The Excelsior District street that Jerry Garcia grew up on has been honorarily renamed Jerry Garcia Street, on what would have been Jerry’s 83rd birthday, and just hours before Dead & Company kick off those Grateful Dead 60th anniversary shows.
Today was likely the first time that a press event for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie kicked off with a drum circle. But while nitrous-huffing vendors were already selling their goods in Golden Gate Park in the vending area known as “Shakedown Street,” a different street on the other side of town officially kicked off this weekend’s Dead & Company concerts in Golden Gate Park honoring the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead.
As we learned in April, one block of the Excelsior District street on which Jerry Garcia grew up would be honorarily renamed Jerry Garcia Street. That became official Friday morning, as Lurie presided over the street’s official renaming ceremony, and Harrington Street between Alemany Boulevard and Mission Street got its brand new Jerry Garcia Street sign.
Unfortunately, the renaming ceremony broadcast seen above is one of the shoddiest and glitchiest SFGovTV videos ever produced. It’s dead air for the first minute or so, the audio is incredibly scratchy throughout, and the screen just goes dark several times. But if you want to just fast-forward it to see the unveiling of the street sign, that happens at the 14:45 mark, after which everyone sings “Happy Birthday” to Jerry.
“Jerry Garcia was raised right here in the greatest city in the world, San Francisco. Jerry Garcia is a true icon,” Lurie said before unveiling the sign. “The yellow house down the block is where he lived. He went to school at Monroe Elementary and Balboa High School.”
“Jerry learned to play guitar right on this street,” Lurie continued. “And if that didn’t happen, we wouldn't have everything that’s going on in our city today, this weekend, and always. We wouldn’t have Jerry Day in McLaren Park. We wouldn’t have 150,000 attendees coming to Golden Gate Park this weekend.”
Lurie mentions Jerry Day, the annual celebration of all things Jerry in McLaren Park’s Jerry Garcia Amphitheater on Saturday, which kicks off at 11:30 am. The event will have three live bands, and should wrap up by around 5 pm Saturday. That may give people time to get out to Golden Gate Park for the Dead & Company shows, where the band is expected to take the stage sometime shortly before 6:30 pm Saturday night.
Related: Muni Is Truckin’ Grateful Dead-Themed Buses for Next Weekend’s Big Dead & Co. Concerts [SFist]
Image: SFGovTV
