickles and was $350,000 and his property value broiled in “feuds and dissensions” led by fruit may have signaled the launch of the $140,000 (equivalent to $9.8 million and a corrupt Florida state senator, Pen- Fishers’ culinary career in San Francisco. $4.0 million today). While some culinary sacola’s George E. Wentworth. Ap- The Fishers’ entrepreneurial success historians have assumed Abby Fisher pointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as appears to have been immediate. By July lived on a plantation, the St. John resi- U.S. Marshal, Wentworth worked to re- 1881, Mrs. Fisher had relocated her dence was located just a few blocks from place anyone who disagreed with him, in- pickle manufactory to 202 Dupont St. (to- Mobile’s city center. cluding the highly respected Perdido cus- day’s Grant Avenue at Post Street) and As the Civil War began in 1861, St. toms collector, Hiram G. Potter Jr., in published her book. The San Francisco John moved his family to New York. June 1871. Examiner identified Mrs. Fisher as the When he returned to Mobile at the end of “colored cook” from Mobile, Alabama, the war, his business was in shambles. He proclaimed the cookbook as “excellent … soon moved back to New York City. a neat cookery-book,” that “…reflects The Fishers in the Antebellum South credit upon Mrs. Fisher, the publisher, and shows what our southern colored Alexander C. Fisher is first named in people can and will do.” the Mobile County Colored Population Moreover, the Examiner revealed a Census of 1866. In U.S. Freedman Bank new fact: Mrs. Fisher had been “raised” Records from 1867, he stated he was 38 In Freedman's Bank Records for Sept. 28, in the family of a certain Newton St. John, years of age with brown complexion and 1867, A.C. Fisher stated his age was 38 and also of Mobile. that his wife’s maiden name was Clifton, his mother’s maiden name was Andrews, complexion brown. Image courtesy Ancestry.com The St. Johns of Mobile and his occupation was practical mason. during the slave trade. Transplanted foods A native of New York, Newton St. John His children at the time included A.C. native to Africa, including okra, rice, egg- relocated to Alabama in the 1830s. His Fisher Jr. (10 months) and Benjamin T. (3 plant, peanuts, and cowpeas, were intro- first wife, Maria Jane Pope, was the niece years). duced in the United States early on. of Alabama’s first governor, William Wy- The Federal Census of 1870 adds that According to Celia Sack, proprietor of att Bibb. By 1854, St. John was on the Mr. Fisher was also a minister. It also lists Omnivore Books on Food on César Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company the value of the family’s home as $800 Chávez Street, “Abby Fisher’s impor- board of directors and a senior partner of (just over $16,000 today). Besides Ben Alexander C. Fisher, profiled in Democracy’s tance as the first previously enslaved the banking house of St. John Powers & and A.C. Jr., there are two more children Colored Army, from the San Francisco African American female cookbook au- listed, Lizo J. (2), and Jennie (2 months). Examiner, Sept. 27, 1890. thor cannot be underestimated. Slaves In 1875, Alexander is listed in the Mo- brought so much of their African heritage bile directory as the “col’d” pastor of Stearns, Potter’s replacement, sent Mr. to Southern American cooking and were State Street Methodist Church, a historic Fisher with a message for personal deliv- rarely, if ever, credited for the influence African Methodist Episcopal (AME) ery to President Grant: “This will be they had over American cuisine.” Zion Church still active today. His min- handed to you by Rev. A.C. Fisher who istry extended into Florida at a time when has the confidence and respect of a large What We Know About Mrs. Fisher the church was expanding throughout the majority of the Republicans of this county Despite the efforts of historians, Mrs. Gulf states. Between 1869 and 1873, Mr. … Be so kind as to listen to Mr. Fisher’s Fisher’s early life has largely remained a Fisher officiated at weddings and at- story and you will confer a great favor mystery. tended regional AME Zion conferences, upon us.” Born in South Carolina about 1832 to serving as secretary. With young children In August, Mr. Fisher telegraphed a white (possibly French) plantation to tend to, it is likely Mrs. Fisher re- Grant himself: “A Colored man named owner and a black woman, she was liv- mained at home during his travels. Harriod left Pensacola Tuesday for Wash- ing in Mobile, Alabama, with her hus- ington it is supposed with bogus papers A Link with Ulysses S. Grant band, Alexander C. Fisher, by the late against Collector Potter … please take no 1870s. Because of the paucity of records In 1871, Mr. Fisher was also serving as notice of him till you hear from me.” The for African Americans during slavery, the Customs Inspector for the Treasury De- outcome of this communication remains year she arrived in Mobile is not known. Newton St. John, slave owner of the Fisher partment at Perdido Key, Pensacola, unknown. In her book’s final recipe, she shared she family. Image from the St. John Genealogy Florida, about 60 miles east of Mobile. Alexander had clearly established a had “given birth to 11 children and raised by Orline St. John Alexander, 1907, available Reporting to R.A. Stearns, Deputy Col- them all.” Only five have so far been on Archive.org. lector, he earned $1,095 annually (about CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 14 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020

AME Zion Church. The Fishers of By September 1878, Mr. Fisher and San Francisco’s First AME Zion Church 27th Street had had a very public falling out that led

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 to his expulsion. Mr. Fisher claimed he had come “…to San Francisco to preach name for himself as a member of the the Holy Ghost” but instead found that clergy, as a secretary at AME Zion con- some AME ministers were pursuing more ventions, and as a messenger to the Pres- disreputable interests. Alexander could ident of the United States. This experi- not approve of the “sensualities prac- ence would serve both him and Mrs. ticed,” he was quoted as saying. “Nearly Fisher well once they arrived in San Fran- all the preachers had three or four concu- cisco. bines besides their wives.” Mr. Fisher’s expulsion, along with his wife’s success San Francisco Bound at the State and Mechanics’ Fairs, may In early 1877, about the time the AME have been the impetus for opening Mrs. Zion Church was encouraging its clergy Fisher’s Pickle Manufactory. to go west, the Fishers sold their home in Mrs. Fisher’s Friends Mobile for $500 ($12,000 today) and headed to San Francisco. Mr. Fisher’s employment with promi- It is possible the Fisher family traveled nent people implies connections. Perhaps west not by wagon train but via rail. They President Grant offered him a personal may have secured railroad passes because letter of introduction. Or perhaps the elite of the late St. John’s position on the board group of “friends” listed in Mrs. Fisher’s of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, or finan- book preface—who had connections to cial support may have been provided by either President Grant’s military service, the church or from the Fishers’ own earn- the cotton industry, the Republican Party, ings and home sale. Comstock Silver Kings, or “fashionable” The Mobile & Ohio Railroad’s north- boarding houses—smoothed his path. ern terminus was at Columbus, Kentucky. By 1884, Alexander was a regular From there, passengers could transfer to speaker at the Colored Central Demo- cratic Club. Sadly, in 1886 the Fishers’ third child, Eliza, passed away at the age of 17. In 1885, Mrs. Fisher is listed in the San Francisco directory as a caterer, profes- The Fishers’ home from 1892 to 1954 was in the 300 block of 27th Street. Image from the San Francisco Office of Assessor-Recorder Photographs, San Francisco Library, ca 1945. sional cook, and giving “lessons in cookery.” Her final business listing appears in 1890. In that same year, Alexander Fisher, neither read nor write, in this census for dow into Tillie Fisher’s kitchen and strike now 54 years old, was profiled in Democ- the first time the answer is marked in the up a conversation. racy’s Colored Army: Sketches and Por- affirmative. “Tillie was a very nice lady,” King re- traits of Some of the Leaders, appearing Abby Fisher passed away in 1915, and calls. “She worked downtown at one of in the San Francisco Examiner. The fol- Alexander followed seven years later. the theaters [the Curran] and was a ma- lowing year, the mayor’s office reported, Both are buried at Cypress Lawn Ceme- tron there. She was a real lady. When she “A. C. Fisher, the colored messenger who tery in Colma in unmarked graves, later went out, she wore the hats and the has so faithfully performed the duties of joined by three of their children. gloves.” his position for eight years past, retires.” King remembers the Fishers’ large The Fishers’ Descendants By 1888, the family was residing near back yard (now smaller after the footprint the corner of 27th and Sanchez streets in Members of the family remained at the of the home was enlarged in recent years) Noe Valley. The following year, their ad- 27th Street residence for nearly seven and how Tillie would tend to her flowers dress was specified in the city directory decades until the deaths of daughters Jen- and vegetables. King said Tillie never as 436 27th St. In 1892, they moved to nie in 1938 and Tillie in 1954. mentioned her mother’s cookbook. the 300 block of 27th Street. Robert King, 79, a longtime resident in “She lived alone and had converted the By 1910, the census records the Fisher a home on César Chávez Street at 27th house into two units. She had grown fond Broadside for the Chicago, Rock Island & home as “free of mortgage.” While Mrs. Street, remembers how his family, sitting of the young couple living upstairs with Pacific Railway, ca 1890. Image from Boston Fisher had claimed in her book she could in their kitchen, could look out their win- their young children and when she Rare Maps. passed, she left the home to them.” Mrs. Fisher’s Legacy the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad that ran to Cairo, Missouri. We know the A Taste of Mrs. Fisher’s Recipes In her review of Mrs. Fisher’s recipes, Fishers passed through Missouri because Here are a few of the selections from Abby Fisher’s What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old culinary historian Toni Tipton-Martin census records show that Mary Matilda Southern Cooking, Soups, Pickles, Preserves, etc. (San Francisco: 1881). The cookbook notes how “touches of artistic excellence (Tillie) Fisher, their last child, was born can be found at archive.org/details/whatmrsfisherkno00fishrich/mode/2up. show up in embellished European recipes there in 1877. In Cairo, transfers for Den- Baked Fish such as roast venison seasoned with a lit- ver and all points west could be made to See that fish is well cleaned. Then salt and pepper inside and out, two or three hours tle green (fresh) thyme, or Crab Cro- the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail- before stuffing it or baking. quettes and Compound Tomato Sauce way (the company regularly advertised in For the stuffing, grate stale bread enough to fill the fish, then put it on fire in a skillet, (ketchup), spiked with a bit of fine red the African American press). and add one tablespoon of butter and one of lard. Chop fine one slice of onion and four pepper, as ‘crabs should be seasoned high sprigs of parsley; season with pepper and salt; let the stuffing stay 5 or 10 minutes, to be nice’; … and her Stuffed Ham laced A Falling Out with Church Elders stirring it to keep from burning; then stuff the fish until it is perfectly full. Sow it up with sherry and baked with a sprinkle of Having arrived in San Francisco, by with a needle and thread and put it to bake in a medium hot stove; pour about half a tea nutmeg.” April 7, 1877, Alexander was appointed cup of water in bottom of pan when you put fish on; while fish is baking, baste or Tipton-Martin further writes, Abby spread a little butter on top of fish until it browns, when it will be ready for table. Elder of the San Francisco Zion Church. Fisher “pushed notions about black cook- By July, he was employed as messenger Jumberlie—A Creole Dish ing as an art beyond survival.” for Mayor Andrew Jackson Bryant. In the Take one chicken and cut it up, separating every joint, and adding to it one pint of Indeed, the Noe Valley resident left a 1878 San Francisco directory, however, cleanly washed rice. Take about half a dozen large tomatoes, scalding them well and trove of recipes and a lasting legacy. Alexander is working as a coachman for taking the skins off with a knife. Cut them in small pieces and put them with the chicken While we’ll never know everything that in a pot or large porcelain saucepan. Then cut in small pieces two large pieces of sweet Edward E. Eyre, stockbroker. Mrs. Fisher knew, we now know a bit ham and add to the rest, seasoning high with pepper and salt. It will cook in 25 minutes. Apparently, Alexander had come to Do not put any water on it. more.” disagreement with the leadership of the First AME Zion Church of San Francisco, Boiled Corn Evelyn Rose is the director and founder of having filed suit in October 1876 for Always put the corn on in boiling water and salt, cooking for seven minutes; a longer the Glen Park Neighborhoods History Proj- cooking than this will take all the sweetness from the corn. $689.75 (nearly $17,000 today) for serv- ect, a group that holds history walks (both ices rendered as pastor under contract. Stewed Tomatoes real and virtual) in Glen Park, Glen Canyon The Church filed a response in February First scald the tomatoes in boiling water and then peel the skin from them, then cut them Park, Sunnyside, Fairmount Heights, and 1878, claiming Alexander had never been up in small pieces, cutting also one slice of onion fine in them; add no water; bread Diamond Heights. If you would like to sup- employed for any term, and had not pro- crumbs, one tablespoonful of butter, pepper and salt to taste. To one dozen of tomatoes, port the project, join in activities, or add vided any services as pastor, “except in half a tea-cupful of bread crumbs. your memories to the research, go to an ignorant, wretched, insulting, and un- Chicken Soup for the Sick www.GlenParkHistory.org or contact Eve- satisfactory manner,” and that Alexander Take an old chicken and put on with one gallon of water; boil down to half a gallon. lyn Rose at [email protected]. had “falsely represented himself fully Take the yelks [yolks] of two eggs, tie them up in a clean cloth with a little thyme and To view a digital copy of Abby Fisher’s competent.” Strong words for a man put in the soup after you have strained the meat from it, and put back to boil till down to cookbook, visit the Internet Archive at highly respected in the South who had three pints. Dish up and send to table hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. archive.org/details/whatmrsfisherkno00fis done so much to expand the reach of the hrich/mode/2up. The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020 15

The Cost of Noe Valley Home Sales* Low High Average Avg. Days Sale Price as Living in Noe Total Sales No. Price ($) Price ($) Price ($) on Market % of List Price Single-family May 2020 4 $1,900,000 $4,500,000 $2,693,750 13 107% April 2020 2 $1,850,000 $3,500,000 $2,675,000 10 107% Limp Sales in May May 2019 9 $1,815,000 $5,395,000 $3,050,000 23 109%

By Corrie M. Anders Condominiums/TICs he month of May was pretty much a May 2020 3 $925,000 $1,565,000 $1,348,333 75 100% Tdud for real estate sales in Noe Valley. April 2020 4 $1,275,000 $2,175,000 $1,715,000 10 112% Just four single-family detached May 2019 11 $580,000 $1,740,000 $1,442,727 10 119% homes closed escrow during what is nor- mally one of the busiest months of the 2- to 4-unit buildings year, according to data supplied to the May 2020 2 $2,225,000 $2,800,000 $2,512,500 78 98% Noe Valley Voice by Corcoran Global April 2020 1 $3,350,000 $3,350,000 $3,350,000 64 96% This iconic Victorian on 23rd Street sold in Living San Francisco. May 2019 4 $2,000,000 $3,736,495 $2,864,124 17 114% That’s a decline of 56 percent from May for its $4.5 million asking price. The May of 2019, when nine homes changed home sits on a 4,500-square-foot lot and is 5+-unit buildings detached on all sides. Photo by Corrie M. Anders hands. May 2020 2 $2,225,000 $2,800,000 $2,512,500 78 98% Condominium sales suffered an even April 2020 2 $5,750,000 $6,965,000 $6,357,500 46 100% harder fall. Corcoran reported only three visit properties for sale. Agents could May 2019 3 $7,600,000 $9,900,000 $8,833,333 189 96% deals this May, compared with 11 the now offer a private showing of a house, same month last year—a decline of 73 *Survey includes all Noe Valley home sales completed during the month. Noe Valley for purposes of this survey is but to no more than two people at a time. loosely defined as the area bordered by Grand View, 22nd, Guerrero, and 30th streets. The Noe Valley Voice thanks percent. As could have been expected, the Corcoran Global Living San Francisco for providing sales data. NVV7/2020 It was the second consecutive month of prices of the homes that sold in May weak trading. showed a decline, too. The average price “It’s all because of the coronavirus,” buyers paid for a single-family detached said Corcoran President Randall Kostick home was $2.7 million, almost 12 percent in explaining the anemic real estate sales. lower than last year’s average ($3 mil- Noe Valley Rents** As part of the city’s March 16 shut- lion). Condo values also fell, going from No. in Range Average Average Average down to prevent the spread of coron- $1.4 million to $1.3 million, a 6.5 percent Unit Sample June 2020 June 2020 May 2020 June 2019 avirus, “open house” tours were prohib- decline for the handful of properties sold. ited. The restriction prevented potential Still, don’t bet money on those trends— Studio 9 $1,895 - $2,600 $2,292 / mo. $2,571 / mo. $2,425 / mo. buyers from wandering through homes to the samples are too small. 1-bdrm 42 $2,350 - $4,450 $3,099 / mo. $3,218 / mo. $3,167 / mo. scope out kitchens, bedrooms, and other The most expensive residential prop- 2-bdrm 49 $2,900 - $6,995 $4,125 / mo. $4,672 / mo. $4,593 / mo. features that might grab their eye. erty traded in May was an elegant Queen 3-bdrm 32 $3,995 - $12,500 $6,118 / mo. $5,630 / mo. $7,433 / mo “People were hesitant to close [escrow] Anne in the 4200 block of 23rd Street at on a property they had not seen,” Kostick Eureka Street, with five bedrooms and 3.5 4+-bdrm 11 $5,295 - $19,000 $8,840 / mo. $9,126 / mo. $11,450 / mo. said. People want “to walk through the in- baths in 3,190 square feet of living space. ** This survey is based on a sample of 143 Noe Valley apartment listings appearing on Craigslist.org from June 5 to 12, 2020. NVV7/2020 terior, and we couldn’t do that in April.” Built in 1893 by famed architect The rules were relaxed May 6 to allow William S. Mooser, the home had been shoppers, under certain conditions, to updated to include a spacious living room with a gas fireplace, a custom-designed kitchen, lofty ceilings throughout the main floor, a breakfast room with sun deck overlooking the garden, and a grand staircase descending to a family room and au pair or guest suite. The iconic Victo- rian, known for gardens on all sides and poppy murals by artist fnnch, sold for its $4.5 million asking price. For Noe Valley’s costliest condominium in May, the final price was $1,565,000, 8.3 percent less than the seller’s listed price for the home ($1,695,000). Located in a two-story 1908 building in the 3600 block of 26th Street between Church and Sanchez streets, the renovated residence—with three bedrooms and two baths—featured an open-plan Noe Valley’s costliest condominium in May, living and dining area, a luxury kitchen, a bi-level residence on 26th Street, sold for radiant floor heating, a shared roof deck $1,565,000—8.3 percent less than the with soaring views, a private patio, com- seller’s asking price. Photo by Sally Smith mon garden, and a one-car garage.

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Even when it’s breezy, Lola and Felix Pizzato-Smith enjoy scaling the local peak Billy Goat Hill. From there, they can see the houses of Noe Valley and the boats on the bay. Photos by Art Bodner

In 2016, while watching the Olympics their grasses, and they’d bang on them or a Pomeranian husky. “I like the on TV, Lola saw synchronized to the sun god, and then it would rain names Giya, Destiny, Calvin, and swimming for the first time. “I said, and help their crops. So it was Keith,” she says. NOE ‘Mom, I want to do that.’ I was already traditionally to alert the gods up in the Felix’s desired pet? “A turtle named swimming and dancing, so it was the higher level.” Jeff.” KIDS perfect combo.” Lola and Felix miss the buzz of their As for neighborhood places they’ve BY KATIE BURKE Lola also plays on a soccer team. former classrooms. missed during the shut-in, Lola names Felix swims too, and both kids do taiko “I’m a very kinesthetic learner,” Lola the Noe Valley Town Square (“because (Japanese percussion) drumming. says, “which means I learn by doing, I meet lots of dogs to hang out with”), Lola and Felix Prompted by Mama to describe a and you can’t be hands-on when you’re Mitchell’s Ice Cream, the Upper Hand Pizzato-Smith taiko drum, Felix says, “I’d love to tell on screens all day. It’s really hard.” Nail Spa (for manicures and pedicures, her. It’s a really big drum made out of “It’s boring,” Felix says of distance and for haircuts with Alex Rocha), and ola, who will turn 11 in July, and wood, and the top’s made out of animal learning. “It’s hard to pay attention, Terra Mia Pottery. LFelix, 7, live on Noe Street with skin. Then it’s really, really loud.” because you can change your name and What was Lola’s favorite thing she their mom and dad, Tonia Pizzato and He adds, “The tradition of Japanese share your screen without people made at Terra Mia? “Hard to say,” she Simon Smith. taiko drums is actually for the farmers. knowing, and you can text privately.” answers. “I made a little teacup set, and “Mama is a full-time mama,” says They would put them into the fields of Lola wishes the family had a cavapoo I put flowers on it.” Lola. “She’s probably the best mama “I did a turtle,” Felix says. ever. She puts her whole life into it. Oh, For his Noe Valley spots, Felix favors and she’s going to be a preschool Easy Breezy, where he enjoys topping teacher. She just got her preschool his yogurt with mochi and boba balls. “I license. She’s really good with young like Noe Valley Bakery, and then I like ones.” Eric’s [Restaurant],” he says. “Charlie’s Felix chimes in, “My dad is a director Corner is also very nice to go to.” of films.” Asked what they will do when Over the past few months, Lola and shelter-in-place is over, Lola says, Felix have been Zoom-schooling and “Hard to say. We’re going to invite making face masks for their neighbors, everybody over for a big celebration. using Lola’s sewing machine. I’m going in the pool with all my “We searched up many prototypes,” synchro friends, and we’re going to says Lola. “I made 11 different mask have a sleepover.” types. Felix is awesome at cutting and Felix has other plans. “I’m going to pinning. He’s my pinning helper.” watch TV.” When not sequestering at home, they “You’ve been doing that all of attend La Scuola Italian-Immersion quarantine,” Lola says. School. Lola will be in sixth grade this “I’ve got it,” Felix says. “The movie fall, and Felix in second—though each theater!” will be at a different campus. The family pet is a gecko named Piccola. Asked how she plans to celebrate her atie Burke is a writer and family birthday, Lola says, “I like to wait until Klaw attorney, who lives where my birthday and then decide. That’s the Noe Valley meets the Mission. Her kind of person I am. But I’ll probably Noe Kids column features interviews invite a couple of friends over. We with Noe Valley kids ages 4 to 12. In could just hang out and talk—of course, April, Burke published a collection of keep our distance. A lot of my best profiles of San Francisco children friends live in Noe Valley.” titled Urban Playground (SparkPress). Lola is a synchronized swimmer with Know a great Noe Valley kid? Email the San Francisco Merionettes, [email protected]. competing both locally and out of state. Lola and Felix have been busy this year making masks for themselves and their neighbors. 18 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020 • J U L Y & A U G U S T 2 0 2 0 •

July 1-Aug. 20: Girls 15 and July 1-31 & Aug. 1-31: The July 5: The open-air Outer July 9: LITQUAKE hosts a July 16: LITQUAKE on under are invited to send a 5- San Francisco Public LIBRARY Sunset FARMERS MARKET & memoir-writing “Workshop in Lockdown features an online minute film to the fifth annual offers story times and career Mercantile features goods and the Woods” with Joyce discussion with Alexandra Petri Noe Valley GIRLS FILM coaching online; access the food from 9 am to 3 pm. 38th Maynard, in Inverness, about her new book of essays, FESTIVAL, streaming on Sept. events page at sfpl.org. Ave. between Ortega and California. For information: Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is 12. Submission deadline: Aug. Pacheco. litquake.org. Why. 6-7:15 pm. Sign up at 20. nvgff.com. July 1-Jan. 19, 2021: John litquake.org. Martini leads a virtual tour of sunsetmercantilesf.com July 12: Melissa Clark July 1-29 & Aug. 5-26: The Sutro’s Glass Palace at the SF July 5: Shaping San Francisco discusses DINNER in French: My July 20; Aug. 3 & 17: Bird & Castro FARMERS MARKET is HISTORICAL SOCIETY leads a four-hour BIKE TOUR Recipes by Way of France. 3 pm. Beckett bookstore hosts open Wednesdays 2:30 to 7 website, sfhistory.org. of the city’s labor history. Omnivore Books, 3885A POETRY READINGS followed pm, with the first hour Noon-4 pm. Meet at 518 Cesar Chavez. Check to by a virtual open mic on reserved for seniors and July 2: LITQUAKE on YouTube. 7-9 pm. 586-3733; Lockdown features an online Valencia. RSVP to confirm: 282-4712; others at greater risk. Noe at [email protected]. omnivorebooks.com. birdbeckett.com. Market. pcfma.com. reading especially for 4- to 8- year olds, by July 5 & Aug. 5: Political July 12: LITQUAKE on July 23: LITQUAKE on July 1-Aug. 31: Noe Valley surfer/journalist/dad Jaimal group ACTION SF hosts a Lockdown features a digital Lockdown features an online OVEREATERS Anonymous at Yogis, from Mop Rides the virtual meeting, open to all, panel discussion, “A Family reading by Canadian Billy-Ray St. Aidan’s meets via Zoom, Waves of Life. 4-5 pm. Sign up at from 1 to 2:30 pm. Email Divided,” about immigration, Belcourt from his memoir, A Monday through Saturday from litquake.org. [email protected] with authors Kristen Millares History of My Brief Body. 6-7:15 7 to 8 am. 314-0720 or 779- to receive the Zoom meeting Young, Donna Hemans, Aimee pm. Sign up at litquake.org. 6273; oasf.org. July 3-31; Aug. 1-29: Bird & Beckett bookstore hosts link. Liu, and Ellen Meeropol. 6-7:15 July 23:The Asian Art Museum July 1-Aug. 31:The 30th Friday JAZZ live-streaming July 5-Aug. 16: The Stern pm. Sign up at litquake.org. streams a CONCERT by indie Street SENIOR CENTER’s from the shop. 7-8:30 pm. 586- Grove Festival streams free July 12 & Aug. 9: The singer and songwriter Thao Mission Nutrition program 3733; birdbeckett.com. Sunday CONCERTS, “Best of Seducers perform “outlaw, Nguyen. 7 pm. Go to offers takeout lunches for asianart.org for log-in July 4-25 & Aug. 1-29: The the Fest,” featuring past classic, and HONKY-TONK” people over 60, weekdays and performers in various genres. 5 country music at Bird & information. Saturdays. 9:30 am-1:30 pm. Saturday Noe Valley FARMERS pm. sterngrove.org. Beckett. 7:30-10 pm. 586-3733; July 31: Folio Books’ 225 30th. 550-2226. MARKET is open from 8 am to 1 pm (8 to 9 am for seniors); July 9: LITQUAKE on birdbeckett.com. BOOKWORMS Club on July 1-Aug. 31: Charlie’s masks are required, 6 feet Lockdown features an online July 14: LITQUAKE on Zoom features Judd Winick Corner holds virtual STORY distancing. Prepared foods reading by Ilana Masad from All Lockdown features Wayétu discussing Hilo Book 6: All the TIMES daily on YouTube. Noon available to go only. 3861 24th. My Mother’s Lovers. 6-7:15 pm. Moore’s online discussion of Pieces Fit. 5 pm. RSVP for sign- and 3 pm. For info: 248-1332; Sign up at litquake.org. her new memoir, The Dragons in, foliosf.com/bookworms; charliescorner.com. 821-3477. noevalleyfarmersmarket.com. July 9:The NOE MUSIC The Giant The Women. 6-7:15 July 1-Aug. 31:Yoga Mayu July 4-Oct. 24: The SF MIME Listening Club, formerly the pm. Sign up at litquake.org. offers online classes and TROUPE releases a nine-part NV Chamber Music Series, July 15: Emily Freeman A Socially Distant OUTDOOR YOGA classes, series of radio play podcasts, features “Textures,” the second discusses her book, Failure to Summer with reservations required “Tales of the Resistance,” of Kai Christiansen’s three- Appear, at Bird & Beckett. 4-5 before class. 4159B 24th. For a every two weeks, on part series, “Motives that Move pm. 586-3733; The next Noe Valley Voice schedule, yogamayu.com. Facebook, Instagram, and Us.” 7 pm. Visit noemusic.org birdbeckett.com. Calendar will appear in the Twitter. sfmt.org. for info on how to join and September 2020 issue.The upcoming concerts. deadline for items is August 15. Write to us! [email protected]

You can learn a lot from a chicken.

At Children’s Day School, chickens—and eggs—are some of our best teachers. With our main campus a home to a WhereWh working farm and organic garden, ATHLETICS CHARACTER- we’ve made the environment a BUILDING studentsstudents core component of a rigorous ARTS curriculum that is project-based, getget more integrated across academic disciplines and designed to fromfrom their prepare and inspire. We expect ACCELERATED great things of our students, ACADEMICS school because we know that passionate citizens change the world. day!y!da TK

- To learn more about our approach to education, visit www.cds-sf.org. Or call our Admission Oce 8th GradGrade e at (415) 861-5432 x337 to schedule a tour. ENROLLL TODAYTODA AYY Children’s Day School www.addaclevenger.orgwww.adddaclev .orgenger 333 Dolores Street San Francisco www.cds-sf.org 'B B' ir Oaks Street SSan an Francisco, CA 94110 (415)82422404022 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020 19

Spread the Word SHORT ord Week is Noe Valley’s an- Wnual celebration of words— written, spoken, sung, and thought TAKES about. Although this year’s event had to be cancelled due to the novel coronavirus, hope is springing (eternally) Prepare for a Scavenger Hunt for 2021. ick of staying inside? Ready for some Rick May, the Word Week com- Sphysically distant, mask-wearing fun? mittee chair for the residents group An out-and-about scavenger hunt is be- Friends of Noe Valley, says planning ing organized this summer by Resilient for next year will begin in August, Noe Valley, our neighborhood disaster- and he’s looking for “authors, read- preparedness umbrella group. ers, and thinkers of all stripes” who Are there things a scavenger hunt can can help brainstorm ideas and pick tell us about disaster preparedness? Re- panelists for a week of events at ven- silient spokesperson Dave Olson says, ues in Noe Valley. “None directly, but preparedness is all If you are interested in fun, liter- about relationships and familiarity with Noe Valley canines leapt for joy in June after the city gave them free rein to play at local dog acy, and literature, contact May at the neighborhood.” parks, including Joby’s Run (above) and Upper Douglass Dog Park. Photo by Dave Emanuel [email protected] to The scavenger hunt will help with volunteer. both. Participants will traverse the valley, working in teams. Teams can be made up of families or friends. Each team will be looking for locations of neighborhood sixth and final book in the Hilo series. The note and will be provided with clues to event is free, but registration at find them. Once one is located, a team foliosf.com is required. You can buy member will snap a photo and forward it copies of All the Pieces Fit and the five to scavenger hunt central. We can have other Hilo books by calling the store at fun, get exercise, and learn more about 415-275-1839 or emailing orders@fo- the place we all call home. For free! liosf.com. The hunt’s date was TBD as the Voice Charlie’s Corner children’s bookstore went to press. For updates, check the continues daily story times at noon and 3 website empowersf.org/resilient-noe-val- p.m. over its YouTube channel. You can ley or sign up for the Resilient Noe Val- access story-time archives at charli- ley newsletter and receive information on escorner.com. Click on Watch Charlie a range of topics, like what’s open and Time Videos. what’s not, how to handle a fire extin- No events yet at Omnivore Books on guisher, and whom to call about what. Food, according to owner Celia Sack, but you can browse and buy online at omni- It’s a Dog’s Life vorebooks.myshopify.com or at the store, ogs never had to obey stay-at-home, Photo by Nancy McGinnis 3885A Cesar Chavez St., Tuesday Dbut they were locked out of our lo- through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. cal dog parks for more than two months. make a film. Be creative. Make some- humorous Lady Tiffin’s Travel Secrets. Not anymore! Both Joby’s Run and Up- thing cool.” Charlotte adds, “We want to For inspiration, you can watch the An Ear for Noe Music per Douglass Dog Park are open for dogs inspire people.” 2017 and 2018 films at nvgff.com (click ur venerable institution, Noe Valley to do their essential business, meet old Girls from Noe Valley and from all on Past Festivals). Under Resources, OChamber Music, is getting a 28- friends, and have a romp. over the world can enter, since the com- there are links to movie-making tutorials, year overhaul by co-artistic directors, Joby’s Run is located in the park at Up- mittee uses filmfreeway.com for submis- animation and editing software, and roy- musicians, and spouses Meena Bhasin per Noe Recreation Center. You can en- sions, a free website that connects festi- alty-free music and sound effects. Oh, and Owen Dalby, who took the helm last ter on either the Day Street or 30th Street vals and filmmakers. and there’s a Submit button. year. For one thing, the name has changed side. Dogs may roam inside the fenced- Charlotte and Caitlin particularly urge to Noe Music. in gravel area during normal rec center girls 10 and under to submit a film. Bookworms Find Stories Bhasin explains that the change isn’t in park hours, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days “That’s how we got started back in fourth olio Books and Charlie’s Corner name only. “We are trying to expand our a week. grade,” Caitlin says. “On an old Apple Fbookstores will offer more live- audiences and better represent the actual Upper Douglass Dog Park is at 800 computer. We put googly eyes on it, and streaming events for children this sum- demographic and age range” of the neigh- Douglass St., at the corner of 27th Street. we went on adventures.” mer. Folio Books continues its Book- borhood. The new name also allows The grass is open to canines and their hu- Five finalists will be named Sept. 5 in worms book club for middle readers (8 to “more flexibility with different offerings mans from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. each of two categories, girls 10 and un- 11 years old) and Charlie’s Corner its we will develop.” In other doggone news, your pooches der and girls 11 to 15. All 10 finalist films readings for the picture book crowd. Some of this season’s new repertoire can now get a professional haircut (even will be shown festival night, which will Judd Winick will join the Bookworms unfortunately had to be put on hold be- if you can’t). Both neighborhood doggie- be live-streamed this year. kids online Friday, July 31, at 5 p.m. cause of stay-at-home orders. Live pre- grooming salons are open by appointment Winners will be announced at the (Winick’s May in-person event had to be sentations of three current series—Sun- only, no veterinarian order needed. Book event. Prizes for the top three winners in cancelled due to city health orders.) He is days at Four, Noe Music Kids, and Up your dog’s appointment at VIP Scrub each age group are $100, $200, and $350. the author and illustrator of the popular Close and Personal—all were cancelled. Club, 1734 Church St., at 415-970-2231, There will also be an audience award. Hilo books, about a hero robot come to Only the Noe Listening Club, which went or at VIP Grooming, 4299 24th St., 415- Last year’s winner of that was San Fran- earth. Winick will read from and answer online, has continued. In fact, it’s been ex- 282-1393. No cheating and pretending to cisco fourth-grader Mollie Weiss, for her questions about All the Pieces Fit, his panded. be Fluffy or Rover! Twice a month on Thursdays, NLC of- And we all know a dog—or cat, parrot, fers digital music experiences from the rabbit, or guinea pig—has got to eat. Fur- Bhasin-Dalby living room. Some, led by ther good news: Curbside pickup is no musicologist Kai Christiansen, focus on longer required at our two neighborhood great classical pieces. Others host guest pet supply stores, Noe Valley Pet Com- artists, who entertain and educate listen- pany at 1451 Church St., and The Animal ers about their work. Recent guests have Company, 1307 Castro St. You can included opera composer Jake Heggie, browse inside again. Check the store movie score composer Nicholas Britell, websites for hours, be sure to wear a and the St. Lawrence Quartet. To join the mask, and keep your social distance. club, go to noemusic.org. Listening is a sliding scale from $20 to free. Make a Film, Girl Plans for next season are under way, he Noe Valley Girls Film Festival too. “September through May,” Bhasin Twants you to make a movie and sub- says, “we will be featuring entirely local mit it to the fifth annual festival, which artists,” in virtual performances and live will be Saturday, Sept. 12. The rules are concerts, as health concerns allow. To simple. The filmmaker has to be female hear the latest, sign up for the group’s and 15 years old or younger. The film email newsletter or follow Noe Music on can’t be longer than five minutes and Facebook or Instagram. must be G-rated. The deadline for sub- missions is Aug. 20, 2020. Sisters Charlotte and Caitlin Kane, two Caitlin Kane was clearly thrilled to hold the Oscar that the producers of the award-winning Short Takes were compiled and of the event’s organizers, are encouraging film Bao brought to last year’s Noe Valley Girls Film Festival. She invites girls to submit their written by Richard May. newcomers. Caitlin says, “Anyone can films to this year’s event, to be held on Sept. 12. Copyright © 2019 Ted Weinstein 20 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020 STORE TREK

Store Trek is a regular Voice feature profiling new stores and businesses in Noe Valley. This month, we spotlight a new cafe that offers fresh pastries and “home-brewed” coffee and tea.

NOE VALLEY CAFE 1299 Sanchez St. at 26th Street 415-645-3104 www.noecafe.com

he washing machines may be his- Ttory but the donuts are back at the newly transformed coffeehouse on the corner of Sanchez and 26th streets. In 2015, Pacifica resident Maricar Lagura began operating a small coffee kiosk inside what was the Spin City Launderette & Coffee Bar at Sanchez and 26th streets. Patrons were quick to discover the donuts and other confec- tions from the Mission-based bakery Dynamo Donuts. Lagura soon teamed up with Chris- tian Ritter, the founder of local coffee roaster Noe Valley Coffee. He created a special roast just for Spin City, the Spin The seating inside the new Noe Cafe on Sanchez Street was still off limits in June due to the city’s health guidelines. But the coffeehouse City Blend Hyperlocal Coffee, a placed several tables outside on the sidewalk for customers to enjoy. Photos by Pamela Gerard medium roast using beans from Ethiopia and Central America. for two years, the co-owners started dedicated to brewing their selection of is super cold and refreshing,” said The pair then decided to join forces construction of their Noe Valley Cafe coffee and tea drinks. There are also Ritter. (A 16-ounce cold-brewed coffee and revamp the laundromat space to last December. The interior was com- taps for beer and wine, which the cafe is $5, and the extra-cold nitro is $5.50.) focus solely on drinks and food. In late pletely gutted in order to turn the space expects to begin serving in mid-July, More food offerings will be added as 2017, they began applying for the spe- into a coffeehouse. To the left in the when it also plans to allow customers to the owners gauge what customers cial permits they needed to build out the back are three custom-built wood sit inside. would like. The plan is for the space to space and use it as a location to roast booths, while on the right-side wall are “What we are hoping is it all kind of serve as a coffeehouse in the mornings coffee beans. four small wood tables mounted to the coincides,” said Ritter. and more of a gastropub in the After navigating the planning process floor which each seat two people. To the left and right of the cash regis- evenings, where people can grab dinner The Covid-19 pandemic and the shelter are cases for various baked goods, and a drink and relax with their friends ter-in-place orders issued in mid-March including the Dynamo Donuts ($3.50), or family. delayed the cafe’s construction timeline which come in a variety of flavors from The hours of operation will be by about two weeks. bacon to lemon poppyseed. Also avail- adjusted in the coming weeks. As of For now, the cafe’s indoor seating is able are croissants ($4 or $4.50 for mid-June, the coffeehouse, which the not available to diners because of health almond or chocolate), scones ($3.75), owners call Noe Cafe for short, was restrictions. Still, with the city designat- banana bread ($3.75), and muffins open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. ing Sanchez Street a “slow street”— ($4.50), from another Mission-based —Matthew S. Bajko closed to through-traffic but inviting to business, Kahnfections. cyclists, joggers, and walkers—the cof- Also for purchase are cookies ($3.25) feehouse has seen a steady stream of from the locally owned Karen’s Cookie customers since opening June 10. Kitchen. Customers can also buy 12- To accommodate the flow, Lagura ounce bags ($15) of every type of cof- LETTERS to the EDITOR and Ritter have put several tables and fee bean the cafe roasts. THE VOICE welcomes your letters. chairs outside on the sidewalk. Behind the coffee counter in the back Email: [email protected]. Reaction from the neighborhood to of the space is a walled-off area where Or write Noe Valley Voice Letters, P. O. the renovated space has been “truly sits a shiny coffee-roasting machine. Box 460249, San Francisco, CA 94146. amazing and just so welcoming,” said Customers can order brewed coffee Please in clude your name, street, and Ritter, who lives nearby. “We have had ($3.75), cappuccinos ($4), and lattes contact information. (Anonymous A not one single negative interaction, ($4.75), or teas in various blends from letters will not be considered for Christian Ritter has brought his Noe Valley which is just incredible. No angry cus- the California-based company Leaves & publication.) Be aware that letters may Coffee beans and a new roaster to the cafe tomers, just 100 percent smiles—behind Flowers ($4.75). be edited for brevity or clarity. We he and Maricar Lagura opened in June at their masks, of course.” “Our most popular drink has been our look forward to hearing from you. Sanchez and 26th streets. The middle of the storefront is now cold brew. We also have it on nitro, so it

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Reyes (who interviewed her outside) that “since I moved to the East Bay a while and now for the she was a bit overwhelmed by all the at- ago and we make all our garments over tention and was sorry “my mask is hiding there. We have two retail stores there, one my best attribute: my smile.” in Oakland we opened last year and the RUMORS At the legacy store Just for Fun, which other in Berkeley, and now things have had just opened for people to come in and become too difficult to manage…and I behind the news look over the fun and games stocked in am not getting any younger.” the store, the mayor and supervisor She says she has had to spend up to browsed at length, along with several four hours commuting back and forth masked parents and children, who stayed from the East Bay and [it’s hard to] staff Noe Valleyland socially distanced. Mayor Breed bought the store with sales people. “I have been By Mazook three items: a Dominoes set, a diary for planning to do this for quite a while, and herself, and a fancy candle for Supervisor now the time seems right, so you might WENTY-FOURTH STREET BEAT: In Mandelman. say we are shrinking but not closing.” Tmid-June, businesses in Downtown I had to laugh when I saw my face re- She also points out that all of your fa- Noe Valley were starting to open their flected in the plexiglass in front of the vorites will still be available online. checkout counter on the ABC-7 coverage doors, in response to Mayor London Breed’s partial lifting of stay-at-home or- that aired later that afternoon. My own ders in place since March 15. Restaurants mask is seriously colorful. CIRCLING THE SQUARE: The Noe Patty Woody, owner of Rabat at the corner Finally, there was a short press confer- Valley Town Square will soon be putting could now open with outside seating, and of 24th and Noe streets, smiles as she retail stores could welcome their clamor- ence at Novy’s. After it, Breed and Man- welcomes old friends back to the store she out tables and chairs for visitors to sit and ing customers under strict masking and delman sat down at one of the outside ta- opened 48 years ago in Noe Valley. Sadly, relax in. Program coordinator Leslie social-distancing rules. Even the mayor bles (which had been sanitized) and had she has to tell customers she is closing in Crawford says this should happen visited our commercial corridor to pro- lunch together. It was a cozy scene of po- July and taking her inventory (just the “around the second week in July, as soon mote patronage of small businesses in the litical bliss. By the way, Breed had a kale shoes) to her store in Berkeley. The closing as we get the go-ahead from the city and city. salad with chicken added (“and no sale in Noe Valley will go “until we run out, so the Park Department.” In Noe Valley last month, barriers were cheese, please”) and Mandelman had a come soon.” We will. Photo by Sally Smith “We will be setting up the tables and lifted at Just for Fun, Folio Books, Cotton Novy favorite, the Cobb Salad. chairs with appropriate distancing and we will be washing them down every Basics, Xela Imports, Basil Racuk, Small Frys, When Modern Was, Wink, and Am- may apply for a permit from the city to four hours, and we will provide a ‘wash- biance, to just name a few. EATS, AL FRESCO: In addition to set up tables on the sidewalk in front of ing station’ for everyone to use with san- But we also learned many of our small Novy, which has seven tables on the side- the restaurant. itizers before they sit down and when the businesses would never open again or walk, other eateries have opened and are (Sorry to note that on Tuesday, June leave, as well as take all their trash with were on the verge of closing soon. Gone serving outdoors. Patxi’s Pizza has four 30, someone broke into Mahila, causing them,” says Crawford. “Groups should after more than 40 years was Astrid’s Ra- tables out front. Hi-Way Burger & Fry at $13,000 in damages, according to ABC be from the same household with no more bat Shoes at 3909 24th (which we 24th and Vicksburg assembled two out- News. —Ed.) than six per table with all wearing masks lamented last month). Soon to close after door tables, and the Valley Tavern has an Meanwhile, Ambiance, at 3979 24th unless they are eating. 48 years in the neighborhood was Rabat open beer garden in the back. St., reopened to shopping June 15, and “We hope that everybody acts respon- clothing store, at 4001 24th. Tables have popped up outside the gave 10 percent of the sales from its first sibly and follows the rules, so we won’t Two Birds women’s boutique, at 1309 Dubliner—on the sidewalk and in the week to Black Girls Code, an organiza- have to roll it back,” Crawford says. Castro, had its doors closed but we’re parking space in front. The Diamond tion that empowers girls of color to be- The Noe Valley Farmers Market has still hoping it will reopen. The almost Cafe at Diamond and 24th has several come innovators in STEM fields. partnered with the non-profit Friends of three-year-old boutique at 3920 24th St., outdoor tables, and two doors down at And since the fashion shop was closed the Children, SF Bay Area, who “serve once filled with fashions by Youngjee Bacco, which was one of the first restau- for three months, it’s holding a big sale, children who face the greatest obstacles, Ahn, also appeared closed. It has no name rants in Noe Valley to open daily, you can with 20 percent off full-price items and providing each with a professional, now, but was Arte Bella in its heyday. sit at eight outdoor tables. Also, both lo- 50 percent off sale items (see am- salaried—not volunteer—mentor to walk Soon to leave after a zillion years on cations of Martha & Bros. Coffee, 24th biancesf.com). Owner Donna O’Leary beside them from kindergarten through 24th Street was the popular clothing store Street and Church Street, now have tables says the store’s shorter pandemic hours high school graduation.” for both men and women, Cotton Basics outside. are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. Farmers Market board member Peter (see below). Down at Church and 30th, Cafe XO to 6 p.m., and more discounts may be Gabel says that Friends of the Children The Fit Lite gym on the corner of 24th has put their tables back on the sidewalk, coming. Go get ’em. has about 90 families in the Bayview as has Toast Eatery a block away neighborhood who are in dire need of and Church has closed. The 24 Hour Fit- ness chain filed for bankruptcy and an- at Church and Day. The very popular food, so each week on Saturday morn- nounced it was closing 10 locations in the Chloe’s at Church and 26th has set out DON’T BLAME COVID for the immi- ings, the Farmers Market donates around Bay Area, including Noe Valley’s and the their outside tables, as has Noeteca Wine nent closings of two anchor stores in $500 of food purchased from the market’s one in the Castro. Bar & Cafe at 1551 Dolores St. Downtown Noe Valley. Rabat clothing vendors. Noe Valleon Michael Rugen, The Noe Valley Merchants and Profes- It will be good news to many that Dou- store, which has stood on the corner of the group’s co-founder and executive di- sionals Association, according to Presi- ble Rainbow, on 24th Street in the mid- 24th and Noe for the last 43 of the 48 rector, and Frederique Clermont, the di- dent Rachel Swann, is “currently working 1970s and ’80s, will open a new shop two years it has been on 24th Street, will be rector of programs, pick up the weekly on discussing closing parts of [24th] doors down from its original location in closing on or before July 31. food and drop it off to be bagged and de- street on the weekends [to offer] more the Castro, at 415 Castro, just north of the Says owner Patty Woody, who used to livered to the families by the mentors. Castro Theatre. live in Noe Valley, “Our lease is over at chances for people to enjoy outdoor the end of July, and I will put all my ef- food/drinks/shopping, as they are going to do in the Castro and on Valencia.” forts in our women’s shoe store at 1825 KUDOS GO OUT to the business or Then, on Monday, June 29, a number BLAME COVID: The New York Times Fourth Street in Berkeley, which I have property owners with boarded-up store- of businesses that were poised to open— sent writer Kerry Hannon to Noe Valley operated for the past 12 years in a shop- fronts partnering with local artists to cre- including hair and nail salons, tattoo stu- to do a story about what local restaurateur ping mall that has been very successful. ate murals up and down 24th Street and dios, and bars—had to hit the pause but- Azalina Eusope was doing during these “I am so sad to leave Noe Valley and all over San Francisco. Two groups— ton, due to a recent rise in Covid-19 cases pandemic times at Mahila, her Malaysian appreciate all the support we’ve received Project Artivism (with its program Re- in the city. Damn. My José de Jesús Noe restaurant at 1320 Castro. over the years from our customers, who store 49) and Paint the Void—have been tattoo will have to wait. Eusope told the Times (June 19 issue) came back to shop even after they moved active during these Covid daze in painting that she had had to change her business out of the neighborhood,” she said. “But murals in our downtown. model at Mahila to survive. She didn’t retail has gone down the past five years. Artist Renee DeCarlo of Artivism, who LONDON COMES TO NOE: Two weeks lay off any of her employees at her Noe It seems younger people are not shopping has a studio in the Mission, has been earlier, at around noon on June 15, Mayor Valley restaurant or at her huge commis- in stores anymore but rather online.” painting a mural on the building under Breed drew a large crowd as she, along sary kitchen (including a 7,000-square- Woody says Noe Valley’s Rabat will construction where Small Frys used to with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, be- foot hydroponic garden) in the Bayview have to liquidate its entire inventory by be, at 4066 24th St. Lots of color! gan a tour of 24th Street. First they when her large corporate catering busi- the end of July, and true values can be “I am grateful for the opportunity to stopped at Nancyland Kids. Then they ness evaporated, but she almost had to. found. Don’t wait. work and enjoy working on this kind of headed to Just for Fun, after which they “My catering business was my bread Speculation that Cotton Basics was project,” DeCarlo says. “It is fun and a walked to Novy’s for lunch. and butter,” Eusope told Hannon, “and closing started at the beginning of June great opportunity to meet new people and In the entourage were folks from the all my large corporate clients—Sales- when a “For Lease” sign appeared in the work with the building owners on the de- Mayor’s Office of Economic and Work- force, Twitter, and Google—closed their window of the store, at 24th and Castro sign.” force Development, as well as reporters offices in the middle of March when the for over 30 years. Its original incarnation, Carol Yenne, one of Small Frys’ own- with long microphone poles and camera stay-at-home order happened and nobody Cotton & Company, opened eight years ers and a retired “mayor” of Noe Valley, crews from channels KTVU-2, KNTV-3, was going to work. I had to close my food before that, in a store across from what says she is pleased with the mural and the KRON-4, KPIX-5, ABC-7, and KDTV- bar on Market (in the Twitter building) as was then Bell Market (Whole Foods). color it adds to our main drag. well as Mahila here in Noe Valley.” However, the store’s closing has no cer- Univision 14. Even Jeffrey Schaub of KCBS radio showed up for the event. She stressed that her employees were tain date yet, probably in the fall, and the Each reporter took turns going into the her priority and paying the rent, “so now space is now for sub-lease by Cotton, THAT’S 30, NOE FOLK: Have a safe, small and very narrow Nancyland to in- we are selling products to grocery stores which is looking for a retailer to take over healthy, and happy summer. As the Tem- terview Nancy Guettier about her reopen- like Rainbow.” She also started a Go- the space. pos sang back in 1959 and the Happen- ing of her store, which caters to babies FundMe site with a $25,000 goal and has “I simply want to make my life sim- ings echoed in 1966, “See You in Sep- and kids. She told ABC reporter Kris so far received over $16,000. She also pler,” say co-founder Susan Ciochetto, tember.” 22 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020

Adult Fiction Author Renée Watson and illustrator Nina Mata bring us Ways to Make “Merry Prankster” Ed McClanahan Sunshine, a book about a kind girl revisits his early years in Kentucky in MORE BOOKS TO READ named Ryan Hart. Ages 8 to 10. Not Even Immortality Lasts Forever. Summer, by the Book Graphic novel Yorick and Bones, by Two fishermen try to stay alive after ith many of us staying at home curled up in a chair, this could be a record father-daughter duo Jeremy Tankard and being stranded in the Pacific Ocean in year for Summer Stride, the San Francisco Public Library’s annual Hermione Tankard, is about a skeleton Beyond the Sea by Paul Lynch. W summer reading program. Although the fun kicked off in June, Noe Valley and the dog who unearths him. Ages 8 Set in 1960s Martha’s Vineyard, Summer Librarians Denise Sanderson and Catherine Starr invite you to start your own to 11. Darlings by Brooke Lea Foster is about race to reach 20 hours of reading by Aug. 16. That will entitle you to this year’s A 10-year-old goes on a quest to find his a girl working as a nanny who aspires to prize, a Summer Stride Library book tote featuring art by picture book author great-uncle in Horten’s Miraculous a better life. Alison Farrell. The library has lots of eBook recommendations, as well as Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery and a In Romesh Gunesekera’s coming-of-age weekly online programs and STEM challenges to help you accomplish the goal. Very Strange Adventure, by Lissa novel Suncatcher, two boys—one a Go to YouTube and search for the tutorial “Show and Tell with SFPL” or “Sweet Evans. Ages 9 to 14. loner, the other a rebel with a wild Stories with SFPL” for children. In Mary Underwater by Shannon streak—explore the changing world of The librarians also recommend you follow sfpl.org or these social channels to Doleski, a girl accomplishes the feat of 1960s Sri Lanka. get updates on library services: building a submarine. Ages 10 to 14. Inspired by historical events, Keep Facebook: @sfpl.org Instagram/Twitter: @sfpubliclibrary Saying Their Names by Simon Stranger Children’s Nonfiction follows a Nazi war criminal and a family YouTube: San Francisco Public Library Meghan McCarthy explains firefighters’ of World War II survivors who at Staff members are still functioning as essential workers at branches all over training and everyday responsibilities in different times shared the same home. the city. However, change is coming. The San Francisco Public Library says it Firefighters’ Handbook. Ages 4 to 8. anticipates reopening slowly over the summer for curbside pickup. Adult Nonfiction Until that happens, you can explore the Noe Valley/Sally Brunn Branch online Musicians ages 6 to 10 will be inspired or commune with our librarians by perusing the new books and films they’ve by Guitar Genius: How Les Paul In Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, suggested on this page. If you need assistance with your library card or have Engineered the Solid-Body Electric and the Fight for a Fair America, Guitar and Rocked the World, written political leader Stacey Abrams offers a other questions, please call 415-557-4400, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 by Kim Tomsic and illustrated by Brett blueprint to empower citizens to take p.m. Now, ready, set, read! Helquist. back their country. Smile: How Young Charlie Chaplin Black Imagination: Black Voices on Wuhan Diary: Dispatches From a of weather in Desert Girl, Monsoon Taught the World to Laugh (and Cry), Black Futures, edited by Natasha Quarantined City. Boy, written by Tara Dairman, illustrated by Gary Golio with illustrations by Ed Marin, includes writings from people in by Archana Sreenivasan. Ages 4 to 8. Young, covers the childhood and early diverse walks of life. Abigail Gerwirtz suggests ways to stages of the actor’s career.Ages 8 to 12. approach difficult emotional issues in In This Way, Charlie, written by Caron Rome Favourite Recipes: Traditional When the World Feels Like a Scary Levis, illustrated by Charles Santoso, a Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Cooking by Carla Magrelli includes 30 Place: Essential Conversations for blind horse and a gruff goat make Yousafzai features first-person accounts classic recipes. Anxious Parents and Worried Kids. friends. Ages 4 to 8. in We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the Adult Movies on Kanopy Author and illustrator Corinna Luyken Children’s Fiction World. Ages 12 and up. playfully turns her accidental splotches The leader of the Preservation Hall Jazz Summer Song, written by Kevin Henkes into art in The Book of Mistakes. Band in New Orleans retraces his roots Children’s eBooks and illustrated by Laura Dronzek, Ages 4 to 12. in the 2018 documentary A Tuba to celebrates the sights and sounds of the A mother rabbit and her young bunny Cuba. In Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots, season. Ages 3 to 7. look at their neighborhood in The Way Michael Rex points out the facts, with Scotty and the Secret History of Home in the Night, written and Two children experience the extremes the help of cartoon robots.Ages 5 to 8. Hollywood is based on a scandalous illustrated by Akiko Miyakoshi. Ages 3 to memoir about Tinseltown movie stars 7. written in 2012 by escort Scotty In Town Is by the Sea, written by Bowers. Joanne Schwartz and illustrated by The 2010 historical epic Princess Sydney Smith, a young boy thinks about Ka’iulani unfolds during the last years his father, who digs for coal under the of the 19th century as the female heir to sea. Ages 5 to 8. the throne fights to defend Hawaiian A grandfather travels to the North Pole independence. to see real polar bears, in The Last The 1954 thriller Dial M for Murder, Polar Bears by Harry Horse. Ages 6 to 9. starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly, is In The Best Man by Richard Peck, a considered one of Alfred Hitchcock’s middle school boy is chosen to stand up finest. in the gay wedding of two of his personal role models. Ages 8 to 12. Adult eBooks In Anna Meriano’s A Dash of Trouble, a A social media influencer falls in love Texas girl prepares for the Dia de los with a Cuban firefighter in Island Affair Muertos festival. Ages 8 to 12. by Priscilla Oliveras. A young boy in France is drawn into an In The Burning by Laura Bates, a girl international band of child thieves in running away from her past researches The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine the life of a 17th-century woman Kid, by Colin Meloy, with illustrations by accused of witchcraft. Carson Ellis. Ages 8 to 12. Tara Nolan’s Gardening Your Front A girl skips school to investigate family Yard: Projects and Ideas for Big and secrets in Apartment 1986 by Lisa Small Spaces gives advice on treating Papademetriou. Ages 10 to 14. your front yard like a back yard. Chinese author Fang Fang describes the Annotations by Noe Valley Voice early days of the Covid-19 outbreak in bookworm Karol Barske

CROSSWORD SOLUTION BRANCH HOURS*

Hollywood in Noe by Michael Blake Noe Valley/Sally Brunn Branch Library* 451 Jersey St., 355-5707 Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat 4USFFUUSFFTNBLF4BO'SBODJTDP 1-5 12-6 10-9 1-9 10-6 1-6 10-6 Mission Branch Library* CFBVUJGVM5IFZJNQSPWFPVS 300 Bartlett St., 355-2800 IFBMUI NJUJHBUFHMPCBMXBSNJOH Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat 1-5 1-6 10-9 10-9 10-9 1-6 10-6 QSPWJEFXJMEMJGFIBCJUBUBOE Glen Park Branch Library* JODSFBTFQSPQFSUZWBMVFT 2825 Diamond St., 355-2858 Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat 1 -5 10-6 10-6 12-8 12-7 1-6 1-6 7PMVOUFFSXJUIVTUPCSJOHUIF Eureka Valley–Harvey Milk Branch Library* 1 José Sarria Ct. (3555 16th St.), 355-5616 CFOFmUTPGUSFFTUPUIFOFJHICPS Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat IPPETUIBUOFFEUIFNNPTU XXXGVGOFU 12-6 10-9 12-9 10-6 1-6 12-6 *Note: In compliance with city health orders, all San $POUBDUVTUPHFUJOWPMWFE Francisco libraries have been temporarily closed to the general public. For updates, go to www.sfpl.org. The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020 23

Action SF, The National Movement in Outer Noe Valley Merchants Your Neighborhood Contact: Jim Appenrodt, 641-1500 www.facebook.com/actionsfsolidarity, MORE GROUPS TO JOIN Address: 294 29th St., SF, CA 94131 http://resistrypac.org Meetings: Call for details. Email: [email protected]; Zoom Progress Noe Valley virtual meeting: first Sundays, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Friends of Dolores Park Playground Liberty Hill Neighborhood Association Facebook: facebook.com/ProgressNoeValley All welcome. Contact: Nancy Gonzalez Madynski, Contact: Dr. Lisa Fromer, president 828-5772 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Al-Anon Noe Valley Email: [email protected] Meetings: Quarterly. Email for details. Website: progressnoe.com Contact: 834-9940 Website: friendsofdolorespark.org Meetings: Check Facebook page for current Merchants of Upper Market & Castro Website: al-anonsf.org Meetings: See website. meeting and event schedule. Meetings: Wednesdays, 7:30-9 p.m. Contact: 835-8720 Resilient Noe Valley St. Philip Church, 725 Diamond St. (park on Friends of Glen Canyon Park Email: [email protected] Contact: Antoinette or Jessica Elizabeth Street side; enter on 24th Street) Contact: Jean Conner, 584-8576 Address: 584 Castro St. #333, SF, CA 94114 Address: 140 Turquoise Way, SF, CA 94131 Meetings: Call for details. Email: [email protected] Castro Community on Patrol Plant restoration work parties, Wednesday Newsletter signup: Noe Neighborhood Council Website: castropatrol.org mornings and third Saturday of the month. http://eepurl.com/gYuCD5 Next volunteer patrol training Tuesday, Contact: Ozzie Rohm or Matt McCabe, Website: www.empowersf.org/resilient-noe- March 10, 7-10 p.m. Sign up via website. Friends of Noe Courts Playground Co-founders valley/ Email: [email protected] Contact: Laura Norman Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Website: noeneighborhoodcouncil.com San Francisco NERT (Neighborhood Diamond Heights Community Address: P.O. Box 460953, SF, CA 94146 Meetings: Quarterly at Sally Brunn Library, Emergency Response Team) Association Meetings: Email for dates and times. 451 Jersey St., with date publicized on Contact: Noe Valley NERT Neighborhood Contact: Betsy Eddy, 867-5774 website and Nextdoor.com. Team co-coordinators Maxine Fasulis, Address: P.O. Box 31529, SF, CA 94131 Friends of Noe Valley (FNV) [email protected]; Carole Roberts, Website: www.dhcasf.org Contact: Todd David, 401-0625 Noe Valley Association–24th Street [email protected] Meetings: Second Thursday, 7 p.m. Call for Email: [email protected] Community Benefit District Website: https://SF-fire.org location. Website: friendsofnoevalley.com Contact: Debra Niemann, 519-0093 Meetings: See website for free trainings Meetings: Two or three annually. Meeting Dispatch: To report spills, debris, or garbage scheduled throughout the year. Dolores Heights Improvement Club Dec. 4, 7 p.m., Umpqua Bank, 3938 24th St. on 24th Street, call Ron Vanini, 596-7089. Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]. San Jose/Guerrero Coalition to Save Friends of Upper Noe Recreation Website: www.doloresheights.org Website: noevalleyassociation.org Our Streets Center Meetings: Third Thursday of every second Board meetings: Quarterly. See website. Contact: Don Oshiro, 285-8188 month. Bank of America, 18th and Castro. Contact: Chris Faust Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Noe Valley Farmers Market Website: sanjoseguerrero.com Duncan Newburg Association (DNA) Website: uppernoerecreationcenter.com Open Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Meetings: See website. Contacts: Deanna Mooney, 821-4045; Meetings: Email or check website. Tuesdays, 3 to 7 p.m.; 3861 24th St. between Diane McCarney, 824-0303; or Sally Chew, Vicksburg and Sanchez. Stand Up San Francisco Friends of Upper Noe Dog Owners 821-6235 Contact: Leslie Crawford, 248-1332 Contacts: Laura Shapiro, Phyllis Ball, Group (FUNDOG) Address: 560 Duncan St., SF, CA 94131 Email: [email protected] Paul Silverman Meetings: Call for details. Contacts: Chris Faust, David Emanuel Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Noe Valley Merchants and Website: standupsf.net Eureka Valley Neighborhood Website: www.fundogsf.org Professionals Association (NVMPA) Meetings: At offices of members of Association Contact: Rachel Swann, 225-7743 Glen Park Association Congress, weekly. Website: https://evna.org Meetings: Last Thursdays, Old Republic, Contact: [email protected] Address: P.O. Box 14137, SF, CA 94114 4045A 24th St., 9 a.m. Call to confirm. Upper Noe Neighbors Website: glenparkassociation.org Meetings: See website calendar. Castro Website: www.NoeValleyMerchants.com Contact: Olga Milan-Howells, 756-4455 Meeting Room, 501 Castro St., 7 p.m. Address: P.O. Box 31292, SF, CA 94131 Email: [email protected] Noe Valley Parent Network Juri Commoners Meetings: Bi-monthly on third Wednesday. Fair Oaks Neighbors An e-mail resource network for parents Contact: Dave Schweisguth, MI7-6290 Upper Noe Recreation Center, 295 Day St. Email: [email protected] Contact: Mina Kenvin Email: [email protected] Call to confirm. Address: 200 Fair Oaks St., SF, CA 94110 Email: [email protected] Street fair is the day before Mother’s Day. Website: meetup.com/ Juri-Commoners Meetings: Most last Saturdays, 9-noon. Noe Valley Parents, San Francisco All phone numbers are in the 415 area code. Friends of Billy Goat Hill Listserv contact: noevalleyparent- Contact: Lisa and Mo Ghotbi, 821-0122 [email protected]. Subscribe: Website: www.billygoathill.net [email protected]

be willing be patient be super be home.

VISIT US AT CORCORAN.COM 24 The Noe Valley Voice • July/August 2020

Goodbye Old Friend. Our changing neighborhood now marks the closing of Rabat at the corner of Noe and 24th Street. It’s a particular loss for local women who will now have fewer choices when shopping for clothes in downtown Noe Valley. Photo by Jack Tipple

Noe Valley

Thank You Noe Valley for 48 Great Years! Love, Patty