October 2025 Issue

Dear Friends,

Today, I’m thinking about core childhood memories, and the annual Autumn Glory festival carries so many for me:

It’s the fireman’s parade where everyone sits on the curb huddled under blankets, the never-ending emergency vehicle lights, the local kids’ dance teams showing their skills, the friendly unofficial high school reunions, and neighbors staking out curb space throughout town with camp chairs.

One of my absolute favorite memories is the short walk into the palpable buzz of downtown Oakland on the morning of the Autumn Glory Grand Feature Parade.

The smell of Rotary french fries in the air, the Garrett Highlands Pipes and Drums warming up a block away, the maples and oaks shouting in red and orange.. that’s the memory reel that makes me smile each year. I distinctly remember one Autumn Glory, my parents bought me a blue-and-pink foam lizard on a wire that I “walked” along the streets all day. Who knows how much this little block of foam cost and what gunk I drug it through that day but it’s funny what sticks.

I hope you have a chance to make some memories this autumn. See you around the lake,

Sarah Myers
Editor-in-Chief, Lake-Front Magazine