Photo by Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group
MONTCLARION: August 29, 2019
Spain was never on my bucket list. I don’t speak Spanish, and summers there can be searing-hot. But here I am, on a Norwegian Air nonstop flight from Oakland to Barcelona. It seems everyone I know has been to Barcelona this summer. The route has been popular, according to Anders Lindström, Norwegian Air’s director of communications for North America.
courtesy of Chris Gulli
A group at an Oakland hills park enjoys a recent game of Ultimate Frisbee. There are four pickup games a week in Montclair and Shepherd Canyon parks, and players range in age from 7 to 70, says longtime player Chris Gulli.
MONTCLARION: August 16, 2019
Who knew a flying disc could bring so much joy to the hills? Ultimate Frisbee is bringing “kids” of all ages together and the organizers are looking for you. “You don’t even need a Frisbee to come out and play” says longtime player Chris Gulli. “All you need is a willingness to learn the game and have fun.” Continue reading
PIEDMONT LIVING MAGAZINE: JULY, 2019
MONTCLAIR LIVING, PIEDMONT LIVING, BERKELEY LIVING MAGAZINES: JULY, 2019
Salvio Pacheco Square in downtown Concord sits across from Todos Santos Plaza, which pulsates with everything from live Latin jazz to Concord’s world champion Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of jazz in Concord, and in a nod to the late Montclair and Concord Dave Brubeck is being celebrated Aug. 1-10 with Take 10 — 10 days of jazz events. – Photo Courtesy of Visit Concord
EASTBAYTIMES.COM: July 12, 2019
It was the first jazz standard in the country to sell a million records. Dave Brubeck’s syncopated 5/4-time hit “Take Five” is one of the most recognized songs in the jazz genre — but did you know Brubeck’s connection to Concord helped spawn the Concord Pavilion and the famed Concord Jazz record label? Continue reading
Old fashioned Guerneville 5 & 10 in downtown Guerneville. Photo by Ginny Prior
EASTBAYTIMES.COM: June 14, 2019
It’s the trifecta of topography — the redwoods, the river and the ocean. Add 130 wineries to the mix (from the Russian River Valley American Viticultural Area), and Guerneville comes up as the perfect setting for a culinary adventure. Continue reading
Ginny Prior/for Bay Area News Group Farmstead Cheeses and Wines’ chief cheese monger, Jeff Diamond, “cracks a parm” — slices open a giant Parmesan cheese wheel — for food and wine writers recently at his Montclair store.
MONTCLARION: May 20, 2019
As far as cheese goes, it was a beaut — 85 pounds of fresh Parmesan, a wheel so big it took a young clerk to flip it. Farmstead Cheeses and Wines’ chief cheese monger, Jeff Diamond, treated journalists to a show the other night. “Cracking a ‘parm’ is a very cool thing,” he quipped. “And I’m always excited when I can show folks how it’s done.” Continue reading
“Four Days Diablo” hikers dine recently at Curry Canyon Ranch in the shadow of Mount Diablo. At least three Montclarions participated recently in the soft-adventure hiking and camping trip along the 30-mile Diablo Trail linking Walnut Creek to Brentwood.
MONTCLARION: May 9, 2019
Montclarions Steve and Carolyn Balling have hiked all over the world. So has Oakland’s Shirley Langlois. But there’s a place in their own backyard that keeps calling them back — Mount Diablo. Continue reading
Ginny Prior/for Bay Area News Group Kent Steinwert, the chair of Farmers and Mechanics Bank (F&M), appears recently in front of the new building his bank financed in Montclair. F&M will occupy one of three new spaces in the building.
MONTCLARION: April 25, 2019
It’s been 15 some years in the making, but plans are moving forward to transform Montclair’s Antioch Court into a pedestrian plaza. A handful of us reminisced the other night about our meetings back in the early 2000s, when we first started exploring this concept. With the Montclair Village Association behind it, the money is starting to come in for a community space on a little street with so much potential. Continue reading
A group of hikers and a dog take a break while trekking above Hollywood in Runyon Canyon, one of the most popular dog destinations in Los Angeles, which in turn is possibly one of the planet’s most pet-friendly places for travelers. (courtesy of Danny Roman)
EASTBAYTIMES.COM: April 18, 2019
In Travels with Charley, author John Steinbeck takes his wife’s poodle, Charley, on a soul-searching journey and discovers what many of us know today — that traveling with pets is rewarding. A survey of travelers by TripAdvisor found that 53 percent of us sojourn with snorkies, schnauzers and other pets — unbred and not. Continue reading
