THE MAGAZINE OF OAKLAND, BERKELEY AND THE WORLD THAT REVOLVES AROUND US
November 2023
Stringers MANNING SCHOOL KEEPS BLUEGRASS ALIVE IN BERKELEY
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November 2023
A LETTER FROM OUR EDITOR
CHOICE PICKS
Cal Performances of the month 18
Home celebrations 4
PLANT TALK
ROOTS MUSIC
The dry beauty of Ruth Bancroft Garden 22
The school of love and fiddles 6
COLORFUL LEGACY
GILMAN WINERY
It's the Season for Celebration! Come on in and find all you need to make your holidays special. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Monday–Saturday 9 AM to 8 PM Sunday 9 AM to 7 PM –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(510) 653-8181 4038 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland
Nakamura Cellars bridges Napa and Japan 10 The science of awe 14
Karen Klaber
EDITOR Samantha Campos
COPY EDITOR Suzanne Michel
CONTRIBUTORS
Gifts of Laurel Burch Studio 28 PICKLERS UNITE
Persuasive power of pickleball 34
FEELING GOOD
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
THE MAGAZINE OF OAKLAND, BERKELEY AND THE WORLD THAT REVOLVES AROUND US
PRODUCTION OPERATIONS MANAGER Sean George
SENIOR DESIGNER Jackie Mujica
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Phaedra Strecher
Sonya Bennett-Brandt Jeffrey Edalatpour Lou Fancher Michael Giotis Janis Hashe j.poet
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Lisa Santos
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGERS Danielle McCoy Ben Grambergu Mercedes Murolo Lynda Rael
CEO/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Dan Pulcrano
ON THE COVER Chad and Catherine Manning, photo by Katy Castro and Franklin Avery.
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Except as otherwise noted, entire contents ©2023 Metro Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
Happy Holidays from the Townhouse! T
he Townhouse Bar and Grill has had many lives. Built by a local fireman in 1926 and immediately rented by a bootlegger, our historic building was born as a speakeasy & brothel. Over the following decades, Townhouse has served Emeryville and beyond. Included in its storied and checkered history — Many iterations of restaurants including the family-owned Italian institution, Vernetti’s. Emeryville’s “Unofficial” City Hall and Police Station. Home to the most famous Country & Western joint in NorCal during the 1980’s. This venerable space became a culinary destination in the 90’s. The historic bar was among the vanguards of the blossoming cocktail revival taking shape during this same period. The Townhouse legacy is iconic and forever evolving. As part of this evolution — we now offer Off-Site Catering! Carry a piece of our beloved restaurant and spirit to your next planned event. We can help you host intimate social gatherings, holiday parties, luncheons, and all celebrations at your location. Our expert team will be fully present in the planning and execution, so that you can be fully present for the catered event. From start to finish, we have you covered for any of your catering needs — small or large. Contact Events@TownhouseCatering.com for our complete offerings. Always keep Townhouse on your list to host special events. From Weddings, Corporate Dinners, Birthdays, and Everything Between — our patio, dining room and bar are The Place to host & cherish your special occasion.
Townhousecatering.com | TownhouseEmeryville.com | yelp.com/biz/townhouse-emeryville-2 NOVEMBER 2023 | EASTBAYMAG.COM | EAST BAY MAGAZINE
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AWE YEAH A pre-sunset moment above Oakland’s Skyline Boulevard.
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utumn is the season of the middle-aged. Its harvest is abundant, yet with heartier fare; more savory gourds than sweet berries. Leaves turn colors and fall off trees (read: the graying and receding of hairlines). Many of us slow down. Hopefully, we become more mindful or present. It’s through this slowing down that I most experience moments of awe. On the weekends, I walk through Tilden or Redwood Regional parks, breathing in the flora and admiring the verdant groves of old-growth trees. Or on especially lucky days, I’ll witness a sublime sunset from my backyard. That sense of wonder gets me out of my usual overthinking and into a state of gratitude. And it just feels good. Much
better than the constantly churning hamster wheel of my mind. (I sometimes joke with friends that “awe” is my new “fun.”) Dr. Dacher Keltner would agree. We feature here more about his awe-some work at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and his book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. Wonder can also be found by walking through the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek. In this issue, we discuss the otherworldly beauty of this immense collection of succulents, which can inspire our own drought-tolerant home gardens. Art and music can be other sources of awe. We’ll find plenty of that at Manning School—also featured in these pages—where they teach bluegrass and
acoustic music to students of all ages. Or if we’re content to watch the professionals instead, Cal Performances is hosting an enticing month of staged marvels. Since we’re entering a season of celebrations (think of them as exploding awe), check out the Japan-inspired wines at Nakamura Cellars in Berkeley’s Gilman District. Delight in the artful gifts of Laurel Burch Studios, and be moved—as I was—by Aarin Burch’s heartfelt attempts to honor her late mother, Laurel. We may be slowing down in autumn (aka, midlife), but we’re still able to get pickled—as in, join the ever-growing pickleball phenomenon sweeping the nation. It’s a sport for all ages! And may we all find our fun, in every season. – Samantha Campos
SONYA BENNETTBRANDT writes about climate, conservation and the Bay Area.
LOU FANCHER has been published in the Diablo Magazine, the Oakland Tribune, InDance, San Francisco Classical Voice, SF Weekly, WIRED.com and elsewhere.
JANIS HASHE regularly contributes to the East Bay Express and other Bay Area publications.
JEFFREY EDALATPOUR’s writing about arts, food and culture has appeared in SF Weekly, Metro Silicon Valley, East Bay Express and KQED Arts.
MICHAEL GIOTIS is a Bay Area based poet and author with a professional background in ecological entrepreneurship.
PHOTO BY SAMANTHA CAMPOS
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Seasons change and so do we
J. POET has been writing about music for most of his adult life and has interviewed a wide spectrum of artists, including Leonard Cohen, Merle Haggard and Godzilla.
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DANGER!
CLIMATE CHANGER
PHOTO BY SAMANTHA CAMPOS
1:29 AM
Garbage is a manufactured product, created when otherwise recoverable resources are mixed and mashed together. Most rooms in every building in the whole country have a basket where this manufacturing begins. Discarded resources are put in one by one, then dumped into a larger bin, and then into a truck with a more modern body based on this one. A hydraulic piston smashes everything together. The objective is to pack in more cargo before the truck has to be driven to where it can dump onto the land, to be covered in a “sanitary“ way. Liquids leach out and make their way into the planet's NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day from February 12, 2002, colored the methane in the Earth's atmosphere green, and an animation showed how it spins to the poles. NASA said, “Methane (CH4) is second only to carbon dioxide (CO2) in creating a warming greenhouse effect …. The largest abundance released by the US … is created when anaerobic bacteria break down carbon-based garbage in landfills.” [Emphasis added.]
water — eventually. These “sanitary” methods of filling the land (hence “sanitary landfills”) also provide for anaerobic decomposition of organic materials – which makes methane. Landfills are the largest human-created source of methane. In the short term methane is 80-100 times more powerful than carbon dioxide to warm the planet.
Making garbage changes the climate! If you're not for Zero Waste, how much waste are you for?
Urban Ore has been salvaging for reuse in Berkeley since 1981. We have 3 acres of secondhand goods, open 360 days a year until 5:00PM, 900 Murray St. near 7th x Ashby. Come shop. NOVEMBER 2023 | EASTBAYMAG.COM | EAST BAY MAGAZINE
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AMERICANA Chad and Catherine Manning are founders of Manning Music, where they teach fiddle and other old-time music.
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Love Story Manning Music keeps old-time music alive in Berkeley BY j. poet
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anning Music bills itself as a community of teachers and musicians who love bluegrass, old-time, fiddle and acoustic music. At present, the Berkeley-based school has nine teachers: Robin Fischer, Rowan McCallister, Leah Wollenberg, Yoseff Tucker, Arvram Siegel, Jasper Manning and Morgan Balfour, as well as the school’s founders, Chad and Catherine Manning. The school currently has about 200 students. They teach children as young as three and have adult students, some of them retirees. “A few years ago, I had a student in her 80s,” Chad Manning said. “She picked up a fiddle and, in two years, was a regular at local jam sessions. It’s never too late to start playing.”
Manning has been playing the fiddle since he was eight. Despite spending years playing with heavy hitters like David Grisman and Laurie Lewis, he said he never had any intention of becoming a musician or teacher. “I grew up in Spokane, three houses down from Lundin’s Fiddle Shop,” Manning said. “It was Grand Central Station for the local fiddlers. I began taking lessons from JayDean Ludiker, who was teaching there at that time. She’s still at it. There was something in the sound of the fiddle: the emotion, the rawness of it, that spoke to me. “When I was 17, I heard a recording from the ’50s. Orville Burns, a Texas fiddle player, performing a version of ‘Sally Goodin.’ It cut to the quick. Hearing that record brought out the
passion in me,” recalled Manning. “As I got better, my dad picked up the bass, my mom started playing rhythm piano and my siblings joined in. We had a family band and played country bars, rodeos and county fairs. We did some originals and got to open for Tom T. Hall. I loved music, but I wanted to be a writer. I majored in creative writing, literature and philosophy, but I kept playing the fiddle. After I graduated from college, I moved down to Berkeley,” he continued. Manning began giving fiddle lessons a few years after he started playing. “When I was 14, someone asked me to give them a lesson. They liked it, I liked it and I stayed with it. I’ve always had students,” said Manning. After making contact with the
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PHOTOS BY KATY CASTRO AND FRANKLIN AVERY
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A Bluegrass
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« Bay Area bluegrass scene, Manning’s
friend, banjo player Bill Evans, invited him to fill in for another fiddler at a rehearsal for the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience. Grisman liked his playing, and Manning stayed with the band for several years. He also spent many years with Laurie Lewis and The Right Hands. “Those gigs changed my life,” Manning said. “I learned so many lessons playing with them. I don’t know where to begin, but along the way, I was always teaching.” One of his students was his future wife, Catherine Chang (Manning). “I grew up in Michigan and started classical violin when I was six,” Catherine Manning said. “I played classical music in orchestras through college and began fiddling when I started taking lessons from Chad. We fell in love, got married and started a family. I still love classical, and teach kids how to read music, but you learn fiddle by ear. I love the idea of not being stuck to the page. Growing up, I had to have sheet music in front of me before I played. Fiddle is more communal.” As she became a proficient fiddler, the former Catherine Chang joined Chad Manning as an instructor. “After we married, we were teaching out of our house in El Cerrito,” Chad Manning said. “We’d have jam sessions and eat dinner with the students. It was a community that grew by word of mouth. I don’t think of it as a school, but we soon had enough students that we needed a bigger space. We slowly developed the ideas that turned it into a proper business.” The two rented a studio in Berkeley and began to bring in guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, Dobro, music theory and voice teachers. They hosted jam sessions and had classes for bands. And they expanded slowly, but exponentially. Lessons and classes are by appointment only. “When I have a new student, I teach them a little bit of all the fiddle styles,“ Chad Manning said. “They can decide from there what direction they want to go in. We have teachers in many styles who can help them follow their
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MICHIGAN MADE Catherine Manning started classical violin when she was six.
NORTHWEST ORIGINS Chad Manning has been playing the fiddle since he was eight.
passions. California is on the national bluegrass map. Some of the best bluegrass and old-time music players are coming out of this area. As a teacher, it’s nice to help prepare students, when there’s a community they can join. Ten years ago, they couldn’t play, and now they’re professionals playing on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. It’s pretty cool. “We like to create as many opportunities to play, as there are situations to play in. We take students to play in retirement centers, put on square dances and encourage them to play at open mics. We do a student concert at the Freight & Salvage (in Berkeley), so they all get a chance to shine and solo on a big stage. We take them to the farmers’ market at the San Francisco Ferry Building, so they can experience what it’s like to busk,” said Manning. “We also have a fundraiser, the Fiddle-a-thon. The kids gather sponsors, who then give money to benefit some cause like the Sierra Club, the Women’s Earth Alliance or the California Bluegrass Association’s kids program,” he added. During the COVID pandemic, the school had to shut down, but classes continued on Zoom. “We had students and teachers with COVID, but nothing tragic,” Manning said. “We had to cancel the student concert we had planned at The Freight, but we continued backyard concerts in our house. Students would come in through the gate on the right side of the house and exit through the left. We had backyard jam sessions and did a livestream, to replace the concert at the Freight.” Said Manning, “Teaching encourages exploration, and I learn a lot in my sessions as a teacher. Helping students find things in a way that’s completely unique to them often sheds some light on something I want to learn. That’s why we encourage advanced students to become teachers too. It helps them get to the next level.” For lessons at the Manning School, contact Chad Manning at chadmanning@gmail. com or visit the Manning School website at manningfiddlemusic.com.
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A-MEOW-ZING!!
Best of the East Bay — in 4 categories, 2 years in a row Best animal adoption center Best animal rescue group Best charitable event (PINTS FOR PAWS)
Best dog trainer (TRAIN THE BAY)
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Noria Wines at Nakamura
Nori Nakamura Cellars Winemaker joins a coterie of other BY Jeffrey Edalatpour
B PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK/ NEW AFRICA
erkeley’s Gilman District is celebrated for its punk music venue, breweries that have become popular gathering places, a Whole Foods Market, and, more recently, the new Boichik Bagels’ factory and cafe. But winemaker Nori Nakamura decided to open his winery, Nakamura Cellars, in the neighborhood because there were already several other wineries located within two blocks of each other, between Fourth and Sixth streets on Gilman. Nakamura started his American career at the Hotel Nikko in downtown San Francisco, after working for the hotel’s parent company in Japan. Before his arrival in the United States, he’d also become a certified sommelier. Last month, Nakamura gave me a tour of his newly opened tasting room and winemaking facility.
wineries in Berkeley’s Gilman District
Two grape crushers—one for processing red grapes, the second for white—and several gleaming steel tanks contained the next batches of Noria Wines. Nakamura added an “a” at the end of his first name to come up with the name of his label and the Spanish word for waterwheel. According to his website, the image is meant to conjure “water, nature and the basic energy of life.” His lifelong path toward winemaking has its origins in a distinctive set of childhood memories. When he was a boy, his late uncle opened an Italian restaurant in the middle of Tokyo. “My family got together there once or twice a year,” Nakamura recalled. “Everybody sat at a long table, maybe 15 people, having a good time, eating good food.” And all the adults were drinking wine. Although he didn’t know anything about wine at the time, Nakamura recognized something special
about the effect it had at those family gatherings. “Wine culture wasn’t prevalent back then [in Japan], 35, 40 years ago,” he explained. Japan’s drinking culture revolved around beer, sake and whiskey. Drinking wine started to become trendy there, he noted, about 20 years ago. After he’d settled into his job in San Francisco, a friend of Nakamura’s took him up to Napa for a winery tour. Before that trip, he’d been embracing European wines and largely avoiding the ones made here in California. That day, a pale green chardonnay changed his mind about California wines. “It was a big expression, with huge fruits,” he said. “I had never tasted wine like it.” Nakamura was inspired to not only study local winemaking but to also start tasting as many of the local different varieties as he could.
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On his subsequent travels throughout wine country, Nakamura asked everyone he met how they started making wine. Without fail, they’d all gotten degrees through the UC Davis viticulture and enology department. Nakamura followed suit. After graduating from the program in 2004, he worked his way up from assistant to head winemaker at several wineries, including Jamieson Ranch Vineyards in Napa and Larson Family Winery in Sonoma. While he was learning the craft and trade, Nakamura, with the support of his employers, decided to launch his own label. He started to sell Noria wines in 2010. To differentiate his label from a wide field of established brands, Nakamura decided to make California wines that would pair with Japanese cuisine. “When I talk about Japanese food with non-Japanese people, some of them
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PHOTOS BY PENNY CRESPO
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SAKE INSPIRED Nakamura makes California wines that pair with Japanese cuisine.
GILMAN GROWS The newly opened tasting room and winemaking facility at Nakamura Cellars.
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FOOD COLLABS While the winery is not licensed for food service, Noria has started to partner with food trucks and pop-ups.
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think that sushi is the only Japanese food,” Nakamura said. “But there’s a range of dishes, many different vegetables and appetizers, so many ingredients combined with different cooking techniques.” With that range in mind, Nakamura doesn’t model the flavor profiles of his sauvignon blanc and chardonnay on similar wines. Instead, his point of departure is the two main types of sake—junmai and ginjo. Junmai sake, he explained, is the traditional kind, known for its bold alcohol-forward flavor. It’s normally served at room temperature. “When you go to Japan in wintertime and eat udon or ramen, some people serve it warm,” explained Nakamura. Ginjo is made with a cold-temperature fermentation process, a newer technique. “The flavor retains a fruitiness, a freshness, a vibrancy,” he said. And it’s always served cold. “My sauvignon blanc, I’m modeling after the ginjo style of sake,” he said. “It’s not the taste but the structure and mouthfeel.” But, Nakamura added, there’s also a hybrid sake called junmai ginjo, which is his favorite type of sake to drink. “It’s more complex because it contains the
characteristics of both.” His chardonnay is based on the junmai ginjo sake. “My recommendation for the chardonnay is to pair it with sukiyaki,” Nakamura said. Sukiyaki, he reminded me, is a broth made with soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Thin slices of beef are cooked in it, and then diners can dip the meat in an egg. “Because it has more structure and sharpness, it also pairs well with egg dishes and shellfish,” he noted. His sauvignon blanc is made from grapes grown in the Russian River Valley. “This one is very fresh, vibrant, very fruity, but with a nice acidity,” he said. Although it’s really good with sashimi, he believes the best pairing is with tempura, vegetables, chicken or fish. One of Noria’s 2020 pinot noir vintages is harvested from grapes in the Chalone region of Monterey County. “What’s unique about Chalone is the limestone. You hardly see any limestone deposits in California, but there’s this tiny spot in Hollister,” Nakamura said. Noria also produces a sparkling wine and a rosé, which are only available for purchase in the tasting room.
When Nakamura initially launched Noria wines, he sold the bulk of his first vintages to a distributor in Japan. Because the price of wine is currently elevated in Japan, 70% of Nakamura’s customer base is now American, and, he estimated, many of his clients are local restaurants. Iyasare in Berkeley currently features Noria’s chardonnay and pinot noir on their wine list; both are 2016 vintages. Nakamura noted that his wines are also served, among many other restaurants, at Masa Sushi in Novato, Ozumo in San Francisco and Wakuriya in San Mateo. At the end of 2022, Nakamura left his full-time job at the Larson Family Winery to devote himself to the 2023 launch of Nakamura Cellars. While his winery is not licensed for food service, Noria has started to partner with food trucks and pop-ups. At the end of September, the staff from Chikara Ono’s Delage served sushi to a lucky group of 12 wine tasters. And on Nov. 4, jazz harpist Motoshi Kosako performs one of his sets inside the winery. Nakamura Cellars, open Fri 3-7pm, Saturday to Sunday 12-6pm, 725-A Gilman St., Berkeley. 415.992.2332. noriawines.com.
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Awe&P UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center connects happiness to purpose BY Michael Giotis
PHOTO BY BRICOLAGE/SHUTTERSTOCK
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&Purpose
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niversity of California’s Greater Good Science Center believes that there are easy ways to be happier and that science proves it. From longer lifespans, to more peaceful communities, the interrelated roles of happiness, purpose and awe have a profound, measurable impact on how we live. The institute’s faculty director and co-founder, Dr. Dacher Keltner, is also host of the podcast, The Science of Happiness. “People feel lonely. They don’t feel a sense of purpose; they feel cynical about U.S. culture in particular,” he said, while “happiness builds strong connections with other people.” The professor’s new book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life, centers on the pursuit of those moments that remind us that we are connected to all things, and that the greater good for those things is important. In fact, it is the most important thing. The experience of this understanding is “awe.” “The [academic] world of happiness often has favorite concepts, flow, mindfulness, stress, gratitude, love, kindness. I think awe is having its day,” he said. It is important because the experience of awe “makes you see common humanity amongst different kinds of people.” It can fuel movements.
GOOD LIVING Keltner’s new book centers on the pursuit of those moments that remind us that we are connected to all things.
A Greater Good Movement The purpose of the Greater Good Science Center is to provide broad access to happiness cultivating practices which are
UCB PROFESSOR Dr. Dacher Keltner is the faculty director and co-founder of the Greater Good Science Center.
strongly supported by scientific evidence. The center funds outside research as well as conducting its own. “The point was to try to make cutting edge science that examined the importance of our tendency towards relationship, generosity, kindness, compassion and contributions to community,” said Dr. Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, science director at the center. The list goes on. “All of these pro-social experiences and behaviors [positively impact] our health and well-being over the [human] lifespan,” Simon-Thomas continued. “The first thing that people need to know is that happiness is fundamental to the human condition, that it’s good for us,” said Keltner. “When we find happiness, our nervous systems are healthier, our hearts are healthier. Our immune systems are better when we find happiness.” The center has developed a number of channels to inform a wide audience about the benefits of happiness. All the different offerings share this attribute, that they focus on some practical application, like the podcast which includes short segments between episodes that guide the listener through a mindfulness practice. “We teach a series of online courses focused on happiness in organizations or happiness at work called, ‘The Science of Happiness at Work.’ Those classes will have kind of lecture elements; they’ll have assessment elements. They’ll have a happiness practice,” said Simon-Thomas. Happiness supporting exercises and activities are designed according to the findings of research. “We have an education team that is razor focused on incorporating principles of
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positive psychology into classroom settings, and school environments. We have live events”—back on again after the pandemic—”featuring luminaries in the field talking about their work either from a kind of applied perspective or a scientific perspective,” said Simon-Thomas.
What Is the Purpose?
HAPPY SCIENCE This is your brain on the greater good.
Having achieved the pinnacle of their fame, the meaning, purpose of what they do is still the same—light up an audience. The response of the crowd is what makes it all worth it. One might get rich doing what they love, but most important is the satisfaction that comes to people doing what they love with purpose.
Applications of the Science There is strong conviction among those interviewed for this article that happiness and awe are best understood in the experience of the emotions themselves. They are the key to an open state of mind. “When people feel awe and they [can] think about the context of that feeling, what it’s about,” said Keltner, “they start to realize, ‘Oh, this is who I want to be; this is what my purpose is.’” Whatever else makes up a daily practice, reflecting on one’s own purpose and making sure a day’s actions align with that purpose
supports long term happiness. There are other, more straightforward practices. “Diaries and journaling are actually a really great way to remind ourselves to do [purpose work],” said Iris Mauss, a professor of psychology at Berkeley who is not associated with the Greater Good Science Center. Diaries and journals help set the right state of mind, so important for happiness. “If you want to have a practice that gives you greater happiness, don’t engage in a worried and concerned way, like, ‘What does it mean if I’m not super happy? Is there something wrong with me?’ But engage in a light, non-judging way,” said Mauss. There is that compassion for the self again. “A lot of people in a community have a strong sense of purpose because they’re in some way, shape or form investing in the collective greater good,” said SimonThomas. This creates a “shared uplift of happiness” she said, to carry us all forward together, with purpose. ❤
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE GREATER GOOD SCIENCE CENTER
“Happiness is not a luxury or epiphenomenon or something that we should think about when everything else is taken care of; it’s front and center to healthy societies,” said Keltner. “When we find happiness, our minds are sharper, more creative, able to look beyond polarizing differences, see how we are part of larger things in life,” he added. “When we find happiness, we’re usually good for the communities that we’re part of, [including] the natural world.” This connectedness allows happiness to have a multiplying effect. Manifesting the experience does take some work. “When I teach about compassion, I make a point of looking at it like a 360 degree phenomenon,” said SimonThomas. “Compassion is about concern for suffering, and sometimes that’s your own suffering.” In a recent episode of the podcast, Bay Area comedian Josh Johnson spoke about his experience doing a week-long mindfulness practice in preparation for coming on the show. Every day, he wrote down three funny things in a journal that he saw over the course of the day. Looking at humor from outside of his professional obligation to use only the best jokes for a paying audience, the journaling practice let him enjoy the humor around him and notice with awe the way it connects him to his surroundings. “Laughter is involuntary. Something funny happens and you enjoy it, or you enjoy it with people or you are part of a crowd that you all saw it,” reflected Johnson. Humor naturally connects people in a way that can’t be explained, just like awe. “When we feel awe, we have a greater sense of common humanity. We feel more generous. We feel humbled, we feel curious,” said Simon-Thomas. Think about a celebrity musician [or a comedian], suggested Simon-Thomas. EASTBAYMAG.COM | NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 2023 2023 16 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM
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Hedwig to Heartland World, alt, baroque— Cal Performances has it all BY Janis Hashe PHOTO BY JOHN RUSSO
PETITE POWERHOUSE Kristen Chenoweth is bringing a revue-style stage show to Zellerbach Hall.
T
alk about pent-up demand. The East Bay is truly bustin’ out all over this fall with arts and entertainment. From theater to touring musical artists, now’s the time to book seats for some extraordinary shows. The several performance spaces of UC Berkeley’s Cal Performances series, now in its 118th year, will be hosting some of the best. Here are a few picks for the month of November.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAL PERFORMANCES
NOV. 4: John Cameron Mitchell and Amber Martin in ‘Cassette Roulette’ Calling all Hed-Heads! Fans of altculture classic Hedwig and the Angry Inch can catch Tony Award-winner John Cameron Mitchell, along with his touring partner, cabaret star Amber Martin, in a
show that’s never the same twice: Cassette Roulette. Here’s how it works: Audience members spin the “giant Cassette of Fortune,” and JCM will sing whatever it lands on, including songs from Hedwig, Big River, The Secret Garden, Hello Again; his movies and albums; and his podcast, Anthem: Homunculus. Martin will show off her original characters, as well as doing tributes to Bette Midler, Janis Joplin and Reba McEntire. Cameron Mitchell and Martin will be backed by Hedwig’s Broadway music director Justin Craig and house band Tits of Clay. I’m pulling the wig down from the shelf Suddenly I’m Miss Punk Rock Star of Stage and Screen And I ain’t never I’m never turning back! — FROM “WIG IN A BOX,”
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
NOV. 9: Le Consort: ‘A Journey Through Baroque Europe’ Making its North American debut is French baroque music quartet Le Consort. The baroque period is considered to extend from 1600 to 1750, and major composers include Vivaldi (“The Four Seasons”), Corelli (“Christmas Concerto in G Minor”) and Purcell ( “Dido and Aeneas”). Baroque music, experts explain, is characterized by using the power of the music to communicate. Violinist Sophie de Bardonnèche is one of Le Consort’s co-founders, and plays alongside Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin; Hanna Salzenstein, cello; and Justin Taylor, harpsichord. De Bardonnèche spoke to East Bay Magazine from France to describe why they love this music, and how
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HED-HEADS John Cameron Mitchell and Amber Martin sing audience-directed songs in ‘Cassette Roulette.’
PHOTO BY JULIEN BENHAMOU
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they find and choose the pieces to play. “We love the freedom we have to perform this music,” she said. “There are very few [set] dynamics. We can use our own creativity, and discover the score in a way it has never been played before.” Baroque music, she believes, has resonance “similar to today’s pop music. It can be appreciated by anyone, even children. It is very accessible…sometimes melancholy, but sometimes joyous.” Asked how Le Consort chooses the music it plays, de Bardonnèche noted that while Vivaldi, Corelli, Rameau and Purcell are of course included in the quartet’s repertoire, the members of the group spend much time seeking out and experimenting with other, lesser-known composers and compositions. They visit libraries, particularly in Italy, that archive baroque music manuscripts, find pieces they may want to play and then try them out in rehearsal. “I love looking at old scores,” said de Bardonnèche. “It’s very exciting for us to read them together,” and decide if they will fit in Le Consort’s list. “Our very first performance was [of a piece by a] composer no one had ever heard of,” she said. Le Consort’s Cal Performances concert will include Vivaldi’s “Trio Concert in G minor, Op.1, No. 1,” along with his “Trio Sonata No. 12 in D minor, La Follia, RV 63,” Corelli’s “Trio Sonata in C major, Op. 4, No. 1,” selections from Rameau’s “Les Indes galantes” and his “Gavotte et six doubles,” Purcell’s “Sonata in Four Parts in G minor, Z 807,” in addition to two selections by Bach. But it will also feature lesser-known composers Giovanni Battista Reali (“Grave from Violin Sonata, Op. 2, No. 1”), Francesco Maria Veracini (“Finale from Violin Sonata in A major, Op. 1, No. 7”), John Eccles (“The Mad Lover”) and JeanFrançois Dandrieu, “Trio Sonata in D minor, Op. 1, No. 1.” The BBC Music Magazine said this about Le Consort in performance: “Ravishing, exhilarating and uniquely beautiful.”
NOV. 15: Kristin Chenoweth: ‘For the Girls’ She may be only 4' 11", but Kristin Chenoweth can belt, as she’s proved
GOING FOR BAROQUE French baroque music quartet Le Consort is making its North American debut on Nov. 9.
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AMERICAN TRACKS Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens will explore the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad through the music of those who made it possible.
PHOTO BY ADAM GURCZAK
over and over onstage, as Glinda in Wicked on Broadway, on TV in Glee and Schmigadoon!, and on multiple recordings, including 2019’s For the Girls. This solo album became a revue-style stage show, running on Broadway as a limited engagement, also in 2019. She brings the revue to Zellerbach Hall in November. In it, the Tony and Emmy Awardwinner sings songs made iconic by women she idolizes, including Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Carole King and others. The song list features, for example, “The Way We Were,” “The Man That Got Away” and, of course, “Popular” from Wicked. Chenoweth’s early training was in gospel music, and her rendition of “How Great Thou Art” pays tribute to that beginning. Chenoweth’s engaging stage persona makes the show more than just a song sequence. She tells stories, jokes with the band and back-up singers, and makes audiences feel part of a special event. Said The New York Times about the show: “For the Girls…exudes the snuggly promise of a slumber party.”
NOV. 17: Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens: ‘American Railroad’ Music lovers first discovered the many talents of Rhiannon Giddens through her time as a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops. She was the lead singer of the country, blues and old-time group, and also played the fiddle and banjo with them. The video for “Hit ‘Em Up Style” is a wonderful example of her magnetic performance persona. Since that time, Giddens has gone on to co-write an opera, Omar, which won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Yet another project is her current leadership of the Silkroad Ensemble, which Cal Performances describes as “genre-defying,” as it brings together musicians and music from all over the world. World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma conceived Silkroad in 1998 “as a
reminder that even as rapid globalization resulted in division, it brought extraordinary possibilities for working together,” according to Silkroad materials. The work it’s bringing to Zellerbach Hall, American Railroad, explores the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad through the music of the many groups, some immigrant, some Native, who made it possible. African American, Chinese, Irish, Indigenous and other cultures are celebrated with traditional instruments—Chinese guzheng, pipa, erhu and qinqin are played alongside African American fiddle, bones, tambo and banjo, as well as their Celtic and Indigenous counterparts. New compositions and commissions make the experience of American Railroad an intrinsically American sound picture of a venture that made the modern U.S. possible. There will be a pre-performance panel at 6:30pm, and a post-performance “community conversation.” For tickets and more information, visit calperformances.org or call 510.642.9988.
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What the
Succulents Say L Ruth Bancroft Garden tells stories in Walnut Creek BY Lou Fancher
egacy gardens tell vast stories. Features of the landscape describe in hills, valleys, soil, rocks, boulders, wetlands, streams and ponds a location’s geographic history. The trees, plants, grasses, flowers, vegetables, fruits, insects and other biological forms of natural life illustrate and animate modern-day preferences, practices, aesthetics and even cultural influences. In a garden, the narrative becomes global, revealing how humans will—or will not—protect, preserve and ensure the planet continues to provide sustenance, beauty and pleasure for future generations beyond our own.
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DRY BEAUTY Ruth Bancroft Garden was established as a private garden for Bancroft’s immense collection of drought-tolerant plants.
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HOME INSPO The backyard of nursery and design services director Cricket Riley was inspired by the gardens.
The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek tells all these stories and, marvelously, makes them available to the public. At 3.5 acres, the garden was decades ago established as a private garden for Bancroft’s immense collection of succulents, cacti and drought-tolerant plants. The garden in 1992 became a nonprofit open to the public under the auspices of The Garden Conservancy, a national organization inspired by Bancroft that preserves private gardens for public use. Today, in 2023, the garden maintains most of the original physical footprint and is semi-cloistered behind a stucco wall and tall bushes on Bancroft Boulevard in Walnut Creek. Except for those who look up and note the towering tops of mature yuccas or pass by open front gates and catch a glimpse of agaves as big as pickup trucks, most people zipping along in their vehicles never know they are driving past a magical space. For the rapidly growing number of people who do know or are learning of the garden and its robust programs, classes, events and sales, it’s become a community hub, a place to learn, share,
celebrate and develop the pioneering California gardener’s vision.
The Ruth Bancroft Legacy Bancroft was born Ruth Petersson in Massachusetts in 1908. She grew up in Berkeley with a father who was a classics professor at UC Berkeley, and a mother who was a school teacher. Wildflowers and amphibians were her companions. During her teens, her plans to become a landscape architect were scuttled by the Great Depression. Even so, she graduated from Cal with a teaching certificate in 1932. On a blind date, she met Philip Bancroft Jr., whose family owned a 400acre pear and walnut orchard in Ygnacio Valley. In the early 1970s, Bancroft began to apply her architectural skills and autodidactic preoccupation to a personal garden, after discovering her first aeonium during a shopping trip. Initially, that garden was typical, but had an irrigation system designed by Theodore Osmundson, a well-known landscape architect. The system allowed
Bancroft to stop watering her growing garden with a hose. What had begun as an obsession for tiny potted succulents became the basis for Bancroft’s radicalfor-the-times ideas and meticulous record-keeping that have in the years since dramatically influenced dry-garden practices. Conceptually revolutionary design ideas were things such as including ponds in dry gardens as cooling agents and audible and visual reminders to consider how water is preserved and re-purposed; mounding soil to improve drainage and allow for more plant diversity; including rocks and boulders to mimic natural environments; and garden designs with narrow, winding gravel paths that increase human interactions and including open vistas to create visual spaciousness and connect a garden to the larger surrounding area. With a private residence on the property, until the very last few years of her life, Bancroft could be found working, eventually overseeing the garden from a wheelchair or escorted on the arm of an assistant. She died in November 2017 at the age of 109.
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The Garden Today In 2023, the garden boasts a visitor’s center, educational programs, docent-led tours, plant sales, special concerts, private rentals, and art and sculpture exhibits. A registered non-profit since 1992, The Ruth Bancroft Garden is run by a volunteer board of directors with approximately 20 paid staff members and a few interns. Nursery and design services director Cricket Riley first joined the garden as a member in 2012. “I found the garden attractive and admired the climateappropriate plants,” says Riley. “I used them as a source of inspiration and information for my gardens at home.” Having moved into her position in 2017, Riley appreciates that most people in California are knowledgeable about planning for droughts, accessible irrigation and creating beautiful gardens that survive in today’s wildly changeable climate that might include unexpected and scorching heat waves in fall months and atmospheric rivers during the summer. Even so, there are gaps in understanding home gardens. “We try to help clients understand how a tree, a fence, houses and hardscaping can feed into their gardens’ microclimate,” Riley says. “You can actually see it here in the Bancroft garden. In the shadier parts of our garden, you can grow plants that might need less sun. We’ve created artificial microclimates, like in Bed 6, that have a permanent shade structure that protects it from the sun and heat in the summer. In the fall, we put plastic sheeting on the structure that protects the plants from the rain. It’s like a portable greenhouse.” In the workshops and classes she leads, Riley emphasizes intentionality about using water. The concept of hydro-zoning teaches people that if they have a water-hungry plant they love and want in their home garden, it’s possible to have it; simply surround it with other plants that use less water. Another misconception? “We look at succulents that you mix in with other things for a variety of texture and color,” says Riley. “People think it’s a cactus or succulent garden only and you can’t have flowers. We show them you can have an agave next to a native salvia that is soft and pretty. It offers a more varied composition. Changing people’s minds about integrated gardens is what we do now.”
WILD MODERN A Mill Valley yard designed by Ruth Bancroft landscape designers features an overall density of plants with variable textures.
Riley says container gardening is an opportunity to create wonder in tiny spaces, and letting go of enormous grass front lawns and backyards is a matter of urgency. “The idea you have to have a grass lawn for your home to look proper, or cleaner…especially younger people seem open to breaking with tradition and interested in having a garden or lawns that don’t waste water or cause pollution. They use water on their fruit trees, not lawns.” With a design aesthetic she calls “wild modern,” Riley says the phrase does not refer to “modern” as in restrained color palette and lots of repetition. Adding “wild” results in designs that instead feature overgrown plants that touch, an overall density of plants with variable textures and garden beds with plants “falling all over each other and having softness.” During the pandemic shutdown, the garden saw a surge in sales, membership and participation. “We could provide so much benefit for the community,” says Riley. “The garden had a huge visitor increase because we could be open when others weren’t. Yes, the current economic situation has constricted those numbers, just like it has in all retail sales. People are more able to travel and do other things, so
they might not be coming here to visit the garden as much as during COVID.”
The Garden in the Future Asked about the coming years as a small staff devoted to Bancroft’s vision carries forth her legacy, Riley says, “We’d like to continue to see more people in our community find us as a resource. From homeowners to schools to civic organizations, we’re an example of sustainability, and we’re already woven into the fabric of the community.” Riley’s big dreams are to change the way all gardens are taken care of, provide education at low- or no-cost to gardeners who have limited access to fine gardening skills, and for the Bancroft to help communities be involved in plant choices for gardens and parks in public spaces through a consulting program. For homeowners seeking information and exploring the garden’s many programs and events, an updated website offers a detailed calendar, videos and information about a new Dry Garden Design Certificate Program launched this year. Visit ruthbancroftgarden.org for more information.
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Mother Daughter
ART LEGACY Aarin Burch has found in her stepping out of her mother’s shadow an emboldened sense of ‘home’ and illumination.
Art
Magic Aarin Burch carries forth the Laurel Burch legacy
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THROUGH HER EYES An independent filmmaker, Aarin Burch is working to complete a documentary about her mother, Laurel (pictured left).
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own woman. My mom had her thing, and I’m doing me,’” said Aarin Burch. “I was defiant about that and had this famous mom, so I was constantly trying to figure out who I was in that shadow. “I’m amazed that I decided I wanted to take on the business, but it’s because her messages are my same messages, absolutely. She felt it was important that people felt seen. She didn’t teach me that explicitly. But our parallel trajectories mean that in my life—through teaching hip-hop, martial arts, my travels, film career—making sure people feel loved, seen and celebrated, is the core,” she continued. Laurel Burch died at age 61 in 2007. As a graduate of the California College of Arts and Crafts with a career in film, the younger Burch is working to complete a documentary about her mother’s life. The film is not a biopic, but a view of Laurel
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PHOTO COURTESY OF AARIN BURCH
Aarin Burch, an independent video producer and filmmaker, stepped up to lead the company as an e-commerce business out of her Oakland garage in 2012. Her brother, Juaguim Burch, ran the international business. The company holds bi-annual warehouse sales that attract thousands of devoted fans and collectors, both local and from around the world. The brick-and-mortar store that honors and carries forward the Laurel Burch legacy was launched by Aarin Burch in March 2020, mere days before the pandemic shelter in place mandate shuttered businesses nationwide. Laurel Burch Studios thrived online during the COVID years and reopened to the public in 2021. “I have to start by saying I took on the Laurel Burch business as a woman who has spent most of my life going, ‘I’m my
Burch through the eyes of a daughter, a person of color, a businesswoman and a woman who identifies as queer. “There is the dynamic of my perspective,” said Aarin Burch. “If I painted a perfect picture, if I gave it a white woman’s perspective, that would be flat. My mother was a white woman married to a Black man. That’s significant. She had mixed children, she defied the odds, worked in a world that was all businessmen, and she had osteoporosis, a bone disease. She still said, ‘I’m going to do this.’ It was important I get the texture in there and tell the story through my eyes.” Despite the surprise of wanting to run the business—or maybe because of it, as Aarin Burch is innately attracted to the open window and territory yet unexplored—she’s found in her stepping out of her mother’s shadow an emboldened sense of “home” and illumination. “When I realized I could touch thousands, millions of people through her paintings, artwork and products, I was sold,” Burch said. “Her desire to support causes that would be, if she were alive, the same as the ones I support, her desire to create amazing art and support humankind—that’s what I’m doing. I might support things related to animals, the planet, Black Lives Matter, queer rights, but it’s with my flavor of what’s important. To me, it’s not so different from her vision.” Importantly, her mother told her before she died to run the business her way and it would be the right way. Thus freed, Aarin Burch took on the mantle and learned all about contracts, negotiation, licensing, running wholesale and e-commerce businesses, and eventually, opening and curating a walk-in retail store. “I say, just come by and get a hit of color. You don’t even have to buy something. I have the same sense of creating beauty and order; it’s like a Burch gift,” she observed. Burch shares her mother’s high standards: obsessing over the perfect magenta while also escaping the trap of becoming an echo chamber of past success. She said she has moved beyond suffering imposter syndrome and in the last few years trusts her instincts.
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF AARIN BURCH
LAUREL BURCH STUDIO Aarin Burch opened the colorfully filled brick-and-mortar flagship store in March 2020.
“I trust my energy and way of communicating,” said Burch. “I don’t hold back. I’m good with being thrilled with what I do and turning people onto it. This is beautiful, incredible art. I’m on fire with it because I get to bring people out. When someone carrying a bag or wearing earrings talks about how it makes them feel, I’m doing magic.” Elements she has introduced include more black-and-white items with just a pop of color; single blossoms enlarged in addition to the familiar densely repeated flowers; and pulling circles, squiggles and little icons out of artwork to create classic, iconic and retrospective jewelry that ranges from joyful to whimsical to elegant. There are debut necklaces named for streets in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, where she grew up. “I created I-See-You tokens, thousands of them, and started giving them out,” Burch said. “It became a physical talisman that continues today.” Burch doesn’t compartmentalize herself, allowing different expressions of who she is and encouraging visitors
in the shop to do the same. “You might come into my store and I’m dressed in jeans to be comfortable. Or let’s say we’re having an event and it’s all magenta. Or I’m going out to hear live music, dressed head to toe in black. For so long, I felt I had to fit into my mom’s mold: Don’t be too boyish, wear dresses and skirts, makeup. Now, I’m unapologetically myself. My mom would have dug that too. It feels good. I can have short hair and be boyish, feminine. It feels so good to bring all my parts together,” she noted. Burch is honest and said her relationship with her mother, while always loving and never estranged, was challenging. She has embraced her mother’s passion and drive, choosing to be real about the painful parts, but also sincere when she said, “She was doing the best she could, and I stopped making her wrong for that. Once I did that, we got closer. That’s real stuff.” Asked about the 50th anniversary of the business that comes in 2024, Burch said customers remain avid about handbags, wallets and jewelry, but new products are also receiving interest. Newly introduced tea towels have been impossible to keep in stock, and a new line of drinkware shows indications of being equally popular. A special edition wall calendar and prints that bring back artwork from the 1990s, along with the annual Christmas sale Dec. 9 and 10, have created an early buzz. Undoubtedly, there will be early orders for the documentary Burch expects to complete in early 2026 too. Burch said her definition of home is a place that is cozy, comfortable and beautiful. “You can touch everything; it’s accessible and not stuffy. There is art on the wall, it smells good, the light is warm. How would you answer that?” she asked. The question is trademark Burch, coaxing a back-and-forth conversation, inviting a person into her circle and making that person feel like the shared space is simultaneously “ours” and a place of one’s own. All of which begs for a trek to the shop and a chance to see beauty, be seen and depart with a bit of “Burch magic” to take home. ❤
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A pickleball revolution is in full swing
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BY Sonya Bennett-Brandt
and an official mascot: a giant ball named Kitchen in a cap, shades and net-print shorts. There are “In my pickleball era” T-shirts, boozy pickleball meet-ups and pickleball memes (“The first rule of pickleball is…you tell everyone about pickleball”). There’s even competing lore about the origin of the name: No one denies that one of the founding families owned a cockapoo puppy named Pickles… but was the game named after the dog, or the dog after the game? All of these are the inevitable growing
pains of a sport that has ballooned to be one of the most popular by participation in the country, at 36.6 million players. But pickleball is uniquely invested in protecting the amateur-friendly and family-oriented soul of the game. This year, the Pickleball Association banned the “spin serve,” (during which a player uses his or her non-paddle hand to spin the pickleball before hitting a serve, creating an unpredictable bounce) because “only a limited number of players have mastered this, giving them an unfair advantage,” and “the spin serve is
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PHOTO COURTESY OF PICKLEHEADS
y this point in the pickleball revolution, it’s the rare Bay Area resident who hasn’t played the fastest-growing sport in America, or seen big, cheerful groups of people playing it, or at least heard the telltale thwack of a pickleball paddle. Pickleball was originally invented in 1965 by bored summer vacationers looking for a racket sport that the whole family could play together. Nearly 60 years later, the sport is unrecognizable. There are two pro pickleball tours, a professional league
to the People
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GETTING PICKLED A beginner clinic is hosted by Darlene Vendegna at Bushrod Park.
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badminton. Players—in singles or doubles—hit a ball back and forth over a short net, hitting balls off a bounce (a “groundstroke”) or out of the air (a “volley”). There’s a seven-foot no-volley zone near the net, called “the kitchen,”
PICKLEBALL AMBASSADOR Darlene Vendegna at Bushrod Park in Oakland, where all three of the tennis courts are being used for pickleball.
where players must wait for the ball to bounce before hitting it. Gameplay continues until a serve does not clear the kitchen, a shot is hit out of bounds or a shot is hit into the net. Games are usually played to 11 points. Like all sports, pickleball has its quirks and lingo (“dill ball,” “dink shot,” “getting pickled,” “the Bert” and “the Erne,” etc.), but its simple set-up and gentle learning curve get new players hooked quickly. Vendegna was introduced to pickleball for the first time in 2016. “Within five minutes, I was completely in,” she says. “I bought a paddle the next day. The next week, I bought a net.” Now, she spreads the gospel of pickleball across the Bay Area. Her pickleball email group has grown to over 2,000 members. She closes every email with the signoff: “Pickleball to the people!” In Vendegna’s opinion, pickleball has something for everyone—she sees everyone from tennis players who come to work on footwork with less strain to their shoulders, to racquetball players who want to move outdoors due to COVID, to bridge and mahjong players who like the social aspects of the game. “It’s such a social game because the
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DARLENE VENDEGNA
particularly devastating for amateur players.” Pickleball is very deliberately designed to be a sport that newcomers and pros can actually play together. “It’s incredibly easy to learn,” says Darlene Vendegna, an official USA Pickleball ambassador, Professional Pickleball Registry-certified coach and Bay Area pickleball legend. She thinks that the inclusive, accessible quality is behind the meteoric rise of the sport. “There’s a low barrier to entry,” Vendegna explains. The nature of the game makes it far more forgiving for new, young and elderly players than most sports. The ball is both lighter and less bouncy than a tennis ball; players don’t need much strength to hit it effectively; and overzealous beginners are less likely to overshoot and hit the ball out of the court entirely. With a court just over half the size of a tennis court, pickleball requires less sprinting, and the light paddles are easy to swing. “People who don’t come from a ballsport background at all, but they want to do something outside that’s fun—they flock to it,” says Vendegna. Gameplay is relatively simple, a hybrid between tennis, ping pong and
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Like all sports, pickleball has its quirks and lingo (‘dill ball,’ ‘dink shot,’ ‘getting pickled,’ ‘the Bert’ and ‘the Erne,’ etc.), but its simple set-up and gentle learning curve get new players hooked quickly. court is so small,” says Vendegna. “You can easily be carrying out a conversation while you’re playing. Much to the dismay of some of my partners.” Plenty of people who are new to sport- and game-playing are coming to pickleball as a way to build community, make friends and stay active. “I’ve lost count of the people who have said to me that they just moved here and I helped them find a community, or they just retired and suddenly their dance card is completely full,” says Vendegna. “So many people I know have good friends that they met playing pickleball.” Families have flocked to the sport as well. The game is designed to be intergenerational—and according to Vendegna, it really works. “I taught
my 89-year-old mother to play, and she played with her 10-year-old greatgranddaughter,” she says. “There’s no other sport where that can happen.” Pickleball’s ease of play means that size and strength don’t make for a massive advantage, giving younger players a genuine opportunity to win. “Mom and Dad and two kids can go out and have a competitive game,” Vendegna says. “It’s not Dad playing nice with daughter; it’s daughter wailing on Dad because she’s faster.” Kim Bistrong, 57, who has recently taken up pickleball for the first time, likes that the game feels less about competition than about intergenerational fun. “It’s not just talk,” she says. “You do get the sense that
PICKLEBALL PRO Michelle Esquivel is a professional player and the director of pickleball at the future Craneway Pickleball Pavillion.
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We’re all big labrador retrievers who just want everyone to have fun and play this game. DARLENE VENDEGNA, official USA Pickleball ambassador
« the movement and the engagement is
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pickleball-curious East Bayers to reach out to her at pickleballdar@gmail.com. Vendegna estimates that about 20% of new players just show up at a meet-up and hope someone shows them the ropes. Usually, the community is happy to oblige, but Vendegna recommends taking a quick intro class to learn the rules and practice a few volleys. She and her assistant coaches host an open play at Bushrod Park in north Oakland four times per week, and use one court to give first-timers an intro clinic for 90 minutes or so. They supply balls and paddles, and ask for $10. Vendegna’s enthusiasm is undeniably infectious. “I had a gal come up to me— in her mid-60s—and say, ‘I’ve never been athletic; I’ve never played a sport,’” Vendegna says. “Within 10 minutes, she was saying, ‘This is really fun, I want to buy a paddle.’ That’s what it’s about.” ❤
PHOTO COURTESY OF PICKLEHEADS
BEST COAST According to Pickleheads, California has the second most pickleball courts in the United States.
the goal.” Bistrong has had three lessons with Vendegna. “The first lesson was amazing,” Bistrong says. “She made me feel like I knew what I was doing.” She considered setting up a fourth lesson—but Vendegna told her she’s ready to hit the court. “She didn’t even want to take the money,” says Bistrong. “She’s like, ‘You’re ready. Just like get out there. I promise you’ll meet people at your level.’” For East Bay residents who are curious about how to get started, local pickleball ambassadors like Vengedna are ready to proselytize. “We’re all big labrador retrievers who just want everyone to have fun and play this game,” Vendegna says. There are about 100 pickleball courts scattered across parks and rec centers in the East Bay, and plenty of support for finding a game. Vendegna is happy for any
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