Meet Your Neighbor - Sara Ubelhart

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Sara Ubelhart and I run Zocalo , own  Zocalo Coffee House

What do you love about San Leandro?

San Leandro is just awesome in general, I love the people here, the great community  and the hub that is Zocalo

I love Zocalo I will be working at home and just need to get away from it.  You added food this past year,  What prompted you to do that?

When we were talking to Tim and Mitch about buying Zocaolos we were looking at ways in which we could make it sustainable because of the increase in the overhead, so we were trying to figure out how we could make it.  We wanted Zocalo to stay, we wanted to keep it here, but we also need to figure out how we were going to make it, keep it.  We worked with a restaurant consultant, we looked at the numbers and she said you are buying in all this food, there is really no place around to have lunch, or brunch or a decent meal that is reasonably priced that you could bring your family.  This area has tried, there was the Cornerstone over there, and there was this other breakfast place for a little bit.  Our plan was to build a kitchen along all the empty space along the back wall, but because it came down to the wire I ended up moving the roaster out because it was not clear we were going to stay.  So that space opened up so we were able to utilize that space as the kitchen.

I love that now there is food at Zocalo, it gets to lunch and I can grab something to eat and

continue working.

I have worked here for a long time, I knew that people come and this is their office, a lot of folks work from home or work remotely, we need to figure out if people were going to sit here for 3 or 4 hours a way to get them interested in buying things while they were here. It's not going to pay the bills if some buys a coffee for $2 and sits for 6 hours.  I didn't want it to become this high turn around restaurant , I didn't want to lose that feel.  Tim sold Zocalo to me and all of a sudden it's a sit down for half an hour then we kick you out kind of place.  I want to have the food but have people feel welcome to sit and stay and work, because that what Zocalo is, its basically the living room of this neighborhood.  We didn't want to lose that.  I think the lunch and the more casual food really helps to achieve that.

Now on Thursday, Friday and Saturday you stay open later now.

We are starting to stay open until 9pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  That has been a little slow to get started, I think the word is still getting out there that we are open later.  We had a really cool trivia night.  The Estudillo Estates Neighborhood association put on a trivia night that was hopping, it was really cool.  We are hoping to do more community events like that on those nights.  We are allowed to stay open until 10 because it is a commercial zone , so on nights like that we will stay open till 10.

And you have beer, do you have wine as well?

We have beer and we are doing a wine tasting next week with someone from Wente, which is in Livermore.  She is going to bring in a few of their  wines  so we can taste them.  With beer it was easy, we have Drakes beer and you want to support local and we are getting a few others like the 21st amendment, I have not reached out to them yet.  So the beer was super easy, obviously we were going to do Drakes, with the wine I was happy to find someone that was relatively close in Livermore.  We try to do things as local as we can.

Talk a little about the history of Zocalos, It started as Deans Beans, then it closed and became Zocalos?

Tim addressing the crowd at the closing party

From my understanding when I started working here I was hired right at the year anniversary of Tim and Mitch reopening after their renovation.  I came on early in their ownership.  Tim and Mitch moved here and were working in Silicon Valley, Dean owned the place.  Dean got sick , Tim and Mitch were tired of traveling back and forth .  They wanted to create this hub in their neighborhood so it worked out.  They were able to purchase the business from Dean.  They put their heart and soul into this place and revamp the whole thing.  I never saw it as Deans Beans.  Tim and Mitch created what is here now .  People said I did such a great job.  I just inherited this amazing place, we just had to put in a kitchen and fix the plumbing, everything else was totally them, their vision and what they wanted to see here.  They did so much for San Leandro , it crazy, having worked here for 9 years , saw all the community events, Tim with Steven Cassidy's campaign, neighborhood association meetings happen here,  people just felt like it was their home.  When I moved here it was really great, I just felt at home even being so far away from where I am from.  It's just a great place.

I love the big table,  if you have a group of Scouts or whoever you have enough space to spread out.  Never feels you are all about turnover.  It has this relaxed vibe. 

Zocalos is so huge, it's a huge space, you don't really see coffee shops this big.  It does facilitate so much conversation and is such a great place for people to meet.  There is a kids area too.

You had the Quiz night, do you have any other community type nights planned?

There is a group of literary folks it town that are going to do Zocalo spits on February 5th.  It's going to be their first installment.  I think they have a program every First Thursday of the Month up until May. They have some really great writers coming , and there is an open mike portion of each program, so that's pretty cool.  We have a link of that on our face book  page.  The Author Lemony Snicket is coming, its pretty family friendly but also pretty hip too.  I think it will be good.  We want to do more game nights for sure.  Maybe a Settler of Catan marathon

Any Final Words, pieces of wisdom.

(Laughs) I feel so supported here, the support that I have gotten through this whole process.  We thought it was going to be really easy, we would just be able to buy Zocalo  and it was just going to turn over .  We weren't expecting the health department to come in and have us upgrade the plumbing.  It was a slow and agonizing process.  Just to feel like the neighborhood was behind us every step of the way was so incredible.

It wouldn't be Zocalo without the Staff, the neighborhood and the staff, it just the whole picture.

Thank you so much Sara.

Find Zocalo on Facebook or their Website

Meet Your Neighbor Monday - Larry Allphin

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Larry Allphin. My claim to fame is that I am the 3rd generation, owner, operator, of a family business that was started in 1923.  So my Grandfather started our store in 1923 up in Oakland on Foothill Boulevard just off of Seminary Avenue .  But event before that, before my grandfather opened the store, he and his brother had a business in Greybull Wyoming my grandfathers brother Owen had taken a correspondence course in how to grind lenses so he was like the precursor to an optometrist.  They had a little shop in Greybull Wyoming my grandfather did watch repair he did a course on how to fix watches. and they also made caskets on the side .  Greybull Wyoming is microscopically small, but it was a railroad stop so when grandpa did move to California, because of his knowledge and familiarity of railroad, he was able to get a Southern Pacific watch inspectors franchise. At that time if was a big freakin deal , there was no wireless communication so you had to have a watch that was keeping accurate time if you are working on tracks and its 5 minutes to 10 and the train is coming through at 10 you had to get you, and your crew off of there. So the company actually paid to have your watches maintained if you were an engineer or a master conductor it was a built-in clientele for my grandfather.  That was a game changer in his life.

As Larry talks he continues to work on a project 

So this is Boric Acid that is suspended in Alcohol, and when it heats up and the oxygen gets to the metal its what causes the metal to turn dark and ugly , with this stuff on here it lessens the firescale that occurs during the soldering process.

So a lot of history in the family, my grandfather after his service during world war 2 joined the firm, he went to a watchmaking school that was part of an adult education program in San Francisco, thats where he learnt to become a watchmaker and he ran the firm .

As you can see it was sparse with little inventory but nothing dramatic.  Grandpa always did do retail sales of jewelry and at that time there were districts in Oakland.  The Diamond district, the Seminary District, Lake Merritt and all that stuff. Very rarely did people go too much out of their district, unless they were going downtown Oakland for big entertainment he had a built-in clientele which was good for him.  As a store we have always sold fine jewelry, precious gems and all that stuff.  He always focused on service as well which is a good thing for him because in the depression although business was dramatically impacted, nobody was buying new stuff,, because he fixed stuff he was able to keep a little food on the table which is cool.

Were you working for the family, when did you start working?

That's interesting, I started by cleaning the glass for my father . I went to school here in San Leandro, I went to Roosevelt Elementary and Bancroft Jr High, Not middle school.  The San Leandro high school.  I would get off school when I was going to Bancroft I would take the AC transit bus down to my father shop and I would clean the glass and sweep the floor, get into trouble, so I have always been involved with it.  My actual money earning career I was working for Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream when they had a manufacturing facility on College Avenue in Oakland and I was in there production department making ice cream, I drove a forklift for a while I got married and had a kid.  As soon as I had a kid my father was concerned about my long range potential I guess (laughs) He said why don’t you come and join the business, that was the beginning of a great opportunity for me because I had the chance to apprentice with a retired goldsmith who worked for Shreves in San Francisco and lived here in San Leandro I got to take advantage of his knowledge, that was a fun thing to do.  My father actually fired me twice which in retrospect was kind of cool, at the time not so much.  Finally I joined the firm in earnest and used my goldsmithing skills, he was a watchmaker, I was the goldsmith and we had things covered.  

Larry Continues to work

So what I am doing here is I have a clients engagement ring and wedding ring , when you wear them they rub each other and wears them out.  If they are always going to be wearing those rings together we solder them together at the base.  I heated it up and added gold solder. The wearing has stopped, they don't shift, they stay at the top.

When I started working for my Dad as an employee his shop was at 1336 East 14th, it actually a dog grooming salon now next to Tequila Grill, right next to Dr Flores, all part of the Best Building.  I think dad opened that shop in 1974 after he moved from Oakland after my grandfather passed away. We were there for a long time and then had the opportunity to move over to Pelton Plaza, it was Pelton Center at the time.  We were there for 12 years , then my Dad passed .  The space next to me on Parrot opened, we were there for a while and finally when this little corner location (which was a flower shop) opened I asked my landlord if I could move in here .  He was really gracious, he is an awesome guy and said sure.  I got my smaller spot, perfectly located.  I entend to be here until such a time as I actually retire.  I want to take Alphion Jewelers to its 100th birthday.

You are quite the party thrower so I am sure it will be quite a shindig

I better start saving now

What do you love about San Leandro?

What I really love about San Leandro is probably a direct reflection the fact that I have been here so long, I like the roots, I like the familiarity, people in San Leandro tend to be community engaged, I like the fact the they are active and very supportive, my customer base is so nice.  It’s corny and cliche but I do feel that most of the people that come in my shop are my friends. I think San Leandro is a great bicycle town, during the warmer month I actually commute to work on my bike.  Right now it is a little too cold for me. I do believe that the public schools in San Leandro are excellent, my kids went to school in San Leandro for a while, a couple of the teachers that taught my kids are still my clients today, now my kids are all grown up.  I also like San Leandro because of its proximity to other cities, as much as I like San Leandro, its really easy to go to Berkeley or jump on the freeway and go down to San Jose to a Sharks game.  San Leandro’s a great town.  Its in the slow process of reinventing itself even in the last 5 years I have seen some tremendous things happening and some way cool things happening in the near future with the Tech Campus.  And from a selfish standpoint I am hoping all the people from the Tech Campus will find their way to downtown San Leandro (laughs) It’s 4 whole blocks, and my location next to the Englander is a good opportunity for people to at least notice me, I refer to myself as a barnacle on the hull of the Englander commerce.  I so get a lot of casual walk in clients looking for lunch or beer.  

San Leandro is a relatively safe town, we do have our challenges , SLPD is awesome, they are very good at what they do, they are engaged with the community, I think they really honestly care about their jobs.  I’m saddened that sometime we have critics about our police department, the police department should have critics, but its also a challenging job to perform. I am a fan.  I am elated at our elected officials, I’ve know Pauline for a long time, infact our kids went to Broadmoor Preschool program.  The future I think is good, I like the Village Marketplace, I like the Habit Burger and Peets.  Looking forward to Chipotle opening.  In my view Chipotle is no competition to Los Pericos, they are two different versions of a themed food.  I don’t see the big guys coming in and squeezing out all the little guys, because the little guys are doing a great job.  If they are on the bubble we will try and support them any way we can.

Talk a little about the Farmers Market, I always see you down there

A lot of people think I am the San Leandro Downtown Association and we are in charge of the market.  We are not, we are volunteers to staff the information booth, because of my proximity to the market I volunteer to store the tables and the chairs and provide the electricity for the music, I volunteer to book the music for the market  so I am kind of, in a good way, held hostage on Wednesdays during market season… which I like.  At first when the market came I would sit here in the shop and stay open till 8 o'clock and drum my fingers on the counter and wait for people to come in as an economical development tool and I found that was not working.  I decided to close at my regular 5 o'clock and volunteer in the information booth from 5 till 8.  I get way more business referrals , I don’t wear the Allphin Jewelers shirt, or hat or buttons.  But people say oh hi Larry, how are you doing, Oh I have got to get my watch battery replaced or a ring resized.  Its a stealth way of marketing Allphin Jewelers and its fun, I love the market people, there are regulars. Peggy Collet who is the first shift volunteer who has been doing it longer than me is awesome.  She has her customers I've got my Customers (people who attend the market).  I like the market I am grateful that the City and PCFMA give us the opportunity to give input on the market .  We will meet with PCFMA and the City and Patricia Minnis, Angle Sweet and we are going to try and make it even better.  I am guessing the market is going to open the last Wednesday of March or the first Wednesday in April , It usually runs through October.  Really looking forward to it coming back.

You talked about the Music and the acts here, you are also involved with another music based event with the Downtown Association.

Yes my secret passion , Sausage and Suds.  I was involved with the very first Sausage and Suds committee , I am not going to take any credit for thinking it up, because I didn’t.  It was actually 2 people , a gal named Nancy Cline , she was an economic development coordinator for the City of San Leandro and another gal named Rosie Rios ,

Whip out your wallet and check your dollar bills , It’s Rosie's signature as the treasurer that gets to sign all those bills , I doubt she signs them personally, but I have my little bill with Rosie with her real signature on top.  She was instrumental in getting out first locally recognizable music act named Lenny Williams who played for Tower Power . I really like that , it's a tremendous amount of work but together by a whole bunch of volunteers that put crazy amounts of hours into doing it .  When I am at the event and the people are there and having a really good time I really really feel grateful that I was a part of it.

When I came this year I was blown away, great event.  You act as such a great MC, it seems so natural to you.

After 14 years I am sort of getting OK at it (Laughs) The millennials might say who is that old guy up there, but its fun watching the acts and enjoying the day and seeing everyone having a good time. Plus it makes money for the Downtown Association (beer sales).  We take that money and invest it in events that don’t make money, we finance Bike SL and It’s a Wonderful Night, its good stuff.

Talk a little about the Downtown Association

I got involved in the Downtown Association, I was conscripted/seduced by Ken Pon.  Ken and I used to get up on Sunday mornings and go to the first incarnation of the farmers market, it was held at the San Leandro Library  parking lot.  It was not successful, there was another farmers market in Pelton Plaza That was not long range successful.  It appealed to me for a number of reasons.  Number one is I felt the big association for businesses was catering to big small business, not micro small business.  I consider myself as micro as you can get.  They cated for industrial and corporate stuff, and that is good, those people need an organization, but I found that the downtown Association could help micro Business people and people who wanted to get involved to market their business in a stealthful way, by volunteering and getting their names out there.  It’s a fun organization , we don’t have a political wing, you won’t find us as a group endorsing candidates.  We do like to make our voice heard on what might be good for the City, Thankfully the City is aware of that and  will often come to us and say can we do a presentation on say the Village, here are some architectural  renderings, check it out, give us some feedback and that process was great.  Did it turn out exactly how we would have like to have had it? No, but we had input . They use us as a sounding board.

The meetings are on the 4 friday of the month, you often have SLDP there and they give a little report

Yes, the two things we like to have at the meeting.  Number one is we like to have the police there, not that we want to hear about all the bad things what we like to hear how we can proactively insulate ourselves from crime trends.  Don’t leave your iPhone on the seat of your car, Basic stuff, but when a police officer is telling you that  its compelling.  The other thing we usually have is  someone from the economic development department from the City so people can raise their hands and say.  I’ve heard (and this is True) that X is going to be opening at the village market place, which was not actually true.  It is nice to have someone from the City to ask the questions to, usually Jeff Kaye, a wonderful guy.

This year there was the creation of the central Business district, I know you had some involvement with the process.

I was involved with that, the process is know as creating a community benefits district, the official name of the organisation was The San Leandro Improvement Association.  Property owners are paying into this to create additional, not replacing city services, but creating additional services to keep downtown clean and safe, there is a map, goes from Bart to east 14th, maybe a block in.  Its a weird map, doesn’t apply if its a residential property, all commercial stuff.  Those funds give a consistent, dependable source of income for steam cleaning of sidewalks for trash and litter removal on east 14th street, cleaning up the little plaza and things like Joaquin Plaza because of the drought the fountain is off and the tile looks kind of funky so they are talking about getting that tile so it looks nice until such a time that we can put the water back on.  Some district identity, street banners I have heard that there is a concept of replacing our really old plastic trash cans  with something that is a little more relevant and sturdy.

I was the interim president of that organisation during the formation I am no longer the president but I am on their board of directors, I think it is a great idea and there is some good people who are steering that to benefit downtown.

I have noticed a difference in how clean downtown is

Some people seem to be very interested in the Stepping Stones organization and I know there has been outreach.  We would like to bring stepping Stones back because its a win win, developmentally disabled adults doing some really important  work downtown.  I think we are trying to expand their role.  No contacts have been signed, but I am very confident that we will come to an agreement with them get those individuals back out doing their job

Any Parting words?

As a micro business person I am acutely aware of the adverse impact that big box retailers and Amazon has on our community.  You have to understand that Amazon kills micro retail.  Amazon is really convenient and I will own up to it, I do use amazon, its because you can no longer get products locally because the big boxes took care of wiping out all the small retailers.  I can’t turn the clock back, I can’t stem the tide, Its crazy easy to sit at the computer and say “oh Yeah, Click here I am going to get it tomorrow or the next day.  It dramatically impacts small retailers.  So be judicious about your amazon usage.  Older people like me complain that  I remember when we had Fabric Lane and Pennies and all the stores downtown, Blasedales Office supplies.  The reality is that the community votes with their pocketbooks and that why those people are not here anymore.  You can’t make a living if everyone is going to the big boxes and Amazon , its a challange.  For me I am really lucky, I do lots and lots of service and jewelry is a trust  issue.  By the same token after Christmas I sized dozens and dozens of watches that were bought online because you can’t get your watchband sized online. but thats ok, in a perfect world I wish they has brought them from  local merchants, or even local big boxes .  The money goes back in the community.  You spend local 60% of the money is going to stay in the community, spend at a big box it is something like 40%, you shop on amazon it’s 0%.

,

I have brought watches to replace batteries, brought my wifes ring to replace diamonds.  I wanted to add this story, I came in with my wife, she had Jewel to set.  Larry was very honest and realised he wasn’t the person for the job, he gave me contact information for another craftsman .  It always feels like you have the clients interest at heart.  As someone coming into your store I so appreciate that honesty, someone who is not going to bodge it to make a couple of dollars.  Come see Larry, he will look after you.

Sometimes it seems I spend half of my day sending people elsewhere (laughs) The people I refer people to in my opinion are quality people that do a good job. In your case the guy I sent you to is a old school guy like me. In my next life I want to be as good a stone setter as he is. Denis Quang over in Alameda on Park Street.

As a client, having a store like yours is amazing, to still have that service, and we have it Downtown in San Leandro, so thank you.

Allphin Jewelers

Fun Friday in San Leandro - The Historic Bal Theatre

San Leandro has a single screen theatre which plays host to old movies, comedy and much more.  I caught up with Dan Dillman to hear more about this unique venue, the entertainment and upcoming events.

How long has the Bal Theatre been around?

Since 1945.  In 1945 Rene T. LaMarre and George Drummond purchased the land, the Theatre opened July 3rd 1946

How long have you had the theatre?

Some would say forever (laughs) since 2008

I have been here a few times to some of the movie screenings, it's really good to see older films.  We came here to see Indiana  Jones, and to see it on the big screen is a real treat. What other movies do you think you will have coming up this year?

We are definitely planning to do Mary Poppins this year, The Princess Bride was something we did a few years ago, it was a really big hit.  We are thinking of having a free movie night as well so that it is open to everyone, it's not just about the money.  We need to make money to survive but we want to have a free event and say come on down and enjoy the experience, and hopefully come back for another show.

It's a real treat to have a single screen theatre, so many could not compete with the multiplex and have closed.  Somehow the Bal survived

I agree with you, even in San Leandro there were 3 or 4 of them, there was the Delmar that was downtown, there was the State and of course the BAL and another one.  Back in the 40's San Leandro was rich with theatre, rich with entertainment they had a race track it was really big and as you know theaters even though it is a single screen and a single stage you got some live entertainment before a show whether it was comedy or magic or something of that nature... then you got the movie. Then the multiplex came, really all you got was the movie and no disrespect to it but it was not the same.

When you see a movie at a single screen everyone watches the same movie you leave that theatre with everyone have seeing the same movie, you do not get that with the multiplex.  Someone is coming out of a horror and coming out of a kids movie, it's very different, not a shared experience.

Something that I try to tell my family and friends, like during Christmas time all are rushing to get things for each other what I have been trying to say the last couple of years is how about we have an experience together, how about we create a memory that we all share that is a unified memory of coming to the theatre and watching a show, seeing some comedy  or some music together and making it more of an experience. That's what I try to do here.  Have it be an experience.  It's not just about the movie, it's not just about the other entertainment.  It's the whole collectiveness of being together and get away from our phones and our iPads and have this experience.

You don't just do the movie night, you have film festivals here.  Speak a little on that.

I have some great friends/volunteers, people who are really into the vintage stuff.  Sci-Fi Bob is a good friend of mine he come through with vintage clips, film clips and even brings is 16mm projectors and spins a few things that people have not seen since the 40's, the 30's, 20's,  whatever it is.  From the 70's 80's movie clips, cartoon clips, really interesting cool stuff.  We may do a drawing before a movie starts.  We read off a ticket and someone may win a DVD or a T-shirt

You have Lord Blood Rah here sometimes.

Lord Blood Rah, we have had Mr. Lobo

Mistress Misery

Absolutely, and of course Jon Stanley has been here a couple of times.  We have done some really cool Sci-Fi and Horror stuff.  We have done classic films, we have even done a silent film night, Laurel and Hardy,  3 Stooges Night was really cool so just a variety of different stuff and then live music, concerts.  We have had great R and B acts we have had a wide variety of stuff . Sometimes we are packed, sold out 2 shows 750 people sitting in here, 750 people wrapped around the building down to Bancroft waiting to get in.  Really special.  Warms my heart , gets me excited  that so many people (at times) are enjoying themselves.

Moving completely away from the movies you have the live entertainment aspect and the charity events that go on.

Every year we do the standup for Davis comedy which is amazing, I think every year we have done it we have raised over fifty thousand dollars in one night.  We have had George Lopez. Brian Copeland does a really fabulous job at hosting and even grabbing some of the other local comedians.  We have had headliner like George Lopez, Dana Carvey, Louie Anderson it's amazing.  It's amazing to see the diversity of the people that come into the theatre, all walks of life, It's really a great sample of San Leandro I mean you have every demographic, every age range and they are all here sitting together and laughing together and raising money for great non profits like Davis Street.

What's your plan for the year any special acts that you know are coming this year?

There are some great tribute artists out there.  We are working on bring more tributes.  The Fleetwood Masks, the Beatles guys, a Journey Tribute band are coming.  Working on getting a Johnny Cash tribute show.  More R and B, also country artists.  Some other comedians, we have had Eddie Griffin.  Doing more, having more events. We are a counter based theatre so something is not necessarily happing every night or every weekend but what we hope is that this year we will be able to do more.  Ideally we would like to get to 4 or 5 nights a week to where not just San Leandro residents but the whole East bay  knows that they can come to the Bal Theatre.  Whether it be for comedy, classic film or for a live concert, or even a conference.  We are planning to do this year a kids show something that is children centric kind of like a Sesame Street Live.  I have a children's character called Tommy the Turtle that I have developed from years ago with sing-a-long cds, fully costume character. Back when I was first doing Tommy in the late 80's early 90's there was also the Dangerous Dinos who were from Castro Valley, I have gotten with Dennis and talked about bringing it all togther .  Then there is Lori and RJ, they used to be on channel 2 and they were the intermission between cartoons on Saturday morning. They were a big hit for a long time.  More fundraisers, more of everything, that's the hope.  We need people to show up too.  There are times where there is a handful of people in the theatre, there are other times that it is packed to the gills and I can't tell you what the rhyme or reason is that some folks don't come to certain things and they come to others.

What's the best way for people to find out what's going on and to follow you? Social media or

your website

The website is first and foremost .  Joining our email list, weekly we send out an eblast that says what's coming.  So that would be top.  Then Facebook, I know there is instagram and twitter and the Bal Theatre has those.  I am in the 40 plus crowd and we seem to be on facebook more and as you know we don't have a full blown staff.  This is a family operation, a family union, we do a lot, we wear many hats.

Excellent! Dan I love this place, it really is one of the treasures of San Leandro, Thank You

Meet Your Neighbor - Larry Arnold

Who are you and what do you do? Hi I am Larry Arnold, I opened an upholstery shop in San Leandro some 38 years ago. I do automotive upholstery and I have never worked a day in my life. I love it I can’t believe people pay me. What do you love about San Leandro? Biggest part about San Leandro is the fact that I came from Oakland to come here to go to school years ago. Everyone is accepted in San Leandro, it doesn’t matter if you have a lot of money or a little money. It doesn’t matter. 90% of the people in town are nice. It’s almost like you have found an extended family here no matter who you are. That’s my experience. Any parting words? My grandmother told me this She said “If you can’t help someone, don’t hurt them”

You can find Larry Shop here

Behind his daughters T-shirt factory you will find his shop. His workshop is full of clients vehicles and projects. Larry made me feel at home and was soon regaling me with stories, ideas and thoughts on life.

I first met Larry at a local cub scout meeting.  He was helping out with a band-saw cutting cars for the pinewood derby.
An advocate for shop class and skilled labor, something he feels should not be forgotten in today technology focused society.

He really loves his work, the craftsmanship of a backseat destined for an old BMW was truly breathtaking.

Along with his clients projects he has some wonderful ones of his own.  

Have you have seen the chopped VW panel vans around San Leandro? They are his.  The vans are often used for charity events. 

 I can see where his daughter's get their huge hearts and community spirit from.

One of his current projects is restoring a limo.  A VW bug limo!

Larry is truly one of San Leandro's treasures.

This is San Leandro

San Leandro is quickly developing into one of the Bay Area’s most interesting and diverse towns. Each week I will post a photo\s of somewhere or someone in San Leandro that help makes the city interesting\fun and gives hope for the future and celebrates what is great in and about San Leandro.