Coastal Cleanup Day: Tidying up our shores

From bottles, cans and cigarette butts to old tires and oil drums, the tons of trash that litter our beaches and waterways also chokes the marine ecosystem and endangers wildlife. But on Saturday, tens of thousands of Californians will join in what the Guinness Book of World Records has deemed the world's largest trash collection effort: Coastal Cleanup Day.

It's the perfect project for families, school groups, scout troops or community organizations, says the Marine Mammal Center's Ann Bauer.

In 2007, more than 60,000 volunteer cleaners removed 900,000 pounds of trash and recyclable materials from California's shores. In the Bay Area, you can come out between 9 a.m. and noon to one of dozens of sites, grab a trash bag and a check-off sheet and join in the pickup.

Read more on the SF Chronicle site.

San Mateo park a cornucopia of pleasures

Officially speaking, San Mateo doesn't have a town square, but surely Central Park qualifies as the heart of the city.

Planted in downtown San Mateo, and only a few minutes' walk from the Caltrain station, Central Park has become the go-to place for the community for everything from music and theater festivals that draw thousands to impromptu family picnics on a hot Sunday.

On a balmy Thursday night in July, the lawn was jammed with dancers and picnickers taking in the Central Park Music Series, an annual summer tradition. The lawn was carpeted with blankets and lawn chairs, and dancers from ages 6 to 60 were grooving away at this year's closing concert, featuring San Francisco reggae band Native Elements.

Read more at the SF Chronicle site.