10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Sunday, February 23rd

El Cerrito Trail Trekkers invites history buffs to join a free 2.5 mile hike led by retired East Bay Regional Parks supervising naturalist Dave Zuckermann. Drink in the cool Bay breezes as you learn about the park’s storied past. This is where the transcontinental railroad once terminated — and where, in 1903, an inventor watched his ambitions to revolutionize air travel smash into a thousand irrecoverable pieces.

In Dave’s words, the hike is “an easy-paced 2.5-mile hike with a few very, very steep sections.” Meet him at the main entrance to Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline (the first parking lot to the right off Dornan Drive in Richmond)

2 p.m. Saturday, March 29th, at the Kensington Public Library

Neva Carpenter was born in El Cerrito in June 1928, in the upstairs bedroom of the house (still standing) which her father built. Back then, the lot was surrounded by fields of wildflowers, and the hills above were bare. At night, cheers from the greyhound racetrack would lull young Neva to sleep.

By turns touching, funny, and insightful, Harem Scarem offers a vivid look at daily life in 1930s and ‘40s El Cerrito. Download a copy right here, then come discuss it with us in March!

The cherry on top? Our discussion on March 29th will be followed in April by a guided walk, co-hosted by the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers and the Historical Society, to some of the locations mentioned in the memoir. More details coming soon!

7 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at Hana Gardens Senior Center

Ohlone settlement, Mexican rancho, dynamite manufactory, frog farm: Point Isabel has a rich and fascinating history, largely undocumented until now. Join us for a talk by Mary Barnsdale, author of a forthcoming book about the history of Point Isabel, as she walks us through some of the most exciting moments in the last few centuries of human occupation here.