Ginny Prior’s “The Town Crier” Column from “The Montclarion”
MONTCLARION: September 13, 2013
The Oakland hills have been in the “crime-light” a lot this summer. It began June 20 with two thugs ramming their truck through the front of the Park Boulevard 76 station and hauling away the ATM. Then there were the trio of robberies at Bank of the West in Montclair — seemingly all committed by one suspect. Last week, employees spotted the man outside the bank — yet again — and this time they locked the door and called police. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: Sept 6, 2013
Old friends make us feel young. It’s why we giggle when we get together with classmates. It’s why some of us sit on the Dairy Queen wall with our buddies, 42 years after high school in Minnesota. It’s also why Helen Barnes spent so many hours hunting down grads from her Oakland Tech class of 1953. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: August 30, 2013
There’s something inexplicably sexy about Old Oakland. She’s like a woman unaware of her charm. Yet every time I visit this section of town, I’m drawn to the classic beauty of those red brick Victorian buildings that hearken back to a simpler time. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: August 16, 2013
He was a handsome young fellow — resting on a fence post in Southwestern Montana. Where was he headed — and where had he been? It turns out the chocolate brown prairie falcon was born here in the East Bay — and flew all the way to Montana’s Centennial Valley sometime last month. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: August 8, 2013
‘Tis a romantic man, indeed, who spends two years on a love letter. But Oakland photographer Simon Christen will tell you it was worth every minute of it. The object of his affection is fog — a soft, flowing mistress who can also be hard and unyielding. Certainly, there is something in the way she moves that attracts him like no other lover (with a nod to George Harrison’s “Something”). Continue reading
MONTCLARION: August 2, 2013
It’s a parents’ worst nightmare — to lose a child to gun violence. But in the case of 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine, the loss extends well beyond family and friends. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: July 24, 2013
When is a weed a good thing? When it brings us together to whack, pluck or pull it. On Aug. 3, neighbors will gather with shovels and sheers to spruce up Montclair Park. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: July 17, 2013
There I was, sipping wine in my fleece and thinking “isn’t summertime wonderful?” The fog bank was sitting just off the coast and the air was deliciously chilled. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: July 10, 2013
Some people dream about riches. Oakland’s Jennie Schacht dreams about rich food. The night her book “I Scream Sandwich!” was born, she was practically salivating. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: July 5, 2013
The year was 1955. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower was president and “Gunsmoke” was making its debut on CBS. Oh — and Miles Standish was graduating from Montclair Elementary School. It was an innocent time to be a young teen. Standish remembers the kinds of things kids did in Montclair back then: “Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies, dancing lessons at the Women’s Club, movies in the auditorium on Saturdays ….” Continue reading
Ginny Prior 