​Hidden Poetry Series 2: United States Poets Laureate

​N 37° 55.625  W 122° 18.035        POET: W.S. Merwin
N 37° 55.644  W 122° 18.166        POET: Charles Simic
N 37° 55.635  W 122° 18.449        POET: Billy Collins
N 37° 55.592  W 122° 18.395        POET: Louise Gluck
N 37° 55.644  W 122° 18.506        POET: Philip Levine
N 37° 55.629  W 122° 17.999        POET: Rita Dove
N 37° 55.701  W 122° 18.126        POET: Natasha Tretheway
N 37° 55.584  W 122° 18.497        POET: Charles Wright
N 37° 55.584  W 122° 17.991        POET: Joy Harjo

​On Sunday, February 21, 2016 Jenny Hammer led the first in a series of hikes celebrating poetry in El Cerrito. She and ten participants hiked through the Hillside Natural Area, Arlington Park, and the city’s new, but not yet, officially open, Dorothy Rosenberg Memorial Park. Along the way they used GPS coordinates to find hidden caches containing poems, then read them out loud. Some were by current or former El Cerrito residents, others by well known poets with ties to the Bay Area. In many cases Jenny contacted the poet who then suggested a poem for inclusion.

​By Dave Weinstein, President of the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers

​Trail Trekkers’ accomplishments in 2015:
During 2015, El Cerrito Trail Trekkers accomplished much but we still face many challenges as we go into our sixth year as a nonprofit, city-cosponsored organization dedicated to improving and building trails and advocating for open space in the city of El Cerrito.

​For those of you who couldn’t make it, here are some scenes from the recent Music for Madera concert. You really should have been there.

​Preparation

It was a warm sunny day when our volunteers began arriving to set up for the festival.

On August 25 the city, National Park Service, Historical Society and others will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of city hall to unveil an historical marker commemorating the 1775-1776 Juan Bautista de Anza expedition. There will also be banners placed along San Pablo Ave.

At the recent Hillside Festival, Dan Sanchez of the National Park Service showed drawings made on the expedition that suggest the travelers pass through what is now part of the Hillside Natural Area.

On May 17th El Cerrito held its 2nd annual Hillside Festival to celebrate our wonderful Hillside Natural Area and especially the recent acquisition of the Madera Open Space. Here are a few pictures from the day.

by Dave Weinstein, El Cerrito Trail Trekkers president

​Thanks to the generosity and foresight of so many people in and around El Cerrito, the El Cerrito Open Space Campaign brought in enough donations between October 12 and November to meet a challenge grant.

On October 12 the El Cerrito Open Space Campaign held Music for Madera, a fundraiser for the purchase of the Madera Open Space. The event featured music from Edie O’Hara, the El Cerrito High School Jazz Quintet, Stefan Lipson, Funkadelicatessen, and Eva and her Flamenco ensemble, as well as food and a silent auction. Below are some pictures of the day.

​We don’t have totals, but the Hillside Festival seems to have been a great success. The hikes and talks were well attended and importantly, many people who had never been to the Hillside Natural Area now know what we already did, that it is a treasure to be protected and cherished. Here are some pictures from the day. If you have pictures you would like to share, why not drop us a line?

By Dave Weinstein, President of the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers.

During our fourth year as a trail building, advocacy and hiking group, we:

Convinced the City of El Cerrito to acquire the 8-acre Madera Open Space, a gap in the city’s Hillside Natural Area. We are spearheading an effort to help pay for this land by raising $100,000.