Point Loma-OB Happenings: Oktoberfest, Liberty Station, funk concert, more
Two-day party set for Ocean Beach Oktoberfest
Ocean Beach Oktoberfest, an OB tradition for more than 20 years, is set for 4 to 11:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8, and 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9.
Food vendors will be in Veterans Plaza near Newport Avenue and Abbott Street, with merchandise vendors at the plaza and nearby Saratoga Park. The Saratoga Park area also will have a stage with musical acts and contests.
Here’s the schedule:
Oct. 8
- Beer garden with live entertainment (21 and older, $5 entry)
- Balloon blow, 6:30 p.m.
- Women’s stein-holding contest, 8 p.m.
- Men’s stein-holding contest, 10 p.m.
Oct. 9
- Free beachside all-ages performances by San Diego rock bands
- Food and craft vendor area on the Veterans Plaza lawn (free entry)
- Beer garden with live entertainment (21 and older, $5 entry)
- Optional “Brewfest” beer tasting featuring German and local brews poured by veterans
- Ms. And Mr. Oktoberfest
- Balloon blow
- Bratwurst-eating contest, 1 p.m.
- Stein-holding contests, 2:45, 4:30, 8 and 9:45 p.m.
For more information, visit oboktoberfest.com.
Busy times at Arts District at Liberty Station
September at the Arts District at Liberty Station in Point Loma is packed with openings, exhibits, workshops and more. Here are some examples:
- Apt. 4 Music, a music instruction and production organization, has launched a new location in the Dorothea Laub Music & Arts Center.
- Boutique retail store La Galleria has opened its first Southern California location at the Arts District, offering jewelry, home decor, gifts, floral designs and handcarved sculptures from around the world.
- The San Diego Watercolor Society’s exhibit “Beyond Rules” continues through Saturday, Sept. 25, available exclusively in person for members. The gallery also is offering in-person workshops throughout the month for all skill levels, including a watercolor sketching class Sunday, Sept. 19, and a painting class Thursday, Sept. 23.
- Anne Gaffey Art will hold a mixed-media workshop on Saturday, Sept. 18, on techniques for collage, paint, pastels, pencils, charcoal, cards, words, poems, keepsakes and stencils.
- Hakkai Aquascape Design Gallery will offer instruction on making a pond tank aquascape on Saturday, Sept. 18.
- Milk Oolong is hosting a series of pottery wheel classes for children, teenagers and adults, including a nesting bowls workshop on Saturday, Sept. 25.
For more information, visit artsdistrictlibertystation.com.
Funk concert coming to Point Loma Park
Point Loma Summer Concerts will present the Full Strength Funk Band in concert beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at Point Loma Park, 1049 Catalina Blvd.
For more information, visit pointlomasummerconcerts.org.
San Diego Foundation launches initiatives to aid regional policies and Black homeowners
The Point Loma-based San Diego Foundation announced the launch of the nonprofit San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center.
The new organization is intended to engage governments, corporations and philanthropists in an effort to conduct research and recommend policies to help local leaders attract federal and state funding and address regional issues such as improving infrastructure, creating jobs and generating other long-term socioeconomic and environmental benefits.
The Policy & Innovation Center will officially launch Monday, Sept. 27, followed the next day by a daylong meeting of government and other agencies.
The organization will be advised by a council with members selected from the county and the region’s 18 municipalities, as well as the San Diego Association of Governments, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, Port of San Diego and San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
The San Diego Foundation also donated $1 million in seed money toward California’s first grant-based homebuying assistance program specifically for Black people.
The stated goal is to help shrink the racial wealth gap in San Diego County, where studies indicate that 65 percent of Whites are homeowners, compared with 31 percent of Blacks.
“Homeownership is essential to generational wealth,” said Pamela Gray Payton of the San Diego Foundation. “It has a long-term impact.”
An additional $250,000 was donated to the program by the San Diego branch of the Local Initiatives Support Corp., and the Urban League of San Diego County is providing homeownership counseling services for buyers in the program, which could provide each family as much as $70,000.
Payton said the initial money should help at least 35 Black families buy homes during the first year of the program. The money from the foundation and LISC San Diego will cover about $40,000 per home purchase for either part of a down payment or closing costs.
Other assistance will come from financial institutions participating as mortgage lenders and grantors, who will contribute at least $9,000 and help homebuyers get matching grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.
For details on eligibility and more, go to lisc.org-sandiego. — City News Service and The San Diego Union-Tribune
— Compiled by Point Loma-OB Monthly staff