Our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group had a record 73 walkers and four K-9 best friends at the Exedra last Wednesday for our weekly walk. It was a lovely morning, but there was a special reason for the big turnout. Piedmont Recreation Director Chelle Putzer was going to give us our very own tour of the new Piedmont Community Pool. The pool will officially open to the public on Saturday, April 11 th , but we were going to get an early look.   The poo

Last Wednesday was the last Wednesday of winter but for our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group it felt more like summer. The region’s recent heat wave was at its peak so a walk in the center of town was what we wanted to do.   Spring was about to start, and it was time for our annual spring check of the Piedmont real estate market. Everyone enjoys seeing homes that are for sale, so even in the hot weather there was a strong turnout of 49 walkers and

It was a sunny, warm, summer-like morning last Wednesday when our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group came together at the Exedra for our weekly walk. The weather was one thing to celebrate but there was something else. Women's History Month is celebrated throughout the entire month of March. It spotlights the contributions of women to our history, culture, and society, and was officially established in the U.S. by Congress in 1987.   There was a larg

There was an excellent turnout of our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays walkers last Wednesday morning at the Exedra for our weekly walk. Forty-five walkers and four K-9 best friends were on hand to revisit some of Piedmont’s parks and see some of our public space treasurers.   The Piedmont Heritage Tree Program was created in 2018 by the City Council based on a recommendation from the Park Commission. Over 30 trees have been designated as Piedmont’s "Her

On a rainy morning the prior week, members of our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group went to six Victorian homes in Ann Swift’s 2007 book, " Cottages and Castles – The Centennial Houses of the City of Piedmont ." Ann was the Piedmont City Clerk for 22 years from 1988 to 2010 and an unofficial historian for the city of Piedmont. She wrote this book on the city’s 100 th anniversary and describes 173 of the city's historic homes that were over 100 year

Last Wednesday morning was cold by Piedmont standards, and it rained hard shortly before our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking Wednesdays walkers gathered at the Exedra. We wanted to play it safe with the weather and stay in the central part of Piedmont for our weekly walk. Some moisture and weather uncertainty were in the air but there was a good turnout of 30 water-resistant walkers with umbrellas in hand and two of their K-9 best friends.    Before we started walkin

The Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays walkers had regularly checked the weather forecasts before our walk last Wednesday. They had gone back and forth saying it was or wasn’t going rain during our walk. The good news early Wednesday morning was that it wasn’t going to rain until the afternoon.   On past walks we had walked out St. James Drive to the Corpus Christi Catholic Church but never gone inside the church or considered its history. St. James is a l

It was a sunny, spring-like morning last Wednesday when our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group assembled at the Exedra for our weekly walk. There was a large turnout of 50 walkers and six K-9 best friends on hand for it.   February is recognized as Black History Month. This was the first Wednesday of the month and an opportunity for us to consider the contributions that African Americans have made to our country and also the hardships and discriminat

Our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group had another cool, mild, mid-winter morning for its walk last Wednesday. There was an excellent turnout of 47 walkers and four K-9 best friends at the Exedra for a challenging uphill climb to one of Piedmont’s least understood structures, the EBMUD “Reservoir Number Two,” near the top of Blair Avenue.   Two years ago, Karin F and Peggy S told the group about Deep Oakland , a book by Andrews Alden. In it, Alden te

Our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group had another clear, sunny morning for our weekly walk last Wednesday. There was strong turnout of 47 walkers and four K-9 best friends at the Exedra to enjoy it.   The previous week we had talked briefly about Frank C. Havens and F. M. “Borax” Smith’s Realty Syndicate, which they formed in 1895. As part of it, Smith bought streetcar lines starting in 1890 to establish the Key System transit system. However, there

Last Wednesday was a lovely winter morning, sunny and mild, and 49 members of our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group with five of their K-9 best friends were at the Exedra to enjoy it. The weather was great, but the group’s large size was a little surprising because they had been warned that this day’s walk was not an easy one.   The group has a soft goal of going to every safe walking Piedmont street each year, but there were a few that we didn’t to

Members of our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group welcomed the opportunity last Wednesday to get out after the recent rains and walk on a sunny, cool morning. There was a strong turnout of 54 walkers and four K-9 best friends on hand at the Exedra at our regular weekly time.   We had walked the Piedmont High School campus the week before during the Holiday break and talked about its history. This week we could visit the story of one of Piedmont High’