Richmond Roundup

Event showcases local merchants
The third Annual Clement Street Festival was held on Clement Street, between Third and Sixth avenues, the weekend of Oct. 18 - 19. Presented by the 6th Avenue Aquarium and Flower Shop, the festival included free music, arts and crafts, outdoor dining and kids games, including a climbing wall and "jumpie." There was also a poster contest in conjunction with the event, with youth from various schools putting their creative muses to work. The posters were on display in the windows of Clement Street businesses prior to the festival. The event was sponsored by the Clement Street Merchants Association to showcase the street's "rich cultural diversity, hard-to-find products and specialty shops."

De Young Museum gets 'topped'
The new M. H. de Young Memorial Museum's topping off celebration, held Oct. 18, included family art activities, previews of the new building and its collections, musical performances and more. The de Young is scheduled to open to the public in the summer of 2005.

The tradition of topping off began centuries ago in ancient Scandinavia, where the completion of a building's skeleton was celebrated with the placing of a pine tree atop the structure.

The tradition remains much the same in modern times and the de Young's topping off was marked by both the symbolic raising of a tree to the top of the museum's superstructure and a civic ceremony to thank those in the community who have worked to make the new de Young a reality, including community and political leaders, arts and museum professionals and the more than 6,000 donors who so far have contributed nearly $165 million toward the new museum building. At this point the museum building's steelwork is 100 percent complete.

For more information about the new de Young, call 863-3330.

Russian group wins $5,000 raffle
The Congress of Russian Americans, a non-profit group, has won the $5,000 raffle prize offered by St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy, located on Geary Boulevard.

More than 135 tickets, at $100 each, were purchased, making the raffle a successful fundraiser for the academy.

The Congress of Russian Americans, located at 2460 Sutter St., had purchased three tickets.

Wipe out graffiti
The SF Department of Public Works is launching a Graffiti Abatement Outreach and Volunteer Program to prevent and remove graffiti.

Volunteers who want to fight graffiti can adopt an area for two years and receive training, supplies, badges and more. For more information, call 641-2625 before Dec. 1.

Jobs for veterans needed
Employers are being sought to help veterans get back on their feet through employment and job training.

Employers participating in the Department of Veterans Affairs' Transitional Work Experience (TWE) program can benefit from the relationship. By hiring a veteran, businesses can qualify for the elimination of all state and federal taxes associated with the employee as well as the elimination of unemployment insurance, workman's compensation and vacation and sick pay.

The program, run by Veteran Industries, seeks to match the skills of the veterans with the needs of various businesses.

"Veterans in Veteran Industries are eager to work and are very appreciative of a chance to improve their lives," said Program Coordinator Anita Yoskowitz.

For more information, call Yoskowitz at (415) 551-7360 or go to the department's website at www.sf.med.va.gov/vetind/.

Senior learning finds home at USF
Senior Learning Finds Permanent Home at USF and Bridges Generations

The Fromm Institute, which was the country's first program to offer a comprehensive selection of college courses to senior adults in 1976, has a permanent new home at the University of San Francisco made possible by a $10 million gift from Friends of the Fromm Institute.

An existing building on the USF campus will be remodeled and renamed the Alfred and Hanna Fromm Lifelong Learning Center. It is slated to be the site of a bold new initiative in education, for it will bring generations together with its classrooms for senior adults as well as an undergraduate, co-ed residence hall. Courses in the humanities, art and sciences that currently serve about 1,100 senior students per year will also be expanded to include undergraduates. In a psychology class called "communication Between Generations" that urges undergraduates and seniors to explore the stereotypes and prejudices they hold against each other.

Renovations on the Fromm Institute's new home are expected to be complete in the fall of 2005. There is a small membership fee and scholarships are offered. No one is turned away. For more information, call 422-5193 or 422-2699.

Kung Fu Academy makes the airwaves
The Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy not only celebrated its 20th anniversary, but it also recently voted Best Martial Arts School by KPIX's "Evening Magazine." The academy will be profiled on the television station Nov. 20, at 7 p.m.

Master Tat-Mau Wong, founder of the academy, has been ranked "one of the most influential martial artists of the 20th century." He was also "Kung Fu Artist of The Year," "Instructor of The Year." and on Nov. 13, "Master Tat-Mau Wong Day" was declared.

"As an exercise, Kung Fu will definitely get you in top shape," Wong said. "I believe the benefits of increased confidence, concentration, discipline and the lessons of respect for others are benefits that positively effect all aspects of an individual's life."

The Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy is located at 2901 Clement St and its kickboxing and fitness facility is located at 601 Clement St. For information on classes call (415) 752-5555 or visit the Tat Wong web-site at www tatwong. com.

10 million visitors at Morrison Planetarium
The Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences will welcome its ten millionth visitor sometime on Saturday, Nov. 8.

To celebrate the milestone, the lucky visitor will receive a gift representing the planetarium's long history since it first opened its doors to the public on Nov. 8, 1952. The California Academy of Sciences is located in Golden Gate Park.

For more information, call the Academy of Sciences at 750-7145.

Church celebrates 150th anniversary
The Presbyterian Church in Chinatown is celebrating 150 years of service to the San Francisco Chinatown Community. After years of fundraising and 26 months of construction, a major retrofit and expansion of the building at 925 Stockton St. has been completed. Members of the public are invited to a special trilingual worship service and communion in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. For more information about the event, call 392-1500.

Progress at Rochambeau Playground
About 75 members of the community attended a tour of Rochambeau Playground sponsored by the Department of Public Works October 14th. The playground is getting a rebuilt clubhouse, new restrooms, a kitchen, new play structures, swings, a ship-like structure, climbing structure and rubberized safety mats. A new irrigation system is also being installed.