The Voice of East Bay Living

I recently attended an exciting event at the Oakland Cathedral . This wonderful building was completed in 2008 - a marvelous structure across from  Lake  Merritt , costing  over $175 million dollars to construct and is famous for its unique architecture. The Oakland Cathedral hosts a monthly event, Twilight by the Lake, offering free mixers, complimentary appetizers and live music on its spacious deck overlooking the Lake. This month's feautured musicians are the Mik Nawooj Ensemble with an eight  piece chamber orchestra-flute, cello, clarinet, violin, deep funk drums, an opera singer and three rap artists. Twilight by the Lake is every 3rd Thursday of the month  from 5-7:30  - a triple thumbs up event for the entire family.

Lake Temescal, derived from the spanish word for sweat house, is a delightul hidden treasure just off of Broadway Terrace in the Oakland hills. The lake was orginally damed for storing drinking water  in 1868. The shores of the lake were a popular camping sport with bohemian writers and artists in the late 1800s. During the first half of the twentieth century tracks of the  Sacramento Northern railroad ran along the eastern side of the lake.  Also, an electric train called the Comet ran across the lake.  In 1936 Lake Temescal  opened the park as a public park, including swimming  fishing, and picnicing. It is one of my favorite walking paths-in the middle of dense urban living, 

Oakland Heritage Alliance led another wonderful walking tour thru one of Oakland's historical neighborhoods - the Montclair District. One of the most notable spots was Colonel Jack Haye's artistic mansion, which was constructed in 1850. His home on Fernwood Drive is located well out of town, along Temescal Creek and close to a remote canyon which was later to become Moraga Ave. Today, all that remains of his grand estate is a brick wall near Thornhill Drive and the former railroad tracks.

I am a proud member of Berkeley Rotary. Following our international motto of "Service Above Self", we are committed to providing humanitarian services. We have recently established a free medical clinic in Richmond called Brighter Beginnings. Its purpose is to provide  health care to uninsured children and adults with acute or chronic conditions. Brighter Beginnings is staffed mostly by volunteer Rotarians, among them both doctors and nurses. The clinic is also connected to a network of other medical groups offering both free care and medical office equipment. If you are interested in getting involved, follow this link to the Brighter Beginnings website: www.brighter-beginnings.org/get-involved

Check out  A16 , one of College Ave. -Rockridge latest additions. The site was formally Hudsons/Girabaldis and has retained the wonderful long bar and huge open space that we have all loved for so many years.  The new restaurant is vibrant with Southern Italy  cuisine, a huge Italian   wine list , fabulous authentic Italian dishes and adorable waiters that bend over backwards to make you  feel welcome-- I give it a triple thumbs up!