Names in Lights Panels

In early 2002, when the community learned that the "Fountain Wall", a central feature of Walter Hood's proposal, had been axed due to a shortage of funds, they made a commitment to raise the funds themselves. Fundraising Committee members included Liza Calef, Lou Grantham, Thomas and Maxine O’Guinn, Jennie Gerard, Mary Ellen Navas and Leasa Sutliffe with an assist from Linda Kiehle, Shanti Corrigan, John Pendleton and James Dinh. They also had the invaluable assistance of their fiscal agent, The Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation.

The Splash Pad Fundraising campaign took a full year and reached its $50,000 goal thanks in part to the generosity of five major donors who are to be honored with a bronze plaque that will be mounted to the Fountain Wall. They are Safeway Stores, Albertson's, The Public Financial Management Group, The Marin County Farmers' Market Association and Gordon Shell.

The majority of donations were recognized in the Names in Lights panels installed in the Plaza. Names, logos and messages from over 300 businesses, individuals and families were cut with water jets into 1/4 inch high density steel plate. Two groups of donors are deserving of special recognition. The first is Lakeview School whose students raised $500 in the space of a week in a campaign that was orchestrated by one of their teachers, Michelle Lewis. The second is the Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church which literally opened its doors to the community whenever they needed a meeting hall. In addition, they made a substantial donation towards the fountain and chose as the message they wanted to incorporate in their Name in Lights plaque one the Splash Pad Forum heartily endorses: “We Believe in this Community”. Equally deserving of our thanks are Walter Hood who quite spontaneously came up with the concept and also to a member of his staff, Sarah Raube who was chiefly responsible for executing it.

The Names in Lights panels were officially dedicated with a well-attended, lighting ceremony on January 10, 2004 that was documented with photos by Miron Murcury.


Sarah Raube (second from left) plus members of the Fundraising Committee just before switching on the lights.	Danny Wan, Mary Ellen Navas, Bob Archibald and Nancy Strange