San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gates!

Every April 18th we commemorate the anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire with a combination of tradition and ceremony. This year, we added one more element to the activities: connection.

The tradition component is demonstrated when we gather at Lotta's Fountain at five in the morning with our fellow San Franciscans (some of us in 1906 period attire) to mark the moment when the earthquake struck.

The ceremony includes a sing along of the universally well know "San Francisco" song as we prepare to change locations to the Golden Hydrant in Dolores Park, which gets a fresh coat of gold paint from native San Franciscans every April 18th at dawn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvK_gD3ulaw

And new to the mix this year is connection, when we announced the partnership between DEM and the private social network for neighborhoods, Nextdoor.

Here's the photo recap of DEM's (and SF72's) commemoration activities, that always leave us with a renewed sense of San Francisco pride.