San Francisco Appreciates Its Families

-Margaret Brodkin, Director, Department of Children, Youth and Their Families

Family Appreciation Day
Sunday, January 7, 2007
11:00 am to 4:00 pm
35 Locations in San Francisco
FREE

Sunday, January 7 is San Francisco’s second annual Family Appreciation Day. For one special day, every San Francisco family with children ages 0 to 18 years old receives FREE ENTRANCE to 35 amazing museums and attractions. I cannot thank these organizations enough for making Family Appreciation Day possible. By opening their doors to our own families, they truly show the hospitality that our city is known for around the world.

There is something for every one in every corner of the city, including Fisherman’s Wharf, Presidio, Golden Gate Park, Downtown, and Civic Center venues. In addition to all the usual museum suspects—deYoung, SF MOMA, Exploratorium, Zoo, and Academy of Sciences—families can tour boats at the Hyde Street Pier, see a free magic show at the Main Library, go behind-the-scenes at Symphony Hall, and ride the elevator to the top of Coit Tower. There is a list of participating locations at the end of this message, and complete details (including special programming information) at www.dcyf.org or in the Friday, January 5, Examiner. I want to thank the SFUSD, SFPL, and RPD for their assistance in publicizing the event.

We’ve tried to make it easy for families to take part in the day. Families simply arrive at a participating location between 11:00 and 4:00 and look for the Family Appreciation Day check-in table. One adult in each family must show proof they live in San Francisco and be accompanied by at least one child. The entire family gets into as many sites as they want to visit that day. Plus, kids ride free on MUNI when accompanied by a paying adult. Thank you MTA for making this a “public transit friendly” event.

Last year, 27,000 San Franciscans checked out 23 participating attractions on Family Appreciation Day. I am thrilled to say the event has grown to 35 sites this year! Providing this opportunity to families was an amazing experience for everyone. For many families, going to a museum just for fun is beyond their means or just not something they ever imagine doing. Family Appreciation Day opened parent’s eyes to the wonderful array of places to go with their children, and of just how much fun it can be to learn something new together. Meanwhile, the attractions saw many new visitors, making them more aware of the diversity of families who call San Francisco home.

Mayor Newsom, who witnessed the happy hordes of families joyfully touring Yerba Buena sites last year, told me it was his “favorite day of the year.” I greeted folks at the deYoung Museum throughout the day and was amazed to see so many families, including multiple generations, spending the day together. People were so happy that the city was doing this for them. It was a day to be proud to live in San Francisco.

If you aren’t a San Francisco family with children, all of the attractions are still open to the public for the day. We hope this catches on elsewhere. It is one of those “San Francisco values” we hope spreads across the nation.

Family Appreciation Day is one of a series of celebrations, created by the Mayor and coordinated by DCYF, to raise awareness of San Francisco’s abundant resources and attractions for children of all ages and their families.

We could use assistance in making Family Appreciation Day a success. Can you:
• Post one of our attractive flyers in the window of your business?
• Distribute flyers to SF families?
• Volunteer to greet families at a location for the day? (We provide lunch!)

Please contact event coordinator Mary Boyle: mboyle@dcyf.org.

FAMILY APPRECIATION DAY PARTICIPATING LOCATIONS:
Aquarium of the Bay
Asian Art Museum
Cable Car Museum
California Academy of Sciences
Cartoon Art Museum
Chinatown Alleyway Tours
Chinese Historical Society of America
Coit Tower
Conservatory of Flowers
Contemporary Jewish Museum
Crissy Field Center
Davies Symphony Hall
deYoung Museum
Exploratorium
Fort Point National Historic Site
Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
Haas-Lilienthal House
Hyde Street Pier
Japanese Tea Garden
Legion of Honor
Musee Mechanique
Museum of Craft and Folk Art
Museum of the African Diaspora
Presidio Visitor’s Center
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum
S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien
San Francisco Botanical Garden
San Francisco City Guides Walking Tours
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Main Public Library
San Francisco Zoo
Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf
Wells Fargo History Museum
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Zeum

Comments

[iwojima]

You are "Propaganda agent provocateur" of Chinese Communist Party.

[Terri Hunter-Davis]

Thank you for posting this complete list! The DCYF site only has the list hyperlinked within a Word document — if one doesn't have Word, the links are useless. (This would have been avoided if the document had been a PDF, which can be viewed with any browser.)

[van waegevelde]

escuse me bute i come from france in perpignan if you read can you say me please write me

[Jose Antonio VALARA SORANDA]

Quisiera localizar a una persona que esta siendo tratada de "Leucemia" en un hospital que desconozco de la ciudad de San Francisco, el nombre de la persona es Mia Milena RAMIREZ RIOS. agradeceria cualquier posible forma de dar con ella. Soy un amigo suyo de España. No consigo dar con su paradero, la nacionalidad de esta persona es Mexicana. mil gracias.

[Kslindellini@msn.com]

Hello Gavin KEITH NEEDS 2 SPEAK 2 YOU RIGHT AWAY. GETTING RUN AROUND FROM YOUR STAFF. THIS IS URGENT. GET OUR NUMBER FROM SUPERVISOR DALYS OFFICE. TYVM STEPHANIE COHENLINDELL

[*stephanie cohenlindell]

*Mr Gavin Newsom pls go and stay in your care not cash hotels 4 a month. TRY THE MISSION HOTEL. ITS FILLED WITH CRACKHEADS N OTHER DRUGGIES. THERE IS NO HEAT. DISABLED RESIDENTS ON LEVEL 2 HAVE NO RESTROOM OR SHOWER AND NO HOT WATER 4 MONTHS. THEY MUST WALK UP N DOWN STAIRS WHICH IS DANGEROUS. THE MANAGER CARLOS HATES HETEROSEXUALS AND THE STAFF MEMBERS TRAFFIC DRUGS AND OR LOOK THE OTHERWAY WHEN KNOWN DOPE DEALERS SELL THEIR WARES. YOU NEED 2 PERSONALLY SEE 2 THIS. I FELL GOING 2 THE BATHROOM ON AN UNMARKED WET FLOOR. I WAS TAKEN OUT ON A BACKBOARD BY THE EAGLE TEAM. NOW I HAVE SLIPPED DISKS. CARLOS RESPONSE WAS 2 86 ME CUZ I CUSSED HIM OUT. HE SAID I WAS FAKING. I AM IN CONSTANT PAIN. YOU SIR NEED 2 TK CHARGE AND CLEAN THESE UNFIT LIVING CONDITIONS UP S.T.A.T. FOR U AND YOUR PROGRAMS MAKE YOU THE GRAND SLUM LORD OF THE CITY OF S.F. I AM DISGUSTED. MY NEXT STEP IS THE MEDIA. DO YOU WANT THIS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF DA CHRON SIR? SINCERELY JDH

[Sattnafesia]

It's been a business doing pleasure with you.

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