Extracted text · highlighting “Property Develop-”

The

VOL 41
VOL 41    •    NO. 1
NO. 1    •    ISSUE  NO. 437
ISSUE  NO. 437    •    JANUARY 10, 2026
JANUARY 10, 2026
                 CIRCULATION:
CIRCULATION: 6,700 R
6,700 RESIDENCES
ESIDENCES; 200 B
; 200 BUSINESSES
USINESSES

Sponsored by the Rockridge Community Planning Council (RCPC)  •  4900 Shattuck Ave., PO Box 22504, Oakland, 94609

“RO” illustration by Laura Serra       Temporary nameplate set in Sutro font to honor late typeface designer & Rockridge resident Jim Parkinson    see bio on page 9

The Feminist Message Behind Gen Z and Millennial ‘Grandmas’

by Zoë Psomas, Senior at Oakland Tech
Amidst the bustling excitement of
College Avenue lies a quaint shop
that has shelves lined with jars of all
sizes, packets with hand drawn labels
and tools that one can only guess the
purpose of.
Elizabeth Vecchiarelli opened
Preserved back in 2015 as a place
where she could spread her passion for
canning and fermentation. The store
has gained so much popularity that it
moved to its current shopfront in June
2025—to have a larger space to display
goods and teach classes.
“When I first opened, not just cus-
tomers, but even family and friends
thought that my idea was pretty
fringe,” remembered Vecchiarelli. “But
then I was able to experience how pop
culture, shows and books can change
people’s perception, which is really
Elizabeth Vecchiarelli strings garland for her
store Preserved  |  photo by Zoë Psomas

why we grew so much.”
Fermentation isn’t the only domestic
hobby that is experiencing a spike in
popularity. According to Insight News
Wire, the global arts and crafts market
has reached $47.97 billion, with North
America accounting for 40% of the
market. Most of that is accounted for
by younger generations like Gen Z and
Millenials, Insight reported.
Natalia Anna Michna is a femi-
nist with a doctorate in philosophy
based in Poland, who wrote the book
“Women and Culture: The Problem of
Experience in Feminist Philosophy.”
She is among a group of feminists
such as Beth Ann Pentney, Elizabeth
Groeneveld and Betsy Greer who claim
that, beyond being a hobby, crafting has
the potential to create social change.
Craft, continued page 5

A Seance (of Sorts) at the Haunted Rockridge Improvement Club

by Liam Pierce

‘Seance’ crew, from left-to-right: Cinthia Varkevisser, Colin Pierce, Judy Sorensen, Sara-Jean Bartky & Kaylee Gonzales

Three weeks before Halloween,
some afterhours footage of The
Rockridge Improvement Club (RIC)
went viral, slipping through screens
like a cold draft. It’s a static, wide-angle
black-and-white shot of the beloved
dive bar—ironically named after a
1900s community club that frowned
on saloons—completely empty with
a row of bartop stools seen from the
bartender’s side.
Seven seconds in, the third bar stool
from the left quickly pulls about three
feet away from the tidy row against the
counter into a semi-arc—seemingly
entirely on its own, a spectral invite to
take a seat. Without a soul in sight.
Haunting, continued page 6

Photo by Liam Pierce

●   Food Drive Totals, page 3     ●   Aurora School Merger, page 4    ●   Solving the College/Claremont Mess, page 5
INSIDE:


January 2026
page 2
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

RNews
RNews
CORRECTIONS

The

Rockridge News

The
 ●"Gift Guide" (Dec. ’25)
The Epsom salt float is offered by
Reboot Float Spa rebootfloatspa.com,
not Cocoon Day Spa, which, instead,
offers: deep tissue relief, lymphatic
massage, total relaxation and a blend
of multiple massage techniques.
cocoondayspa.com/rockridge/

Contribute to the
New RCPC Website
The Rockridge News was founded in March
1986 by Don Kinkead and is published monthly
(except August). It is sponsored by the Rockridge
Community Planning Council (RCPC),  a nonprofit
public benefit organization founded to: preserve
and enhance the unique character of the Rockridge
neighborhood; promote the health, safety and
quality of life of its residents; furnish a forum for
community involvement; and provide leadership
and representation of neighborhood interests.
by Gary Barg, RCPC Board Member
R
CPC will launch a new version of
our community website towards
the end of January 2026. You’ll see
familiar features such as a searchable
archive of The Rockridge News and
some new highlights like a neighbor-
hood blog and an events calendar,
which grew out of the Community
Vision Plan.
The blog will feature articles from
each new issue of The Rockridge News,
articles written by the RCPC board and
by you: the Rockridge community!
Rockridge News Production
Liam Pierce.........................Editor & Layout Artist
Susan Montauk...............Business & Distribution Mgr.
RCPC Board of Directors, 2026
Casey Farmer...............................................Chair
Star Lightner.........................................Vice Chair
Jana Good.............................................Secretary
Paul McDonnell......................................Treasurer
SUBMITTING BLOGS AND EVENTS
Mark Aaronson, Gary Barg, Kristen Belt, Eli
Kaplan, Tom Lollini, Robbie Tasker, Zack Walton,
Kim Suczynski-Smith, Muhammad Alameldin.
BLOGS:
•	 Articles should focus on issues that
are important to our community, for
example: safety, housing, sustainabil-
ity and transportation.
•	 Topics will evolve to reflect current
concerns of the community.
•	 Articles should be fact-based with-
out bias or opinion.
•	 Submit articles to:
SOLD (AGAIN)
IN ROCKRIDGE!
Contact the board: chair@rockridge.org
For information: info@rockridge.org
Contacting The Rockidge News
Are there topics you’d like to see covered in
the Rockridge News? Have questions about
newsletter distribution? Want to volunteer to
be a Rockridge News distributor? We’d love to
hear from you.
rcpcwebeditor@gmail.com for light
editing and review to ensure they
meet criteria. Please include your
name and the street you live on.
Letters to the Editor
Letters are limited to 350 words and published
at the editor's discretion in the order received.
Send letters to: editor@rockridge.org. Please
include name, email and street of residence.
Deadline is the 11th of each month for the
upcoming newsletter.
6218 MANOA STREET
EVENTS:
•	 The events calendar will feature
community-based happenings like
club meetings, exercise groups, edu-
cational groups and others.
•	 Events must be based in Rockridge
and be currently active with sched-
uled activities.
•	 They are neither partisan nor polit-
ical events that support particular
candidates.
•	 Submit your event to:
It was an honor listing
this exceptional Rockridge home*
for the 2nd time!
This time it received 6 offers,
and closed for $2,700,000
(a whopping 59% over list price).
Happy Holidays for our seller!
All submissions accepted for publication are
subject to editing for clarity and brevity. The
Rockridge News reserves the right to refuse any
articles, letters or advertisements.
Newsletter Subscriptions
For a yearly subscription to the Rockridge
News, send your check for $22, payable to
RCPC with “Rockridge News” noted on the
memo line.
Contact me if you’re thinking about
listing your home  ~Maxi
Mail payment to: RCPC, 4900 Shattuck Ave.,
PO Box 22504, Oakland, CA, 94609
rcpcwebeditor@gmail.com &
include:
ADVERTISING DEADLINE for FEB. 2026:
JAN. 22, 2026
MAXI LILLEY
Rates: $32/column inch ($28 for b/w)
6-month pre-pay discounts available.
º a picture or two relating to event
	º date & location for next activity
	º describe purpose of the group
	º a short description of the next
scheduled activity.
510.919.8997
maxi@redoakrealty.com
For display ads and classifieds:
Email Susan Montauk: smontauk@gmail.com
Views expressed in published articles
do not necessarily reflect those of the
Rockridge News, its editor, or the board of
directors of RCPC. ●
The Rockridge Realtor®
Let us know if you have questions:
info@rockridge.org. ●
with a Designer’s Eye
*CO-LISTED WITH SARI COOPER •  DRE#1919653


January 2026
page 3
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The
THE SNAP FOOD DRIVE WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!
by Star Lightner, RCPC Vice Chair
$14,126 TOTAL RAISED
$6,126 donated by
the neighborhood
$8,000 match:
•
$2,000: RCPC
•
$5,000: College Avenue
.            Presbyterian Church
•
$1,000: Chabot Road Neighbors
1,539 POUNDS OF FOOD
Collected at Market Hall, the Rockridge library
and Claremont Middle School locations.
Thanks to everyone in Rockridge for stepping up and helping the record number
of people who are food insecure at this time of precarious federal funding. ●

Become a Rockridge
News Marshal
Welcome aboard Tim Kelly,
our new Marshal for Alcatraz
area distribution for Rockridge News!
Residents from Alcatraz Ave. to the
Berkeley border are thankful to Cristin
Williams for her excellent service and
will see no interruption in delivery of
Rockridge News. Thank you, Tim!
We say goodbye and thank you to
Paolomee Udani. Her life has become
much busier and she needs to
relinquish her College Ave. route.
Please let us know if you live nearby
and can take the Coronado route. The
College route is particularly fun for any-
one who likes to stroll the Avenue.
We don’t want to leave any block
within RCPC boundaries out of the
delivery network!
AVAILABLE ROUTES
14C/14D:
Both sides of Coronado Avenue
from 51st St. to Desmond Street.
Deliver copies to the library of Merrill
Gardens at Rockridge senior living
community, 5238 Coronado Ave.
CAv1:
Businesses/apartments along
College from Claremont to BART.
Stack at Zachary’s (50 papers).
To volunteer:
Call / email Susan at 510-547-3855
or smontauk@gmail.com if you are
interested and/or need more info. ●


January 2026
page 4
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The
Aurora School Grows Early Education
Programs in Collaboration with Mills
College Children’s School
by Amina Tongun, Junior at Oakland Tech
DO YOU LIKE YOUR HYMNS
WITH A TOUCH OF
BLUEGRASS?
If so, we might be
the church for you.
COLLEGE AVENUE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
SUNDAYS 10:30AM
www.capcoakland.org
An aerial view of Aurora School’s campus. | Photo courtesy of Aurora School
Aurora school is preparing to
expand their educational offerings
through a new collaboration with Mills
College Children’s School (MCCS),
which is set to close in June 2026 after
Northeastern University’s merger with
Mills College.
Approximately 20 MCCS families
are expected to transfer to Aurora and
the school committed to hiring at least
two MCCS educators, with plans to
hire more depending on enrollment.
The collaboration will include the
addition of a full-day transitional
kindergarten and preschool program
over the course of three years, and will
serve as a mix between MCCS and
Aurora’s curriculum. Aurora leaders
emphasized that the arrangement is
not a merger, but rather a communi-
ty collaboration, focusing on growth
rather than consolidation.
“Ultimately our early childhood pro-
gram would be modeled on the same
ethos that we built our K-8 program,”
said head of school Lynsey Kamine.
Kamine described MCCS’s closure as
a huge loss for the community—MCCS
has been serving Oakland for nearly
100 years— and said the collaboration
was formed in response to that transi-
tion. Kamine said that Aurora hopes to
prioritize hiring of MCCS staff during
the process to help maintain continuity
for students.
School leaders say the collaboration
aims to preserve the legacy of MCCS
while expanding early childhood edu-
cation options in the Rockridge area.
Kamine said, “The goal is to make an
educational community that kids and
families deserve.” ●
CollegePrep
A private high school for grades 9-12

At College Prep, education is more than a curriculum—it’s a shared journey fueled by curiosity and
passion. Here, academics are just the start. Dive into our rigorous, thoughtfully designed curriculum
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6100 Broadway     Oakland CA 94618     510.652.4364   college-prep.org


January 2026
page 5
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The
Craft, continued from cover
screaming voice and the ability to walk.”
On the other hand, Ayaan Sheth-
Lin, a Rockridge Gen Z resident who
enjoys knitting and baking, agrees with
Michna’s theory. Sheth-Lin believes that
partaking in domestic hobbies is a way
of reclaiming them to be a symbol of
autonomy rather than domesticity.
“If you’re being forced to knit, or it’s
being seen as a sign of womanhood and
purity, then it’s not really feminist,” she
said, referencing women of past gener-
ations. “But if it’s in the context of oper-
ating outside of a capitalistic system and
creating something, then it definitely is.”
In addition to boycotting a capitalistic
society by making crafts instead of buy-
ing them, Vecchiarelli argues that trying
out domestic traditions can connect
people with their matriarchs.
“It’s like tapping into your inner
grandmother,” Vecchiarelli said. “It’s
what women have been doing for cen-
turies; there’s something empowering in
bringing those talents back to support
the community and family.”
Whether or not grandma hobbies
truly constitute a new feminist move-
ment, Michna argues that they’re worth
trying out.
“History showed us that sometimes
the great revolutions begin with very
small gestures,” she said. “Sometimes we
just don’t know that what we’re doing is
going to change the world radically.”
popularity, these communities increas-
ingly span age groups.
“One of the most important features
of handicrafts is their ability to connect
generations,” Michna said. “Handicrafts
preserve intergenerational knowledge;
they’re a means to cast some exper-
iences, some thoughts.”
“The feminists were the first to
reclaim domestic crafts as meaningful
and important,” Michna told Rockridge
News. “They brought attention to those
practices, which were devalued or omit-
ted by traditional arts.”
LEADING THE WAY
In the 1960s and ’70s, feminist artists
began experimenting with domestic
crafts to create art, challenging the
narrative that only traditional mediums
of paint and sculpture could be deemed
art. Feminists highlighted the tasks
women had been doing for centuries by
yarn bombing (quickly covering objects
with a knitted or crocheted layer), cre-
ating intricately quilted tapestries and
embroidering political messages.
Faith Ringgold, for example, was
famous for her story quilts, inspired by
her African-American heritage. Some
common themes in her work were sex-
uality and motherhood, ideas that are
explored extensively in feminist fields of
study—all detailed in her textiles.
Holly Gundolfi, an eight-year
Rockridge resident, witnessed just how
empowering the elevation of domestic
crafts to art could be for her mother.
“She was a one-woman factory
cranking out quilts,” Gundolfi said. “I
asked her if she would consider display-
ing some of her quilts; she did and it
became a very popular art show at my
friend’s coffee house. She realized, ‘oh,
this is something that is important.’”
Grandma hobbies can create change
through the communities they create. To
grow their local fermenting community,
Preserved hosts a bimonthly food and
culture swap, where people bring food
and cultures like sourdough starters.
“We sell cultures and starters, but
really, that stuff is meant to be passed
down and we encourage people to do
just that,” Vecchiarelli said. “You want
to start brewing kombucha, you’re
gonna brew, you’re gonna get a lot of
scobies, so you might as well pass those
scobies along.”
Michna said that a big part of the
power in domestic crafts is how they
facilitate connections that offer a safe
space to discuss trauma and oppression.
As domestic hobbies have grown in
PASSING THE TORCH
Both Gundolfi and Susanne Schus-
ter, another Rockridge resident, have
passed down their artistic talents to
their grandchildren. For Schuster, it
was cooking that piqued her grand-
children’s interests.
“We like to cook together—there are
wonderful children’s cookbooks,” Schus-
ter said. “We’d go to the store, get sushi
rice and talk to the person at Safeway
that makes sushi to get some ideas.”
Schuster has been crafting since
kindergarten, when her teacher taught
her to knit. She later learned how to sew
from her godmother, who lived down
the street. But Schuster is hesitant to call
her art feminist. She never imagined
that her knitting or sewing could create
feminist change. She sees public displays
of dissent as a more effective means
to create change than post-socialism’s
“weak resistance,” a term used by Mich-
na to describe social action that empha-
sizes small, everyday acts of resistance.
“I used any methods I could think
of to incite feminist change,” Schuster
said of her time protesting in the ’60s
and ’70s. “But I didn’t have anything
that lent itself to the cause other than a
Editor’s note: author Zoë Psomas just won a
four-month fellowship with Oaklandside to
report on challenges & opportunities facing
Oakland Public Schools, starting this month.
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January 2026
page 6
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The
TUNING IN
After asking this motley Scooby Doo
gang to relax their bodies and tune in,
Varkevisser dispatched them to feel
out the space for themselves, providing
candles to place in any parts where the
energy moved them.
Several people said that one bath-
room had a dark vibe to it, as well as
a photobooth tucked into a corner of
an arcade room that had an old photo
of a man (that Bartky later theorized
was her ghost farmer). Some people
felt headaches or anxiety in different
spaces—including where the barstool
moved in the video. Varkevisser insisted
that whatever energy moved it was tied
to the space, not the specific chair.
Examining the exact area where
the bar stool moved in the video and
the location of the camera, it becomes
apparent that this would be hard to pull
off in the world of the living. You can
watch the video, as well as the mo-
tion-activated footage of Gale closing 45
minutes prior, directly from the security
app, which means it’d be complicated to
slip AI in there.
“Could someone hide under the bar
and push the chair out and sneak out?”
Ayers said with genuine doubt unbefit-
ting of someone pulling your barstool
leg. “It would take a lot of patience, but
yeah, definitely possible.”
The very wide angle of the video
obscures two areas where a prankster
could’ve been but they were either too
far or very tricky: far to the left of the
screen with fishing wire to pull the chair
or they would’ve had to be flat on the
ground or squished in the tiny space
between the stools and the bar. To add
difficulty to the prank, managing a
push with that force from below—given
stools’ extremely high center of gravity—
would take some wizardry of physics.
A dozen or so candles flicked shad-
ows across the walls as Varkevisser
rounded everyone up. She pointed to a
spot to the left of the fireplace—a few
feet from the stool that moved—where
there were a couple of candles and
asked who placed them there and what
they felt. Gonzales sensed a chill there.
“My arm hairs raised up,” said Ayers,
who prides himself as a skeptic who
hopes to be proven wrong.
Haunting, continued from cover
To see the video of the chair
mysteriously moving, visit:
“I don’t know how it happened,” RIC
owner Scott Ayers said, mentioning that
he saw footage of a bar manager Nathan
Gale closing up 45 minutes before the
motion sensor-activated cameras picked
up the moving chair. “I’m still waiting
for an employee to say, ‘Oh, it was me,’
but that still hasn’t happened.”
For many, the Oct. 9 footage felt
like tangible proof of the persistent,
half-century old rumors of the building
being possessed by spirits of the non-
booze variety. There are neighborhood
whispers of shadows and sounds—and
even an unconfirmed rumor of an
over-influenced California College of
the Arts professor in the ’80s who died
in the very space the chair moved. These
are the makings of Rockridge legend.
The video was convincing enough
to draw the attention of the TV show
Ghost Hunters, who are planning to
film an overnight investigation at the
end of January. But the need to connect
beyond the veil felt more urgent. It
called for an immediate seance.
instagram.com/the_ricbar
ently. And that everyone in the room
would become a barometer to whatever
histories were etched into the room like
grooves in a record—if they properly
tuned themselves. Some people leave
behind energy after they die and some
become entities. In the terms of the oth-
erworldly, if an energy is a current, then
an entity is the will behind a current.
Varkevisser then made some dis-
tinctions between energies/entities:
collective energy—layers of emotion
or intention—leaves residue behind
through repeated action; there are enti-
ties caught in repetitive loops, reliving
their own version of Groundhog Day;
and conscious intelligences, such as
guides or transient entities, that engage
with a space or person with intention,
often in response to a specific energy.
Varkevisser then asked if anyone had
prior experiences with energies and/or
entities in RIC. Ayers, a former rock star
in his band The Lovemakers, had slept
in the back room many nights since
buying the place in 2016. But he’s
experienced nothing worth telling
around a campfire.
Two employees, Sara-Jane Bartky and
Kaylee Gonzales, said they saw jet-black
shadows race across the storage room
wall when nothing should’ve generat-
ed them. Bartky said at one point she
heard a woman’s voice in her ear when
no one else was there. They had theories
about this being the ghost of a farmer
tilling the land in a direction maybe
spiritually askew from the building
plot, another about an angry minister,
though the building was never a church.
GHOST EXPERIENCE
“This isn’t a seance,” said Cinthia
Varkevisser, a professional mystic and
Rockridge resident from 1991–2011,
jokingly waving her hands as if to con-
jure a full body apparition. “It’s not even
as close to as sexy as it is on TV. But it
should be fun!”
On Dec. 23, at the stroke of midnight,
Varkevisser led a Rainbow Coalition
of nine believers and skeptics alike in
what she felt more comfortable calling a
“ghost experience.” She seated everyone
in a circle of chairs by the fireplace.
Her rationalization about ghosts
was transparent enough: that everyone
contributes and receives energy differ-


January 2026
page 7
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The

5527 Vicente Way is an Example of the
Density Bonus Law in Action

Haunting, cont’d from previous page
It was then that Varkevisser revealed
that there was, indeed, a ghost in the
room. There were no bolts of lightning;
the bulbs didn’t flicker—she said she
mostly senses these kinds of things
through conversations with her ances-
tors and in her throat chakra.
“Guess what? This is the lady,”
Varkevisser said matter-of-factly, later
noting that she sensed a ghost even
before she arrived. “She’s an organizer
who doesn’t like things messy. But she
likes that [Ayers] is tidy.”
Varkevisser sensed that this woman
was a manager of sorts, who organized
small objects in that space—maybe in
the 1930s—who dressed conservatively
and maybe died in her 40s.
After tapping into everyone else’s read
on the space—explaining that others
might have felt different energy wave-
lengths that she didn’t—Varkevisser
concluded the non-seance by asking
Ayers to create an altar for this woman
by the fireplace. Then, everyone snuffed
out their candles and left. The camera
did not pick up any barstools moving
on their own that night.
For renderings, visit:
by Muhammad Alameldin, RCPC Board Member
tinyurl.com/
m9bbefb2
The proposed development at
5527 Vicente Way—set to pour
foundation in early January—offers a
concrete example of how recent state
housing laws might shape construction
in Rockridge in the near future. The
project involves redeveloping a large
residential parcel into 14 for-sale town
homes, each three stories, with a mix
of two- and three-bedroom homes.
Several neighbors asked during
the RCPC-led Community Vision
Plan (CVP) process how the Califor-
nia Density Bonus Law functions in
practice. In this case, the density bonus
allowed for one additional home and
provided several waivers from zoning
standards that granted authority to
build additional units.
In exchange, one home will be sold
at an affordable price to a very low-in-
come household. For a two-person
household in 2025, that means an an-
nual income of no more than $63,950.
The homes range from roughly 930
to 1,200 square feet. Although com-
pact, the units are designed to meet
modern expectations: open layouts,
green building features, individual so-
lar arrays, EV-ready off-street parking
and a private yard or deck.
The project is a joint effort between
two Rockridge residents, Will Mollard
of the development company Work-
shop1 and Mike Branagh of Branagh
Development, the latter of which
developed the small row houses at
60th and Telegraph in 2015. Both have
worked locally for over a decade and
said they approached this site with
the goal of creating homes that are
attainable for families who want to stay
in, or move into, the neighborhood.
Construction is underway, with sales
anticipated to begin in summer 2026.
The development will pay standard
impact fees, including approximate-
ly $40,000 for transportation and
infrastructure, $52,000 for schools,
$140,000 for water and $13,000 for
sewer. It is also expected to generate
more than $200,000 in one-time trans-
fer taxes and approximately $175,000
in property taxes annually. ●
AFTERLIFE EFFECTS
Varkevisser’s most steady work
comes from a handful of realtors when
a house isn’t selling. She comes in to
clear the house by asking energies or
entities what they need and—in case of
a ghost—tries to make a communion
between past and present. She said after,
houses often sell in a couple weeks.
“Starting exactly the next night after
our ghost experience, business has been
up,” Ayers said, noting a 15% daily in-
crease. “I hate to admit it might be more
than a coincidence.”
By New Year’s Eve, there was a pile of
small objects for the lady, including rice,
flowers, candles and incense.
Ayers played a show that evening in
a Grateful Dead cover band that rang
in midnight right in front of the fire.
Perhaps with this spectral lady as the
fifth band member, keeping time.
But if our ghostly lady was so orga-
nized, what’s with pulling the chair out
of line? “I don’t really have an answer
for that,” Varkevisser said. “But my
sense is that it’s not her.” ●


January 2026
page 8
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The

Rockridge Man of Letters Shaped the Look
of News, Music, Bay Culture for Over 50 Years

Written and designed by Stephen Coles
We encounter letters of the alpha-
bet every day, all day. Arranged
together as words, they warn
us, persuade us and inspire us. They
deliver good and bad news. They tell
us where to go and what to do. And
it’s not just about what they say, but
how they say it; the design of letters
can instantly conjure a time, place
or emotion.
Yet how often do we think about
the people behind the shapes of those
letters? It’s easy to forget that practi-
cally every letterform we see—wheth-
er in print or on screen—was first
drawn by a human.
One of the world’s most successful
creators of those letters humbly resided
in Rockridge, totally unknown to most
of his neighbors. Designer and painter
Jim Parkinson (1941–2025) spent most
of his 83 years in the East Bay, and lived
his last 40 on Broadway Terrace. He
was a unique talent (and my dear friend).
Jim drew letters and designed type-
faces for dozens of familiar brands,
from Rolling Stone to the Ringling
Brothers. He made fonts for the
San Francisco Chronicle and other
publications, and refined countless
nameplates for magazines and news-
papers. Visit any newsstand in the

“It was as if all the little beatniks and
arty people from hundreds of high
schools were all gathered in one place,”
Jim wrote. “That was the student
body. And there was a steady flow of
local artists, beat poets, jazz and blues
musicians and Arts and Crafts alumni
drifting onto the campus. There was
always something going on and the
atmosphere was very seductive.”
After graduating, Jim took a job as an
artist at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City,
where he spent his only years outside
the Bay Area. His incredible knack for
rendering any kind of lettering style
was perfectly suited to greeting cards.
But Jim wasn’t built for traditional em-
ployment, so he returned to Oakland
after only five years and launched a
freelance career that would last for
more than half a century.
From his home studio on Howe
Street near Piedmont Avenue, Jim
soaked up the counterculture of the
late 1960s and ’70s, doing work for
old classmates and people he met at
concerts and parties.
“I worked for money and for trade,”
Jim wrote. “I lettered for beer. I let-
tered for furniture. I even did a logo in
exchange for a 1953 Buick.”
Jim’s rock-and-roll lifestyle landed him
album art gigs for bands like the Bay Ar-
ea’s own: Creedence Clearwater Revival
and The Doobie Brothers. Yet it was his
acquaintance with an Oakland Hills ma-
gician and purveyor of typefaces, Dan X.
Jim Parkinson
Illustration by Laura Serra
U.S.—and even some abroad—and
you’ll see Jim’s work. Over the course
of his career, his logos could be found
on the covers of Atlanta Magazine,
Esquire, Los Angeles Magazine, Men’s
Journal, Mother Jones, Newsweek,
the Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles
Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune,
the Toronto Star and many more.
Jim was born in Oakland and raised
in Richmond. A neighbor—Abraham
Lincoln Paulsen, known as the “Wiz-
ard Penman”—introduced Jim to the
idea of lettering as an artform. Paulsen
could write just about anything up-
side-down and backwards, and was
even a featured attraction in the 1939
Golden Gate International Exposition.
“Mr. Paulsen presented lettering to
me as something fun and a little magi-
cal,” Jim wrote in his memoir, soon to
be published by Letterform Archive
in San Francisco. “At the same time I
was learning my A-B-C’s in grammar
school, I was practicing them at home
in [Paulsen’s trick lettering styles].”
While Jim was still young, his family
moved south so he could attend Pied-
mont High School. For college, he didn’t
stray far, enrolling at the California Col-
lege of Arts and Crafts in 1959, just as
its historic campus on Broadway began
to emanate a distinctly bohemian vibe.
Left: Hand-lettered logos by Jim Parkinson
Right: Jim’s home studio on Broadway Terrace


January 2026
page 9
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The
with me, and he welcomed
any interested person to his
home office.
That tiny room contained
a half-century of loving and
crafting letters. Its walls
and sills were packed with
Jim’s work and the stuff
that inspired it: vintage
prints, lettering manuals,
antique art supplies, wood
type, comics, family photos,
drawings by friends, thank-
you notes from students
and his favorite collectibles:
amusing headlines clipped
from newspapers.
I returned many times with my pals.
Their eyes would widen as he casually
opened flat files filled with original art-
work, the hand-inked sources for some
of the most famous logos in the world.
They smiled as he pulled up his sleeve
to reveal his tattoo—a blunt-smoking
skull with “Born to Letter” spelled
out above it and “Oakland” below. He
shared it all with joy, wisdom and a
casual silliness that—despite all his tal-
ent—kept him off of a pedestal. He took
his work seriously, but never himself.
When Jim wasn’t drawing logos or
making fonts, he was painting signs. Not
how you think. Jim’s hobby was depict-
ing vintage neon signs as fine art. His
photo albums from road trips through-
out the American West provided fodder
for dozens of large paintings that eventu-
ally filled the walls of his home. He cap-
tured every peeling surface and broken
glass tube in a way that somehow looks
even more real than his snapshots.
In 2010 Jim married Dorothy A.
Yule—a talented maker of miniature
books who deserves her own feature.
The two met at the San Francisco
Chronicle where they worked together
in the art department.
Jim’s last few years were stricken
with Alzheimer’s and he died on June
25, 2025. He was inurned at Chapel of
the Chimes on Jan. 7. As they dis-
cussed his final resting place, Dorothy
tells me that Jim said, “I don’t care
where I am as long as I’m with you.” ●
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Jim depicted California signs in oil paintings. Many are a
record of businesses long departed, like this Alameda shop.
Solo, that led to his most prominent job.
In 1976, as Rolling Stone magazine
matured from an underground rag
to a more polished publication, art
director Roger Black sought someone
with type skills. Solo introduced Black
to Jim, who went on to draw Rolling
Stone’s custom headlines and typefac-
es, as well as redesign the magazine’s
logo. Jim’s iconic mark—a swashy italic
with dimensional shading—is still used
today (with minor modifications).
After Jim’s mother died in 1982, he
moved into her house, a rare Colonial
Revival in Upper Rockridge. He tucked
his studio under a second floor gable.
This is where I first got to know Jim.
When I moved to Oakland in 2004, he
was one of the first people to connect
COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL
Scan the QR code for
upcoming informational events
or visit orindaacademy.org
Learn more: typographica.org/jim
The article is typeset in Jim Parkinson’s fonts: Richmond (headline) and Benicia (body).
Want to see Jim’s typefaces used in future issues of Rockridge News as a tribute to the
legacy he handcrafted here in Rockridge? Let us know! editor@rockridge.org


January 2026
page 10
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The

Solving the Dangerous Intersection of College and Claremont

by Thomas Lollini,
RCPC Land Use Chair
avigating the complex, six-
way intersection of Clare-
mont and College avenues
can be a harrowing experience.
Whether you approach it by foot,
wheelchair, stroller, bicycle, scooter,
motorcycle, car, bus or commercial
vehicle—you’re ensured chaos.
This is especially true when street
traffic is piling up in all directions—
double length buses and semi trucks
negotiating tight turns while frustrated
drivers push through yellow lights and
free right turns. Short signal times can
leave small children, older adults or
people with mobility issues struggling
to cross before the signal changes. And
everyone feels they could get whacked
by a bike or vehicle from any direction.
While the intersection at College
and Claremont avenues may seem like
an unsolvable tangle of paths, there is
a rather simple and elegant solution.
Rockridge should insert what is called
a pedestrian scramble.
To define it plainly: a pedestrian
scramble is a moment when crossing
signals are given only to pedestrians,
often times with crosswalk markings
laid down on the diagonals of the
intersection. Giving pedestrians a
moment to all cross at once just may
be the answer to building a cleaner,
safer and more aesthetically pleasing
northern gateway to Rockridge.

Rockridge could imitate Tokyo’s famous Shibuya Crossing and insert a ‘pedestrian scramble.’
|  Photo by William Warby

IT’S COMPLICATED
The intersections of 62nd and Flo-
rio streets add complexity, requiring
pedestrians to cross two streets just
to continue heading down College or
Claremont. Not to mention the poorly
synchronized signals on top of it all.
From each of the intersection’s six
approaches, drivers and cyclists have
five choices. They can go straight, hard
left, soft left, hard right or soft right.
This makes for a staggering 30 ways a
vehicle can pass through.
Sarah Rich—co-owner of the com-
munity hub Local Economy, around
the corner from the intersection—said
that she wants to give her kids, 9 and
12 years old, the autonomy to walk to
their storefront after school.
“They're the ideal age to be allowed
an increased independence,” Rich said.
“But the intersection is such a barrier
to me feeling comfortable with it; it's
just so incredibly dangerous.”
The Oakland Department of Trans-
portation (OakDOT)’s Safe Oakland
Streets (SOS) program designated
Claremont Avenue—the widest and
busiest of those streets—as a pedes-
trian high injury corridor in 2024,
and a series of community meetings
convened earlier this year has yet to
result in traffic calming or diversion
strategies in the neighborhood west of
this intersection.

Since 2013, when Berkeley identified
Claremont Avenue a high-injury street,
the road has seen seven severe-injury
crashes and a fatality last summer,
according to Berkeley’s Vision Zero
program. Six of the eight incidents in-
volved someone walking or biking. In
total, there have been 46 collisions on
the avenue over the same period, with
failure to yield the primary collision
factor in 26% of the incidents, unsafe
turns 17% and unsafe speed 15%.
Average daily traffic was recently
measured at 9,600 vehicles with more
than 500 northbound drivers at peak
travel times and 350 going south.
Both Berkeley and Oakland are
exploring a range of quick fixes, pro-
posing more prominent markings for
crosswalks and bike lanes, lengthening
red curbs so that parked cars don’t
obstruct corners, inserting medians
and improving signals and signage all
in the coming year.
However, those proposals are some-
what gaudy solutions to functionality,
when the pedestrian scramble is an
even simpler and perhaps more effec-
tive solution.
The mix of shops, services and
restaurants between Claremont and
Alcatraz are vibrant and thriving—
same goes for south on College. At
the intersection itself, Sfizio and Oken


January 2026
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The
restaurants have become destinations
and contribute to the area’s vitality.
But the blank walls and empty
parking lot of the Bank of America, the
dark glass of other financial institu-
tions and the fenced vacant triangle
combine with the asphalt expanse in a
manner that divides more than unifies
the six corners of this important place.
and replace them with sidewalk, you
have more protected space for people
on foot.
This would also shorten crossing dis-
tances by about 7 feet on both sides of
each street, reducing the crossing dis-
tance from 25–40% depending on the
width of the street—without impeding
traffic, but slowing it to a safer speed.
This spatial change works in tandem
with the pedestrian scram-
ble, reducing pedestri-
an crossing times
in every direction
to shorten the
length of the
all-ways cross-
ing signal.
It would also
add 700–1,000
sq. ft. to the
pedestrian
space at each
corner, accom-
modating strollers,
wheelchairs, conversa-
tion groups, space for street
furniture, trees, lighting and signage.
In some places this type of area has
been used to provide seating integrated
into concrete planters, which buffer
pedestrians from vehicular and bicycle
traffic and encourage hanging out or
providing a place to rest while waiting
to cross.
While the intersection in Tokyo is
relatively functional, asking a traffic
engineer to design your city is like
asking a plumber to design your
house. Yes, you want the traffic to flow
smoothly, but you want to be enjoying
the comfort and beauty of the public
domain. As Vitruvius once said, “ The
three essential qualities of building are
commodity, firmness and delight!”
So there’s no reason we can’t have
some fun with this idea; let’s not miss
the opportunity for vibrant street
graphics and public art!
When you build on to a public
space, you also leave room
for community expres-
sion and identity. And
there are very few
limits to what you
can do with color
on pavement.
Rich doesn’t
know exactly how
the idea came up
at one of her recent
dinner parties, but
someone proposed
putting in a pedestrian
scramble at the intersection,
even mentioning Tokyo’s Shibuya
Crossing.
“You don't feel a connectedness
across the College and Claremont
Avenue intersection at all; it feels like
different districts,” Rich said, noting
that the pedestrian scramble might
solve that. “It would be very cool
if people were freely crossing in all
directions through that space; almost
like the movement of the pedestrians
would knit together the disparate
corners of it.” ●
Illustration by Liam Pierce
TOKYO-STYLE AND MORE
The pedestrian scramble is an idea that
some of us in the community have
been thinking about for a while now.
The Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo
had a similar problem, with multiple
conflicting forms of traffic, five corners
and over 2,500 people wanting to cross
the street in multiple directions at peak
times. So, what did they do? They creat-
ed their own scramble, where all wheel-
based traffic halts, and the pedestrians
get a fixed period to cross the intersec-
tion in any direction they choose.
But adding on to that—to increase
overall safety—the pedestrian areas
were eventually enlarged and subse-
quent additional graphics added to
the ground plane. The Result? It has
become a world famous model for
putting people over machines and a
tourist attraction that has increased
foot traffic to area businesses. In short,
it has become a true “place.”
For Claremont and College avenues,
first imagine increasing the pedestrian
space along each approaching sidewalk
by the width of a car—if you remove
the parking space closest to the corners
e
Cg
la
e
re
ll
o
m
Co
d
nt
n
a


January 2026
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Rockridge News

The

Updating the Timeline for the Former Blood Bank Site

by Mark Aaronson,
RCPC Board Member
On Dec. 19, the developers of the
former American Red Cross
Blood Bank at 6230 Claremont Ave.
submitted a fully completed land-use
application. This application has some
design and other changes that differ
from the proposal submitted with the
preliminary application. The current
proposal is for a 7-story building
with a total of 203 rental units, which
includes 159 independent living units,
20 assisted living units and 24 memory
care units.
The proposed project will be subject
to Oakland’s standard review process
with public hearings.
In 2023, the Red Cross Blood Bank
moved to its present Rockridge location
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in August 2025 and encouraged them
to hold a public meeting with neigh-
borhood residents, which took place in
September 2025 at the College Avenue
Presbyterian Church.
In October 2025, the RCPC board
established an RCPC Consultation
Committee to meet with the developers
throughout the planning process to
provide neighborhood input and feed-
back regarding the project. The mem-
bers include two RCPC board members
(one lives near the site), two residents
from the neighborhood generally and
three residents whose properties are on
Auburn Avenue or Florio Street, nar-
row streets abutting the project site.
Residents in close proximity to the
project site have established their own
advocacy group—Rockridge Neighbors
for Sensible Housing (RNSH). The
three nearby neighbors and an RCPC
board member on the RCPC Consul-
tation Committee are also participants
in RNSH. While RCPC and RNSH
will have their own responses to the
proposed project, channels are fully
open for continual communication and
interaction between them, including
regarding any differences that may
develop on how to best balance various
neighborhood concerns and priorities.
At this stage in the development
process, RCPC focuses on gathering
information and neighborhood views
about the project. Through discussions
with the developers, we look to pro-
vide a range of concerns and timely
feedback. The RCPC Consultation
Committee has scheduled a meeting
with the developers on Jan. 21. Down
the line, the RCPC board will consider
taking a position on the project.
In a forthcoming issue of Rockridge
News, I will provide a fuller summary
of the most recent project specifics. I
also will address the extent to which,
if at all, State law supersedes Oakland
height and bulk zoning requirements
and affects the Oakland land use
approval process for senior residence
rental facilities. Please send questions
and comments about the proposed
project to landuse@rockridge.org. ●
at 5450 College Ave. The former 1.06
acre site is still owned by the Red Cross
and is deteriorating. In early 2024,
the Rockridge Community Planning
Council (RCPC) board learned that
the Red Cross was in the process of
reviewing bids for the site’s sale and
development.
Among bidders were nonprof-
it affordable housing development
organizations. In April 2024, the RCPC
board sent a letter to both City officials
and private parties, “[RCPC] strongly
supports the sale of the 6230 Claremont
Avenue property for a 100% affordable
housing development project.”
RCPC submitted this letter because
we heard from many residents about
the desire to have more affordable
housing within our transit-oriented and
high-resourced neighborhood. RCPC
hoped that the Red Cross would align
with this vision, but instead it signed
an option-to-buy agreement with Ellis
Partners and the Spirit Living Group.
In July 2025, the potential buy-
ers as developers filed a preliminary
application for the development of a
senior residence rental facility with the
Oakland Planning Department. The
RCPC board met with the developers
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Khana Peena Indian Cuisine
Life Chiropractic • Love + Chocolate
Mercy Vintage • Millennium Restaurant
Namastey Patio Nepalese and Indian Cuisine
Nathan & Company • Pegasus Books
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RGym • Rockridge Day Spa • Saffron Kitchen
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Sweat Health and Fitness • The Breema Clinic
The Monk's Kettle • Tootsies Rockridge
Transports • Zachary's Chicago Pizza


January 2026
page 13
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

COOKIE MONSTER (10)
is kind of an uptown girl,
who just moved from fancy,
metropolitan San Francisco.
She eats her caviar out of
martini glasses, thank you very
much. Prior to that, however,
she had some humble
beginnings as a rescue from
Mexico. This certified snuggle
muffin just accepted a new
position as Big Sister™️ to a
human baby. She will protect
at all costs and accepting
tummy pats as payment. ●

The
GUSTAVO (2) is a walking
morale boost and community
resource. A known petting
magnet who hits the pup cup
hard with his trademark black-
marked tongue. You can call
him Gus if you know the insider
handshake, but he’ll know
immediately if you’re lying. Some
day, he’s bound to finally tell his
therapist that he secretly thinks
he’s a cat—he was raised by two
of them—but for now, he’s filing
that under ‘private thoughts.’
Does your furry friend live in Rockridge? If so,
send a photo of your four-legged companion
and short commentary to: editor@rockridge.org

“Dogs of Rockridge” illustration
by Laura Serra
January 1-31, 2026


January 2026
page 14
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The
Come Write for The Rockridge News!
Free Journalism/Storytelling Workshop
LETTER TO
THE EDITOR
Sunday, Feb. 1st: 3–5 p.m.  —  at Local Economy  |  6028 College Ave.
Dear Editor:
I think that the current proposal
for an 8-story building on the site
that was Red Cross’s Blood Bank
is obscene.
Especially since the building ap-
pears to be inches from the property
lines, rather than being set back.
Yes, we need housing in this
neighborhood. And, yes we need
more affordable housing in this area.
This project as currently designed
is way out of scale to the rest of the
area. Based on the observations
and objections of the immediate
neighbors, I feel that this should be
scaled back to provide more space
between the facility and the immedi-
ate neighbors. This current plan has
no heart.
Senior housing as described by the
developer will necessitate additional
kinds of services that would not be
required if standard rental housing
was being built. This neighborhood’s
current infrastructure cannot handle
these extra services.
I plan on working with the
concerned neighbors to fight this
current plan and hope that you will
do the same.
Do you have an interesting bit of
news from your block that you’d
like to craft into a story? Do you want
to share your favorite thing to eat or
drink in Rockridge in our section
“Best Bites & Beverages on College?”
The Rockridge News has been
sharing the stories and news of the
neighborhood for nearly 40 years. It
is hand delivered by dozens of volun-
teers to nearly 7,000 doorsteps. It’s a
powerful vessel to share information,
to learn about our community, and to
recognize important things happening
in the neighborhood.
Learn Journalism 101—even if you
think you know it already, there are
a ton of hidden structures that help
make the news tick—codes of ethics,
formulas for reaching an audience, etc.
We’ll also be talking about oral story-
telling, story structure and building
diversity in journalism.
Rockridge News editor Liam Pierce
(published: The New York Times,
Glamour; former staff writer for: Vice
and New Orleans’ Times-Picayune)
will lead the workshop and partici-
pants will come away with:
•
A clear understanding of re-
quirements to write for
Rockridge News
•
Insight from the group on the
state of the news
•
An understanding of how to tell
newsworthy, compelling sto-
ries—on the page and in person
•
An opportunity to pitch stories
•
Cookies
RSVP by 1/28: editor@rockridge.org ●
welcome back
TO PRESCHOOL
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your interest
today:
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In Fall 2026, our award-winning preschool will
be located at the brand new East Bay Jewish
Community Campus in Rockridge.
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63rd Street
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January 2026
page 15
Rockridge News
Rockridge News
Rockridge News

The
RN
RN
CLASSIFIEDS
CLASSIFIEDS
Rockridge Library
MODERN DOG TRAINING
Need help with leash manners, basic obedience
or problem behaviors? Private, in-home training
can help! Visit dogsquaddogtraining.com or
call 510-646-9657 for more information.
List your 36-word message here for
only $24 (phone #'s count as one word).
Make check payable to RCPC, and write
“Rockridge News Classifieds” in the memo
line. Mail to:
RCPC, 4900 Shattuck Ave.,
P.O. Box 22504, Oakland, 94609-20131.
For Children     (Red = January-only events)
Storytime: Thursdays and Saturdays; 10:30 a.m.
Chess Club: Wednesdays; 4 p.m. All ages and skill-lev-
els welcome.
Read to a Dog: Thursdays; 4 p.m. Practice reading
aloud with Gladys the dog.
Craft Programs: MoChA at the Library!
Thursday, Jan. 15, 3:30 p.m. Monthly art workshops for
children & families led by teachers from the Museum of
Children's Art. For ages 5-15 and caregivers. Build cre-
ativity, social-emotional & academic skills through art.
Making Stories Club: Thursday, 1/8; 3:30 p.m. Month-
ly workshop to write, illustrate and tell stories. Make
books, zines, stories, comics, kamishibai or plays! Join
youth writers and illustrators. For ages 8 to 12.
Winter BINGO: Ages 1 to 14, come get a BINGO
card. When you do 5 activities in a row, you get to
choose your Prize Book. Program ends Jan. 20.
ELECTRICAL REMODEL & REPAIRS
New Year? New electrons! I can help with that.
I’ve been doing electrical work in Oakland and
Berkeley for over 35 years. Sutorik & Company.
sutorikandco.com. Lic #397149. 510-655-3677.
For more information, email Susan at:
smontauk@gmail.com.
COMPUTER TECH SUPPORT
I’m offering friendly and affordable tech support
for people who might need help with (or gain
a better understanding of) computers, phones,
iPads, smart TVs, etc. Contact Scott at Scott@
Weitz.net for more info.
Deadline for FEBRUARY News:
Jan. 22, 2026 (available Feb. 7.)
FREE SPANISH CLASSES 
Achieve your language goals with FREE weekly
Spanish classes! Immersive, fun lessons with a
highly experienced Spanish teacher. All mate-
rials included. Three (3) FREE classes offered
weekly.   Visit: spanishwithdenamarie.com Email:
spanishwithdena@gmail.com.
PENELOPE’S AESTHETICS
A new year and new peels for a subtle glow to
dramatic rejuvenation. Peels stimulate cellular
turnover, accelerate and strengthens collagen.
Book now for a facial treatment that makes a
difference! Call 510-594-1552 penelopecalef.com
For Teens ages 12 – 18
Teen Advisory Board: Second Wednesdays, Jan. 14;
4-5 p.m. Join the Rockridge Branch Library Teen Ad-
visory Board (TAB) and take an active role in creating,
planning and implementing programs and services
you want to see at your local library.
New Year’s Party: Jan. 14, 2–4 p.m. Movie, Popcorn,
fortune cookies and sparkling apple juice.
JEWELRY REPAIRS
Formerly of High Strung and Blue Door Beads!
Marilee is now doing repairs as an independent
contractor. Please email her at mjwrepairs@
proton.me for all your jewelry repair needs.
GARDEN MAINTENANCE,
CLEANUPS & DESIGN
Experienced team of two dedicated to the art of
gardening. We specialize in garden maintenance,
cleanups and custom garden designs.  To contact
us, please email yourgreengardeners@gmail.com.
Check us out at yourgreengardeners.com.
HARDWOOD FLOORS
Install, sand/refinish, repair, re-coat existing.
Large jobs or small. Twenty-plus years in Pied-
mont Ave./Rockridge. Bruce Williams Wood-
floors; CA Lic #913727. Call or text 510-652-
8121. blwfloors.com!
For Adults
Jan. 21: Meet the Author: Coach, facilitator, and move-
ment lawyer, Niloufar Khonsari will discuss her book:
The Future is Collective: Effective Workplace Strategies
for Building a Culture of Care. Copies of the book will
be sold on site by A Great Good Place for Books.
Jan. 27: Hemming & Mending Clothes by Hand.
Local artist will teach us techniques including how to
mend holes and shorten pants. Bring clothes that need
mending! Registration required. Please call to register.
Ask Your Area Home Experts: Every 2nd Friday,
12:00-2:00. Get answers, tips and connections from a
Senior Loan Advisor and a Realtor, both Rockridge lo-
cals. Have questions answered about home ownership,
maintenance, finance, investing, ADUs, downsizing,
moving and more.
Rockridge Book Club: Every 2nd Saturday, 3:30-4:30
p.m. Please call 510-597-5017 for more info and to get
a copy of the book. January’s book is "Three Days in
June," by Anne Tyler.
Needlework Circle: every Thursday, 1-3 p.m. Bring
yarn and fiber arts projects to Rockridge Library. Build
community, share your passion, learn & have fun!
1-on-1 Technology Help: every Saturday, 10 a.m.-
12 p.m. and 1-3 p.m., Tuesdays 5:30-7:30 p.m. and
Wednesdays 5:30-7:30 p.m. Come with your devices
and technology questions and our volunteer tech guru
will help you get sorted.  Signup recommended.
Adult Crafting Series: Tues. Jan. 13, 6-7:30 p.m.
Shibori Snowflake Garlands. Back by popular demand!
Create a winter wonderland using a simple technique
of dying folded & cut snowflakes. Drop ins welcome.
Chair Yoga: Monday Jan. 1 and Jan. 26, 10:30-11:30
a.m. Learn from certified instructor Bett Bollhoefer,
drop ins welcome. ●
TheKey-Trusted Senior In-Home Care
Providing compassionate, reliable support
tailored to your family’s needs. Keep loved ones
safe and comfortable at home. Call Michael
Manus 510-590-0549 or visit TheKey.com to
learn more about trusted care today
MAKE FRIENDS & DEEPEN
FRIENDSHIPS
Cultivate more and deeper friendships in fun
and enriching friendship classes.
Visit: morefriendship.org for upcoming classes
at Stanford and Piedmont. Friendship leads to
longer, healthier lives with more joy.
HANDYMAN & HOUSEHOLD
CARPENTRY
40 years of responsible, personalized service.
Repairs, custom projects, fine interior plaster
and painting. Free advice, planning and con-
sultation. Serving Rockridge, Montclair, North
Oakland, Berkeley, Albany and Alameda. Len
Lauro 510-435-9586 lenlauro@yahoo.com.
HANDYMAN FOR HIRE
Multifaceted and well experienced. Hauling and
towing available. No job too small. Reasonably
priced. Lee Self. 707-223-1298—call and text. ●
Rockridge Library Hours:
Mon., Thurs., & Sat.: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Tues. & Weds.: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Fri.: 12 noon to 5:30 p.m.
See calendar for events: oaklandlibrary.org/events
5366 College Ave., at Manila; 510-597-5017


Celebrating 59 Years of Excellence in
Real Estate Brokerage
For nearly six decades we’ve
earned the loyalty of countless
clients, helping them achieve the
American Dream of home and in-
vestment property ownership. Our
deep-rooted relationships within
the community built on trust, has
been pivotal in our journey. From
first-time home buyers and seller
representation, to seasoned inves-
tors, we’ve been privileged to be a
part of your journeys.
Kevin Brown, Broker
Better Homes Realty, Rockridge
510.593.4780 | dre# 00644175

Te GRUBB Co.
R  E  A  L  T  O  R  S
est.               1967
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