OB Rag

by Frank Gormlie

We drove into Ocean Beach for the Street Fair intending to take an outsider’s view. With the bumper-to-bumper traffic coming in on Sunset Cliffs and then on West Point Loma, with everybody on the sidewalks streaming south, it truly looked like OB was part of a theme park – OB Enchanted Land.

by Mary E Mann

Among the many things I can say about Ocean Beach, one is that this community sure knows how to get behind a party.

According to friends of mine, OB old-timers, this year’s Street Fair was tame. No longer are people allowed to drink openly in the streets, for one thing.

by Frank Gormlie

Have you heard of the OB Planning Board? Meeting monthly, the Board is the official body – made up of local residents, property owners and businesses – that advises the City of San Diego on development and construction projects and issues slated for Ocean Beach. And it’s the closest thing to an elected body for OB. … MORE INSIDE …

It’s one thing to wake up, drink coffee and turn to the daily fish-wrap, but it’s quite another to do that and see your fellow OB Rag bloggster on the goddamn front page of the Local News! But there she was – our own Anna Daniels – featured in an article about how hundreds of city employees are retiring to make the higher pension rates.

Here’s the front of today’s article from SignOnSanDiego … 608 workers retire to lock in benefits

My beloved and I were headed into Artist Alley. It was slow going through the crowd back to the stage area. Richard grabbed my arm and said “check out the signs.”

He read out loud “Don’t Go to Hell” printed on one and then “Read Bible for Details” on another. “It gets better,” he added. “It seems that certain restrictions apply—check them out.”

We’ve received more photos from our own Wireless Mike and another good friend of the Rag, R. Kacmar. Look for…

9:30 am. We arrived at the Sea World Drive parking lot shortly after Gary Gilmore had opened the gate-with bolt cutters. Gary says this has become an annual tradition. The gate is never opened by the City as planned and Gary has learned to never leave home on this day without the OBMA bolt cutters.

Two shiny Old Town Trolleys were waiting there …

by Lane Tobias

Treated to a beautiful San Diego summer day, thousands of people flocked to OB to take part in the 30th incarnation of the Ocean Beach Street Fair and Chili Cook-Off Festival. …

As for the vendors, the very people who make this fair the bustling event that it is, it was obvious even before the crowds started showing up around 2:00pm who was going to have a good day.

After the historic 30th annual OB Street Fair, the seaside beach community nurses its hangover from the day of partying.

It was a picture-perfect day for OB’s annual street festival, its Chili-Cook-off, the bands, the vendors, the food, the festivities and crowds.

Here’s the first crop of photos, taken by Doug Porter and Jeff Stone. We’ll be adding more as they come in!

by Gary Gilmore

There’s more to our little Street Fair than chili, music, beer & good times.

What makes this whole extravaganza tick is money. That’s right, crass as it may seem, it’s money that makes the Street Fair go ‘round.

All 250 vendors (give or take a few) with their colorful booths, … had to fork over $365 bucks each …

OB Rag Makes the Union-Tribune

Today – June 26, 2009: this was the original headline one year ago, posted on June 14, 2008. We thought we would run it again for some obvious reasons.

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Here’s the piece on O.B. that ran in Saturday’s U-T and we’re quoted …

Why hassle with trying to find a parking space when you can be eating chili and groovin’ to the tunes this Saturday? If you are one of the 70,000 people anticipated to attend the fair, and if you are driving, you can park at two locations, take a trolley and leave the hassles to Larry, Curley and Bob. And it’s FREE!