Week 1, September 2010

This week’s highlighted local treasure is 

The East Bay Regional Park District

From their website:

The East Bay Regional Park District, established in 1934, has a fascinating history and an inspiring story. We began with a vision of far-sighted civic leaders seeking to preserve excess watershed land in the Oakland and Berkeley hills. Their goal was to create a park district as part of the community, one that retained a balance of recreation opportunities and wilderness features, ideas unheard of at the time. Members of a grassroots land preservation movement placed a measure on the ballot. During the depths of the Great Depression it passed by a surprising 71 percent and created the first regional park agency in the nation–the East Bay Regional Park District.  

Thanks to the support of residents throughout the past seven-and-a-half decades, the East Bay Regional Park District now encompasses all of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Spanning more than 100,000 acres with 65 parks and over 1,100 miles of trails, our District is the largest regional park district in the nation. True to the ideas of our founders, our mission continues to be providing recreational opportunities, preserving the natural beauty of the land, and protecting wildlife habitat. These parks truly do belong to all of us, and, in celebration, we’ve planned a year’s worth of wonderful events, discoveries, contests and more…

Any of you who have ever explored these parks know what jewels there are to be found out there.  Have a GREAT Labor Day weekend!   

So, let’s find some fun ’round the bay…

Gourmet Walks Visits Hayes Valley:  Friday in San Francisco.  From the SF Chronicle:  Hungry for an off-the-beaten path San Francisco gourmet food experience? Join us as we explore one of the citys trendy and exciting new neighborhoods, Hayes Valley. We will talk about the origins of California cuisine as we visit restaurants that were among the first to offer seasonal, local, market based menus.

Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers:  Saturday in Berkeley.  From their website:  Lavay Smith is internationally recognized as The Queen Of Classic Jazz & Blues in the authentic style of the 1940′s and 1950′s. Lavay’s last album received a prestigious 4 & 1/2 Star review in Downbeat magazine. For quotes and reviews from critics like Bob Blumenthal, Don Heckman, Phil Elwood and Frank-John Hadley.  Saturday at Ashkenaz! 

Enkutatash: Ethiopian New Year: Sunday in Berkeley.  From the East Bay Express: If you’re looking for a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon, then bring your family and friends to this celebration which will include delicious traditional dishes, poetry, music, children’s programs, Reggae Band Selamta, Waheed and the Resistance, West African Highlife Band, Ethiopian Musicians Haileye Tadesse, Neway Afardew, and much more.

Please visit our sister site for the best in local real estate: 

Pic of the Week:

An encore publication of this classic photo.  Happy Labor Day!