LakeMerritt.org
  • Home
  • Gardens
  • Birds
  • 150th
  • Recreation
  • History
  • LM Links
  • Volunteer
  • LM Advocates
  • LM Breakfast Club
  • R. Nature Cntr
  • LM Institute
  • LM Weed Warriors
  • LM Projects
  • Park Info
  • Litter SOS
  • Homeless@LM
  • Contact & Photo Archive
  • Videos

Lake Merritt Breakfast Club

LAKE MERRITT BREAKFAST CLUB    
​Sponsor of Children's Fairyland and Necklace of Lights, LMBC is a social/service organization promoting and preserving Lake Merritt, the surrounding Lakeside park and Oakland's unique history.
 First meeting was January 5, 1933.
    Every Thursday from 7:00-8:30 a.m., members and guests meet at the Lakeside Park Garden Center, 666 Bellevue, in Lakeside Park.  We are from the professional, civic and business community and gather to exchange greetings, network, and hear local, national or international speakers discuss topics of significance - today's economy, environment, culture, Oakland, and the world. 
    LMBC is one of Oakland's ultimate boosters, with members from Alameda and Contra Costa Counties - from Mayors and City Council Representatives, movers and shakers in the legal, business, and arts communities - who have played an active part in Oakland and its continuing growth. 
       Members sharing breakfast and animated conversation are deeply involved in the business and good works of this “City on the Sunny Side of the Bay.”   2022 marks the 89th Anniversary of the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club; Sarah Kidder, LMBC President.
       Prospective new members are encouraged to contact us at  ami009@hotmail.com or leave a message on our voice mail line: at (510) 482-1276.  Virtual / Zoom meetings during COVID
   
WEBSITE :  
 
https://www.lmbclub.org
Overview of history, traditions and projects. Interview with Rob Stewart, Executive Director. In-person meetings will resume post-covid.

     Lake Merritt Breakfast Club Charitable Foundation
Founded in 1973, The mission of the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club Charitable Foundation(LMBCCF) is to develop, manage and disburse charitable funds in support of programs, maintenance projects and capital projects in and about Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park.  In 1948, the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club (LMBC) sponsored the creation of Children's Fairyland in Lakeside Park. The LMBCCF provides continuing financial support for the world famous children's attraction. Over $213,000 has been contributed for various projects in Children's Fairyland.  In the 1980s, the LMBC and LMBC Charitable Foundation raised over $1.6 million for the restoration of the landmark, "Necklace of Lights" surrounding Lake Merritt. The foundation has also supported The Sensory, Japanese, and Mediterranean Gardens; The Oakland Municipal Band concerts; and the restoration of the 17th Street Dock on the shores of Lake Merritt, among other projects. The Foundation is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation (Federal I.D.), and allocates 100% of all contributions in support of its mission and as directed by donors making restricted contributions. An eleven-member Board of Directors governs the Foundation.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Lake Merritt Lamppost Restoration. Sponsored by LMBC.
Billy Wilkes 2021 LMBC President, Restoration Organizer.
Photos, music, movie by John Kirkmire. © 2021 lakemerritt.org & LMBC.

Volunteers Needed -- Call 510-534-0559 for more info
​
Project involves clearing graffiti, cleaning poles and base, and painting pedestals of 176 ornate lampposts that support the "Necklace of Lights" around Lake Merritt.

The original Lampposts were installed in 1925 along with the Necklace of Lights. Most lampposts have two dedication plaques attached, some are from the 1925 inaugural lighting, others are from restoration donors in 1986. The NOL could be seen nightly from 1925 until 1941 when it was turned off at the start of World War II. The NOL was then abandoned until the 1980's when the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club, inspired by a talk from Evelyn Jewett, decided to start a drive to restore the Necklace of Lights. Evelyn Jewett was the daughter of Senator Knowland and also publisher of the Oakland Tribune which helped publicize the NOL restoration until it was completed in 1987.  2025 will be the 100th anniversary of the Necklace of Lights.
Profiles of LMBC Lamppost Restoration volunteers from 5 different decades.

LMBC photo archive links:​
​
LMBC 2018       LMBC 2019.     
LMBC 2020

2020 Guest Speakers    (in-person meetings stopped after March 12)

Picture
January 9. Mayor Libby Schaff
Picture
Jan. 30. Terry Smith & Tora Rocha -- Pollinator Posse
Picture
January 16. Kyle Milligan -- State of the LMBC
Picture
February 6. Supervisor Keith Carson -- 2020 Census
Picture
Jan. 23. Evelyn Lee & Saly Lee -- Lunar New Year
Picture
February 20. Brooke Levin -- Measure Q
Picture
February 13. Shelly Hara -- Metro Golf Links
Picture
March 12. Andrew Cohen -- 150 Years of Protecting Wildlife at Lake Merritt
Picture
February 27. Therese McMillan -- Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Picture
Picture
March 5. Peter Sherris -- Covid-19 update
Picture

2019 Guest Speakers    below


Picture
January 10. Sabrina Landreth, Oakland City Administrator
Picture
January 17. Mike Heller -- Habitat for Humanity Projects
Picture
January 24. John Orum -- the new cannabis industry.
Picture
January 31. Gloria Fandon-Hiltz and Saly Lee -- the Lunar New Year and the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.
Picture
February 7. George Hammond -- Leonardo's Legacy and Humanities West
Picture
February 14. Christina Lewis - Clowning & the Clown School of San Francisco
Picture
February 21. Peter Birkholz -- Oakland Landmarks and the Monster
Picture
March 14. (on right) Ed Silberman (Music & Stories) & (in middle) Georgia Glidden (Irish Dance) -- St Patrick's Celebration.
Picture
April 4. Katie Derrig -- Addressing Veteran Homelessness Head On
Picture
February 28. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf -- State of the City
Picture
March 21. LMBC Internal Meeting. How the Club Works. Putting Fun Back into Function
Picture
April 11. Annalee Allen -- The Carnegie Libraries of Alameda County
Picture
March 7. Deidre Martin and Brazile Clark -- Oakland's Adopt A Spot Program
Picture
March 28. Julia Day Marquez --Immigration & Asylum Seekers Report from the Border
Picture
April 18. Jackie Salas -- Fairyland Landscape Supervisor, "Monarch Magic"
Picture
April 25. Juan Lopez -- Mosaic artist, One Piece at a Time
Picture
May 2, Abel Guillen -- Celebrating Cinco De Mayo
Picture
May 9. Rebecca Beardsley -- Haircuts with Heart
Picture
May 16. Jim Covel -- Stories from the Early Days of Oakland's Naturalist Program
Picture
May 23. Dan Schnur -- The 2020 Presidential Campaign (photo Billy Wilkes)
Picture
May 31. Jennifer Lyle -- Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting & Serving Sexually-Exploited Youth (MISSSEY)
Picture
June 6. Kathleen DiGiovanni -- Oakland Historian, Lakeside Park
Picture
June 27. Mary Ellen Butler -- Josh & Virginia Rose
Picture
June 13. Joel Parrot -- Oakland Zoo Director
Picture
July 11. Eric Leve -- China's Rise: Threat or Opportunity
Picture
June 20. Berkeley City Club -- intercity club meeting
Picture
July 25. David Almandsmith -- Billion Year Walk
Picture
July 28. Mid-Century Monster Grand Reopening
Picture
August 15. Chris Sweis -- Yellow Taxi: 20th Century Transportation Systems
Picture
Sept. 5. Robert Raburn -- BART developments
Picture
Sept. 19. Fairyland Birthday Party
Picture
October 10. Frank Filice -- Italian Peninsula History
Picture
Nov. 7. Dennis Evonosky -- Oakland Then and Now
Picture
Dec. 3. Thomas L. Andrews -- The New USS in Oakland
Picture
August 1. Michael Sturtz -- Launching Entrepreneurial Ideas with Creative Extremes
Picture
August 22. Rick Prelinger -- film archives
Picture
Sept. 12. Jen Lee -- Financial Stress...
Picture
Sept. 26. Laurie Ann Lepoff -- Lindy Dance History
Picture
Oct. 24. Charlie Plock -- Octoberfest & Berlin Airlift
Picture
Nov. 14. Rob Bonta -- CA State Assembly
Picture
Dec. 12. Peter Bennett & Tricia Piper-Bennett -- African Conservation

Picture
August 8. Marty Lurie -- Mr. Baseball
Picture
August 29. Dave Newhouse -- "The Miracle Man of Moraga" book
Picture
Sept. 17. Annual LMBC Barbecue & Baseball Outing
Picture
Oct. 3. Christian Peeples -- Zero Emission Buses
Picture
Oct. 31. Graham Lustig -- Oakland Ballet
Picture
Nov. 21. Oakland Roots Soccer Team
Picture
Dec. 19. Maria Mendieta & Gail Edwards, Harp & Flute
2019 Quacker covers
​​2018 Quacker covers

LMBC archive

  lakemerritt.org and photos ©2013-2022
  • Home
  • Gardens
  • Birds
  • 150th
  • Recreation
  • History
  • LM Links
  • Volunteer
  • LM Advocates
  • LM Breakfast Club
  • R. Nature Cntr
  • LM Institute
  • LM Weed Warriors
  • LM Projects
  • Park Info
  • Litter SOS
  • Homeless@LM
  • Contact & Photo Archive
  • Videos