Here's a photo that I took this afternoon of Claire flanked by some of her company's creations. Dolls can be purchased through their online catalogue but the majority of their business is wholesaling to book stores and other retailers.

A ground floor space in her building is currently undergoing major renovations and will open in December as a dental office.

I'm forwarding an invitation to their Grand Opening:

On Sunday, November 13th OAP is pleased to offer free acupuncture treatments from 10:00am-2:00pm. Patients are asked to schedule an appointment online at http://www.oaklandacupunctureproject.com or by calling 510-842-6350. This will be followed by refreshments and a reception from 2:00pm-5:00pm. All are welcome.

Before leaving Grand Avenue, let me also take note of the fact that the Grand Oaks Restaurant at 3701 Grand has survived not one--but twenty-three years. Fairly recently, they did reinvent themselves as a sports bar but still offer a full brunch and dinner menu. The latter continues to feature an Early Bird Special that includes soup or salad with entrees priced from $11.95 to $14.95.

Farmers Market

I confess that I'm feeling a bit sorry for new Market Manager, Chris Blackburn. He's only held the job for less than two months and in that period, he's suffered the following trials and tribulations:

If you want to give Chris a comforting hug, as I've suggested, do so soon as he'll be on vacation for the latter part of November. His assistant, Brian Boone, will be filling in while he's absent.

Brent's Christmas Trees opens shortly after Thanksgiving. If you can't find one of your regular farmers market vendors, check with the Information booth as they may have been temporarily relocated. Also, please note that the market will be open on both Christmas and New Year's Eve which fall this year on Saturdays.

The market's jack-o-lantern giveaway was again a big success. Here's one photo I took Saturday morning. Photos from the Lakeshore parade and "Harvest Festival" at Lakeshore Baptist Church are in the same Flickr set.

The food tasting program that featured a half dozen neighborhood restaurants and one bakery proved to be a very popular addition to the market. Look for more of the same beginning next Spring.

I failed to request a copy of the market's entertainment schedule in a timely manner. Look for it to be posted on the Splash Pad website by the end of next week--if not before.

Odd and Ends

Visit Oakand (nee: the Convention and Visitors Bureau) has just published a glossy visitors guide that features a ton of great photography including lots of images that were entered in their annual photo contest. A digital version is available on this link. Although the tool bar may seem a bit daunting, it's really quite simple. Just click on the corner to turn the page. I was especially pleased by Page 69 which profiles our Grand Lake Farmers Market and includes a photo I took earlier this year.

Jeffrey Lim from Garden Hortica is working out the decorative elements for the proposed parklet on Lakeshore while other members of the planning group help assemble the application packet that will be submitted to the city late this week. By next month, we should be looking for input on the design and also for volunteers to help with construction and fund raising.

If anyone out there has the necessary experience, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church is looking for bass and tenor section leaders for their choir. These are paid positions in what has to be one of the most diverse and welcoming congregations in the East Bay. If interested, direct your email to Rev. Jim Hopkins at jim@labcoakland.org.

On this last day of October, I confess I'm glad to see this month come to a close. Over time, I learned to hate Octobers partly due to the passing of a couple members of my immediate family but also due to the extent to which it seems to be a harbinger of disasters. The Loma Prieta Earthquake struck in October of 1989 leaving death and destruction in its quake. Two Octobers later, my mother passed away just days prior to the firestorm that consumed much of the Oakland hills with twenty-five fatalities. Even the Associated Press reported today that "October is somewhat cursed for the stock market -- the Crash of 1929, Black Monday in 1987, a slow-motion meltdown in 2008".

For me, this year's October losses have been on a far more personal scale but still carry a poignancy that prompts me to share the following tributes and to dedicate this issue of the newsletter in memory of the following who passed away this month:

STEVE JOBS: We purchased an Apple II+ in 1982 or, more accurately, my wife purchased the computer primarily for our older son (who was then 11) despite my protestations that we wait until the product improved and the price came down. At the time, a personal computer in one's own home was such a novelty, John Eckhouse profiled us in a major piece in the San Francisco Examiner. A confirmed Luddite and technophobe, I barely worked up enough courage to turn the computer on and off and insert the floppy discs but did become highly proficient playing Tax Man--a digital version of Pac Man.

If not for the intuitive simplicity of the Apple computers that were designed under Jobs stewardship, I may never have progressed beyond that point. Instead, like untold millions of people around the globe, I'm using my computer as a planning and organizing tool, as a way to supplement a failing memory, and, for me most importantly, to communicate with others with an ease and efficiency hitherto impossible. In a very concrete fashion, Steve Jobs reshaped our individual lives for the better and ultimately, his genius will have a positive effect on societies worldwide.

REV. FRED SHUTTLESWORTH: I'm including Rev. Shuttlesworth on this list because his passing on October 5 drew far less attention than it deserved. Rev. Martin Luther King was the public face of the Freedom Movement but it was Rev. Shuttleworth who (behind the scenes) lobbied aggressively for direct, non-violent action to bring about an end to the pervasive segregation in the Southern states that survived as a remnant of slavery. For those of you too young to remember the Freedom Rides, sit-ins, voter registration campaigns and the lynchings that inspired Billie Holliday to sing Strange Fruit, I'd urge you to do some background reading beginning perhaps with this profile of Rev. Shuttlesworth on Wikipedia.

HUNTER MCCREARY: We're giving Hunter McCreary a mulligan and including him on this list although he actually passed away in late September. He was perhaps the last of a dying breed. Those of us who are long-time neighborhood residents remember Hunter as the man behind the counter at Dime and Dollar--a wondrous, variety store in the building that now houses Arizmendi. Dime and Dollar is where you went for just about anything. Needles and thread. Window shades. Pots and pans. Toys and novelties. But most importantly, Dime and Dollar is where you took your kids for their Halloween costumes.

A co-founder and producer of the Piedmont Light Opera Theater, Hunter was a showman at heart and once a year, he arrived at the Lakeshore Easter Parade dressed in a formal top hat with rabbit ears where he presided (with a twinkle in his eye) over the parade, judging and awards presentation. Here's a photo I took at this year's Easter Parade that embodies to some extent his whimsical approach to life.

Pamela Drake has posted her own tribute to Hunter on the Lakeshore Avenue website along with an obituary from the San Francisco Chronicle.

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