Alameda’s West End Library, 788 Santa Clara Ave., is asking supporters and gardeners to come by for some spring sprucing from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. this Saturday, May 18.

Volunteers should bring their favorite gardening gloves to help with weeding and clipping. Refreshments will be served.

In other library news, Friends of the Alameda Free Library just hosted a book sale in early May at the Al DeWitt “O” Club at Alameda Point. Volunteers say the book sales, held each year in May and October, raise more than $15,000 for the library.

Hundreds of book-lovers come from around the Island and the Bay Area to buy texts, music, art and more. It was a great success, and library supporters invite the community to get ready for its fall event.

The Northern California Boat Fest is going on today through Sunday, May 16-19, at Marina Village Yacht Harbor. It should be a fun event for Islanders and friends.

Visitors can get information from local yacht clubs, check out used boats for sale, stroll through new and used power and sail yachts, get details on joining a sailing club or owning a boat in a charter program, go out for a sail, see the newest boat equipment, attend one of several sailing seminars — and more.

Seminars will focus on sail-making and maintenance, emergency life rafts and chartering in the Caribbean, for instance.

Musicians featured at the event include Steve MeckFessel–folk, blues and jazz; Michael McNevin — songwriter, vocalist, steel-string guitarist and storyteller; and pianist John R. Burr.

Team Artemis, based at Alameda Point, said it held a private ceremony to commemorate the memory of teammate Andrew “Bart” Simpson, who died on May 9 during a practice session when the team’s AC72 catamaran capsized on the Bay.

After eight bells this morning (May 16), a wreath was cast upon the water by representatives of the four teams of the 34th America’s Cup, according to Team Artemis.

Simpson was a British double-Olympic-gold sailing medalist.

“The entire Artemis Racing team is devastated by what happened,” said CEO Paul Cayard, in a statement. “Our heartfelt condolences are with Andrew’s wife and family.”

“Our thoughts are with Andrew’s family, who suffered a tragic loss yesterday—of a son, a father, and a husband. As our friend and teammate, Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson was central to Artemis Racing, both in the course of racing and our lives. His presence and personality was a binding force and he will be missed,” added Torbjörn Törnqvist, chairman of Artemis Racing, in a separate statement.

Team Artemis of Sweden says it is conducting a “thorough analysis and review” of the accident. It is one of two America’s Cup teams based at Alameda Point, along with Luna Rossa of Italy.

A banner with photos of Simpson is posted on a fence near the team’s operations at Alameda Point, along with several bouquets of flowers. It reads: “Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson, you will be missed!”

Businesses on Park Street are asking neighbors to come take part in a special Easter Egg Hunt that runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 30.

Children and adults are welcome to look for the eggs, which have prizes and coupons inside them. Some of the eggs will be easily hidden for toddlers, and the businesses ask that parents limit the egg hunting to one egg per child.

Businesses participating in the egg hunt are marketed with balloons.

For more details, go online to the website of the Park Street Business Association.

Alameda residents and East Bay community members are invited to a celebration of Easter at South Shore Center today, from noon to 3:30 p.m.

Kids and adults can stop by the petting zoo and visit with more than a dozen animals–including chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats and pigs.

Plus, everyone can shake hands with the Easter Bunny or have a portrait drawn by a caricature artist. Colorful face painting is scheduled for 1:30– 3:30 p.m.

The event is free and sponsored by Jamestown, which runs the South Shore Center mall, located at Park Street and Otis/Shoreline.

The Alameda Main Library is featuring some unusual events over the next few days.

For those who want to turn off their iPods or MP3 players, come on over to the library for some old tunes — including a few old 78s played on a 1906 open-horn gramophone.

Music collector and historian Richard Wahlberg will share some of his treasures from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 10, in the Stafford Meeting Room. He will also share some “pop music” from the 1920s and 1930s.

On Monday, March 11, at 5:30 p.m., the library will have a free showing of the film “Paprika” for community members 18 and older.

The 2006 Japanese animation film lasts about 90 minutes. It focuses on a group of psychotherapists who have a machine that allows them to enter patients’ dreams.

The movie – which earned praise worldwide for its artistry and music — is based on the 1993 novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui.

The Alameda Public Affairs Forum will present a discussion on the revolution in Egypt on the evening of Saturday, March 9, at the Main Library. Bay Area trade-union leader Carl Finamore, who just returned from his third visit to Egypt, will be the guest speaker.

While in Egypt, Finamore met with some leaders of the opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood regime of President Muhammed Morsi. A new Egypt, he says, can arise if young Egyptians, workers and others come together to challenge the power of the elites and others.

Finamore traveled to Cairo only two hours after Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office in early 2011. His traveled back to Egypt in January 2013 for the second anniversary of the revolution.

He will speak at 7 p.m. on Saturday, after potluck dishes and refreshments are shared.

The Italian sailing team Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 announced that it will be based in Alameda for the 34th America’s Cup this summer. The news comes just four days after Swedish team Artemis Racing staged a major community event at the Alameda Theatre to highlight its activities on the Island as the official Challenger of Record against Oracle Team USA.

According to the Alameda Journal’s Peter Hagarty, Luna Rossa (“red moon” in Italian) is leasing a 65,400-square-foot former aircraft hangar for the next seven months.

On Tuesday, the City Council will considering extending Artemis’ lease at Alameda Point, which includes the rental of a 110,561-square-foot former hangar, 22,604 square feet of former aircraft taxiway and portions of the Seaplane Lagoon. (The city struck a deal the Navy over lagoon access.)

The base monthly rent for Artemis is $23,400 through May and $25,000 each month after that. If the team decides to stop using the taxiway or lagoon, the monthly rent drops to $21,600.

The Italian team seems to have some deep pockets to cover the Alameda Point rent. Its sponsor, Prada, reportedly plans to invest $55.2 million in the America’s Cup effort.

At Thursday’s event at the Alameda Theatre, presenters highlighted one of Alameda’s many advantages: work on the AC72 catamarans — including their 130-foot-long wing sails — can go on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In San Francisco, work must stop at about 10 p.m. and can only resume at roughly 7 a.m.

Team Artemis says it is bringing about 130 team and family members, including a design group, to the Island to support its efforts.

For information on Alameda and the America’s Cup, go to a website created by local residents, or visit the city’s website about the event.

On Friday, Feb. 22, City of Oakland officials opened a channel that should eventually connect the Alameda-Oakland Estuary with Lake Merritt via the Bay Trail.

The 750-foot-long channel that was opened had been dammed for more than 100 years. Other obstacles remain, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle: a culvert, a pumping station and a low bridge.

The opening of the channel and other improvements in the area are being paid, in part, by Measure DD, a $198 million bond measure passed by Oakland residents in 2002.

“This is the first time anyone has sailed down this channel in 140 years,” said Mayor Jean Quan, according to the Chronicle.

Kayakers and other water enthusiasts should be able to enjoy more water experiences once the Lake Merritt channel is connecting with the Estuary and Bay Trail, officials say.

The recent project cost $47 million, with further extensions to the channel expected by this summer.

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 12-1 offers members of the Alameda boating community free safety information and inspections from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23 at Grand Marina, 2099 Grand St.

The group says that each year it works with local boaters by providing educational and other services, including safety checks.

It carried out this same program in August 2012, when some boat owners were able to get a Vessel Safety Check sticker for their vessel.

The USCG Auxiliary says that walk-up visitors are welcome, and family participation is encouraged.