Who's Cleaning Up Codornices Creek?

As the  continue their efforts to maintain the city's creeks, the president of the group, Susan Schwartz, is proud to say that more and more people are participating in the cause. About 20 people showed up to the group's most recent work party on Saturday. Albany Patch was there to learn more about the people who participated. 

Mike Travis, 69, is a resident of Albany. His assignment was to thin and improve a disorderly family of elm trees. While he searched for some tools, he talked about his interest in creeks.

What brought you out here today?

I’ve always wanted to have a house with a creek in the backyard. I never have and so here’s a chance to improve somebody else’s backyard.

I’m also on the email list, and when I have some time and see an opportunity to help, I like to do it. I’ve come to a number of them. 

How long have you been volunteering? 

Oh, three or four years.

How would you describe the change in those years?

This used to be just completely impenetrable, so this is actually much nicer than it used to be. It was abandoned, full of trash, just what you’d expect from your fellow Californians.

What do you think people should know about this creek?

That it’s here and it’s a little bit of nature in the city.

How do you pronounce the name of the creek?

Well, people mispronounce it. People say Cordonices [with the "r" before the "d"], but it's Codornices.

Do you know what it means? 

Quails in Spanish, quails plural.

———

On the other side of the elm trees was Melissa Jullig, knee-deep in the creek and filling a bag with dead foliage. The 20-year-old UC Berkeley student has is fascinated by architecture, urban planning and plants. 

What brought you out here today?

I’m taking a city planning class. It’s a community and economic development class. It’s part of our grade to go out and do community service. But our professor pretty much tells us that democracy has to do with civic engagement, community service, and pretty much being a good citizen and voting and such. And I also love nature, so you know, standing in the river bank is pretty fun.

How did you hear about the volunteer opportunity at the creek?

We had a woman, she’s the Cal community service director. She came and she gave us a few recommendations on places we could volunteer and . I chose this one because it was on a Saturday and I could come but also just like I said, I like doing anything in nature, anything with plants. Other opportunities were working with homeless shelters, which I think is great as well, but I mean, any reason to go out and play with plants is a good reason to come out. 

How long have you been volunteering? 

I just started but I’m really fond of it. I saw they have a little platform explaining what it used to look like, this sort of concrete creek and it looked terribly ugly. I love how there’s this sort of mixture of nature and city. I think that’s imperative to our cities as we go into the future.

What do you think people should know about this place?

That it exists, first. I don’t think many people know that this is even here. And I think people should start being more aware about bringing nature back into these concrete jungles that we’re building. It’s all dependent on community service by the locals, by the community.

How do you pronounce this place?

Cordonices? Is that it?

———

Past a winding stretch of the creek was Stephanie Antalocy, 79, a resident of Berkeley. Antalocy is a long-time volunteer who has seen the positive changes work parties have made in the upkeep and pure visibility of the creek.

What brought you out here today?

I love this stretch of the creek. I have seen the little fish, the trout that swim here, and I can see that there will be a jungle from the sprouts of the old elm trees if we don't clean them. And then you can’t really see the creek at all, besides the fact that it’s not good for the habitat, it’s just too dense. And what we’re doing right now is pulling off the weeds that just look like Tarzan gone wild. So it’s nice to come out here. When the sun comes out, the shadows and the light on the stream are really pretty.

And I just enjoy that you could see the results of what you do. We’ve cleared out a huge bunch of the weeds, which is great. So now you can see the trees.

How long have you been volunteering?

I started with Five Creeks in 2003 and I’m on the board now. I really enjoy getting to know Berkeley a whole lot better from understanding where the creeks are. 

How did you get involved?

I ran into a table asking for volunteers, quite a few years back when El Cerrito Plaza, the was being restored, and I think it was Fourth of July. And I’d never seen a creek there! I mean I shopped there but I never knew there was a creek there. So I got kind of intrigued.

How would you describe the difference you’ve seen over time?

Oh, there are a number of sites where we’ve worked and they have just become so beautiful and they have less trash as well. People can see the creek is there and they respond to it. It’s been really fun working with a lot of people. I’m amazed how many people want to come out and participate.

What should people know about the creek?

That it starts up in the hills and goes all the way to the bay. So anything that runs off from the streets and runs into the creek will harm what’s in the creek, and even trash is not a good idea. But mainly people should know that there are lovely places to walk right in their neighborhoods that they don’t know. I mean it’s great to go to the mountains, but to know that you can get these little bits of nature really close by.

How do you pronounce the name of the creek?

Cordonices.

What does it mean?

It means quail in Spanish so there must have been a lot of bird life here.

Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325, or email her at emilier@patch.com.