East Bay residents revel in rainy weather on Presidents Day

By John Ramos

Rain rolled into the Bay Area just in time to put a damper on most people’s outdoor President’s Day holiday fun. But in the East Bay, some ventured out despite the wet weather.

At Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek, the baseball diamond had a different team of Mudhens on it, as a flock of Canada geese took over a huge puddle that formed on the infield. And the children’s playground was completely deserted. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone playing.

“It’s a job to them, I think. Playing is part of their job,” said resident Mike Baity, as he watched his two dogs pounce on each other in the rain. “It’s their task that they’re given, and they have to perform it and if they don’t, then something is off. So, right now, they’re just doing their job.”

Baity brought his daughter, Charlotte, and dogs Mickey and Freckles from Martinez to the Heather Farm dog park to play – the dogs, that is, not Charlotte.

“My dogs wanted to play in the rain. And I wanted to stay at home. So…yeah…” Charlotte said.

They got Mickey about a year ago, and he and Freckles are now inseparable. And when it rains … insufferable.

“They like the rain a lot. I don’t know why. They have to go outside, go in the truck and go out somewhere,” said Charlotte. “They just get, like, really frustrated. They’re like, ‘Take me to the dog park! Take me to the dog park!’ And then they start barking. It’s really annoying.”

No one was annoyed at Primo’s Pizza in Danville. Despite the rain, the Patel family was dry and cozy in the huge outdoor covered patio, complete with heaters and big-screen TVs.

“It’s fantastic. We love it here,” said Jessica Patel. “No matter how cold it is, they’ve got the heaters. It’s a great atmosphere, and we really enjoy the people.”

Primo’s has become a wildly popular spot in any kind of weather. It began during the pandemic lockdown, when they erected a giant tent in the parking lot to welcome people going stir-crazy at home.

“People actually had a space to come and watch a game and grab a beer, have some food, and be social, you know?” said Primo’s employee Branden Mendenhall. “And this place benefited from it tremendously.”

The parking lot is now gone, and the tent has been replaced with an ornate wooden structure that has become the town’s favorite open-air sports bar.

“I mean, it’s here to stay now. This isn’t going anywhere,” said Mendenhall. “This place wouldn’t be Primo’s if we didn’t have this outdoor patio.”

But not everyone was warm and cozy. Rami Wolff, Martzi Toy-Vanya and Gabi Sutton play on a club soccer team. Their season ended last week, but they decided to get in some soggy practice time on the otherwise deserted all-weather fields along I-80 in Berkeley.

“It doesn’t rain too much around here, but when it does, we’re playing, rain or shine. We’re just out here having fun,” said Wolff.

“Nobody else wants to come out here, right?” said Toy-Vanya. “So, it’s an opportunity to have the open field, you know? It kind of adds to the vibe, seeing nobody else here, and we have the whole field to train by ourselves. I think it’s more fun like that.”

It was actually Sutton’s idea to go out to play in the rain.

“We were training yesterday, and I thought it would be a good day to train too, since we have no school today,” he said, dripping wet. “Yeah, keep your body moving, and you can be surprisingly warm.” But then he admitted that may not be completely true. “Yeah, I’m a little cold. I’m a little cold, yeah,” he said, laughing.

It wasn’t exactly pouring in the East Bay, but it was enough to keep most people inside on a holiday. But for those who did venture out, it felt like they had the whole world to themselves.