The Menagerie Oddities & Curiosities Market held last month brought an estimated 2,000 visitors to the Alameda Elks Lodge where nearly 50 artists and vendors exhibited their works. The event was curated by a team of local artists who selected purveyors of extraordinary wares from as far away as Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles and places in between.
One of Alameda’s stately civic landmarks is the Veterans Memorial Building at 2203 Central Ave. Given its advancing age, the building has required maintenance recently and officials expect it to remain closed for at least the next month. Aquired by the city in 1996, the building has been home to the “Underground” Teen Center, a program operated by the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department.
The Alameda Fire Department’s (AFD) Home Safety Program provides much-needed services to low-to-moderate income residents older than 62 and to the disabled of any age. The program provides and installs the newly required 10-year-maintenance-free smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
The program can also provide and install grab bars, handrails and raised toilets. Safety items including nightlights, flashlights and grab sticks are also available. Alameda residents may call Maria Young at 337-2133 to qualify for the program.
The California least tern, Sterna antillarum browni, is an endangered species. It is the smallest member of the gull family or Laridae. Only 9 inches long with a wingspan of near 20 inches, a least tern is tiny compared to the nearest-sized tern species common here, the Forster’s tern, which is 14.5 inches long and has a wing span of more than 30 inches.
Join the members of Alameda’s Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks for a unique concert to benefit Valor Games Far West this Sunday, May 26, from 7 to 10 p.m. The blend of comedy and music will benefit injured, ill and wounded veterans. Headliner comedian Dennis Gaxiola will perform along with the Groove Band featuring Darilyn Pearl and Guitar Mac Blues Express with special guest Mary Torres as Rosie the Riveter. The Valor Games (shown above in 2017) take place from Thursday, May 30, to Sunday, June 2, on Coast Guard Island in Alameda.
