Farewell A&W, Hello Dim Sum

The Press-Democrat reports that the A&W Restaurant on Armory Drive is soon to become a dim sum restaurant. Former owners Manfred Kruck and Horst von Waaden ran a tight ship and offered homemade fare not usually found at a chain restaurant. But it was time to retire and the pair have sold. The new owners intend to open a Santa Rosa satellite of San Francisco’s Hang Ah Tea Room, billed as the oldest dim sum restaurant in Chinatown.

Neighborhood Picnic Postponed

The neighborhood picnic announced previously for September 23 has been postponed, most likely until next spring. We hope to have the event coincide with the arrival of the new playground equipment, but it’s looking like work will occur this winter and early spring. Stay tuned for a new date.

Steele Lane Elementary on the Rise

In addition to the new exterior paint and pavement, Steele Lane Elementary has opened for the new year with remodeled bathrooms, new carpet in about half the classrooms, and new air-conditioning throughout the building. All in all, the school received over $1,000,000 in upgrades this summer.  In addition, test scores shot up this past spring, jumping from 690 to 724 (out of 1000), the first time the school has ever scored above 700.  The school is also starting 2007-08 with approximately 395 students, up from about 340 last year. Some of this is from the closing of Freemont, but Principal Barry Kelly notes that many of these new students are from the existing Steele Lane area. A new portable classroom is scheduled to be added in late September.

New Paint

The exterior of Steele Lane Elementary is currently being repainted in preparation for the new school year and to fix up fading and peeling trim. It’s nice to see the School District sprucing up the place. Earlier this summer the paved playground area behind the school got a fresh coat of asphalt and has been re-lined for tetherball, basketball, hopscotch and all those other recess games.

Kudos also to Exchange Bank at the corner of Steele and Mendocino for the nice new paint job livening up the old drab beige.

General Meeting and Picnic

Mark your calendar for September 23 when the North JC Neighborhood Association will hold its annual picnic at Poppy Creek Park (aka Steele Lane Park). We’ll be out there from 1:00-4:00 p.m. and will also hold our general meeting at that time. More details to follow. Come on out and meet your neighbors!

Playground Equipment Meeting

After a series of meetings and planning with neighborhood parents, Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks will be presenting the plans for new playground equipment for Steele Lane Park (aka Poppy Creek Park) on Saturday, July 21 at 9:30 a.m. Come on out to the park if you’d like to see the plans. Last we heard, work will begin this fall.

Explore Poppy Creek

Explore Poppy Creek as it winds its way through the JC neighborhood and into our own North JC neighborhood via Long’s parking lot.  Thanks to the fine folks from LandPaths and Alistair Bleifuss, Creek Steward for the City of Santa Rosa, this great tour will allow us to learn more about what we can do for the two urban creeks (the other one is Paulin Creek) that flow through our neighborhood.  This 2-3 mile urban walk & talk will finish with a picnic dinner and possible project in Steele Lane Park, (hopefully soon to be renamed Poppy Creek Park).  “Poppy Creek Park” is located behind Steele Lane School at the end of Schurman Dr. off of Rowe Dr.

Meet at the park on Thursday, June 7, 5:30 p.m., The City will provide Rosie the Trolley to shuttle us to the start of our walk near the rural cemetery.  If you would like to join us, drop a line at outings@landpaths.org or call 707.524.9318 and you will be provided details on where to meet, what to bring, etc. We should be done by 8:00 p.m.