KPFA Crafts Fair returns to the East Bay this weekend

kpfa crafts fairAmazing crafts, artwork and edibles are available at this weekend’s KPFA Crafts Fair, a 44-year-long  tradition, and the station’s largest off-air fundraiser.

This weekend, the KPFA Crafts Fair returns to the East Bay after two decades in San Francisco. It will take place in the stunning Craneway Pavilion on the Richmond waterfront on December 20-21 from 10am to 5pm daily. Tickets are $10 general, $5 senior, and free for disabled and under 17. Directions for public transit or driving (parking is free and plentiful) are here.

The KPFA Crafts Fair is the largest weekend holiday fair of its kind in Northern California, chock full of professional exhibitors who handcraft ceramics, jewelry, textiles, wood, food and all manner of art and craft.  Please come and show you support for KPFA and for the artisans who add beauty to our lives.

Ralph Nader and Amy Goodman urge support for Pacifica network

KPFA graphic
New KPFA web graphics.

Thanks to all who donated so generously to the station’s winter fund drive, which ended today with $335,000 pledged. That’s only $25,000 short of the goal.

Please consider making an end-of-the-year, tax deductible gift to help put KPFA over the top. You can pledge securely online at KPFA.org, and while you are there, have a look at the colorful new graphics that are enlivening the station’s webspace.

Meanwhile, supporters of all five Pacifica stations are receiving this letter from Ralph Nader urging them to help the network “remain a vibrant and sustainable source of information that serves the public interest and our diverse communities.”  Among other things, Nader cites Pacifica’s “eclectic mix of programming that educates and empowers for change.”

Also endorsing the call for support is Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, who is quoted on the letter’s envelope: “The Pacifica Network is a vital cornerstone of our independent media landscape that depends on your financial support. Please donate today to safeguard the future of listener-powered community radio.”

 

Long-time programmers Denny Smithson and Mary Berg pass

MaryBerg
Mary Berg
Denny Smithson
Denny Smithson

KPFA lost two long-time programmers last month.  Denny Smithson, who worked at the station for 47 years, much of it interviewing authors about their work, died November 1. KPFA’s website has this photo of Denny in the studio and a link to the obituary that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle.

On November 29, Mary Berg, long-time host of the crack o’ dawn early music show, A Musical Offering, died. Former KPFA music director Charles Amirkhanian and morning host Bill Sokol write about her here.  Both Mary and Denny will be greatly missed.