Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda for August 4, 2024

Art Abounds

This week, Alameda said goodbye to July and hello to August. The days are a bit shorter at night as local youths enjoy the last of their summer vacation. One of the great things about this time is that marks the start of our best weather. My HC has already shed his ski gloves and furry hat on our morning walks. Last weekend, I did a quick run to the Park Street Art and Wine Faire . This was the 37th occurrence of the event that draws as many folks to the island as the 4th of July parade . It is a big deal—and a lot of work.

I went down on Saturday night to do a security check on my HC’s Forward Alameda booth. Then, on Sunday I did a quick stroll to see what vendors were of interest—from the canine perspective, of course.

My first stop was the FAAS mobile adoption bus. I have such fond memories from the many months I was their guest before I got this roving reporter gig. The pack of three black German shepherd puppies were so adorable that I didn’t flip out when I saw them.

I picked up a new leash from the guy selling recycled climbing rope dog leashes and took a particular interest in the jerky booth. The teriyaki was my favorite—but you would never know it because I gobbled all the different samples down with equal zeal. I saw the picture of the dog, cat, and horse on the sign selling pet CBD. I told the salesperson I didn’t have combined bone deficiency and moved on.

The Spinning Bones tent got the “Best Smell” award for the food they were serving, and I just want to say how nice it was to see—and smell—a local business participating in the event. Our mayor was on hand at the CERT booth chatting it up with faire-goers about public safety. This year’s faire had enough to keep me interested, and apparently had enough going on to keep 40,000-plus people happy for two days.

There was more art going on in the city, with the Frank Bette Center for the Arts annual Plein Aire Exhibition held at Southshore. “ Plein Aire ” is the French phrase for outdoor painting, and this exhibition featured the works of painters that roamed around the city looking for interesting sights. If you missed the exhibition, all the pieces will be on display through the month of August at the Frank Bette Center gallery located at 1601 Paru Street, on the corner of Lincoln Avenue.

It has been a long time since I have seen any art on Alameda utility poles, but this week I found a “ Visualize World Peace ” artwork on Lincoln Avenue near Ninth Street.

There is an ongoing art show happening on Webster Street in the form of outdoor murals. Check out the reel I put together. There is even more to see on the street, which I will cover in a future report.

Although I spend a lot of time focusing on the art scene, there were other things going on around town. The road crew responsible for taking down the old signals along the recently upgraded Encinal Avenue finally got to the last intersection of Oak Street and Encinal Avenue and pulled out the old green signals.

I am concluding this week’s report with an image that folks only need to know where I saw it to fully appreciate the photo. Me and my HC went to Star Pizza to pick up a to-go pie. When we left the takeout section, there was a car double parked in front of the door. My guess is that these guys knew exactly what was about to happen.

Have a great week.

Mouf, Roving Reporter
Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda

Mouf and his human companion can be reached via jeffcambraalameda@gmail.com . Their stories are collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jeff-Cambra/ . All photos and videos by Jeff Cambra.

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