Richmond Roundup

Muni Restores Service to Park
San Francisco's Muni #44 O'Shaughnessy/Golden Gate Park bus line once again has access to the Music Concourse, via Music Concourse Drive, to provide direct Muni access to the Music Concourse, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, Japanese Tea Garden and the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.

The southbound #44 has been operating in the Music Concourse since last fall.

A Crashing Success
Arguello Market owner Sal Quaqundah recently had local artist Yuhann Douglas paint a mural on the side of his store.

A taxicab recently crashed into the building, demolishing the front of the store. According to police estimates, the taxi was going 60 mph when it hit a parked car and spun into the building, located at Arguello Boulevard and Cabrillo Street. The driver of the cab had fallen asleep at the wheel.

While waiting for city permits and an insurance settlement, Quaqundah decided to install a mural for his patrons.

Richmond Philanthropist Dies
Adolph Gasser, a man who served the residents of the Richmond District for more than 50 years, passed away in March at the age of 94.

Gasser opened a hobby shop on Geary Boulevard shortly after he returned from World War II. When the business faltered, he moved into cameras. His camera store was located on Geary in the outer commercial corridor until several years ago, when he consolidated Gasser's Cameras at its Second Street location.

Gasser was a dedicated member of the Park Presidio Lions Club, which meets at Lincoln Park, for more than 50 years. He was the club's president in the '60s and was currently serving as the club's vice president. As a child, he attended schools in the Outer Richmond District when it was mostly sand dunes.

"His generosity was legendary," said club president Roger Burr. "He was always contributing to community causes."

Gasser was cremated and a private service was held. A memorial service for his family and friends is planned for early April.

McCoppin students "read aloud"
The Richmond District's McCoppin Elementary School recently hosted "Read Out Loud Day," a daylong event during which members of the community read favorite children's books to students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The event emphasized the importance of reading to youth, and gave community members the opportunity to share the joy of reading with school students.

New checkers club at senior center
The Golden Gate Senior Center, located at 6101 Fulton St., has begun a checkers club for beginning, intermediate and advanced checker players. The club debuted on Monday, March 27. All game materials are supplied and there is no charge to participate. For more information, call 647-2483.

Public can view Blue Herons
Great Blue Herons have been nesting and raising their chicks at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park since 1933.

For an opportunity to see the birds, meet at the Stow Lake Boathouse on Saturday, April 15, 22, and 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow the signs for the Heron Watch program.

Experts and interns will be stationed with spotting scopes to offer views of the herons' nests. They will also lead nature walks to see other nesting birds in the area.

Another way to see and learn about the Great Blue Herons is by viewing Nancy DeStefanis' slides of the 2005 Stow Lake Heron colony and her new short documentary film, "Above the Nests - Helen Pratt's Work to Preserve Wildlife in California."

DeStefanis, founder and executive director of San Francisco Nature Education, discovered the first documented nest of Great Blue Herons in San Francisco in 1994. Her new film tells the story of Helen Pratt's pioneering observations and research of the heron colony in Marin Country for more than 30 years. The film helped ban the lethal pesticides DDT and Dieldrin.

The first San Francisco screening will be held at the Josephine D. Randall Museum Theatre, 199 Museum Way, on Thursday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.sfnature.org.

Peabody reaches reading goal
The students of George Peabody Elementary School, located at 251 Sixth Ave., successfully completed their first Usborne Books Reach for the Stars reading incentive program.

The students who participated committed to reading for at least 300 minutes over a two-week period while they collected pledges. There were 58 students, who read more than 19,000 minutes, collectively raised more than $3,600, which will be spent on books.

Students who participated will get half the money, $1,800, to buy books for themselves while the school's library will get the other $1,800 to buy books. Two second graders and a kindergartner were the top 3 readers in the school.

Usborne Books carries more than 1,300 educational children's books suitable for infants to young adults. For more information on Usborne's book fair, fundraising or reading programs for schools and organizations, contact Sharon Ohlson at Sharon@SFUsborneBooks.com or visit the Web site at www.SFUsborneBooks.com.