The Edendale Library Friends Society (ELFS)

Many Echo Park residents are not aware of the existence of the Edendale Library Friends Society (ELFS) which is why I decided to take a pen and a pad to their weekly meeting the other day and find out more about them. I was amazed by how much they have done over the past few years to support both the Edendale Library and the Echo Park community.

The ELFS were founded in 2004 by Joelle and Judy when the Edendale branch of the LAPL opened. Since then, they’ve put an estimated $13,000 per year into the Edendale Library in the form of books, periodicals, DVDs, equipment and supplies and special programs. A lot of the library’s resources would not exist without their efforts. They get money from memberships, the Elysian Park Neighborhood Council and their weekly used book sales.

The weekly used book sale happens at the Edendale Library every Wednesday from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. The ELFS also help to run classes at the library for kids and adults. They are currently planning a mixer to be held sometime in the middle of June, in the hopes of getting individuals and local business owners to join. Their goal is not to raise money for themselves but to raise money for library and awareness of the kind of resources it offers.

Go to their Facebook page to learn more about them and their upcoming events. We’ve included some photos below of their postcard/letter writing campaign to save L.A.’s libraries from reduced hours and budget cuts.

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Styles Upon Styles Screening and Djs

Styles Upon Styles Los Angeles
Hosted by Crazy Legs of the world famous Rocksteady Crew & Onecypher.com

Thursday, May 20th

at The Echo

The night begins with a private screening of “Bouncing Cats”– an inspiring story of one man’s attempt to create better lives for Ugandan children by transcending the power of hip-hop.

*All proceeds from the screening will go straight to Breakdance Project Uganda.

RSVP: bouncingcats.la@gmail.com

Music Provided by:
Crazy Legs – Rock Steady Crew
Ervin Arana – Rock Steady Crew
Dj Dennis Infante – Onecypher.com

LIVE DJ & PERCUSSIONIST SET
PERCUSSIONISTS INCLUDE:
Melena Francis Valdes – Music credits include: Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Isaac Hayes, Barry White, Julio Iglesias, Papo Conga…
Eric Seats – Tour drummer for Patti Labelle & Lalah Hathaway
Timbali Cornwell – Tour credits – Maxwell & Album credits: Wayman Tisdale.

*SPECIAL PERFORMANCE by The World Famous Rock Steady Crew

Produced by:
Shelley Oto, Crazy Legs and Dennis Infante

RSVP Email: stylesuponstyles.la@gmail.com

7:30pm (live percussion set starts at 10pm)

$5 with RSVP, $10 without

21+

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Saturday: Lucretia Stairway Cleanup in Echo Park

Set your alarm early tomorrow morning (Saturday, May 15) and help fellow community members clean up the neglected Lucretia Stairway (h/t Eastsider LA), located on Lucretia Avenue between Delta and Grafton (click here for map). Bring your coffee, some supplies and meet at 8:00 am on the corner of Grafton and Lucretia.

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Photo: Echo Park Avenue Project

Photo by Echo Park resident Mike Fisher

The first garage was poured last week and the second framed out for these two Echo Park single family homes, located at 1124 Echo Park Avenue.

You can follow the progress of the project on the developer’s website here.

Related article:

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Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dog Fest at the Lake

Photo via The Food Ledger. The Felly Dog: Bacon wrapped veggie dog, wasabi mayo, nori flakes, pickled carrots, avocado, kimchi radishes, yakisoba noodles.

Your summer kickoff event this year might just have to include some bacon – most likely because the smell of bacon-wrapped hot dogs will lure you to Echo Park Lake in just a couple of weekends.

Yelper Javier J. is well known for hosting such bacon-wrapped hot dog events, one at the Echo Park Lake last year, and another at Griffith Park earlier this year. This next Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dog Fest will take place on the North side of the lake on Saturday, May 22, 2010 starting at 12:00 noon.

This is also where vegetarians and meat-eaters unite; included on previous menus are veggie dogs with veggie bacon (see photo above). Last March, the Spring kick-off at Griffith Park included a variety of flavors and dogs, including: veggie dogs with veggie bacon, turkey dogs with turkey bacon, bacon vodka, onions and peppers (of course!), Wasabi mayo, seaweed strips, yakisobe, banh mi fixings, french baguettes, and more. This event’s menu isn’t settled yet, but will include a variety of delicious fixins.

No entrance fee, just a donation of a buck or two for each hot dog you devour.

Click here for more event information.

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Flashback Fridays – The Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Sutherland

It’s probably caught your eye at some point while strolling around the neighborhood: a golden rooftop situated near the top of that one hill, elusive, not visible from just anywhere. Well, I hate to spoil the mystery for you, but it’s the St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and it’s located at 1456 Sutherland Street. Sutherland is one of the steeper streets in Echo Park, but I recommend walking up it in order to see this fine piece of religious architecture. Or you can just sneak a peak at it from that grassy area at the top of Douglas and Quintero (see photo above).

Echo Park seems like an odd place for a Ukrainian Orthodox church to be located until you realize that Echo Park has always been a haven for outsiders, free-thinkers, artists, bohemians and even refugees from other countries. Below is some of the text from a Los Angeles Times* article that I found from December 16, 1957 commemorating the dedication of the church.

On an Echo Park district hill in a converted mansion yesterday people jammed tightly into a 20 x 20 foot room and stood for two hours. The ceremonies were performed in the little St. Andrew’s Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at 1456 Sutherland St. Its membership includes only 85 families.

This one had escaped from Siberia through China. That one and his wife had fled to the West. The next one had seen his parents shot. This teen-ager had been baptized in the Ukraine at the risk of his parents’ lives. Still another was the last member of a large family – the only one to live through both Communist and Nazi persecution. The church was started principally with refugee members seven years ago in a rented hall. Four years ago the congregation bought the outdated mansion for $20,000, and since then has rebuilt it into a church.

The church’s website also contains lots of information on Ukrainian culture and history. I recommend checking it out if you’re interested in world history. I had never heard of the Holodomor before.

*All Los Angeles Times newspapers from 1881 to 1986 have been scanned and are searchable, viewable and printable from any computer at the LA Public Library!

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FERMENT [cheese] at Machine Project this Sunday – SOLD OUT!

Image via Machine Project website

This Sunday, May 16 @ 3:00 pm, Machine Project and Sue Conley and Chris Kallmyer present FERMENT [cheese].

Sue Conley, cheese-maker and founder of the Cowgirl Creamery and sound artist Chris Kallmyer have developed a multi-media collaboration based on their mutual love of cheese and the fermented arts.

At this event, Sue will speak on art of cheese making, the sustainable qualities of artisan and farmstead agriculture, and share tastes of fresh milk, young curd, and aged Mt Tam. During the lecture/tasting/concert, Chris will provide music to eat cheese to: Incorporating field recordings of John Taverna’s Dairy and the Cowgirl’s facilities with trumpet, harmonium, and cowbells.

Go here for more info and to buy tickets. Cost is $5.

This workshop is now sold out. But you can email them at machine@machineproject.com to get put on the waiting list.

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Video: KPCC visits Echo Curio

The KPCC website posted an article and video yesterday about the Echo Curio space here in Echo Park.

The art shows of Echo Curio lure in a different type of artist than most serious art galleries; instead, anyone from hobbyist painters, photographers, mixed media artists hand over whatever they want to show off and [owners] McInteer and Capes merely figure out the best way to display it. The eclectic nature of the art becomes in turn a community project of sorts and a reflection of the locals and their creativity.

Check out the video above and read the entire article here.

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Upcoming Shows at Taix 321 Lounge

Thursday, May 13 @ 1o:30 pm –  RACHEL IN THE WEEDS (RESIDENCY)

Friday, May 14 @ 10:30 pm – MATHER LOUTH AND RADIO NOIR and CHARMKIN REBELLION @11:30 pm

Saturday, May 15 @ 10:30 pm – KINGSIZEMAYBE and @ 11:30 pm JOHNZO WEST

Wednesday, May 19 @ 10:30 pm EDEN EDEN and VIM @ 11:30 pm

Located inside Taix Restaurant (1911 Sunset Blvd.). No cover. 21+

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Curbed LA Voters Rename the “Not Eastside”

As we wrote a couple of weeks ago, Curbed LA reignited the “Eastside” debate and decided to refer to everything east of Western and west of the Los Angeles River as something other than the “Eastside.” Well, they put it to an online vote, and here are the results:

Curbed LA votes tallied

Missing from the vote was the option to keep it the Eastside, or a “none of the above” option. A few readers on the original Curbed LA post did bring this up, one commenter writing, “I thought it was called ‘The Eastside’ while East LA was … well east of the LA River…”

Frankly, none of those names seem appealing nor will it settle any debate (Middle Earth?). However, Curbed LA seems to be following through as a recent post announces that “North Central is both geographically and culturally descriptive” for the area. So it seems from now on, Curbed LA will be referring to Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, etc. as “North Central,” but don’t expect others to follow (The Eastsider LA renamed “North Central LA”? I don’t think so!). We’ll see how long it sticks for Curbed LA.

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Roller Disco At The Echoplex

Down and Derby Roller Disco

Thursday, May 20th

9pm

$5 with RSVP, $10 at the door

21+

The Los Angeles event is set apart from Down and Derby parties in other cities by its authentic 70s feel. The resident DJs don’t just spin popular tunes for which the era has become known—they reach into the depths of 70s music to bring partiers the obscure hits that may not be recognizable by most, but are truly indicative of the culture and lifestyle of the era.

Down and Derby, is a retro-inspired roller-skating party created and designed to give attendees a unique nightlife experience. The interactive throwback events combine décor reminiscent of a 70s roller disco with attendees participating through wearing fashion attire evocative of the era. DJs known for pushing the limits of mixing and music production are procured, adding vibrant energy to the event with both underground and popular mixes. – At The Echo

Quad skates of every size will be available to rent for $5. Guests are welcome to bring their own roller skates.

RSVP here

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Echo Park Lake Swap Meet Update

A new round of discussions about the swap meet at the Echo Park lake is taking place on the Echo Elysian Neighborhood Council Forum, starting with a resident who drove by the Park at nearly 2:00 am last Saturday night and noticed the “whole north end of the park was already ringed with blankets.” After some discussion, Alejandra Marroquin from Garcetti’s office chimed in with an update, writing:

Read more

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LiveTALKS Los Angeles with Dave Barry to Benefit 826LA

The Pearson Foundation and Track 16 present LiveTALKS Los Angeles – I’ll Mature When I’m Dead: An Evening with Dave Barry in conversation with Jane Smiley. Net proceeds will support 826LA. On Friday, May 14 at 8:00 pm at Track 16 (Bergamont Station).

A brilliantly funny exploration of the treacherous state of adulthood by the Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist and author of over 30 books. In hilarious, brand-new pieces, Dave tackles everything from fatherhood, new fatherhood, self-image, the battle of the sexes, celebrityhood, technology, parenting styles, certain unmentionable medical procedures, and much more.

Jane Smiley’s new novel is A Private Life. She is author of numerous novels including A Thousand Acres which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, several works of non fiction as well as many essays for such magazines as Vogue, The New Yorker, Practical Horseman, Harper’s, the New York Times Magazine, Allure, The Nation and others.

Tickets from $20 to $95. Click here for more info. No one under 15 will be admitted.

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Mooi in Echo Park Opening (finally!) Set

On Mooi’s Facebook page yesterday, they announced the new Echo Park space on Logan and Sunset had passed its final health inspection, and is slated to open soon. Eater LA is also reporting today the raw-vegan restaurant opening is scheduled for Thursday, May 20. We’ll post the restaurant and catering menu once it’s released.

The raw-vegan restaurant concept includes organic food, and, whenever possible, locally grown. They don’t use any animal protein or dairy products, soy, wheat, or gluten. They never deyhdrate anything over 118 degrees, “therefore preserving all of their natural nutriets and enzymes which allows us to bring you not only the best tasting but the healthiest and most nutritional food that we can.”

Quarry Girl is also holding a contest where you create your own ice cream flavor that will appear on the Mooi menu (and you get some free ice cream!). All you have to do is come up with the concept and a name, submit your information, and live in L.A. by Saturday, May 15. Click here for all the information.

Mooi is locatedon the corner of Sunset and Logan.

Hours are: Breakfast and Lunch Monday-Saturday, 8:00 am to 3:00 pm; Dinner fare Wednesday-Saturday, 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm; and Brunch on Sunday, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

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Fire Hydrant taken out at Glendale and Scott

Photo via The Eastsider LA

Oops! A car took out a fire hydrant at the Chevron station on the corner of Scott and Glendale Blvd. The Eastsider LA reports the accident happened before 12 noon, but no word on what caused the accident.

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