KP Supporters:
My wife and I are new to the movement to Save Knowland Park. Like many people in the community, we thought Knowland Park was the zoo. We had no idea about the amazing open space that IS Knowland Park until we moved here with our two boys in September. After attending the rally last Saturday, we knew we had to do something to save Knowland Park.
I pitched my idea to the Save Knowland Park Steering Committee and with their encouragement my family and I are organizing the project “Final Spring of Knowland Park?” The objective of the Final Spring project is to raise awareness in the community, that if the Oakland Zoo gets its way, this will be the Final Spring of Knowland Park. We will raise awareness by reaching out to our friends, family, and community groups to help document the Final Spring of an untouched Knowland Park through photos, videos, paintings, poetry and dance, for future generations. Let the park be their muse. We are going to reach out to the community through Facebook, Yelp, email, and word of mouth.
The remainder of this email contains information that I hope you will tailor and share with your friends. When I sent it out to mine, I started start off with our family’s story of how we feel in love with Knowland Park, and a photo of us in the park.
Please feel free to contact email me finalspringofkp@gmail.com or Facebook and share your ideas,
Tom Cieszynski
All, we moved in September to an area of Oakland called Chabot Highlands. We moved to this area because as Xavier called it, “it’s where the wild things are.” We didn’t know the half of it. Chabot Highlands is adjacent to Knowland Park, for most people, including us prior to moving here, we thought Knowland Park was the Oakland Zoo, well it turns out Knowland Park is just over 500 acres of pristine open space grass lands with an abundance of wild life, native grasses and plants.
I will never forget the first time I walked into the park and saw two coyotes in the park. I have since seen them numerous times and nicknamed them Romulus and Remus. Since moving here, we hike in the park often. Our favorite hike is to an oak tree which the boy’s call “our tree.” It is an old oak tree, and it is the first tree that Zachary ever climbed. I have included a photo of the tree. To say the view from the tree is expansive would be an understatement.
Document Knowland Park’s Final Spring
Knowland Park looks today the way Oakland and California looked before it was developed. The “Final Spring of Knowland Park?” project is raising awareness in the community, that if the Oakland Zoo gets its way, this will be the Final Spring of Knowland Park. By reaching out to friends, family, and community groups to help document its Final Spring, the legacy of untouched Knowland Park, documented through photos, videos, paintings, poetry and dance, can be shared with future generations. Let the park be their muse. We are going to reach out to the community through Facebook, Yelp, email, and word of mouth.
We need people in the park NOW before the goats come in June, and we need them to share their experience. By no means, does Final Spring mean the fight for Knowland Park is over– far from it. The fight will continue. The Final Spring campaign will give people a sense of urgency to get into the park now before the goats come.
Here are ways you can participate in the Final Spring project:
Come to Knowland Park: We are asking friends and family to come to Knowland Park before the goats come in June to take photos, videos, paint, write a poem, or draw the landscape of the Final Spring in Knowland Park. We will archive this for future generations to know what Knowland Park once was. If you take photos, upload them to social media with the hash tag #finalspring.
1) Like our “Final Spring of Knowland Park?” Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Final-Spring-of-Knowland-Park/567769243341254
Share your photos and thoughts of the Final Spring of Knowland Park on this Facebook page. When people post photos continue to like them. When you share your photos on this page or your own, use the hash tag #finalspring.
2) Rate Knowland Park on Yelp: please rate your experience of your time at Knowland Park on Yelp. Somehow, this amazing park has only two reviews. Please include your photos and how you feel about the park in your review. Our goal is to increase the number of reviews to 50 by the end of June.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/knowland-state-arboretum-and-park-oakland
3) Email your friends, family and community groups make them aware of the Final Spring project: Use this email as a template email. Please tailor the message as you wish.
4) Let people know about the project: Tell your friends, families, community groups, and school to participate in the project. More information about Knowland Park and efforts to save it can be found at: www.saveknowland.org
Directions to Knowland Park:
http://www.saveknowland.org/getting-there/
From I-580 exit at 98th, take Golf Links Road up the hill and around the park. Turn R on Caloden, which becomes Malcolm. Alternatively, exit I-580 at 106th, go under the freeway, turn R on Malcolm and go up the hill. Enter the park through one of the paths at Snowdown, Cameron, Lochard, Ettrick, Elvessa, or Fallbrook Way. Note: There are no restrooms or trash cans. Please carry out your trash and dog waste.
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