Author Archives: Fairpark Community

Dirt2Table: A Great time of year!

Don’t you love it this time of year? I certainly do. Everything from the buds swelling on the fruit trees, dandelions blooming, willows and others flowering, to the birds getting more active, it sure feels like spring.

I just hope that a late frost doesn’t get some of our fruit trees this year. As you may know if you read these columns, the Fairpark Community Council is hosting it’s First Annual Get your garden STARTED Plant Sale. We are starting dozens of varieties of peppers and tomatoes. Lots of heirlooms as well as several varieties of Basil. In fact, as of March 7th some of the Lettuce Leaf basil is already up from seeds planted 8 days ago.

Continue reading →

Marmalade Branch Library Opens

Salt Lake City celebrated the grand opening of the newest city library branch in the Marmalade neighborhood on February 27th. This is the second branch library to open on the West side of Salt Lake City in as many years.

The building provides 18,600 square feet of space in its two stories, and includes a dedicated Children’s Library, a teen / young adult area, a small café, public access computer stations, quiet reading areas, adult collection, study rooms and a large, flexible multi-purpose room with tiered seating to allow small recitals, lectures, book signings and film viewings. The building is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification.

This new branch library is a great addition to our neighborhood, and we hope our residents will become regular visitors. Any Salt Lake City resident can get a library card with proof of residence. The Marmalade Library is located on 300 West and 500 North, and is open M-Th 10AM-9PM, Fri-Sat 10AM-6PM, Closed Sunday. The contact phone is 801-594-8680. Visit http://www.slcpl.org for more information.

Community Partners Focus on Jordan River Parkway Trail and North Temple

The University Neighborhood Partnership (UNP) West Side Studio has worked alongside the neighborhoods for years and has listened to many ideas and hopes for our community. Fairpark Community Council Board Members and the UNP joined together to explore ideas and opinions from people who live in the area. These people are the treasure of the neighborhood, and their voices will help facilitate the best plan forward regarding connections between the Jordan River Parkway and North Temple.

Three topical areas were the focus of discussion in the groups, led by Community Council leaders and facilitated by University of Utah students. Two areas involved three focus groups from Fairpark:

1) Improving/enhancing bikability/walkability (e.g. explore adding bike sharing stations at various points along the river and/or at the North Temple/Parkway intersection)

2) Inform planning for signage and wayfinding along the river (e.g. explore preferred content, languages, look, etc.)
Focus groups met in March at various locations. The outcomes of the ideas generated by these meetings will be presented on May 4, 2016 at 3:30pm at the Northwest Community Center. All are welcome!

West Side Spotlight: Angela Brown, SLUG Magazine, Craft Lake City

“I feel like Fairpark is the Sugarhouse of tomorrow. It really reminds me of Sugarhouse from 10 years ago! There’s so much potential and so much passion, and it’s a great time to be a part of that growth. There really is momentum building on the west side. It’s so close to downtown, and I love it!” ~ Angela Brown, SLUG Magazine

Spring is almost here and as one of our favorite local alternative magazines SLUG (Salt Lake Underground) celebrates 27 years, we felt that it was fitting to sit down with artist, writer and uber-creative businesswoman Angela Brown.

A four year resident of Fairpark with 20 years of experience working on the west side, Angela is also throwing a fabulous summer event, Craft Lake City. If you’ve never been, this event (August 12-14) celebrates local crafters and artists and is a wonderful festival for families, local crafters, and shoppers alike. Angela is expecting to see 60,000 visitors from both in and out of state. Angela had this to say about Fairpark:

“I feel like Fairpark is the Sugarhouse of tomorrow. It really reminds me of Sugarhouse from 10 years ago! There’s so much potential and so much passion, and it’s a great time to be a part of that growth. There really is momentum building on the west side. It’s so close to downtown, and I love it!”

Angela has been with SLUG magazine for 17 years with the last 15 at the helm.

“SLUG magazine has become a pillar of the alternative community, and it’s important that we keep that independent spirit alive. We have a great team, and it is very important to us that we maintain our local voice, writing about local events, and local music.”

She also sits on the Business Advisory Board representing District 1, which advises the Mayor and City Council on issues affecting Salt Lake City’s business community.

“We get together once a month and talk about problems small businesses face. Mayor Jackie Biskupski is really paying attention to that. When we meet, we think, ‘How can we make it easier for small business to get the process started?’”

A true original, Angela’s goal is to empower our community to share our voice through our art.

“I think creation is a form of meditation. It’s a way for us to express ourselves, relieve stress, connect with others and show something beautiful, or maybe not so beautiful,”

she laughs,

“but art helps build our community culture.”

Let’s use this inspiration to make Fairpark beautiful again! Submit your applications to be a vendor in Craft Lake City by April 15th.

Dirt2Table: Save the Date – Fairpark Community’s First Start Your Garden Plant Sale!

Announcing ¡Viva los Vegetales por Comida!

The Fabulous First Annual Fairpark Community Start Your Garden Plant Sale, May 14, 2016

That’s right, this year will mark the first in a long succession of annual plant sales that will help enrich and grow our community with the shared experience of successful gardening. The plan is to make it both easier and more fun for folks who are already growing some of their own food as well as to encourage and support those of our neighbors that aren’t yet growing delicious food right in their own yards.

Details about the event and how volunteers can help will be available in a future Gazette and on the Fairpark Community website.

Join the event at our Facebook page
This event is made possible through a grant from Salt Lake City’s Signature Event Fund, which provides funding to support community events in Salt Lake City.

Pedal in the City: Know your laws!

Bicycling is tons of fun, healthy and environmentally friendly. But with bicycling comes responsibility.

Here are highlights of bicycling laws in Utah.

Making sure your bicycle is street legal:

You are required to have a white headlight, red taillight or reflector, and side reflectors, all visible for at least 500 feet (41-6a-1114) any time you ride earlier than a half hour before sunrise, later than a half hour after sunset, or whenever it is otherwise difficult to make out vehicles 1000 feet away (41-6a-1603).

You must have brakes capable of stopping you within 25 feet from a speed of 10 miles per hour on dry, level, clean pavement (41-6a-1113).

You cannot have a siren or whistle on your bike (41-6a-1113).

Continue reading →

Education Corner: The Journey to Being College and Career Ready

When you walk into Backman Elementary School, one of the first things you notice are posters with college and career ready themes. Even their website opens with the theme (http://backman.slcschools.org/).

“This year at Backman Elementary, we are focusing on being college bound. This means practicing behaviors and skills now that will help our students reach their college and career goals.“

“College and Career Ready” is heard everywhere now, nationally and locally. The Utah State Office of Education has a page dedicated to being College and Career Ready that has resources for the community on preparing youth to be college and career ready. (http://www.schools.utah.gov/college-and-career-ready/).

A link to Backman’s “College bound Character book” leads you to an alphabetized booklet of traits that are necessary to preparing for life after graduation. (http://backman.slcschools.org/documents/Collegeboundcharacterbook.pdf)

Continue reading →

West Side Spotlight: Jorge Fierro, owner of Frida Bistro and Rico Brands

“We all have a story, and America loves stories — stories of success, humbleness, working hard. I am the epitome of the American dream. It doesn’t mean I’m a rich guy, on the contrary, it means that the more I have, the more humble I become.”

As a 30 year resident of Utah, Jorge Fierro has become a respected leader in both the Latino and business communities and is a proud homeowner in Fairpark. We were able to sit down with him for our February edition of West Side Spotlight. Jorge serves our community on several non-profit boards including Locals First, the River District Business Alliance, and the Burrito Project. He is very proud of the fact that volunteer members of the Burrito Project have been delivering hand rolled burritos to the homeless for over four years. Jorge is also on the board of the Lowell Bennion Community Center for the University of Utah, the Utah Microenterprise Note Fund, and American Heart Association Go Red Por Tu Corazón. “This is a cause that I’m very concerned about. Latinas are dying and we need to do something to raise awareness,” he said.

“One of the things I love about living on the Westside is the diversity. I LOVE how diverse it is. It makes me feel comfortable, like home,” he said. Jorge is very passionate about ensuring that the Latino population on the west side is involved.

“I would like to specifically tell the Latino community that the main reason why I’m so involved in non-profit organizations and volunteering projects is because we Latinos need to be MORE involved in our community. This is OUR community. Even though we may not have been born here, this is where we live; this is where our kids go to school. We NEED to take care of our community. In the morning when we wake up, we wake up here; and at night when we go home, we come home here. This is our home and we need to take care of it. I’m always looking for a place where I, Jorge Fierro, can make a difference. There is always more to be done. America has offered and given me so much. What I do, I do it because I have to share the success and I feel very strongly about making sure there are no injustices that happen and that everyone has a fair shot to a good life and a good education.”

We couldn’t agree more!
Continue reading →

Education Corner: Keeping Your Students Engaged in the Winter

Winter time can be challenging for students and parents, especially after the dazzle and glitter of the holidays. But keeping the academic and physical engagement momentum going doesn’t have to be drudgery.

In “7 Tips to Keep Your Kids Fit in Winter” The Parenting Squad acknowledges that kids need guidance and motivation to stay active beyond the tv controls and has generated a list of tips to keep kids active in the winter. The tips inlcude making your home a gym, getting creative with workouts, putting electronics aside and braving the weather, and dancing. Read the entiere article at http://parentingsquad.com/7-tips-to-keep-your-kids-fit-in-winter. Continue reading →

Pedal in the City: Bike Commuting Winter Safety Tips

Winter in Salt Lake began with the beauty of falling snow and crystals of ice glistening in the winter sun. While beautiful to gaze upon, with that beauty comes commuting hazards. This month’s focus is on biking safely in winter weather conditions.

Gear Junkie, based in Minneapolis, has posted 12 tips for winter bike commuting, covering everything from proper clothing to how to navigate your bicycle in the ice and snow.

Here are a few of the tips. The rest can be found at

http://gearjunkie.com/winter-bike-commuting-10-tips-to-ride-safe

Bike safely!

Follow the plow — Bike trails are regularly plowed in many major metro areas. For example, in Minneapolis more than 50 miles of trail is plowed after a snow.

Ride steady — For slippery stretches riders should slow down and stay loose. Brake only on the rear wheel to avoid spinouts on slick surfaces. And be prepared to take your feet off the pedals if the bike starts to fishtail or tilt.

Cold and clean — Unless you plan to clean it off, keep your bike cold and store it in the garage. A room-temperature bike in new snow can cause ice to form on brakes and gears more easily. Also, keep your chain and gear cassette lubricated for best operation.

Headwear — Jacket hoods are a no-no, as air funnels in as you move, inflating a hood like a sail. Instead, many riders wear balaclavas and sunglasses or ski goggles. Tight-fitting (but warm) fleece skull caps are popular. Top it off with a helmet, perhaps sized larger in winter to fit over all the insulation.