In brief: Piedmont arts center to present Breshears String Quartet

PIEDMONT

Starting at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Piedmont Center for the Arts (PCA), join The Breshears String Quartet for a new concert entitled “Beethoven, Borodin and Brazil.”

The Breshear quartet are all teen siblings who have performed together for 10 years. They previously performed under the name Stars Aligned Siblings. Based in the East Bay, the quartet has performed all over California and around the world, including Argentina, Mexico and the United Kingdom. In September, the quartet performed four concerts in Italy.

The members of the quartet are Dustin (violin), Valery (violin), Colin (viola) and Starla Breshears (cello). The siblings have performed individually as soloists and with more than 12 different orchestras since the age of 6. Eugene Chukhlov and Sergei Riabtchenko coach the quartet, who are all San Francisco Conservatory of Music students.

The program includes Haydn’s “Quartet No. 66,” Beethoven’s “Quartet No. 11,” Borodin’s “Quartet No. 2” and a quartet based on the music of Brazilian composers Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luis Bonfá and Roberto Menescal. For tickets and more details, visit bpt.me/6146513 online.

— PCA

Fire Department launches its annual holiday toy drive

As the season of giving approaches, Piedmont residents can help create a brighter holiday for local families in need by donating to the Piedmont Fire Department’s annual holiday toy drive. As of Wednesday this week, donation bins are available at City Hall, the Piedmont Recreation Department and the Piedmont Police Department.

By joining hundreds of other Piedmonters in contributing one or more new, unwrapped toys to this longstanding tradition, you can help ensure every child in our area has a gift to open this holiday season. All toys collected will be distributed to families in Oakland and Alameda County.

Toys dropped off before Dec. 8 will be distributed through the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Toys donated on or after Dec. 8 will be distributed at the annual Three Wise Men toy giveaway in Oakland’s Fruitvale district. Bins will remain out for donations through Dec. 23.

Tuesday‘s City Council meeting next week will open with a ceremonial item announcing the toy drive’s launch. Per tradition, each councilmember will place a toy in the donation bins when the meeting starts.

Citizens in attendance are welcome to contribute toys of their own at that time as well. From dolls and action figures to books and board games, every donation makes a  difference.

— city of Piedmont

OAKLAND

Bookstore fundraising Saturday for Montclair Elementary

Staff at Oakland’s Montclair Village bookstore A Great Good Place for Books (GGPB) invite the public to join them Saturday in supporting Montclair Elementary School. During Saturday purchases, mention this fundraiser and GGPB will donate 15% of the proceeds to Montclair Elementary School.

Online purchases made Saturday will also count towards the fundraiser when you mention “Montclair” in the “order comments” box. Staff will also have a shelf of books selected by the Montclair librarians for purchase and donation to the school library. The store is 6120 LaSalle Ave. in Oakland. Visit ggpbooks.com for more information.

— GGPB

See Tap Dancing Christmas Trees in NYC Turkey Day parade

The Tap Dancing Christmas Trees, who appear every season at the Montclair Holiday Stroll, will make their sixth appearance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Nov. 23 in New York City.

Over the past 33 years the chorus line of Tap Dancing Christmas Trees has provided holiday entertainment throughout the Bay Area and beyond, appearing in numerous parades: Niles, Napa, Palm Springs, and tree lighting events. Look for them on NBC television this Thanksgiving.

Under the direction of Oakland hills resident Pamm Drake, the group of 60 tap dancers, ranging in age from 13 to 76, come from Dance 10 Performing Arts Center in Alameda. For more details, visit thetapdancingchristmastrees.com, macys.com/s/parade or dance10.org online.

— Pamm Drake

PIEDMONT

Attend Tuesday presentation on planned Dearing memorial

The city of Piedmont invites community members to a presentation by internationally renowned artist and landscape designer Walter Hood at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Alan Harvey Theater at 800 Magnolia Ave. The city has engaged Hood’s firm, Oakland-based Hood Design Studio, to design a memorial for Sidney and Irene Dearing in Piedmont’s Triangle Park at the intersection of Magnolia and Wildwood avenues near the home they once owned.

The presentation will launch the design phase of the Dearing memorial project, which the Piedmont the City Council initiated in 2022. In his presentation, Hood will discuss his approach to design as a cultural practice, weaving together history, landscape and memory to express contemporary and historical cultural stories through the built  environment.

Sidney and Irene Dearing were Piedmont’s first black homeowners. After buying a Piedmont home through an intermediary in 1924, they were subjected to a year-long campaign of harassment, threats and violence, including multiple bombs placed on their property. They were ultimately forced to sell their home to the city at a loss under threat of seizure by eminent domain.

“Memorializing Sidney and Irene Dearing is an essential part of the work the City Council committed to in 2020, when we unanimously resolved to examine our history,  practices and biases and create a more inclusive and welcoming community,” said Piedmont Mayor Jen Cavenaugh. “This project is only one step in that journey, but it is a critical one. Owning our city’s past is how we come together as a community to define who we are today and in the future.”

Homeowners offered rooftop solar, battery storage discount

For a limited time, Piedmont homeowners can get rooftop solar and battery storage at roughly 15% below average market rates by pooling their buying power with others through the Bay Area SunShares program. Register by Nov. 15 at bayareasunshares.org to participate.

Rooftop solar power reduces greenhouse gas emissions from your home and provides savings on your utility bill. Battery backups let you store the electricity for later use, which can help keep essential devices like medical equipment and refrigerators running during power outages.

Both tools help contribute to energy independence and increase your home’s value. When you register for SunShares, you’ll be contacted by two pre-vetted installers who were selected by an independent evaluation committee to schedule either a virtual roof evaluation or a no-contact site visit to assess your home’s suitability for solar.

They’ll then provide no-cost, no-obligation proposals tailored to your home’s needs based on roof type, sun exposure, electricity usage and other factors. Once you get proposals, you’ll have a defined time window to sign a contract with your preferred installer at the SunShares discount rate.

Register online at bit.ly/46PhIfi for a webinar from 6 to 7 p.m. Nov. 1 to get more information about the SunShares program and ask questions directly of pre-vetted SunShares solar providers. The one-hour session will cover how SunShares works, the basics of solar technology and financing and incentive options that can be combined with SunShares discounts.

The city of Piedmont is proud to join over 40 other Bay Area municipalities and employers to  support residents’ transition to cleaner energy at home by partnering with the SunShares  program, which has helped over 1,000 Bay Area households install 5.8MW of solar since 2016.

The SunShares program is administered by the Business Council on Climate Change. Email sunshares@bc3sfbay.org with questions.

— city of Piedmont

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