The 5^th Annual Oakland Indie Awards were a smashing success! On May 13^th, Oaklanders honored local artists and small businesses at the Indie Awards. Check out photos of the event at http://www.flickr.com/photos/onepacificcoast. The Oakland Indie Awards encourages people to recognize the community, economic, environmental, and political impact of supporting Oakland’s locally-owned businesses and artists instead of chain stores. It also provides rare opportunities for recognition for the small businesses and artists that make Oakland such a wonderful, creative place. Finally, it’s a chance for Oaklanders to just celebrate Oakland by enjoying Oakland food, wine, chocolate and music.

Congratulations to the Indie Awards winners:

• Business Greenie Award – The Rising Loafer Café & Bakery

• Artist Greenie Award - Jamie Vaida

• Pillars – Montclair Vet Hospital & Give Something Back

• Innovative Newbie – Back to the Roots Ventures

• Ripple Effect – Mandela Foods Co-operative

• Socially Responsible Rockstar – Karen’s Flowers

This event would not have been possible without the support of our committed sponsors including: Mattmar Group, Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass, Uptown Apartments, Dan Carroll and Stasia Obremskey, Pete Higgins and Leslie Magid, Blue Heron Catering Company, SuperPrint, Exploratorium, Jack London Square, California Waste Solutions, First Solar, YMCA of the East Bay, City of Oakland, Urban Legends Winery, East Bay Community Foundation, Ron Beller and Jennifer Moses Family Foundation, Bay Area Derby Girls, Oakland Outlaws, AnewAmerica, Kipp and Sara Howard, Nancy Neel, and Bruce and Susan Kelley.

Not only did OneCalifornia Bank win a Best of the East Bay Award, but so did some of our Oakland Unwrapped members!  Congratulations to our fellow Best of the East Bay Winners on Oakland Unwrapped!

Oakland Museum of CA: Best Face Lift

Oaklandish: Best Locally Made Kids’ Products; Reader’s Poll: Best Locally Made Products; Reader’s Poll: Best Men’s Clothing; Reader’s Poll: Best T-Shirts

Pendragon Books: Reader’s Poll: Best Book Store

Pro Arts Gallery: Reader’s Poll: Best Arts Organization

Yoshi’s Jazz Club: Most Balanced Kid’s Meal

Check out these and other winners at the Best of the East Bay Party on August 6th in Jack London Square!

It’s that time of year again–time to vote for the Best of the East Bay!  The East Bay Express’s big summer issue and flagship event recognizes readers and editors favorites in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

This year’s theme is “Home Grown,” which recognizes things grown right here in our own backyard.  In this twenty-first century world of globalization and mass production, Home Grown asks the readers and editors to be thoughtful citizens and loyal localists when making their nominations for the Best of the East Bay.

Voting is taking place online at http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ballot until July 4th, so vote early and make your voice heard!

And mark your calendars now for Friday August 6th, the date for the Best of the East Bay Party.  This year’s party will be at Jack London Square waterfront from 5-11PM.  The event is free and open for all ages, and features multiple bands, a kid’s zone, and a Blues Pavilion, paying tribute to the blues history of Russeel City in Hayward and 7th Street in Oakland.  For more details and ongoing updates, please visit www.EastBayExpress.com/BOEBParty

During one of the busiest shopping times of the year, we at OneCalifornia Bank and Foundation have been reminding our friends and colleagues to shop local and support small, independent businesses as much as possible.  Supporting local businesses keeps money cycling through the area and contributes to community development.   

When you shop at locally-owned, independent businesses, more money is kept in the community because local businesses are more likely to buy from local suppliers, and service providers.  In fact, the most conservative studies indicate that for every $100 that you spent at a locally-owned independent business, $68 of those dollars gets re-spent in the community.  That’s $25 (58%) more than if you spent it at a chain headquartered in another city.

The OneCalifornia team isn’t the only one singing the praises of shopping locally.  There is an entire movement centered on shopping locally and supporting small, independent businesses.  Some of these national organizations include BALLE and AMIBA.  Here in the Bay Area, Oakland Grown, Buy Local Berkeley, and SFLOMA are great resources.  Want to learn more?  See the list of 10 reasons to support local businesses on the Oakland Grown website.

What are some ways to shop local this holiday season?  Of course, the foundation’s Oakland Unwrapped! website makes it really easy, where you can shop online from over 160 locally-owned stores and artists - great for late nights and cold days when you prefer to shop online, but want to keep your money local.

We are also hosting a big, festive shopping event on December 10th and 11th to bring all of these shops and more together in one place.  Organizations like the Crucible are also hosting shopping events and many Oakland neighborhood shopping districts are hosting strolls, parades, discounts and later hours  to allow you the chance to shop there instead of at the mall.  Most of these shopping events feature live musical entertainment, fun kid activities, and food from local restaurants, so there are plenty of reasons to check them out!  The Oakland Grown website lists Oakland Shopping events, and we’ve been blogging about upcoming shopping events as well.  There are plenty of resources out there to help you shop local–so make it your holiday shopping resolution to support your local economy by shopping locally!  In fact, we encourage you to take the Oakland Grown pledge to try to do all of your shopping with locally-owned independent businesses and artists.

Come down to Jack London Square this Friday, December 4th, for the annual waterfront holiday light installation.  Stay for live music, a preview of the characters participating in Oakland’s Holiday Parade the following morning, and, of course, fine dining at the Square!  The festivities start at 5:30PM, so come early to get a good seat!  Also feel free to bring non-perishable food donations to benefit the Alameda County Food Bank or toy donations for the Mayor’s Community Toy Drive.  Event details are on Jack London Square’s website.

Oakland restaurant Spice Monkey is hosting a food drive and community dinner this Thanksgiving!  This delicious meal, incluidng a main course and special treat, is available for all and is free–all you have to do is reserve yourself a place at the table!  Drop by Spice Monkey and bring 5 cans of food to donate to the Alameda County Community Food Bank to make your reservation.  For details, check out Spice Monkey’s website.

But make sure to stop by soon–reservations close on Tuesday, November 24th!

On August 7th, the East Bay Express hosted 10,000 people at the Best of the East Bay Party. Held at the Oakland Museum of California, attendees were presented with over thirty bands; fifty international dancers; comedians, graffiti, tattoo and visual artists; sixty indie fashion designers; a Harley-Davidson and tattoo art show; a classic pinball arcade; a kid’s party zone with young rock bands and science projects; and a professional contact sports ring with talent ranging from Pro Wresting to Kung Fu competitions.

In its second year, the Best of the East Bay Party has quickly become one of the region’s most well-received events. East Bay Express publisher Jody Colley summed up the event by saying, “Our goal was to throw a free community party that truly celebrates what we love most about the East Bay, and that’s its depth of talent, creativity and diversity. This party offers outstanding cultural entertainment value for everyone, all ages and all walks of life.”

The event was broadcast live on the Express’ website and will be featured at a later date on the internet radio site, Pandora.com. The event website has more information as well as photo and video galleries: http://www.eastbayexpress.wordpress.com/.  You can also check out photos of the OneCalifornia bar here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34624260@N02/sets/72157622171067078/.

Thank you to all who made this event a success!  And a BIG thank you to all the volunteers who helped man the event bar with OneCalifornia.  We couldn’t have done it without you!

Oakland Unwrapped! would like to introduce you to its latest edition to our website:

The Present Body–combines the fun and fitness of martial arts, yoga, and Pilates to offer specialized sessions focusing on weight loss and postural reconditioning for its clients.  One-on-one nutrition consultations are also available online.

http://oaklandunwrapped.org/thepresentbody/

Check it out and give your body a present!

This is just one example of the diverse stores listed on Oakland Unwrapped!  We now have over 130 stores on our e-commerce website and are always adding more.  Keep checking Oakland Unwrapped! to see the newest vendors and see how easy it is to support Oakland’s local economy while shopping online!

The Rockridge District Association is pleased to bring you “Rockridge Out & About” on Sunday, September 27th.  This event will showcase the best of the Rockridge and North Oakland neighborhoods, including local businesses-from boutiques to restaurants to book stores and more-as well as health forums, live music and dancing, cooking demonstrations, children activities, a fashion show, and more!  Check the event website for more information.

The East Bay Express holds an annual reader poll to find out who is the Best of the East Bay.  Readers vote for the best in various categories, ranging from the Best Band to the Best Brunch Place for Vegans and Carnivores to Coexist, and everything in between.  To celebrate the winners, the East Bay Express holds the Best of the East Bay Party at the end of the summer!  Featured at this party are all types of East Bay food, drink, and retail vendors displaying their wares; East Bay non-profits educating the public about the amazing work that they do; a multitude of East Bay bands jamming on eight different stages as well as dancers, comedians, and other artists showing off their talents; sports demonstrations and car shows; and a kids’ zone with magic shows, art projects, and other hands-on activities; and more!

This year’s Best of the East Bay Party takes place on Friday, August 7^th from 5 PM to midnight at the Oakland Museum of California.  The Oakland Museum of California is located just one block away from Lake Merritt BART Station, so you can take BART to the event.  There will also be Bike Valet parking available onsite.

Each year the East Bay Express chooses an East Bay non-profit to highlight and support through the event; for the Best of 2009 Party, OneCalifornia Foundation is honored to be that chosen non-profit!  This means that, while the event is free, all bar proceeds will go to the Foundation.  See the article on the event’s blog about the party supporting local non-profits.  For more information about the event, check out the East Bay Express event blog.