Blackhawk Car Museum

East Bay Real Estate: 21st Annual Blackhawk Food, Wine & Film Festival!

For the past 21 years our Danville/Sycamore Rotary Club has presented the best party of the year in the East Bay – The Blackhawk Food, Wine & Film Festival.  Well over $500,000 have been raised and re-invested back into the needs of our communities over the past 21 years.  The event is May 5th starting at 5:30pm and the location is at the Blackhawk Auto Museum with the Livermore Valley Wine Growers wineries, ( Bodegas Aguirre Winery one of my favorites.),  and the world class restaurants of our Valley, with The Peasant & The Pear and Piatti’s as just two of the many restaurants you will love.  The wineries and restaurants will be your host before the big screen movie, Casablanca, is previewed.  There are also amazing auction items for the limited guest list of 600.  The event is always a sellout, so if you would like to make a tax deductible donation of $40 to the DSV Rotary Club Foundation a pass will be waiting for you at the door.  If for some reason you are not able to join us your tax deductible donation will be put to good use.  MAIL IT TODAY! Jim Walberg, 760 Camino Ramon, Suite 200,  Danville, CA  94526.  I hope to see you there!

Blackhawk Car Museum

East Bay Real Estate Customers Still Buying Fast Cars!

Jim Walberg had the Nissan GT-R show up at his house last week!

OK, so, you remember my article late last year about the San Francisco Auto Show at the Moscone Center when the Nissan GT-R road ready race car was unveiled by Wally Burchfield – the Western U.S. Vice President for Nissan.  Well, Wally showed up at my house last week and asked if I would like to go for a ride.  I let him know that I was about to sit down for dinner, and maybe we could go for a ride the next day.  He said, “No, I think you will want to go for a ride right now because I drove up to your house with the Nissan GT-R and I would like to have you enjoy a test drive.”  So, dinner was immediately postponed.  In spite of oil prices people are standing in BIG lines to buy this car!

I walked out to my driveway and I was blown away that this amazing race car that Nissan has now built for consumers was sitting right in front of my house.  You need to promise not to tell the police, but I suggested we drive out to Highland Road, off Camino Tassajara and see what it could do on this road of curves and bumps.  Oh, my gosh, what a ride we had.  The GT-R never had it’s rear end loosen up, it never left the road in spite of the bumps, and we never got out of 4^th gear with two more gears to go.  Wally let me know that the car actually tops out at 198 MPH, and goes from 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds!  Holy Moly, what a car they have built for the road!!!

Wally had the car because of the annual Z Rally that was at Blackhawk Plaza.  He parked it at the Blackhawk Car Museum for the day and then brought it out for the Z Rally – sponsored by Z Owners Of Northern California.  So, I stopped by the Z Rally on Saturday, took some photos and spoke with several of the ZONC members – Stuart and Sandra Gates, and Lee Woolfolk, to see what their impressions were of the race car that is now available for street driving – at a minimum cost of $70,000 with only 2,000 being sold in the U.S this year.  Because of the small amount of cars being delivered to the U.S. the price is rising over the $100,000 mark.  Wally took some of them for test drives.  Here is one of the quotes of the passengers – Lee Woolfolk, “Hi Wally, I was very impressed by the way the GTR launched when the accelerator petal is floored.  The rear tires gave a little hint of wheel spin and we were off. The computer does a fantastic job of channeling the excess power to the front wheels. Stuart and I both drive Twin Turbo 300 ZX’s, mine is modified with slightly larger turbo’s and when they come on boost I get instant wheel spin in the lower gears making it harder to control. This car seems so much easier to drive at the limit and anywhere in between.  Handling and engine info is in a league all its own. Very impressive car and well worth the money. Nissan scored a home run! Now how can I put one in my garage!!!

Wally also gave me the marketing memo on the GT-R, “Nissan created the all-new Nissan GT-R, which offers advanced high performance for secure and enjoyable driving by minimizing the effects of climatic, road condition or driving technique limitations. The Nissan GT-R offers ultimate performance for virtually every driving situation – whether it be the Nurburgring circuit, to snow, rain or urban areas – all manageable by the GT-R driver through advanced technology and driving dynamics.

“The Nissan GT-R’s unique characteristics are instilled not just in the vehicle’s design, but also through a specialized production process. Carbon fiber, aluminum and steel components are assembled with a special high-precision process, which includes a series of vibration tests. Engines and transmissions are assembled by a single craftsman in a “clean room” environment and upon completion, every GT-R undergoes a battery of comprehensive tests to ensure the proper operation of all vehicle components.”

You also may remember that Wally was the one that gave me the scoop on the Nissan Rogue that came out last year.  It is so fun to have clients who are involved in fun companies.  Nissan is on a roll with it’s amazing high performance, fuel efficient, and just plain fun cars.  Check out your local Nissan dealers for more information.

Blackhawk Car Museum

East Bay Annual Event – San Ramon Wind Festival!

Diablo Black Mens Group knocked them dead with the “Cobbler Shack” today!

OK, so I am the “rookie” with the Diablo Black Mens Group.  But, what I didn’t know is that their annual food booth at the San Ramon Wind Festival was selling peach cobbler and ice cream.  The “rookie” gets to be the ice cream scooper.  I am 60 years old and do you have any idea what scooping ice cream does to one’s tennis elbow and carple tunnel syndrome?  Well, I am at home tonight with ice on my right arm, a glass of wine in my left hand, and I have already taken three Advil.  Who would have even imagined that there would be such an action packed fund raiser within two weeks of joining this group.  And, I just completed the 18th Annual Blackhawk Food, Wine & Film Faire at the Blackhawk Car Museum for my Rotary club last week, which was another over the top event from an effort and planning standpoint.  You will find me down at Body Works in Danville this week for a serious deep tissue massage.

All kidding aside, there was a ton of money raised by the DBMG for their scholorship fund the past two days at the San Ramon Wind Festival!  It was a lot of hard work, but it will contribute a significant amount of funds to scholorships to young African-American men starting college. We even sold out of the cobbler and ice cream by 3:30PM today because of the crowds that kept lining up for this great treat at the Festival.

So, I am through with the breakdown of the booth, loading the truck, and high-fiving the DBMG crew, and I am walking to my car.  I run in to lots of friends attending the event asking how it went with our fundraiser.  And, who should I run into is Dr. Brent Waterman - the doctor that assisted me with completing so many high endurance sporting events over the past 20+ years.  He is my chiropractor, and he is the past president of the Danville Lions Club and the past Lions Club member of the year!  Dr. Brent is not only a dear friend, but he is a giant in the world of community service in the East Bay.  He was standing in the middle of the walkway passing out coupons for the Taste Of Danville Event coming up next week.  I promised him that I would assist him in passing out the fliers to the real estate community.  And, I promised him that I would give the event a plug on my blog site.  So, here are the details.  It is the 14th Annual Spring Restaurant Walk in Danville – 6PM to 9PM.  It is the only “Progressive Dinner” in the East Bay;  The Peasant & The Pear; Tower Grille; Primo’s Pizza; Beverages & More; Starbuck’s Coffee; Sideboard; La Ultima New Mexican Food; Bridges Restaurant; Amber Bistro; Basil Leaf Cafe; China Paradise; FAZ; Masala Indian Fusion; and Taqueria El Balazo!  Can you believe the ticket price is ONLY $25!!!  Call (925) 275-1990 for tickets!  It is always a sellout, so call TODAY!  Your East Bay real estate detective continues to explore all of the events you will ever want to know about!!!

Blackhawk Car Museum

East Bay Real Estate Agents Support Community Service – All The Time!

The 18^th Annual Blackhawk Film Festival is May 15^th!  Don’t miss it!

For the last 18 years the Danville/Sycamore Valley Rotary Club has hosted the Blackhawk Food, Wine, & Film Festival at the Blackhawk Car Museum. This is THE social event of the year that has raised over $500,000 to support the needs of East Bay community service needs. And, Realtor, Jim Walberg, plus many other Realtors have supported this important event. The format is elegant, from walking up the steps to the Blackhawk Car Museum to entering the front door and stepping into a gourmet lovers delight.  There are only 900 tickets available each year, and it is always a sellout!  The donation for an entry pass is $50 this year and it is THE bargain for these types of East Bay social events.

The event always has a movie theme and this year it is Marilyn Monroe!  So, you will be watching some of the classic Monroe movies ever made. Before the movies begin there is a two+ hour food and wine reception in the Blackhawk Car Museum. Not only will you be previewing one of the most extensive classic car collection in the world, but there will be 30+ East Bay restaurants, plus over 25 wineries from Northern California pouring their best wines – such as Bodegas Aguirre Winery from Livermore Valley.  It is a time for the culinary and wine communities to show off their “stuff”…and they have dazzled the guests each of the past 18 years.

Rotary International focuses on serving the needs of local communities and the world. They took on the project of eliminating polio in the world in 1985 and completed this daunting project by 2007! Each of the local Rotary Clubs focus on their local community service needs and the Danville/Sycamore Rotary Club has done such an outstanding job that they received the community service award from The Town Of Danville for several years since they were chartered in 1989.

At last year’s Blackhawk Food, Wine & Film Festival this Rotary club raised $80,000 to support local East Bay community projects.  They expect to exceed this amount at their 2008 event on May 15^th.  They also feature local school entertainment groups. The last several years the San Ramon High School Jazz Band wowed all the guests. Besides the food, wine and entertainment, the Festival has a live auction, silent auctions, and raffle opportunities throughout the evening. These items range from charter sailing vacations, cases of premium wines, dining opportunities at your favorite restaurants in the East Bay, JEWELRY, and much more!

The event is always looking for corporate sponsors, businesses who want to feature their products, and restaurants and wineries.  This is a “must” event for 2008!  It is an unforgettable night of entertainment, gourmet moments, dazzling wines, auction opportunities, and non-stop fun.  For more information contact me and I will send you information as to how you can be a part of this unforgettable night as a guest or as a sponsor.  Stay tuned…I will keep you updated as to more specific details of this event in the next month.