Raffle tickets are four for $10, ten for $20 online.
The prize is a $500 Anywhere Airline Ticket, donated by Duncan Wheeler of Vanguard Properties.
The drawing will be held Saturday, May 28 at noon at the Farmers Market. You do not have to be present to win.
A great big Friends of Noe Valley THANKS to the sponsor of the 2013 Garden Tour!
Platinum Level
Gold Level
Silver Level
Bronze Level
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get some exercise, see pretty flowers and do some good for the neighborhood? You can! Just buy your ticket to the 8th Annual Noe Valley Garden Tour.
The Garden Tour happens Saturday, May 11 from 10am to 4pm. Twelve private gardens are open that day for you to see. Geographically, they range from 20th Street on the north to 30th Street on the south. Visually, they include almost any kind of garden you’d want to see, from a jewel box garden of succulents and leafy perennials to an elegantly contemporary backyard oasis to a sunlit garden with a large koi pond.
The Garden Tour theme this year is “Gray to Green”. That’s also the San Francisco program where property owners can convert a portion of their sidewalk into an attractive landscaped area with expansive green and colorful swaths along the street. Noe Valley is a hotbed of gray to green, and several projects will be featured along the way between the private gardens.
A third Garden Tour activity will be container gardening demonstrations all day, 10am to 4pm, at the Noe Valley Library on Jersey between Castro and Diamond.
Tickets are just $15 if you’re under 65, $12 if you aren’t and free if you volunteer to be a Garden Greeter. GG’s take a shift at one of the gardens to welcome visitors, check for tickets and sell tickets as need be. But wait! There’s more! All volunteers get invited to the Garden Tour Thank You Party on the Thursday night before the Tour. To volunteer, leave an email at gardentour@friendsofnoevalley.com. Shifts are 9:30am-12noon, 12noon-2pm and 2-4pm.
You can buy tickets online here or at neighborhood shops and stores and Saturday mornings April 27, May 4 and the day of the tour May 11, at the Noe Valley Farmers Market on 24th Street. Tickets come with a map and guide. Merchants selling tickets include Cliché Noe Gifts, Independent Nature Garden Store, Just For Fun, Olive This Olive That, Omnivore Books on Food, Phoenix Books, Small Frys, Taylors Home & Garden, Video Wave and Wink gifts and cards.
Merchants and professionals are also participating as sponsors of the Garden Tour. Platinum level sponsors ($1000) include DAVIDsTEA, Umpqua Bank and Duncan Wheeler of Vanguard Properties. Gold sponsors ($500) are Dennis Otto of Pacific Union, Sloat Garden Centers, the Valley Tavern and Zephyr Real Estate. The Silver list is Dirty Hoe Landscapers, The Droubi Team/Coldwell Banker, the Noe Valley Association (our community benefits district), Noe Valley Merchants & Professionals and Urban Farmer supplies and irrigation systems. Cliché Noe Gifts, Flora Grubb Gardens, Independent Nature Garden Store and Noe Valley Law are Bronze sponsors ($100).
Sponsors are getting into the spring of things too. DAVIDsTEA will be handing out tea samples at each of the gardens on the Tour, Dennis Otto will hand you a lovely plant at his listing in Noe Valley on Tour day and Cliché Noe Gifts is hosting a wine and cheese party at the store during the Tour. All sponsor activities will be listed on the Tour map.
Duncan Wheeler of Vanguard Properties has donated a $500 anywhere airline ticket, which will be raffled off $3 a ticket, 4 for $10. You can buy tickets online at friendsofnoevalley.com, at each of the Tour gardens and at ticket tabling in front of the Farmers Market. The drawing will be held at noon, Saturday, May 18 at the Farmers Market. You don’t have to be present to win.
A donation from proceeds is made each year towards neighborhood beautification by the Friends of Noe Valley, which produces the Garden Tour. This year the beneficiary is the garden at the Noe Valley Library on Jersey, a place you can enjoy even if you read e-books.
So buy your tickets, lace up your walking shoes and get ready for flowery, ferny, fibrous fun on Saturday, May 11. Everyone who checks in at all 12 gardens gets to vote for Noe’s Favorite Garden. And, if you’re not into walking, a free shuttle van will toodle from garden to garden, once again thanks to the Noe Valley Association and Noe Valley Merchants & Professionals for providing the shuttle.
The Noe Valley Garden Tour is helping the community. The Tour is a project of the Friends of Noe Valley, your neighborhood association. Members of the Board and the events committee plan the tour, select the gardens, solicit sponsors, arrange for ticket sales, prepare promotion materials and take care of the many other details any major event requires.
Sponsor donations and ticket sales fund the Tour. After the bills of producing the Tour are paid, a donation is made to neighborhood beautification. This year, the beautification beneficiary is the renovated garden at the Noe Valley Library on Jersey Street. In a previous year, Garden Tour funds also went to the Library garden but retaining wall work necessitated a new revamp.
The Garden Tour also needs your help. The Tour cannot happen without the dozens of volunteers who staff the entrances to the gardens. Garden Greeters they’re called.
A Garden Greeter welcomes visitors to the garden, checks for their Tour ticket and sells tickets as needed. Each shift you work earns you a free Tour ticket. Shifts are 9:30am-12noon, noon-2pm and 2pm-4pm. To volunteer, email us at: gardentour@friendsofnoevalley.com. Be sure to note your preferred time shift, email and phone number. The 2013 Noe Valley Garden Tour takes place Saturday, May 11th.
Another benefit of volunteering is the GTTYP. That’s Garden Tour Thank You Party. All Garden Greeters, sponsors and other volunteers will be invited to a pre-Tour thank you bash at the home of last year’s Noe’s Favorite Garden winners, Jana and Geof King.
Free ticket, free party. How can you not volunteer?
Word Week is Noe Valley’s annual literary festival. Dates for 2013 are Saturday, March 16 through Saturday, March 23. This is our 8th year. We try to feature local authors as much as possible.
Events are spread daily and nightly throughout the eight days. Check the schedule below for more detailed information.
Schedule:
Saturday, March 16th
Scott Hutchins, A Working Theory of Love
7-9pm, Cliché Noe Gifts, 4175 24th Street (between Castro and Diamond)
Reading, book signing and wine!
Noe Valley best selling author Scott Hutchins is a former fellow in Stanford’s prestigious Wallace Stenger creative writing program. He now teaches at the university (and works down the hall from legendary author Tobias Wolff). Hutchins newly published novel, A Working Theory of Love, takes place in San Francisco and includes scenes in places as varied as Dolores Park, Ghirardelli Square, the Folsom Street Fair and Glide Memorial Church.
Scott and his computer will read a dialogue from A Working Theory of Love between the protagonist and his computer. Hard to imagine? Come see and hear for yourself. Free admission, free refreshments and books available for sales & signing.
Phoenix Books of Noe Valley is the bookseller for this event.
Sunday, March 17th
Winning Student Writers Read
3-5pm, Noe Valley Library, 451 Jersey Street
Writing contest winners from Noe Valley schools read their winning work. Schools participating include Alvarado, Fairmount and James Lick Middle School. Prizes will be awarded and cookies, donated by Noe Valley Bakery, will be served. Come celebrate our youngest authors!
Monday, March 18th
What’s New? LGBT Authors Read From New Work and Old
7-9pm, Caskhouse, 3853 24th Street @ Vicksburg
Reading and book signing and the bar is open!
Authors reading:
Michael Aleynikov, author of Ivan & Misha
Lucy Jane Bledsoe, author of Big Bang Symphony
Dylan Edwards, author-illustrator of Transposes
Trebor Healey, author of Faun and A Horse Named Sorrow
Ali Liebegott, author of CHA-CHING!
Books Inc. Castro will sell books and donate of portion of each sale to support WordWeek.
Tuesday, March 19th
Kids Lit – New Works & Old Favorites
Authors will be reading throughout the day at different times and locations. Authors presenting include:
Mike Jung plays the ukulele, and lives in Northern California with his wife and kids. He writes middle grade fiction, and one day he say he will achieve galactic domination. His debut novel, Geeks, Girls & Secret Identities, was published by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc., in October, 2012. He also has essays in the Dear Teen Me anthology (Zest Books, 2012) and the forthcoming Break These Rules anthology (Chicago Review Press, 2013).
9:00am - Mike’s lively and informative presentation/reading to middle school students will take place at Fairmont Elementary School.
Michelle Diaz Cannon is a former preschool teacher turned author who lives in Noe Valley with her husband Ben and dog Rosco. Her debut book, Ben Not a Puppy, wowed preschoolers with its catchy guessing game, and pleased parents with its message that it’s ok to be yourself. In her follow-up book, Remember When, she is set to do it again with a message of perseverance set to a simple catch phrase that will have the whole family saying “Remember when it was hard to…?”. Michelle enjoys relaxing with a coloring book, crayons and a pot of tea, and believes in never giving up your inner four-year-old.
10:30am - Michelle will be reading to little Noe Valleyons at PHILZ coffee house, 4298 24th Street, across from Noe Courts. BYOSC-Bring Your Own Sippy Cup!
Giselle Shardlow is the author of kid’s yoga stories. She hopes to inspire children by drawing from her experiences as an international primary school teacher, yoga teacher training graduate, world traveler, mother, and yogi. She lives in Noe Valley with her husband and daughter. Her delightful yoga-inspired children’s books and other creative resources include Anna and Her Rainbow-Colored Yoga Mats, Sophia’s Jungle Adventure, Sophia’s Jungle Adventure Coloring Book, Sofia en una Aventura por la Selva, and Luke’s A to Z of Australian Animals: an Alphabet Coloring Book. (Noe Valley author)
11:30am - CALLIOPE Dance Studio, 1414 Castro at Jersey
2:30pm - SPARK CREATIVITY, 1513 Church at 27th (between 27th and Duncan) Mats provided.
Ashley Wolff is a children’s book author and illustrator who has lived in Bernal Heights for many years. She is lucky enough to work right upstairs in an extra bedroom. Ashley has created over 60 books, all done in Northern CA, but set all over the world. She loves to be outdoors, whether gardening, watching birds or hiking and skiing. Among the 60+ books Ashley has illustrated are the fabulous Miss Bindergarten Books, Who is Coming to Our House, Old MacDonald had a Woodshop, My Special Somebody, and the recent Compost Stew. In addition she is the author and illustrator of Baby Blue Sees Blue, Stella and Roy, A Year of Birds, and many more. Ashley is currently working on a Miss Bindergarten early reading series! (Noe Valley author)
3:30pm – The NOE VALLEY LIBRARY, 451 Jersey Street, is the place to be to hear Ashley discuss her craft and read from her many fabulous books.
Wednesday, March 20th
Bookstore Night
6-7pm Omnivore Books on Food, 3885 Cesar Chavez at Church
Popular food blogger, chef, and commentator on all things culinary Elissa Altman appears with her new book Poor Man’s Feast, based on her blog of the same name. The book tells Elissa’s story, marrying wit to warmth, and flavor to passion.
Born and raised in New York to a food phobic mother and food fanatical father, Elissa was trained early on that fancy is always best. After a childhood spent dining everywhere from Le Pavillion to La Grenouille, she has devoted her life to all things gastronomical. She was the winner of the James Beard Award for the results of this devotion.
7:30-8:30pm Phoenix Books, 3957 24th Street.
Noe Valley author Aneesha Capur, semi-finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, reads from her debut novel Stealing Karma. Aneesha received an MFA from Warren Wilson College and an MBA from Wharton. She has attended the Vermont Studio Center, The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Fiction Program, The Iowa Writers’ Summer Workshop, and the Fine Arts Work Center. Her debut novel is a beautifully crafted tale of a mother and daughter coming to terms with their history even as they grapple with their precarious present.
Thursday, March 21st
How I Got My Book Published
7-9pm, Savor Restaurant
Panel:
Karen Joy Fowler, Jane Austen Book Club
Thaisa Frank, Enchantment
Jim Provenzano, Every Time I Think of You
Rob Rosen, Noe Valley author, Queerwolf
Four published authors read from their work and tell how they got their books published, whether they took the agent/major publisher/best seller route or agent/small publisher or self publishing or via ebooks. They will give you insights and tips on getting your book published too. The authors’ books will be available for purchase and signing at the event. Books Inc. will donate a portion of each sale to support WordWeek. Food and drink will be available as usual from Savor. Make a dinner reservation before or after the event and join us on the patio for How I Got My Book Published.
Friday, March 22nd
Got Questions? 10 Questions You Must Ask Your Doctor
1-3pm, Noe Valley Library, 451 Jersey Street
Health discussion led by Noe Valley resident Susan Kroll, former director of the Ohio State University Health Sciences Library.
Fete Champetre: Cara Black Publication Party
3:30-5pm, Le Zinc French Bistro
Wine & hors d’oeuvres, $19. Reservations encouraged. Call Le Zinc at 415-647-9400. Buy a book and a chance to win a trip to Paris! Books will be available for sales and signing by the author at the event. Phoenix Books of Noe Valley is the bookseller.
“A long-lost Modigliani portrait, a grieving brother’s blood vendetta, a Soviet secret that’s been buried for 80 years—Parisian private investigator Aimée Leduc’s current case is her most exciting one yet.” Celebrate best selling Noe Valley author Cara Black’s new book Murder Below Montparnasse. Several of Cara’s books have been chosen as BookSense Picks and INDIE NEXT choice by the American Association of Independent Bookstores. The Washington Post listed Murder in the Rue de Paradis in the Best Fiction Choices of 2008. Murder in the Latin Quarter was a finalist for Best Novel Award from the NCIBA Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.
Saturday, March 23rd
Noe Valley Authors Festival
2-5pm, St. Philip’s Church Hall, 725 Diamond Street (between 24th and Elizabeth)
FREE admission! 32 local authors from Noe Valley and the surrounding neighborhoods of Glen Park, Bernal Heights, The Mission and The Castro present their books for sale and signing. Offerings range from children’s books to science fiction, serious political and policy discussions to the dark side of design.
Three featured authors will read on the hour:
2pm: Alvin Orloff, Why Aren’t You Smiling
3pm: Jon Sindell, The Mighty Roman
4pm: Frances Payne, They Make Us Dangerous
Featured authors’ books will be available for sale and signing at the Festival from Bird & Beckett Books of Glen Park. Refreshments will be available, as well as Friends of Noe Valley t-shirts. Proceeds will help pay expenses for the Authors Festival.
Three local authors will be featured readers on the hour at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. They’ll read for 15 minutes, take questions, and sign copies you’ve purchased from Bird & Beckett Books, the bookseller at the event.
At 2pm, take a seat to hear Alvin Orloff read from his latest novel, Why Aren’t You Smiling?, the story of a boy becoming a man in the 70′s. The boy, Leonard, opts for adventure: changing from dweeb to burnout but remaining himself. He hooks up with a Jesus freak hippie messiah and runs off to Oregon to Rick’s commune, which is far from communal. Years later, they meet up again. Orloff’s previous books were I Married an Earthling and Gutter Boys, both well worth reading. He is the manager of Dog Eared Books in the Mission and lives in that locale as well.
At 3pm, Jon Sindell of Glen Park is in the batter’s box with his book The Mighty Roman about life in the minor, minor, minor leagues. Teenage boys take a once in a lifetime chance to play in the big leagues (maybe), foregoing college but learning some facts of life one strange summer. They are led, badgered, and whipped into shape by Roman Meister, a failed ballplayer himself and now a failing baseball coach. Readers may have more sympathy for Roman when they meet his father. Sindell calls his book “a love song to baseball” and that it is.
At 4pm, Frances Payne of Noe Valley discusses the true stories of her life in Bolivia as a Dominican nun from 1964 to 1980. As Sister Ruth she had been a teacher in a Midwest parish school before she was asked to open a missionary house in La Paz. The radical change in her life is mirrored in the radical and revolutionary changes embroiling the country and its Catholic church. The country is being financially strangled by the World Bank and the IMF. Its military crushes dissent. Payne tells the story of a people’s struggle towards democracy thru these awful obstacles.
Sound good? Of course it does! Come stroll thru the hall to talk to your neighbors about their books, then take a seat to hear three of them read from theirs. Refreshments will be on sale and you can even pick up a Friends of Noe Valley t-shirt, which every stylish Noe Valleyan will be wearing this spring from 8 months to 80. Sales of both will help Friends pay for the Authors Festival.
