Southern Sonoma Country Life

Join Pamela Joyce & Tom Farnham, Acoustic Guitar Singer Songwriter Duo 2 of Us at the Newly Revamped William Tell House Tomales, Friday, December 14th, 5.30 pm to 8 pm

2018 LITERACYWORKS AND COPPERFIELD’S BOOKS LECTURE SERIES CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE IN CONVERSATION WITH CONGRESSWOMAN LYNN WOOLSEY

Join Congresswoman Barbara Lee in conversation with Congresswoman Lynn C. Woolsey in the last of this year's speaker series of Sonoma County based non-profit Literacyworks with Copperfield's Books, on Sunday, December 16th, 2018 at the 
Carole L. Ellis Auditorium (SRJC Petaluma)
 680 Sonoma Mountain Parkway, Petaluma at 4:00 PM

Congresswoman Barbara Lee was born in El Paso, TX. As a single mother raising two sons, she attended Mills College and received public assistance while building a better life for her family. Congresswoman Lee received her Masters of Social Work from the University of California, Berkeley. As a small business owner in the East Bay, Congresswoman Lee worked with people from all walks of life. In 1998, she was elected to serve California’s 9th (now the 13th) congressional district in a special election. She has long advocated for legislative action to end poverty. Her autobiography is Renegade for Peace and Justice: A Memoir of Political and Personal Courage. 

Congresswoman Lynn C. Woolsey is a former U.S. Representative for California's 6th congressional district serving Marin and Sonoma County from 1993 to 2013. Lynn focused on issues facing children, families, and education during her 20-year career in the U.S. House of Representatives.

General Admission: $30 
Buy tickets for Congresswoman Barbara Lee in Conversation with Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey

Literacyworks, headed by executive director, Paul Heavenridge is increasing is outreach in two critical areas: the Literacyworks Center and Parents as First Teachers (library workshops for low-literacy, low-income bilingual parents, and children).

Started in 2015, the Center helps low-literacy, low-income adults who lack the basic skills to access career and technical education and persist in college. Unique learners share a common goal of wanting to succeed to give back to their families and communities. This is the Center’s 4th year of operation. Some of the Center’s accomplishments to date: 

• Enrolled 95 students each semester at Santa Rosa Junior College, 80% being Latino 
• Provided $750,000 Adult Literacy Awards scholarships* to over 550 low-income, low-literacy students 
• Achieved less than a 10% dropout rate each semester, well under the 60% average dropout rate for community colleges for this at-risk population 
• Increased acceptance by students to certificate and associate programs and even four-year college programs. As of Fall 2018, nine Literacyworks Center students are on track to graduate from SRJC with a certificate and/or associate’s degree at the end of the Spring 2019 semester. Eight of the nine graduates will transfer and continue their education at a 4-year institution (CSUs and UCs). 
• Increasing students to 110 per semester starting in 2019 due to an anonymous family foundation* providing additional scholarship funding for 2019 because of its extraordinary success rate.                                   

*All Adult Literacy Awards scholarships come from a family foundation and go to benefit students. No scholarship funding is used for program funding.

This year the Literacyworks team has launched Literacyworks Parents as First Teachers: Engaging Families to Increase Children's Literacy. The team is working with low-literacy, low-income bilingual parents and children through a combination of access to resources in the home and the community and by training parents in the basic skills to encourage their children to become avid readers. The goal is to help parents positively view their parenting role, have appropriate expectations of their children's achievements, prepare their children with the necessary skills to be successful in school and establish and maintain positive relations with community resources, including libraries, schools, and community groups. These successful workshops have been requested by all the library branches of the Sonoma County Library system starting in 2019.

Literacyworks is helping underprivileged and underrepresented adults secure better jobs, become better parents, and contribute more to their community. The center has launched its 2018 Year-End Campaign. Its goal is to raise $25,000 to keep receiving the donor’s scholarship funding by matching it with funding for staff and operations. This will allow Literacyworks to reach its goal of helping 110 motivated low-income low literacy adults get on its program each semester in 2019.  Will you make a gift? To make your donation now, go to http://www.literacyworks.org/donate or contact Rita at rita@literacyworks.org to be mailed a remittance envelope.

 

 

Learn about Andrew Carnegie and the American Public Library Movement at Petaluma's Own Carnegie Historical Library & Museum Saturday December 8th, 4 pm

History and architecture fans as well as book lovers alike take note, don't miss a wonderful event on Saturday, December 8th, 2018 at 4 pm at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum.

Hear distinguished academican Dr. Kenneth Breisch speak about Andrew Carnegie and the American Public Library Movement in our own community's treasured Carnegie architectural gem, former library turned museum.  

The event is free and presented by the Petaluma Museum Association as part of an exhibit celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, curated by Paula Freund. This exhibit tells the story of the founding of the Carnegie Library through the dedication of the building as a museum in 1978, and the continued work of the Petaluma Museum
Association to preserve the cultural heritage of the City of Petaluma.

 

What's On at The Petaluma Arts Center This December . . .

Back by popular demand at Petaluma Arts Center is the Members Exhibition & holiday art sale, opening Saturday December 8th with a public reception from 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm. Stop by for a browse and pick out a piece or two for gifts that support both artist and art center. 

There has been a lot of buzz in the news this year with regards to the trials and tribulations of our much loved local Arts Center, it's great to see members rallying to stage this favorite of exhibitions during the holiday season. Let's hope that with everyone's support, the Arts Center may launch into 2019 with new energy and options and possibilities. 

Please note, the center is closed Sundays and Mondays (and holidays). If you can't make the opening, pop in Tues through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm.

Another annual highlight at the Arts Center, back by equally popular demand, the Petaluma Readers Theater presents a  “A Christmas Memory” and “A Child's Christmas in Wales"  — Friday evening, Dec 21st 7 pm to 9 pm. This is a treat for the whole family. Click here to register.

Red Barn Studios Holiday Sale — Dec 8th & 9th

Rain or Shine — Windrush Farm Holiday Art Sale November 25th & December 2nd

A Tasty New Chapter for the Historic William Tell House, Tomales, Showcasing All Local California Coastal Cuisine

Marin County's oldest roadhouse, The William Tell House, is celebrating a tasty new chapter in its intriguing west country history. New owners are implementing a a fresh take on an Old California institution, established in 1877.

I stopped in with friends on a foggy Saturday evening this November. Walking in from the pea-souper outside, we opted to huddle on a bar table beside the fireplace seeing as it was still rather quiet in the dining room given the recent change-up. The menu is a pop-up starter deal until the restaurant's kitchen is fully up and running some time in the new year.  

Don't let that deter you from tasting your way through. Everything we tasted was terrific, starting with a smoked fish platter, moving on to the most delicious clam chowder, melt-in-the-mouth short ribs and a pecan/ginger pie to cry for. 

A self-described humble, casual restaurant serving fresh, local ingredients, The William Tell house, nestled in the town of Tomales, California, was ripe for reinvention given that its neighbors to the south, Nick's Cove, Hog Island Oysters & The Marshall Store are jam packed with customers in summer, on weekends and holidays  This is the foodie epicenter of where land meets the ocean. A stone's throw the East and South, are some of California’s best dairy and meat producers such as Cowgirl Creamery and organic pasture foraged beef from Stemple Creek. Minutes to the West from the Tell House, you’ll find yourself on the California Coast, rich with oysters, fresh salmon, multiple species of rockfish, halibut and of course Dungeness crab. 

New Owner, Bay Area food entrepreneur and catering company owner, Ted Wilson has executive chef Austin Perkins at the helm in the kitchen, a smart move as the former head chef of Nick's Cove and previously, cooking at two Michelin-starred Healdsburg restaurant, Cyrus, he is immersed in California coastal cuisine  & West Marin’s wealth of dairy and oyster farms and fishing communities, creating seafood-driven cuisine with local ingredients. 

For now at least, all bottles of wine are $40 each  and the craft cocktail menu is enticing. 

After rebuilding from a devastating fire in 1920, the Tell House has remained a cherished community gathering place for generations and home to countless locals' dinners, weddings, and celebrations. It was always busy on a bustling summer's weekend afternoon or when the weather was especially good, but most of the time in the off season it was a bit of a locals only sort of place, bot having a lot of curb appeal in the quiet months, for many years. It's good to see new life breathed into such an old gem and once word spreads as to the quality of the food, I expect its popularity as a destination super casual but quality dining spot will build fast. 

According to the roadhouse website, The William Tell was named by Swiss brothers Arnold and Henry Dado in 1897, and takes its name from the Swiss folk hero and marksman attributed to the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy. While the details of the bar’s origins remain somewhat hazy, the building was founded in the late 1800s as a hotel and saloon and was operated by the Dado brothers for a few years.

From 1869 to 1900, Clover Stornetta Dairy co-founder Arnold W. Dado leased the Tell House. In 1903, together with his wife, Maria, Antonio Matteri purchased and operated the location’s hotel, dining room, and saloon. In 1920, the building burned to the ground along with several other surrounding structures in The Great Tomales Fire. One year later, the Matteris rebuilt the Tell House, designing the structure that remains intact today. After Antonio’s death in 1931, Maria continued to run the business herself. The Tell House remained in the family for three generations, and was owned and operated by the couple’s daughter, Edith Bonini, and later her son, Bill Bonini Sr.

Eighty-six years after his grandparents purchased the Tell House, Bill sold the building in 1989. The building passed hands once more in 1996 and in 2011, Marcos Pareas purchased the building and business. 

I featured The William Tell House in the chapter on prohibition in my 2016 Book Fog Valley Winter, Pioneer Heritage, Backroad Rambles & Vintage Recipes: "Bottles of cheap home brew and smuggled Canadian whiskey were deftly stashed under floorboards of bars such as the historic William Tell . . ."

"As soon as the (federal) agents left, up came the floorboards and it was 'what'll you have?' all over again," according to Jack Mason in his 1970s evocative book Point Reyes, The Solemn Land in which he described the bootleg years on Point Reyes as: "rowdy and romantic."

Happy Thanksgiving from Southern Sonoma Country Life!

“Forever on Thanksgiving the heart will find the pathway home.” —

Wilbur D. Nesbit 

 

Much as we liken our turkey dinners to those first years of survival of the Mayflower pilgrims it wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the American Civil War that President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving an official national holiday. The older woman in this vintage photo surely remembered the first time her family celebrated around the table with an entire day off work. This year and last we have much to ponder and take pause with in Northern California as we slow things down and gather with our own. Times move on at a clip, a dramatic and devastating change of landscape especially changing things up, not once but multiple times in our region and yet some things do, blessedly stay the same. 

However you choose to spend your Thanksgiving, may it be with people you love and appreciate and may it fill your heart and spirit with positivity, energy and good cheer going into the end of 2018 and into a whole new year of fresh starts and possibilities. 

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving. 

 

“What if today, we were just grateful for everything?” —

Charlie Brown

California Fire Help — Grass Roots Artists' & Makers Fundraiser Raises Over $36,000 in One Week for Butte County Fire Victim Support

Photos: CaliforniaFireHelp.com

After hearing so many heart wrenching stories coming out of Butte County this past week, two super compassionate Southern Sonoma County based designers have relaunched a beautiful, heartfelt website that raised much needed support for people who lost everything in last year's wildfires in Sonoma/Napa and neighboring counties. Fellow designers, artists and makers from around the Bay Area and beyond have donated handcrafted & curated quality treasures for sale on the website Californiafirehelp.com with all profits going to fund support for this latest wildfire tragedy in Northern California.

It's so encouraging to hear that $36,124.15 has been raised in just one week. Items are still pouring in. I was glad to put up some copies of my Fog Valley Winter books & it feels good to address envelopes to people around the country who have bought copies to show solidarity in their small and large purchases with those who have lost everything. 

If you have an original item that you think would be of appeal, it's very easy to donate. You ship from your address if someone buys. To make a donation please email donations@californiafirehelp.com. Otherwise, what better way to shop for extra meaningful gifts for the upcoming holidays? 

What a simple and effective way to help in a time when we feel it's so hard to know what may have the most impact.  Thank you Dana and Jess for getting this lovely and energetic site back off the ground and running again and it looks like it's taking on a life of its own, though it is undoubtedly requiring a lot of hours of detail and care to manage. 

 

Top Pick for Bay Area Holiday Events The Great Dickens Christmas Fair and Victorian Holiday Party — Opening November 17th, 2018 — Six Weekends & The Day After Thanksgiving

Festive diversion is just the ticket about now, don't you think?  This holiday season, the historic San Francisco Cow Palace once again transforms into Dickens’ London for The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party,  Now in its 36th season, The Great Dickens Christmas Fair runs Saturdays and Sundays (as well as the Friday after Thanksgiving) from November 17 through December 23, 2018, offering visitors an unrivaled, fully immersive holiday experience.

Travel back in time with this annual tradition for Bay Area natives and visitors alike. The Great Dickens Christmas Fair is a journey into the streets of Victorian London circa Christmas 1860. Visitorsexplore twilight-lit streets with shops, pubs, stages and dance halls filled with more than 800 Victorian characters and the aromas of roasted chestnuts and hearty fare.

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor." ~ Charles Dickens

My friends, The Patterson Family and their tireless and talented production crew have produced a new and quite wonderful short film on the behind the scenes building of The Dickens Fair. It never ceases to amaze me to stroll into this wonderland of Christmas past each holiday season — a feat of imagination,  temporary construction and design of a sprawling and meandering, Victorian Brigadoon.

Click here to view.  

Six Weekends — Opens Saturday, November 17
and runs Saturdays & Sundays through December 23, 2018,
including the Friday after Thanksgiving

---

Online Select-Day Ticket Pricing:

• Adult and Senior General Admission (13+ yrs.): $30.00
• Children (5-12 yrs.): $14.00
• Children under 5 years are always free
• Pickwick Club 2018 Season Passes are also available online, through December 9, at $120.00 (a $390.00 value!).

 Admission Prices at the Gate

• Adult and Senior General Admission (13+): $30.00
• Children (5-12 yrs): $14.00
• Children under 5 are always free
• Pickwick Club 2018 Season Pass: $120.00 (a $390.00 value!) - available through December 9
• Adult Twilight Tickets, available after 3:00 PM: $18.00 (available only at the box office)
• Child Twilight Tickets, available after 3:00 PM: $10.00 (available only at the box office)

For information on "The Scrooge Special" and other discounts, please see Special Discounts page.

Choose from seven stages offering entertainment for all ages and tastes. Family-friendly entertainment abounds, from dancing at Fezziwig’s, to dashing sword-fighting in “All’s Well That Ends Badly” and the holiday pantomime “The Surprising Tale of Baron Munchausen and Mopsa the Fairy.” Head down to the other side of the tracks by the dockside and join the Cancan dancers and sailors at the bawdy Mad Sal’s Music Hall.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair overflows with holiday magic for the youngest guests, offering hands-on craft activities, old-world games of skill and chance, and lively interactive shows in the Tinsley Green Children’s Area. Young audience members cheer the hero and jeer the villain at the children’s melodrama,  join Alice at the Mad Hatters’ Tea Party, or learn the tricks of the chimney-sweep trade from the Miracle Sweeps of London School.

Youngsters delight in meeting Old Father Christmas each day at one o’clock on the Father Christmas Stage, ride on a hand-powered Adventure Carousel, cheer the Toy Parade and laugh at the antics of an authentic British Punch & Judy puppet show.

Guests welcome the return of the Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera “Trial By Jury” in the Victoria & Albert Bijou Music Hall – one of the most successful one-act operettas of all time telling the story of ludicrous circumstances played out by characters who behave as if the events are perfectly normal. Be astounded by the world premiere of “Dr. Xander T. Culpepper’s Miracle Elixir Show Of Miracles,” but don’t expect to walk away with any of his miracle magical tonic; demand is simply too high! Also on the Pennygaff Stage, fresh from a year studying at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Dickens Fair welcomes back the buffoonery of London’s most hilariously silly chimney sweep, Jim Chiminey!

Experience Mr. Dickens’ classic stories portrayed by hundreds of Living History characters throughout the streets. Encounter Mr. Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Oliver Twist, Nancy and many more of Mr. Dickens’ characters. You might even see Queen Victoria herself as she and her court progress through London. Then join Mr Samuel Pickwick himself and his fellow "Pickwickians" as they tour London, spreading hilarity and mirth. Stop by the illustrious Adventurers’ Club, Dickens Family Parlour, Great Exhibition Stage, genius inventor Professor Flockmocker’s Workshop and the internationally themed Silk Road Stage for exotic dance and special musical guest appearances.

Catch a song or two at the Paddy West School of Seamanship, then stroll down to Mad Sal’s Dockside Ale House where Mad Sal herself will be hosting bold new talents as well as bawdy favorites like the high-kicking dancers of the Le Cancan Bijou in the Mad Sal’s Dockside Music Hall. 

The gentlemen of Brass Farthing lift a frothy good ale with their rollicking songs and the ladies of The Gin Alley Sallys musically include you in their ‘Society for the Appreciation of Libation and Spirits.’  Later in the day, the extremely popular and outrageous “Saucy French Postcards Tableaux Revue” returns to delight adults over 18 with “Gods & Heroes,” a new episode in the private lives of Horatio and Letitia Everard.

“…Merry voices and light-hearted laughter range through the room…” ~ Charles Dickens