Sonoma Country Life

Remember Your First Job? A Youth Employment Workshop's Just the Ticket for Today's Teens Looking to Enter the Workforce

 

The Petaluma Youth Commision Jobs Workshop takes place Saturday March 3rd, 2012,  from 1-4 pm at the Petaluma Community Center on McDowell Boulevard. Since a permit is required by all youth who accept job offers,  a separate training program for Permits will take place that same day, from 4:15 to 5 PM.

Space is limited and a $2 donation will be requested at the door. Registration is available by calling 707.778.4380. Alternately students can register at their school's career center.

Topics will include the application process, creating a resume, conducting an effective job search, interviewing in a professional manner, obtaining an employment permit, and learning proper workplace etiquette. A group of local professionals with lots of experience in working with teen employment will be leading the instruction. Anyone with access to a laptop is encouraged to bring it to use for resume writing. Otherwise, materials will be provided.

Party Like it's 1982! Petaluma Educational Foundation's Celebratory 30th Anniversary Dine, Dance and Donate at Graziano's Ristorante this Saturday

Click here to reserve a table for dinner this Saturday, February 25th, 2012, in celebration of Petaluma Educational Foundation’s 30th Anniversary

Join friends and neighbors as we fill one of our favorite downtown dining and dancing destinations for a delicious kick-off to Petaluma Educational Foundation's big anniversary year. Over 13,000 kids attend Petaluma area schools and PEF is more committed than ever to raising the bar on our community’s support of education.

Gather friends and family for dinner Saturday evening and long-time supporter, Graziano will donate 20% of your total bar and dinner bill to PEF.

And that’s not where the evening ends. From 9pm to midnight, join a special after-party upstairs at Graziano’s where local live band, the H.O.T.S will play all of your favorite rock and roll dance hits. Donate $20 for admission to this fun after party.

 

The Question is - Didya Downton?

Not only did I wake up this morning feeling blue that Series Two of blockbuster best of British tele in decades, Downton Abbey drew to a belated Christmas cracker of a close last night, I have to confess to spending large portions of the day (well, it is a bank holiday this side of the pond) reading all sorts of reviews and motley assessments of the epic upstairs, downstairs-style period costume drama's outrageous success here in the States.

There's really something very smug-making for a longtime Brit-abroad to be able to relish in the ramblings of incredulous reportings such as yesterday's New York Times Magazine's RIFF, questioning at great length why we're so intent in the masses of indulging in a bygone era that we're actually (supposedly) thankful is gone.

Let's not over analyze Downton Abbey to an early death, for I for one, would be perfectly happy to tune in every bleak mid-Winter for the next few years.

Undoubtedly, it is the strength and collective community of this prime cast of characters who have captured the hearts and imagination of millions upon millions of viewers, here in the U.S as we've agreeably gone along for the ride of an extraordinarily fast-paced, largely dining room, family plot - in impeccable setting.

Last night's season finale served up all of the juiciest prerequisites to keep us coming back - traditional Christmas dinner (downstairs and upstairs), a murder trial, mischief, intrigue, suspense, snowflakes, romance and the Edwardian era's race towards modernity.

The question is, if you didn't Downton, it's time to hit your Netflix Queue and get yourself caught up. There's plenty open-ended plotlines to ponder for Season Three, starting here in the States in January of 2013. In the meantime, my take on Downton Abbey's broad appeal is precisely that of its comfortable routine and sense of place. If someone were to ask which character you'd most identify with, I doubt it would be an issue today of whether it were someone specifically designated to an upstairs or downstairs lot. Our modern lives are so interwoven with running the bases and juggling a multitude of roles, the whole idea of the cards falling in one specific designation of post are, perhaps, not quite as appalling as one might otherwise assume.

Main theme emerging from all the pre-Season Three media chat is the much anticipated shake up in splenndid form in the arrival of one Shirley MacLaine at Downton as classic and inimitable U.S. grandmama. 

The BEE RAYS in Concert at Aqus Cafe at Foundry Wharf, Saturday, Feb 25th 2012

Farm and Garden Phase Funded for Casa Grande High School's Innovative New Outdoor Learning Environment

One of the absolute best parts of working with Petaluma Educational Foundation at this time of year is to visit schools all around the city who have been awarded susbstantial Major Impact Grants. At a time when almost all news pertaining to school funding here in California is pretty much guaranteed to be dismal, there's nothing to beat the absolute and encouraging tools of hope for ongoing enhancement of excellence in education, delivered in these PEF Major Impact Grant presentations.

Casa Grande High School's innovative Outdoor Learning Environment - OLE! Farm and Garden Project is on the brink of its first bountiful Spring's planting season thanks to its substantial $5,000 Petaluma Educational Foundation 2012 Major Impact Grant, generously funded by Petaluma Garden Club and CGHS alumni, Sharon and Jim Kimball.

The Farm and Garden Phase of the school's visionary and extensive OLE! Project is designed to engage teenage students in learning healthy nutrition by growing, harvesting and cooking their own foods, as a means to raise academic test scores and lower obesity. Fresh produce grown in the organic farm and garden section of what is shaping up as a state-of-the-art, regional showcase outdoor learning environment, will be purchased by Petaluma City Schools' Food Services Program for use in the school's cafeteria.

One hundred percent of the school's 1,750 student population in grades nine through 12 will benefit from this grant, providing invaluable hand-on, interactive experience at a crucial time in their lives for learning how to make their own healthy lifestyle choices before leaving home.

"The goal of this project is to develop a quarter of an acre garden in the center of Casa Grande High School, bringing a healthy nutritional awareness for all students," said Megan Donner, the school's Culinary Arts Instructor and John Shribbs, Environmental Science Instructor, in the Major Impact Grant Application to PEF, that they co-authored last fall. "The OLE Farm/Garden Phase is part of a larger school wide permaculture renovation of the once fallow quad in the center of the school. This past summer, with community support we were able to break ground, completing the site grading and main pathways, creating the area for the garden, the outdoor kitchen, the amphitheater and two outdoor classrooms."

The program has been carefully designed over the past three years to give all students from all curricula areas the chance to connect with the outdoors, learning about healthy and sustainable environmental practices. When completed, it is expected to be a model for other school districts to learn from and incorporate into their high schools.

This Farm/Garden funded phase will teach sustainable living through soils, local organic farming/growing practices, harvesting and cooking vegetables as seasonal dishes, as well as supplying the school's cafeteria with fresh, organic vegetables.

Members of the Petaluma Garden Club and fellow grant donors, Sharon and Jim Kimball toured the OLE! Project with Donner and Shribbs, this February. The donors were able to see where irrigation for row crops will be installed, with the farm garden expected to be fully up and running and producing vegetables by this fall. "We are so delighted to be co-funding the organic farm/garden in this outstanding project," said Petaluma Garden Club President, Leslie Goodrich. "It is so completely relevant and we look forward to returning for another tour as soon as it is up and running."

Cafeteria staff has started saving compost materials and Green String Farm interns are poised to come on board as farm garden volunteer instructors to further inspire students that growing their own produce is the way forward!

OLE! is intended as a resource for the entire Petaluma community and the school continues to invite participation from all sectors. The grassy amphitheater, which will seat an estimated 150 people, will be available for public use. OLE organizers envision this venue for music, theater, dance, cooking demonstrations, and lectures. OLE will also be a place for outdoor classes for adults and children. For more information, see the Ole! Project Website.

Twenty two Major Impact Grant applications were submitted to PEF, last fall. Of the 22 applications amounting to $283,000 in funding requests, the foundation's highly trained Grant Selection Committee followed a rigorous program (including short list in-person presentations) to evaluate its top choices. In total, 14 Major Impact Grants, including this $5,000 grant for Casa Grande's farm/garden phase of the OLE! Project will have been funded this Spring  totaling $158,000.

Petaluma Educational Foundation continues to make great strides in our community to match corporate and individual partners to specific grant funding opportunities. To find out more about how to connect with PEF in making a major impact in a school in Petaluma, click here.

Classic Boy House Moment

Just had to share this snapshot taken yesterday afternoon at the kitchen table. Dom had taken a notion that I needed an update on the outstanding current condition of his adopted corn snake.

He'd taken this particular specimen in, adding to his well tended collection of lizards and slithery things, a little over a year ago, after a pal from junior high had made arrangements to leave it on our front porch.

Yes, I did voice my concerns that it might very well slither down his cast. Wouldn't that have made an interesting visit to the fracture clinic?

 

Top Pick for Belated Valentine's!

There's probably only one day of the week less preferable than a Tuesday upon which to celebrate Valentine's - and that's a Monday. Still, with a Monday, clever cupids are able to get ahead with cupcakes, roses and romance the day before!

If yesterday's Tuesday Valentine didn't quite make the mark, here's as fine a date night as could be for belated wine and dine points with that special someone in your life.

Southern Sonoma County Life loves a little foray over the county border, out West. Look for a feature article with photos with all the latest from a visit to Nick's Cove, coming soon.

 

 

Artisan Cheese Festival Returns for 6th Annual Sonoma County Spectacular, March 23rd to 25th, 2012

Cheese lovers of the Western world, experts, gourmands and aficionados from farther afield are counting down the days on their calendars until they reconvene for the 6th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival, centered right here in our Southern Sonoma County cheese heartlands of Petaluma from March 23rd through March 25th, 2012. 

If you are planning to attended tours, seminars or the festival's grand marketplace during the three day extravaganza, you'd best get on with booking tickets today.

These are some of the artisan food scene's most sought after tickets, with places on tours and seats in cutting-edge seminars extremely limited. Yes, it does sell out. Every year.

I love that the Artisan Cheese Festival draws lots of the country's most respected food writers, too. No wonder our little corner of wine & cheese country is getting so much national press these days. The secret's out.

In case you can't make it to the festival yourself, I am pleased to say that I will be reporting here from select tours and seminars, this Spring. 

Two Thousand People Expected to Link Hands Around Shollenberger Park this Sunday

This Sunday afternoon, Petalumans plan to celebrate Shollenberger Park with a "community constitutional" and aerial photography session with as many as 2,000 people participating in "Hands Around Shollenberger: A Valentine for Our Park".

Visitors will be greeted at all three of the entrances to the park by volunteers and docents from the Petaluma Wetlands Alliance, volunteer caretakers of the park year-round.

Participants are encouraged to wear red, in order to be visible from the air when a spectacular aerial photograph is taken at 3 pm.

With enough people, organizers hope to ring Shollenberger Marsh, the most sensitive portion of the park, where the harvest mouse lives!

A berm has been specially mowed for this purpose. Designated bicyclists will be on hand as 'border collies' to keep people on paths. Volunteers will be wearing safety vests in order to be easily identified.

Depending on ambulatory speed, it is suggested that participants begin around 1:30 pm. A bike brigade will leave Aqus Café at Foundry Wharf at 12:30, where a free regular cup of coffee, post-event, will be offered to anyone who has attended this special event.

Final staging will occur at the park at 2:45, and the photo will be taken at 3:00 pm.

Petaluma-Based Lagunitas Pils Makes Full-Bodied Brew Pick in March Issue of Martha Stewart Living

It's starting to seem quite commonplace for a Petaluma handcrafted product to appear in the glossy pages of one of the country's most discerning lifestyle magazines.

For Martha Stewart Living is no stranger to the quality wares of Sonoma County and Petaluma-made makes the mark seemingly every month!

March 2012 issue of the magazine's page 69 feature photo and tasting feature: Rhapsody in Brew picks out Petaluma's Lagunitas Brewery's Pils as its fuller-bodied light beer of choice with its crisp finish.

The article suggests to organize beer tasting selections into three flights - light, amber and dark, poured into small glasses so that one bottle might be split by three beer loving buddies at a time. 

Here in Petaluma, portions tend to be on the more generous side - with home region handcrafted beers from Northern Cal fast reaching cult status.

New boys on the block here in Petaluma are HenHouse, whose brand new brews have flown off shelves at downtown's Petaluma Market like nobody's business.