B Street

B St., Downtown, Hayward.

B Street needs to get humming, and more excitement. A few years back, you might remember, there used to be an Art & Wine Festival on B Street. We went to it every year, and then pum! No more. 

We've also visited the Zucchini Festival. A good friend, Naomi Kuwabara, actually won a prize with her zucchini bread at the very first one. But, alas, no more great bread for me, because the contest disappeared. She and John Sands would win handily if the contest were on again. John's cookies are culinary Picassos. He was a ribbon-winner last year at the Alameda County Fair. But hey, where's the zucchini? 

I would like to see the Art & Wine Festival again. We have our Hayward vintners and our artists – let's showcase them! However, I would make it an Art, Wine & Beer Festival. You know we have excellent beer, compliments of Buffalo Bill's. 

A European- or Latin American-type Art in the Park also would be a good idea for our city. The artists of the Hayward Arts Council and Sun Gallery would shine. We held one once at Library Plaza when I was on the Hayward Arts Council Board, but that was it, just once. 

What I really love, though, are our summer street parties. If you've never been to one, I really encourage you to mark your calendar for this year's last two, on the third Thursday of August and September, and join us on B Street. What a blast! 

There's excellent food and drink, nice classic cars to ogle, three bands belting out good sounds – but the best thing is the people. 

Now, at our street parties, we talk about anything and everything, from music to food, from city politics to unionizing. We can register for Chabot College and have our questions answered. We can get a free Daily Review, free ice cream, or buy a book or a trinket. If you are studying a language, you'll run into a native speaker for some chitchat. This is because the people who go are as diverse as our stores downtown. As an example, Cy Nie, one of my students, a fine gentleman from China, owner of The Satin Rose (1019 B St.), would love to practice ‘español’ with you. 

We do have many booths. One always present is the Puente Booth from Chabot College (photo). 

We do have our farmers market on Saturdays, but there's minimal personal interaction: Most go there, pinch a fruit, feel and smell a vegetable, pay and leave. 

Now that we are on downtown businesses, we need a comic book store. There was one, where I fed my addiction for all things Spider-Man. What happened? A used-CD music store would be nice, too. We all have some CDs that need to be exchanged. 

But I do want to thank the folks at the Hayward Chamber of Commerce for having come up with the idea of street parties. Realizing the idea is actually tougher, of course, but they enlisted the help of others in carrying out the details and grunt work needed to bring them about. Call Peggy Collett if you'd like to volunteer. I was there last month with quite a few others, directing the show cars. It was warm, rewarding and fun. Join us!

They remind me a bit of the tianguis (open-air weekly market) south of the border, and of the Rastro over in Madrid. The one in downtown Madrid is huge, with sellers on the street, open-door businesses and lots of people. 

The tianguis happens in the town's plaza, and they go way back to the Mesoamericans – thus the name, from the Nahuatl "tianquiztli.” 

Other downtown events are Light Up the Season during the holidays, with great events, colors, festivities, song and food. It is a bit colder, but the people warm it up nicely. 

La Alianza de Hayward's smart decision of moving its Cinco de Mayo Festival to downtown was welcomed because it provides some diversity and attracts folks who might not otherwise feel a need to walk. 

Our Blues Festival is dandy, helping musically put Hayward on the map. 

As an utter cinephile, I am so looking forward to our Cinema Place. This means that some of us will be considering a Hayward film festival. Wouldn’t it be grand? It could be a one-weekend movie extravaganza that I believe would contribute even more to making our downtown the destination point it should be, not the drive through it is today.

Imagine: A stroll on B Street, watch a movie, and afterward meet friends at various local businesses for good eating, a drink, coffee or ice cream, and a movie chat. Are you with me?

Another missing element downtown? Public art. There are some murals and an HAC booklet that highlights a few of them. There is a beautiful Spanish-style dead fountain waiting to live again, in front of a bronze César E. Chávez relief on the Mission side of our library. Our two city halls are architectural jewels, and our newest one has an artistic living fountain. What else? Oh, yes, there is a bust of a Spanish missionary put away somewhere, praying to see the public eye again.

I believe we need more art, eye candy, another reason for our citizens to visit. And I can just see a couple of 6-foot, gently swaying, black metal creations masterfully crafted by my good friend and recent planning commissioner Ed Bogue. They would be a sight!

What is key about all these events is taking our citizens to downtown Hayward. To make a downtown visit part of a weekly activity for our citizens, we must maintain and even expand the quality of these events. Let’s keep it up, and let’s run into each other, on B Street. 

Thank you. 
fjzc©02.viii.2006
Hayward on!