we have judges representing a lot of president businesses here in the union square area. with that, to all the mta employees and fine citizens of san francisco, thank you for joining us today and thank you for your support. matt ford, ladies and gentlemen. the bell ringing competition is a two-part event today. we have professionals competing for a number of prizes in the coveted title of world champion bell ringer. for the amateur portion we have executives from some of our local media outlets competing for first, second, and third place trophies. the competition started with preliminaries. 37 contestants went through filling out the paperwork and a chance to proceed to the finals. all cable car crews were invited to compete. this year they have six finalists competing here at union square, competing against the two-time current champion mr. leonard oates. going to be tough. two years with the tiara, hard to give up. individual trophies welcome awarded to all six professio
[applause] joseph hsu, ladies and gentlemen. joseph hsu. now, all those six men are competing against this man, ladies and gentlemen. we left him for last simply because he was the 46th annual cable car bell ringing champion. ladies and gentlemen, he s been with muni for nine years, eight years on the cable car. let s hear it for two-time winner mr. leonard oates. [applause] go good to see you, leonard. up got the gloves on. i see you are ready. you and i have a city in common. where were you born? new orleans, louisiana. new orleans, louisiana the yeah, let s hear it for the 504. how do you prepare for this whole darn thing here? practice. ok. that will get you to broadway but here you are in union square. ladies and gentlemen, two-time winner, mr. leonard oates. this is what i do every day. [ringing bells] leonard oates, ladies and gentlemen, reigning two-time champion mr. leonard oates. that completes the entire competition, ladies and gentlemen. let s hea
[ringing bells] [applause] ah-ha! yes! oh, yeah. frank ware, ladies and gentlemen! got a little body english in there. frank ware. our fifth contestant is his second time to qualify for the finals. he is a grip. he s been with muni for nine years and spent seven years with the cable car division. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome mr. trini whittaker. so trini like i told frank, the cable car has two people. who would you take as your second person? my son. my son loves the cable cars. oh, that s fantastic. work on the sentimal sentimental vote. very smart. very smart. ladies and gentlemen, mr. trini whitaker. [ringing bells] [applause] nice. trinny whitaker, ladies and gentlemen. our sixth contestant is qualifieding for the qualifying for the very first time today. he s a conductor. he s been with muni 15 years, with the cable car division nine years. please welcome joseph hsu. mr. hsu, how s it going? if you weren t driving a cable car, what would you be
i m your host meg. for years, free jazz concerts have been providing entertainment in downtown san francisco. people pay local musicians to perform for lunchtime crowds. the goal is not just entertainth. people in plazas are trying to create neighborhoods. what began as a forum for performers who were paid by passing the hat has become a program that provides wide exposure and more than 500 paid gigs annually for local musicians. from july through september, people in plazas produces almost 300 free performances in the lunchtime hour. the mission of people in plazas generates social congregation. and by having these events, we encourage people to make these plazas everybody s neighborhood. recently, the san francisco arts commission was awarded a $ 250,000 grant for the national endowment for the arts. to establish an arts district in the central market corridor between fifth and 10th street. throughout the yearing the arts commission will partner with people in plazas to a
[applause] nice. trinny whitaker, ladies and gentlemen. our sixth contestant is qualifieding for the qualifying for the very first time today. he s a conductor. he s been with muni 15 years, with the cable car division nine years. please welcome joseph hsu. mr. hsu, how s it going? if you weren t driving a cable car, what would you be doing? watching tv? so you can play the drums and watch perry mason at noon at the same time. sounds good to me. ladies and gentlemen, mr. joseph hsu. [ringing bells] [applause] joseph hsu, ladies and gentlemen. joseph hsu. now, all those six men are competing against this man, ladies and gentlemen. we left him for last simply because he was the 46th annual cable car bell ringing champion. ladies and gentlemen, he s been with muni for nine years, eight years on the cable car. let s hear it for two-time winner mr. leonard oates. [applause] go good to see you, leonard. up got the gloves on. i see you are ready. you and i have a city in