John's new career?

Some of you may know the name of the development of which we are a part is Central Station and the geographical centerpiece to the "work in progress" community is the historic 16th Street Train Station. 

The Station has an impressive history but its future is currently unknown. What is certain, though, is that it stands as a source of inspiration for the rich, diverse population of folk who live here in the Prescott-Oakland Point neighborhood -- the families that migrated here when it functioned as the terminus of the Transcontinental Railway, the men and women who campaigned to found the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the blues and jazz musicians that recall a time when the streets were full of rhythm and song, and recent transplants like us who recently discovered this amazing place in Oakland.

So when John and I were asked to lend our energy to help build awareness and create enthusiasm for preserving this icon for future generations to enjoy, we were delighted.

The inaugural event was to be held in late July -- a community festival that reintroduced the long-shuttered Station to the community, showed off the recent cosmetic improvements that were made by HBO as a visual representation of what the Station COULD look like (HBO filmed parts of a movie about Hemingway earlier in the year), and build momentum for the future.

With our backgrounds in marketing and events, John and I felt strongly that in addition to creating an exciting event experience, we needed to make sure people had something to take away...to remind them of the Station...to inspire them to stay "on board". We lobbied for pins and t-shirts; only pins made the final cut. And they turned out well.

But as event day drew closer, it became clear that identifying volunteers from the rest of the crowd was going to be a challenge. An iconic Train Station t-shirt would be a perfect solution. Did we have enough time to create something interesting? John suggested a line drawing. But the initial design didn't meet his nit picky quality standards so he drafted a ROUGH sketch of what he was thinking...sent it back as creative inspiration...and voila...t-shirts were made. The funny thing is when we got on site we were surprised to see the image was EXACTLY as John had sketched it.

If the economy continues to decline, at least we know John can reinvent himself as a t-shirt designer!

Thanks to our neighbor/photographer, Jason Mehrtens, for the great pics below of us working in style.