presents the
 |
Friday, September 5, 1997 5:30 to 7:30 pm Bay View Federal Bank 2601 Mission at 22nd
|
| Event Chair and Executive Director of MEDA Raquel Medina, shown with husband and award recipient, Jose. |
For last year's heroes see the 1996 Awards Page. 1997 photo's courtesy of Fred Martinez. |
EXCELLENCE IN DISTRICT IMAGE
ENHANCEMENT & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
24th Street:
Joe Sciancalepore (Shan-kal-a-pur-ee) recently expanded his business, The Radiator Factory, and ended his 14 year career of campaigning to create a Latin version of North Beach on 24 th Street. He would like to acknowledge Rosa Riveria, Roberto Hernandez, Angie Alarcorn and his new tenant in his old space, Rita Alviar and her Mission Reading Clinic, as key people who made a difference in improving the street. He also renews his call to SFPD-Mission to maintain 24 th Street as a drug free zone.
Mission Corridor:
Andora Inn
Most
of City Hall knows Andora Inn proprietors Robert
McDaniel and Mission Merchant Vice President for
membership Jose Najar. Yet the Andora
Inn is the story of many individuals who make a
difference in our community. Long time Mission Merchant Robert
Ceniceros D.D.S. began his 15- year restoration
of his prestigious Victorian Italianate 1875 building in
the late seventies and persisted through countless
difficulties and the help of his thriving next door
dental practice. Today the Andora Inn enjoys a national
reputation for excellence and high occupancy. The very
cool downstairs space, the Elysium Café, attracts a
young clientele and is an important part of the new night
scene that is making the Mission theatre district a city
center for culture and arts.
Valencia Corridor:
Wayne Holder &
Elizabeth Newman
Wayne
Holder, owner of Manzanita Books is also
the publisher of "A Booklover's Guide to the
Mission". Beautifully illustrated by Elizabeth
Newman, the very popular foldout map contains dozens of
drawings of the Mission's Left Bank Explosion of cafés,
galleries, bookstores and related businesses. An
independent effort, unsupported by either public or
private foundation money, it is the best introduction to
the richness of our community's cultural diversity.
16th
Street:
Juan Pedro Gaffney, founder and artistic director of Coro
Hispano. This dedicated group of singers has
taken on the preservation and interpretation of eight
centuries of choral and chamber music from Spain and
Latin America as well as performing music of the New
World in the original Amerindian languages. A cultural
treasure house of sound, the Coro Hispano has held over
200 concerts in the US and Latin America in the last
decade.
NorthEast Mission:
Doug MacNeil of Spiral Binding
became a big part of neighborhood improvement drive after
buying the old Eureka Theatre building. His ongoing
maintenance of the many young trees on his block as well
as monitoring the efforts of city departments and
neighbors has helped contribute to the distinct upswing
this area is now feeling.
Lifetime of Service to the Mission Award:
Angie Alarcon
Everybody knows Angie Alarcon and
her infectious laugh. The 49'ers were just the latest of
many clients who have harnessed her winning ways and
positive spirit in seeing a cause through to victory. Now
retired after thirty years of constituent service she
hopes she'll be remembered not as a good politician but
more so as a good Christian. Her more notable bosses
include Senator John Burton and Roberto Hernandez at
MECA.
Best '97 Greater Mission
Non-Profit Service Provider
Alina Laguna
To the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for renewing its relationship with small Hispanic business. Since becoming President in 1996, attorney Alina Laguna, together with other Board Members and the unswerving energy of Executive Director Carlos Solorzano, have made the long standing Mission location of the Chamber mean something in terms of accessibility to the thousands of small Hispanic businesspeople who consider the Mission their City Center. Despite a busy professional life, President Alina Laguna donates more valued hours to where it can help the most at the Mission's finest hour, the Carnaval Celebration, and more recently in bringing stability to the management of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts.
#1 Elected Leader
Supervisor Jose Medina is special for many reasons. Historically he is
the first San Francisco Spanish-speaking politician
chosen in this century without first being appointed by
the Mayor. Beginning by hiring two aides with Mission
District resumes, the Supervisor has continued to build
on his reputation as an independent voice for good
government and good jobs. Jose has moved to have an
impact in regional transportation and making San
Francisco the trade center between the Pacific Rim and
Latin America. Quality of life, new positive paths for
youth at risk, and the future of the working class metro
center known as the Mission Miracle Mile.
'97 Heart of the City
Captain Greg Suhr -- City & County of San Francisco
SFPD-Mission Police Station
SFPD-Mission Police Station and their new
Captain Greg Suhr bringing renewed commitment to his
difficult job description as evidenced by reinstating the
monthly community meetings and agreeing to serve on the
24th Street Merchants Board of Directors. He is also
walking the talk on a community policing that means the
same police officers on patrol in the same area for
months not days at a time. Captain Suhr has deep roots in
the Mission, his grandfather operated a funeral home at
Mission and 25th Street (A property acquired for the
community through the efforts of 24th Street President
Jorge Hernandez and undergoing renovation for use by the
local non-profit Instituto Familiar de la Raza). Captain
Suhr was an important part of the successful team under
past Mission Captain, now Birthplace of
the Bay Area Community Contribution:
Andy Solow, Juan
Gonzalez & Larry Kischmischian
The Mission Youth
Soccer League is one of the great success
stories of grassroots volunteerism. Now in its sixth year
of operation, the MYSL provides10 supervised hours of
soccer for 1,000 kids during the summer and 600 kids
year-round. This comes out to $0.15 per kid per hour,
which includes insurance, uniforms, equipment and
tournament fees. The soccer league also refers
participants to a variety of children's services such as
tutoring, healthcare and job training. This breadth and
strength of this program is largely due to the sustained
efforts of its many volunteers, especially founders Andy
Solow, Juan Gonzalez and Larry Kischmischian.
Best New Public Art
21st Street Mural Project
Catalina Gonzalez & Arriba Juntos
"Waves of Wisdom", a 2100 square foot mural at 1850 Mission, the new home of Arriba Juntos, celebrates both recycling and the information age. It is the work of 34 year-old Bayview artist Catalina Gonzalez and is the first mural she has designed and executed herself. Gonzalez was aided by two youth apprentices and seven other assistants. The mural also features an environmentally-themed poem by local poet Alvaro Guttierez. "Waves of Wisdom" is a fine addition to the Mission number one cultural attraction - it's ever growing, outdoor scattered site museum of
Clean Healthy Streets
David Mauroff
Sunrise Sidewalk Cleaners
and Team Leader David Mauroff work out of the Columbia
Boys and Girls Club. The Sunrise Sidewalk Cleaners is a
totally youth-run enterprise serving the community while
providing entrepreneurship training and character
development. Funded initially by the community with
federal "Reinventing Government", the program
has exceeded expectations and proven beyond a shadow of a
doubt that young people given an opportunity to improve
themselves and their community will simply amaze you.
Kids First In Education
Rafael Parra wrote the recently voter-approved Proposition A
which means the Mission will be getting a long awaited
new Community College Campus. At the corner of 21 st and
Harrison the first of several new campuses is nearing
completion and this beautiful new Las Americas facility
will feature the hallmark of our neighborhood murals on
its exterior. Breaking ground nearby is the John O'Connel
School of Technology, a trade school for the 21st
century. These major real enhancements in our
community’s education infrastructure are due to the
vision of Mr. Parra who with the support of his boss,
Superintendent of Schools Bill Rojas, has seen that kids
come first in the Mission.
Cultural Enrichment
Rene Yanez is a conceptual artist whose Mission based
career spans the four decades 
the Mission has been
considered a major Arts neighborhood of the West Coast.
In the early seventies he co-founded the Galeria de la
Raza & Dia de Los Muertos. In the eighties he did
comedy as an original member of the premier Latin comedy
troupe Culture Clash. In the nineties, he was
instrumental in popularizing the Mexican spiritual
ancestor altar as a cross-cultural art form. The
originator of "Rooms for the Dead", this year
he hopes to introduce a new concept called "Maze for
the Dead" which will be a journey into a labyrinth
of connections with other worlds at our own Mission
Cultural Center. A believer in the power of imagination
and new ideas, Mr. Yanez has lately been reinventing
himself as a teacher and experimental theater performer.
Top of Page
Mission
Merchants Association
SFMission Homepage
101097-1600