Sixteen years after his death, everyone still misses Joseph Charles, the beloved Berkeley Waving Man.

The evidence: People have been calling me to say that the Joseph W. Charles tennis courts across the street from his old house at the corner of Oregon Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way are being torn down, and they want to know if whatever goes in their place is going to be named after him too.

Don’t worry, everyone. I just checked with the city, and the tennis courts are only being renovated. When they reopen, there will a new sign, bigger and brighter than ever, bearing his name.

The funny thing is that Mr. Charles was never a tennis fan. His game was baseball. Once, when he was a young man in Louisiana playing in the Negro Leagues, he batted against the great Satchel Paige when the legendary pitcher came through town on a barnstorming tour.

“He struck me out on three straight pitches,” Mr. Charles told me. “But at least I got a foul tip, which was better than anyone else did that day.”

Originally, the idea, which was the brainchild of then-Mayor Loni Hancock, was to place a plaque on the sidewalk in front of his home reading, “On this spot, Joseph Charles, the Berkeley Waving Man, stood every weekday from Oct. 6, 1962, to Oct. 6, 1992, waving to the morning commute traffic.”

But the Public Works Department said it would be too expensive, so they compromised by naming the tennis courts after him instead. At least he’d be able to see it from his living room window every day.

Mr. Charles would call out to the cars, “Keep smiling!” and “Have a GOOD day!” And thanks to him, a lot of us did. It’s nice to know that he’s not only not forgotten, he never will be.

Fire Update: I’m also glad to report that ever since the fire at historic First Congregational Church on Sept. 30, other houses of worship in Berkeley have been rallying around First Congregational Church while its sanctuary is being repaired, which could take months.

“They even disrupted their High Holidays to go into swift action to work through logistics with their leadership, the city of Berkeley, and the neighbors who will be impacted by our move there,” says Molly Baskette, First Congregational’s senior minister. “They have been at every turn eager, kind and faithful to their core values of welcoming the stranger.”

Meanwhile, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church hosted a benefit concert Oct. 18 for First Congregational that was a great success artistically and financially. Among the musicians who donated their services: American Bach Soloists, Ars Minerva, MUSA, Music for a Viol, Philharmonia Baroque, Valley of the Moon Festival, Voices of Music and the First Church Benefit Concert Choir.

And what has become of the 220-member Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, which has deep personal and institutional ties to First Congregational, including using it for rehearsals? Northbrae Community Church has been letting them rehearse there since the fire. After Oct. 31, the First Presbyterian Church will be the host for First Congregational’s rehearsals.

Keep smiling. And have a GOOD day.

Reach Martin Snapp at catman442@comcast.net.