Crown Beach Picnic Areas - Alameda | East Bay Parks (ebparks.org)

REGISTER HERE

Location: Sand Castle Picnic Area (Reserved) at Robert W. Crown Memorial Beach, (Westline Drive entrance to main parking lots.) Sand Castle is located at the shoreline about halfway between Crab Cove Visitor Center and Boardsports Windsurf Rental Kiosk. SEE MAP HERE

Time: 12:00 noon – 3:00pm

Participants: members of Alameda’s Temple Israel and Oakland’s Temple Sinai, and invited friends; suitable for all ages. There is NO CHARGE for this event.

Program schedule:

Noon-plus: congregants arrive, choose table(s), enjoy picnic lunches, and offer picnic treat(s) to share among other participants’ picnic tables.

12:30 – 12:45pm: Welcome (Sinai Green)

1:00pm: EBRPD Naturalist Ashley will give safety & shoreline conservation talk (trash collection tools, nitrile gloves, any other PPE to be distributed at this time)

1:20 - 2:45pm: shoreline clean-up activity; conclude at program site.

2:30 - 2:45pm: participants hand in collected trash and deposit in bins; return any borrowed tools to EB Parks staff

2:45 – 3:00pm Wrap-up: Sinai Green to lead thanks to EBRPD and participants; reflections on shoreline clean-up; wishes/dedications for Rosh HaShanah 5785

What is Reverse Tashlich?

A new family-friendly High Holy Days ritual and international Jewish waterfront cleanup organized by the organization Tikkun HaYam (Repair the Sea). Tashlich comes from the Hebrew word meaning "to cast." It refers to the intent to cast away our sins at the beginning of each Jewish New Year via this meaningful and ancient Jewish custom, common both to Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities.

Reverse Tashlich intends to raise awareness about the deep Jewish connection to the sea and waters, and to reinforce the urgent moral imperative to protect the aquatic environment. We will gather for a picnic lunch, join in a short Reverse Tashlich service, attend a brief talk by a Park District Naturalist, then carry out cleaning up the beach. On September 29, 2024 we will join with Jewish communities from all around the world! 

Why Reverse Tashlich, this September 29th?

Sinai Green is excited to co-sponsor this year’s Reverse Tashlich event with Alameda‘s Temple Israel. Temple Sinai first participated in 2022, when 245 Jewish groups in as many locations worldwide registered for the (then) 5th Annual Reverse Tashlich. Knowing that we are also doing this September 29, with hundreds of Jewish communities throughout the world, is even more inspiring.

We hope many congregants of Temple Sinai will attend, when we will joyfully welcome new friends from our neighboring Temple Israel as we all prepare to begin this New Year. Erev Rosh HaShanah 5785 is Wednesday, October 2.

Protective Clothing & Safety:

Please wear suitable clothing protective from sun exposure, hats, sunscreen and sturdy sandals or shoes. Please bring enough water for your comfort and that of family/friends in your company. There is little-to-no shade at Sand Castle Picnic Area. If you need shade, bring an open tent or canopy.

• Gloves/PPE: You may want to bring sturdy, protective gloves, i.e. for gardening or hand safety. Thin nitrile gloves will be provided. Some long-handled trash “pickers” may be available, or bring your own.

• Safety protocols: EBRPD Naturalist Ashley will provide further guidance before we begin our beach clean-up.

• DOGS: Dog Fee is $2 per dog. Guide/service dogs free; no dogs allowed on beach. Dogs are not allowed off-leash in parking lots, picnic areas or sites, such as at Crown Memorial Beach. Carry water for 3 hours for your leashed dog. Heatstroke is most dangerous during the summer.

Special Accommodations/ADA Accessibility, Wheelchairs:

• Privately owned outdoor canopies may be pitched and folding chairs may be used in the Sand Castle Picnic Area.

• The Sand Castle Picnic Area is not explicitly designed for wheelchair accessibility but may be accessed by wheelchairs and walkers along the nearby beachfront walkway. The accessible Bath House is also nearby.

• Beach wheelchairs, intended to provide a means for wheelchair users to travel across the beach, are available free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis. They require an assistant to push and are not intended to enter the water. To arrange for use of a chair, call the CRAB COVE Visitor Center at (510) 544-3187 or PARK OFFICE: (510) 544-4522.

Parking (see map): Parking fee at entrance from Westline Drive is $5.00 per vehicle, or show membership tag, EBRPD Foundation. Sand Castle Picnic Area is directly opposite the main parking lots at this entrance.

Picnic lunch/clean-up: We are responsible for disposing of all our trash from the day’s activities, not only what we pick up from the shoreline as part of our clean-up efforts. Make sure your picnic table and grounds beneath it are left as found. Consumption of beer, wine or any alcoholic beverages is prohibited.

Clean-up session, 1:20 – 2:45pm: Please follow all instructions from the program’s Naturalist, Ashley. Plan to team-up for your clean-up, as advised by EBRPD. DO NOT pick up any found syringes or other dangerous items as will be discussed. DO notify the Naturalist or program leaders of its location.

Wrap-up: Your feedback, orally or by email, to Sinai Green about this day’s event will be very helpful for its planners, in consideration of future Reverse Tashlich programs.

If you take any photos of this day, please share them with Sinai Green for Temple Sinai’s website and/or newsletter: send with attached photos or link and identifying note in subject line to green@oaklandsinai.org.