April 29, 2019 | FOFW on Stage at the Hillside Club

Friends and neighbors:

You may have wondered:

Why is there a classically designed fountain flowing on an island in the middle of one of Berkeley’s busiest intersections? Why is it surrounded by a Beaux Arts balustrade? Why does upper Marin Avenue climb straight up to Grizzly Peak while all other roads in the area – many named for California counties — wind along the contours of the hills? Why are there parks built around huge outcroppings of volcanic rock? Why is there a tunnel that connects Solano Avenue to Sutter Street? Why is there a connection between Berkeley’s venerable Hillside Club and the neighborhood that is home to all these features? And why, oh why, are all the sidewalks pink?

Answers to these and more questions about Northbrae, one of the first “residential park” developments in California, will be discussed at the Berkeley Hillside Club’s June Fireside Meeting. Members of Friends of the Fountain and Walk will present an illustrated talk about the neighborhood, its history, the origins and restoration of the Fountain at The Circle and Fountain Walk, and more intriguing facts and figures about this more than century-old district of Berkeley.

Please join us at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. at Arch Street, on the evening of Monday, June 3, for this illuminating look a neighborhood that’s been declared one of America’s best and the neighbors who help care for one of Berkeley’s most beloved civic treasures.

Fireside Meetings begin at 7 p.m. with club business. The talk will begin at 7:30. There is a 150 guest maximum capacity, with unreserved seating. The event is free for Hillside Club members. Others are asked to make a $10 donation if possible; no one will be turned away. Refreshments are included.

For more information or to contact the Hillside Club, go online to http://bhcweb.wixsite.com/hillsideclub. Phone: 510-848-3227. You can contact Friends of the Fountain and Walk via this website. Just click on “Contact us.”

— FOFW Board of Directors