ORR CREEK CLEAN UP & BLOCK PARTY!

This year's Wagenseller Block Party is co- sponsored by the
Friends of Gibson Creek who are also partnering with the
Mendocino Land Trust and the California Coastal Commission,
co-hosts of  the Coastal Clean Up Day.

Neighborhood residents as well as the community at large are invited
to join the Orr Creek Clean Up efforts on the morning of September
25th.  Participants will meet on the little Orr Creek Bridge between
Ford and Brush Streets.  Registration is from 9 to 9:30.  Bagged lunches
will be served to clean up workers at 12:30. Lunch time entertainment
will be to the rockin' sounds of  The Cleavers, a local family band,
playing classic rock and original songs.

As part of National Public Lands Day, citizens all over the country,
state and county will be cleaning up our public waterways.  In
Mendocino County over 25 coastal clean up locations are planned,
along with 3 in Willits and 2 in the Ukiah Area (Lake
Mendocino shorline being  the second.)

For more information on this impressive effort go to:
www.mendocinolandtrust.org
www.coastal.ca.gov
For local Orr Creek Clean Up contact Linda Sanders of
Friends of Gibson Creek 463-2721.

To learn more about The Cleavers contact mguleff@hotmail.com
CD's are available at Dig Music in Ukiah. Find The Cleavers
on www.youtube.com

Clara Avenue Improvement

Detours, beeping trucks and trenches will be the norm this fall on Clara Ave
as the street's components are upgraded.  This summer the Ukiah City
Council approved the 1.2 million dollar budget and street plan which  included
the $400,000 grant funds from State proposition 1B approved last year.
The 1B funds will go directly to the complete restructuring, drainage,
sidewalks and pavement reconstruction for the 300 block which is Clara's
roughest and most wanting stretch of road.

The project at hand has 3 components.  The 300 block, a complete
make-over is the first. The second and third parts include a new water main
with individual residential hook ups on the remainder of Clara plus storm
drainage. The water line is a major upgrade, from 4 inch to 6 inch pipe,
and is tricky since it needs to be tunneled under the railroad tracks.

Phases of the project have been in the works for several years under
the guidance of City Engineer Tim Erickson, Ukiah's Public Works
Director.  The project began with the street improvement 'Plan'
initiated by the City. Fortunately for the Wagenseller Neighborhood,
the City listened to and responded favorably to the input on design
voiced by the residents. The Plan design includes bulb outs at key corner
to help with safe pedestrian crossing, traffic calming and aesthetics.
Next the allocation of the state 1B funds were approved and later
enhanced to include the scope of the day.

Agra-naut of Rohnert Park earned the construction bid award.
According to the City Planning Dept, their bid, the lowest, was
still higher than the approved 1.2 million. However the City
hopes to augment the funds to complete the project as planned.

Neighborhood Ice Cream Store Gets Plaque

Rone's Ice Cream Shop, 582 N. State St. Ukiah c. 1952.
Photo is on the commemorative plaque dedicated by
the Main Street Program

The Big Pink Victorian, ye olde ice cream shoppe, which faces the Wagenseller

Neighborhood, now wears a fancy moniker plate commemorating the many years 

of  beauty, delight and active business it has provided to the community.  Being the 

sixth plaque installed by the Main Street Program along with the old Railroad Depot,

the Connelly House, The Masonic Lodge, Eversole Mortuary and the

Saturday Afternoon Club, the group presented on First Friday August 6, to a 

nice crowd who enjoyed an Ice Cream Social afterwards at O'Haru's Restaurant next door.

Donald Rone the original owner of the Ice Cream Store in the 1950's was on hand to tell

stories about the early days.  Mr. Rone, now in his nineties, spoke of moving from the 

economically intimidating San Fransisco to discover the amazingly beautiful Ukiah Valley.

Some doubted that  his ice cream business would be successful enough to invest in,  but

happily the business was a favorite confectionery for ten years before it changed hands

as Henny Penneys and enjoyed another robust three decades closing in 1997.