Around Town

Grand Slam

Alameda Hosts World Boys Baseball Tourney

    Spectators going wild, autograph hunters, welcome parties, TV coverage, home runs and stiff competition—that’s just a bit of what a group of Alameda 14- and 15-year-olds experienced in Culiacan, Mexico, last year. The occasion was the 26th annual World Boys Baseball Tournament, won by a team from Japan.
    This year “the world” comes to Alameda. In early August, handpicked teens from as far afield as Japan, Korea, Mexico (two teams), Taiwan, Brazil and Australia will converge on Alameda. The players and accompanying parents and coaches will stay in local homes. They will get to experience local customs. They will continue the vision of the International Boys League, an informal organization established in 1982 with the expressed purpose of “fostering international goodwill and friendship by holding a world youth baseball tournament each year.”
    Retired Islander Bill Dal Porto, widely known as the patriarch of Alameda baseball for his Babe Ruth and Little League support, was among a small group, way back when, that got the ball rolling. In 1977, “we read about a team of youngsters from Japan playing friendship games in Hayward,” says Dal Porto. They went to watch, and when they learned the kids were staying in hotels, offered to host players in Alameda homes on any subsequent visit.
    That offer resulted in a to-and-fro that began with teams from Alameda, Fresno and San Diego—still the three California cities represented in the world tourney each year—going to Japan, and Japan Boys League teams coming to California. The list of competing countries grew from there, with Italy and Australia the two most recent additions.
    The first of the annual World Boys Baseball Tournament series, as it now exists, was held in Osaka, Japan, in 1982. Since then it has been an annual event, held 14 times in Japan and three times in Alameda: 1990 when a team from Fresno won; 1996 when a team from Japan won; and 2001 when a team from Brazil won. While competition is stiff—Dontrelle Willis, named 2003 National League Rookie of the Year and now pitching with the Detroit Tigers, is an Alameda team veteran—it’s not just about winning, says Dal Porto. “San Diego and Fresno both draw from the area, and the Japan team represents all of Japan. We could look all over the Bay Area and form a super-team. But we’re Alameda. We choose 15 kids from Alameda and five from outside the area. We’d rather have a great bunch of kids than a winning team.” Although, having the home field advantage, who knows?
    The stories, however, focus on friendships made and cultural experiences: kids learning about the discipline of baseball in Japan, visiting the Hiroshima Peace Museum and seeing a Japanese pro baseball game—“as rowdy as a college football game here,” says Dal Porto. Whatever happens this year, prepare for a huge blast.
    For venues and the game schedule, see www.alamedaworldbaseball.com.

—By Wanda Hennig
—Photography by Lisa Levine

Media Shelf

New Releases from Alameda Authors

The Madman & His Mistress, History in the Making by Roswitha McIntosh
(Infinity Publishing, 2007, 292 pp., $16.95)
    Alameda-based Roswitha “Ros” McIntosh, author of Live, Laugh & Learn, grew up under Hitler’s maniacal rule and pens a second tome, this one fiction, though she acknowledges much of the contents are based on true events. Memoir-like, the book reveals, in down-to-earth fashion with a touch of humor, insights into the dictator’s psyche from the perspective of those whose lives he and the Nazis dominated and controlled, concentrating on the daily reality of what the youth of the time experienced and processed.

The Black Dove: A Holmes on the Range Mystery by Steve Hockensmtih
(St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2008, 296 pp., $23.95)
    Sleuthing cowboy-detective brothers Gustav “Old Red” and Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer run amok in San Francisco in the 1890s where they try to get to the bottom of the murder of their friend, Dr. Chan. In the course of their Pinkerton gumshoeing to find a critical clue, the Black Dove, they encounter a gorgeous girl, run afoul of dishonest cops, chase hoodlums and cross thugs. This is Hockensmith’s third novel and
continues his Old West–Sherlock Holmesing shtick recounting the fast-paced, raucous adventures of the redheaded Amlingmeyers. Hockensmith lives in Alameda.         
—By Judith M. Gallman

Creating Kinship

You Can Get Anything You Want at Crosstown Coffeehouse

    When Dave Nederhood was first inspired to open a community space—about 14 years ago as a youth pastor in Michigan—he envisioned a teen center “where kids could come hear a punk rock show in a drug-free environment.” The clientele of Crosstown Coffeehouse and Community Center, however, is mostly avid coffee drinkers, Wi-Fi telecommuters, parents with their toddlers, and reading, knitting and quilting groups; the live music is typically bluegrass or jazz. And by serving an organically grown, eclectic Alameda demographic since opening in August 2006, Crosstown has become an authentic hub of Island life.
    “We’re based on a philosophy of asset-based community development,” says Nederhood, pastor of the nearby Alameda Christian Reformed Church and Crosstown’s “vision caster,” “which says all of the solutions to a given community’s problems can be found among the community members. Our clearest success has been Cowboy Jared. He came in as a customer, and after a couple of weeks said, ‘This is a cool space. I teach music to little kids. Do you think I could do a sing-along once a week?’ Now, there’s not an empty seat in the house on Friday mornings.”
    The most frequently asked questions, Nederhood says, are about Crosstown’s relationship with the church, specifically whether Crosstown is a Christian coffeehouse. “I’m always curious about what that means, exactly,” he says. “We’re going to sprinkle some Jesus dust in your coffee?” The coffeehouse may have grown out of Jesus’ pronouncement to “love your neighbor,” Nederhood says, but it was built with the community for the community.
    When Crosstown has fallen short on rent, its customers and board members have donated the difference, but Nederhood foresees special-event rentals making the operation “sustainable,” and manager Faith Rusca recently resubmitted the coffeehouse’s application for nonprofit status. “As I was clarifying our programs, I realized, oh my gosh, we actually have all these things,” she says, “kids programs, open mics, local artists displaying their art and singing their music.” Indeed, Crosstown is much more than sandwiches, salads, pastries, juices and espresso, or even fair-trade coffee dripped by the cup from the only brew rack in Alameda. And everything, from the coffee to the recycling program, is fodder for ongoing education.
    “Our mission is to serve Alameda the freshest coffee, conversation and creativity in town,” Nederland says. “We don’t want people walking away just saying, ‘That’s a really good cup of coffee.’ Our product is not really coffee; our product is community development.”
    Crosstown Community Center, 1303 High St., (510) 864-8600, Open 6 a.m.–8 p.m. Mon.–Wed. and Fri., 6 a.m.–9:30 p.m. Thu., 7 a.m.–8 p.m. Sat. (510) 864-8600, www.crosstowncoffee.org.
—By Derk Richardson
—Photography by Craig Merrill

ALAMEDA MADE

Donsuemor Madelines: Cookie Crazy

    It’s 32 years since a friend asked Susie Morris to take over her baking gig—making a box of madeleine cookies each week for a charcuterie in Berkeley’s gourmet ghetto. She started off in her home kitchen. Her husband, Don Morris, quickly saw a potential growth market for the delicate shell-shaped French tea cookie and urged her to increase production. They started using a commercial kitchen after hours, and Don Morris was soon calling in friends to help with sales and marketing. Then, blending their names, Don and Susie called their growing business Donsuemor.
    By 1984, increased production demanded a bigger bakery, and they moved the operation to Emeryville. After the birth of their son in 1989, Susie Morris, a talented soprano with musical aspirations, stepped out of the kitchen. Don Morris continued to grow the business until his untimely death in 1997. By then a management team was in place and the business continued.
    In 2007, having outgrown Emeryville, the Madeleine Cookie Company—producers of the Donsuemor line of lemon, rich chocolate and chocolate-dipped versions as well as the traditional madeleine—moved to North Loop Road in Alameda.
    From its modest start, the company now produces 50 million madeleines a year, says marketing director Atsuko Watanabe. You find them in Starbucks and other stores around the United States.
    Susie Morris is still involved, says Watanabe. The cookie company owner has made CDs, founded a recording company, sung nationally and internationally and divides her time between the Bay Area and the Sierra foothills.
    Order Donsuemor madeleines online at www.donsuemor.com.

—By Wanda Hennig

About a Soprano

Alameda Artist Loves Opera, Cars and Burmese Food

 
    Alameda opera singer Marisa Lenhardt has found a way to squeeze everything she loves into life no matter how opposite her interests may at first seem. At no time was that more apparent than when she sang at a recent benefit for a friend hit by a car.
    “It was a room full of punk rockers and it was dead silent and jaws were dropping,” Lenhardt says about her operatic performance. “Who wouldn’t want to sing to an audience like that?”
    Lenhardt, 32, has experienced similar contradictions about her native Alameda: “Everything I hated about Alameda in high school is what I love about it now,” she says, eventually returning to the Island and buying a house here last year. Likewise, she had to rediscover her love of classical singing: She trained every day after school from age 7 into high school, burned out and then was inspired by a six-week summer camp in Santa Barbara and enrolled in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
    Singing opera has since taken Lenhardt places most wouldn’t think possible, including the Death Guild Thunderdome at Burning Man, where she performs in a wardrobe suitable for the club’s fascination with the 1980s Mad Max movies. “Opera doesn’t have to be stiff upper lip. It was originally not a conformist art anyway,” she says, adding, “If you can sing opera, you can sing anything else.”
    An Adobe Systems employee by day, Lenhardt sings most often in church or at benefits with another local opera star, Frederica von Stade. But it wouldn’t be a Lenhardt endeavor without a touch of contradiction, so look for her to arrive at these events in her flame-thrower-equipped art car, Thor. “If you were really nefarious, you wouldn’t drive a car like this,” Lenhardt says about the attention-grabbing auto that she uses most frequently for quick runs to her favorite Alameda restaurant, Burma Superstar. “But I’m not crazy; I don’t drive over 25 miles an hour.”
    Visit Marisa Lenhardt on the Web at www.marisalenhardt.com.

—By Daniel Jewett

—Photography by Bazil Zerinsky

TAKE FIVE with Terrence Brewer

Rockin' in Rhythm

1     OLE’S WAFFLE SHOP
    Before my wife and I moved to Alameda, we heard a lot of great things about Ole’s. We thought, “How good could it really be?” Little did we know that it would become our second home—that’s how good it is! My wife and I are both pancake fanatics and immediately fell in love with Ole’s magic touch. We love to sit at the counter, bond with the employees (Luis, Vicki, Dolores and Jessie), and experience that authentic
diner feeling you get there.

2     HAVANA RESTAURANT
    When I’m in Havana. it reminds of me of one of my favorite spots in New York City. It’s so nice to have such a hip, upscale place in our hometown. I love the high energy, the vibrancy it exudes and the amazing food. And of course, I love that they have 13 choices of mojitos. I haven’t tried all of them yet, but I’m getting there.

 

3     SCALISE’S MEATS
    Living near this establishment has truly changed our nightly dinners. Not only has the quality of the food we eat improved, but so have our cooking habits. There’s always something we can buy or cook from there that tastes delicious. Some of my favorite foods include the chili calabrese, the prime rib and the pre-seasoned tri-tip. Another big plus is that the super-friendly staff gives great instructions on how to cook their meat—something I definitely appreciate.

4     CONCERTS AT THE COVE
    This concert series is so fun. To me, it is the quintessential, ideal summer experience. To be sitting outdoors while listening to great music in a gorgeous setting amongst people of all ages is tantamount to perfect. My wife and I love to bike there with our dogs and take in the sights and sounds. I’m thrilled I will be playing at Crab Cove for a Fresh Tracks event sponsored by the East Bay Regional Parks District and KKSF on Saturday, October 18, at 11 a.m.

5     MY HOUSE
    After living in Alameda as renters for 10 years, my wife and I were fortunate enough to buy a home in Alameda. It’s the best decision we’ve made; I’m still deciding what I love more, our awesome cupboard space, multiple bathrooms or our garage. And, as a full-time musician and private lesson instructor, I get to work from home while still being centrally located in the Bay Area. We love this community and love the idea of growing old here.

—By Gina Jaber

—Photography by Craig Merrill