Grand Lake Merchant News

In the last two newsletters, I wrote about the closure of the KidsGap and some of the broader issues with regard to neighborhood commercial vacancies. The community meeting Pat Kernighan hosted on March 2 focused on this very subject and drew about 30 people. Of that number, about a third have signed on as members of a Retail Vacancy Steering Committee that has already met once. At the next meeting in April, Leo Lozano, an Urban Planner and neighborhood resident, will be proposing an action plan that will have at its core efforts to reach out to property owners and purveyors of specific goods and services that are considered a particularly good fit as a result of extensive surveys. If you'd like to become involved, please send me an email to info@splashpad.org for details.

Camino, the much anticipated restaurant that will be operated by Chez Panisse alum, Russell Moore and his partner, Allison Hopelain, is nearing completion. An announcement about their opening date should be forthcoming soon.

For the first time in a number of years, the Lakeshore Business Improvement District, in cooperation with the Lakeshore merchants, will be sponsoring a neighborhood street festival the first weekend in August. Lakeshore will be closed both days with entertainment and a wine tent as central features. It looks like Splash Pad Park will also be utilized on Sunday--tentatively for an exhibit of Art Cars and chalk art. Details are yet to be finalized.

Farmers Market News

Over the past month or so, a number of new vendors have signed on to the market including Sushi Soap and Cafe Gratitude, the highly-regarded raw food emporium with restaurants in Berkeley and San Francisco. Also new is Ridgecut Gristmill which sells specialty ground flours as well as cornbread and pancake mixes. A couple of other long-time agricultural vendors have just returned including Brad Gates from Wild Boar Farms. Brad had a small harvest of Lilacs last Saturday and was sold out by 10:00 AM. He's expecting bigger quantities tomorrow which, if past experience is a good indicator, will last to 11 or 11:30 at the latest. Also back for the first time in a while was organically-certified, Rodriguez Ranch based in Watsonville. They should be picking organic strawberries by this week or next. Countyline Harvest which is located near Petaluma, continues to offer an amazing variety of very fresh, high-quality greens and veggies. Just for the record, when a small group of community members met with Camino's Russell Moore a year ago, he singled out County Line as one of the organic growers he's particularly fond of.

Ask anybody who knows me (particularly if they've seen the insides of my basement and garage), I'm an unrepentant pack-rat and there's not too much I don't save. One prominent exception has been plywood scraps. When I first met Latisha Baker (the pyrographic artist who does business under the name of Ishama) several months ago, I was delighted to find that she uses scrap plywood and old cabinet doors as the "canvas" for most of her work--particularly since we were then wrapping up our home construction project. This past Saturday, Latisha pointed out an absolutely wonderful work of art she had made from one of those scraps. Next time you see her at the Market, stop in and take a look and if you have plywood scraps you want to unload, introduce yourself. P.S. She donates a portion of all proceeds to a local homeless shelter.

Entertainment tomorrow will be provided by the The Mad Maggies who describe their music as European-style Americana or Klez-Celtica or Ska-Polka or Gitano-Surf. Also look for Blueprint Music, a Bluegrass ensemble from the midwest, on the lawn stage. The Grand Lake Market is one of their first stops on a west coast tour.

Splash Pad/Farmers Market Advisory Group

The Splash Pad/Farmers Market Advisory Group has been making substantial progress on a number of fronts. Parking, as everyone is aware, has been an ongoing problem. One partial solution will hopefully be instituted in the next couple of weeks as Our Lady of Lourdes has agreed to provide low-cost parking to Farmers Market vendors when their parking lot will not be otherwise needed. This should get about 30 vehicles out of the Lakeview School lot as well as the perimeter of the park. With nice weather in the offing for the next 6 months or more, we'd also encourage those of you within the immediate neighborhood to walk or bike to the market.

There's also been progress on the maintenance front. The Maintenance Subcommittee met with Jim Fenton, David Skinner and Jim Ryugo a couple of weeks ago and reached a consensus as to what improvements were needed. Harold Brown, the gardener assigned to Splash Pad, has already aerated all the lawns which is to be followed with fertilizers and a top dressing. Badly worn areas will be re-seeded and temporarily fenced off. Some vendors may be re-located as a result. If you're unable to locate a specific vendor, ask for assistance at the Information Booth.

The Promotions Subcommittee has been in the process of contacting restaurants and other food purveyors in the adjacent commercial district offering an opportunity to set up a booth in the Plaza on a rotating basis. Hopefully, we'll have a list of participating merchants in time for our next newsletter--but tentatively look for Daily Delectables to launch this program on April 5.

Free Plant Exchange March 29

The repeat of Odette Pollar's highly successful plant exchange is tomorrow beginning at Noon at 3811 Lakeshore. The flyer has all the pertinent details. Please feel free to print copies and distribute them to friends and neighbors. Also, if you choose to participate, please print copies of the plant identification forms and attach them to any plants or cuttings that you end up donating. I helped Odette transport tables to her yard yesterday afternoon and I got a chance to preview what's already been donated. There's garden tools, some wrought iron furniture, dozens of clay pots and, of course, tons of plants--a good portion of which was generously donated by Grand Lake Ace Garden Center.

Other Happenings

Sorry for the short notice, but if you have time today (particularly if you have kids looking for entertainment), head downtown for two free performances of "Higher Ground" which is a production of the Prescott Circus Theatre. It's composed of fifty elementary school students from five schools--all on stilts. This is an outgrowth of the Prescott School Clown program and I highly recommend it. First show is at Noon at City Hall Plaza. Second is at 5:30 pm at the Malonga Casquelourd Center, 1428 Alice St.

Earth Day in Oakland will be celebrated on Saturday, April 19 with community work days scheduled throughout the city beginning at 9:00 am. The featured projects in the neighborhoods surrounding Splash Pad include the Lake Merritt Boating Center and the Morcom Rose Garden on Jean St. As an aside, if you volunteer at the latter, be sure to say "hello" to Tora Rocha, the City of Oakland gardener recently assigned to this historic garden. Tora was the Splash Pad gardener when we were in the initial stages of proposing park improvements and she worked with us in designing and installing the California Native Plant Bed. Eight years ago, she was also instrumental in helping the Grime Busters landscape the Grand Avenue freeway off ramp.

Tora provides the perfect segue for the next volunteer event since the Grime Busters formally adopted all the adjacent on and off ramps at the same time. Hayden Foell has now taken the lead in clearing and landscaping the large, steep hillside alongside the Lakeshore Avenue off ramp using California Natives, succulents and other drought tolerant plants. Next work day for this project will be Saturday, April 26 from 2:30 to 5:00. Please contact Hayden at hayden@haydenfoell.com or phone 836-3322.

Thanks to Marcia Lam, the co-owner of L'Amyx, for bringing to our attention the third annual Art & Tulip Festival being celebrated on Piedmont Avenue. It kicks off tomorrow through Monday with Mountain View Cemetery's traditional tulip display followed by a month-long celebration of music and the arts. Entertainment will be provided at Key Route Plaza every Saturday afternoon in April beginning at 1:00 pm--except for the 26th, when the Closing Day Celebration begins at 11:00 am.

Splash Pad Newsletter Subscriptions

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