Tagged: Place profile

We’ve been asking our staff to go out to a place they've never been. Reporter Eva Soncin brought back this profile from somewhere she hasn’t visited but that’s close to her roots. This week we venture to L’Alliance Française in Berkeley, a non-profit organization encouraging the study of French language and culture, through classes, tutoring, and social gatherings. 

Sometimes we pass a place in our neighborhood everyday, but never know what happens behind the building's facade. When KALW's Anna Sterling decided to look a little deeper into the Armenian Community Center, she discovered a committed father-daughter team of bingo champs.

The phone is ringing and a constant stream of people are coming through the gated door. Sam Adato, a long-haired rocker and owner of the drum shop, buzzes them in from behind the counter.

The intimate shop is a maze of colorful stacks upon stacks of vintage drums. The walls are covered with posters – custom made by Adato – of drummers, rock and roll records, drum equipment and other trinkets he’s collected over the last 20 years from customers and friends. Everyone who comes through the door seems to know each other, it was a familiar place, a place for drummers.