The Bernardi Home - 227 N Calaveras Street, Fresno, California
My dears, some of the tales to be told about the road once lived on take more than a few words to tell. The tale of the home in the snap is just such a tale.
Long before there was a Downtown Czar, before Mayor Swearengin made promises, Council President Cynthia Sterling came to grace the City Council and MOI set foot on the road now lived, there was the legend of Adam and Edna Bernardi. So powerful is the tale of the Bernardis that it is suggested that you get comfy and have a cuppa, to settle in with this read. It will be a long one, there is no quick way to tell this tale.
MOI gets many stories in the mail about the road once lived on. Seems that Calaveras is a road that many from the past remember in a different light than the one now shining down upon it. For some time, this old geezer has held off, waiting for just the right time to tell the tale known to him for some time. With the new Mayor of Fresno in place and the changing of presidents in Washington tomorrow, it seemed just the time to tell.
In 1994, the Fresno Bee, our local newspaper, ran a story, written by Dennis Pollock. What follows is that story.
"Linnets are gone, but the Bernardis are determined to stay" by Dennis Pollock
Little songbirds called house linnets used to nest in the small wooden houses Adam Bernardi tacked into the corners of his front porch on Calaveras Street.
But the blue jays chased the linnets away.
"The jays got into their nests and killed the young," Bernardi said. "The linnets left. We hated to lose them. They still come back sometimes.......to give us a song."
Unlike those linnets, Adam and Edna Bernardi are not about to relocate.
The Bernardis have lived at 227 Calaveras Street for 48 years in a neighborhood where hate and hope have done a balancing act in recent years.
The Bernardis have seen many longtime neighbors leave over the decades, "sometimes without even saying goodbye," Adam Bernardi said.
Adam recalls peering through blinds that look out of his porch and seeing a murder across the street about five years.
'They beat the man to death with boards," he said.
In the face of such grim events, the Bernardis have kept their own song alive and are heartened by recent efforts to turn the neighborhood around.
Those efforts have included installation of pole lights along Calaveras by church groups, refurbishing of some historic homes and stepped-up enforcement against slumlords.
"Hello, how are you?" Edna Bernardi said to a woman from a nearby halfway house as she walked by.
"I'm OK," the woman said, "as long as I stay away from these wild people, I'm OK.
"People beat on me sometimes. I think I need to learn Karate."
"That's a good idea," Adam told her.
"Sure," said Edna.
A little stretch of Calaveras has been Edna Bernardi's home for close to 70 of her 83 years.
She was a child when her parents moved into the house two doors down, at 209 Calaveras, and a young woman when she and Adam married and moved into 227 Calaveras.
Decades ago, she said, the houses were owned by "doctors, teachers, city employees and business people."
Now, it's mostly lower-income, transient residents.
Edna Bernardi taught school for 20 years in rural Madera and in Fresno. Adam Bernardi was a mail carrier for 37 years. They raised a daughter.
The couple's first foray into local politics came only in recent years with involvement with the neighborhood association.
"Sometimes you get such a negative response from the city, it dashes your hopes," Edna Bernardi said, "Then you see some things happen and you start feeling better..........
"We stay here because it is home. We know there is hope....... we will have a neighborhood we can all enjoy."
"Adam and I have been asked to keep a record and to give up two hours a month to our block," Edna Bernardi said.
"We've been talking about what we're going to do, and we're going to work on the alley.
"We have this beautiful alley. It took 50 years before the city put this lovely alley in. We're going to educate the transient population on what to do with the trash. We're going to divide up that alley, and we'll take a third of it. On Tuesdays and Fridays, we'll go out and sweep and clean up around the cans."
A couple, residents of the halfway house, ride up Calaveras on a bicycle. The driver is a large, bearded fellow wearing shorts and combat boots. He's giving a ride to a dishwater blond perched on the handlebars.
They wave.
The Bernardis wave back.
Sometimes the blue just squawk.
Sometimes the linnet sings.
20 years have almost passed since Dennis Pollock wrote that story. The Fresno Bee has told many stories about Calaveras Street over the years. MOI knows as he has done his homework. Whatever the Fresno Bee is, is surely must be remembered for trying to educate folks in Fresno about Calaveras Street. Sadly, there are many met who tell MOI that they never read the local newspaper. Hubris that is! How can one know what is going on in the community if one never reads about it?
Did you catch the part about 'negative' response from 'Silly Hall"? Bloody hell, all these years later and the elected officials at 'Silly Hall" are still much the same. Council President Sterling is loathe to set foot on road as she might have to see that she has not been a good councilperson. When Mayor Swearengin was running for office, she did not come onto road and has yet to accept the invite to. Still waiting for the new Downtown Czar, Craig Scharton to come. In case all of the aforementioned missed it, Calaveras is DOWNTOWN.
The alley is still brilliant. It has not had good fortune, despite the efforts of the Bernardis to get neighbours to keep it a safe alley and clean, that has not been always the case. MOI tries to do as the Bernardis but the pleas to neighbours to co-operate fall on deaf ears.
The daughter that Adam and Edna Bernardi raised is still a part of the community. Anita is her name. Anita still owns the two houses mentioned in the Fresno Bee story. Adam and Edna raised a most brilliant child. Anita has been a supporter from day one of this old geezer. The hope that her parents had for Calaveras is still her dream, her passion. Anita has fought the good fight for a very long time.
MOI has had the good fortune to have Anita become one of his dearest mates. MOI adores the lovely lady. Anita reminds MOI of an aging hippie who still believes in LOVE and HOPE. Anita still drives the first motor got. It was a Comet! Anita got it for a graduation present in 1964 and it still runs. Talk about making things last.
Anita has been a landlord that cares. Her attention to conditions at homes owned is blatant for all to see. Both homes are in good repair. A credit to the road they are. It is not easy to be as Anita is as a landlord. JDHOMES is largest property owner in community and the biggest slumlord. They are a blight on the road and in the community. They will rent to anyone, they do not care. Anita is not that sort of person. Edna and Adam raised a lovely lady who believes in doing right. For the road. The community. Anita is a credit to her parents.
Anita is fixing up 227 N Calaveras, it has been vacant for some time. The last tenant did not treat the home with care. Much was broken inside, and that is on top of the cooker and other things having gone missing when they departed. Extreme Makeover is not going to come down and repair, or give Anita new appliances. With pluck, Anita has gone about making right the damage that was done. A true fighter, Anita is. Adam and Edna's home is going to be available for rent. Anita is looking for a good tenant. Feel free to let MOI know if any reading are looking for a new home. Anita is not going to rent to just anyone. Has to be one who will be a good addition to the road. A person or family that cares.
My dears, you ask why MOI fights for the road. You need ask no more. With Anita as a mate it is easy to continue to do it.
Adam and Edna have left us, but their spirit remains to this day. Surely the must be looking down on Calaveras ans smiling. MOI hopes that they see that the linnets have returned to the road. Surely they must hear the songs they sing each day on the road. The promise made is that MOI will continue to fight for Calaveras. In time, Mayor Swearengin, Craig Scharton and Council President might be blessed to hear the linnets singing on Calaveras and come to know that to ignore this road is to remain ignorant of what Fresno is truly about.
Adam and Edna Bernardi........................gone but never forgot.
The old geezer wrote this tale in 2009. Sadly, Anita tells the old geezer that YOBS backed up a rubbish bin to property in the alley and set ablaze. Did major damage to property. Anita and the memory of her parents deserve better. It makes me so very sad to hear this latest news from a very troubled road.
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