September 2012

Regatta offers rare outing for shut-in vets

John Stokes is 87 now, but he clearly remembers his service during World War II. During the bloody battle of Okinawa off Japan, Stokes and the rest of a gun detachment assigned to an ammunition ship survived 32 air attacks by Japanese planes and shot down two of them. On Saturday, Stokes stood on the dock of the Encinal Yacht Club to assist hundreds of other veterans who were there for a much quieter afternoon on San Francisco Bay. Read more >> about Regatta offers rare outing for shut-in vets

The Broad Brush: Your News in 60 Seconds

Submitted by Michele Ellson on

Happy Friday, Alameda! Here’s this week’s version of The Broad Brush, your two-sentence news review.

Tonight, football teams from Alameda and Encinal high schools will meet in the 58th Island Bowl matchup. The junior varsity game begins at 4 p.m. and varsity at 7 p.m.; both games are at Thompson Field, which is at the corner of Walnut Street and Clement Avenue. We’ve got a history of the big game here. Read more >> about The Broad Brush: Your News in 60 Seconds

Alameda library, bookstore mark Banned Books Week

Michele Ellson
Friday, September 28, 2012 - 12:05am
Alameda Free Library

Marie Gilmore was shocked when she saw Madeline L’Engle’s award-winning 1962 science fiction novel “A Wrinkle in Time” on a list of banned and challenged books.

“I read it when I was a child and my daughter read it also,” Alameda’s mayor said. “We just happened to be discussing the book a few weeks ago, so when I saw it on the list, I decided to read it.” Read more >> about Alameda library, bookstore mark Banned Books Week

Alameda Free Library hosts Banned Books Week readings, plus The Broad Brush

Marie Gilmore was shocked when she saw Madeline L’Engle’s award-winning 1962 science fiction novel “A Wrinkle in Time” on a list of banned and challenged books. So she decided to read some of it to commemorate Banned Books Week. The national event is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and the Alameda Free Library is hosting its first-ever Community Banned Books Reading Marathon in support of it. Read more >> about Alameda Free Library hosts Banned Books Week readings, plus The Broad Brush

Pinball museum raising funds for San Francisco move

Michele Ellson
Thursday, September 27, 2012 - 12:10am
Photo courtesy of Pacific Pinbal Museum

The founders of the Pacific Pinball Museum on Webster Street are raising money to move to a new location – in San Francisco.

They’ve set up an online campaign in an attempt to raise $1.5 million to fund a move to the Exploratorium’s soon-to-be-vacated space at the Palace of Fine Arts, in which they’re hoping to further their goal of preserving the art and science of pinball and of allowing the full history of the game – from its birth as Bagatelle to its life in the digital era – to unfold. Read more >> about Pinball museum raising funds for San Francisco move

The Maritime Report: Sailors' Hands Across the Sea

Submitted by Dave Bloch on

In celebration of the America's Cup and the Artemis Racing team choosing Alameda for their local base, the seven yacht clubs of the "Island City" recently sent a letter (a real paper one) signed by all the Commodores to the head of the Lidingö Segelsällskäp in Lidingö, Sweden. As you may have read in this space before, Lidingö is one of Alameda's sister cities, appropriate as both are islands connected to a major city (Oakland and Stockholm, respectively). Read more >> about The Maritime Report: Sailors' Hands Across the Sea

Pacific Pinball Museum plots San Francisco move; and a Letter from Lidingö

The founders of the Pacific Pinball Museum on Webster Street are raising money to move to a new location – in San Francisco. They’ve set up an online campaign in an attempt to raise $1.5 million to fund a move to the Exploratorium’s soon-to-be-vacated space at the Palace of Fine Arts, in which they’re hoping to further their goal of preserving the art and science of pinball and of allowing the full history of the game – from its birth as Bagatelle to its life in the digital era – to unfold. Read more >> about Pacific Pinball Museum plots San Francisco move; and a Letter from Lidingö

ALAMEDA HISTORY: The Alameda-Encinal Football Series

Jim Pruitt and ...
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - 12:05am

Alameda High School opened in 1902. For decades, the Alameda athletic rivalry was with the Berkeley High School. Their respective team names – the Hornets and the Yellow Jackets – are an echo of this long-standing competition. The creation of Encinal High School, which opened as a freshman-only school in 1952, began to supplant that rivalry on September 30, 1955, when Alameda and Encinal played their first varsity football game. Read more >> about ALAMEDA HISTORY: The Alameda-Encinal Football Series

ALAMEDA HISTORY: The Island Bowl

For decades, Alameda's athletic rivalry was with the Berkeley High School. But the creation of Encinal High School, which opened as a freshman-only school in 1952, served to supplant that rivalry. On September 30, 1955, Alameda and Encinal played their first varsity football game. Fifty-eight years later, their tradition continues, with this year's big game taking place Friday. Jim Pruitt and Kate DeWein offer a history of the big game, special to The Alamedan today. Read more >> about ALAMEDA HISTORY: The Island Bowl

Amblin’ Alameda: I Am A Nature Lover

Submitted by Morton Chalfy on

I am a nature lover. My children are nature lovers. My grandson, who turned six years old today, is a nature lover. He lives with his parents (my daughter and her husband) on the edge of a nature preserve in the wilds of Colorado and apparently loves growing up in that environment. Living here in Alameda is not quite the same but it does have nature close at hand. The beaches and Bay front, the tree canopies that roof the streets and the close proximity of the many state and national parks that surround us let us know that we are still in Mother Nature’s bosom. Read more >> about Amblin’ Alameda: I Am A Nature Lover

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