Warm-Hearted Induction for Wall of Fame Honorees

Two El Cerrito citizens who have given a lot of themselves to the community over many years received some heartfelt appreciation in return – along with flowers, standing applause and official accolades – at the El Cerrito City Council meeting Tuesday night.

Jane Bartke and Amy Shinsako were formally inducted into the city's Wall of Fame, an annual honor bestowed on El Cerrito residents with long and distinguished records of community service. Their photos are kept on display on the walls of the foyer to the City Council chambers.

Jane Bartke

The resolution in Bartke's honor includes numerous leadership roles in a wide range of community organizations, including her two terms at mayor and her contribution as founder and , a non-profit set up to rescue and maintain the city's locally famous annual Shadi holiday display on Moeser Lane.

Bartke also has played a key role in the Rosie the Riveter Trust, a non-profit that has raised $11 million for projects for the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond. She currently serves as board president.

And among those in the large audience turn-out in the council chambers were several fellow members of the Soroptomists International of El Cerrito, another organization for which she has served as president.

Mayor Jones said he had learned over the years that Bartke is an effective leader, allowing others to have their say but also guiding the discussion in a respectful and decisive way. 

"The other thing I learned about Jane," he added, "is that you never say no to Jane." He also said that one of the major reasons he first decided to run for City Council was that Bartke encouraged him to do so.

Bartke thanked the council and community for the honor and expressed special appreciation to her husband Rich, another former mayor who was .

"Someone asked me the other day why did I do all this," she said. "And I was thinking about it and I found a quote today, and it said, 'We should all be concerned about the future, because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there.'"

She alluded to the Shadi holiday display, which stopped being set up when its creator, Sundar Shadi, got too old to handle the large task of assembling the sprawling Bethlehem-like village. After he died, it looked like the handmade collection would be divided and sold and that a long-established El Cerrito tradition was vanish.

"That's part of El Cerrito," she said. "and it was going to be auctioned off piece by piece. And I just couldn't see that happen."

Amy Shinsako

The accolades for Amy Shinsako focused on two major roles – her more than three decades' work as a teacher and volunteer at Harding Elementary School and her service as a board member of Sakura Kai, a Japanese-American senior center program that meets at the El Cerrito Senior Center. 

Barbara McIntyre, who worked many years with Shinsako at Harding, spoke movingly of Shinsako's extraordinary ability to not only connect with and motivate students but also to guide their parents.

"She really touches not only their (the students') hearts but also changes their philosophy of learning," McIntyre said. "Oftentimes I think she does the same for their parents, who maybe didn't give them the support they needed or didn't know how to. And she gently guides parents ... to be better parents both as educators and as compassionate learners for the childhood spirit.

"Everyone thinks that Amy is incredibly gentle and kind, but what you don't know is, just like water, Amy moves mountains."

Also singled out were her service of nearly 30 years on the board of 39-year-old Sakura Kai and her contributions to J-Sei, a non-profit offering support and assistance for members of the Japanese-American community.

Shinsako expressed her thanks to the council and community, and added words of special appreciation for her husband, architect Glenn Shinsako.

"I'm really both honored and humbled by this presentation," she said. 

Shinsako also paid tribute to Bartke, saying that Bartke's "relentless encouragment" contributed to Shinsako's decision to resume her teaching career after her son reached the sixth grade.

"In accepting this honor, I want to also note that ... it's not just recognizing me, but it's recognizing all of us of us who volunteer. ... When I heard about this, I thought it's not me – it's us."

More information about the honorees can be found in separate Patch articles and , published in June when the council first approved adding them to the Wall of Fame. 

The council resolutions inducting them, adopted unanimously by the council Tuesday night, are attached to this article.