EL CERRITO
Join Ishmael Reed — the award-winning poet, playwright and novelist who writes about Richmond, El Cerrito and Oakland — and Lewis Watts, a professor and photographer who focuses on the Bay Area and Black diaspora in conversation for the latest installment of the El Cerrito Poet Laureate Literary Series, “Imagining Home: Place and Placemaking in Poetry and Photography.”
In this discussion from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Saturday in the El Cerrito Community Center’s Garden Room, they’ll talk about their respective Californias (and even their respective El Cerritos!); how the places they have lived and the roads they have traveled affect their work; and how they create place within their art.
Learn more about the city’s literary series and El Cerrito Poet Laureate Tess Taylor online at el-cerrito.org/1561/Current-Poet-Laureate.
— city of El Cerrito
BERKELEY
Give input by Feb. 15 on Aquatic Park playground, lagoon
Use a short online survey to share your input to help create a redesigned, larger, modern and more inclusive playground alongside the Berkeley’s Aquatic Park lagoon.
The survey will present design concepts and gather your preferences on potential updates to the playground, known as Dreamland. You can weigh in on proposed equipment, picnic areas, fields, restrooms, a parking lot and design features. The survey will also seek feedback on incorporating a new bioretention facility — a landscaped area designed to filter and improve the stormwater flowing into the lagoon.
Complete the survey by 5 p.m. Feb. 15, and share it with others so that Berkeley city staff can hear from as many community members as possible. For more details and a link to the survey, visit bit.ly/4hJINGu online.
— city of Berkeley
RICHMOND
Local student a semifinalist for Cooke College Scholarship
Boston University-bound Leslie Cruz Urquilla is a semifinalist for the competitive Cooke College Scholarship, which recognizes high-achieving students with financial need.
Urquilla, who lives in Richmond and attends KIPP San Francisco College Preparatory, is among more than 570 semifinalists for the grant that provides as much as $55,000 per year toward tuition. Urquilla plans to attend Boston University in the fall on a full-tuition, merit-based, leadership scholarship. Not all of her expenses will be covered, though, and earning the Cooke College Scholarship will let her graduate debt-free.
The Virginia-based Jack Kent Cooke Foundation sponsors the grant program and has awarded almost $304 million in scholarships since 2000.
Urquilla is a first-generation Latina-American honor roll student who is fluent in Spanish. Among her many accomplishments, Urquilla was inspired to become a San Francisco elections ambassador to help encourage youth civic engagement. Her voter registration outreach and forum hosting work with the city’s Elections Department was recognized by former San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who awarded Urquilla with a certificate of honor.
— Janet Haney
KENSINGTON
Open most Sundays, farmers’ market now has tulips, citrus
What’s the deal with groundhogs predicting the seasons? Here at the Kensington Farmers’ Market, we listen to Mother Nature and when Mom gives us tulips — such as those from Crane Creek Flowers, who are now back for the season — we know spring is coming soon.
The farmers’ market also has lots of beautiful citrus fruits right now, and staff will keep you in the loop as more spring crops roll in. The farmers’ market is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. most Sundays at Kensington’s Colusa Circle. Visit kensingtonfarmersmarket.org online for updates and more details.
— Kensington Farmers Market
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