By Don Dunning | October 31, 2010
My wife and I went to a fantastic Halloween party last night. The entire house and gardens were decorated straight out of a Hollywood horror movie: tombstones; full sized skeletons, spooky lights and eerie sounds. Down to the door mats, towels, and cobweb-covered bed linens, everything kept to the Halloween theme. The groaning board of […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | October 17, 2010
Yesterday was the eighth annual “Walk Around the Lake” for the Oral Lee Brown Foundation, sponsored by the Oakland Association of Realtors. Started in 1987 by Oakland Realtor Oral Lee Brown, this organization mentors students, beginning in the first grade, and sends them to college tuition-free. See my previous post, “Oral Lee Brown Ice Cream […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | October 10, 2010
Yesterday, my wife and I enjoyed one of Oakland’s newer traditions — Oaktoberfest in the Dimond district. We were happy to see that it had expanded from its MacArthur Blvd. only location, where it began in 2008, to spilling out onto Fruitvale Ave. With three entertainment stages, there was, literally, dancing in the streets. Sausages, […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | October 21, 2009
Halloween is coming to the Oakland Zoo, one of our city’s prime attractions. October 24th is the first day of the zoo’s annual, “Boo at the Zoo.” You and your kids can also choose from two other days for fun – the 25th and 31st. Plan to ride the Boo train and to participate in […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | October 4, 2009
Yesterday, my wife and I attended a very special event, the 20th annual “Festival of Harps, a Celebration of World Harp Music.” We heard about it through the e-newsletter of our favorite harpist, Aryeh Frankfurter (Lionharp Music). The venue was the unique and fabulous Chapel of the Chimes on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. Built in […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | October 1, 2009
Huge earthquakes shook Samoa and Indonesia in the past few days. Scientists predict the Big One in Northern California within the next 30 years. A large scale, fire/earthquake drill is taking place on October 15, at 10:15 AM when everyone is being encouraged to “Drop, Cover and Hold On” as though you were experiencing a […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | August 30, 2009
I had a double reason to visit Oakland’s Montclair Farmers’ Market this morning. Started in 2005, the market has been a huge success. A large section of LaSalle Avenue is closed to traffic and filled with vendors whose stalls are brimming with gorgeous fruits, vegetables, pastries, ethnic foods and so much more. The primary reason […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | August 22, 2009
Sometimes it’s difficult to make social appointments when you work in real estate. My wife and I were planning to join this morning’s tour of Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery, “Noted, Notable and Notorious,” but work intervened. It may seem strange to some to go traipsing among the tombstones, but think about it as a place […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | October 12, 2008
On September 27th, I took part in the sixth annual Walk Around the Lake for the Oral Lee Brown Foundation. The circuit is around Lake Merritt and I’ve participated every year since the beginning. Unfortunately, this year I forgot my camera, but have included some photos from previous years. Besides supporting a great charity, the […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | October 10, 2008
Originally appeared in Bay Area News Group publications on October 10th and 19th, 2008 as a companion piece to my Oct. 5th, 2008 Oaktoberfest blog
Updated June 2015.
The Dimond District has, indeed, proven to be a success story.
The area around the Fruitvale/MacArthur intersection of the Dimond District has always been alive with activity. Those in the neighborhood could pick up coffee on the way to the San Francisco express bus, do their banking, and stop off for Chinese food or pizza after work.
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