Here are some of our recent events. Did you attend? Do you wish you had? Click the title of any event and send us a message about what you thought or a request for a re do.
We're happy to appear at street fairs, festivals, and other community events to show old photos of the neighborhood, give out free booklets, and chat with people about west SF history.
Western Neighborhoods Project is thrilled to host a virtual author talk by Patrick Moser, who recently published "Surf & Rescue: George Freeth and the Birth of California Beach Culture," on Thursday, July 28, 2022 at 6:00pm.
"Surf & Rescue" is about a mixed-race Hawaiian athlete named George Freeth who brought surfing to Venice, California in 1907. Over the next twelve years, Freeth taught Southern Californians to surf and swim while creating a modern lifeguard service that transformed the beach into a destination for fun, leisure, and excitement.
Patrick Moser places Freeth's inspiring life story against the rise of the Southern California beach culture he helped shape and define. Freeth made headlines with his rescue of seven fishermen, an act of heroism that highlighted his innovative lifequarding techniques. But he also founded California's first surf club and coached both male and female athletes, including Olympic swimming champion and "father of modern surfing" Duke Kahanamoku.
Moser's work contextualizes the surf history we've long held dear at Kelly's Cove on Ocean Beach, and the book also features several photographs from our OpenSFHistory Archive. Hear how Freeth and Kahanamoku are connected to Sutro Baths and San Francisco and so much more.
This online event is free but you do need to register in advance and donations are always appreciated.
map to: Virtual Event San Francisco
Contact: Nicole Meldahl nicole@outsidelands.org
more info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/surf-rescue-george-freeth-and-the-birth-of-california-beach-culture-tickets-386546851037
Join us for this in-person history walk led by our pal John Martini through his old stomping grounds at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
The wild northwest corner of San Francisco known as Lands End will be highlighted in this moderately strenuous walk. Along the way we’ll follow the right of way for the famous “Ferries & Cliff House†steam train, see the remains of the oil tanker SS Lyman Stewart that wrecked in 1922, visit the site of the vanished community of Ocean Terrace, and explore the once-lavish grounds of Adolph Sutro’s estate of Sutro Heights.
Our journey begins at 10:00am and is expected the to take about 2 hours. The super secret meeting location will be emailed when tickets are purchased: $10 for members and $20 for non-members. Please register through Eventbrite.
The walk is limited to 30 people and we will follow whatever San Francisco Department of Health regulations are in place at the time.
map to: Lands End San Francisco
Contact: Nicole Meldahl nicole@outsidelands.org
more info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wnp-steam-trains-shipwrecks-statues-history-walk-tickets-252270757627
Join us for this in-person history walk led by our pal John Martini through his old stomping grounds at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Fort Funston is more than hang gliders and dog walkers. It began its history as San Francisco’s most remote (some said desolate) military fort in 1900. From World War I to the Cold War, the sandy post featured barracks, massive gun emplacements, trenches, antiaircraft guns, and NIKE missiles that protected the southern approach to San Francisco Bay. Today, the remains of many of these fortifications lie buried beneath the city’s last large expanse of natural dunes.
Our journey begins at 10:00am and is expected to take about two hours. This is a moderately difficult walk with terrain that includes walking unpaved and sandy areas. The super secret meeting location will be emailed when tickets are purchased: $10 for WNP members and $20 for non-members. Please register through Eventbrite.
The walk is limited to 30 people and we will follow whatever San Francisco Department of Health regulations are in place at the time.
Join us for a celebration of all things Outside Lands at our annual fundraising benefiting Western Neighborhoods Project!
April 15, 2022 ONLY: In honor of 4-1-5 Day, we're doing a flash sale of early bird tickets. These discounted tickets will be available starting on April 14, 2022 at 11:30pm and the sale will end at Midnight on 4/15. Don't delay, get your tickets today and we'll also cover the Eventbrite fees for you!
We're thrilled to FINALLY be able to hold our biggest party of the year and we're doing it in style. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of its closing, our 2022 gala will have a Playland-at-the-Beach theme. We'll provide passed appetizers and a hearty meal, complimentary wine, and of course all kinds of entertainment. You won't want to miss this special evening where you can greet neighbors and make new friends, maybe see old classmates, and even spot some local history "celebrities."
JUST ANNOUNCED. Program highlights include but are not limited to: performances by the Golden Gate Park Band; west side merchandise for sale as well as special raffle and silent auction items available for bid; and the first-ever presentation of our Founders' Award to our co-founder, Woody LaBounty, now Vice President of Advocacy and Public Programs for San Francisco Heritage, and our History Hero Award to Palma You and Steve Haines of the Chinese Historical Society of America for their tireless work on our collaborative project, "Chinese in the Richmond."
We hope you'll join us on Sunday, May 15th at 6:00pm at The Clubhouse at the Presidio Golf Club. Tickets are $225 each plus Eventbrite fees. All tickets purchased (and not previously refunded) for our cancelled gala in 2020 will be honored at this event.
You can also sponsor a student seat for the event, make a donation to our silent auction, or fully co-sponsor our biggest night of the year; see full sponsorship details at https://www.outsidelands.org/gala or email Executive Director Nicole Meldahl, nicole@outsidelands.org
COVID-19 Policy: we will be following guidance from the San Francisco Department of Public Health at the time of the event. Please be prepared to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test taken within 24-hours of the event if it's necessary. Thank you for helping us to ensure this is a safe and worry-free gala!
map to: The Clubhouse at Presidio Golf Club 300 Finley Road
Contact: Nicole Meldahl nicole@outsidelands.org
more info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wnp-gala-2022-tickets-267177203207
On March 16, 2022, Western Neighborhoods Project and The Great Highway gallery staged a Virtual Paddle Out in honor of Bill Hickey, a local legend who recently passed away. Now his daughters, Amber and Jennifer, are holding the real deal to remember and celebrate the life of their father
If you don't know, Bill Hickey worked at the original O'Neill surfshop on Wawona Street in the Sunset District. He began making surfboards in the late 1950s and eventually opened his own shop in 1964. His name pops up in just about every interview from our Kelly's Cove oral history series spearheaded by Woody LaBounty, and the west side simply won't be the same without him. Listen to Outside Lands San Francisco Podcast Episode #452 to learn more.
Please join Amber Brosnan and Jennifer Hickey along with other members of the Ocean Beach community at Kelly's Cove at 11:00am for the actual paddle out and a small celebration on April 24, 2022. A reception will be held afterwards at the United Irish Cultural Center at Wawona Gates.
This event is not hosted by WNP and we have no hand in its organization, it just feels right to spread the word. As always, we're here to hold your memories if you'd like to share them with us.
map to: Kellys Cove Ocean Beach
It's planting season! California native plants create habitat for local birds, bees, and butterflies and are well adapted for our San Francisco climate. Help support the Sutro Nursery by picking out the perfect additions to your garden.
Since 2006, Sutro Stewards have mobilized volunteers to build trails, remove invasive species, and grow and install native plants. Their mission is to build community, connect people with nature, and protect and enhance Mount Sutro, one of the city's wildest and most beautiful green spaces. Their work conserves habitat through ecological restoration and native plant propagation while providing recreational opportunities in the UCSF Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve.
Who wouldn't want to support an organization like this?! Be sure to join Sutro Stewards at their native plant nursery to purchase local plants for your garden on Saturday, April 16, 2022 from 10:00am through 2:00pm. All proceeds from the plant sale help to support their nursery operations and increasing biodiversity on Mount Sutro.
Masks are required to enter the nursery and they recommend you bring a box to carry out plant pots. Cash, card, and check are accepted. Parking is available in spaces directly above the nursery marked "Aldea Center Parking Only" in red. Additional street parking available along Clarendon Avenue at Johnstone Drive.
map to: Sutro Native Plant Nursery 476 Johnstone Drive
Contact: Nursery Manager abigail@sutrostewards.org
more info: https://www.sutrostewards.org/event-details/native-plant-sale-at-sutro-nursery
Join Western Neighborhoods Project (WNP) for this NOW VIRTUAL history walk led by our pal John Martini through his old stomping grounds at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
The Main Post of the Presidio of San Francisco encompasses more history than another other site within the GGNRA: Ohlone people, Spanish colonists, Buffalo Soldiers, Japanese Internment. Highlights of this mile-long walk include the newly renovated Presidio Officers Club and Heritage Center, the Inn at the Presidio, the San Francisco Film Institute, and the new Presidio Tunnel Tops project.
Originally intended as an in-person history walk, we've pivoted to a live Zoom presentation due to a historian injury. We apologize for any disappointment or inconvenience. Refunds for the walk will be made upon request.
This online event is now free but donations are still appreciated and will go directly to John Martini. You must register in advance to receive the super secret Zoom link. Our journey begins at 10:00am and is expected the to take about 2 hours..
map to: The Interwebs San Francisco
Contact: Nicole Meldahl nicole@outsidelands.org
more info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wnp-presidio-main-post-history-walk-tickets-252254288367
To commemorate the 116th anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire on April 18th, Western Neighborhoods Project (WNP) is hosting a Zoom program that highlights the tireless efforts to identify and preserve surviving refugee cottages, alternately referred to as "shacks."
Over 5,600 cottages were constructed by the Relief Corporation's Department of Lands and Buildings at 11 refugee camps across the city to house those left homeless by one of San Francisco's worst disasters. When the camps closed, nearly 5,340 were relocated and repurposed but now only a handful of certified "shacks" are still standing.
Join us via Zoom on Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 6:00pm as we speak with Jane Cryan, whose successful efforts to preserve a complex of several shacks at 1227 24th Avenue (City Landmark #171) has evolved into a lifetime passion. Cryan was also instrumental in saving the shacks on display at the Presidio of San Francisco and she was our first phone call when WNP launched its own successful compaign to save endangered shacks on Kirkham Street in 2002. And we'll have Woody LaBounty, former Executive Director of WNP and current Vice President of Advocacy and Programs for San Francisco Heritage, to regale you with tales from this community effort.
More recently, Cryan has been a critical advisor for the San Francisco Planning Department's effort to survey and document the remaining shacks. We'll have Preservation Planner Melanie Bishop with us to explain how the Earthquake Shacks Theme Document, which was adopted in November 2021, came together and how it fits into the broader mission of the Citywide Cultural Resource Survey & Landmarks Team.
Don't miss this opportunity to chat with San Francisco's most famous "Cottage Lady" and hear what the Planning Department is doing to provide historic context for a rapidly changing city. This event is free but donations are appreciated, and you do need to register in advance in order to receive your Zoom link.
map to: The Interwebs San Francisco
Contact: Nicole Meldahl nicole@outsidelands.org
more info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/saving-the-san-francisco-earthquake-shacks-tickets-304221975117