For some of us, it’s harvest time. For others, it’s also time to get a start on spring plantings. About half of this week’s events are outside — and about half of those are specifically focused on plants, gardening, or general botanical delight. Gotta love this climate — and its spooky and compelling plant life. Enjoy!
Friday, October 18
Temescal Victory Garden Crop Swap / Harvest to Feed
noon – 2 p.m.
Telegraph Community Center, 5316 Telegraph Avenue
Many urban gardeners find that they sometimes have more edibles than they can consume. Put this produce to use, mingle with fellow gardeners, and share with community members in need at this event! It’s located at the North Oakland Telegraph Ministry Center Food Pantry, which serves about 200 people each week. Bring homegrown crops and seeds to share or trade with fellow gardeners and members of the community. All excess produce will be donated to the food pantry. Bring your abundance, a few crops, or just yourself and a smile.
Autumn Lights Festival in the Gardens at Lake Merritt Begins
6 – 10 p.m.
Continues 6 – 10 p.m. Saturday, October 19
Gardens at Lake Merritt, 666 Bellevue Avenue
Imagine several acres of garden illuminated with weird and enchanting art and sound installations created by over 35 local Bay Area artists. Experience the night magic of the Gardens at Lake Merritt filled with electric fireflies flickering in the trees, glowing waterfalls, paintings made by living insects, a Polynesian paradise with hand-crafted tiki lanterns and hula girls projected on palm trees, fire-spewing flowers, and live fire dancers and local musicians light the night. Vote for your favorite juried art installation for the People’s Choice Award, see who wins the coveted Mayor’s Trophy, and check out the VIP lounge. Attendees are invited to participate during the evening by coming dressed in illuminated garden attire.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://autumnlightsfestival.eventbrite.com. Funds will be used for Garden improvements for the enjoyment of the entire community.
Future Fridays at Chabot
6 – 7:30 p.m.
Chabot Space and Science Center, 10000 Skyline Boulevard
Join Chabot for “DOOM, Dungeons and Beyond: The Importance of Video Games,” a lively conversation about all things gaming! Meet the dynamic husband and wife duo of John Romero and Brenda Brathwaite Romero as they discuss their paths into and through this industry and get a peek at what they believe the future holds. John is the mastermind behind games like DOOM and, together with Brenda, the recent Facebook game Ravenwood Fair and Ghost Recon Commander. Tickets are $20 for members, $23 for guests and $29 at the door (subject to availability).
For more information and to get tickets, visit http://www.chabotspace.org/future-fridays.htm.
5th Annual Pickin’ on the Potomac Bluegrass Series
7:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Presidential Yacht USS Potomac, Dockside, 540 Water Street
On this special evening, learn the history of banjo and enjoy stompin’ good sounds with Bill Evans, one of the foremost authorities on the banjo. Beverages and bar nibbles will be available for purchase.
For more information, visit www.jacklondonsquare.com.
The 57th Street Gallery Presents Bill Bell and The Jazz Connection
8:30 – 11 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
5701 Telegraph Avenue
Bill Bell, jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, has earned the title “Jazz Professor” for completing over 30 years of successful university-level jazz teaching. Before retiring in 2001, he was Chair of the music department at the College of Alameda. Retirement has allowed Bell to focus on his performance career, which has expanded to include international venues as well as the production of three stellar CDs: The Jazz Professor in 1995, Just Swing Baby in 2001, and most recently, The Feeling of Jazz, in 2009. He maintains a busy schedule of workshops and lecture demonstrations with his trio and quartet, The Jazz Connection.
Admission is $15. For more information or to make reservations (recommended) visit www.57thStreetGallery.com.
Saturday, October 19
Learn, Lead, Lift Emergency Preparedness Kick-Off Fair
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1203 Willow Street
Enjoy fire safety demonstrations, preparedness training, games, prizes and more. Lunch will be hosted by Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The Oakland Learn, Lead and Lift Program is an emergency preparedness community and training program to inspire all Oakland residents to prepare themselves.
Classic Car Show
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Jack London Square, Broadway and Embarcadero
Jack London Square will showcase more than 60 vintage vehicles from the 1920s to 1960s at the Classic Car Show. From car buffs to casual enthusiasts, the waterfront will transform into an auto mecca showcasing rare Model A cars, Roadsters, Thunderbirds and more, for all to enjoy. The Pavilion Stage will also host live music throughout the day.
For more information, visit www.jacklondonsquare.com.
Fall Medicinal Herb Starts Sale
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Homestead Apothecary, 486 49th Street, Unit C
Join Homestead Apothecary for their first annual fall plant sale! They will be offering some of the favorites that sold out at the spring sale, plus a ton of new plants that are perfect for fall planting. Perennial medicinal plants established in the fall and winter grow faster in the spring and require less water when summer comes. Plus you can fill up all those unsightly holes where your vegetable garden was planted!
For more information, visit www.homesteadapothecary.com/Happenings.
Phat Beets’ Kombucha! Workshop and Swap
11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
North Oakland Farmers’ Market, 942 Stanford Street
Come check out the Food ‘n’ Justice Workshop series, which is always free at the Saturday North Oakland Farmers’ Market. This week features a 1-hour kombucha workshop, followed by a kombucha swap.
For more information, visit www.phatbeetsproduce.org.
2nd Annual Global Frackdown
12 – 2 p.m.
250 Frank Ogawa Plaza
Join Californians Against Fracking for the 2nd Annual Global Frackdown! Governor Brown has made it clear that he supports this destructive process, so now it’s time for us to get loud and make sure the Governor knows what Californians want: to ban fracking now! Join this rally in Oakland to hear from excellent speakers, get information about fighting fracking in your local community, and participate as we deliver a special message to the state house down the street from Frank Ogawa Plaza, and come together to show our strength and power. Bring signs, drums, and friends so that we can get down with the frackdown!
For more information, visit www.globalfrackdown.org.
Lakeshore Neighborhood Plant Exchange
12 – 4 p.m.
3811 Lakeshore Avenue
Do you have plants you must prune or divide? How about trading your excess with others in your neighborhood? Take home new plants for your yard and have an instant new garden! All kinds of plants are welcome, of any size: seedlings, cuttings, or fully grown. Packets of seeds are welcome too. Garden accessories and accents are also welcome: umbrellas, clippers, pots, books and magazines on gardening, stepping stones, tools and supplies — even goldfish.
For more information, visit www.ThePlantExchange.com.
Bali in the Uptown Free Multimedia Performance
7 – 9 p.m.
Uptown ArtPark, 19th Street and Telegraph Avenue
This performance features Gamelan Sekar Jaya and live footage from Bali. Amidst giant sculptures and trees, enjoy performances by GSJ’s bamboo jegog ensemble, the dynamic gender wayang quartet along with Balinese dance, and an interactive kecak (monkey chant). A video feed from Bali will bring the sights and sounds of this tropical island to the park: a unique multimedia experience. The 30+ performers will be led by renowned Balinese artists I Dewa Putu Berata and Emiko Saraswati Susilo.
For more information on the performance, visit www.gsj.org.
An Evening of Kathak
7 p.m.
Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th Street, Suite 290
Seibi Lee is a principal member of the world-renowned Chitresh Das Dance Company and a celebrated soloist. Seibi has performed in award-winning productions in cities throughout the U.S. and India, including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, REDCAT Theater in Los Angeles, and National Center for Performing Arts in Mumbai. Seibi Lee is a dynamic and powerful Kathak performer and an integral part of the legacy being created by Pandit Chitresh Das. She is known for the great range and depth of her artistry: strength in technique, sophistication in musicality and depth in dramatic character interpretation.
For more information, visit www.oacc.cc.
The 57th Street Gallery Presents The Barbara Hunter Quartet Plus One
8:30 – 11 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
5701 Telegraph Avenue
Enjoy a variety of music, balanced with fresh arrangements of familiar jazz and popular standards, and a rhythm section of awesomely talented and supportive musicians. This is one of the band’s many returns to 57th Street Gallery, where they always come up with a surprise or two. Word is that once you step inside the Gallery and hear the Quartet you will find it impossible to leave until the very last note has been played and the last word sung. Please come check out the band and lend your support to live music. Performers are Barbara Hunter, vocals/flute/saxophone; Bliss Rodriguez, piano; Joe McKinley, bass; Achyutan, drums; and special guest Phavia Kujichagulia, Griot/Poet.
Admission is $15. For more information or to make reservations (recommended) visit www.57thStreetGallery.com.
Sunday, October 20
OMCA Bike Tour: Oakland on Two Wheels
10 a.m.
Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak Street
Enjoy the fall weather with the last of OMCA’s popular bike tours in 2013! Explore Oakland and its environs with the Museum’s bike-tripping docents. Discover the incredible history of Oakland on two wheels during this leisurely two-hour ride through downtown Oakland. The tour highlights local history, architecture, and community stories. Bring a bicycle, helmet, repair kit, and adventurous spirit! Participants must be 12 or older for this free event.
Please RSVP to docentcenter@museumca.org or (510) 318-8470.
Friends of Sausal Creek Native Plant Sale and Open House
10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Joaquin Miller Park Native Plant Nursery, 3594 Sanborn Road
Native plant experts will be available all day to help shoppers pick appropriate plants for their specific planting areas. There will also be presentations, live music, master gardeners, and lots of other attractions, such as face painting, chickens and urban farming, the Pollinator Posse, and The Spider Chick and Her Live Arachnids.
For more information, visit www.sausalcreek.org/plantsale.html.
Splash Pad Park’s 10th Anniversary Celebration
11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Splash Pad Park, Grand and Lake Park Avenues
Come celebrate Splash Pad Park’s 10th Anniversary with a free concert featuring five local bands, community tables, a beer and wine garden, and much more! For more details, visit http://www.splashpad.org/events/10th-anniversary-celebration.
Home Mushroom Cultivation Workshop
12 – 4 p.m.
Pollinate Farm and Garden, 2727 Fruitvale Avenue
Add mushroom cultivation to your homesteading repertoire! Join Ray and Patty Lanier of Mushroom Maestros and explore the theory and practice of working with easy-to-grow mushrooms for food, bioremediation and medicinal uses. Participants will learn to prepare common substrates to grow Oyster, Shiitake and King Stropharia mushroom varieties, and will take home their own kits for cultivation. Register online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/430066.
Spooky Actions Publication Party
3 p.m.
Diesel, A Bookstore, 5433 College Avenue
Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland welcomes Spooky Actions Books to the store to celebrate the publication of their new chapbooks by Lourdes Figueroa and Clint Campbell. Lourdes Figueroa was born in Yuba City, California. Her work has been published in the SF Poet’s 11 2008 & 2010, an anthology of poems selected by Jack Hirschman, and in Generations, a journal of ideas and images. Clint Campbell’s book is Wake of Leaves, which is “…grounded yet hallucinatory, elegiac yet reveling, in the world but looking past it.” Spooky Actions Books, an East Bay chapbook publisher, entangles emerging California poets and artists. Find out more at spookyactionsbooks.com.
A Chef’s Delight
3 – 6 p.m.
Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th Street, Suite 290
Hosted by Wa Sung Community Service Club, this 13th annual food and wine tasting festival is a fundraiser for Wa Sung Community Center and Oakland Asian Cultural Center. A selected stellar group of over 40 restaurants, caterers, bakeries, wineries and microbreweries will be doing demonstrations, with entertainment and live and silent auctions as well. Tickets are $60 in advance and $75 at the door.
For more information, visit oacc.cc.
Monday, October 21
YouTube for Entrepreneurs Workshop
6 – 7 p.m.
Tech Liminal, 555 12th Street, Suite 110
Have you been using YouTube to promote yourself, your hobbies and your business? Other than publicizing your business and attracting new clients, you can also earn an additional revenue stream by monetizing each video that you upload to YouTube. During this roundtable, participants will learn how and what it takes to create compelling content, watch examples of YouTube videos, and understand available ad formats.
Tickets are $30. Register at https://youtubeentrepreneurs.eventbrite.com.
Tuesday, October 22
Oakland City Council Committee Meetings
times listed below
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
The City Council is the governing body of the City of Oakland, and consists of eight members who are elected directly by the citizens of Oakland: one representative from each of seven districts, and one at-large representative. The Council sets goals and priorities for the City, as well as approving the City budget, adopting ordinances to help the City serve its citizens, and appointing members to various boards and commissions. Most of the Committees of the City Council meet on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month (although it is recommended to confirm the day and time, as this is subject to change). A downloadable agenda is available at http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/calendar.
10:30 a.m.: Public Works Committee
noon: Finance and Management Committee
2 p.m.: Community & Economic Development Committee
4 p.m.: Life Enrichment Committee
5:30 p.m.: Public Safety Committee
For more information, visit http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CityCouncil or call (510) 238-7370.
Wednesday, October 23
AC Transit Board of Directors Meetings
times listed below
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, 1600 Franklin Street, 10th Floor
The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District is the third-largest public bus system in California, serving 13 cities and adjacent unincorporated areas in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. AC Transit has been serving the East Bay since 1960, taking over from the Key System and its predecessors, which carried passengers via buses, horse-drawn rail, electric streetcars, and ferries over the previous 100 years. AC Transit’s mission is to provide safe, convenient, courteous, and reliable transit service.
3 p.m.: Planning Committee
3:30 p.m.: Finance and Audit Committee
6 p.m.: Board of Directors
For more information, visit http://www2.actransit.org/main.wu.
Oakland Board of Education General Meeting
5 – 9 p.m.
Paul Robeson Building, 1025 2nd Avenue, Board Room
The Governing Board, commonly called the Board of Education, is the elected policy-making body of the public education system within the City of Oakland. The Governing Board’s primary responsibility is to ensure that every student served by the District is well educated and demonstrates high academic achievement.
For more information, visit http://bex.ousd.k12.ca.us.
10Y NCPC monthly potluck and meeting
6:30 – 8 p.m.
Santa Fe Elementary, 915 54th Street
Come at 6:30 for a casual potluck, or at 7:00 p.m. for the meeting, or both. This event repeats on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Contact NSC (Neighborhood Services Coordinator) Paul Brekke-Miesner at (510) 238-3102, or PSO (Problem-Solving Officer) Trode for additional information, or click here.
Thursday, October 24
Oakland City Council Rules & Legislation Committee
10:45 a.m.
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 1
The Rules and Legislation Committee usually meets at this time (although it is recommended to confirm the day and time, as this is subject to change). A downloadable agenda is available at http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/calendar.
For more information, visit http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CityCouncil or call (510) 238-7370.
Cloud Computing and Disaster Recovery Lunch ‘n’ Learn
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Oakland Center, 1000 Broadway, Suite 109, Room 6
The media is full of information about “Cloud Technology” and how it’s the Next Big Thing, but what does this really mean? What are the pros and cons of moving to the “cloud?” (Here’s a hint: you’re already there!) In this free lunch event, learn more about this broad term, what it could mean for your business, and the pitfalls to avoid. An important related topic is Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. Too many businesses fail to grasp the importance of having a well-designed plan to ensure their businesses can resume operations quickly after a catastrophic event. Some principles for doing this will be covered.
For more information, visit http://www.clarecomputer.com/events.
Burbank Millsbrae NCPC, Beat 29X
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Andrew Kim Korean Catholic Church, 3200 62nd Avenue
For more information, please contact Chair Nancy Sidebotham at nannystu@pacbell.net or (510) 635-2678, or NSC (Neighborhood Services Coordinator) Araina Richards at arichards@oaklandnet.com or (510) 238-7619.
Film and Discussion: A Place at the Table
6:30 – 9 p.m.
The New Parkway Theater, 474 24th Street
Join Earth Island Institute’s Oakland Food Policy Council for a screening of A Place at the Table. The documentary about Americans who are struggling with hunger in this land of plenty will be followed by a panel discussion by food movement leaders. One in four children in the United States doesn’t know where his or her next meal is coming from. Find out why, and learn about what you can do locally to change this.
Admission is $10. For more information, visit oaklandfood.org/events-4.
To list an event for your organization for October 25 – 31, please email the details to meg@oaklandlocal.com by noon on Tuesday, October 22.