• We had another great Taste of Temescal on September 14th, 2010 - Quite a bit of fun was had by all, and the streets were packed with folks who were packed with delicious treats!  A pedicab was available to cross the couple of blocks that were not lit and bustling with food and activity, but taking it, while faster than walking, meant that you didn't get to listen to the music that was being played for the crowd at the intersection of Shattuck and Telegraph, right at the old Kasper's building!
     
    Family Diversity Night Hosted by Emerson Elementary, in partnership with the Emerson PTO and the Our Families Coalition.  We had a great dinner, at no cost, we viewed a great movie about kids sharing their different experiences and backgrounds, and we had a great round table conversation about how our parents have experienced diversity in many different ways.
     
    The Free Friday Family Movie Night was again a resounding success- and we must congratulate all of you who showed up, and all of our wonderful volunteers who streamlined our event and made it our best movie night yet!
     
    The children voted the first week in March, and on March 12th, we showed the movie they chose.
    This year the candidates were 'UP', 'Ponyo', and 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'- and the winner was, with 32 more votes than the runner up- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!!!
     
    Concession sales benefitted the PTO, and the low prices make it one of the least expensive meals in town!  Menu was Hot Dogs, Nachos, Popcorn, Carmel Corn, Cookies, and Brownies.  All fruit juices and non-caffinated drinks, as well as water, was available, and as always the prices were affordable for everyone!
     
    There was a Halloween Parade and Halloween Craft Fair at the Emerson Elementary School on Friday, October 30th, 2009 that children, staff, and teachers all loved!  We hope to make it an annual event. There was a Halloween Parade at 2PM beginning on the upper yard, continuing around the block.  The Halloween Craft Fair was immediately after in the cafeteria.
     
    The Temescal Telegraph Business District put on the Taste of Temescal- a nine block Culinary Crawl to rival the best of any city!  Many of our best restaurants were showcased and food was served by staff and volunteers, bringing out more than 400 people to our wonderful Temescal neighborhood.  For more information, please see "The people who help make Emerson a Success!" 
     
    The slideshow below shows a few of our vendors, patrons, volunteers, and entertainment, as well as our Telegraph Business Beat Officer, who was tireless in traversing the entire corridor.  The images came from a less than professional cameraphone, so if you have better images, we would be happy to add them!
     

    [ModuleInstance->Description]

    You need at least version 7 of Flash player. Download latest version here!

     
    At the Temescal Street Festival, the BBQ put on by Reed Brothers Security on Telegraph was staffed by a combination of Emerson PTO parents and Peralta parents.  They will soon be presenting the check for the proceeds to us and letting us know how much our community involvement means.  Reed Brothers has always been generous to us in many ways, providing security services as needed, and donating (and delivering!) the BBQ pit for use at our school events. 

    Good Cents for Oakland not only helped the children of Emerson Elementary raise money to vote for their own school's Healthy Snack Program last year, they also hosted an E-Waste donation event in May that helped the environment, empowered children to host their own bakesale, accept donations and perform community outreach.

    Friday Free Movie Night is a large screen projection of a movie chosen through a vote by our school children, and the Emerson PTO sells snacks to benefit the PTO's general fund.  Last year we had two movie nights which were hugely popular, and the inexpensive snacks made dinner for the whole family affordable for less than $10, with our popular hot dog and a drink combos.  Dates as they become available.
     
    Our first Friday Pizza Day was a resounding success with the children and the staff, with Lanesplitter's pizza and a variety of drinks to select from, with a slice and a drink selling for $2.50.  The only problem was the popularity!  Unfortunately we have decided that due to several factors, we will be suspending the pizza day.  While popular, it ultimately failed as a fundraiser, and we can put the dollars to better use elsewhere.
     
    Last year we had a Holiday Craft Fair for parents as a free social event for students of Emerson Elementary.  It was our first event and was hugely successful at bringing the parents and students together in a fun, free, and safe environment.   We expect to have another on December 11th, 2009.