Despite temperatures to the contrary, "Punxsutawney Phil" failed to see his shadow last weekend which hopefully means Spring on on its way in the next 6 week!

As we continue to roll into 2019,  I am so thrilled to celebrate both the Lunar New Year and Black History Month. We love working to support the diversity of business, thinking, and culture that make Alameda such a wonderful place to live.

This year the Lunar New Year event will be held on Saturday, February 16th from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm.  We will have a return of the Toi Shan Family Association Chinese dancers, Chinese Traditional Drummers, and a Lion Dance performance.  The event will be held on Haight Street leaving ample room for our guests. And I’m happy to report that we received a grant from the City’s Arts Commission to make the 2019 Year of the Boar event even better than last year!

We are also happy to announce that the staff at the WABA is growing with the addition of Jolene Wright, who will be taking over as our Marketing and Operations Manager. Jolene will be working part time to help support me and our Members as we fulfill our strategic and marketing goals for 2019. Please see a bit about Jolene and her background below and feel free to introduce yourself if you see her around town.

Jolene Wright has been lucky enough to call Alameda home since her migration from the brutal Winters of Manhattan in 2002.
With over 15 years of Project Management and Operations experience, Jolene looks forward to working with the WABA on an assortment of projects to support local businesses on the island she has come to love.
In her spare time, Jolene can be found shuttling her two children (Sage and Remy) and dog (Waffle) around the Island. You might also catch her doing “market research” and any number of Alameda’s fine dining establishments and shops with her husband, Dave.

As always, it is a great pleasure to represent and advocate for West Alameda, a neighborhood I call home.  I can be reached at linda@westalamedabusiness.com or 510.523.5955.  The best to you and our community in 2019.