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Community Corner

Farewell, Enchanted Isle: A Guest Editor Says Goodbye

It was a quiet week in Alameda... until I tackled the women's boutique assignment.

I will miss you, Alameda.

In fact, I'm already a little down-hearted not to see my postage-stamp-sized mug in the upper left-hand corner of the home page. But Eve is back and rested, and will do a much better job than this stranger from across the Estuary.

We got off to a great start last week, with many of you writing welcome notes and suggesting news tips as I took on my mantle as Alameda Patch guest editor. Here's how the days unfurled:

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Thursday: Strolling down Park Street, full from a delightful curry and a clay pot catfish at , my wife Rachele and I spotted Debbie and Frank George moving mattresses out of their 1419 Park St. space in preparation to reconvert it to a mini-mall. "News! News!" we said to each other with our eyes.

Friday:  A quick interview with City Manager Lisa Goldman revealed that the City Council is zeroing in on final for her position.

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Saturday: Readers almost instantly guessed the location of the cement face I posted in the weekly "Where in Alameda" guessing game. Later that day, a casual Facebook conversation launched me into an inquiry into the nature of . With the help of readers, this image emerged: The island combines a fine representation of international tastes with some down-home comfort food dished up in homey cafes.

Sunday:  Hardly anyone had advice about where to spend weekend, so I set off on a wild . Literally.

Monday: My son Trevor and I decided to discover this cafe culture of which you speak. We cruised over to on Encinal. I had the hot salmon on focaccia, he had the barbecued tri tip sandwich. Next we visited Borders to talk to shoppers taking advantage of closeout sales. Cecelia Leong's feature on school founder Cindy Acker got lots of great comments.

Tuesday: I reported on concerns about vacancies at shopping center. Cecelia struck again with a portrait of cheese connoisseur .

Wednesday:  Alice Lewis's yarn about an drew plenty of attention, as did Rena Ragimova's suggestion that we all visit the in San Francisco. 

Thursday: Rena reminded us that there's plenty , if you don't feel like driving across the bridge. And, responding to another imperative from Eve, I picked out my favorite places in Alameda to buy . I can't wait to try this stuff on!

Friday: I'm sad my visit has ended, however ephemeral and electronic. I know you guys will let me cross the bridge every now and then.

But it won't be the same walking down Park Street as a tourist.

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