by C. J. Hirschfield The 10th annual Autumn Lights Festival, a popular “only in Oakland” event that benefits the Gardens at Lake Merritt, will take place October 14–16. Thousands of visitors from around Northern California are expected to come to experience the festival’s immersive, interactive interplay of art, light, and nature. Over the garden’s seven […]
What Happened to Norman Needn’t Be Normal
by Ken Katz For more than two decades, when the subject of mental illness and homelessness in our Grand Lake neighborhood came up, the defining image that often came to mind was a guy most simply knew as “Norman.” Occasionally, he’d disappear for a week and upon his return (with a haircut, shave, and clean […]
Splash Pad News – September 2021
Grand Avenue Merchant News – September 2021
by Ken Katz Maestro? A drumroll please.We have several exciting developments to report, beginning with… Bake Sum quietly opened a couple of weeks ago, albeit with very limited hours on Fridays and Saturdays only until they are fully staffed and trained. The interior is very well done and our hats are off for anybody that […]
Odds and Ends – September 2021
A tip of the hat to Miya Saika Chen, the Chief of Staff for City Council President Nikki Bas, for providing the Grand Lake Neighbors with a status report regarding a significant number of issues which we are summarizing below. EAH Housing has sold the property which is currently occupied by the Vegan Mob to […]
Calendar – September 2021
Calendar – September 2021 by Sheila McCormick September 2, Thursday, 12:30pm Zoom Meeting – Oakland Rotary Club – Civic Thursday Meeting “Honorable Aisha Wahab – Future of Afghans in America”. Log in via their Facebook page. September 7, Tuesday, 5:30pm *LIVE WEBINAR* – California Historical Society Bohemian San Francisco In the 1920s San Francisco hosted […]
Farmers Market Update – September 2021
by Joey Garcia Market Participant Updates: Squabisch Pretzels, family-owned and operated and based in Berkeley, debuted at the market two weeks ago. They have an excellent website on which they regularly post the menus for the two markets they do each weekend–Grand Lake on Saturday and Kensington on Sunday. Waffle Mania reluctantly dropped out of […]
Pandemic Purging: Heartfill, not Landfill
by C. J. Hirschfield Pandemic purging is definitely a thing. Being at home for so many months has caused us to re-evaluate what we really want and need, and what we feel could be let go. But no one wants to add to the landfill. Luckily, there are now more options than ever to re-gift […]
Black International Marketplace of Oakland
by Ken Katz For much of the past year and a half, Lake Merritt has been a major bone of contention, with tempers rising over the proliferation of vendors setting up shop on Lakeshore and Grand. Their presence has raised an abundance of concerns, including increased traffic, noise, and littering. Unfortunately, the Black International Marketplace […]