Grand Lake Merchant News

On January 9, I wrote about the closing of the See's Candy store, but left out a far bigger story that broke shortly afterwards. In an email message to Lakeshore Avenue merchants on January 11, BID Director Pamela Drake confirmed the rumor about GapKids that had been making the rounds for quite some time. It shut its doors on January 26 with the adult Gap up the street expanding its inventory to include clothes from birth through five years. While the loss of GapKid's is unfortunate, Pamela also bemoaned the loss of Lori Ortiz, the very popular manager:

The worst part of these changes is the loss of long time employees; particularly Lori Ortiz, local Oakland resident and long time Gap manager, who will be managing a Walnut Creek store. She was secretary to the Merchants' Association and has helped organize the Easter Derby Contest every year. Saying goodbye to Lori is a serious loss and will require other merchants to step up and get involved so that we can continue to have successful events.

There is already much interest in both of the current vacancies. In fact, the owners of the 4,000 square foot storefront now occupied by the KidsGap are apparently poised to sign a contract with a thrift shop called "Out of the Closet"--a chain of shops benefiting the AIDS Healthcare Foundation established by Magic Johnson.

While this is quite obviously a worthy charitable enterprise, I have serious questions as to whether this is the very best use for one of the largest retail spaces in what is considered one of Oakland's most vibrant and successful commercial districts. If you want to know more about the proposed thrift shop and what I see as an ongoing shortage of community input and planning in the leasing process, please read my just-published article in the Grand Lake Guardian.

Proposal for Lakeshore Avenue Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Improvements

Lakeshore Avenue from the freeway onramp at MacArthur to the offramp at Lake Park has long been a nightmare for pedestrians and drivers alike. The Grand Lake Traffic Calming Committee, chaired by Jerry Cauthen, has been talking about these issues for quite some time and is now about to finalize a combination of specific recommendations that could move vehicles far more smoothly and improve pedestrian safety while simultaneously creating a far more attractive and colorful gateway to the Lakeshore business district. Details will be forthcoming in an article that should be published in the Grand Lake Guardian sometime next week. Public input will be crucial. Please do take the time to read this and offer your comments.

Farmers Market News

We've been negligent in not previously mentioning one of the market's newest vendors. Lauren Ritter, the Berkeley-based owner and operator of Nutmoo has been selling here for the past several weeks. Nutmoo is an all-organic beverage that is dairy and wheat free and low in sugar. I sampled the almond flavor and found it to be delightful and refreshing. Lauren also offers a tempting variety of baked goods. The Grand Lake Market is her only retail outlet, but you can order via email for local delivery.

Doris Yong's From My Garden is carrying on a Chinese New Year's tradition by offering Narcissus bulbs that you place in water in a shallow bowl where they miraculously spring to life. Doris said that if it blooms on Chinese New Year, you're guaranteed a year of good luck. I've got my fingers crossed. Unfortunately, the bulbs are in short supply and if you missed out, you can enjoy mine vicariously through the photos I'll be posting documenting the growth of the one in our kitchen.

Living vicariously has, by the way, become part of my personal routine for the last five years or so as my older son, Adam has been documenting online his journeys to exotic locales--including most recently, Syria, Jordan, and most of northeast Africa. Currently he's in Granada, Nicaragua where the overnight low temperatures are hovering around 70 degrees. Even living vicariously through his photos, my feet are still cold. Brrrr!

Speaking of family, I have a confession to make. I grew up in Southern California where dinner too often consisted of fried chicken or steak and potatoes. Lettuce was Iceberg with mayonnaise and catsup mixed together to make a dressing. Vegetables more often than not were canned or frozen. I never saw--let alone ate--an artichoke until I moved permanently to Oakland in the late 1960's. Unfortunately, those cooking habits proved resistant to change until we began to rely on the Grand Lake Market for our produce. Over time, I've become far more aware that, even in California, we have seasons AND seasonal vegetables. Currently, the majority of the vegetable vendors are featuring fresh and very lush-looking greens in a wonderful array of varieties, colors and textures. Last week, I purchased kale from Happy Boy Farms. Believe it or not...this was a big decision since I had never (to the best of my knowledge) eaten kale or for that matter any vegetable that begins with a "k". Nonetheless, I figured it was worth a shot since I had taken to artichokes so enthusiastically. Sauteed for about fifteen minutes with lots of garlic, a little bread crumbs and some chicken broth, it was truly marvelous.

Very shortly, as a service to the community, the Farmers Market will begin instituting a Food Stamp program called Electronic Benefit Services (EBS). The management is looking for neighbors who would be willing to help staff the booth where the electronic tokens will be issued. If you'd like to assist or get more information, look for Jim Fenton, the Market Manager, on Saturdays or email your contact info to info@splashpad.org and I'll forward it to him.

Splash Pad/Farmers Market Advisory Group

The Parking Subcommittee will be meeting Wednesday, January 30 at 7:30 to continue talking about ways to lessen the parking crunch on Saturdays. If you're interested in participating, please email us at info@splashpad.org for the meeting location.

One of the other items on the agenda of last week's meeting was dog-sitting services. As you probably noticed, an enterprising young man named Ryan Savage was operating such a service for several weeks just east of the entrance to the under-freeway parking. As it turns out, this is, in fact, part of the park's footprint and, as a result, dogs are banned. If a decision is made to provide dog sitting while owners are shopping at the market, a special exemption will be required from the Parks Commission and City Council.

The most important item on last week's agenda, however, was prompted by concerns that the market is negatively impacting some local merchants. Most of the discussion focused on ways that merchants--particularly restaurants could benefit more directly. The Promotions Subcommittee will be working on specifics at a future meeting. Please contact Pamela Drake at pamelad205@sbcglobal.net if you want to get involved.

Grand Lake District Entertainment

We've just updated the Grand Lake Entertainment Calendar . Jim is apparently having some difficultly finding musicians willing to brave the elements, but this Saturday, two intrepid guitarists are on tap: Fred McCarty and Jim Stienke.

On the other hand, L'Amyx, which is warm and dry, has just announced a very full calendar for February. On the 2nd, Richard Young will be playing acoustic blues with vocals provided by his sixteen year-old daughter, Ariane. What I hadn't realized is that the Youngs live just a few doors up the street from Mandana and host one of the neighborhood's most popular haunted houses. The following Saturday look for bassist Justin Hellman . On the 16, Tara Linda and on the 23, Linh Nguyen, guitar and vocals.

Speaking of L'AMYX, in our last newsletter, we wrote about Dan Cantrell, the local accordionist and composer who performed there on January 19. We were very pleased to read in Tuesday's Tribune that Cantrell is one of half a dozen, young composers to be awarded $25,000 grants. A matching $25,000 grant was awarded to The Crucible where his opera ("Rootabaga" inspired by Carl Sandburg's children's stories) will be staged.

Thanks to Victoria Hudson for calling our attention to a very valuable addition to the East Bay music scene. The Oakland Public Conservancy of Music is making affordable music education available to aspiring musicians. They currently have a fund-raising campaign underway to provide instruments and free classes for young people who are otherwise unable to pursue musical training. In addition to other events, the first Monday of every month, Dean Angela Wellman hosts a fundraising Jazz Jam Session at the New Earth Cafe at 2008 Park Blvd. just up the street from the Parkway Theatre.

Splash Pad Maintenance

Despite some expected wear and tear during the holiday and rainy season, the park is looking very well cared for. Credit gardener, Harold Brown and his supervisor, David Skinner for keeping everything in great shape. Also, thanks once again to Jaime Salazar who overhauled the fountain last year and is continuing to take responsibility for its maintenance. It's made a world of difference in its reliability. And finally, a reminder that you can help minimize problems by discouraging children (or adults for that matter) from clogging the spigots or throwing anything in the water.

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