Richmond Roundup

Geary Merchants Host Theatrical Luncheon
The house will be rocking when the Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants Association hosts a luncheon featuring members of Teatro Zinzanni, with a performance by Sukay and the Pachamama Band.

According to President David Heller, the luncheon promotes the diversified businesses which support the residents of the Richmond District.

State Sen. Jackie Speier will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon. Additionally, several long-time merchants, including Michael Newell, Daniel and Richard O'Hara and Nikkie Hoogasian, will be commended for their community service.

The event will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Tuesday, Aug. 19, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tickets cost $35 in advance (Aug. 14 deadline) or $45 at the door. For more information, call Heller at 387-1477.

Richmond District Community Technology Center Gets Grant
With a grant of $5,000 to the Richmond District Neighborhood Center (RDNC), SBC Communications is helping to launch a new year of expanded operation for the Richmond District Community Technology Center (CTC).

The CTC is operated by the Richmond District Neighborhood Center's Richmond Village Beacon Center during after-school hours. It is housed at George Washington High School.

"SBC Communications' generous grant represents a commitment from business to sustain and support community-based efforts to bridge the digital divide in our culturally diverse Richmond District," said Pat Kaussen, RDNC executive director.

The Richmond Village Beacon Community Technology Center (RVB-CTC) is the setting for the acclaimed Media Arts Academy, which was a write-in candidate for this year's Webby Awards in the youth website category. (The Webbys are considered the Oscars of the Internet world.) RVB-CTC also provides an up-to-date computer classroom to Washington High School, an open computer lab for after school youth and a classroom for adult evening computer classes sponsored by the Beacon Center.

"SBC's grant means we'll be able to increase youth enrollment in the Media Arts Academy, expand the forum for youth voice and youth-created expression and increase hours for an open lab to the community when school re-opens at the end of August," said Mwapagha Mkonu, program director at the Richmond Village Beacon Community Technology Center.

For more information about RVB-CTC, call 750-8554.

Free Shakespeare in the Park Kicks Off at the End of August
This summer, San Francisco Federal Credit Union will sponsor all four weekends of San Francisco Free Shakespeare in the Park's performances of Shakespeare's comedy "Love Labour's Lost."

The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, in cooperation with its partner organizations - the Oakland-East Bay and Silicon Valley Shakespeare festivals - brings Shakespeare's greatest works to more than 50,000 in the Bay Area each summer with a popular program that fuses performance art and classic literature.

Free Shakespeare in the Park has brought professional, free performances of Shakespeare's greatest works to diverse audiences for more than 20 years. Each year, they reach a new audience of more than 120,000 youth throughout the state with its many arts education programs.

San Francisco Federal Credit Union's sponsorship also enables Free Shakespeare in the Park to continue to secure local artists for the performance, hire counselors for their Bay Area Summer Camps, provide sets and costumes for their statewide Shakespeare on Tour school performances and help bring theater training to inner city youth.

Free Shakespeare in the Park will be performed in Golden Gate Park, west of the Conservatory of Flowers, from Saturday, Aug. 30 through Sunday, Sept. 21. Performances are on Saturdays, Sundays and Labor Day and will start at 1:30 p.m. For information, visit www.SanFranciscoFCU.com.

Asian Film Festival at 4 Star Theater
A total of 43 films from China, Korea, Vietnam, India, Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines will be screened during the seventh annual Asian Film Festival. All films in their original languages will have English subtitles.

The festival will be held at the 4 Star Movie Theater, located at 2200 Clement St., beginning Thursday, Aug. 7 and ending Thursday, Aug. 28. For information, visit www.hkinsf.com.

Champion for Disabled Retires
Dr. Stanley Yarnell, one of the most respected doctors in the field of rehabilitation medicine, recently retired from his position at St. Mary's Medical Center's Medical Director of Rehabilitation Medicine Services.

A special farewell reception was held in his honor on Monday, June 30 at the center. Yarnell, who lost his own sight due to a degenerative optic disease, helped formulate and manage the Northern California Model Spinal Cord Injury Care system and has been actively involved with early care and management of spinal cord injury patients in his private practice at St. Mary's for the past 22 years.

He served on the boards of the SF Independent Living Resource Center as well as the World Institute on Disability. He has received numerous achievements and awards throughout his career, winning the praise of not only his colleagues internationally, but presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton as well.

Free Historical Walking Tours
In August, San Franciscans can discover the city's great urban oasis through the Friends of Recreation & Parks' free Golden Gate Park Historical Walking Tours. Volunteer guides will lead the following tours:

á Japanese Tea Garden: Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m. (45 minutes). Visit the oldest public Japanese-style garden in the U.S. Meet inside the gate after paying admission;

á East End Historical: Saturday, Aug. 2, at 1 p.m. (1 hour). Walk through the Conservatory Valley, AIDS Memorial Grove, Hippie Hill and the Children's Playground. Meet at the Conservatory of Flowers on J.F. K. Drive;

á Stroller Walk: Wednesday, Aug. 6 and Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 10 a.m., (1 hour). Meet at the Dutch Windmill on J.F.K. Drive near Ocean Beach and explore an historic railroad trail;

á Statue Walk: Sunday, Aug. 10, at 11 a.m., (90 minutes). Experience the park as an art gallery by viewing statues in the Music Concourse. Meet at the John McLaren statue in front of the Rhododendron Dell on J.F.K. Drive;

á West End Garden: Saturday, Aug. 16, at 10 a.m. (1 hour). Meet at the Roald Amundsen Memorial north of the Beach Chalet in the parking lot;

á West End Fitness Hike: Saturday, Aug. 23, at 8:30 a.m. (90 minutes). Meet at the Dutch Windmill on J.F.K. Drive.

For more information, call the 24-hour hotline at 263-0991 or Friends' office at 750-5105.

Register for ACT Exam
The next ACT assessment exam for college-bound high school students will be administered on Saturday, Sept. 27. Students planning to take the test, which measures academic achievement, instead of aptitude, must have their registration postmarked by Friday, Aug. 22. There is a late registration postmark deadline of Friday, Sept. 5, but an extra fee in addition to the general test fee of $26 will be charged.

Students can obtain registration packets from their high school counselors or register online at www.act.org. Helpful information, sample tests and the opportunity to order test preparatory materials are also available at the website.